Visual Novel / Bad Faith

In a world filled with insanity, the Haven is a sanctuary.
I'm fortunate to be born and raised here.
This is a privilege few have.
I'm happy that I have it.

The world is corrupt. Everyone who lives in the Haven knows this, just as they know how fortunate they are to live in a community that shelters them from the insanity that runs rampant just beyond the sea that acts as their shield. The Haven is a sanctuary... but sanctuaries are hard to maintain. In order to nip any possible threat to the sanctity of the Haven in the bud, the community must hold Apologia Assemblies: mandatory gatherings where misdeeds are discussed - and given appropriate punishments.

Magda was once the subject of one such Assembly, and only narrowly avoided banishment from the Haven thanks to the intervention of a friend. Ever since then, no matter how hard she tries to be a model member of the community, no matter how hard she tries to keep her darker thoughts and desires a secret, it's felt like everyone has been waiting for her to mess up again. Within Magda's heart, her love for her home clashes with her hatred for its harsh punishment system, and these conflicting feelings lead her to discover that the Haven harbors some secrets of its own...

Bad Faith is a short Psychological Horror Visual Novel developed almost entirely by Mado, including art, writing, and coding. It can be purchased on Itch.io or on Steam.

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Bad Faith contains examples of:

• Ambiguously Christian: Despite the fact there's a heavy focus put on purity and punishing sin within the Haven, despite the fact that the uniforms of the characters are heavily inspired by Catholic school uniforms and nun habits, despite the fact that the "assembly building" is represented in the game by what's very clearly a church, denomination is actually never mentioned within the story.
• Asshole Victim:
  • The deaths of Eve and Cerise are not only ludicrously drawn-out and violent but exceptionally cruel (with Eve having her life's work destroyed before her eyes before being killed), but after seeing their obnoxious, Holier Than Thou attitudes and ruthless torment and eventual torture of Magda it can be hard to feel pity for them.
  • While the death of Amaris isn't shown on-screen, it's doubtful the player feels too bad for her because of the experiments she had done on Nils.
• Awful Truth: The good health of all the inhabitants of the Haven is thanks to the extended torture of Nils, whose blood is basically used as a nutrient in everyone's food.
• Being Tortured Makes You Evil:
  • After being imprisoned Magda is isolated from everyone and everything, save the cruelty and torment of Eve and Cerise's visits. It's at this lowest point that Magda accepts Nils' offer to fuse with them and take her revenge on everyone who hurt her.
  • Nils only wanted to help humanity but was captured and experimented on by Lady Amaris for countless years. This treatment is what let them to reach out to Magda in order to get her revenge, and when she began having doubts, Nils took full control of Lilia, in order to get their revenge— on all of the Haven, and all of humankind.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While Maria isn't nearly as cruel and snide as Eve or Cerise, she turns out to be a lot colder than her outwardly motherly appearance would suggest. She snaps at Magda for trying to confide in her, and when Lilia appears before her, Maria acts as if they don't even exist. Perhaps her cruelest act of all is stealing Magda's concept for her own art after she's imprisoned.
• Black-and-White Morality: The Haven operates on the logic that anything can be justified if it's done in the name of preserving the purity of the community (white) or fighting the threat of "insanity" (black). This includes banning any art that could be seen as promoting insanity, policing what culture from the outside world is allowed in the community, punishing people based on private writing and thoughts, and torturing and experimenting on a sentient being to create what is essentially a living battery.
• Church of Saint Genericus: The assembly building in which Apologia Assemblies take place is represented in-game by what is very clearly a church (this goes doubly so for the interior, which has pews), but no religion or denomination is ever mentioned.
• Culture Police: There's no one select group of people in the Haven that act as this, but this is essentially the purpose of the Apologia Assemblies— instead, everyone is encouraged to act as Culture Police, and anything can be subject to scrutiny. In the beginning of the game, Maria's friend Jael is sentenced to banishment for indulging in culture from the outside deemed "insane," and it's revealed that Magda once was the subject of an Assembly for writing "unsafe" things. As it turns out, not even personal diaries are exempt from this.
• Hair Wings: Nils has wings on their head that formerly matched the wings on their back. After they fuse with Magda, Lilia has these wings as well.
• Holier Than Thou: Eve and Cerise both act this way, in general but most especially to Magda.
• Meaningful Name: Magda's name comes from Mary Magdalene, a companion of Jesus who in modern times has become something of a symbol for sinful, "wayward women" (the accuracy of this association is dubious). This also gives her an extra connection with Maria, whose name is a variation of "Mary."
• Meaningful Rename: In the final act of the game, Magda fuses with Nils and decides to rename themselves Lilia. "Lilia" is the Latin word for lilies, a flower commonly associated with the Virgin Mary, but can also refer to an obscure battle tactic used by the Romans in which spiked pit traps are dug in the shape of a cross. This could be a hint of their violent, vengeful nature. Lilith (a name that originates from Lily) is also the name of Adam's first wife who was rejected from The Garden of Eden for refusing to be subservient to Adam.
• My God, What Have I Done?: It is very heavily implied that Grace strongly regrets betraying Magda by telling Cerise about her diary. As Magda is being beaten into unconsciousness by the other Haven members, she sees Grace mouth the words "I'm sorry," and when Lilia goes to her room in the middle of the night, they find her weeping in her sleep and whispering Magda's name. It's this remorse that moves Lilia to spare her, and in the end of the game Grace is the only survivor of Lilia's wrath.
• Nice Girl: Grace's most prominent trait is her kind, gentle soul, and as the one person who stood up for Magda a year before the story, she's likely the kindest person in the Haven. This is why it hurts so bad when she is the one to ultimately betray Magda, and why Magda notes that even as the others beat her into unconsciousness after her Assembly with cruel smiles, it's the apologetic expression of Grace that infuriates her the most.
• Odd Name Out: Cerise is the only character whose name does not follow the pattern of Religious and Mythological Theme Naming. "Cerise" is a shade of red which might be a morbidly playful bit of Foreshadowing about her exceptionally violent demise.
• Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: Nils is all but explicitly said to be an angel and is only referred to with gender neutral terms.
• Psychological Horror: While Bad Faith features violence and some sci-fi and fantastical elements, the true horror comes from the idea of being ostracized and dehumanized by your own community, such as the way the Haven treats anyone deemed "insane."
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When the mysterious angel-like being Magda discovers in the strange building opens their eyes to look at her, they're an inhuman red. After this encounter, Magda beings having disturbing thoughts. Of course this is actually a subversion: Nils only wanted to help humankind, and was captured and tortured for their troubles... which caused them to want to get revenge on humanity, playing the trope straight.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Fitting in with the Ambiguously Christian nature of the setting, almost every character has a name that has some amount of significance in Judaism or Christianity:
  • Maria is of course, a variation of Mary, which typically refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, but can also refer to Mary Magdalene.
  • Jael, Maria's friend who is banished in the opening Apologia Assembly of the story, is named after the heroine who delivered Israel from the army of King Jabin in the Hebrew Bible.
  • Eve comes from the figure from the Book of Genesis, said to be the first woman.
  • Amaris is a variation of Amariah, a name that means "promised by God" in Hebrew and features several times in the Hebrew Bible.
  • Grace comes from the concept of "divine grace."
  • Magda comes from Mary Magdalene, a companion of Jesus. This also gives her an extra connection with Maria.
  • Nils comes from "nil," which is just a word for "zero" (coming from their original name "0"), which is sometimes associated with God.
  • Magda decides to rename herself Lilia after fusing with Nils. "Lilia" is the Latin word for lilies, a flower commonly associated with the Virgin Mary, but can also refer to an obscure battle tactic used by the Romans in which spiked pit traps are dug in a quincunx... that is to say, the shape of a cross.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: After trying her hardest to adhere to the rigid standards of the Haven, only to suffer the indignity of being found "insane" for the private thoughts in her diary that were never supposed to be read by anyone and being brutally beaten and tortured, it's hardly a surprise that Magda goes so far off the deep end after fusing with Nils and becoming Lilia, viciously murdering Eve and Cerise with their bare hands. Unfortunately, Magda does come to regret this.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: All of the strict, cruel practices of the Haven are justified in the name of protecting everyone from the threat of "going insane."