Hi I just wanted to let you know how much I LOVE reading about your Bart (your side story included) and I heard he's one of your favorite characters to write! So I can't help but ask how well do you think Comic!Bart and ATFO!Bart would get along or react around each other given how... different the two ended up personality wise? You know, given ATFO!Bart's much more ruthless and cautious nature and Comic!Bart more innocent outlook on the world and his more impulsive (Haha get it?) behavior.
I mean it makes sense as they both originally came from post-apocalyptic time lines but Comic!Bart was put in a VR simulation most of his childhood so he avoided the worst of it. ATFO!Bart on the other hand though? He LIVED through it for better or worst.
Not to mention, the different type of relationship they had with Wally. Do you think ATFO!Bart would be a bit jealous of the other Bart? That HIS Wally was still around but they just... don't have as close of a relationship? Or do you think he'd encourage him to listen to him more often and try to form a stronger bond?
Heck- what is Comic!Bart's thoughts on ATFO!Bart's general "everything"? Would he be a bit weirded out by his dimensional counterpart? Heh, sorry about the large question dump. I just love your story so much I'm just... a bit excited to hear your take on them lol.
Wow, I really enjoy this ask, thank you!
Sooo, I guess this gets more into first how I consider the comic!Bart who I really enjoy but honestly I feel like it's really hard to get a writer who does him completely right (imo). You either get ones who lean way too much into the goofball nature to the point that they want to make him the token "stupid" member rather than just a person who fundamentally was raised in a different world. Or you get people who lean too much into the angst and we get the better-to-forget Flash!Bart or that weird New52 run when he was a future terrorist or something, idek.
Oof, I had to dig back way in my comics for this...but, actually I feel like the truly best bit of Bart characterization comes from Impulse #1 way back in 1995.
I'm cutting this down a lot since it's a lot of pages; but, these bits in particular:
I feel like this is the essence of Bart Allen.
He is the perpetual stranger in a strange land (only no one else realizes it's strange but him). He has to learn a lot of completely new things very, very quickly and--for the most part--he does it so well that people kinda ignore the fact that that's a huge thing to ask. In all worlds, he basically had to raise himself from early in his own life (and honestly, I feel like the 90s comics really ignore how objectively horrifying it would be to constantly live in a video game...like we have multiple animes on how that's basically a horror scenario. Like that was his life, he did live through it). Despite this, he has family who he dearly loves and admires....who he nonetheless feels very disconnected from and possibly even unwanted due to how different he is from them.
But, despite all of this, Bart doesn't really complain. Like, sure, in comics he'll complain or pout about minor things from Max or teenage stuff...but, the major things like adjusting to an entirely new life, it's almost as if Bart doesn't even notice how crazy that is because really is life is just that crazy (it's the norm). Even his dialogue here, which unusually blunt compared to how he normally is written, isn't speaking of any of this stuff as any great tragedy...it's just his life.
And I think the most heartbreaking thing is the crossed out line about his Grandma Iris that implies that there's the only person he ever felt really cared for him (whether that's true or not doesn't matter, it's currently what he beleives)...and he couldn't keep her.
So back to the question at hand, I definitely went with a more mature take to ATFO!Bart because his world was more grim (with Comic!Bart the videogame consequences were presumably constantly eraased which is a different kind of existential crises). But, despite this, I think the two Barts still share a lot of similarities that would make them get along fairly well. Similarly, I think Grandma Iris is to Comics!Bart what Wally is to ATFO!Bart so I think they'd understand each other fairly well. ATFO!BArt would still enjoy seeing a Wally even if I don't think he'd be particularly hurt by that Wally not being close to his Bart since I think ATFO!BArt really does fully understand how much the difference in timelines affects people and knows it's not his Wally.
Put another way, I also don't really think Bart has an expectation of people being close to him (in any form) so isn't really surprised about Wally and Comics!Bart. Bart really does view himself apart as a norm--partly since it's so hard to connect to people when he's literally living at a different speed than them. He likes people a lot and deeply loves his friends/family; but, I think he does often stuggle to connect to them. I think this is likely true for all Barts.
That's Bart Allen. The Impossible Boy. The Too Familiar Stranger. And He's Always Smiling (Real or Not).
