Yes, I agree.  Mycroft is not totally incapable of feeling love.  He just doesn't express it very much, and he does control his feelings.  I think it's a combination of his work and something to do with an event or events in the past.  He did say "All hearts are broken" afterall, so maybe his heart was broken when he was younger and from then on he avoided feeling too much in order to spare himself from it happening again.

TeaCub wrote:

Honestly, I think it was a huge mistake, bringing in BC's parents to play the Holmes'. It filled in too many gaps and really doesn't make sense when you look at Sherlock and Mycroft as individuals; in fact, it just makes the way they are seem slightly pretentious, rather than giving deeper reasons for why they are how they are (which many fanfic writers, including myself, believed to be the result of a rough childhood and at the very least, an abusive father). 

And yes, I think Mycroft can love. Maybe he's just scared to. Maybe they both are. 

I am personally glad that Moftiss avoided a clice of "rough childhood, abusive parents" - I´m tired of this theme because of its overuse in fics. Plus, I believe that bullying at school and in society for his intelligence was enough to turn Mycroft wary and slightly misanthropic towards people in general without him having abusive parents. He was then the main influence on Sherlock who formed similar traits because of it, but is much more playful and trusting when those traits come to test.
 

I agree with Teaclub, I find Mum & Dad not really in the right place in the serie. Sort of oddity to see a normal family life. Math genius or no (a researcher who had to choose between research and children?!), it doesn't fit in the picture.

However, all explanations are useful: Mycroft isolated and defiant because of his IQ, and influencing his brother.
And maybe later a broken heart who refuses to get involved again.
Both scared by feelings.
I will think about it...
 

Last edited by BHavers (August 22, 2015 4:01 pm)

For this thread, I want to link to a series of metas by Wellingtoongoose concerning The Holmes family (and the Holmes brothers in particular) that I really enjoy:

http://wellingtongoose.tumblr.com/holmesfamily

I am particularly fond of this one:

http://wellingtongoose.tumblr.com/post/40248330269/the-holmes-brothers-equal-but-different

I, too, think that the brothers are in no way incapable of love. Sherlock clearly has a deep love for the people close to him, and when it comes to John (and Irene) there has at least been enough doubt to inspire diverse discussion as if there is also a romantic element to it or not. Mycroft deeply loves his baby brother, so much so that it repeatedly puts his life’s work in danger. I think what we see in the both of them is a combination of being very much indulged as children (rather than abused) plus being socially isolated (they did not meet other children until Sherlock has been identified as an “idiot” and was able to recall it). Presumably they were both very much maladapted by the time they had to interact with people outside their family. This might have caused some form of trauma. Mycroft is very careful to keep people at arm’s length, but I could not say if this is because he is afraid of being hurt in some way or if he simply does not have the patience to constantly interact with “goldfish”. Sherlock basically imitates Mycroft’s behaviour (and fails spectacularly), possibly he used to (and secretly still does) look up to him and wanted to be like his smarter brother. He still goes to Mycroft whenever he is in trouble, either via his mind palace or by actually searching contact with him and Mycroft (of all people) is still one of his main emotional advisors and his advice usually runs along the lines of “caring is not an advantage”.

I am also VERY glad that Mofftiss didn't go with the 'uncaring parents' cliche, because it would have been so painfully obvious and seen before and boring. I am happy they showed the parents as loving, with a very protective Mummy Holmes, which to be honest explains a lot to me in regards to why Mycroft is also so protective of Sherlock that he's basically overbearing (I imagine Mummy Holmes getting angry at Mycroft for not looking after his little brother )

And I also think that they only 'say' they don't want to get involved and love, but they actually love so much and so strongly, even more than the other characters do - I mean, did we not see the lengths they are capable of going for the person they love? Mycroft drops everything for Sherlock whenever he needs him, and has a hard time saying no to him even when Sherlock is being very irritating; and Sherlock, well, he's shown he'd do absolutely anything for John. So no, they are definitely NOT incapable of love - saying they are is very different than them actually being incapable of love.

And I definitely don't agree that they are autistic.

nakahara wrote:

Concerning Sherlock´s ability to love - a hilarious theory why is he wary when it comes to relationships:

http://canolacrush.tumblr.com/post/128691205774/im-amused-as-hell-over-the-colossal-bad-judgment

I saw that one the other day and reblogged it. Very funny. 

Here's another consideration: Mycroft and Sherlock can know and understand a whole lot about everyone they meet through their deductions. They also do covert ops MI6 kind of stuff, apparently. Why *wouldn't* they be wary of "getting involved"?