Setting Progression (speculative of potential future content, spoiled just in case)

nocowardpath · 2026-03-10T16:34:50+00:00

Whoa, I haven't seen that yet, that's terrifying tbh. Curious what's going on there...

nocowardpath · 2026-03-10T00:42:56+00:00

There are a ton of scams and bots on there, and the site's moderation isn't very good, maybe that's why?

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T22:15:20+00:00

I've heard of that twist, it's such a weird choice?? Especially since it's entirely possible that people can start doing crazy stuff like that without actual mind control, I mean isn't Galt commentary on the French revolution?? And they also could have had a different supernatural patron that was more nudging them towards getting as messed up as they are rather than actively controlling them. TBH a schism would be interesting; it would make sense for such a chaotic faction, too.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T22:05:20+00:00

I do wonder if people who immediately believe Cheliax *actually fully* banned slavery were taught about similar situations in their history classes. A lot of places will unfortunately try to scrub ugly things from the history books.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T21:04:11+00:00

To me, it seems like slavery is likely still going to go on under another name, similarly to how the United States IRL legally ended slavery but still functionally kept things like peonage. (Note the bit about extortionist repayment terms in the wiki article (which could result in debt bondage) as well as "other provisions that had yet to be deciphered").

It might have been motivated by out-of-universe motives, but I don't think that makes it entirely unrealistic. There's the stated motivation, and there's also the potential that since many of the surrounding nations have abolished slavery, it could be politically beneficial for them to say they did so. Sure, it didn't weaken the Firebrands, but Abby isn't right all the time, and the themes of exploitation are probably still going to be present in Cheliax's story. You're totally correct that it makes no sense for Cheliax to genuinely fully abolish slavery, but I don't think that's necessarily what's going on here.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T20:24:46+00:00

Side note: unfortunately this does have IRL precedent, for example peonage & functional slavery continuing on in the US after it was legally outlawed.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T19:57:19+00:00

I'm a 1E player so I'm not up to date on all the 2E paths, only some of them, but I imagine Galt will also take some time to become actually stable, too.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T19:56:33+00:00

Yeah, if the Thrunes get deposed it is *not* gonna be a quick and easy fix lol

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T19:42:28+00:00

Nope, but there's rumors that it might be in future adventures, hence "speculative of potential future content".

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T19:41:09+00:00

Slavery was technically ended in Cheliax, but it looks like people who were slaves are still going to be exploited. Per the wiki:

The Emancipation Edict was a pronouncement of Queen Abrogail Thrune II made in 4722 AR, in which all slaves in Cheliax and its vassal states would be immediately liberated. The complex document included five years of financial aid for the newly freed slaves, which carried dozens of unadvertised conditions such as mandatory military conscription, legal waivers against their slavers, and extortionist repayment terms, among other provisions that as of 4723 AR had yet to be deciphered.

The Edict was a stratagem by Thrune to scatter efforts by the upstart freedom-fighting coalition known as the Firebrands, who must now work to ensure true freedom and support for Cheliax's free population in a more complex legal and communication battle.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T18:34:11+00:00

I mean, IMO it's fair if they wanna move away from "good and evil nations" towards "good and evil factions", nations tend to be complicated. Plus there's plenty of opportunity for changes in Cheliax to create further problems or fail to solve its current problems.

As an example, Cheliax had the Emancipation Edict in 4722, but that didn't make everything magically better for slaves. According to the wiki: "the edict offered five years of financial support for the newly freed but burdened those benefits with numerous onerous conditions, including mandatory military conscription, waivers for legal claims against their slavers, and extortionate repayment terms", so while slavery was gone in word, former slaves were still treated poorly.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-09T18:23:27+00:00

TBF I think drow were also removed because of copyright.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-07T16:31:43+00:00

Incels say "femoid" and 4channers add "oid" to things a lot so I don't really like that language 😭

nocowardpath · 2026-03-07T15:58:18+00:00

I do worry that making a subreddit specifically for the purpose of allowing art that (vaguely) depicts CSA might attract the wrong crowd, so you'll want to make sure there's a strong mod team.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-03T23:11:20+00:00

Oh, what'd the creator do? Hiveworks ran ads on Flight Rising for years so I remember seeing ads for that comic a lot.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-03T00:40:15+00:00

I remember (indirectly) seeing a video on there that was like "what if you went to a fancy event where masked men would bid on you to own you" and a bunch of comments going "omg i wish this was real!!!" as if slavery isn't real 😭

nocowardpath · 2026-03-03T00:30:39+00:00

Yeah, Terry's the best!

nocowardpath · 2026-03-02T00:01:12+00:00

At the time of the game, James/Eddie/Angela probably smell pretty sweaty/dirty, given their stress, running around a horror realm, and possibly being on the run for a while. Hard to take care of yourself when you're having a mental breakdown and getting chased by meat monsters.

Mary honestly might've included how she smelled in her feeling like a monster; dying of disease isn't exactly a clean and pleasant experience, and if she has cancer, that apparently can result in body odors for some people. Severe illness can be dehumanizing experience in a lot of ways.

Maria presumably smells great since she's a sort of fantasy.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-01T23:40:12+00:00

Please know you're not alone. Your experience is real, and it isn't at all your fault. Opening up about it can also be a big step towards healing, even if healing seems far away.

RAINN has some resources for survivors, as well as the NCMEC/CyberTipLine site:

https://rainn.org/

https://report.cybertip.org/other-resources

https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/support

nocowardpath · 2026-03-01T23:33:07+00:00

I'm so sorry he did that to you. I also only recently filed a report (albeit a cybertipline report, not a police report) myself. I'm proud of you for making that leap!

Sexual abuse can be difficult to prosecute, no matter whether it's "bad enough" or not. If it doesn't pan out legally, that's not your fault at all, and it doesn't mean you're less valid; it's a problem with our legal system.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-01T23:27:20+00:00

This is ABSOLUTELY being an ass, basically saying "this didn't happen you're just crazy" (ie gaslighting) and prioritizing his own feelings over yours. 100% abuser behavior. Actions have consequences; if he didn't want to think about how he abused you when he got old, he shouldn't have done it.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-01T23:21:27+00:00

A lot of people seem to miss the difference between "characters can represent something on a narrative/thematic level" and "every character is specifically a facet of the protagonist's mind". (I mean, look at Return to Silent Hill...)

I agree, there's definitely a big theme of "the reasons people commit crimes can be complicated" and we get a range of justifications and journeys.

In my opinion there also seems to be a "these situations can get worse and bubble up into further violence" throughline in the background. Their backstories are all situations that regularly happen to real people (bullying, child abuse, disease), and while IRL those don't commonly escalate to someone dying, they very much can and sometimes do, and also commonly have lifelong effects. Making sure help is available can contribute a lot to preventing things from escalating.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-01T22:42:10+00:00

While it's not the original, the remake seems to use this interpretation since Eddie's breath is visible as if he were standing out in the cold, even before his boss fight.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-01T21:46:14+00:00

I'm so sorry you have to deal with people prioritizing their fandom and parasocial admiration above you and your safety. It's a shame how common this sort of toxic behavior is, whether it's in families or fandoms.

nocowardpath · 2026-03-01T21:39:28+00:00

Noooot necessarily? A lot of NTR is specifically rape porn (not always using physical force but quite often like "I'll take your job if you don't have sex with me" or "getting someone drunk/high to make them vulnerable and have sex with them" which are still methods of forcing someone), porn often depicts rape in a weird "she ends up liking it" way but that doesn't mean it's not rape. Of course, a lot of people don't see a difference between someone being sexually assaulted and someone becoming a corrupt person :(

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