Graeme Garden

Detective Graeme Garden was an active detective in Scotland Yard during the Second World War. He was Grace Garden's uncle and her primary guardian from 1930 to 1943. He appeared in Discord Murder Party as the first official Reflection. He was played by DBGreece.

## Appearance

Graeme is a tall slim man, standing at 6'3". He has blue eyes and brown hair, with large sideburns. He wears a beige trenchcoat, white shirt, and brown tie, with brown pants and brown sensible work shoes. His trenchcoat is adorned with a detective badge. He also wears thick square glasses.

## Background

Graeme Garden is the oldest of two children, his younger brother being Alastair Garden. Though their parents were Scottish, they were both born and raised in London. Not much is known about their childhood, but the Garden family was known for being detectives for generations, and both brothers were expected to follow suit, which Graeme evidently did. After their father's death however, Alastair declared he wanted to drop his studies and seek another career, as he didn't want to be a detective. Graeme did not take kindly to this, berating Alastair and declaring he was dishonouring their father by doing so. After one heated argument, Graeme struck Alastair, which was the final straw for Alastair to leave home and move to Scotland. Graeme never saw him again, despite Alastair's attempts to keep in contact with him.

Years later, Graeme received a call that his brother and his wife, Maura, were dead. It was then revealed to him that they had a child, whom Graeme had no knowledge of. Though reluctant at first, he decided to take the child in, as a final act of respect for his brother. In 1930, he would meet a seven-year-old Grace Garden for the first time, and become her primary guardian.

Over the years, their relationship was constantly strained. Graeme was emotionally cold and was unable to make a warm connection with Grace. Instead he constantly criticised and corrected her, rarely showing praise. He corrected her accent, citing her Scottish dialect as "improper". He decided to homeschool her himself in between work, deciding for her that she would grow up to be a detective and continue the tradition of the Garden family. Over the years, this turned into an obsessive revenge against Alastair for trying to escape from it. Because of which, Graeme's beratement of his brother became more vocal, which greatly upset Grace. But there was nothing she could do to change his mind, and his reserved personality soon began to rub off on her.

When England declared war on Germany in 1939, Graeme refused to have Grace evacuated, citing that no trouble had come to the doorstep yet, and it would only disrupt her studies. Two years later, with half of Scotland Yard being conscripted for the war, Graeme saw his opportunity and finally got Grace a position as a detective. That day, he took her to a café he would normally only take her to for her birthday, and finally admitted he was proud of her.

This pride was shortlived however when it was evident that Grace was not mentally ready to handle her job. Her weak stomach and struggles with the moral choices the job came with quickly irritated Graeme, and his emotional abuse worsened. He chastised Grace constantly, reminding her that emotions should have no part in being a detective. Whilst this advice initially appeared to work, Grace would constantly break down after work, further testing Graeme's impatience and leading the abuse to become physical. One night, he finally discovered that Grace's memories between work and home had completely disconnected, and the following confrontation led to Grace fighting back and attacking him. The next day at work, horrified that the "Detective" seemingly had no memory of this, he quickly left as she approached him, and was never seen again.

Graeme Garden's fate is currently unknown, though many have concluded he was killed in a following blitz. Whilst Grace initially believed he had abandoned her in fear, she has become open to the possibility he was trying to find her help, and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

## In-Game

Shortly after Grace's awakening, Tommy Gwendolyn's unstable form transformed into Graeme Garden and he appeared in the Higurashi scenario, which visibly made Grace uncomfortable. This reflection of Graeme, much like in real life, was openly critical of Grace, berating her for being unable to take on the role of a leader, and reminding her of what she can and can't do as a detective. Grace's personality in response became quiet and submissive.

Towards the end of the scenario, Graeme was attacked by the murderer, but his role as a Witch allowed him to save himself. He concluded that Doctor McGillicutty was the one who had attempted to kill him, and he in turn used his tools to fatally wound him. This was the final trigger for Grace to drop the mask of the Detective and finally reveal the "Host". Her bottled anger towards her uncle finally broke out and sent her into hysterics, causing her to break the rules and murder Graeme. His final words were used to disown her, declaring that no family of his could be such an incompetent detective.

Graeme would appear one final time in the Lotus Eater. As Grace had been placed in her ideal world, this version of Graeme was a lot more positive and supportive, having let Grace study English at university instead. He offered Grace a job at Scotland Yard, but let her know that she was free to choose whatever she wanted to be in life. Once they left the café and passed by the alleyway where Grace met the Murder God, Graeme attempted to stop her from investigating it, telling her she was not a detective yet. Grace snapped at him in confusion, telling him she was, before proceeding. Graeme tried to call her back, but he was drowned out by a sudden air-raid siren.

## Personality

Graeme's reflection was presented as a very cold and serious man. He was shown to be very focused, determined to solve who the killers were, and became visibly irritated and stressed whenever he was being distracted. Nonetheless, he remained patient, and was willing to work with those around him in order to prevent further killings. Furthermore, he was shown to have a sense of morality and a duty of care to the greater good, stating that pushing innocent people would only lead to the real killer escaping, and further bloodshed would remain on your hands. He performed well as the leader upon being nominated, organising everyone quickly and immediately asking for alibis.

However, he was shown to have an emotionally abuse side, being quick to constantly berate Grace at any sign of weakness or struggle. He constantly implied that she was being useless to the case, and nothing she did was seemingly good enough for him. When she murdered him, his last words were used to disown her. Whilst this appearance of Graeme was only a reflection, Grace affirms that his critical behaviour was the norm, which greatly affected her mental health.

## Trivia

* Graeme was the first official Reflection in Discord Murder Party.
	+ It was previously believed that Marshall Simon was a reflection of Vincent's son, but this has since been disputed.
* Graeme's reflection was unique, as he appeared through Tommy Gwendolyn, as opposed to forming alone.
	+ This caused early confusion for fans, and led to the meme of: "Tommy is Grace's Uncle".
* Graeme is a smoker, as shown in the Higurashi scenario.
* Graeme is asexual, believing a relationship would do nothing but interfere with work.
* Grace once revealed that she wrangled a goose by the neck, much to Graeme's displeasure.
* The character of Graeme is loosely based on a British comedian, also called Graeme Garden, who appeared in The Goodies during the 1970s.