The Other Side of the Fourth Wall

I decided to use AI Dungeon to rewrite the scene in which Bran is chosen as King of Westeros. Here's what I got. You are Tyrion Lannister. You once served House Lannister, but after being falsely convicted of killing your nephew Joffrey Baratheon, you went on the run and joined Daenerys Targaryen, your family's enemy, on her quest to reclaim the Iron Throne. Unfortunately, Daenerys went mad and you had to betray her, freeing your brother Jaime Lannister, who died saving your sister and the queen Cersei Lannister. For that, you were imprisoned, and were to be executed, but Daenerys' lover Jon Snow stabbed her and killed her. Now, you are brought before an assembly of the lords of the Seven Kingdoms- Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Edmure Tully, Yara Greyjoy, Robin Arryn, Samwell Tarly and Grey Worm- as they decide your fate and who will rule the Seven Kingdoms . The lords have been gathering in the ancient city of King's Landing, the seat of House Targaryen, the ki...

Matador, the first Fiend encountered in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, is somewhat notorious as the first truly difficult fight in the game. While the strategy to defeat him is relatively simple, he also challenges the player's understanding of the game's mechanics, and has some abilities that are troublesome in their own right. As such, he's a bit of a hit or miss, being both challenging and frustrating. First, let's go into how you encounter him. While proceeding through the Great Underpass of Ginza, a seemingly unassuming hallway contains an unavoidable pit trap, which causes you to fall and come face-to-face with Matador. This can prove a nasty surprise for first-time players. Matador's primary means of offense is Mazan, a Force skill that hits all party members. This wouldn't be so bad, but he can go twice per round, and if Mazan hits a demon that's weak to force, he can go again, potentially getting a total of four turns. However, if it misses, or h...

More often than not, licensed games tend to be perfunctory attempts to cash in on the latest hit movie, TV series, comic book or other piece of fiction, but there are exceptions that prove worthy in their own right. The 1982 video game version of The Hobbit doesn't fall neatly into either category, but it's nothing if not ambitious. As you might expect, the story is a retelling of The Hobbit, in which Bilbo embarks on a journey to take back the dwarves' treasure from Smaug, who has taken control of the Lonely Mountain. In this version of the tale, he's accompanied by Gandalf and Thorin, with the latter's comically large retinue of dwarves absent. Thorin must survive, but the same does not apply to Gandalf. The game is a text-based adventure(albeit with illustrations of the places you visit), in which you act by typing in your commands, from moving by typing in the initials of the cardinal directions to interacting with the world by entering rudimentary commands. Unf...

My Hero Academia has often been criticized for how it treats its female characters, and the way it kills them off is no exception. Here is a list of case studies that show that female characters' deaths have less narrative weight than most of their male counterparts. Kenji "Magne" Hikishi Magne is the first named character to die in the series, in Chapter 125- the start of the Internship arc and the third season of the anime. With the League of Villains in dire straits as a result of All For One's arrest, Jin "Twice" Bubaigawara makes contact with Kai "Overhaul" Chisaki of the Shie Hassaikai and brings him to the League, only for negotiations to break down. Magne attacks Overhaul while delivering a brief speech about herself and her backstory, then is instantly killed when Overhaul uses his Quirk to disassemble her. In the ensuing fight, Tomura Shigaraki, the League of Villains' leader, kills one of Overhauls' underlings while Overhaul dest...

When it comes to serial works, there are two schools of thought- some prefer to view each installment as it comes out, while others prefer to binge-watch large quantities of episodes. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages, which I will discuss here. Watching Weekly One advantage that watching weekly(or however often each new episode comes out, although weekly is most common)- is instant gratification. Quite simply, many people would rather not wait any longer than necessary for their latest fix of their favorite series, especially if the last installment ended on a cliffhanger. Of course, those who are caught up with the series will have to wait, but they'll have plenty to do while waiting for the next installment. They can spend this time poring over the most recent release and other chapters, enabling them to spot subtler details and come up with theories. Lastly, while it may be easier to follow the story if one binges(see that section for more), watching weekly can oft...

This blog entry has major spoilers for Fire Emblem: Three Houses and minor spoilers for Three Hopes I recently played the demo version of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, a Fire Emblem spinoff that is a retelling of Three Houses with some noticeable differences. Perhaps the most noticeable is that while the first act of Three Houses, which is before the war, comprises anywhere from just over half to two thirds  of the game, depending on the route, the pre-war part of Three Hopes is much shorter- only the prologue and the first three chapters out of 16 or so. Three Houses The game begins on a relatively strong note. The protagonist, a young mercenary Byleth, has a dream about two massive armies clashing, which is later revealed to be the epic battle between Seiros, the founder of the Church of Seiros, and her archenemy Nemesis, and has a conversation with a mysterious girl named Sothis. Byleth is then awakened in the night by three students of the Officer's Academy- Edelgard, Dimi...

Here's another work of fiction as told by AI Dungeon. As before, the prompt is bolded, and footnotes are provided. You are Eddard "Ned" Stark, lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. You are married to Catelyn Stark, and have five children- Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon- as well as a bastard son named Jon Snow. Your house's words are "Winter is Coming." You receive word that a deserter has been caught, and you ride out with Jon, Robb and Bran on horseback to administer the king's justice to the man. You arrive to where the man is, and wait to hear his last words before executing him. The deserter looks at you and his wife, and says "I wish you both good riddance." This angers you, and you draw your sword, yelling for the man to speak up. He does, before you cut his head off. Catelyn cries, and you comfort her. A few months pass, and a letter arrives from Robb, stationed at Riverrun.(1) He says that he has finally managed to take th...