Slow down. Take a chill pill.

like. they strike that deal in rogue time. literally the next time they meet, in rogue air, len shoots a metahuman in the face. now granted, one could argue he did that as a last resort to save team flash, cos deathshot mc laserface (what the fuck was his name? i can’t even remember) was absolutely about to kill someone else, but he definitely kills someone in total breach of their agreement, because barry did not include an exemption clause.

in family of rogues, again, len kills his dad. now this one is excusable, to be fair, and at least this time barry makes good on his deal to put len away if he kills someone, but like. he is on his second strike. the whole deal was ‘don’t kill anyone’ and len has now shot multiple people in the face. and honestly were it not for barry’s intervention in saving those guards, len would either have shot them too, on his dad’s orders, or let lewis kill them. again, this one is more excusable, lisa’s life was at stake and who among us would not kill random guard #2 to save lisa snart. but again, len has broken barry’s rules, and yeah, he goes quietly like a good boy and doesn’t even arrange for someone to break him out of jail this time, he actually keeps his promises, but when len pointed out that he was a liar in rogue air, he meant it. he didn’t just lie about the deal in rogue air. he lied about the first deal, too. he only stuck to the rule about leaving barry’s family and friends out of it, and even that, he doesn’t actually stick to?

running to stand still is the first episode we get where len does not kill, maim, wound, or otherwise fuck someone up. and even then, he very much threatens to kill iris (and himself, because he’s dramatic, but hey.) barry. this whole attempt to reform him is clearly NOT working. his idea of not killing people is just “only killing people who suck,” which to be fair is kind of a superhero thing so i guess he’s on the right track but STILL. 

LITERALLY THOUGH. “there’s good in you” BITCH WHERE??? SHOW ME YOUR SOURCES. literally the only “good” thing len ever did up until that point was hesitate to kill him, and i guarantee you if cisco had taken a single extra second to get that bomb out of lisa’s head, len WOULD have taken the shot. or when len comes to give him that intel in 2x09 and barry’s all “it’s because you have HONOUR.” HE LITERALLY BROKE EVERY PROMISE HE EVER MADE YOU, WHAT DO YOU MEANNNN??? 

The first things Barry learns about Len are that he was abused as a kid, has a dad in prison (just like Barry!), and has a name that ‘ain’t sexy’ (just like Bartholomew!).

I propose Barry didn’t actually think Snart had good in him. He saw how his life might have been different, how he might have turned out differently, and felt so guilty that he had to save Len. Because why did he get so lucky? He didn’t deserve it. Just like he didn’t deserve/earn/want the powers that were thrust upon them and used them to save everyone he could.

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

✍ Do you have a beta reader?

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

🍷 Do you drink and write?

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

💖 What made you start writing?

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

🏆 What's your most popular fic?

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

📈 How many fics do you have?

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

💞 Who's your comfort character?

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

Back as promised!!

====

··· Waverider, Temporal Zone, T minus 7 minutes until timeline settles ··· Sara leaned against the metal panels of the wall, struck by the memory of glossy lips and a mischievous smile. Not Nyssa. No matter the timeline, Nyssa would not wear lipstick that glossy. As Sara shook her head, trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other again, she heard a burst of laughter. The teasing—mocking—giggle was all in her head, a voice that should have been unfamiliar but somehow wasn’t. She just didn’t know why. “Can’t take much more of this,” she grumbled, swaying as she made it the rest of the way to the secondary lab. The timeline had to have finished setting by now, she reasoned as she stepped through the sliding doors. But when she laid her eyes on the rest of the Waverider crew, they were exactly as she’d left them. Sort of. Jax and Martin were sitting inside a glass-paneled booth in the corner that had definitely not been there earlier. The pair was frantically trying to fix a staticky computer screen while Mick stood drinking a beer from the booth’s open door. Ray hovered nearby, half distracted by what looked like a spreadsheet of stocks on the tablet in his hand. At the main projection table, Amaya and Nate were going through news articles again. “…wanna try one of those,” Nate was saying, gesturing at an image of several red-and-blue protein bars with Central City’s Finest on the label. “Especially that crackle-frosted mint chocolate one. When they come out in 2019, that is.” “I doubt they’re as nutritious as the ones Barry and Len actually eat,” Amaya pointed out, blowing up an internet blog with a shaky, furtive video clip of Captain Cold tossing the Flash a foil-wrapped bar from the storage compartment of his bike. “Or are healthy in any way.” Sara didn’t want to know what other forms Central City’s brand of hero worship had taken (and would continue to take). Frowning at a brief article about KnightLite—the rising star of Central City’s technological securities industry—and trying to see the publication date, she was suddenly hit by a new, very unrelated memory. In it, Barry stood in front of her, stammering and blushing bright red as she brandished a glossy-boxed Flash-themed vibrator at him. The memory was so vivid, she snorted in bewilderment and looked around for Rip. He sat in the same chair she’d last seen him in, still staring at Gideon’s countdown and a projection of the fluctuating headline of what had once been a fixed point in time. “So, five minutes left, huh?” she asked, walking over. “Stating the obvious will not slow down the clock.” Up close, Rip looked like he’d aged several years in the last twenty minutes. His eyes were even faintly bloodshot and he clutched an empty whiskey glass in his hand. “I tried everything else, so….” Sara squinted at the changing headlines. She still couldn’t make sense of the photos, the headlines were moving so fast they might as well be blurred, but the dates were just barely readable. “The years aren’t jumping around so much anymore.” “The approximations of the fixed point have moved far past 2024.” Rip was right. The longer Sara stared, she realized the new date was hovering somewhere between 2037 and 2045. “Maybe the change is a good thing,” she suggested. “An extra ten or twenty years could—” The countdown timer sped up. Sara yelled for the rest of the crew to brace themselves as Rip leaped out of his seat in alarm. The lab lights flickered on and off. Gideon blipped in and out of sight. The Waverider started shaking. “Here we go.” Sara braced against the projection table and held her breath. The countdown hit zero and her world went black.

Back as promised!!

====

··· Waverider, Temporal Zone, T minus 7 minutes until timeline settles ··· Sara leaned against the metal panels of the wall, struck by the memory of glossy lips and a mischievous smile. Not Nyssa. No matter the timeline, Nyssa would not wear lipstick that glossy. As Sara shook her head, trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other again, she heard a burst of laughter. The teasing—mocking—giggle was all in her head, a voice that should have been unfamiliar but somehow wasn’t. She just didn’t know why. “Can’t take much more of this,” she grumbled, swaying as she made it the rest of the way to the secondary lab. The timeline had to have finished setting by now, she reasoned as she stepped through the sliding doors. But when she laid her eyes on the rest of the Waverider crew, they were exactly as she’d left them. Sort of. Jax and Martin were sitting inside a glass-paneled booth in the corner that had definitely not been there earlier. The pair was frantically trying to fix a staticky computer screen while Mick stood drinking a beer from the booth’s open door. Ray hovered nearby, half distracted by what looked like a spreadsheet of stocks on the tablet in his hand. At the main projection table, Amaya and Nate were going through news articles again. “…wanna try one of those,” Nate was saying, gesturing at an image of several red-and-blue protein bars with Central City’s Finest on the label. “Especially that crackle-frosted mint chocolate one. When they come out in 2019, that is.” “I doubt they’re as nutritious as the ones Barry and Len actually eat,” Amaya pointed out, blowing up an internet blog with a shaky, furtive video clip of Captain Cold tossing the Flash a foil-wrapped bar from the storage compartment of his bike. “Or are healthy in any way.” Sara didn’t want to know what other forms Central City’s brand of hero worship had taken (and would continue to take). Frowning at a brief article about KnightLite—the rising star of Central City’s technological securities industry—and trying to see the publication date, she was suddenly hit by a new, very unrelated memory. In it, Barry stood in front of her, stammering and blushing bright red as she brandished a glossy-boxed Flash-themed vibrator at him. The memory was so vivid, she snorted in bewilderment and looked around for Rip. He sat in the same chair she’d last seen him in, still staring at Gideon’s countdown and a projection of the fluctuating headline of what had once been a fixed point in time. “So, five minutes left, huh?” she asked, walking over. “Stating the obvious will not slow down the clock.” Up close, Rip looked like he’d aged several years in the last twenty minutes. His eyes were even faintly bloodshot and he clutched an empty whiskey glass in his hand. “I tried everything else, so….” Sara squinted at the changing headlines. She still couldn’t make sense of the photos, the headlines were moving so fast they might as well be blurred, but the dates were just barely readable. “The years aren’t jumping around so much anymore.” “The approximations of the fixed point have moved far past 2024.” Rip was right. The longer Sara stared, she realized the new date was hovering somewhere between 2037 and 2045. “Maybe the change is a good thing,” she suggested. “An extra ten or twenty years could—” The countdown timer sped up. Sara yelled for the rest of the crew to brace themselves as Rip leaped out of his seat in alarm. The lab lights flickered on and off. Gideon blipped in and out of sight. The Waverider started shaking. “Here we go.” Sara braced against the projection table and held her breath. The countdown hit zero and her world went black.

“You can ogle your boyfriend better from over here!” Felicity called out with a grin. “Partner,” Len corrected, joining them and giving Barry’s flank a pointed squeeze. He made a point of leering at him as he did. “Besides, he’s eye candy from every angle.” As Felicity giggled, Barry flushed and rubbed his arms self-consciously. “You’re just—” “Hey, I know that watch!” Ray blurted out, pointing at Barry’s left wrist. “I worked on it with Len. I should have guessed it was for you, with all the functions he designed for it. Then again, I didn’t know you were a—it’s speedster, right?” “Yeah, that’s right.” For some reason, Barry laid a protective hand over the band when Palmer tried to lean in for a closer look. “Cisco helped increase the range of the tracking system,” Len said, redirecting the billionaire’s attention. The less Palmer said about the watch’s features—particularly its ability to change forms—the better. “I made a few more systemic tweaks too. For security.” “See? This is exactly why I wanted you on a freelancer contract!” Palmer grinned widely. “Pass,” Len said, blanching. “I’ve got enough going on here.”

— snippet from Ch29 of That Rare Arctic Thunderstorm

(this has to have been a popular theory when the ep first came out, right??)

Evidence:

His last line. “No strings on me” doesn’t make any sense for him to say to Barry within the context of this episode. I don’t even know why Barry just rolls with it and smiles rather than asking wtf Len is talking about. Either Len is trying to tell Barry in some cryptic way that he’s not the version of himself Barry thinks he is, or it’s a little inside joke he has with himself now, to always make those his last words. A mantra, maybe, based on his tone & expression when he whispers it to himself after Barry leaves.

The parka. Len hasn’t worn the parka since LoT 1x02. Since then, he’s only worn either the leather jacket or some costume fit for the time he’s in. So why is he wearing the parka when Barry finds him at the beginning of the episode?

The jacket. In the STAR Labs scenes, he’s wearing the parka with only a shirt beneath, as far as I can tell. (There are no extra reflections from the leather jacket’s zipper or buttons, only the parka’s zipper.) But when they walk into ARGUS, he’s wearing the leather jacket. Where did that come from? Easy, he conjured it with his oculus powers for the aesthetic.

“The girlfriend.” Last time Len saw Barry and Iris, they were not dating. In fact, Barry was dating Patty during Running to Stand Still. The Legends left Central in January 2016, and Barry and Patty are dating over New Years, so they’re either still dating or recently broken up when Len leaves. So why would Len call Iris Barry’s girlfriend? (Either Len saw Barry’s full timeline in the Oculus, or he’d been checking in on Barry via Gideon throughout his time with the Legends. Honestly, the latter seems to fit better because Len doesn’t know they’re engaged at this point in time. But maybe he doesn’t know when exactly Barry came from?)

Why/How:

Some possibilities:

Len was drifting in the time stream in limbo. Barry decided to go back in time to pick up Len, and Time was like “oh no, that’s gonna fuck shit up.” So it dropped post-oculus Len off in that forest to get picked up by Barry instead of Len’s mid-LoT-s1 self.

Len could only escape the time stream / become corporeal once someone was looking for him, and this was the first time that happened. Barry basically acted as Len’s tether to the earthly plane.

Unfortunately, I personally have a more mundane thought for why the changes happen: shitty coordination between the LoL writers (and the rest of the production team) and the Flash ones. Now, I say this without having actually looked up which teams which episode, but there are enough deviations between the characterizations of Leonard Snart in LoL versus the version of him on the Flash that I expect even which costumes to put him in were not actually discussed. And, as keen watchers like @coldflasher have said before, there was a quality change in the storylines in the Flash over time. I'm calling that in large part due to changing production team members too.

This is not a complete diss on what happens on set, btw, but an acknowledgement that what we viewers perceive as actions wrought in-story are the same as actions wrought by diverse background actions/decisions in a medium of storytelling that involves more people than one author armed with a sometimes-charged laptop and a stack full of handwritten notes.