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This is fascinating in light of a fictional self-aware sleb that I've been trying to get my head round in recent weeks - the pampered Crown Prince in Joe Abercrombie's latest trilogy, who manages to be the most likeable character in the series. And that's almost entirely because he is so self-aware and self-deprecating - I even reread the trilogy to work out "why do I care so much about this basically useless guy?" and it's all in the meta. There's even a scene - one of the best in the series - where he and another king acknowledge exactly how much they're playing with the stereotypes, and it's magnificent. So interesting to see this in real life too and help grasp what's going on!

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