#Manhunt in Space

[whitewaterpaper]

Här på W2P har vi fortsatt att se högoktanig skräpfilm för att bevara någon form av ovett att uppskatta dagens holllywoodrullar.

Darby O'Gill och småfolket / Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) Charmig liten film med snygga special effekter och en ung Sean Connery i en av de bärande rollerna. Men ack så tråkig.

Devil's Men, the / Land of the Minotaur (1976) Skräck.

Disappeared, the / My Daughter Is Missing (2017) Helt okej thriller som kunnat bli fantastisk med mer kunnigt folk i registolen och bakom pennan.

Doors (2021) Nä. "Smal SF" som vill mycket och berättar lite.

Frozen Alive / Der Fall X701 (1964) Vetenskaplig SF som leker med vad man i framtiden kanske kan göra.

Ghost Walks, the (1934) "Skräck".

Jagad av Rebellerna / Moonraker, the (1958) När man vill göra en Robin Hood-film utan att göra en Robin Hood-film.

Kolossen på Rhodos / Il Colosso di Rodi (1961) [🔁] Har sett den tidigare, hittar den dock inte i filmdagboken så det kan ha varit medan datorn var på rehab. Små trevlig liten äventyrsfilm med fond i antikens Grekland.

Last Starship, the (2017) [👎] Kul koncept men nä.

Manhunt in Space (1956) [🆓] Charmig Rocky Jones-film som antagligen är en av höjdpunkterna denna vecka. SF från en oskyldigare tid.

Oro Arrowhead (2021) [👎🆓] Skattletaräventyr på Jysk-budget. Har sina positiva sidor, men inga värd att sitta av nästan 2 timmar för.

Robin Hood (1973) [👍🔁] Disneyklassiker.

Solum (2019) Inte så pjåkig "Hungerspelen"/"Battle Royale"-film från portugal. Vill lite för mycket. Men klart sevärd.

Speed Cross (1980) [👎] Motorcross action. Filmen är ungefär lika bra som kvaliteten på den italienska dubben.

Väktarens hämnd / Leprechaun (1993) Warwick Davies i högform. Jennifer "Rachel i Vänner" Aniston före Vänner. Resten av filmen lämnar en del att önska.

Jag minns inte exakt vilka som finns på tuben, några av dem iaf. I övrigt är det kanske bara "Solum" denna månad jag skulle säga kan vara värd att slå ett öga på.

[zhelin-thames]

Danny meets JL members #7

[Danny "being the little shit he is" floating around the Watchtower, minding his own business.]

[Martian Manhunter approaches, phasing through a nearby wall.]

Danny: [startles] Dude! Ever heard of knocking? Martian Manhunter: You phase through walls yourself. Danny: Yeah, but I’m the ghost kid. You’re, like… a space ghost.

Martian Manhunter: I am J’onn J’onzz, the last survivor of Mars. Danny: [grins] Sweet. I’m Danny Fenton, the half-survivor of Earth. J’onn: [pauses] That is… unusually dark for a teenager.

[J’onn and Danny comparing abilities]

Danny: Okay, so you can phase through walls, shape-shift, and read minds? J’onn: Correct. Danny: I can phase, fly, shoot ectoplasm, and scream so loud it shatters windows. J’onn: Fascinating. Danny: Wait—can you do that thing where you get really big and scary? J’onn: Do you mean this? [transforms into a massive, monstrous figure] Danny: [wide-eyed] Okay, yeah, that’s terrifying. Teach me.

J’onn: Your abilities seem to stem from ectoplasmic energy. Danny: Uh-huh. And yours come from… Martian vibes? J’onn: [calmly] We call it genetic superiority. Danny: [grinning] Fancy way of saying “alien magic.” Got it.

[Danny tries to prank J’onn]

Danny: [invisible, sneaks up behind J’onn] Boo! J’onn: [doesn’t flinch] Your ectoplasmic signature gave you away. Danny: Dang it! How’d you know? J’onn: [smiling slightly] I could hear you laughing before you phased.

[Martian Manhunter Reads Danny’s Mind (danny let him)]

J’onn: Your thoughts are… chaotic. Danny: Thanks. I try. J’onn: You also appear to be replaying a jingle about snacks in your head. Danny: [grinning] It’s a coping mechanism.

[In the Watchtower Cafeteria]

J’onn: Earth food is… peculiar. Danny: [eating a sandwich] You’re not wrong. So what do you eat? J’onn: Martian plants and thought energy. Danny: Thought energy? That sounds like something a ghost would do. Are you sure you’re not, like, half-ghost too? J’onn: [raises an eyebrow] I am not. Danny: Sure, sure. That’s what I said before I fell into a portal.

[Later, J’onn texting the Justice League Group Chat]

J’onn: The ghost child is… peculiar. The Flash: That’s just Danny. Green Lantern: Did he prank you yet? J’onn: He tried. It was… underwhelming. Danny: [joins chat] I’ll get you next time, Space Dad. J’onn: I am not your “Space Dad.” Danny: [grinning] Too late.

[sisaloofafump]

In case it seems like every third comic has Batman in it... you're not wrong. He's been in 38.6% of DC issues since 2020, with a stark increase of 8% each decade since the 90s and surpassing Superman in popularity. Despite this, there's been a massive drop off of comics where he is teamed up with Superman or a Robin (although the amount of group team ups between Batman Family members has increased, as well as Nightwing solos).

[declamationark]

DPXDC prompt: There’s an alien invasion incoming and the justice league are all up in arms to defeat them. Once they break into the mothership, however, they discover that the aliens were already beaten up and there’s this ghostly child cackling in the control room. It’s Danny and he is Obsession-drunk and having an absolute blast exploring every nook and cranny of the ship, dismantling it to see how the machines work, driving it around, chatting a hundred miles per hour to the definitely-concussed and groaning alien commander, and just zooming fro and fro with eyes dilated so hard there’s only a tiny ring of green in his eyes, lost in the feral serotonin sauce

Bonus points if the justice league calm Danny down by having him fanboy over Martian Manhunter, and then in the end, Danny goes “I’m gonna stick with you now! No takebacks!” and adopts J’onn into the Fenton family, now J’onn has two midwestern folks to hang out with for the holidays (the Kents from that Christmas special and now the Fentons)

[ghostbsuter]

"Excuse me?" Jazz's voice echoes in the meeting room in space. She gains the attention of the heroes immediately and sees them tensing up in at her appearance.

Behind her, he swirling green portal is open, waiting for her to return.

A blond, coat wearing man, curses upon seeing her and gives a half bow. "Princess Jasmine," he speaks up, eye twitching.

"What brings you here?"

At the greeting and reveal of her title, few others fall into bows, the lady at the head of the table, wonder woman?, gives her a smile.

Her eyes pin the green skinned man to his seat, who in return tilts his head at her.

"My brothers birthday is soon," she focuses on the man again. "I'm simply here for a present."

The man tenses, another curse slipping. "Ah– king phantom, right? I wasn't aware his birthday would be so soon."

Jazz ignores him, calmly walking to the Martian and placing a picture of Mars before him.

"The tales of your people have brought much interest to my brother. He became a big fan." She tells, sharing her intentions at his light poking.

"I ask for a signature, it would make his day."

Martian Manhunter, alien hero, and once upon a time, a father even smiles. He's delighted yet feeling a deep-rooted sadness. The tales of his people continue to spread in the afterlife, it seems.

Jazz leaves quickly after, not before giving Diana a number, they are cousins after all.

Danny will love her present.

[cakypa120]

AU where no one knows Captain Marvel's identity except Martian Manhunter. Some part, I'm not keeping count.

[ew-selfish-art]

Dp x dc AU - If the Internation Space Station orbits the Earth 16 times a day, then so does the Watchtower.

Danny’s on track to move out of his parent’s house and move to Gotham for college (He swears that Sam bribed the board to let him in- and she wasn’t even going to that university!) but the dorms don’t open for another three days and he cannot wait to escape. Seeing his parents try to perfect yet another weapon to use against him while he changed out the ecto filters on the portal was too much. He’s completely over the idea of staying when he already has everything packed and ready to go.

The solution? Take all his boxes into his haunt in the Ghost Zone, leave them there and then spend some time in camping in space. He’s already explored the Infinite Realms enough to be bored of it for a minute (not to mention he wants to avoid getting more ‘favors’ to do from Clockwork) and hell, he just wants to see some stars.

He grabs his tent, a sleeping bag and all the food and things he could need and brings it into the atmosphere with him. Keeping it all tethered to him, Danny stays in a fixed position above Gotham (Cause that’s where he’s going next, duh) and treats himself to some quality Me-time.

Only problem is that several times a day he has to make himself intangible while he lets satellites and things pass through. Easy enough and honestly pretty interesting to observe as a wannabe engineering student.

He doesn’t know when exactly it happened the first time- but it turns out the Heroes of Earth all congregated in a satelite office building? It was bigger than the ISS! What the heck!?

Going intangible but not invisible, the JL spot Danny and are incredibly confused how an ‘Alien’ teen just happens to appear in their meeting rooms disappearing at the rate (slowly but surely) of the Watchtower moving through space. Was that camping gear? How was he roasting a marshmallow? Did propane camping stoves even work in space??

16 times a day they get the opportunity to ask Danny a few questions. He mostly ignores them or gives them joke answers. Eventually Martian Manhunter phases through the Watchtower to join him.

They talk about how hard transition periods in life can be and having strained relationships with family. J’ohn returns to the watchtower on its next cycle and reports that the kid is just fine, being an adult is just a hard thing to do.

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #141

Danny’s school held a contest where their students would have to write about a member of the Justice League that they admired. They framed it as a normal assignment and then mailed them to the hero. Danny didn’t think anything of his letter until he gets a few letters pop in front of him, apparently if you burn a letter for a ghost the recipient will get it. Danny thinks back to his own letter to Martian Manhunter and he remembers mentioning in his letter that not all ghosts were bad and he wishes they had the same rights as aliens did.

Of course the Justice League shows up to town and Danny is star struck as Martian Manhunter shows up to Danny’s doorstep to ask about his letter.

[greennightingale]

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 85

Dan is very grumpy. He’s not pouting, despite what the others would claim, he’s brooding. How many times were they going to get de-aged?! And this time they were all clones! He did not sign up for reincarnation, nor for getting turned into a literal baby. 

He doesn’t care if this world has heroes or villains or whatever, he’s going to bite the next person to pick him up. Happily if it’s one of the scientists currently scrambling around as alarms go off. 

Though he’ll happily do the same to the new colorful people too. Honestly he’s just feeling particularly violent, and it’s not like he can murder with his tiny baby hands. At least his so-called siblings look just as ready to attack as he does. 

[evilhorse]

Cosmic Odyssey house ad (circa October 1988)

[lil-dragon-rawr]

FNaF x DC: the Aftons...in Space!

(or: if the Aftons got aboard the Watchtower)

Part One, Part Two

Red Hood, babysitting Gregory while Glamrock Freddy is off doing things, ranting about which members of the Justice League he hates: -and they just sit there on their space base, leaving the rest of us to-

Gregory: they have a space base???

Red Hood: yeah it's called the Watchtower, anyways let me tell you about the absolute hypocrisy of Superman-

Gregory: *is no longer listening because space base*

Gregory, when Glamrock Freddy picks him up: hey Freddy, remember that game where you went to space?

Glamrock Freddy: do you mean FNaF 57: Freddy in Space? Of course I remember that game, it was incredibly popular for a time.

Gregory: do you want to help me go to space?

Glamrock Freddy, [Gremlin_Senses] activated, triggering his [Defuse_the_Gremlin.exe] protocol: there are many space-themed rides at the Pizzaplex. Let's have a space adventure there.

Gregory: ...never mind.

Glamrock Freddy, believing he successfully defused the situation: :)

Gregory, Definitely Not Defused: I'm going to call Cassie

Gregory, standing in a room with Cassie, Scrap Baby, Golden Freddy, and Michael: I hereby call the first meeting of Operation: Space Base to order. Our objectives are as follows

Gregory, drawing on a whiteboard so everyone can see: step one, figure out how the Justice League gets to their space base

Scrap Baby: I'll ask Auntie Harley!

Scrap Baby: she might want to come along though

Gregory: fine by me. Step two, commandeer said method of transport

Cassie: think V.A.N.N.I. will work outside the Pizzaplex?

Michael, patting her on the shoulder: there's only one way to find out

Gregory, nodding: which brings us to step three: profit

Scrap Baby, at her weekly tea-spilling session with Harley and Ivy: Auntie Harley, do you know how the Justice League gets to their space base by any chance?

Harley, Proud Wine Aunt™: do I!

(members of O:SB scoping out Wayne Manor so they can sneak into the cave)

Gregory, with binoculars: we'll have to deactivate their defenses somehow

Cassie: I could try V.A.N.N.Ι.?

Red Hood, sneaking up behind them: hey guys! Whatcha doin?

Everyone: *collective screeching, minus Michael who is unfazed*

Michael: trying to sneak onto the Justice League's space base! :D

Red Hood, crouching down beside them: nice

Cassie, using V.A.N.N.I to interact with the Zeta tube in the Batcave: hey it's working!

(meanwhile, somewhere across Gotham)

Oracle: why the [$&@¥] is there a rabbit shutting me out of the Clocktower?

Cassie, explaining why a security node appeared on the Batcomputer: Helpi says we can break through the encryption, but he had to send M.Χ.Ε.S. to lock out other users so they can't find us :/

Michael, very attached to the true Helpy: that's great, but tell that faker he's a false prophet

Red Hood: what's a Helpi?

Harley: and who's M.X.E.S.??

Cassie, pointing to empty space: M.X.E.S is that guy.

Scrap Baby, who can also see Μ.Χ.Ε.S.: *nodding*

Harley:

Harley: kay sweetie I think you might need a therapy session soon

(O:SB successfully hacks the Zeta tube)

Hal Jordan, standing at the Zeta tube, about to leave the Watchtower: uhhhhh

Red Hood, without hesitation: it's take your kid to work day

Hal:

Hal: ...so where's Batman?

Hal, peering around Red Hood to see the bizarre group behind him: and who are they?

Gregory, annoyed: I'm the kid he's taking to work, obviously!

Hal: *squinting* ...uh-huh

Gregory, gesturing to Michael, Scrap Baby, and Golden Freddy: and these are my siblings!

Gregory: plus my good friend Cassie!

Cassie, still wearing the V.A.N.N.I. mask: *peace sign*

Hal: ...right. And what's Harley Quinn doing here?

Scrap Baby: she's my emotional support clown

Hal:

Harley: don't worry, I'm a licensed practitioner!

Hal:

Hal, muttering under his breath as he passes them to get to the Zeta tube: not my circus, not my monkeys

Red Hood, giving a tour: this is the break room, they've got the good snacks so I always steal some-

Scrap Baby: *sees Cyborg and Gar playing video games in the break room*

Scrap Baby, mimicking Batman's voice: what do you think you're doing?

Cyborg and Gar: *collective screeching, start scrambling to turn off the game*

Red Hood, who was not informed of Scrap Baby's abilities: what the [@€∆|π¥$] was that??

Cyborg and Gar, looking around wildly: ...that wasn't Batman?

Cyborg, squinting at Scrap Baby: and who are you?

Scrap Baby, still using Batman's voice: I'm Batman.

(O:SB gang starts sprinting through the halls, as one does)

Harley, running past Martian Manhunter: smell ya later, Martian Manhater!

Manhunter: *processing*

Manhunter: hold on a minute-

Manhunter, staring disappointedly at the group he (finally) apprehended using his psychic powers: Red Hood, care to explain?

Red Hood, protesting: it's take your kid to work day!

Gregory, raising his hand: I'm the kid

Manhunter: *deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose*

Manhunter, pointing to Golden Freddy and Scrap Baby: what are those?

Manhunter, pointing to Gregory: why doesn't he have a brain?

Manhunter, pointing to V.A.N.N.I. mask Cassie: why is her brain glitching?

Manhunter, pointing to Michael: why is his brain on fire?

Manhunter, pointing to Harley: and what is a criminal doing on the Watchtower?

Michael: oh! Well my brain probably got a little melted from all the fires I was in, I'm all good though!

Michael, putting his arm around Gregory: and this is the robot version of my dead brother, so his brain is all wires and stuff!

Scrap Baby, nodding to Michael: I'm his dead sister-

Michael, loudly: -who speaks nothing but LIES-

Scrap Baby, ignoring him: -Auntie Harley is my emotional support clown,

Manhunter:

Scrap Baby, gesturing to Golden Freddy: and that's our dead brother-

Golden Freddy: ITSME

Scrap Baby, glaring at Michael: -who SOMEONE shoved into Fredbear's mouth.

Manhunter:

Manhunter, speaking to Cassie: are you okay?

Cassie: yeah I'm just in AR right now so that's probably why my brain is glitching!

Manhunter, trying to understand the correlation between "using AR" and "having a glitchy brain": how...never mind.

Gregory, as soon as he lays eyes on Superman: yOU!

Superman, already exasperated with Batman's kids: you're not very happy to see me, are you?

Gregory, grabbing his FazerBlaster: you were a jerk to Superboy! You know, your clone and, therefore, your family!

Superman, trying to de-escalate the situation: hold on, I know I was rude at first, but-

Gregory, aiming his FazerBlaster directly into Superman's eyes: I won't hesitate, 01000010 01110111 01101111 01110010 01100100!

Michael, gasping like an old lady from the 50s: who taught you to swear in binary?

Red Hood, pretending to wipe a tear as Gregory blasts Superman point blank: I'm so proud

Wonder Woman, eyeing the group warily: ...Red Hood.

Red Hood: hi Wonder Woman!

Wonder Woman: does Batman know you're here?

Red Hood: with luck, not yet!

Wonder Woman, disapprovingly: ...and who did you bring with you?

Michael, coming up for a handshake: hi I'm Michael, resident corpse/scooper victim. Lovely to meet you, I'm a big fan!

Golden Freddy: 00100001 00100001 00100001

Michael, dragging Golden Freddy over: and so's my brother!

Wonder Woman, wildly confused: ...hi.

John Constantine, rounding the corner, seeing the O:SB group, and immediately rounding right back: nope. Whatever that is, I don't want any part of it.

Red Hood, dragging Constantine back by his collar: hey guys, check this out!

Scrap Baby, attempting a face of disgust: ew, his soul's all nasty!

Scrap Baby, side eyeing Michael: like someone else I know

Michael: oh that's rich coming from you-

Constantine, muttering: Hood. Put me down while they're distracted.

Red Hood, hauling him over to Golden Freddy: nope!

Golden Freddy:

Constantine: ...

Golden Freddy:

Constantine: why are there two of you?

Golden Freddy: 01110000 01110010 01100101 01110000 01100001 01110010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01110100 01110010 01101111 01110101 01100010 01101100 01100101 01100001 01101110 01100100 01101101 01100001 01101011 01100101 01101001 01110100 01100100 01101111 01110101 01100010 01101100 01100101

Michael: haha, classic Cassidy!

Michael, still smiling as he pats Constantine on the back: but you should absolutely prepare for trouble.

(O:SB reaches the main control room)

Green Arrow, on watch duty: what the-

Red Hood, waving him off: relax, it's just a tour for the kids

Green Arrow: that doesn't make me feel any better. How'd you even get up here?

Cassie, running up to the controls: hey, V.A.N.N.I. can interact with this!

Green Arrow: wait, kid, what are you-

Cassie: *starts messing with things in AR and an alarm starts blaring*

Green Arrow, baffled: you made-

Green Arrow, trying to process but is ultimately still baffled: -you made our state-of-the-art system think there's a nonexistent missile inbound?

Green Arrow: somehow?

Cassie: ...whoops

Green Arrow: how...?

Cassie: *shrugs*

Green Arrow: ...you know what, at this point I'm just impressed

(Cassie, messing with the controls with Gregory when a security node pops up on screen)

Cassie: *sudden screech* get out of my face, M.X.E.S.!

Green Arrow: do I want to know?

Red Hood, shaking his head: I don't even know.

M.X.E.S., typing on screen:

come back, glamrock freddy is worried

Gregory, rolling his eyes: well he's the one who didn't want to come with us!

M.X.E.S.:

reinforcements inbound

Green Arrow, alarmed: what did it mean by reinforcements?

Everyone: *ignoring him*

Green Arrow, anxiety skyrocketing: what did it mean? Answer quickly

(five seconds later)

Lolbit, appearing on screen and shutting the entire Watchtower down:

PLEASE STAND BY

Michael, marching to the controls: Lolbit, you killjoy - move, Gregory -

Green Arrow, realizing these "kids" and their "friends" can hack and/or disable a quadruple-encrypted satellite in a few seconds: (°-°)

Green Arrow, to Red Hood: are we worried about that? I feel like we should be worried about that

Red Hood, busy playing chopsticks with Cassie: not my spaceship, not my problem

[thebubblesareevil]

Slowing down and Speeding up...

Part 1

The next night, as he prepared for sleep, Barry planned. He had a list of questions and was determined to get them answered. So he kissed his wife and laid down to sleep, determined. He would get answers out of Danny even if it killed him!... Though ideally it wouldn't... hopefully.

Barry laid there for what felt like hours trying to sleep, trying his best not to fidget too much and disturb Iris. Slowly, ever so slowly, Barry began to doze off when...

BEEP...BEEP...BEEP!

Barry jumped out of bed at the sound of his communicator. Grabbing the device he read the message. He sighed as he gave Iris a quick peck on the cheek, telling her to go back to sleep, knowing neither of them would be getting any rest as her own phone began blaring.

Questions would have to wait, for now he had work to do.

--------

Three days and an Alien invasion later, Barry collapsed into his bed. Iris chuckled at her husbands antics.

"Is the big, strong, superhero tired?" She asked, sitting next to him as she gently rubbed his back.

"Hngh" came the muffled reply. Iris chuckled.

"I know, I know, it's been a long few days. That doesn't change the fact that even speedsters need to brush their teeth." Barry groaned. "And no superspeed! As tired as you are you're more than likely to crash into the wall." Slowly Barry dragged himself from the sweet comfort of his pillow to brush his teeth.

Once done, he blearily trudged back to the bed, collapsing once more. Iris chuckled before draping the covers over his prone form. She turned off the lights before joining him in bed.

Barry barely processed anything as she ran her fingers through his hair before wrapping an arm around him.

"You did such a good job sweetie, you saved so many lives, and I'm proud of you." Barry barely managed a smile as she kissed him. "Now get some sleep, you've earned it."

"Yr suu prrft, I lrve u Rs." Barry mumbled as he drifted off to sleep, as his wife giggled.

"I love you too."

---------

When Barry's eyes flew open, he was almost as tired as when he shut them. He was surrounded by a tunnel of rushing light, his first instinct was to run of course, before his last dream came to mind. He took deep calming breaths as he let go of his tight grip on the speed force. Exhaustion flowed through him, but (at the risk of sounding like a certain bat) he had questions that needed to be answered, so he walked.

And Walked...

And Walked......

And-

"What are you doing?"

Barry's eyes flew open, though when they closed he couldn't say, only for him to jump back from Danny's face that was a mere 2 inches from his own. The teen burst out laughing.

"Where the heck did you come from!?!" This only seemed to make the teen laugh more.

"Dude, you've been walking around with your eyes closed for about an hour!" Barry turned red from embarrassment. Doing his best to salvage the situation Barry cleared his throat.

"Yes, well, it's been a long week. That's not important! I have some questions for you!" Danny tilted his head to the side while pointing a single clawed finger at his chest. "Yes you!" He shouted. Danny grinned.

"Okay, shoot! What do you want to know?" Barry was nearly taken by surprise but quickly recovered.

"Okay, first things first, why are we here?" Danny looked at him like he was crazy.

"You went right for the difficult questions, huh. I mean I'd like to say we all have a purpose, although I learned that sometimes that purpose is to help someone else's purpose. I mean... there's no real set answer I don't think, however-" Barry just stared at him blankly before shaking his head.

"I meant in the Speed Force! I mean if you happen to know the meaning of life we can talk about that later, but for now I just want to know why we are in the Speed Force." he interrupted, too tired to run in circles. "I've talked to other speedsters about this dream before and none of them have ever been here, so why are we here?"

"Oh! Well that's a much easier question!" Danny gave him a fanged grin. "I'm here because I was wandering around the Infinite Realms and stumbled upon this little piece of heaven. As I've said before, prime napping real estate, or anything really. You and Speedy Gonzales are the only other people I've ever run into here, and he never really bothers me anyway." he shrugged at Barry's look of shock and annoyance.

"As for you, that's a whole other can of worms. After the last time we ran into each other, I asked around some of the older circles of ghosts. It was actually one of the Observants that had the answer, or at least a vague explanation." Danny put his hands behind his head as he got himself comfortable, floating mid-air. Barry was not jealous, thank-you-very-much.

"And?" He pushed.

"And for some reason you've got a stronger connection with the speed force than the others. Something about how you generate energy when you run. They wouldn't explain more than that, they're pretty annoying like that." he shrugged. "Sorry if it's not the answer you were looking for." Barry sighed.

"It was less than I'd like, and more than I expected. Okay, next question. Who is that other guy? Why was he after me?" The half-ghost cringed with a hiss.

"I was afraid you would ask that... he's kinda complicated." Danny sat cross-legged as well as crossing his arms. "So from what I can tell is he's kinda your grim reaper." Barry jolted in shock.

"He's what?!?!"

"Hey, calm down, no need to freak out!" Danny replied trying his best to calm the panicking speedster.

"You just told me the grim reaper is after me and you want me to calm down?!?!?" he shouted.

"He's not after you, for Ancient's sake! Sit Down!" he commanded and to his own surprise, Barry sat down.

"He is the grim reaper of speedsters, but the only reason he was chasing you is because you were running around in the Speed Force. That's how you mess with things that shouldn't be messed with, and it's his unending job to stop/punish people who mess with those things."

"And exactly would I be messing with?" He asked, doing his best to calm down.

"Space-Time. Now next question, I came here to get my homework done. I may have more time here but it's not infinite." Barry took a deep breath, nodding.

"Okay, well I guess the biggest question I have is about you." Danny raised his eyebrow, curious. "You said you died, can I ask how?" Danny froze, possibly literally as Barry started to feel a chill in the air.

"That's...That's not really something you should ask ghosts. It's considered extremely insensitive and rude, honestly most ghosts would attack you for asking something like that." Barry nodded.

"Hey, it's okay, you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Danny took a deep breath and nodded.

"My sister thinks I need to talk about it, she's probably right as usual."

"If you want to talk about it, you can do so at your own pace. No pressure." Danny smiled softly.

"Thanks, I might take you up on it sometime. Now it's my turn to ask a question." Barry grinned.

"Fair is fair, hit me."

"Why are you so tired? You haven't been here in about a week so I gotta admit I'm curious about what you've been up to." Danny shrugged. Barry laughed.

"My Earth got hit by an alien invasion, the whole league was fighting them back for the last three days. We managed to stop the invasion and Superman (Danny snorted) managed to broker a peace treaty to prevent future conflict." Danny was grinning through the whole explanation. "What's with that face?" Danny chuckled (no it wasn't creepy, calm down Barry)

"So let me get this straight. You have ALIENS, ALIENS in your world, and they invaded." His grin got bigger, showing off his jagged teeth, as Barry nodded. "We are going to unpack the fact that you have a guy on your team that calls himself Superman later. Right now I need you to tell me EVERYTHING! What did they look like? Were they green? Did they fly? Were they able to breath oxygen or did they use gas masks? Why did they invade? What planet were they from?!?!" Barry was honestly impressed by how much the ghost was vibrating as he shot off question after question. Barry cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm gonna be honest I don't have all the answers about those particular aliens. I was more concerned with stopping the invasion more that anything." Danny visibly deflated as he started to droop from where he was floating. "But! I have a teammate that's from Mars." The ghost immediately perked up, his form glowing brighter than before.

"SERIOUSLY?!?!?!" He shrieked. Barry chuckled, happy to see him excited about something normal.

"Oh yeah, Superman is actually from the planet Krypton and Hawk man and Hawk woman are both from Thanagar. Hell if you wanna reach a bit, Green Lantern may be from Earth but he's a space cop." Danny could light up a room with how much he was glowing at this point.

"Tell me all about the Martian! You can tell me about the others later, but you gotta tell me about the Martian."

"Okay, okay, but not for long. You already said you needed to do homework." Danny groaned but conceded, giving Barry his full attention. "Okay so in the League he goes by the name Martian Manhunter, but his real name is J'onn J'onzz. He was pulled from his planet in the middle of a war...on accident. The poor scientist had a heart attack when he saw J'onn show up outta nowhere. He kept himself hidden for years to keep the government off his back, but when the world needed him he joined the league." He grinned.

"He's a pretty chill dude, honestly, once you get passed the telepathy. I won't tell you everything about him, cus superhero bro code and all that, but he is in fact green, he can shapeshift, as well as density shift through most solid objects, oh and he can fly too." He finished with a yawn. Danny practically squealed in excitement.

"That's so awesome! I'm so jealous, I wi-" Danny froze looking around, much to Barry's confusion. "I very much would love it if I could meet him." Barry squinted at the strange pause but shook his head, too tired to question it. Danny however started to give him a smug look.

"You look like you're about to collapse." Barry yawned.

"You're not wrong." he remarked.

"Why don't you lay down and get some sleep? I've gotta do my homework anyway."

"But...I am asleep?"

"You might be asleep physically, but mentally you are talking to me. I'm guessing this is honestly a weird astral projecting kind of thing. Trust me, lay down, take a nap. You'll thank me for it later." Barry sighed, too tired to argue as he laid down on the, surprisingly comfy, ground.

Danny floated close by, the soft scratched of pencil against paper lulling him to sleep.

-----

Barry woke with a start, jumping from the ground, startling the floating teen. He quickly looked around surveying the area.

"Feel better?" He looked at the teen in surprise, because yes he did, he felt much more awake.

"How long was I asleep?" Danny shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe 20-30"

"Not bad for a 30 min nap." He said as he stretched.

"Yeah, no, sorry. You slept for 20-30 HOURS. Minimum." Barry froze.

"What?"

"Oh yeah, I actually just got back from school. You must have been really tired!" Danny grinned.

"How? Why am I still here? Why am I not home?!?" Barry began to shake as Danny raced up to the speedster.

"Hey, Barry, I need you to calm down. Time works differently, remember? Everything is okay." Danny grabbed hold of Barry's arm only to be thrown of as lightning started to surround him. "Barry, if you don't calm down Zippy is gonna come after you again. I need you to BREATHE!" It was too late, Barry could see him.

The black speedster.

He was coming for him.

Barry backed away from Danny and ran, he ran as fast as he possibly could he ran until-

-----

Barry jumped out of bed, running for his life and straight into a wall.

Iris jumped out of bed at the crash, racing over to her husband's side.

"Are you alright!?!" She asked as Barry groaned.

"Yeah, all good. Can't say the same for the wall." Iris turned to look at the cracked wall with a sigh.

"Barry, I love you. This is the third time this month. We have got to put some kind of cushioning on this wall if we wanna keep it."

Barry sighed, taking in his surroundings.

He felt better rested than he had in years. He grinned.

"You're probably right, I'll get right on that. But first, breakfast!" He smiled at his beautiful wife.

"I'm making waffles!" Iris laughed.

"Well you certainly got a good nights rest, huh. I think I'll get a little more shut eye while you cook." Barry laughed

"Sounds like a plan!." 'Today was going to be a good day', Barry thought with a smile 'a good day, indeed.' 

@hypewinter@daemonlogical@crystalqueertea

[horror-enthusiast-xemi]

They're on a space date

Just smt small, unfinished, and rushed from my visual arts class^^ thought it was a cute stupid concept and wanted to share

If in high demand I may re do this lol

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Lwaxana Troi

By Ames

Lwaxana haters, see yourselves out (or stick around and see how wrong you are!), because A Star to Steer Her By loves our black-eyed Betazoid mama. She’s the daughter of the Fifth House, holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed, and also one of our favorite characters from The Next Generation!

Like Katharine Pulaski (whom we also stan with the best of them!), Lwaxana Troi is a character who gets way more hate than she deserves, who grew substantially every time she appeared on the show, and who has way more nuance than even some of the main characters we’ve discussed from the show so far! And that fashion sense? Holy cow. So pack your absurdly huge luggage, don your fluffiest wig, and meet up with us and Mr. Homn as we celebrate (and occasionally criticize) all things Lwaxana below and this week on the podcast (sashay over to 55:22 for the convo). We’re going on a manhunt!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Murderers! Assassins! While her first couple of appearances in TNG were fairly annoying, as you’ll see in our next section, the one thing Lwaxana gets emphatically right in “Manhunt” is figuring out the two Antedians the Enterprise was carrying are actually assassins. And she drops this information in the most nonchalant way possible, cementing her status as a major boss.

Release them and I will stay with you willingly Oh boy is “Ménage à Troi,” a tough episode to gauge. While it certainly has its lows (Lwaxana constantly crashing Deanna’s day, Ferengi shenanigans at their worst, and some sexual assault and implied rape swept under the rug), Mrs. Troi does put her daughter first and insists to Daimon Tog that Deanna and Will be released if she sacrifices herself like any mother would.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? The other great scene that Lwaxana inspires in “Ménage à Troi,” is one we mentioned in our Picard Spotlight post, when she and JL work together to trick the Ferengi into releasing her. Even from across viewscreens, she compels the beautiful diatribe of Shakespearean poetry from Jean-Luc that ends up saving the summer’s day!

What does that little one do, Mister Woof? I don’t know why, but it always tickles me the couple of times on the show that Lwaxana calls our Klingon security head “Mr. Woof” as she does in “Half a Life” and others. Is she doing it just to evoke a reaction from him? Does she actually know his name at all? Regardless of the answer, it’s a cute joke that the writers play.

It is the custom for your loved ones to join you at this Resolution, is it not? Our fuller opinion of the character really started getting formed once the show reached “Half a Life” – one of our TNG faves – and we got a different look at this man-hungry helicopter parent. Suddenly, Lwaxana has nuance. She fights for people other than herself or her immediate family. She becomes vulnerable with Timicin, something we didn’t think possible from her character. And when she decides to go with him to his Resolution, it feels personal, complex, and complete.

A child who is trusted becomes worthy of that trust We gave Deanna some rightful criticism for thinking that writing up a contract between Worf and Alexander would be a good idea in “Cost of Living,” and Lwaxana waltzes in like a fairy godmother and throws that terrible idea in their faces! Immediately, she knows how to better parent Alexander than anyone else on the show ever had, low bar that that is.

You’re telling me you’re not going to be naked at your own wedding? It feels like such a triumph for Lwaxana to so brazenly show up naked to her wedding in “Cost of Living,” fully embracing her Betazoid heritage and throwing her strong will and individuality in Campio’s and his little toady’s faces. Now why she was engaged to that uptight twat in the first place is another story, but good for her anyway!

Whatever it is, we can face it together Here’s an actually good moment she shares with her daughter: That tear-jerking moment in “Dark Page.” It’s another instance in which we see Lwaxana as having more personality traits than we were led to believe she had as she comes to acknowledge the death of her daughter Kestra, and also we see Majel Barrett nailing some acting we’d never seen from her before.

Nobody’s ever seen me like this By the time we reach Deep Space Nine, the writers have figured out what to do with Lwaxana Troi to make her an impactful character. Sure, she’s still a great comic device, especially against rigid characters like Picard and Odo, but it’s in the way that she is humanized (or Betazoidized?) in scenes like the truly remarkable turbolift scene in “The Forsaken” that she really shines.

Then sway with me, Odo. Sway with me. While Lwaxana’s constant pestering of Picard gets tiring really quickly, her relationship with Odo proves something more interesting. In one of those Odd Couple kind of pairings, she’s able to get Odo to come out of his shell, even if it’s just a little bit, so when she gets him to dance with her in “Fascination,” it’s delightful and shows more layers to their respective characters.

Before I met her, my world was a much smaller place Okay, so the weird inspiration vampire side of the plot of “The Muse” may be idiotic, but the Lwaxana-Odo scenes are pure gold. Lwaxana and Odo, again, find each other to be the only people they can be vulnerable with, and Odo agrees to marry a very pregnant Lwaxana to get her out of an existing marriage, delivering the purest, most intimate and beautiful speech we’ve heard from him (until Kira, at least).

Strut your stuff on the catwalk Finally, we just have to give massive points to her remarkable fashion sense. One of our favorites is this blue number from “Fascination,” with the perfect wig to complement it and accessories like whoa. Make sure you check out our full screenshot assemblage that we put together previously to give fair credit to the excellent costuming of this iconic woman.

—

Worst moments

Momzillas gone wild Mrs. Troi is not without her faults, however, and most are man-related. How much pressure she puts on her daughter to get married is more than uncomfortable, it can get downright offensive. When the arranged marriage she initiated between Deanna and Wyatt comes due in “Haven,” it’s clear that this momzilla doesn’t always have her daughter’s best interests in mind; just her own.

Use your mind, not your mouth We also found it just plain rude how much Lwaxana insisted on communicating with Deanna telepathically in “Haven” and other episodes. a) Deanna has made it clear she’d rather speak out loud, and b) Picard and other crewmembers can’t hear what’s being said and that’s impolite, especially coming from someone of such standing in the Federation.

Oh, Jean-Luc, what naughty thoughts It becomes a running gag for the first couple appearances of Lwaxana how much she makes sexual advances on Captain Picard, who is just trying to do his job most of the time. But “Manhunt” really takes the cake for just going overboard with presumptuous behavior unbecoming for a woman of her stature. Leave the poor guy alone!

Until death us do part Later in “Manhunt,” it’s even grosser for Mrs. Troi to declare that she and Riker are to be wed. Whatever physiological state she was in is no excuse for how she goes out of her way to mortify her daughter, to put the moves on Deanna’s imzadi without consent, and to make scene after scene all for romantic attention. Why Gene Roddenberry would make his wife act like this is beyond us.

No man has ever been such a mystery to me Lucky for the flesh-and-blood men that Lwaxana spends most of “Manhunt” sexually accosting, apparently she has no idea what a hologram is. I don’t know how, but she’s so horny that when she meets Rex the bartender, she’s so intrigued by her inability to read his mind that she doesn’t even realize it’s because he’s not a real person. We can just imagine how far it went before it dawned on her.

Oo-mox is only the beginning It’s only fitting that someone like Lwaxana Troi should be there for the introduction of oo-mox on the show, and one time was already too much. During “Ménage à Troi,” Lwaxana unknowingly performs what’s essentially a sex act on her captor, which is gross enough as it is, but we learn later in an episode of Deep Space Nine that she also slept with Daimon Tog, and I vomit in my mouth.

Swipe right! We learn in “Cost of Living” that Lwaxana has gotten engaged to Campio, whom she effectively met on a dating app and whom she has absolutely no chemistry with. It strikes us as entirely out of character that she’d accept marriage to someone who wouldn’t allow her to be who she intrinsically is just because he’s rich. Thank the Four Deities she found a way out of it!

My name is Mud While we gave Lwaxana credit for spending more time with Alexander and treating him better than Worf ever does, we have to admit that the jacuzzi scene in “Cost of Living” is off-putting. Sure, it’s the future and we know that in Betazoid culture, nudity is entirely normal, but we’re still not sure it’s something Alexander is accustomed to or had any ability to consent to and that’s weird.

The worst thing that can happen to any parent This is a complicated one because it’s so triggering. I’m not sure it would be fair to blame Lwaxana or anyone for the accident that befell Kestra as we learn in “Dark Page,” but it’s very clear that Lwaxana blames herself. This is truly the lowest her character had ever been, and it explains a few things about how she so tightly latches on to Deanna, but it is a bad, bad time for her.

Bad thoughts, they hurt her What’s more accurate to say about the events from “Dark Page” is that Lwaxana had handled her trauma in an ultimately poor way. By blocking those memories as evidently Betazoids do with triggering events, she never was able to mourn or accept the loss of Kestra, instead avoiding the memories entirely in a way that turned out to be harmful to her and not fair to her late daughter’s memory.

Does no one understand quarantine procedures? I’ll nitpick about it every time some disease breaks out in an episode and no one seems to understand you shouldn’t go around touching everyone around them. So when Lwaxana has Zanthi Fever in “Fascination” and suddenly her horniness becomes contagious, I’m doubly pissed off because it resulted in a really, really stupid premise for an episode.

What I’d mistaken for love was nothing more than a prison After we mentioned just now when Lwaxana leapt at the chance to marry Campio in “Cost of Living,” we see she’s made the same mistake with Jeyal in “The Muse,” except now there’s a baby involved. The most irritating facet of Lwaxana’s personality is how man-hungry she always seems to be. It always clouds her perception, making her make bad decision after bad decision, and worse: making her compromise who she is.

—

Give it up for Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who could really do it all. Stick around next week for more kickass recurring characters on the Enterprise-D, and for our continued ride through the series Enterprise over on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast. You can also send us love notes over on Facebook and Twitter, but stop marrying every eligible dude you meet!

[shrapnelbomb]

My favourite be like