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Speedster - Blog Posts
Ain’t no party like a speedster party, ‘cause a speedster party is fast.
Day 27 - Fast
They meet all the scariest folk, but its worth it for the mail…
Can we all take a moment to appreciate just how much Barry knows about his powers. Like, it's crucial for someone with the type of power levels he has to understand, not abuse, and have control of his powers, and I feel like that's not given enough attention.
Take this, for example, when Wally loses control of his powers in Heroes-in-Crisis. He was so overcome by the grief of loosing his kids, his family, of feeling alone, that he just couldn’t hold on any longer and in a moment of weakness he let go of the control he had on the speedforce, resulting in him accidently killing Arsenal, Blue Jay, Commander Steel, Hot Spot, Lagoon Boy, Gunfire, Red Devil, Gnarrk, Nemesis, Protector, Solstice, Tattooed Man, and Poison Ivy. All of them not only were heroes who (for some) were once Wally's teammates, but they were his friends.
He just couldn't keep control of the power he was gifted, and it resulted in him killing those he loved. And that's something that needs to be acknowledged and understood.
And this isn't some newbie speedster whos just learning the ropes of their powers. Wally even says it himself, he's been doing this since he was a 𝘬𝘪𝘥, and he still lost control.
I feel like most people don't understand that being a speedster isn't just about being fast or being the lovable goofball who's smart but stupid at the same time, but about being in control and being accepting.
I get people who read the comics mostly do or have a vague understanding, but those who just know of the flash through the movies or shows or just from general knowledge just don't seem to understand how crucial it is for speedsters to know how to use their powers.
Like when Barry made Flashpoint to save his parents. He abused his power, and it resulted in everything he loved crumbling around him and never being exactly the same.
A phrase I really like from The Flash Cw show that explains this is, "See this coffee cup right here? Think of it as the space-time-continuum. Whenever you go back in time, it breaks. Now... you can reset the timeline, you can try to fix it, but no matter how hard you try... it's never gonna be exactly how it was. " when Jay explained to Barry why he couldn't just change the timeline for his personal benefit.
Speedsters aren't gods, their people, who, for whatever reason, were given extraordinary abilities. Abilities that at times do seem to rival that of the gods. And some speedsters realize that and decide to take advantage.
A prime example is Eobard Thawne when he was unable to let go of his vendetta, and decided to destroy Barry's life by changing the past and the future. Aka, killing Barry's mom, Nora.
This led to Barry's father, Henry, to be falsely accused and sentenced for the crime, leaving Barry without his parents.
There are plenty of other times where Eobard used his powers to change the timeline like Barry did, and make himself the hero and Barry be the villain, or even times where he made the world think 𝘩𝘦 was Barry, and so on. The same can be said for the other speedster rogues like God Speed and Zoom and so on that abuse the speedforce for their own personal gain, and that's a prime testament to how important it is for speedsters to not abuse their powers.
I mean, they can literally rewrite history.
Not to mention, Barry literally outran death itself. Like, wtf. Thats not something you just 𝘥𝘰.
Speedster's are even wanted by God's, which says a lot.
So, yeah. Let's just appreciate how much Barry knows about his powers and how he decides not to just erase whatever tf he wants about the timeline.
I love how when Barry sees a substance he doesn't know he's all like, "oh, hey let me lick this to find out" and its not that big of a deal to him. Why is it not a big deal? I'll tell you why. Its because anything potentially dangerous like poison or some other toxic substance wouldn't be able to last anymore than a second against a speedster immune sytem (unless it was an extremly high amount or specifically made for a speedster). So when Barry sees an unknown substance hes just like, "why should I wait for a test to find out what this is when I could just taste it right here and find out".
Now, when Dick does this, it's a whole other story. Why? Because, HE'S HUMAN. He's not some enhanced person, or metahuman, or alien, or a speedster with 10x the strength of a regular human immune system. He's just a guy. And I find it hilarious he looks at this unkown substance and thinks, "Why tf not?" and just licks it. Now, I'm like 96% sure he only went so far as to lick it because he saw how grossed out Wally was and wanted to be a little shit and mess with him, but still.
And then he finds out it's clay, and he's all like, "Oh, that’s what it is." Acting like he didn't just almost kill himself.
I MEAN HES LITERALLY SMILING, 𝘞𝘛𝘍.
THE ONLY APORPRIATE REACTION WAS WALLY'S.
Which, speaking of Wally, I love how hes all grossed out with Dick's actions, but if it was Barry he'd have no problem with it. Like, I can imagine him seeing Barry do this and be absolutley fascinated by the fact his uncle, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩, licked some unkown substance to figure out what it was. Why? Because, lets face it, hes a fan boy at heart.
Now, if you asked him to do it, I know for a fact he would look at you like you just grew a second head.