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kittymaverick · 4 years

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That Time of the Year Again (tm): Get ready for MCF 21: the Harbinger commentary!

It’s that time of the year yet again! Mystery Case Files 21: The Harbinger commentary. If anyone has been waiting for the hilarity that is my commentaries, I’m sorry I’m late this year. I actually started working as a freelance writer, and projects are coming in hot. Plus a recent family matter (not COVID-related. I’m thankfully in one of the safest places from it.) meant I had to put this on a back-burner. And then I guess I left it there for too long and triggered the smoke alarm, and people entered my inbox going “Are you okay???” So without further ado, let’s get this started. *cracks fingers* I have DUAL MONITORS NOW which means I can see my commentary AND watch the playthrough at the same time. (Yet, I still DON’T have a credit card. This is the new running joke.) I’m going to be watching YouGib’s playthough. Pazu also has his playthrough up. Spoilers below the cut as usual!

First, Grandma? A new studio? (A quick google shows they have done quite a bit of HOP titles and series.) Welcome to the MCF family! I hope you’re ready for the roasting that’s ahead. 8D MD: You mean the roasting they’ll let me do, right? I don’t know if they would be so nice as to grant you such catharsis right away. MD: Damn… It’s Grandma though. There’ll at least be cookies, right?

I like how “The” is in a place where you can almost read it as “The Mystery Case Files”, which MCF honestly deserves at this point. 21 years! That’s old enough to drink in the US!

(MD: Hm, old fashion building and clothes? Are we having some anachronistic adventure again--) CAT. Black cat. This is Isis. (MD: Not all black cats are Isis…) Yes they are. They are to me--

*Crystal ball* SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT.

Captions: (Otherworldly scream) Why yes, yes game, thank you for describing my exact reaction to seeing that darn crystal ball. I love this self-awareness and I hope it stays.

Oh nooooo, green beam of light… (Green was the color of souls used in old Ravenhearst games, and also the type of light that the Archivist from Moths to a Flame evaporated into, iirc.)

MD: Hm, a harbinger usually means something worse is coming up. So who’s harbinger to whom I wonder? Well you could say Emma, Madame Fate, or Victor was the harbinger to Charles, and then Charles himself was a harbinger to Alistair, who apparently was harbinger to the twins, who were also harbinger to Alistair again-- MD: Yes, I know, thank you, please stop. --and then he was harbinger to a Lord Ravenhearst who we never saw again, and then we picked it up again somehow to Phineas Crown though that was much earlier and the pirate was a harbinger of himself in a sense. In fact, I guess in a metasense, you could say each MCF game is a harbinger of the next-- MD: You haven’t even gotten past the opening so PLEASE STOP.

Hm, game difficulty settings-- no Master Detective level. Ten marks off. :( MD: Okay that’s unfair. Also Hardcore is one word. MD: Hey, I’m the pyromaniac, okay? Chill! (Me at recording: pick helpful messages, pick it! PICK IT!)

OH, a CHOICE?! Oh, wait, it’s just the main game and extra content.

THEY GAVE YOU YOUR BUGGY BACK. THEY GAVE IT BAAAAACK. AAAAAHHH. MD: Interior’s a little different, but yes, I HAVE MY CAR BACK AND NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW. MWAHAHAHA-- Queen: Something strange is happening in Darkmoor. MD: *Does a 180 and goes back home* [The end.] Just kidding. :P I love how all the names of the places we’re going to immediately screams DANGER. MD: If I turned back every time I heard a name like that, I would be a very different person today. Probably saner, less salty, and generally happier.

It took me a while to see clearly, but the bobblehead looks like default MD (the costume seems to be inspired by the Fate Carnival collectibles)! We can now safely assume that MD is either really afraid of the cold, or very, very desperately trying to hide their identity. MD: Don’t tell anyone… but the getup is like a security blanket. ...One that you wear?! MD: Shhhhhh not so loud…….

Queen: Several keywords related to your previous cases-- What keywords? What are they? MD: Ravenhearst? Souls? Pirates? Skulls? Crystal Ball? Madame Fate? Dire Grove? Death herself? Queen: I’m not revealing this mystery… it’ll give the whole plot away! ...Okay, I’m putting ten on Victor, twenty on Charlotte, thirty on Alistar, and a hundred on Charles-- MD: You CHEATER you were spoiled while GOOGLING. --actually, I should do a bingo board instead. Yeah, I’m gonna do that. (And then she spends ten minutes wasting time on that, before giving up. We are at… 2 minutes in of the playthrough. This is normal.)

Queen: We’ve detected a possible energy anomaly-- MD: I’m sorry, we have DONE WHAT?! You guys have technology for that??? MD: Where was this technology for like…. The past ten cases? I really could have used some of that before heading in! (Somewhere in the world, the Mystery Tracker detective hides his gadgets…) (Post video edit: Speaking off, he seems to have gone UFO now.)

*Radio fizzes out* MD: That’s not good. Um… UP AHEAD. MD: THAT’S REALLY NOT GOOD. DETECTIVE TAKE THE WHEEL!!!! MD: THIS BUGGY IS STILL ON MORTGAGE NO. (And the MD, the bobblehead, literally lost their head, lol.)

Gibs is definitely feeling the stylistic difference. I personally don’t think it detracts from the game right now, and if anything, it can open new avenues for MCF to explore. Also, awwww it’s not our old buggy, but hey, I like the red!

MD: Okay… agency device. Better use this to scan for creepy crawly energies. I’m so sad it’s not something you can get attached to… MD: I’m pretty damn attached to my new car, thank you very much. Well, the windshield is already broken, so I think it’s been marked as “readily expendable” emotionally. :P (Machine sort of reminds me of the old machine from Huntsville, actually… which did appear again in… Rewind?)

Wow, that royal decree is like… a permission slip from mom. XD MD: Enough to get people’s attention, but not enough for them to treat me seriously. You would think with lives at stake, they would send something more official? MD: If they did, I might just be out of a job, because half of my job seems to involve waiting for people to get in trouble. Also, marking this officer Davis down as “guy who might get into trouble later and need rescuing”.

...Okay, you know what the device could have been? A portable TV head. MD: I will PUNT that metal box so hard if they handed me one! Missed moment of creepy, honestly.

“The agency never ceases to amaze me”??? MD: I meant that in both the “wow, I can’t believe this is what you used our money on!” and the “wow, I can’t believe this is where you used our money instead of that other really important thing we could have had” sense. Never cease to amaze you in how disappointed you are at them, then. MD: After our last security breach, yes.

Solved Case Files, omg. And you carry it on your car.XD MD: The therapist said I needed to “express my outrage” more healthily than arson. And you made the WORLD NEWS???? Whatever happened to being the most secretive person in the world?! MD: Shhhhh let them keep guessing… (Also, Bobblehead isn’t our MD, it seems. A case of mistaken identity. Awww….)

Guy in purple: I didn’t do anything wrong! Hm, this guy is sus… also, we’re in the UK, confirmed? MD: ...As if the name didn't’ give it already. Also, SIR, SIR, YOU DROPPED YOUR purse……. Well I guess it’s my purse now.

Tarot cards as collectibles! More Madame Fate coming up?

Wow, that police station entrance was a time machine. We’re back in modern-day old town England! MD: ….pattern on floor, sus… Aaaaand power outage. Cue bars. Policeman trapped. Oops. MD: Number of people that needed rescuing is now one, and is exactly as I predicted.

Police: Um, can you come closer? I dunno man, you behind bars, pretty sus. Maybe you’re not a real police. Police: Oh please. We talking real? How about your prove you’re the real Master Detective-- MD: *Hands Queen’s note* Police: Right that’ll work. (We didn’t get to flash our badge?!)

Wait, you’re in a ROYAL AGENCY??? Did you.... change agencies or something??? MD: After the last game, can you really blame me if a headhunter came asking? Me: No but… you work for the CROWN???? MD: Hey, if me collecting stories for Grandma Queen wasn’t obvious enough, I don’t know what else to say.

Wow, an ACTUAL FLASH DRIVE. We’re actually in modern day society. XD Albeit one with really industrial looking computers. (Now I need to go and check if the old games used floppy disks…)

Witness 1: It’s not like she has a crystal ball! Suspect purple: Yeah, I’m a fair owner. Girl Aisling is a fortune reader. ...Madame Fate, Madame FATE, MADAME FATE. MD: Okay, maybe that cat WAS Isis after all. Guy: She likes watching ravens. MD and I, simultaneously: FUCK.

I have to say, the puzzles are quite refreshingly different from ones that have appeared in the past. Me likey.

Gibs sees victim photo on autopsy table: What a handsome devil he is! Me: *Dies laughing and fails to make comments for a while*

Oh wow, you can write coherently again! Actual journals! Clear sketches! (Actual cutscene replay???? TWENTY POINTS.) MD: Therapy can be a wonderful thing sometimes. ...Please tell me you’re talking actual therapy and not “I got to explode a ship and the pirates on it” therapy. MD: Well, that counts as therapy still, right?

Okay Madame Fate, if you have a daughter, or this is your granddaughter, please just descend from heaven and let us know right now. (...wait, didn’t Madame Fate have a son? The really big eater guy? Franco!) That said, it says the veil of time, which might be an allusion to the Dark Veil too.

Omg a FAX MACHINE.

Davis: Right, good luck heading into town to the victim’s home! MD: Yep! Thanks for being a rare competent soul in this universe! Really appreciate the help-- [Rose street.] MD: ...Is it too late to turn back? Yes, yes it is entirely too late. 8D Let’s gooooooooo! MD: *sighs*.

SHADOW IN JAMES’ HOUSE! SHADOW! MD: Probably Nigel. He was sneaking around already.

MENTION Of CAT. CAT. MD: ...are you broken? ...Yes. (It’s nearing 1 am. So Kitty commentary might be retroactive below.)

Huh, HOP has sections that unlock objects like in Dark Parables. Neat!

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Small town drama as usual. MD: The predictable disappointment of human nature. Why can’t I just have cases that deal with that? No supernatural stuff, just little town murder mysteries. Little Town Mystery Case Files, coming to a store near you soon! (I’ll be honest, Grandma, I would play that once, just to have MD be completely paranoid over nothing actually supernatural.)

Santa Claus Beard Guy: I hope I didn’t scare you. MD: I’ve had undead grip me through the window. A little shadow doesn’t spook me. A family whose last name begins with a D though rattles them. MD: Please don’t give away my weaknesses so quickly...

Santa Guy: So the cat kicked my ass. Can you get me some medicine? MD: Sure thing. BTW, where is this cat, and how can I recruit it to kick the asses of my enemies?

Eeeeehhhh complex door puzzles are back! Except they are now complex cupboard puzzles.

WOOOOOOOOOW that’s a LYNX if I ever saw one! MD: Hey, remember how I say I’m not good with animals? Too bad, grab the pet carrier, you’ll need it. MD: ...please don’t scratch me. Cat: *Roars* MD: *flips shit, runs and hides*

James has visited the Museum of Mysteries… And what’s with the MCF crest in his diary??? MD: Wait… Allison? ALLISON THE REPORTER??? Omg, James is her BROTHER. THEY HAVE THE SAME LAST TIME EVEN OMG. MD: ……….. I’m NOT going to be the deliverer of this bad news. Hey MD, does that curse that surrounds people associated with you extend to their families? MD: Thank you for going where my brain didn’t want to, now kindly proceed no further. Just morbidly wondering…...

MD: They… they visited all the places that my cases took place. EVEN A HOUSE I REPORTED BURNED DOWN AND EXPLODED. AND THEN CAMPED OUT IN DIRE GROVE. MY GODS ALMIGHTY YOU TWO!!!! ...These siblings don’t have a lot of self-preservation sense, huh? MD: There are some things that should NOT run in the family. This is one of them. (I’ll be honest. Just… HOW can the MD process this kind of guilt??? Kudos to you, Grandma Studios. This is possibly the most evil story choice ever, and you went there. Slow, claps. Seriously. That said there is a small plothole here with James saying he was there when MD rescued Allison. I think that might be a translation/grammar error though.)

Journal: Oh btw John worked on the Ravenhearst manor restoration. MD: *grabs John* WHY. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME AND TO THE WORLD?! John: Um….. it was work? MD: SOME PLACES ARE BETTER OFF GONE. Hey, look on the bright side. You can burn it down again as therapy! John: Oh btw, I made the elaborate locks-- MD: *Begins to strangle John* NO HOMICIDES MASTER DETECTIVE! You investigate them, not commit them! MD: TELL ME THAT AFTER I’M DONE.

MD: Okay, John. Let me be clear on one thing. You are now number one sus on my list of “The person that’s gonna betray me in the end” right now, and probably staying there. If you turn out to be one of the Dalimars or their crony in disguise, I will END YOU. Are we clear? John: ………… MD: What? John: You’re more terrifying than James’ cat--

*Another prevention of homicide later…* MD: Alright, fine. Containers, opened. Toy, fixed. “Cat”, got. Now take it and get out. John: Thanks, here is the final piece to that closet door that I totally have been keeping from you this whole time. ….Seriously???? MD: ….Like I said, top of my shitlist. *Reads the closet puzzle poem* On second thought GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE I HAVE QUESTIONS!

James is the greatest dork. He locked his special diary entries with a lock. I’m so sad we didn’t get to meet him in person. Though that said... MD: My gods, some common sense is really missing from this family’s mind. Seeds from the carnival?! A cube from probably dire grove??? How does it feel knowing you contributed indirectly to his demise? 8D MD: ...It’s like seeing someone win the Darwin award and feeling bad that you are the one handing the trophy to them.

Davis: Oh hey, a cassette? Let me go and get the camera for it. We’ll meet later! MD: Wait a second, you’re gonna end up dead if you do that! Davis: No, I’m gonna be fine! Here’s a ticket to the night market! Have fun! MD: …… ...More Darwin award nominations? MD: No. Awww….

Marge: Oh hi detective! Thank you for saving me and my daughter so many years ago! MD: …. Who are you again? *Goes to google* Oh, she’s that woman from Reverant’s Hunt…. MD: Ah, the gossip hen. My gods what’s with this town and its inhabitants… It’s like all the people connected to you which fate has yet to kill are all showing up again for a chance of going to the afterlife! 8Db MD: That would be the worst lottery ever. All in the life of being Master Detective’s friend! Forecast for percent of death: high! MD: *curls up in a corner to be depressed*

Nigel: What do you want? MD: Here are your seeds. Nigel: Okay I’m gone! MD: Right, now Aisling-- WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING. Crow: Caw-caw! MD: You, you’re not Crowlister, but if you are responsible, I will make you one very bald bird.

Okay, soooooo what do we do? MD: Removed what the device can. Guess we’re down to brewing this… tea... ...I think you need this tea more than her, honestly.

“I expect these MCF references now.” XD I think the 4th wall has just been shattered into oblivion.

Aisling: I see death all around you Master Detective! MD: Thank you for stating the obvious that has been made abundantly clear by the past hour and a half of plot. Davis: Hey waddap? MD: ….*breaks down sobbing* YOU’RE STILL ALIVE THANK GOODNESS! *hugs Davis* Davis: Um… what’s going… anyway, you should look at the video.

MD: Nigel! This video here suggests something. Want to talk before I make you? Nigel: This proves nothing! Now go away, I have preparations to-- Noooooooooo! *Nigel is swallowed by the earth* ……...MD? MD: NOT IT. WASN’T ME. DEFINITELY NOT ME! You saw that right, Davis? Davis: Oh no, he’s dead! Guess we’ll need to exhume him. MD: Now hold on, that reaction is just WAAAAAY TO BLAND.

(Watched a little bit ahead. I have some theories on who Aisling might be, since Gib’s thumbnail does appear to hint at it. We’ll see where it goes!)

(Aaaaand I was right!)

[Here ends entry one. Part two is going to be even more retroactive...]

#Mystery Case files #The Harbinger #MCF

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mesmerizingmegan · 6 years

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Memoirs of Lola

Written on April 15, 1998, by my grandmother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and passed away in August 2014. She was born on May 19, 1926, in Springfield, Tenn., to George and Lennie Miller. She has lived in Alexandria most of her lifetime. She and her late husband Orville Wright farmed east of Alexandria for several years. She was a member of the Omega Nu Tau Sorority formerly in Alexandria. She was a longtime and active member of the Alexandria First United Methodist Church where was a member of the robed choir. Lola had been a member of the Girls Scouts of America since the age of 10 all the way through senior scouts. Lola researched her family history to discover that she had an ancestor, Thomas Farmer, who was a Revolutionary War soldier, which enabled her to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was privileged to discover Thomas Farmer’s headstone near family burial plots in Tennessee. Lola had also worked as a columnist for the Alexandria Times-Tribune.

A large two-story home on Monroe Street in Alexandria, Indiana when I was five years old; this is one of my earliest memories. Nothing of consequence before that. We had been given a Spitz dog which we named Fluffy and we loved her, all seven of us children, with Mom and Dad.

We had a hill going down, just steps from our back door, and we used to ride our ‘push-mobiles’ -- homemade vehicles invented by my brothers that were powered using a broom handle to push -- and coasting down that long, long hill.

The world was far away, but a home-built radio, by brother George, told occasionally of things like the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s baby, the catching of Bruno Hauptmann, the abdication of King Edward of England so he could marry a divorcee, Wallis Simpson Warfield, the Hindenburg disaster, and about the president of the United States, President Franklin Roosevelt.

The home on Monroe Street was the first home to be bought in Alexandria and we all helped, even in very small ways, to pay the $11.00 per month payments to a Mr. Couch. There were three other rentals before this, all in this small, central Indiana town. The move from Tennessee was made by train and interurban in mid-1929.

My most vivid memories were of our busy home life, with Brother and I keeping wood chopped and ready for the heating and cooking stoves. We planted and tended a large garden (in railroad property) down the alley; picking and canning quarts of ‘end o garden’ veggies for the winter. Always helping Mother with quilts which were usually made of castoffs cut into squares and backed with outing flannel. Best of all, we were interested in our school books and assignments, and thankfully, were good students. Our clothes (especially during the Great Depression) were meager, at best, as well as our meals. Out of the seven children, three were high school valedictorians, one salutatorian and others in the top 3% of the class.

Another vivid memory of mine came about on the 4th of July while we were young. The older boys would work for money to buy fireworks and set off many a tin can lightning into the air and bursting into flames. After setting a 1.5-inch firecracker under the edge, they lit the fuse and stood back to see it go smoking into the air and land we knew not where. When home displays came to be considered too dangerous, I felt sorry that youngsters were to be deprived of this great holiday sight.

I greatly enjoyed playing with a neighbor girl, Helen, and being in Girl Scouts. One year we were actually able to afford one week at G.S. summer camp due to the generosity of a sister, Louise.

One memory of early childhood that was quite pleasing was with the dog, Fluffy. She was pure white, so when she needed a bath it was quite obvious. We were given the okay to bathe her in the bathtub, with her own drying cloths, including a ragged half-sheet; after she was rinsed and set on the linoleum and dried with the white sheet, she was then quite sure she did not want anyone to touch her as she knew she was clean and untouchable (for a half-day or so). It was like she was stuck up.

One thing I learned in a comical way, the brother just older, Pat, and I used to argue quite a lot until Dad tired after one dumb spat and told us we were to kiss each other as punishment; we both declared, “NO WAY!”, and I remember that that was the last dispute of any consequence between us.

A very bad accident happened about 1932 when our Dad was helping to build a scaffolding at Stillwell’s Gravel Pit to a height of 19 feet and fell off, landing on his feet; causing ankle, knee, and hip joint fractures. He was on crutches for many months and was told he would never walk again, but he did. He went back to a cane later in life, in his Golden Years.

The siblings in our Miller family could be described as loyal, caring and close-knit for many years, but rivalry and other disagreements would later arise. No doubt, this happens in the best of families. Pat, third youngest, was an epileptic, and at times, he needed extra attention. Fred had crossed eyes which drew jeers from his peers, causing family concerns, too. He had eye surgery at age 16, funded by brother George.

I remember my Grandmother and Grandfather Miller in Springfield, Tennessee best. When we visited them they had all this big farmland where we could run and investigate, complete with a creek. Also, when we were there, all the other Miller relatives would come on Sunday afternoon and bring freezers and we would make ice cream with the milk from the cows that Grandpa milked. Grandpa had lost a thumb when a mule, Ol’ Jim, had spooked and ran away with the reins taking Grandpa’s thumb with him. His milking without that thumb was an amazement to me.

Holidays were pretty much routine for us as we never got to go anyplace special. We dressed up a little more than usual to go to church, though. However, I was often asked by the Sullivans, Helen’s parents Dick and Dorothy, to go with them to a wilderness/woods near Wabash, Indiana to Frances’ Slocum birthplace, later to become a State Park, for hiking and picnicking. The wonder of F. Slocum being taken away at a young age by a band of Indians and never returning was a scary thing. I later learned that she was found in her old age by two brothers and she chose to stay with her Indian family.

- In 1835 Slocum revealed to a visitor that she was a white woman who had been captured at five years old, and two years later, in September 1837, three of Slocum's siblings came to see her. They confirmed that she was their sister, but Slocum chose to stay with her Miami family in Indiana. Slocum fully assimilated into the Native American culture and was accepted as one of its members. -

In 5th grade, I wrote a two-act play that was chosen by classmates to be acted out. It was called, “The Robins’ Busy Day” with Mr. and Mrs. Robin, Reddie, Ruddy, and Ruby. I still have a copy. I also remember flying kites with Pat; repairing and making some new ones using homemade paste made with flour and water. Mom made the best paste.

A special trip that I recall was in 1939. I went with my sister and brother-in-law and my niece to New York and Connecticut. We went to the Worlds’ Fair and on an afternoon cruise on Long Island Sound. We saw the Tryon and Perisphere, symbols of the Fair, and saw them again from the ship. On one of our trips back to the state of our ‘roots’, Tennessee, we had car trouble. Dad had replaced a tube in the right front tire the day before we left and had not gotten the lug nuts back on tight so the wheel tire tube fell off somewhere near Hope, Indiana. At the time, the town name was the only hope we had to drive on ‘til someone came by who had a tire jack and we could get the tire back on and proceed on our trip south, most joining in a chorus of ‘Back Home in Tennessee’.

OH YES, we were a musical family. While living in one of the rentals in east Alexandria, our family combined singing talent into...

...knockers with notched edges, with a tied-on-string to wrap and pull on a door or window at Halloween. Soaping windows or throwing eggs was a no-no back then. I liked to play softball on a corner lot with neighbor kids; also swim at Beulah Park pool. I learned to make fudge about this time and another friend and I would visit for the night and make a batch. We got to making it very good.

Without reservation I would say, I love my whole family, starting with parents, George and Lennie Ethel Miller, siblings, their families and especially my own children and grandchildren. My second love would be my country, the United States of America.

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