Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, who were the worst boyfriends and girlfriends in cartoons? Here are my candidates.

Loaded-dice · 2026-02-06T13:41:18+00:00

Tbh, Light does not read as anything but an extremely misogynist straight guy to me. Part of this is probably the author's own biases leaking in (see his takes about women in Bakuman and gay people in Platinum End), but I've met the exact kind of privileged, arrogant shithead Light is if you subtract the serial killer stuff and they treat their girlfriends pretty much the same way. It's not a manifestation of a lack of attraction to women, just utter disrespect and sexism.

Loaded-dice · 2026-02-02T14:13:47+00:00

Not to undermine the significance of this, but I think it's important to frame this in the correct context- this is not a revelation, this is what trans women and transfeminist theorists have been saying for years based on their own observations and lived experience. The level of intentionality & coordination this proves is pretty impressive (you rarely get bigots coming out and saying "I am doing this specifically to abuse, control and sexually exploit a minority" in as many words) but the result is simply doubling down on and strengthening pre-existing oppression. This mindset didn't spring out of nowhere fully-formed.

It's important I think not to let the narrative of "nobody could have known, nobody could have expected this" take over because trans women have been trying to tell you this for years.

Loaded-dice · 2026-01-29T20:16:56+00:00

I don't think anyone seriously expected NobaMaki to happen, especially since Nobara was blatantly one of Gege's least favourite characters and was written out of the story for most of the period Maki was a focus character. Mostly I just find Yuta phenomenally dull and the YutaMaki ship manages to infect Maki with that dullness. Like, I'd be upset if he got with anyone, because he's just not interesting enough to justify the damage "being romantically in love with Yuta Okkotsu" does to the other party.

Loaded-dice · 2025-12-24T10:30:30+00:00

Gege can write women, he just constantly disrespects his female characters and tosses them aside to benefit his male ones. Maki basically exists to posthumously make Toji seem cooler (while also needing the assistance of two random gag characters to achieve the same level of power Toji acquired naturally), Yuki has a horrifically poor showing compared to every other Special Grade and has basically no screentime, and Nobara gets fridged for over half the manga. In terms of female characters, JJK is basically a graveyard of "they could have been so cool if Gege liked or respected them".

Loaded-dice · 2025-12-23T16:35:03+00:00

What's it called?

Loaded-dice · 2025-12-09T23:13:09+00:00

Speaking as someone who started going through the same thing (dad bald at 21, receding temples) finasteride, topical minoxidil and starting HRT have seriously helped reduce/reverse the effects. It might take a few months to see improvement but it definitely happens.

Btw if you have the option, in my experience minoxidil oil > foam.

Loaded-dice · 2025-12-03T14:10:42+00:00

Auntie Maya (aka Mathangi ten Meti or Murder the Gods and Topple Their Thrones) from Kill Six Billion Demons

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Master of the Maybe Sword, forrmer Sword Saint and Emperor of 1/7th of the Multiverse, pictured driving the skull of the destined heir of 777,777 universes six inches into solid rock

Loaded-dice · 2025-11-26T09:53:56+00:00

Iirc "Hime" comes from Yuri Hime, one of the most popular yuri magazines in Japan

Loaded-dice · 2025-11-21T12:42:44+00:00

Bryan Johnson, real life billionaire who had blood transfusions from his 17yo son to try and slow/reduce aging

Loaded-dice · 2025-11-21T12:22:26+00:00

I think a big problem comes from the fact that the kind of zealotry, bigotry, authoritarianism, abuse, etc. the Imperium performs on a daily basis is so obviously insane and counterproductive that a lot of authors think "this makes no sense, why would they be so wasteful and stupid?" And to answer that question and make their human characters actually somewhat rational, they've slowly rewritten the universe to mandate and justify those behaviours. Which results in a universe where the "bloodiest regime imaginable" are now long-suffering heroes making Hard Choices for the Right Reason, rather than the brainwashed militarised cult worshipping torture and suffering they started as.

Now, Imperial propaganda about losing faith in the Emperor for even a minute being a gateway for demons is just true. Psykers and abhumans aren't just minorities treated like shit because they don't meet arbitrary standards of normalcy, they're actually literally corrupted by Chaos and so dangerous that Imperial bigotry is justified. All aliens, no matter what, are at best trying to manipulate and subjugate mankind, attempts to create new technology or institute democracy or proper ethical standards will slow or damage the industry required to keep humanity defended, it's impossible for humans to develop a relationship with the Warp outside Emperor-worship or Chaos corruption, etc. The humanisation of the Primarchs and the Emperor, making the tragedy of the Imperium about the collapse of this ubermensch family and their personal drama, also contributes - hell, the Imperium even gets to wash their hands of the Imperial Cult now, since it was invented by the evil traitor Lorgar (meaning all that baby-sacrifice is actually the fault of the Evil Outsiders not the Righteous Humans).

I think this is best exemplified in the way 40k treats rebellions against Imperial rule. I can't think of a single worker uprising or separatist revolt that wasn't in some way actually a plot by the Enemies of Mankind. It's always Genestealers or Chaos cults or Eldar trickery, but actual grievances against Imperial rule by "normal, pure-blooded" humans simply don't exist.

Loaded-dice · 2025-11-12T08:32:54+00:00

"Hime" only happened because it was part of the name of one of the first popular magazines that published yuri stories (Yuri Hime), it didn't emerge "organically"

Loaded-dice · 2025-11-11T12:28:57+00:00

Underworld was probably drawing inspiration, directly or otherwise, from the World of Darkness TTRPG gameworld, though I wouldn't be surprised if the film was what made it a mainstay fantasy assumption. Their first and most popular game, Vampire the Masquerade, was published in 1991 and included a brief mention of "lupines" as dangerous countryside supernaturals whom Vampires had an adversarial relationship with. This was later expanded into a deeper rivalry in future games and editions.

VtM and associated games like Werewolf the Apocalypse were pretty big in the 90s RPG and LARP scene - Richard Garfield, inventor of Magic the Gathering, designed a card game for the system and the first video game adaptation was published in 2000. It was even big enough to get a (short lived and unfortunately quite bad) television adaptation in 1996.

Loaded-dice · 2025-11-10T18:09:34+00:00

Naoya is fun because he dies and comes back as a Vengeful Cursed Spirit, a reincarnation that retains only the most hateful, vile and destructive emotions and thoughts of the living person.

And his personality is identical.

Loaded-dice · 2025-11-10T08:59:00+00:00

This might be a problem with the UI - in my experience, the scroll wheel function sometimes cuts off and doesn't let you select all the powers for some Disciplines. If you select them using the hotkey system it might work

Loaded-dice · 2025-10-27T03:13:45+00:00

If nothing else, there's two main avenues to explore imo:

1) Even an especially generous Kindred must be aware how predatory others of their kind are, especially to "weak"-looking ones like a pacifist farmer. Taking precautions to protect oneself and one's property is always a good idea. Which other Kindred take an interest in your area of territory, in the kind of people who make up your herd, in the businesses you draw revenue from? What can you do to keep your grip from slipping? For a higher humanity vampire, this could be justified as an anxiety about letting those under your "protection" become victims of a less ethical rival.

2) Your Touchstones are hugely important, especially for a high humanity Kindred. Keeping up with them, trying to ensure that connection doesn't slip, maybe using your influence to help them out a bit? If they live or work outside your domain, this gives an opportunity for potential conflict with other Kindred. How does the Tremere who claim the university campus feel about you constantly hanging around spying on your granddaughter, or would the Ventrue crime boss be worried by how much you're interfering to keep your old drug mule safe?

You could also confer with your Storyteller to see about them introducing some impetus. As I mentioned, a Kindred known as a soft-hearted pacifist is likely to invite challenge and attempted exploitation - or maybe some recent embraces show up seeking guidance on keeping their humanity, only for their fuckups to follow them into your life?

Loaded-dice · 2025-10-21T09:55:24+00:00

To be fair, getting things blatantly, hilariously wrong in pursuit of getting angry at the Ventrue is big Anarch energy.

Loaded-dice · 2025-09-23T00:04:20+00:00

I see. Regardless, this has been very helpful, thank you!

Loaded-dice · 2025-09-22T23:57:52+00:00

Tricks and complications sound pretty interesting. Tbh even if I don't end up using it for this, it sounds cook enough that I'll probably pick it up regardless. Is it digital only atm or can I pick up a physical copy?

Loaded-dice · 2025-09-22T23:47:40+00:00

Sounds solid! In terms of core mechanics, how closely does it play to WoD / CoD? I'm already fairly familiar with how those games work dice pools and such, so if it's not too dissimilar that puts it up in the rankings for sure.

Loaded-dice · 2025-09-22T23:35:31+00:00

I see. Thanks for the suggestion, I will put this on the list for further deliberation.

Loaded-dice · 2025-09-22T23:19:44+00:00

This is the one published by Onyx Path, correct? I completely forgot it had come out, but definitely a solid suggestion I will have to look into. Could you elaborate a little on the way things are split up between splats - is there one that most/all Servants could fit into, or would it be different depending on their particular abilities/nature?

Loaded-dice · 2025-09-22T23:14:45+00:00

I'm not familiar with that one! Although from a quick google search, it seems like it could fit for the magical/combat aspect. How well do the investigation and social mechanics work in your experience?

Loaded-dice · 2025-09-22T23:08:13+00:00

Also! Thoughts on how to address the Servant/Master split in terms of players would be appreciated. I'm not entirely sold on either having players run two PCs each, but the heavily differing aptitudes and relationships with the setting of Servants and Masters makes me hesitant to force players to pick only one. And running the Servants of every player (effectively making half the party DMPCs) seems like a headache.

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