Sometimes I see comments about how ‘nice’ John Watson is, and it makes me realize: he isn’t, really.
He’s a good person, but good and nice aren’t the same. You know the difference. You’ve probably been there yourself.
The nice person will tell a lie even when they know they should tell the truth, because they can’t bear to see the expression of hurt on their friend’s face.
The good person will say what needs to be said, even if it brings pain to someone they care for in the short term. (Although the good person will try not to bring unnecessary pain, usually. Bluntness for the sake of bluntness isn’t good or kind; it’s callous.)
And I mean, we’re talking about human goodness here, too. It’s not perfect. John is a good person; he tries to do the right thing, he’s brave and thoughtlessly loyal, and he has a strong sense of compassion and an instinct to heal those who are suffering.
But he’s also defensive and prickly and he doesn’t like making himself vulnerable. He prefers to deflect attention to others rather than communicate about his own hurts and weaknesses. He won’t open up even to tell people he cares about how he feels. He shoves down his anger rather than acknowledging it, even when that results in him exploding. Sometimes he takes it out on others in the form of impatience and mockery. And while he’s better than Sherlock is about remembering that he’s dealing with real people who are suffering and he truly does want to help them, he still also uses their suffering as an outlet to his anger, anxiety and restlessness. He uses adventure and violence as a way to distract himself from his problems rather than confronting them.
Oh, and he likes hanging out with upsetting, dangerous people because they get him into trouble, which leads to aforementioned adventure and violence, and it makes him feel needed because compared to them, he can be the stable one. This is a similar pattern to what you’ll see with kids who hang out with delinquents and end up being delinquents themselves. It’s not a more charming behavior pattern in a fully grown adult, although John is exceptionally good at picking delinquents who are very charismatic and provide an emotionally satisfying (if not legally satisfying) justification for their activities.
All of which may sound less than John Watson-appreciating, I suppose, but no! The point is that he is a delightfully complex, damaged person who is—and this is the most interesting bit of all—not always good at being what he wants to be.
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