About The Faith The Unholy Trinity Audio:

About the Faith the Unholy Trinity audio:

You might have seen posts reblogged by the user @ / whyiamapotato (sorry, I thought it might be rude to @ them).

They bring up in a couple of their posts that Airdorf uses audio of a real life "possession" case, specifically of a girl named Anneliese Michel. This is true.

TLDR; I think Airdorf is fine to use the audio, I believe if the audio makes you uncomfortable then you should remove it with the helpful mod they made, and don't harass anyone. whyiamapotato is not in the wrong and I genuinely think they are trying to help, so please do not be rude to them or me or anyone who agrees with either side or has their own opinion. We can all be mature about this, I am just posting what I learned and what my feelings on the matter are.

A summarized version of her story, the "drama" (discussion), and my own beliefs below. Tw: Demonic possession, Malnutrition, Abuse, Neglect, Artistic edit with the intention of being frightening, and harassment.

Anneliese Michel was a woman in 1976 who was diagnosed with epileptic psychosis and depression, though she and her family sought out the help of the church (thinking she is possessed) when the hospital was not able to help her with her condition. Father Ernst Alt came to visit and came to the conclusion that she was not suffering from seizures due to epilepsy but instead possessed.

There were 67 exorcism sessions preformed on her and they lasted up to four hours each and there was up to two each week. This happened over a span of ten months. Toward the end of her life Anneliese refused food and water and she later died of dehydration. Her knees were broken from being forced and bound into a kneeling position for prayer. The parents and the Priest(s) involved were all prosecuted with her death. You can find more information on this wikipedia. Audio recordings of her "exorcisms" (epileptic psychosis episodes) were used in the game Faith the Unholy trinity. The sound of her demonic screaming are used as a backdrop to the bossfight with Lisa Pearson and Alu as well as audio ques for Miriam in several different scenes. FaB (whyiamapotato on tumblr) made a post talking about how this made them uncomfortable and how they have made a mod to remove this sound from the game. Here is the link to the Mod.

I think this Mod is a good thing for those who are uncomfortable with the real sounds of an exorcism! I do think what they did to create this was right and if it makes you uncomfortable then you should remove them with this mod. They are a fan of the game as well.

The reason I made this post (and used this context) was to inform those who have only seen this in passing to what is going on.

There are posts on reddit from two people (I will have cropped out their names just in case) involved in informing Airdorf about this, here are their posts:

If you agree with them then here is their petition, feel free to sign it once you are done reading this post! The reason I made this post was also to put my own thoughts, which are a little nuanced and maybe ignorant, I am sorry if I come off as rude.

In all honesty, I do not see a problem with Airdorf using real "exorcism" audios in his game about (non-realistic) but extremely dark topics. Faith the Unholy Trinity is a horrific game, with murder cults, manipulation, baby sacrifice, mutilation, body horror, and more. Airdorf (most likely) didn't see a problem with using this audio because it was frightening and a "real case of demon possession." Some people still believe that Anneliese was killed by the demon possessing her and not the medical statements.

The audio is used in two (maybe more?) boss fights and is distorted to sound like the other robotic voices in the game. I feel that it is used to show the horror of demonic possession, and much like how the game was inspired by The Exorcist (which was loosely inspired by a possession case that Father William Bowdern had of an 11-year-old boy), the message of both of these medias is clear. Do not mess with demons. Using audio of a supposedly real possession case I feel was a way of showing the true terror that religious horror, specifically demonic figures, brings with it. While it may be seen as immoral, it can also be seen as a warning. While the people who made the petition think it is disrespectful (which they are totally okay to think, I understand!), I believe it is showing respect, even in an unconventional way.

Airdorf could have used audio from the exorcist or other horror media, that is true, but I feel that misses the point. I think the point of the audio was to bring attention to the horrors of possession.

Airdorf never mentions who the audio came from, only that it is audio from a real life possession. For all I know he could have found it and thought it was scary and used it in the game without looking up what happened to Anneliese.

I do not think this petition is going to do anything, assuming 100 sign (it is at 94 rn so that seems likely)- because Airdorf has already become uncomfortable with these people reaching out and demanding an explanation or a change to the game. I don't think anyone online is owed an explination, not even fans who bought the game. They (people from reddit screenshots) both mention that buying Faith means that they have bought a game that has (audio) torture in it, which I understand the viewpoint of, but not only is the family not concerned, but I also have to bring up that using audio of someone who is alive (at the time) undergoing a painful exorcism, is not the same as using audio of someone being tortured- only because those who believe that Anneliese is actually possessed, believe that the exorcism done to her was trying to help. I don't agree with that view, I also think that what they did is horrible, but attempting to contact the creator of a indie game and saying what is essentially: "Explain why you used torture in your game or remove it from your game or else we will continue to post this online" seems like harassment to me.

Airdorf probably didn't view that audio as torture, hell, I didn't even know it was actual human sounds in the game at all because of the distortion, but that is just me. I watch horror videos of a guy going into haunted places and praying for his life while demonic spirits surround him, which could be argued as psychological torture so maybe I am just misguided in my views because of that.

But besides that: Airdorf might actually get in trouble with his publishers because of their posts. It is not that the audio is used that is the problem but the publishers might get upset about the controversy, especially since they admitted to emailing New Blood when Airdorf blocked them for harassing him. Worst case scenario, Faith chapter 4 is stalled or stopped because of controversy or worst worst case, Faith might be pulled. (THIS IS NOT LIKELY- still a possibility I wanted to bring up.)