#so Bart saw rules and supervision for him and freedom for Wally. he didn't understand that Wally had the same thing at Barts age

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

I think something that also gets me is outside, irey, the west side of the speedster bloodline families are chosen to become speedsters whether it’s Barry’s spirit, fate, the speedforce itself, they have a element of being chosen for the job while the Allen side of the family, outside Barry, are born with these powers, they are just given their connection and their strength, there is no sense that they had to earn or learn anything. Obviously, this is a massive oversimplification. But I think when it comes down to the differences, I think that’s also often why a lot of the Allen vs West descendants come into conflict on a theme level. Like, the question of is it better to be born with great power or given it later on. What makes someone better? The answer is neither but it something hat floats in their heads. Like for instance, Wally isn’t Barry’s son but he was chosen by him while the twins must have felt proud to be Barry’s kids but didn’t feel especially wanted.

(Side note: this is also sorta why I kind of hate yjtv’s flashfam so much sometimes bc esp season 2, they play up that obviously Bart is better bc he’s BLOOD RELATED to Barry. And it’s just weird and so….oddly light years away from the core of what makes the flash fam great, but whatever)

Huh. I don't mean to poke holes in your thesis here but I don't think there's enough to say anything definitive vis-a-vis given vs inherited?

Given, Inherited

Wests: Daniel, Wally, Ace, Irey, Jai, John

Allens: Barry, Don, Dawn, Bart, Jenni

Barry, Daniel, Wally and Ace were all given their speedforce connections through accidents/fate. Don, Dawn, Irey, Jai, Bart, Jenni and John all inherited their speedforce connections from their parents, albeit with different rates of inheritance. Don and Dawn's powers were present at birth with no abnormalities or malfunctions. Bart, Irey and Jai manifested malfunctioning powers at birth. Jenni manifested powers at puberty with no abnormalities or malfunctions. John manifested powers as an adult after extreme stress and danger. It was assumed that his lab accident gave him powers but it was later revealed that they just triggered his latent powers to activate.

And that's not even looking at the long line of superpowered Allen descendants shown in Chain Lightning.

There are a lot of Allen descendants that inherited speedforce connections but there are also a lot of West descendants that inherited speedforce connections. We just have a skewed perspective of it because we've seen more of Barry's family tree (his grandkids and all the Allen descendants in Chain Lightning). But John's existence several centuries in the future shows that the West genes have just as much sticking power.

That's not to say that I think you are wrong, it's just that I think it's more of a localized issue. Specifically, this is a Wally & Ace vs Don, Dawn and Bart issue. And the issue is all about Barry at its core.

Subconsciously or not, Barry gave Wally and Ace their powers. In doing so he made them metaphorically his children, his 'Kids' if you will. If you look at the emphasis on speedforce connections and inheritance through bloodlines, Barry giving them those powers was a symbolic adoption of sorts. It didn't stop at metaphors and symbols either. Barry raised those two as his sons. They were his kids.

Wally struggled a lot with Bart being "actually" related to Barry. When Bart first showed up Wally was being very hard on himself and he felt like a failure. A large reason why he hadn't stopped being the Flash was his sense of duty to Barry and the legacy. He was the closest thing Barry had to a child. He was Barry's legacy and, even if he thought he sucked at it, he had a duty to carry on for Barry. Bart threw that entire line of thought into question and caused him to spiral. The fact that Bart could do things he couldn't? It was just fuel on the fire. In Wally's mind he was just a pretender to the throne and Bart was the rightful heir. It isn't a coincidence that Wally only thought about Bart in terms of Barry at first and wanted to be his guardian. Keeping Bart safe, training him and giving him the mantle was the only way Wally thought he could make it right. (It's a really good thing Iris didn't let that happen and Bart wanted nothing to do with the legacy aspect, cause that would've been a disaster)

The powers definitely played a part in it but it wasn't because Bart was born with powers. It was because Bart was born with Barry's powers. I mean, Wally had issues with Bart being able to vibrate through walls (a thing Barry could do but Wally couldn't) but Wally had no issues with Bart's ability to create scouts (a thing neither Barry nor Wally could do). It had nothing to do with Bart being 'more adept or skilled'. It was all about Bart being more like Barry than Wally was.

It was the same when Wally met Jenni. The only reason Jenni escaped Wally's jealousy and misplaced self loathing was because she provided him with two bigger threats. The Tornado Twins.

(what's interesting is that this word choice 'favorite son' legitimized Wally's relationship with Barry in his head. Here were Barry's "actual blood" children confirming that Wally was Barry's son. This is what caused Wally to realize that his issues with the twins were unfounded and silly)

The twins hated Wally. He was the prodigal son. The golden child. Barry loved Wally, Iris loved Wally and the twins grew up in the shadow of an older brother they could never live up to. To the twins, Wally was the son Barry chose. They were the kids Barry never asked for.

So, TLDR: I don't think the question is "Is it better to be born with great power or develop great power later on" but rather "is it better to be born Barry's kid or develop that relationship later on".