Presumably she’s taking a powerful asset from him and risking their goal. Which seems against her own interests… i would love even a short story or something about that era of the world

There is a fun amount of rediscovery (for lack of a better word) on a second playthrough, but I do think you really have to have an investigative lens on. There’s so much to learn and notice the more you play.

I’d love to know more about Hauler, too. Especially since Clea and Renoir were allied.

PS. This is not to suggest that Verso doesn't lie by omission in Act 2 to reach his goals, but it is to refute the belief that Verso "compulsively" lies. Visage is not to imply that he is a capital L Liar to others at every turn. It is to imply that his father believes that he lies to himself.

By way of Verso's creations having masks as their real faces (Esquie, Gestrals, & Grandis) Verso has clearly disagreed (and not felt safe to be himself) since childhood, believing his nature is one of music, & sees painting as a mask that he must wear to satisfy his parents/family line.
(7/7)

He Who Guards the Truth with Lies is not just a straightforward parable on Verso’s tendency to be secretive & protect himself w/avoidant behaviour, it is Renoir’s belief that Verso is a true painter, and that his professional interest in music is a “mask” that hides his true nature: painting
(6/?)

Any creative practice uses illusion or some semblance of fiction (ie Lies) to explore various philosophies, ideas, and/or human experiences within a controlled and curated world. This would make all Creatives people who ‘guard the truth with lies’

(5/?)

Example: Kalf’s lobster still life, depicts a cooked lobster w/the bright, black eyes of a living lobster. Painters create a world of lies w/paint to try and capture universal truths of intangible things like ‘beauty’ ‘nature’ or ‘feeling’ but must use optical illusion in order to do so... (4/?)

Both discuss the nature of painting (and paintings) as “visual deceit (lies)” by creating images (visual copies) of things found in nature and ‘elevating’ them to a ‘higher purpose’ which is ‘Art’ creating worlds that cannot exist in nature.

all painters use paint to create worlds of lies... (3/?)

The sentiment “guards the truth with lies” in the context of the Dessendre family is a near direct reference to Blaise Pascal’s quote “What a strange vanity painting is; it attracts admiration by resembling the original, we do not admire” and Maurice Blanchot’s 'Two Versions of the Imaginary' (2/?)

I always forget to hashtag things in this app

^ #oilpainting #art #stilllife #engrisaille

Thank you - it was actually very special I have not recovered 😭

Ugh my fave

Girl I’m TRYING 😭

Summary of 2025

I’ll have some prints with me for presents at fan meetups! Verso and Halsin (and Tertia) as per usual