#ta!bill

[littlemoonflowr]

who is this ugly ass

[theforswornelite]

[zhenni12]

Pyramid Steve has invaded my brain

[blae-kitta]

WIPS

[demi-pixellated]

all grown

[casebasket]

twelve x bill x nardole the dynamic

i put it in the tags but then was like you know what? i'm right:

doctor has tenure. absolutely abuses it. can only speak in lectures has no other life skills he can never leave academia

nardole's done. nardole's never getting his thesis done because his supervisor is. that

bill still has hope and some semblance of work life balance but will slowly learn that while she loves the discipline, the old guard never retires so she's never going to move up she's going to be student forever and live exclusively on grants (this part is less bill and more grad student) god bless

[unsolicited-opinions]

Re: your post about the Ezra Klein, Coates interview, and specifically the analogy you drew about civil rights; I’m kind of confused about how you came to the conclusion that the Palestinians haven’t tried doing nonviolence. Did the march of return not count? Furthermore, moral sobriety did not convince the American public that black people weren’t inferior. I think you calling Coates a polemicist was incredibly uncharitable and shows apathy to the point that him and Klein both agreed on: that Israel is an apartheid state.

Thanks for the comment. I'll presume your good faith and return the same in this longish answer.

You wrote: "I'm kind of confused about how you came to the conclusion that the Palestinians haven't tried doing nonviolence." 

Your confusion may be a result of the fact that I neither said nor implied this. What you're doing here is called a straw man fallacy.[1] 

What I did say was that Civil Rights activists led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Congress of Racial Equality were utterly committed to nonviolence. You can tell this is true by how they never committed acts of terrorism. 

You wrote: "Furthermore, moral sobriety did not convince the American public that black people weren't inferior."

I don't know what "moral sobriety" is. I don't know what moral inebriation would be, either.

I certainly didn't claim that moral sobriety accomplished anything and this is another straw man.[1] 

What I did claim was that the principled nonviolence of the Civil Rights Movement impacted public opinion sufficiently to get the  Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed. 

This is from the transcript of the Coates/Klein conversation[2]:

TA-NEHISI COATES: I can’t accept that your interest in a true democracy was destroyed by violence from your partner. I just can’t accept that. First of all, I think even in this rendering that we have here, I suspect that there are reasons for why that suicide bombing even happened.

'You' here refers to Israel. Coates is saying that Israelis must not be committed to peace because violence from Hamas derailed Israeli public support for a peace process. If this is true, why is it not also true for the Palestinians? This seems to me like both a double standard and terrorism apologetics.

You wrote: "...I think you calling Coates a polemicist was incredibly uncharitable…"

Coates himself acknowledges this. Here's a long excerpt from the transcript [2], keeping his comments in context:

EZRA KLEIN: Did you go around with anybody who would say, no, we’re doing the right thing here. Or even we’re not doing enough here.

TA-NEHISI COATES: No.

EZRA KLEIN: Why?

TA-NEHISI COATES: There are things in this world that I see that I just don’t want to hear the justification for. I just don’t think can be justified. I don’t want to hear — I don’t know what I can glean from a justification for — and I’m talking about in an American context — segregation.

I don’t know what necessarily I can glean from a justification for enslavement by hearing somebody like interviewing somebody and say, tell me why this is legal. Some things come down to, for me, just a moral decision. And I actually think journalists do this all the time. I think we all draw a line somewhere about what we feel is out of bounds and what we feel is beyond.

For me, I was willing to entertain probably a debate from people who were anti-occupation, but maybe not necessarily anti-Zionist. Maybe it would be classified as liberal Zionists even. All the way over to people who thought Zionism was a terrible idea and the worst thing that had ever happened. The justification for settlements was outside of my frame.

EZRA KLEIN: But that does wipe out all of Israeli society almost, right?

TA-NEHISI COATES: I was concerned with what I don’t know. And what I haven’t heard. And for me, Palestinian voices have been pushed so far out of the frame. Like that is the thing that is hard to access. And I think this is open for critique. But I made a conscious decision, frankly, in the language, you know what I mean?

Later in the interview, Coates returns to Klein's criticism:

COATES:... this was just a decision I made. OK, who am I not hearing from? Who have I not heard from?

And so that necessarily means marginalizing a portion of it.

Coates openly acknowledges that he decided consciously, deliberately, to ignore the parts he didn't want to hear in order to protect the narrative he wanted to focus on. He states that this is open for critique…which is what I'm offering. I haven't been uncharitable in any way. 

You wrote: "...and shows apathy to the point that him and Klein both agreed on: that Israel is an apartheid state." 

That's a third straw man[1]. Look again. How did my post start?

I agree with Coates and Klein both that the circumstances for Palestinians in the West Bank can be compared to apartheid. Israel within the green line can't be described that way, but the West Bank, in my opinion, can be described that way.

I think the West Bank settlements are indefensible. They are shameful and wrong. Israel could have protected its security without building settlements clearly meant to eventually annex the land into Israel. I have nothing but contempt and condemnation for them. 

Coates and Klein, however, also agreed about what would happen if Israel unilaterally pulled out of the West Bank as they did in Gaza in 2005. Again, here's the transcript:

KLEIN:...If we ever pull back, if we do what we did in Gaza, and allow this to be self-governed, an army will be raised, and what happened on 10/7 will be a small preview of what will be coming for us eventually.

That doesn’t make anything happening in the West Bank right. It doesn’t have any effect on the morality of it whatsoever. But it is the politics of Israel that somebody is going to have to deal with at some point or not. And then we’re just here. I’m not here to tell you I’ve come up with some answer. It’s just one of the things that has to sit in the pot.

TA-NEHISI COATES: Yeah, I don’t disagree with that at all. I don’t disagree with that at all.

Given this agreement between Coates and Klein that Israel pulling out of the West Bank unilaterally without enforceable security guarantees would result in disaster, what would you have Israel do? If it was up to me, I'd start with making water distribution fair in area C of the West Bank.

Now that I have defended my reasonable and supported criticisms of Coates from three straw man comments, I need to mention that the same category of error Coates gives us had a mirror image this weekend in Bill Maher.

BONUS GRIPE: Bill Maher does the same kind of thing as Coates, but in a mirror

Did you see this?

Set aside for a minute that Maher condescending to Chappell Roan and Roan's audience won't change any minds and set aside that Maher continues to be a living avatar for Peak Boomer Asshole Behavior - and what we're left with is a narrative about Israel/Palestine which is made to seem reasonable only by consciously, deliberately, dishonestly choosing to leave out utterly essential information. They're both writing for confirmation biases. There are only two differences between what Coates did and what Maher did:

1. Maher leaves out essential information about the Palestinian concerns and Palestinian realities while ignoring or downplaying Israeli failures…while Coates leaves out essential information about Israeli concerns and Israeli realities while ignoring or downplaying Palestinian failures. 

2. Coates at least ADMITS, when pressed, that he's doing this. Maher, smug prick that he is, does not. 

They're both wrong. It's assholes running the Israeli government, assholes running Hamas, assholes running the Palestinian Authority, and assholes running the Iranian government- and NONE of these parties has honestly sought peace for at least a couple decades. (Iran and Hamas have never sought peace.)

And with their deeply dishonest determination to serve their narratives by leaving out half the story, neither Coates nor Maher are helping elevate the conversation and fumble towards truth or resolution nearly as much as Ezra Klein does with consistent intellectual honesty.

[1] https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman

[2]https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/11/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-ta-nehisi-coates.html

[godsfavoritescientist]

bill doodles, shaded edition

[wanderingmind867]

I think Alan Rachins did an impression of Bill Thompson (the voice actor who did the white rabbit for disney's original alice in wonderland) when he played the Clock King. I can't prove this, but i feel almost certain he had to have been doing it. Because the white rabbit in alice in wonderland was another nervous character obsessed with time. I assume that Alan Rachins was doing an impression largely because i have heard his natural voice. And it doesn't sound like his character in the two clock king episodes of the batman show. So that lends more credence to my ideas, here.

[littlemoonflowr]

tried to make ta!ford's ref less visually cluttered than bill's but idk if i like it

[episodicnostalgia]

Batman: The Animated Series, 102 (Sep. 6, 1992) - “On Leather Wings” [Production order #01]

Written by: Mitch Brian Directed by: Kevin Altieri

This is the episode where…

The Police blame Batman for a Man-Bat’s crimes, thanks to their perfectly-on-brand profiling methods, resulting in a lot of avoidable property damage. In other news, the Batmobile looks amazing, and Alfred has perfect comedic timing.

The Breakdown

A rash of chemical plants are being broken into, and after an injured security guard describes the culprit as a “giant Bat-Creature,” the cops peg Batman as their prime suspect. Naturally they begin a mindful and meticulous investigation to ensure they have the right guy- hahah. No. I’m just kidding. They jump squarely into the deep end on this one, pretty much right away (again, all perfectly on-brand). You see, Detective Bullock went behind Commissioner Gordon’s back, and prematurely announced a “war on Batman” to the press, so now Mayor Hill feels pressured to authorize a task force, to save face (honestly, you really have to admire the cynicism on display in this scene).

Naturally the front-page story about Batman’s alleged B&E (plus aggravated assault) quickly catches his attention, especially since he didn’t actually do it (this time), so he zips over to the plant to investigate the crime scene… by breaking and entering for real. Thankfully Batman is canonically a far superior Detective than virtually any paid professional, and he finds two vital pieces of overlooked evidence. A) Tiny animal fibres that are not dissimilar to something a Bat might shed, and B) the injured security guard’s handheld cassette recorder, with a nifty audio clip of the creature’s high-pitched shriek (the guard was preparing a voice audition at the time of the attack).

[There’s also a whole altercation with the cops here, but I’ll talk about that later. Needless to say, Batman totally dominates.]

Anyways, those clues inspire the Dark Knight to visit the Zoo as Bruce Wayne, seeking the expertise of famed-bat-expert Dr. March, along with his collegiate daughter & son-in-law (Francine and Kirk Langstrom). Bruce hands over the evidence he found the previous night (claiming it’s connected to a bat infestation at his mansion) hoping the friendly family of Bat-scientists might be able to tell him something that his super-computer can’t. However, after Dr. March calls back, claiming that the fibres-and- audio were left by common brown bats, Bruce concludes the Doc is full of shit, and therefore must be connected to the creature; so he returns to the Zoo as Batman.

It turns out March isn’t quite the guy Batman is looking for, but he wasn’t too far off, either. You see, Kirk Langstrom was so enamoured by his father-in-law’s theories (which entail turning humans into giant bats, in order to “survive the next evolutionary cataclysm”, apparently) that he decided to take a stab at a genuine man-bat-hybrid-serum. Evidently, the attempt blew up in Langstrom’s face, transforming him into a living “Jekyll & Bat” trope; and the Man-Bat has been stealing more chemicals to make the change permanent, ever since. But the real kick-in-the-pants? Langstrom had just taken the last necessary component to finalize his transformation, mere seconds before Batman arrived (Talk about poor timing).

So, Kirk transforms into the Man-Bat, and things get violent. Eventually, the creature tries to fly away, and Batman gets dragged around for a tour of the Gotham skyline. Ultimately, Batman figures out his opponent’s weakness is crashing into walls at high-speed, by making that happen. After hauling Langstrom back to the cave, Batman whips up a counter-serum to reverse the doctor’s condition with remarkable ease, because Batman is also canonically very good with all-of-science.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Luckily, the Police witnessed the entire Bat-chase, thus exonerating the Dark Knight, and presumably reinstating him as just a generic fugitive from the law, as opposed to one who justifies a task force. Not bad for an honest (if illegal) night’s work.

The Verdict

I’m gonna have to level with you guys, I’ve never really given ‘On Leather Wings’ a fair shake before now. It’s not that I ever disliked it or anything, but it’s perhaps not as flashy or as widely talked about as some of the later episodes, especially as the writing and animation became more consistent. But yeah, Bruce Timm and Co. really popped off with the pilot, and it immediately establishes the series as more than ‘just another cartoon.’ The story itself is easy to overlook; the plotting is admittedly quite simple and largely predictable, but the dialogue and animation more than make up for it.

Unlike a majority of animated shows during the 90’s (Including one of my other childhood favourites, Spider-man), the dialogue in this episode is far more focused on interpersonal dynamics, over exposition. Most of Alfred’s interactions with Batsy/Bruce tends to revolve more around verbal sparring and repartee, through which we glean enough to understand the plot while simultaneously establishing the nature of their relationship. Likewise, the duality of Batman’s double life is shown to us, and not told. It’s likely that anyone watching this already knows who Batman is and what motivates him, but even if you didn’t, this Pilot-episode provides all the information you need to understand it without additional context, and minimal exposition.

The same can be said for the recurring cast. Who is Commissioner Gordon? Detective Bullock? Mayor Hill? Harvey Dent? Within a single one-minute scene, we are made to understand who all these people are, their stance on Batman, and even their opinions of each other, all of which works to establish the obstacles our hero will face. Many cartoons would approach the same scene by having the characters explain things to each other with convenient exposition dumps, but instead the characters predominantly discuss the situation as if it’s already shared knowledge. It’s slightly trickier to write, especially in a way that resonates with children, but the result is dialogue that avoids feeling affected, unnatural, or rushed (something that was not lost on me even back then).

This approach leaves the animation team some room to flex, which is good because the visual storytelling is where ‘On Leather Wings’ really shines. Firstly, Warner Brothers clearly spared no expense on the pilot, which easily boasts one of the most impressive sequences from the first 60-episode-season, if not the entire show. [I’m talking specifically about the sublime tracking shot of the Man-Bat flying along the length of the police blimp with Batman in-tow.] But more than being visually impressive, the animation is never averse to lingering on a prolonged moment if it makes for a stronger story beat.

At the beginning of the episode when, the security guard is recording his audition tape (hey, we all got dreams), the scene plays out for a solid minute before he’s interrupted by the Man-Bat. It’s a beat that would probably be regarded as superfluous in most other cartoons, but it’s a perfect Chekov’s gun moment that pays off when Batman finds the tape recorder beneath a desk later on. It might have been more direct to simply have Batman find one of the Langstrom’s ID badges, or whatever, but this approach shows us how Batman’s analytical capabilities are as much a part of him, as his ability to throw a punch, all without a single line of dialogue. It’s not complex story telling, it’s strong story telling, reinforcing how one can intelligently cater to children instead of pandering to them.

Were I judging this on the story alone, I might not go much above 3 stars, but going solely based on the animation I’d probably give it a 5, to say nothing of the sound design and musical score. All in all, this is an incredibly impressive pilot, so I’m giving it…

4 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Cryptozoology in Gotham City: This isn’t really a critique, but I can’t help but wonder how Batman explained the Man-Bat ordeal to Commissioner Gordon. Bearing in mind, Gordon witnessed Batman punch a giant bat out of the sky, and then drag it off into the shadows, never to be seen again. Surely he must have a few lingering questions about the whereabouts of the flying anthropomorphic beast with a penchant for mutagenic chemicals. Did Batman offer any explanation whatsoever, or is this a “don’t ask don’t tell” situation? How would that conversation even go?

Gordon: Hey, just curious. What exactly did you do with the Giant pants-wearing-Bat? Batman: Oh, that was some guy who just got a little carried away with a science experiment. But I fixed it. Gordon: Uh, okay… so how do we know that’ll never happen again? Batman: *vanishes into the night*

Silly things I find interesting: I have done zero research on this, but I believe this episode may feature one of the earliest on-screen-depictions of Batman being specifically hunted by the police (beyond just being chased from a crime scene). After Batman collects his evidence at the chemical plant, he finds himself cornered-and-hunted by Harvey Bullock’s task force. The ensuing chase shows Batman dodging gunfire, ducking into elevator shafts, employing gas pellets, and escaping a sizable explosion (courtesy of Gotham PD incompetence). The scene is notably reminiscent of Frank Miller’s ‘Year One’ comics, and I’m guessing that’s not a coincidence, since that story was released only a few years prior to this. That same comic would go on to inspire a number of other Batman v Cops sequences, including Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman Begins,’ and (seemingly) my personal favourite Bat-feature-film ‘The Mask of the Phantasm.’ Today this would all be considered par-for-the-course in a Batman story, but in 1992 it was still a moderately new precedent for Batman to be considered a full-blown fugitive from the law; certainly within a “kids show.”

The sound of bat-music: For all the credit given to Bruce Timm & Paul Dini for the show’s success, one can never overstate the critical importance of the late Shirley Walker’s monumental contribution. Every episode has a fully orchestrated, and almost-entirely original score (with some recurring themes for specific characters and villains), and the impact is undeniable. I don’t believe I’m being in-any-way hyperbolic when I say that the music for this episode would not sound out of place in a feature film. It’s a genuine shame that Walker never became a household name, ala John Williams/Danny Elfman/etc. because she was an incredible talent, who I fully believe could have given those guys a run for their money if given the same opportunities.

Will the real Pilot please stand up? Most fans are up-to-speed on this, but for anyone wondering why I’m referring to episode 102 as ‘the pilot,’ that’s because the episodes were usually produced in a different order than they were released. The first episode to actually air was ‘The Cat and the Claw, Part 1’ in an attempt to capitalize on ‘Batman Returns’ (because Catwoman was in both stories), which had dropped a couple months earlier. Consequently, Part 2 was released a week later as the 8th episode, which I believe was due to a whole wonky thing about differing time-slots that I won’t get into. In an any case, ‘On Leather Wings’ was always intended to be the show’s official pilot.

[sk1fanfiction]

Chapter Nine: Red Rum, Red Hands

Oh, he’s spotted it,” said Blaise from behind her, his voice giddy with anticipation.

“Who?” asked Parvati.

There was no answer, because Harry and Cedric both seemed to dive in unison, robes snapping in the wind after what must be the Snitch near the ground, far too small to see.

“Now, the technique Potter’s using’s called a Spiral Dive—” Blaise began.

“Shhh,” said Parvati, almost dangling over the railing. “They’re so close!”

The two Seekers were neck and neck, hands outstretched, pressing themselves flatter against their brooms—

Then they both pulled up. Hard. The Snitch must have slipped away.

“Well, wasn’t that hair-raising?” called Lee, and the stadium cheered in approval. “It’s still anyone’s game, sixty to eighty, Gryffindor to Hufflepuff — but Johnson’s currently doing her best to make that score even.”

The tension in Harry’s shoulders as he rose was clear even from far away. The Gryffindor stands yelled encouragement, but he seemed indifferent, unhearing as he watched the swarming chaos of red and yellow below. Cedric looked similarly contemplative.

And then, it happened.

Cedric dove.

“Diggory spotted the Snitch!” called Lee. “With Potter in pursuit — no, where’s Potter, why’s he just sitting there? Earth to Potter!”

“Why isn’t he following?” asked Parvati, the wind from Cedric plummeting blowing her hair back from her face.

She was right; Harry was just sitting there, casual as you please.

What if something’s wrong?

“Wronski Feint,” Blaise supplied. “At least, that’s what Diggory’s attempting. But Harry knows there’s nothing down there.”

Indeed, Harry’s face was tilted towards the sky, scanning the clouds with a tense, quiet determination.

Is that really what he’s doing?

Gryffindor plays Hufflepuff, but, believe it or not, Harry and Cedric's last match-up is far from the most exciting event this Saturday. Read from the beginning at FFN|AO3!

[charliebug3]

Hey so y'know how Rockwell can't move in any of his boss fights? :)

[scruffyf0x]

man what the fuck was this

[fappellmoan]

i mean it’s just kinda crazy cause. and forgive me if i sound somewhat spoiled here but. this trip im doing to take more credits and get experience and make connections etc is obviously expensive and i talked abt it with my parents. a lot before trying to do it. and somehow my dad didn’t understand that yk we would have to pay for it. ??? and is putting me in this spot of ‘figuring out what we’re gonna do about it’ and it’s like dude. i mean i’m going i paid for my fucking flights you know i’m. regardless i’ll be there. and i make $10/hr i have not been able to work consistently and when you don’t have thousands and thousands of dollars just sitting there accumulating more interest it doesn’t fucking last. like what exactly do you want me to say? i’ll drain all my accounts and give what little i have to you? tldr my main point here is the only way this man truly shows any kind of affection is through money and since he fucked me up im glad to take advantage of that lol like why wouldn’t i. so to have it thrown back in my face is just um an awful feeling. like im not even worth this to you. this is just too much. it truly does feel like someone put a number on love and im just not up there

[kulerrrr]

Uhh art summary