About Molly Hooper being lonely

 (Sherlock meta by penfairy)

Anonymous: I think Molly Hooper is a lesbian! (attracted to unattainable men, (sherlock + 'jim from i.t.') or in a relationship with a poor substitute for that first unattainable man (tom) who she doesn't really care for) what do you think? also I hope you've been having a nice day!

penfairy ehhhh… as a wlw who’s been in a relationship with men/convinced myself I was attracted to men (thanks strict Catholic upbringing, small town life and compulsory heterosexuality, you sure did a fucking number on me there) Molly’s behaviour doesn’t strike me as that of a closet lesbian. She’s missing the feelings of terror, guilt, entrapment and horrific self-loathing that come with dating a man in those circumstances, and she certainly enjoys sex with Tom. I think her attraction to Sherlock is real and valid, and her relationship with Jim and Tom comes from a desperate need to be loved. Jim flattered her and gave her all the attention she wanted to ensure he’d get close to Sherlock. Tom, though she doesn’t love him, brings company, normality and stability to her life, which is as close as she can get to fulfilment.

The thing is with Molly, she’s lonely. Remember that Christmas party where Sherlock was so cruel to her? She volunteered to to go down to the morgue afterwards because, “everyone else was busy with Christmas.” As in, they’ve all got friends and family but I don’t, so I might as well work. She had nowhere else to be that night, no other friends and family besides that little group of misfits. She was close to her father, once upon a time, and she watched him die a slow death. Now he’s gone and she has no close family left. But Molly is so kind, and so full of love, and even though she’s lonely and she’s been hurt and rejected time and again, she keeps reaching out to people. She doesn’t isolate herself to make it hurt less, doesn’t pretend she’s better off alone, she still loves with her whole heart and is prepared to help any friend who asks.

A big reason for her isolation comes from the nature of her job. She’s a pathologist, and her work, and her attitude towards her work is alienating to others. In Sherlock’s mind palace, Molly is the embodiment of medical and pathological knowledge. He calls on her for help when he’s shot. Not John, the doctor - he turns to Molly for expert knowledge. When it comes to the human body - dead people in particular - she knows more than Sherlock. Mycroft, Sherlock and Scotland Yard all count her as the best and most trustworthy pathologist in Britain. Considering her relatively young age, that’s pretty phenomenal. She has an amazing passion and talent for this work and she loves the thrill of helping to solve cases. This is why it’s so wonderful to see her becoming a part of the Holmes crew, because amongst an army doctor, a pregnant ex-assassin, a consulting detective, the ineffable Mrs Hudson and Scotland Yard’s finest, this mousy pathologist fits right in. You might even say she has a family now.

I personally see Molly as bi, and I think she just wants to be in a relationship with someone she genuinely loves and someone who loves her in return. Someone who understands her and who will fulfil her desire for family as well as understand and accommodate her passion for her work. I mean, we saw her sigh over Sherlock flogging a corpse. Whoever she ends up with can’t be boring and ordinary like Tom. He or she will have to be strange and wonderful and extraordinary, just like her.