#prior ferenc

[mazurga]

How dare you?!

[sappho-ilmarinen]

I want to talk about Prior Ferenc for a moment. When Andreas wakes up on the very first day, he has this stack of books which you can examine. It says Ferenc gave them to him. And I got very excited, because as a hungarian it's always cool to see hungarians in media. Then I got to know what Ferenc is actually like.

He runs the scriptorium and is a total ass about it. Probably does witchcraft. The baron asked him to treat his STDs with black magic. He's a murder suspect. He buries suspicious ritual shit in the monastery graveyard. If you let him live he will become an inquisitor and pardons heretics, possibly due to his background.

10/10 hungarian rep, the only guy ever. Nobody does it like him. I hate him. He's the only hungarian to ever exist.

[feastofsnakes]

This isn't necessarily who you chose, but who you think was most likely to have actually killed him.

[moonliteve]

an analysis of the dance of death murals in act 3 of pentiment

So I finally finished the game last night and it absolutely wrecked me :') the Chapter House scene in act 3 left a huge impression on me and since I couldn't find much on the deeper meanings of the murals Andreas drew, I tried to analyze the symbolism and what they each represent :) I'm not an expert by any means so if anyone has more insight on something I haven't mentioned please feel more than free to add your own thoughts, I'd love to see them

[vinndas]

doomed by the narrative kinda doodles

[kiersau]

The Pact

My piece from the Pentiment Winter Exchange, for @saint-vesuvius

[dijon-mayonnaise]

Modern AU part 3: Ferenc’s style fluctuates from exuberant catholic priest to victorian goth

[quenthel]

It is my pleasure to inform you that Cyberpunk 2077: The Phantom Liberty has a side character named Jago Szabó, who is a Hungarian trans dude who inexplicably wears his hair in an 18th-century wig style

omg...

he looks kinda silly... good for him i guess lol. also he has a polish first name for some reason which is kind of funny ngl

[mazurga]

Andreas!

[noodledragon]

I’m getting the feeling Act 1 is very open ended (i just finished the second court dream right before the archdeacon investigation) and *rattles cage* I want to do a second play through and see what else comes up

[luceirosdegolados]

"Your decisions don't really matter in Pentiment."

If you show prior Ferenc grace and mercy in act 1 he will in turn show the same grace to Ursula and Vacslav when they need him most.

You can encourage a lonely man to find love.

You can encourage a sad kid to pursue his passion and become the father his own father never was.

I hear that you can also have enough of an impact on Werner for him to actually help someone?

I don't know if I mattered but Andreas and Magdalene sure did matter. They mattered so much to so many.

I am an emotional wreck.

[kyndaris]

Small Town Murders

After traversing the ins and outs of Valisthea for quite a few weeks, I thought it would be best to play something short and sweet. Especially something more experimental than traditional video games. And though I bought this last year on Steam (frankly, I have far too many games on Steam and not all of them are as recent as 2022), Pentiment has seen a recent release on PlayStation 5. A decision Microsoft made before it shut down several studios and then tried to Jedi mind-trick the audience by providing one of their most impressive game showcases at their presentation following Summer Game Fest.

There are two things I want to say following the smorgasbord of games on offer: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 looks absolutely fascinating and I can't wait to get my hands on it. And two: thank goodness Obsidian Entertainment has not yet been shut down. Their work with Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds have been some of my favourites and I keep hoping they'll upend Besthesda with their superior writing and lovable characters.

But, this post isn't about Obsidian Entertainment. Rather, it's about their game styled as a point-and-click 2D adventure called Pentiment. With its unique art style and historical setting of 16th century Upper Bavaria, the game immediately stood out to me as something special. Especially as it contained mystery components!

Placed in the shoes of one Andreas Maler, a journeyman artist, Pentiment follows the story of him and the town of Tassing over the course of 25 years. During each act, the player must help solve the murder that occurs. The first is Baron Lorenz Rothvogel, a longtime benefactor of Kiersau but who harbours divisive views that go against Christian beliefs of the abbey. The second is that of Otto, the leader of a brewing rebellion due to heavy taxation.

And while Claus is not immediately killed when he is attacked in the privacy of his home, there is a certain tension there where Magdalene (the protagonist for the third act following a huge fire at the end of Act 2) must contend with caring for her father, finishing off the mural for the council meeting hall and trying her best to keep the printing press in her home running. What I appreciated the most, though, was Magdalene's chat with Brigita during the first half of Act III.

As someone who has had to care for a loved one following something a terrifying health scare, I appreciate it when people not only ask if my family member is all right but also enquire as to my wellbeing. There were moments during that week where I felt very overwhelmed. Knowing people cared - not just about my grandmother but for me too - truly helped me get through a difficult time.

What stood out to me as I navigated the town of Tassing and interacted with its characters, were the themes the game wasn't afraid to explore. Be they religion and the authority bestowed on the church from local lords to the plight of the peasants struggling to put food on the table. The game was also quick to put me on the back foot by showing two sides of each story when it came to the possible suspects (though it never confirms which, if any, of the suspects was truly guilty).

More often than not, I was led mostly by my gut (and who I felt acted most like an arsehole). And while the internet deemed Lucky the most guilty when it came to the death of the Baron, I still find it hard to fathom the means by which Lucky would have been able to sneak in the abbey to do the deed and then sneak back out. True, he has the strength and the motivation but there was a storm!

And while the archdeacon condemned Prior Ferenc after I'd presented most of the evidence, it does still puzzle me that Ferenc scribbled a note in his book prior to the Baron's death - implying he would have buried his ritualistic tools beforehand (the supposed murder weapon following an inspection).

Of course, there is a possibility the actual murderer was none of the actual suspects. The inability to properly investigate and gather evidence meant players are forced to make decisions that they feel would most benefit the town and its people.

As for Otto, I discounted most of the suspects as the motives for Martin and Hannah were fairly dubious at best. Brother Guy appeared the most guilty, especially as he tried to insert himself into the investigation and point out how it was impossible for one of the monks to have murdered Otto.

But the reveal of the Thread-Puller right at the end was a surprise for me. Especially as there were other ways Father Thomas could have gone about hiding the town's history if he felt it was too scandalous. There was no need to leave such a trail of destruction, including inciting a revolt among the peasants, simply to keep the secret that the Saints worshipped by the town were actually depictions of Roman Gods.

Given my love for mythology, I've seen how the Gods of many different pantheons have been changed and adapted to reflect the culture or times they are needed. The Greek and Roman deities, after all, have almost a one-to-one equivalent. Stories, too, about the heroes of the past have been used by other religions and cultures to explain elements of their own mythology.

And while hindsight, along with agnostic and atheist beliefs, have allowed us to take a step back to study religion from a distance, I think it's important to realise this was not always the case. This was 16th century Bavaria, after all. Christianity was everything to most people in Europe.

Although, I must say, while Father Thomas was worried people would learn that the statue of Saint Moritz was actually Mars Pater and Saint Satia was actually Diana, I was more intrigued by the painting of Mithras. It was never fully touched upon but I just knew I had seen the God slaughtering a bull somewhere before.

Lo and behold: Mithraism.

Suppose it explains why the old Roman temple was named the Mithraeum. Too bad the cult of Mithraism wasn't fully explored in the game. It would have been more interesting if there was some additional exploration of these other more occult practices beyond what Prior Ferenc was up to, and the strange ritual Guy tried to enact.

Overall, I have to say Pentiment held my interest for a goodly while and made me ponder the choices I'd made. It also humanised many of the characters, giving me a glimpse into what life might have been like back in the 16th century - and given me a greater appreciation of how far humanity has come from those feudal times (although, let's be honest, we're still trapped in very tribal mindsets that's been fanned by the internet). Life might have been hard as a peasant, or for the normal tradesperson during this period, but somehow Tassing was able to make do.

Time to see how Ghost Trick plays out!

On a completely unrelated note: I AM SO EXCITED FOR ACE ATTORNEY INVESTIGATIONS COLLECTION! Finally, I can play the second game of Miles' spin-off games.

The Ace Attorney franchise is finally getting the revitalisation it deserves and I hope there will be more to come. Especially with Mr Backstory himself, Apollo Justice. Or, heck, with another starry-eyed defence attorney in the land of Japanifornia.

[jesawyer]

(Pentiment Act III spoilers)

I'm replaying Pentiment after finding out about Thomas's use of the aqueducts for transportation, and I noticed something confusing. After the dinner where the baron makes everyone mad at him, Andreas leaves at compline to head home and notices a "ghost" jumping across the aqueduct gap (much like Andreas and Casimir will later do). This is likely Thomas, given his use of the ruins. Andreas then walks from the meadow to the church, where he meets Amelie and is shortly reassured by Thomas. As far as I can tell, this all takes place during compline without any hours passing between the "ghost" sighting and the Amelie meeting. Was Thomas able to get from the aqueducts near the mill to the church via the mithraeum as quickly as Thomas walked from his ghost sighting in the meadow to the church, or did Andreas see an actual ghost? Or did I miss an hour passing during compline

Pentiment spoilers below.

It's Sister Amalie, who was returning from delivering a letter to Prior Ferenc's house, and would later return to climb up into the nuns' kitchen to deliver a letter to Sister Matilda in the dormitory (where she was smelled by Sister Magarete).

While Andreas is talking to Til Kreutzer, she runs the rest of the distance of the aqueduct, squeezes through the rubble, runs down past the baths, through the hypocaust to the mithraeum, and climbs up into her cell, where she dramatically has a vision just as Andreas walks by.

[astrals-and-pirates]

pentiment monks but drag race

(with @boredom-reigns )

THE JUDGES PANEL:

Brother Piero - the main judge, encouraging and well crafted critiques

Mother Ceclila - the most motherly and encouraging of the judges, can be stern when needed

Brother Aedoc - the shadiest judge, questionable critiques but makes for great tv

THE QUEENS:

Brother Volkbert - the porkchop, fairly new queen, tries her best but too girlfail to succeed

Brother Lukas - second elim, baby queen, survives her first lipsync vs Volkbert but not against anyone else

Father Gernot - the mean queen who thinks she's being cunty but everyone (including the fandom) hates bcs shes elitist and selfish, everyone cheers when shes eliminated and she becomes notorious for being a mess on social media

Sister Amalie - early out queen bc of her lack of experience, beloved by the fans due to her tragic backstory, has a major glowup and becomes the dark horse frontrunner in an all stars season

Prior Ferenc - a seasoned queen whos reputation goes down during the show bcs he commits sabotage

Brother Sebhat - victim of the non-white snatch game curse :(((, fan favorite leading up to the elimination

Brother Wojslav - mostly safe, wins miss congeniality

Sister Margarette - the underdog of the season, does fine but has some really funny moments, sweet but also takes no shit and gives it to you straight, gains a sizeable fandom after her elimination

Brother Matheiu - forms an alliance with brother rüdeger, is mostly safe with some flop moments, is forced to lipsync against rüdeger which is deeply tragic but they kiss during the lipsync and its iconic

Brother Rüdeger - talent/variety show winner with a sapphira cristal level opera performance, timid queen but really shows off her stuff, spirals after Mathieu is eliminated and is eliminated next

Andreas Maler - narrator of the season and knows the tea abt everyone, production favorite, comes back for all stars but is an early out bcs of her act ii depression (music theater twink in his original season, depressed trade for all stars)

TOP FOUR:

Brother Florian - hidden talents queen, is super humble but turns out the most suprising looks and performances, isnt afraid to learn from critique, constantly references her deeplore but doesnt expound on it, driving redditors insane; trade of the season (im deeply biased shut up)

Brother Guy - the meanest hater in the most entertaining way possible, throws the most shade but cant take it back, gets into a fight with judge aedoc and the clip goes viral, production keeps her around bcs she makes good tv

Sister Zdena - THE SEXIEST, THE CUNTIEST, THE BADDEST; runway queen of the season and snatch game winner, throws the most legendary lines and is also the narrator alongside andreas, runner up on this season but wins all stars, fan favorite

MOTHER(!!!) Illuminata - cecilia's drag daughter, zdena's drag mother, shade sniper and reading (haha) challenge winner, only has to give you a stern look to make you piss ur pants, turns out interesting and insightful looks, wise and eloquent activist, long deserved winner, sasha colby vibes

BONUS:

Father Thomas - casted and filmed the season before being prompted edited out for his problematic behavior