Second Breakfast with Cam & Maggie

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The latest sprawling adventure from Bethesda has reawakened an old feud. Since the days of Fallout 3 back in 2008(!), Cam has been trying his damnedest to fall in love with one of Bethesda's worlds. On that front, Starfield is a mixed bag. On all fronts, Starfield is a mixed bag. Join Cam and Maggie for a massively conflicted journey through the galaxy. Topics include: exploration, loading screens, art direction, uncanny faces, procedural generation, story pacing, inventory space, combat improvements, combat shortcomings, skill upgrades, quality of life issues, and open world pitfalls.

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Discussion of Season of Storms, Ch. 1-8

Something has ended. Something is beginning. This final Witcher book is a prequel and a sequel. You could even call it a side-qual – though we would prefer you don't. Regardless, Sapkowski is back in top form with new structural experiments, echoes of destiny, Dandelion drama, and monsters we've never heard of. But there are new wrinkles too: a seductive sorceress whose revolutionary magical practice threatens to destabilize a whole kingdom, the truth about Geralt's missing witcher swords, and the looming question that hangs over the whole book – is this side story necessary?

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The day has finally arrived. 160 episodes and many months later, we've completed the glorious, hysterical, convoluted death march that is 7 seasons of ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars. This is the ultimate couples' show, probably the funniest thing we've ever watched, and a genuinely fantastic, fun, and addictive work of art. Join us for a walk down memory lane, remembering The Girls' greatest adventures, disasters, and detours. Get in loser, we're going to Rosewood. - A

Watch the Mike's Mic video that started it all right here

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Discussion of The Lady of the Lake, Chapter 12

Here it is: the final chapter of The Witcher saga. Yes we're sad, yes we're emotional, but we're also thrilled. This ending is perfect, poignant, surprising, devastating, and revealing. We get our final word on some of our long-standing philosophical grindstones, like the problem of evil, destiny, and non-intervention. Cam's got a theory about the pointed flashbacks in these last few chapters and their importance for Sapkowski's notion of heroism. Maggie explores the cyclical nature of time and the empowering humility of prophecy.

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Discussion of The Lady of the Lake, Chapter 11

'The Scouring of the Shire' hangs over this chapter like Eeyore's black raincloud. Sapkowski's poignant, hollow homecoming hit us just as hard as Tolkien's did, but we think there's a different point being made here. So much has changed, and so many characters are now reverting to the way they used to be, but is any of it sustainable? This is a provocative, deliberately uncomfortable chapter - and we loved it. Maggie spends some time exploring the chapter's preoccupation with silence and Cam digs into the punishing, iron-clad re-emergence of all our old philosophical touchstones. How is this thing gonna end?

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Diablo IV shouldn't even be a live service game, but here we are! Cam played through this first season to see what it was all about, and this episode is an exploration of what he and his burly new Druid found out there in Sanctuary. Lots of promise, lots of problems - a proverbial mixed bag. Topics include: story structure, completion incentives, fun factor, seasonal challenges, lackluster rewards, pricing models, and concerns for the future.

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Discussion of The Lady of the Lake, Chapter 10

Holy Woodward and Bernstein, Batman! Journalist Sapkowski is back to doggedly track the butterfly effects following the end of the war and the "Peace" of Cintra. This chapter is a kaleidoscope of perspectives and injustices, and scurrying through it all are dozens of skeevy power players. The new world is full of Dijkstra, and Sapkowski painstakingly documents the objective horror the human survival instinct, and subjective bias of wartime histories. We've got observations, callbacks, theories, and ad ash of Shakespeare for good measure. Let's dig in!

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We've finally finished Diablo 4, after five months of dungeon crawling, demon hunting, and side questing. This sixth act is quite good, but it is haunted by all the same pitfalls and baffling quality of life downgrades that have made the game so frustrating for us. Our wrap-up discussion begins with the story revelations of this big finale, and then we move into a retrospective of the game as a whole. Topics include: pacing problems, delayed character arcs, padding, future expansions, level grinding, and a final roundtable conversation about our classes. We close with a productive, positive series of suggestions about how Diablo 4 could improve going forward.

P.S. Next week Cam's going to be doing a solo episode about Diablo's first ever season, Season of the Malignant, with a brand new Druid character!

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Discussion of Lady of the Lake, Chapter 9

In three years of long-form literary analysis, we've never encountered a single chapter this dramatic or consequential. The sheer number of deaths and revelations is staggering, but as always, it's Sapkowski's ideas that really dazzle us. Maggie chases the threads of destiny and determinism through a hundred new curiosities and contractions, while Cam eulogizes the problem of evil and confronts its unexpected successor.

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Sir Michael Gambon died last week at the age of 82. In this episode, Cam takes a look back at Gambon's challenging, underrated, fascinating performance as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter film series. Topics include: Why was Gambon considered the 'angry' Dumbledore? How did this character evolve over the course of eight films? How did Michael Gambon's performance build on and compliment Richard Harris' work in Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets? How does the death of an actor change our perception of their performances?

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