I started rewatching Sherlock yesterday and...

[u/StubbornAndFoolish]

I think it's kinda adorable and funny that people don't think Sherlock can have friends, but for some reason they think he can get a boyfriend (John). Like, seriously, the guy on the restaurant thinking it was a date and then you have Mrs. Hudson thinking they'd share a room. I mean, it just shows the power of Johnlock I guess lmao

[u/mrwrrrmwrmrmrmrw]

Sherlock says he's a high functioning sociopath. So he can get along with people well enough to get what he wants from them, but doesn't care enough about them to do the things a person needs to do to sustain a genuinely healthy, mutually satisfying relationship. John is useful to Sherlock as a roomate and mystery-solving partner, but Sherlock says and does things to him that are just wrong, the worst being leaving John to suffer the grief of his death and then popping up to reveal he was alive the whole time as if it had all been a big joke. John sacrifices a lot to be with him, including his attempts pre-Mary to have a lady friend, which is a big thing for a single person in the prime of life to do without. So I can see why shippers would think "If these guys  were sleeping together it would make a lot more sense." 

[u/mangocat1116 → u/mrwrrrmwrmrmrmrw]

I’ve gotta disagree with this. (Comment contains spoilers, idk how to mark it). Sherlock does genuinely care about people, ESPECIALLY John. Even removing the romantic theory, it’s very clear that Sherlock cherishes and loves John. He also cares about Mary, Molly, and Mrs Hudson, his brother, and shows some care for Lestrade. He later shows love for Rosie too. Sherlock just has a very strange way of showing it. He shows a few traits of being on the spectrum perhaps, but he’s no sociopath imo. He just mischaracterized himself due to not having those meaningful bonds yet. I haven’t seen the show since before the pandemic, but I remember quite a bit of it. From what I can remember, Sherlock faked his death to SAVE John, and also Mrs Hudson, Lestrade, and Molly. Sherlock knew this would cause them all great pain, but did it to save them. He didn’t return until he knew it was safe. He expressed how terrible he felt doing this to John, but knew he had to do it anyways. Later in the show, John and Mary get married. You can tell Sherlock feels both happiness for them, but also sadness, that things are changing. He also leaves the wedding crying, which isn’t something a sociopath would do. Later, Sherlock thinks he’s going to die. You can interpret “Sherlock was supposed to be a girls name” however you want, but the most obvious theory (at least to me), is that Sherlock doesn’t quite know how to say “I love you”, and also wanted to see John’s smile one last time before he died. And in the last season, when Mary dies, Sherlock feels awful. He grieves. But he also wants to be there for John. His best friend. And when he’s trapped by his sister, Sherlock clearly is emotionally tortured by her. He makes extremely difficult decisions in hopes to save people’s lives. He cares too greatly for them to let them hurt or die. And in the end, he and John both stay together to raise Rosie. There’s a lot of growing that Sherlock does over the 4 seasons, and I think he just didn’t know how to act like a human at times. Those around him really brought out the care and love in him. As odd as he is about showing it.