#get yourself a man who looks at you like hastings looks at poirot

[violaobanion]

AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT 1x04 Four and Twenty Blackbirds

[tinavy35]

Was rereading some Poirot short stories and realized something: Poirot never forgot his failure.

MAJOR SPOILERS for “The Chocolate Box” and Curtain: Poirot’s Final Case.

In “The Chocolate Box”, the killer saw the victim committed murder but had no way to prove to the police he did it. Years later, she decided to kill him because he, a womanizer, was seducing a young woman. The killer realized that if left to his own, the victim would ruin the lives of more women, so she killed him with medication and made it look like a heart attack.

Poirot considered this case a failure on his part because he was going down the wrong track with his investigation. The killer confessed to her crime so Poirot wouldn’t get the wrong person arrested. She pointed out that she was dying from illness and God will judge her before any human could. Poirot decided to drop the case and the killer died a week later. The story ends with a joke about how Poirot was so full of himself that he forgot his failure while telling the story of said failure.

The thing is, Poirot often likes to act dumb. He never forgot that failure and his actions in Curtain reflects that.

In Curtain, Poirot is now in the killer’s position. Like the killer in “The Chocolate Box”, Poirot is old and dying by this point. He knows a man is responsible for several murders but had no way to prove it. Poirot knows that if he let this man live, he will cause more deaths. So the great detective committed murder and made it look like suicide.

In Poirot’s last letter to Hastings, he explained his crime and why he did it. In the letter, Poirot mentioned that as a former policeman, he knew what it’s like to take the law into his own hands for the greater good. “The Chocolate Box” is the only story that took place when Poirot was a policeman. Him mentioning his old career from long ago shows that he never forgot that time. Furthermore, like the killer in “The Chocolate Box”, Poirot said that he will let God judge him and stopped taking his heart medication. He ends up dying from a heart attack hours after committing the murder.

Poirot’s past as a policeman. The knowledge of a murderer who cannot be brought to justice. Making the decision to bring an end to the crimes by becoming a murderer yourself. Letting God rather than men judge you for your crime. And lastly, a death by heart attack due to misuse of medication. Poirot may have not mentioned the incident with the Chocolate Box in his old age, but he sure as hell never forgot it.

[guardmesherlock-rowan]

Sick MC/Reader cont.

Anon:   Hi! We have main trio dealing with sick MC, but can you please write headcanons for other characters as well?

Of course!  For those new, the mini sick headcanon was the first one I did while forced to be at work during a dead day while recovering from a cold.  Link to be found here.

(understand that this request was made long before the pandemic)

Mycroft Holmes

A low grade fever means he wants you in bed resting.  Pushing yourself means your low fever could get worse.  If you do get worse, of course he’ll see about having a doctor come over to check on you.  Probably John due to knowing he can trust him.  Though if it’s more complicated then he would ask someone who has a specific knowledge in the field (despite if the person lacks bedside manner).  His worry about you does not stop unless he knows how you’re doing.  If he has to work and you’re home sick he will set up a camera so he can check in on you more easily.  Though he’d want to be home with you to take care of you.  Which is very sweet, but also a little concerning as that means one terrible thing: Homemade chicken noodle soup.

   Jack Stillman (warning: this is more based off of the him that I’ve headcanoned instead of what we got in his route)

Once it’s confirmed he’s in love he has a way of showing it.  He might be a little bit of a sadist, and likes to tease, but he is always deadly seriously about safe words and not liking things happening to you that he’s not in control of.  Little scrapes and bruises are met with scolding and a keen doctor eye.  Which makes illnesses all the more frustrating.  He will take you at your word that you’re fine unless he finds proof otherwise.  A sniffle.  Looking a little pale or ‘green around the gills’.  All are indicators for him to check on you.  If you prefer to do things on your own he will be beside you each step of the way to make sure you don’t get into serious trouble.  Otherwise he will have strict doctor’s orders to follow and he expects you to listen.  While he might not make a habit of staying at your place regularly, this is a special circumstance.  You can find him sleeping on your sofa with a timer near by to wake him up to check on you.

  Sebastian Moran

He is not the best at knowing when you’re sick.  He’s also not the best at knowing how to handle it.  No matter the illness, once he knows, he’s insisting you stay in his bed.  He’ll bring you different home remedies for what ails you.  And others that make no sense.  Any and all ‘old wives tales’ that he finds are going to be tried if only so he can do something to help you.  Course he’d let James know, but mostly so they end up both trying to take care of you.  He might even drag Jack into his room and tell him to make you better.  Only to watch with a careful eye and most likely a ready trigger in case Jack tries anything, even if he exclaims that Sebastian needs to calm down and let him work.  You can guarantee that once Jack and James have gone to bed Sebastian will be herding his cats into the room so that they may snuggle with you.  Sometimes just being with those that comfort you can be the best medicine when you have nothing else at your disposal.

  Jeremy Cassel

This guy knows how to make home made meals that are meant to comfort you or help get different vitamins into you when you need them.  Or so he’s read, and heard, mostly from Mycroft.  He will insist, no matter the illness that you get up and walk, even a little bit, even if it’s from the bed to the balcony.  Fresh air and sunlight.  If he cannot move you from your place to his, then he will be there with you, making sure everything stays clean, making sure your windows stay open.  He will do what legitimate work he can from your place.  But he will have, more or less, moved in.  This man also has little to no care for his own safety as he holds you at night, trying to comfort you.  Most likely getting himself sick in the process. 

  Hercule Poirot

He will clean everything.  You can stay at your own home, which is fine, but firstly he will see about getting professional cleaners to take care of the rest of your home.  He will want to oversee it of course.  Helping get you to the sofa to let them clean your bedroom before you go back to lying down.  Whatever made you sick had to be removed.  Which means changing your bedding everyday.  Also insists on having you taking a bath and that he helps.  Which first sounds flustering, until he comes into the bathroom with elbow length gloves and a face mask on to make sure he doesn’t catch what you have so he can keep monitoring you and not feel compromised.  He will read you to sleep, make sure the food you eat is nutritious and easy on your stomach if needed.  You can ask him for a full report on what you went through as he’s made note of it.  In case there was any pattern that meant he needed to get the opinion of a specialist.

  Arthur Hastings

If you say it’s nothing, he will agree.  If you tell him that you’re just tired, he will believe you.  Up until the moment you pass out from fever or can no longer talk from your sore throat.  He will take you at your word, not because he’s a gullible person, but because he trusts that you would be doing what you can to take care of yourself.  After all, if you got sick you’d be worrying a lot of fans, friends, and family.  Especially your boyfriend.  Once he knows you’re sick he will make recommendations, but will not always be able to enforce it because he cannot take time off of work to stay home.  But he can conference call you often and keep you on the call so he can check in on you and you can talk to him whenever you want or need to.  It gives him a piece of mind to be able to see you while you’re sick, and he likes to think it makes you feel better being able to see him.  When he can be there he will try to make sure you take care of yourself.  If you are supposed to be doing something and are too tired he will help you do it.  He wants you to know you can depend on him.

  George Lestrade

This fool will not notice unless it becomes abundantly clear.  You telling him, or straight out collapsing on him, or throwing up in front of him(That last one will have him reeling at first, worrying that you’re pregnant or poisoned).  He does try his best afterwards to take care of you, but he has a more hands off approach, asking what you need and jumping to get it done ASAP.  You say you need fried chicken from the place across town to sooth your fever?  ON IT.  You say that you need him to rub your back in the bath to keep your nausea at bay?  He will climb in that tub fully clothed if you don’t remind him to take off his clothes at first.  He struggles at times to take care of himself, and he struggles at times to remember how to properly look after you.  He knows this, and tries.  Which means if you say you need something he will not question it.  Even if John comments about what you really should be getting, because surely you know better, it’s not like John’s a doc- (be kind to him.  He is gullible.  He will eventually remember that John is not just Sherlock’s assistant, but actually a doctor)

  Mikah Hudson (older Mikah)

Immediately excited that he has a chance to show you how good he is at taking care of you!  He sends you to bed, and later comes back with soup, but first he insists on taking your temperature.  Is constantly looking up your symptoms just in case, and paying attention to different forums to see if there is any bug going around.  Anything that could give him a heads up on what to expect.  There is a box of tissues if your nose starts running, and two more back up boxes, just in case you need them.  There are many times when you wake up in the middle of the night to find him sleeping on the floor so he is there to make sure you’re okay.  You being sick makes it hard for him to focus on anything else.  John will sneak in to check on you.  If he tries to do it with Mikah there, Mikah is right over his shoulder making sure that he isn’t trying to hit on you in your vulnerable state.  He will get a baby monitor if you let him so he can keep listening in on you while he’s tries to take care of 221B, but if Sherlock makes any loud noises that could wake you up, there will be hell to pay.

  Henry Jekyll

Despite what others may think of him, he is not a physician.  He is a chemist.  That said, when he realizes you are sick, he will start to make recommendations on you resting and starting to address your minor symptoms.  If you get worse he will just as calmly suggest what you to do to take care of yourself.  While he insists that he cannot force you to take care of yourself, he is checking in on you often, despite the pleas that he focuses on his work.  Taking care of his brother has given him a view on taking care of the sickly as ‘you can only do so much if they insist on wearing themselves out’.  This doesn’t stop him from worrying and wanting to be by your side, reading to you, getting you food himself.  Anything to help watch over you, the most he can do is order for food to be delivered to you so he knows you’re at least getting that while he’s away.

  Edward Hyde

He doesn’t pay too much attention to small stuff.  Chalking it up to allergies or not enough sleep.  If you got sick to the point of needing of feeling fatigued or dizzy from fever he immediately sits you down and gets you comfortable.  As soon as he’s sure you’re good he’ll be in the other room calling Henry to get advice.  His voice on the edge of panic and uncertainty, if this was someone bothering you, sure, easy fix.  However, with a disease there was little he could do besides follow the directions Henry gives him while he watches over you.  He’d still go out and take care of things, but you have his phone number.  He also calls you every few hours to make sure you’re okay.  If he has to go out while you’re very unwell he will call Henry to come watch over you.  

  ‘Irene’ (based off of the conwoman headcanon)

Did she have medical training?  Maybe.  She’d never tell you.  Mostly because that wasn’t what was important.  Starting from a mild fever she’d start tracking your symptoms, asking for help moving furniture if it got to the point that she needed to make sure you were well rested.  Meaning the bed was going into the living room so she could cook and not have to go too far to see you.  Every cough or sniffle was scrutinized as she worried over you.  She’d hold you and cuddle you every chance she got, but she would go and wash up afterwards just in case.  No sense in getting you better only to have you turn around and have to take care of her. 

 (please like, comment, and/or reblog to let me know what you thought and to let others know my blog is still alive)

[ambiguous-fixer]

The ABC Murders: My take on the series

I have to say that right from the get go, I was prepared to fully dislike this adaptation. Firstly, because I am a Poirot purist and Suchet is the definitive Poirot for me. Secondly, The Moustache ™. Where was the detective's trademark moustache, and his idiosyncratic fastidiousness? "ALL WRONG" my mind screamed. There is neither order, nor method. Just look at the colour palette and the interiors of the flat. You will register the dissonance in design. Poirot is associated with modernity, angles and minimalism. This flat is neither. Its harsh yellow lighting and unflattering wallpaper are a reminder that this isn't the flat of the Hercule Poirot we know and love. Miss Lemon is not here to sort his mail, and hand him his tisane. There isn't a second coat that hangs upon the rack.

Hercule is a lonely, ageing man who colours his beard. It is not mere vanity. The beard symbolically harkens back to a time when Hercule Poirot was known, celebrated, and loved. Time is not on this Poirot's side. There is a tide of nationalism sweeping the nation. "Is the killer English?" is more of a concern for the locals since they are quite suspicious of foreigners and immigrants. A clever way of mirroring the contemporary global situation, as well as Brexit.

Poirot is no longer in a position of influence with the Yard. He is working alone. "You will not catch ABC without me" he warns them, as he walks away. He is right. The Yard is filled with absolute fools who have no idea what a dangerous antagonist they are dealing with. Speaking of ABC, Eamon Farren does a solid job with his terrifying portrayal of Cust in some very disturbing scenes. Watch out for this name in the future.

Novel versus Series:

The greatest mystery of the series is Poirot himself. Who is he, really? It is this, that drives Franklin Clarke's obsession with Hercule Poirot. He says that he was spell bound by Poirot at a "murder party" they both attended years ago. This sets up the odd delusional fixation, which ends in five murders. Baiting Poirot, Clarke draws parallels between "the dark and the light, the hunter and the hunted". Very reminiscent of the Joker/Batman scene. Just like that scene, there is nothing to distract from the two men. No dreary, dramatic prison cell. No grime covered, languishing Clarke. This adds a layer of intimacy and calculated intensity to the final encounter.

1. In the novel, Megan Barnard is paired off with her cheating ex - fiance. I always wondered why she would do something stupid like that. Here, she rejects Donald and goes out the window to make a new life on her own.

2. The original novel had ABC get the flat address wrong for the third murder, while here it is delivered to Poirot's neighbour.

3. The novel didn't have a fifth murder, while this does.

4. The biggest change - No Captain Hastings.

5. An unnecessary element of ventriloquism in the series, which isn't present in the book.

6. The novel didn't have Poirot throwing murder parties like a cheap magician. This is a pet peeve of mine. DON'T COMPROMISE POIROT LIKE THAT! Hercule Poirot is nobody's bitch. He does not dance for your money. 

Ultimately... Is Malkovich's Poirot the better one? No. He could have worked on perfecting the accent. Is he a bad Poirot? No. But, will you enjoy it? Yes. So give The ABC Murders a go. You will find yourself lost in this mystery, gripping as ever.

Purists, what annoyed you the most about this version of Poirot? What did you like? Let's discuss.