This episode originally broadcast on January 10, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/01/binary-system-podcast-440-beastars-and-star-trek-lower-decks/

Wonder of all wonders we actually managed to watch another episode of Beastars season 3. Never mind the fact that Elizabeth only finished watching it five minutes before the recording, it got done and that’s what counts. (Keep telling yourself that, slacker. ~ Kathryn) (Oy! ~ Elizabeth)

After recapping the various Beastars heartbreaks (poor Juno just can’t catch a break) we get into 4th and 5th episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2, because that series never stops being delightful.

We also have a brief word about Tenet (Elizabeth doesn’t understand most of it, but she really liked it) and some tangents into Bojack Horseman and the apparently dreadful Megalopolis.

This week’s outro is a clip from Atmospheric Guitar by Pufino.
Music track: Atmospheric Guitar by Pufino
Source: https://freetouse.com/music
Copyright Free Music (Free Download)

Found it! Check out this Slashfilm.com article on why audio in movies suck (and what we can do about it.)

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan’s castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on January 2, 2025, the original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/01/binary-system-podcast-439-wtnv-260-the-december-monologues/

Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone's 2025 is already shaping up to be calm and stress-free and completely absent of any kind of drama. This week's recap is actually way late, but we've got to get through a whole month of Welcome To Night Vale being on hiatus, so why not wait until January to cover a story with December in the title?

The three monologues this year feature a decent cross-section of Night Vale. The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home talks about the best way to handle a bullying situation, ie: LISTEN TO YOUR CHILD. Or have a ghostly apparition remove the teeth from the bullies while they sleep. Your choice. Meanwhile Michelle Nguyen has a surprisingly insightful argument for why you should only listen to your favorite song once. And Steve Carlsburg is having the weirdest job interview. (Did...did we know that Steve did time for robbing the bank where he currently works? Because it's pretty clear that his bank doesn't know that.)

After the recap we continue our trend of actually watching things. No, not Beastars yet. And not the last three episodes of Arcane. Elizabeth finished watching the surprisingly violent Blue Eye Samurai. Kathryn finished watching the surprisingly free Epic: The Musical. And Elizabeth has juuust about finished watching the all-around surprising Christopher Nolan's Tenet. And we liked all of it. (Well, Elizabeth hasn't seen the ending of Tenet just yet. But liking a movie she still needs to watch feels pretty darn appropriate for this film, doesn't it?)

This week's outro is a clip from A Simple Glitch by TeknoAXE

You can find Jorge Rivera-Herrans youtube channel with all the different Epic: The Musical sagas here, or if you want you can skip right to the watch party where he plays the entire musical here.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on December 26, 2024. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2024/12/binary-system-podcast-438-holiday-travel-edition/

Hope everybody is having safe and happy holidays! This week’s episode is super short because one: at time of recording we were on the road, and two: we haven’t caught up with much In the way of TV, movie, and books this week. Elizabeth’s only finished the second to last episode of Star Trek Lower Decks, most of Blue Eye Samurai, and the Beetlejuice sequel, and Kathryn’s in the middle of Valente’s Space Oddity. So, yeah, uh, kind of a lot actually? More on that next week!

This week’s outro is a clip from Auld Lang Syne ( Synth Wave ) by HoliznaCC0.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan’s castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broacast December 19, 2024. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2024/12/binary-system-podcast-437-arcane-season-two-beastars-season-3-episode-1/

Happy Holidays from the Binary System Podcast team! Our present to everyone this year is an extra-long episode, because there is just so much content. The final season of Beastars dropped while we were looking the other way, so we have to talk about the first episode and how this season seems to be tackling some really serious themes, like how segregation may only provide temporary peace while making everything worse in the long term.

But what's taking up most of our time this week is the second arc of the final season of Arcane: League of Legends. There's moments of humor and strategically-placed slo-mo, betrayal, loyalty, and an almost relentless stream of heartbreak. And despite how tragic things get we're gonna keep on watching because you guys? It's so pretty!

One day we will stop using spinningmerkaba's Christmas On Mars as the outro at Christmas, but today is not...oh who are we kidding, we're never gonna stop using this.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on December 12, 2024. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2024/12/binary-system-podcast-436-wtnv-259-chrysalis-and-star-trek-lower-decks/

"…the chrysalis is showing signs that it may soon open…"

It's Night Vale, so that could either mean Steve Carlsberg leaving his old life for a new one, or it could be the VERY LITERAL chrysalis with a monster inside. Obviously, it's both, but between the thing in the cocoon and Steve's employers, maybe we should go stand somewhere else.

After the recap we jump into Star Trek: Lower Decks and discuss one of our favorite characters, Dr. T'Ana, possibly the least sexy cat-person Star Trek has ever produced. We love her.

We also take a moment to talk about the January return of Severance, television schedules in the UK, being nice to cashiers, and then ask the important question: why DID they make Gladiator II?

This week's outro is a clip from Revved Up Energy by Universfield.

Hugh's (very unimpressed) review of Gladiator II is here.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on November 28, 2024. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2024/11/binary-system-podcast-435-arcane-season-two-episode-3/

The first arc of Arcane Season 2 wraps up with a glorious one-on-one battle between Vi and Jinx (well, one-one-one, if you don't count Caitlyn and Sevika fighting it out in the wings, and the Orphan Moppet who's latched on to Jinx just generally getting in the way.)

Many things are happening simultaneously in this episode, what with Jayce and Co trying to figure out how to deal with magic that seems to becoming sentient, and Ambessa pulling strings and dragging Piltover into war with the Undercity. It's a lot to keep track of, so be prepared for spoilers and a lot of breathless summaries of the very cool things happening, followed by "but before that happens...". Oh, and Vi and Caitlyn's relationship has managed to go exactly where we wanted it to, right before breaking our hearts.

This week's outro is a clip from Cadence Cascade by Denys Brodovski.

You can follow along with the DragonFall Drawing Challenge by going to Elizabeth or Kathryn's instagram feeds.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast November 21, 2024. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2024/11/binary-system-podcast-434-wtnv-258-swap-meet-arcane-and-ren-faires/

Night Vale's holding its first-ever Swap Meet this week, and the Sanitation Department wants to make sure you follow all the rules: there's no money of any kind allowed, tangible and intangible swaps are encouraged, and Faustian Deals that cost you your immortal soul? Those are perfectly acceptable, go talk to the demons in the booth by the fuzzy blankets.

After the recap we jump into Season 2 Episode 2 of Arcane, which is just as beautiful as ever and features a fight scene that is completely bonkers. Seriously, it's ridiculously over the top. We loved it.

Finally Kathryn gives us the breakdown of Time Travel Travellers' Weekend at the Carolina Renaissance Festival, which could only be improved by one thing: those Scottish Meat Pies we got at a Medieval Fair (*censored*) years ago and still remember. Listener recipes cheerfully accepted.

And on an unrelated note: Why DO people hate Imagine Dragons?

This week's outro is a clip from Twin Gods by White Bat Audio, find more at karlcasey.bandcamp.com.

You can follow Kathryn, Elizabeth, Wade, and Leland on Instagram to see more of the DragonFall Drawing Challenge!

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on November 14, 2024. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2024/11/binary-system-podcast-433-arcane-season-two/

This week the Binary System Podcast team watched the first episode of Arcane: League of Legends season 2. That's it, that's all you need to know; we watched it and it's amazing.

Okay, yes, we also talked a little bit about what we're also watching (Dario Argento and the original run of Frasier) and what we're doing (going to Durham Comic Con and making lots of dragon-themed artwork). But really, this week's episode is mostly about Arcane. We're bummed about who we lost in last season's finale, pleasantly surprised by who didn't get killed in Jinx's attack, and looking forward to enjoying more fantastic animation and most likely getting our freaking hearts broken

This week's outro is a clip from Sleepless Beast by Jangwa

You can follow along with the DragonFall Drawing Challenge by going to Elizabeth or Kathryn's instagram feeds.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on November 7, 2024. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2024/11/binary-system-podcast-432-wtnv-257-traffic-2005s-constantine-and-lower-decks/

On this week's Night Vale recap we're taking about the brand new innovation the venture capitalists have come up with: a ride share where a bunch of people take the same big car, and it goes around to different places and some people get on and some get off (...the bus, they've reinvented the bus. But it's Night Vale so there's also weird non-government agents, blindfolds, and either an angry mob or a pickup game, we're not sure.)

After that Elizabeth sets a record in movie-watching, she finally got around to watching Keanu Reeve's Constantine, only 19 years late! She's kicking herself for not watching it sooner because it's all kinds of fun. Spoiler warnings, but chances are most of you have already watched it at some point in the last two decades.

Finally, Kathryn's on season two of Star Trek: Lower Decks, just in time for the final season to drop, so we've got to talk about how good the show is and how maybe it's okay that it's coming to an end if it means it ends on a high note. Here's hoping.

This week's outro is a clip from Covered in Oil by Broke For Free. (Not the first time we've used this one, but it's one of our favorites so it gets a repeat.)

The episode where we talk about Nazr and Frances' doomed relationship is here.

You can follow Kathryn, Elizabeth, Wade, and Leland on Instagram to see more of the DragonFall Drawing Challenge!

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on October 31, 2024. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2024/10/binary-system-podcast-431-the-exorcist-iii/

Happy Halloween! We're officially in the middle of spooky movie season, so this week we're talking about a classic horror film. It's the Exorcist...Three!

Not a perfect film by any means; you can see the heavy hand of the producers who insisted on changing the name from William Blatty's Legion in order to capitalize on the Exorcist name, and then had to shoehorn in an exorcism at the end that makes no logical sense. However, the movie is surprisingly...good? With an interestingly creepy plot, some surprising comedic moments, a couple of good jump scares, and excellent performances by George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, and Brad Dourif (Dourif in particular is not to be missed), this is a fun little experience that's definitely going to be added to our list of Horror Movies We Actually Like.

We also ran across some news about the third season of Good Omens, and then Kathryn wanted to talk about having finally seen the original Japanese Ringu, which led to a discussion of all the ways we still love The Ring. Spoilers aplenty for two movies that are more than a couple of decades old.

This week's outro is a clip from Pixel Pumpkin by TeknoAXE.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!