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idk as someone with adhd, which is what I headcanon Bart with, I could see the reading the whole library thing. I've burned through wikipedia articles and thousands related to them just cause, I could probably burn through a library in relative two years if I had the time off work and a reason. I do admit that his becoming more serious and Kid Flash was hella scuffed though ngl. Also this is in no way me saying that headcanoning him autistic is wrong, just offering another perspective. Hell he could be adhd and autistic, whatever way the character resonates with you.
Hyperfixation is actually very common! Bart has shown plenty times that he can focus his efforts on one thing while at superspeed, like when he does his homework that takes him two weeks in his perception of time, but a couple of seconds to the outside world. So the library thing doesn’t actually surprise me much! I think it’s great he’s expanded his knowledge and used his eidetic memory for more of a practical purpose. He’s basically a walking fact book of infinite knowledge and him knowing the entire human nervous system, how to take something apart and put back together, plus all those fun facts by memory is the coolest.
But on the other hand, Bart has a “danger deficit disorder” as it’s said. He’s gotten better at distinguishing real danger from nonexistent ones, but it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the type to stop for a second. Bart thinks on his feet better than all the speedsters before him, and he comes up with plans that don’t need to be thought out so much as improvised. He’s the king at improvisation. Taking that away from his character basically strips him of a big thing that makes him unique and himself. It was a big no on their part. Listening to a plan means that’s wasted time to be saving people, stopping to look at his surroundings means that something could have been done quicker to stop his enemy. His mindset is what makes him impulse and they deprive him of that when making him “Kid Flash”. So uncool.
I think Mark Waid did a great job of keeping Bart’s development at a casual pace, keeping his character the same while still leaving room for growth. Plus, coding him with ADHD was a conscious decision on his end, which I find fantastic.
This newer version of Impulse feels too different to me. And after, y’know, DYING five times, you’d think he’d be less… cheery? Like— He was never to begin with! He’s, in simple terms, as teenager as they come. Not too bleak of an outlook, but not a peppy one either. Finds violent video games amusing and fights kids, steals cars, swears a bit, but not as much as people probably expect from highschoolers. He doesn’t just like to fit in, he wants to blend in the background, go unnoticed. Stay quiet and handle situations as they come.
Him as Kid Flash feels too off for me. Bart as anything but Impulse just feels like a violation.
the coolest thing about bart is the irony in his personality bc he’s called impulse due to the whole single synapse theory with translating thought to immediate action and on the surface that paints him as being pretty impulsive but he’s actually a very simple, smart, and subtle person. he’s not super outgoing so much as he is bored by the world that surrounds him, so after some outbursts he loses himself in thought often and that gives way to this side of him that does think and ponder and reflect, which i feel like is rly comforting for neurodivergent readers who are treated as if their behavioral patterns are otherwise abnormal or inconclusive. it’s so nice to have a character who isn’t ostracized by the narrative for his thought process and who we get to see be insightful and endearing in his own, unique way. i love him so so much