Sherlock and Irene

 (Sherlock Meta by Ivy Blossom)

Anonymous asked:

Why do you think did Sherlock so desperately try to impress Irene? At least it came across to me that way, like he wanted her to see him as someone special or extraordinary. His "usual" deduction skills didn't seem to be enough, unlike with John, who is always so impressed by anything Sherlock does.

Ivy Blossom:

Irene has him figured out within seconds, and Sherlock finds that extremely off-putting as well as extremely impressive.

Sherlock calls Mary a facade, which is really interesting, because he is one as well. Mary’s facade is being super nice and sweet and generous and loving, but she is an ice-cold, calculating serial killer underneath. Sherlock is kind of the exact opposite of Mary. He has a very old and enduring facade that is cold and unfeeling, prepared to kill or be killed at a moment’s notice, but deep down he all he wants is a cuddle and for someone to pet his hair and tell him he’s brilliant and loved and desired. And Irene sees beneath Sherlock’s facade immediately and uses that knowledge to her advantage.

I think Sherlock is constantly trying to regain his footing with her. He’s impressed that she figured him out at all, let alone that fast, so he respects that, but is also quite vulnerable in her presence in a way that he doesn’t really know how to cope with. His vulnerability to Irene is completely non-consensual. So he’s off-kilter with her until he learns how to cope with someone knowing these things about him, which is an important growth process. And finally, he settles on saying, yeah? Well, so what? I’m still smart enough to figure you out, regardless of my soft underbelly. Maybe because of it. Gotcha!

That’s what I think, anyway. He is forced into a vulnerable position with Irene, as if sexuality and love is a battle to be won and lost. John is a nice foil, because John loving him, and loving John, isn’t a battle, and it doesn’t make him feel uncomfortably or violently vulnerable. He is vulnerable with John because he trusts John, which is a very different experience. He never trusts Irene. He respects her, but never trusts her.