hereticaldetective

[hereticaldetective]

In a Watsonian context (ha), it would be hilarious if even the great Sherlock Holmes could not escape the phenomenon of ‘autistic person learns the art of enunciating their consonants and is immediately accused of being privately educated’

I love it. It’s wonderful.

(All things considered though, Sherlock most likely did attend either an independent boarding school or a Russell Group university…and despised it.)

one of my favorite things about Sherlock & Co is that the VA for Sherlock just. sounds like that. he doesn't do a voice or anything he's literally just talking. it's amazing i am in love with this adaptation. BBC Sherlock found dead in Miami

[hereticaldetective]

Exploring Dream’s Psyche

Jungian Archetypes

I know I’ve written about a Jungian take on some aspects of The Sandman before (about The Corinthian and also Fiddler’s Green here, about Gault here), but since we’re currently rereading/rewatching Lost Hearts and this week’s host @sweet-like-cinnamon-5 gave this prompt, I simply have to get back into it:

In both comics and show, Morpheus has to track down the Major Arcana who escaped during his imprisonment: The Corinthian, Fiddler's Green (aka Gilbert), and Gault (Brute & Glob in the comics). What's fascinating is how neatly these three map onto key Jungian archetypes, and in doing so, reveal fractured aspects of Morpheus' own psyche.

To make it very clear: I think Jungian psychology is great for storytelling and how we, as humans, connect via story, but as a practising therapist, I’m not super keen on the principles of psychoanalysis per se. With that out of the road:

Carl Jung believed archetypes were universal, inherited patterns of thought or imagery present in the collective unconscious (sound familiar?)…

The Corinthian: The Shadow

This one feels almost too on the nose, right? The Corinthian, with his penchant for murder and being the embodiment of humanity's darkness, is a classic Shadow archetype. In Jungian terms, the Shadow represents the unknown, repressed, or undesirable aspects of our personality. It's everything we don't want to admit about ourselves—our fears, base instincts, destructive urges, selfishness. More importantly: We often project it onto others (the Corinthian inspires people to be like him, after all).

But the Corinthian also represents something inherent to Morpheus: He is the darkness Dream tried to rigidly control (and perhaps deny). He's the failure of Morpheus' function—a nightmare only meant to reflect darkness in dreams, not being darkness in the waking world. His very existence outside the Dreaming during Dream's absence signifies Morpheus’ own darker potential and its consequences when left unchecked. The Corinthian is the embodiment of fear and predation that Dream intended to keep contained within nightmares.

Throughout the series, we see the Corinthian functioning as Morpheus' dark reflection, indulging in exactly the kind of unchecked power and cruelty that Dream tries to restrain in himself (not always successfully 😬). The Corinthian feeds on eyes (symbols of perception and understanding, “the mirror to the soul”), so I’m often wondering if this also suggests both the darkness Dream sees within himself and a distorted view of himself?

When Morpheus finally confronts, unmakes (and later on remakes—that’s the truly important part) the Corinthian, he's not merely capturing an escaped nightmare. In TKO, he is basically reintegrating his own Shadow, acknowledging these darker impulses as part of himself rather than an external threat: You only become whole by acknowledging your darkness, not by repressing it.

Fiddler's Green: The Animus & The Wise Old Man

Fiddler’s Green is not a nightmare, but a dream. Specifically a place, an idyllic location representing solace and belonging. His desire to experience life as a human (Gilbert) is contextually really important. While he isn’t a perfect fit for one single archetype, he touches on a few. He could represent aspects of the Self—wholeness and the regulating centre of the psyche (“the heart of the Dreaming”). A desire for integration and completeness, if you will.

Gilbert/Fiddler's Green also represents the Wise Old Man archetype, which often appears as a mentor or guide figure representing wisdom, insight, and moral qualities. In deeper Jungian theory, this archetype closely connects to the already mentioned Self—the archetype of wholeness. Gilbert’s yearning for knowledge, human experience and connection also taps into the higher aspects of the Animus, which are word and meaning (in the sense of seeking knowledge of and connection to the outer world/experience, though typically Animus is the male aspect in a female psyche), and I wrote about this before. And Fiddler's Green also embodies a deep, perhaps unacknowledged, yearning within Morpheus:

He represents the desire for peace, belonging, connection, and perhaps a simpler existence away from the lonely burden of being Dream of the Endless. Gilbert's warmth, loyalty, and appreciation for humanity stand in stark contrast to Dream's initial aloofness and rigid adherence to duty. Gilbert’s temporary escape into humanity mirrors a buried desire within Dream himself for something more or different than his function.

Gault: The Anima & The Mother

Gault, the shapeshifting nightmare who yearns to be a dream and to “inspire rather than frighten”, is a significant change from the comics (more on that later). The Anima is (in a male psyche, according to Jung) the inner feminine aspect, related to emotion, intuition, creativity, connection to the unconscious, and relationship. The Mother archetype, when developed positively, stands for benevolence, nurturing, caring. She protects and provides. But by wishing to be a dream with all of these qualities rather than a nightmare, she holds up a mirror to Morpheus: His own disconnect from his emotions and his mother wound—empathy, the desire to nurture creativity and hope (instead of just reflecting fear), adaptability (she's a shapeshifter!), and the willingness to challenge rigid rules for compassionate reasons. Her rebellion isn't just defiance; it's a plea for a different kind of D/dreaming. She challenges Morpheus' rigid definition of his own purpose and hence the purpose of his creations.

The Dreaming as Dream's Psyche

So in short: The three major arcana don't exist in isolation. They function within the Dreaming, which can also be understood as the externalised landscape of Morpheus' psyche. Each represents aspects of Dream that he must reconcile and (re)integrate:

The Corinthian: Dream's capacity for cruelty and punishment

Fiddler's Green: Dream's wisdom and connection to humanity

Gault: Dream's potential for transformation and growth

What makes these characters particularly fascinating is that they aren't merely psychological projections. They have independent existence and agency. It’s somewhat mindbending to think that Dream must engage with parts of himself that have developed autonomy.

Okay, quick detour. In the original Sandman comics (The Doll's House arc), the rogue nightmares hiding out in Jed Walker's mind were Brute and Glob. They are crude, bullying types, lesser nightmares who essentially created a fantasy world inside Jed's head as their own little kingdom. They represented brute (ha!) force, manipulation, and a fairly simplistic form of rebellion against Dream's authority.

Replacing Brute and Glob with Gault is a huge thematic shift. Instead of two fairly thuggish, self-serving entities, the show gives us Gault: a character with complex motivations driven by a desire to be better. It forces Morpheus to confront not just rogue creations, but the nature of his own role. Gault challenges his rigidity and purpose. She introduces themes of change, empathy, and the potential for even nightmares to evolve, mirroring Morpheus' own needed evolution. Bringing her back from the darkness and her eventual transformation become a significant sign of his growth and changing perspective, something the defeat of Brute and Glob wouldn't have offered in the same way.

Back to all three: The Corinthian, Fiddler's Green, and Gault aren't just obstacles for Morpheus to overcome; they are external manifestations of internal conflicts and aspects of his own being. By confronting his Shadow (Corinthian), acknowledging his yearning for connection/peace (Fiddler's Green), and engaging with his transformative(!)/empathetic potential (Gault), Morpheus begins the long journey of reintegrating his fractured psyche, even if that has consequences we’d rather not think of 🥺 The change from Brute & Glob to Gault significantly deepens this psychological exploration in the Netflix adaptation.

In a Nutshell: This is a Journey of Individuation

Jung described the process of "individuation"—the integration of conscious and unconscious elements into a whole. Throughout The Sandman, we witness Dream's steps toward this psychological integration.

The Corinthian, Fiddler's Green, and Gault represent crucial aspects of this journey—the Shadow that must be confronted, the (highly developed) Animus that guides with wisdom, and the (highly developed) Anima that points toward possibilities for growth. By engaging with these externalised aspects of himself, Dream begins his own process of individuation, moving from rigid adherence to cosmic law toward a more integrated understanding of himself and his role…

[hereticaldetective]

things from season 2 of sandman I’m chewing on like a dog toy:

big brother Dream!!!!! his gentleness with Delirium, the soft smiles and genuine care and apologising when he realises he hurt her.

Hob and Lucienne knowing about each other. Dream telling his favourite person about his other favourite person. (I genuinely believe they’d been meeting more frequently since the reunion in 2022)

the amount of times Dream smiled this season. I could count them on my fingers on season 1!!!! my boy was experiencing Feelings and Emotions of the positive kind!!!!!!

“are you happy?” “I suppose I am.”

the amount of ouppies this season. the more dogs the better, honestly.

so many new outfits and hairstyles for Dream!!!

Dream’s relationship with Nuala. not accepting to take her as a gift, but welcoming her to his realm and valuing her opinions. by the end of the show I felt like she had always been there

the toast! Dream’s anxiety, Hob’s need for reassurance that they will see each other again. Dream getting to hear the words he desperately needs from the mouth of his dearest friend

bearded Hob! we missed you boo!

Matthew sticking with Dream until the end

demon twinks Loki and Puck, my beloveds

Jo asking if Dream bottomed for her ancestor

…Dream not denying it

I’ve only had Jacob Anderson Dream for 70 minutes but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself

[hereticaldetective]

So watching the first half of the second season of sandman it hit me how important meeting Hob through the ages is for Dream. Hob plays such a vital role, even if he has hardly any screen time. In the first season, the focus is more on Dreams impact on Hob. But the impact Hob has on Dream is even greater.

Without Hob, Dream wouldn't have met Shakespeare in 1589, wouldn't have commissioned the play, wouldn't have mended things with the fairies, etc.

Without Hob he would not have met Lady Joanna in 1789, wouldn't have given her the task of finding Orpheus.

And I think without Hob in 1689 Dream might not have been able to face Orpheus in the present. Hob griefed the loss of his son for 80 years and still chose to live.

[hereticaldetective]

The Cases in Chronological Order

Took me quite some time, research, cross cheching, correction and nerves, but here we are 😘

[hereticaldetective]

The thing I'm learning about writing from Holmes' perspective is that if he's not completely spaced out focusing on a case or in a depressive episode, he's focusing on getting Watson to pay attention to him

[hereticaldetective]

Something I noticed recently is that while Holmes regularly refers to Watson as “my dear Watson” or some variation of that, Watson almost exclusively saves “my dear Holmes” for disbelief when Holmes has done something batshit insane.

It’s the equivalent of your mother calling your full name.

[hereticaldetective]

LOVERBOYS

[hereticaldetective]

Johnlock in every universe

Featured adaptations are, canon, Sherlock and Co, House MD, Murder by Decree, Granada, Frogwares Games, BBC, Sherlock and Daughter and Watson’s Sketchbook (by @contact-guy). This was fun to doodle

[hereticaldetective]

Sherlock Holmes is the funniest case of “doomed by the narrative” ever. Doomed by the narrative and destined to die young bc the creator hated him, and then the fans literally bullied him into un-dooming the narrative, writing about him for another thirty years, and giving the character a canonical happy ending where he retires to the countryside and keeps bees. Funniest shit ever.

[hereticaldetective]

yeah that pretty much sums it up

[hereticaldetective]

Mary waiting for Watson at home and he's just like "THANK GOD fucking FINALLY my awesome and incredible best friend Sherlock Holmes, this BEAUTIFUL specimen of a man, was disguised as old drug addict in this pub I was sent to, so I can get my patient home, and now that that's done, I can fuck off and go with him because I literally couldn't ask for a BETTER way to spend my night"

[hereticaldetective]

Sherlock, to Watson: Watson, stop puffing up my achievements in your stories! They should be purely intellectual texts! Convey the facts alone and stop talking about me!

Sherlock, in the Blanched Soldier: Hi, so Watson's been telling me that I should try my hand at writing an account of a case because I always complain when he does it and he always goes "Well, do it yourself then!". But now I'm doing it myself l've actually found that he was right all along and what he does is so amazing because he makes me seem so much smarter than I am. He's actually much more brilliant than his stories would have you think. I don't keep him around out of sentiment. Oh no! He's actually incredible and I love talking with him because he's constantly amazed by what I do and he's so stubborn when he cares about something and- …He actually wasn’t here on this adventure as he had recently deserted me for a wife, the only selfish action of our acquaintance. Which I feel completely normal about thanks for asking, ANYWAY-

[hereticaldetective]

I know the The Adventure of the Three Garridebs brought us that moment when Holmes' "cold mask" is set aside and Watson can see how much he cares but people really sleep on this quote:

"I should know my Watson by now."

I should know my Watson by now? GAY. That's so gay. Are you kidding me?

[hereticaldetective]

drives me insane that there's barely any inspector gregson x inspector lestrade content

they're right there. they're work rivals who hate each other. they're "as jealous as a pair of professional beauties."

they're the enemies to lovers story we deserve.

[hereticaldetective]

the more i read sherlock holmes the more i think that he's just gay and autistic. that's it, that's the post.

[hereticaldetective]

God every time I read canon I’m blown away by how much of a DRAMA QUEEN Sherlock Holmes is. “It was one of those dramatic moments for which my friends lived” - Watson has accurately diagnosed that this man LIVES for the DRAMA