It seems that many people, even in the Sherlock fandom do not actually like Sherlock.
So please re-blog if, despite all his faults, you genuinely like the character Sherlock.
I love him. If you’re very cerebral by nature, the world isn’t really set up to…
My feelings on Sherlock are comparable to John’s: I like him, but he’s also an annoying dick. Lestrade’s pronouncement that Sherlock is a great man but not yet a good one is spot on. He has great talents and has chosen to use them for good, but completely on his own terms, which are not necessarily compatible with the rest of the world.
Still, when he drops the act, you can see little bits of the good man he can be peeping out. His care for Mrs. Hudson, the panic in his eyes when he realizes how upset John is that Sherlock said he didn’t have friends, the fact he’s always more than a little disturbed when someone dies violently in front of him: these are the things which make Sherlock likeable and not just impressive. How different things would have been if Sherlock had taken John’s compliments as his just due and not as something surprising. That first glimpse of Sherlock the human wouldn’t exist and he really would be the arrogant prick he acts like he is most of the time.
None of this excuses him from being an annoying dick, however. Just because we the audience can see when Sherlock’s being human doesn’t mean the other characters can. Donovan only knows him as a creepy bastard. Lestrade and John put up with more shit than they could ever deserve. But in amongst all that there’s something likeable.
/brought to you by Luthe’s love for flawed characters with redeeming features
I like him! I just don’t always approve of him. He’s like that friend/acquaintance you really admire, but they’ve some some terrible habits and behaviors that they need to be called on more often.
On the upside: Sherlock is brilliant, endearingly weird, incandescent with talent and charisma, is powerfully protective of the people he cares about, and can be, when it suits him, a good person. Though he does his best to distance himself from an emotional reaction, you can see he is moved when people lose their lives. Penny also has some great points on how he confronts the world rather than withdrawing from it, and she’s right: for people of that level of intelligence, that’s not an easy thing. And he’s motivated, energetic, always on the go, always hungry to learn. How many of us don’t wish for a bit more of that on a daily basis?
On the other hand: Sherlock is also casually cruel, dismissive of anything he personally doesn’t value, frankly nasty when anybody asks anything of him he’s not in the mood to give, actively ignores and derides the feelings of others, and is full-on emotionally abusive to the people closest to him.
And he is a classic emotional abuser. Sherlock often specifically targets his abuse and cruelty in an attempt to control and direct the activities, reactions and attitudes of people he wants or needs things from, like John, Lestrade, and Mrs. Hudson (and you know what? I’d throw Anderson in there too; Sherlock belittles Anderson not because he thinks the man is actually useless, but because he wants Anderson to be cowed into agreeing and cooperating with him). John lets him get away with it just as far as John feels like it (which is farther than he probably should), Lestrade swings back, and Mrs. Hudson’s 60+ and has taken more crap in her day than even Sherlock’s capable of dishing out, but seriously. Let us not gloss over this. Sherlock is abusive.
In short, he’s got a lot of great qualities, but he’s also a damagingly selfish, hurtful son of a bitch. So…I adore him as a character. I like him in balance (granted it’s easier since I don’t have to actually deal with him in real life), and I’m hoping that maybe he grows up a bit in this coming season.