#Coldflash Events

[coldflashevents]

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

Hello, all!

I'd like to thank everyone for submitting and voting on their favourite prompts for our Coldflash Mini Weekend Event in April. Voting is now closed, and I’m pleased to announce our prompts for the event based on the most popular suggestions.

The winning prompts are…

Day 1:

I thought I lost you

Secret relationship

Day 2:

Time travel shenanigans

Accidental dating/didn’t know they were dating

Bonus Prompt (post on either day):

Alternate Earths

The dates for the event are April 27th and 28th.

You can write fanfiction, draw fan art, create a mood board or a playlist, a fan video, or any other form of creative work. All contributions are welcome!

This is a pretty casual, lowkey event, with no commitments or sign-ups. The only rules are as follows:

1.      Remember not to start posting until the event begins! You can start sharing your contributions on April 27th. If you’re a little behind schedule, don’t worry—the mods will continue to monitor the tag for a short time after the event is over in case anyone misses the deadline!

2.      Make sure your work includes the prompts! There’s plenty of room for creative freedom, so hopefully these suggestions will spark something for you… pun intended. And if not, free day will allow you to post whatever your heart desires. Time to dust off those plot bunnies!

3.      The tag for this weekend will be cfsw2024, so remember to tag all your contributions! When we get a little closer to the time, I’ll also start an AO3 collection where you can share your works with the world!

4.      Please use appropriate tags. If your work is nsfw, or contains themes that might be upsetting or triggering, please make sure to tag it as such. We want everyone to be safe and enjoy themselves during this event, so be mindful of your fellow users and make sure to leave warnings if necessary!

5.      Have fun!

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to drop me a message!

Thank you everyone, and let the coldflashing commence!

[tiny-pun]

Liar liar

A: I know this would help the mission but don’t I feel comfortable lying.

B: A. You lie all the time. You’re the biggest liar I know.

A: I just lie about the unimportant stuff.

B: HELLO!!? YOU LIED ABOUT YOUR HEALTH ?!?!

A: … Yeah?! I know?

[dcu-events-by-kav]

DCU Valentines Prompt Week Has Begun!

The official calendar has arrived!

Each day has three prompts and there are no rules! Feel free to use one prompt, use all of the prompts, combine prompts in your art, make multiple pieces for the same prompt, or skip the days you don't like completely!

Fanart and fanfic are both welcome!

Any character or ship is welcome!

Add your fanfics to the Ao3 Collection and tag your art with #DCUValentinesPromptWeek2025 here on Tumblr so everyone can easily find and celebrate your art with kudos and reblogs!! Tag it with the same tag if you post it on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, or Tiktok!

That's pretty much it, just have fun!!!

You can also join the DCU Fan Events Discord server for more updates and future events! Or to just chat with other DCU fans that like creating fanwork just as much as you!

And I'd like to thank @aizawa-is-over-it for creating the calendar! I moonlight as a MHA fan over on @kacchanot-fucking-deal-with-this and am running the same event with different prompts over on @mha-events-by-kav !! Feel free to check it out if you're into MHA!

Happy Valentines week, and have fun!!! <3

[cisco-ramon-didnt-name-me]

Side-blog for The Flash CW

》 Watched s1-6, only really care about s1-4 everything else I ignore. I like supergirl and arrow when Barry is there.

》 Multi-shipper and polycule lover

》 Characters I main; Snart, Cisco, Wells, Harry, Felicity, Barry (I love most of the characters tho)

》 I rb whatever I want but I tag everything for easy filtering

》 no dni just be kind

》 my main

》 art credit

Ignore the blog name I literally couldn't think of one and unfortunately I can't just get Cisco to do it for me.

[coldflasher]

okay but re. that post about elseworlds!barry realizing that oliver woke up in bed with iris... if we coldflashed this, i feel that crossover event would have gone VERY differently because you're not telling me that leonard snart wouldn't have realized there was something wrong the second he woke up in bed with oliver queen

like picture this: you're leonard snart. you have years of trauma, hypervigilance, and experience surviving dangerous men (and, ultimately, being one). and you fall asleep next to barry, the man you love---who, don't get me wrong, IS dangerous, but is in most situations seemingly unaware of it; who appears nonthreatening and harmless unless riled, who, most of the time, just seems like a sweet and normal guy---and you wake up next to... something else. something that looks like barry, and sounds like barry... if you aren't paying attention.

this is a thing that walks without making a sound, like it has years of experience sneaking around and moves that way by default (like len does); it turns into a statue at the slightest sound and doesn't even seem to breathe. barry is always crackling with frenetic, fidgety energy, even when he sleeps; he has nightmares and thrashes until the covers are bunched up around him, but this thing slept stiff as a board, flat on its back without moving a muscle and barely wrinkled the sheets. this thing is wary, and quiet, and it moves like a killer, with a killer's instincts. and it's looking around their bedroom like it's never seen this room in its life

and len would KNOW.

[joanthangroff]

fic rec - best of 2024

I haven't done one in ages so i thought [mariah carey voice] IT'S TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMEEEEEEEE. These are my fave fics from 2024 + two or three I read in 2025 already but I wanted to include them :)

Arrowverse

Once More, Mr. Queen by mybrotherharry

Olicity but turly mostly a genfic with a character study on Oliver!! The monitor makes Oliver travel to different universes to make sure the Ollies from there also become the Green Arrow. Shows different paths Oliver's life could have gone and how much he's grown. i loved it!!

Sacrifice by MaddyBaby

Genfic with a focus on Barry's and Hartley's friendship!! Set in season two when Barry travels back to the events of Hartley's first appearance. In the new timeline created by this, they're friends only that Barry doesn't know and has some trauma from the time Hartley wanted to kill him <3

Cold Storage by @sproutwings

Iris gets locked in a freezer and hallucinations of Snart help her get out of there. But maybe it's actually been him? Set Post-Oculus.

Partial Disclosure by RetroactiveCon

Hartmon bonding!!! Over queerphobia, too lmao. They're still at each other's throats but realise they have a lot more in common than they thought. Trans!cisco my beloved.

An Honest Thief by @sophiainspace

Coldwest team-up!!!! Polyamory!!!! Aromantic!Iris!!!!!! Coldflash!!!! Iconic Mick behaviour!! What more can I say????

The Memories That Hold Us Back by Cogentranting

Set after the Arrow finale where Oliver brought Tommy back to life. He's Mia's uncle and THEY'RE FAMILY. I love them.

Other DC

Perfect Paradise, Tearing at the Seams by McKat

Payneland fic with a truth spell!! Crystal buys a hexed necklace from Tragic Mick and when Charles accidentally touched it, he has to tell the truth.

heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another by @artemisadore

Catwin with SPOT-ON characterization!!! Edwin stops Thomas when he trashes his ex's car, only to find out that they have the same ex. To make him regret fucking them over (and for other reasons) they start fake-dating :)

myself and this body that they stuck me in by @misspickman

Kon has a few realizations about his gender hehehe

straight on 'til morning by @mamawasatesttube

Big brother Kon realizes that throughout his life he has been treated uhhhhh horribly?? And learns to talk about it

Other fandoms

the fubb cinematic universe by @tkffyrpntsndjckt

The most unhinged chatfic i have ever read I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! Basically a rewrite of glee starting during ?? season 3 i think?? Blaine doesn't go to McKinley but stayed at Dalton, he and Sebastian are besties. Sebastian used to be Kurt's roommate at Dalton. so many shenanigans. someone dies. someone goes braindead. hilarity and craziness en masse. i had the time of my life reading this

white christmas by @lalalenii

you may think i'm biased but it really!!!! is that good!!!!! leni plays with formatting in the best way. like you FEEL the pauses while you read and it's so awesome. but robert please stop taking drugs

L'Chaim by sebastian2017

Erik's life and how he has been influenced by being a Jew. It's so so good and has so many gutpunches

A Book Half Unread by @jakeluppin

I still don't properly go here because i'm stuck in 911 s1 BUUUUTTTTT we love buddie in this house. and ezra put so much love into this because being a librarian is ezra's passion and you can FEEL it. it's so good. i love how dorky they are. and chris and buck's friendship is just so cute

The Line of Thought by @shotbyafool

Typical House MD episode tbh. The ducklings meddle with House's private life and he decides to play tricks on them. Unfortunately, he enlists Wilson to help him

The Live Forever Job by jessikast

Leverage/The Old Guard crossover!!!! It's so good and placed perfectly tbh.

[angst-is-love-angst-is-life]

Can you recommend me some good fics where Barry Allen gets kidnapped :) since in one of your tags you said you read a lot of them lol

I read them, I write them, I live and breathe them. Absolutely anon, allow me to dive into my bookmarks.

Just a reminder, always be sure to check the tags and warnings to know what you're getting into. Stay safe out there folks!

Juncture by @pennflinn may be my favorite fic of all time. Technically he gets kidnapped before the story's events but that's because it's an alternate ending to Escape from Earth-2 (and he is held captive for pretty much the entire fic so). The whump is SUPREME and the overall story is so well written. I will always recommend this fic.

One Second by pennflinn. Another one by penn because she is an incredible writer and HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS FIC!! It takes my favorite premise for a fic "What if Barry was kidnapped in this scene/episode when he wasn't in canon!" and brings it to a WHOLE nother level. This one is diverges from 1x14 "Fallout" where, instead of everyone getting away semi-safely, Eiling kidnaps Barry and whump ensures. BUT there's another twist to this fic that (in my opinion) makes it stand out from many others-- every once in a while, there's a glimpse of a parallel universe where the events were different and let's just say some of those universes h u r t. Also, I wanted to kill Eiling so bad after reading this that I wrote a ficlet with the sole purpose of murdering him :) Anyways, go read; it's amazing.

Miles Through The Night by @hedgiwithapen. First off, this is an everyone whump fic, Barry is not the only one who is kidnapped but 1. IT HURTS GODS IT HURTS SO BAD I'M DYING. 2. The writing is spectacular, all the characters are super well done, and the story is INTENSE I'M STILL DYING SORRY I'LL STOP NOW. In this one-- actually nvm, the actual summary will do it justice. "With Eobard Thawne dead, life in Central City can go back to normalish. But Barry’s greatest enemy is not a speedster from the future fixated on him, and Eobard’s threat may have been the only thing keeping Team Flash safe from someone who doesn’t consider any meta to be human." THAT'S RIGHT-- AN EILING FIC! Just. Go read it, it's so good and I'm dying.

Lightning Bug by Hedgi. The writing in this was SUPERB and Eiling is a fucking bastard as always (count your days general.). And this time we have another speedster in the mix-- a toddler Wally! Ngl, I just reread this while getting the link and it was SO GOOD-- and once again my words can't seem to do it justice so I'll leave you with the summary "Months after the defeat of Zoom, Barry's main concern (aside from the odd metahuman attack) is helping Joe and Iris raise the four and a half year old Speedster Wally West, Cisco-named "Lightning Bug." And while that's hard, it's nice to have this speedster as family, not an enemy. Things are pretty easy.

Unfortunately, that doesn't last. After all, General Eiling's deal was only good for as long as their mutual enemies were still a threat." Eiling needs to die in a ditch as you can see, but there's some really sweet whump in this and it's because of him soooooo-- anyways, go read; it was fantastic.

Can’t Take That Away From Me by SophiaCatherine (or @sophiainspace on here). DUDE. DUDE DUDE DUDE-- I LOVE THIS FIC. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS FIC. EVen once the whump passes, the A N G S T is so delicious! From the beginning of the first chapter alone; you'll see the sweet whump AND angst this fic has in store. Oh, and it's Coldflash which I somehow forgot to mention even though that's a foundation of the entire fic lmao. I love it, go read. Also, there is a sequel but it's not Barry being whumped this time... double also; there's a prequel and it's really sweet (no whump in that one fyi)

I Never Told Him by messedupstargazer. I am SCREAMING. THIS. FIC. Fyi, it's Coldflash. SO MUCH ANGST THE WHUMP-- IT'S SO GOOD I HAVE NO WORDS. DYING DYING DYING I AM DEAD I HAVE PERISHED.

Looking through all of these at once has filled me with many emotions and I apologize if some parts were incoherent. I'm probably missing a few and may add more as I find them but for now I'll finish with these two I wrote.

12 hours Barry's kidnapped before the events of the story but I think it still counts. He's trapped in Zoom's lair and forced to run for twelve hours every day :)

Trophy this is my beloved and the entire fic is a Barry whump fest (and angst. a lot of angst.). (or will be, There's one chapter posted atm) Technically we haven't seen the kidnapping yet but in the first scene he is in a cell so. Premise is that Zoom wins in the season 2 finale and everything goes to hell from there. I do feel obligated to warn though that there's not a happy ending for this one.

Thanks for asking! I'm always eager to share Barry whump! :D

[beauregardstaxicab]

Scuttlebutt for the WIP Title Game XD

Thank you so much for asking! This is a really fun one-shot that’s been sitting in my WIPs for ages, and I tried to fit it into the coldflash event for dating without realizing it, but I was too busy trying to finish up Mr. Blue Sky to really work on it 😭 The premise is that after a night of karaoke together (by accident), Len and Barry keep bumping into each other and their behavior is so suspicious that everyone assumes they’re dating, and Iris is even forced by her editor to find out if the rumors are true.

I’ve restarted it once but didn’t get very far. Here’s a snippet of my most complete WIP, which isn’t very much, and it may not make it to the final but it’ll at least be an inspiration to it, lol

“I remember you!” Lisa said, finally noticing Barry next to her. “You were with Cisco the night we met.” “The night you kidnapped him,” Barry corrected. “Yeah, I remember.” She smiled back at him like a naughty cat. “Are you also part of Team Flash?” Luckily, Lisa was staring at Barry, so she missed the panicked looks Cisco and Caitlin gave each other which were exaggerated by the alcohol they’d consumed. “Umm, sort of,” Barry said, giving her a sheepish smile. “I’m the janitor at Star Labs… It’s hard work keeping that place in shape.” Caitlin snorted loudly. “You’re telling me! A certain somebody leaves the room and all the papers go whoosh!” she cried, waving her hands around. Cisco hummed around his straw as he slurped up some of his drink. “Right? What about the streaks he leaves behind?” “Excuse me?” Barry asked, leaning back in his seat. “On the floor, almost like tire tracks, but they’re from his boots.” “I thought you meant in his underwear,” Mick said. Cisco shook his head. “He doesn’t wear underwear in the suit.” Leonard’s eyebrows shot up, and he slowly turned to Barry who looked like he wanted to crawl in a hole and die. “Is that so?” Barry laughed awkwardly and leaned forward. “Look, why are we talking about him anyway? It’s a night off!”

[leatafandom]

🌞 Summer 2025 Updates 🌞

Happy Summer everyone! It's been a busy spring! I got some WIPs out (with some more to come), did some challenges and prompts, started dipping my toes into writing some TMA, and started assisting with the Gabriel Big Bang @gbb2024! To see everything I've finished, give my updated Spring 2025 Update a look! I added links~

To see what I'm cooking up during the summer months, check below the wonderful divider made by @firefly-graphics.

Summer Updates and Projects

Asks and requests - I still have my ask box open! Despite being a bit full of wips and projects, I am still taking requests and have switched over for summer prompts! Feel free to send me any prompts you'd like to see me write, but I have checked over my old Summer Prompt List and will be revamping it this year for your selecting pleasure. Just be sure to include the prompt, rating you'd like, what ship or characters you'd like to see, and most importantly what you do not want in your story. I never make promises on filling them, but I always try to do my best!

WIP Releasing, Challenges, Prompts - Pride may have started in the spring, but I plan on finishing strong in the summer with a few more WIP releases for @spnfanficpond and @fanficocean LGBTQIA+ Event! I have two more planned for this event, but haven't gotten to finish them yet. The first and the one I'm hoping to finish this weekend is the Coldflash WIP Like Poetry. The second will be a bit longer to finish but will be a new creature fantasy Au that will feature Debriel. I have also signed up for some Pitch Hitching for some challenges, so that might also bring some more works to the mix for the summer!

Dabbles and Shorter Tales - I really have been trying to write some shorter stories that still feel complete and recently made a new collection/series on my AO3 just for Tales under 500 words. I'm hoping to continue adding to them as the summer goes on, as I keep trekking along on my longer stories.

I - for once - have been keeping up with my dang Master List for 2025 so be sure to keep an eye on it as the season progresses!

Monster Eater Verse - Oh man, I'm trying super hard to get to a little Date Night interlude with my favorite dark duo out before the spooky season. I just really feel like I need something in between what was posted last and the new arc, and oh I do love where this story's going. I think it's gonna end up being more than one chapter 'cause they just can't not play with their food, but we'll see. It might end up being my birthday fic for this year, which means an August release.

Thank you all for continuing to read my works and for your wonderful reblogs, comments, and kudos. They mean the world to me <3

[incorrectcoldflashblog]

2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 13 for the fanfic writer asks :)

Hi, friend! Thank you for the ask <3

2. Where do you get your fic ideas?

Honestly, it’s hard to say! I usually get a vague idea for a fic concept and build around that. Sometimes they’re inspired by canon events, like Barry being a bartender in the comics, or by popular fic trends from other fandoms (for example, I was inspired to write the magic mistletoe from Rogues & Mistletoe because I’d seen a few of them in a different fandom.) Oh, and one time I did get an idea from a Coldflash dream I had where Len was the Grim Reaper and Barry was a serial killer, haha, that was a weird one.

4. How do you choose which fics to write?

Well, they choose me, really XD I write mostly what inspires me in the moment, which is why I have so many WIPs. But it’s also true that I try harder to force myself to continue a fic if it gets a lot of response, as opposed to some of my other projects, which aren’t as popular.

6. What’s the last line you wrote?

Then he turns to Joe, daring him to criticize them.

8. Post an out-of-context spoiler from a wip.

“I mean, we’re going to be together for the next fifty or sixty years, so that should be enough time, right?”

10. Do you work on multiple wips or stick to one fic at a time?

Multiple WIPs for sure, although lately I’ve tried very hard to stay focus on only two i.e. Chapter 5 of my Vegas fic and the WIP I’m working on for the Coldflash event. I’m easily distracted though so that’s a fucking problem XD

13. Do you listen to music while you write?  If yes, what have you been listening to recently?

Sometimes! It really depends on my mood and I find a lot of music too distracting so it has to be a specific type of song. Recently I’ve been listening to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter when I write :)

Fanfiction Writing Ask

[kitkatt0430]

for fanfic ask game

16 Talk about something you like in Poking the Poodle (And Other Ridiculous Tv Tropes)

and 15 ⬇ Was an awesome scene, tell me more about writing it!

“Th-they’re not under arrest,” the dazed beat cop insists, still holding his coffee and danish at arms length. “They… they’re witnesses. To… a crime.” “Correction,” Mick speaks up. “Len’s a witness. I saw nothing, I heard nothing, and I wish to god I hadn’t gotten up this morning. But this is basically a train wreck in the making and I can’t stop watching. Anyone else want a coffee?” He’d gotten four. One for himself, one for Len, one for the poor beat cop, and one to taunt the officers and detectives in the station with.

and 

Julian snatched up the fourth coffee and settled beside Rory on the bench while Barry and Leonard Snart flirted in stairwell. No one was even batting an eye anymore. “It’s like watching two different birds doing wildly different mating dances for each other, each unaware the other is trying to court them.” Julian paused a beat and then added, “has Snart given up pretending he’s not specifically here to flirt with Allen yet?” “Not yet. I wasn’t even paying attention to today’s excuse. Danish?” “Thanks.”

(it was one of the first fics I read in the fandom and I love it with all my soul and I kinda forget (all the time) that you wrote it. and every time i reread i look at the author and have this ‘ah. make sense’ moment)

16.) Talk about something you like in Poking the Poodle (And Other Ridiculous Tv Tropes).

Oh gosh, this was such a fun fic to write and is definitely the silliest ColdFlash fic I've written. I think it's the first time I wrote from Mick's point of view as the long-suffering bestie putting up with Len's need to be overly dramatic, though it's definitely become a thing with me. There's just something so much fun about viewing Len and Barry's oblivious pining from the point of view of someone who'd like them to get a move on already. And as I tend to view Mick as being arospec and I'm aro, it can be fun to project my exasperation with certain romantic tropes onto him.

Having Mick be just done with their antics has popped up in various fics since then, but sadly his weird friendship with Julian hasn't and that's something I really wound up enjoying about this fic. I really need to revisit that friendship again some day.

15.) Was an awesome scene, tell me more about writing it!

For that first scene, i definitely didn't want Len to be the only one having any fun. Mick might be deadpan about it, but he's having a blast really. He figured the cops would be suspicious of any food and drink he offered them... so of course he's offering them.

His line in there - I saw nothing, I heard nothing, and I wish to god I hadn’t gotten up this morning. - is actually inspired by Sgt Shultz of Hogan's Heroes fame. He had a lot of variations of 'I see nothing, I hear/know nothing' in response to the shenanigans the prisoners he was supposed to be guarding would get up to.

I grew up on this show because it was a favorite of my dad's but the comedy is really spot on. It's definitely formative of my sense of humor.

As for the second scene, I realized as I was going that it'd make a lot of sense for Julian and Mick to wind up getting along. They're both getting front row seats to the Len&Barry show, whether they like it or not. Some things cannot help but to be the events from which weird friendships are born. :D

The birds doing wildly different mating dances line was actually inspired in part by some videos that were going around tumblr at the time of some funny bird mating dances. But also the tendency in the fandom to joke about Len 'peacocking' for Barry. (There is a fic out there where Len literally gets a peacock tail and it's hilarious.) And of course Barry shows off for Len too, in his own nerdy way.

By now the taunting gifts of coffee and food meant to tease the CCPD for Mick's amusement have become something he shares with Julian out of genuine friendship, which was a fun transition. They're gonna be seated together at the wedding whenever it happens. I imagine Julian'll get along surprisingly well with any other Legends there.

I'm so glad you like this fic so much, it's definitely one of my favorites, especially out of all the ColdFlash fics I've written.

[coldflashevents]

Hi all!

Thank you all for your patience while I've got the ball rolling on this year's events (and for the gentle kick up the butt where needed haha). You know what they say about even the best-laid plans...

But I've finally got the ball rolling, and I have a couple of announcements to make!

I'd like to begin by welcoming my wonderful new co-mod, @moriavis, who will be helping me keep all our events running smoothly (pun intended)! I'm very grateful to have her on board.

It's likely that we'll be looking for extra assistance with some of the more ambitious events we have planned for this year, so if anyone is interested in helping us out, please feel free to drop me a message either here on this blog or on my main @coldflasher :D

Secondly, I'm happy to announce that our interest check form is now officially up and running, so you can have your say about the type and frequency of events you'd like us to run this year! You can access the form here:

If there are any issues with the form, please let me know!

[incorrectcoldflashblog]

#forever sad his underwear managed to remain pristine#like seriously#they would not#I would love a series of events#set early on#where barry keeps losing outfits because he uses his powers without the suit#and len is there every time#coldflash (via @crimsondomingo)

[dcu-events-by-kav]

DCU Valentine's Prompt Week !!

Howdy friends! This is @wait-whos-batman 's new blog for fan events!!!

I'm hosting an event for Valentine's Day this year! It's a prompt week! Prompts will be voted on beforehand. The most popular 15 prompts will be featured in the event.

Starting on Monday, each day of the week will have three prompts to choose from. You're welcome to choose one, or do them all if you feel inspired!

Fanfic and Fanart will be accepted for this event. All ships are welcome. Any DCU adaptation is welcome, from comics to the CW shows!

All works will be uploaded to the collection on Ao3 where the event is primarily held!

If you're interested in joining please fill out the form below!!

There is also a Discord Server you can join to stay up to date on events! or just hang and chat with fellow fans!

More to come as we get closer to the event date!

[devilishheart]

Hi, just a thing. The Tumblr's tag system is a bit temperamental. If you want to it show up in the event tag you should put #cfjune24 together with the coldflash tag.

Oh thanks, I'm kinda new to tumblr and I thought it would show up if I just put the tag anywhere in the post

And thank you for your kind words about my moodboards!!

[coldflasher]

been thinking a lot about flashpoint lately, for obvious reasons, and like. obviously dante dying in a car accident in the new timeline as a result of barry creating and then reversing flashpoint was a pretty severe consequence of barry's actions and had huge repercussions for the people around him, but you know what i think would have been more impactful? if the timeline change had led to dante being killed by len and mick when they kidnapped him and cisco in rogue time, instead

the fact that len and mick abducted cisco and dante was already a direct consequence of barry meddling with the timeline, as the universe created a new catstrophe to replace joe's abduction by mardon and the resulting tidal wave, but it clearly didn't teach barry a lesson. in fact, it arguably did the opposite because the events that occured in the new timeline were far less bad than the timeline barry erased. yes, dante was injured, but not irreparably. yes, barry's identity was revealed, giving len leverage against him, but he never really USES that leverage. the consequences were minimal.

so i think it would be really interesting if, instead of a random accident of fate where dante just happens to get in a car accident after barry screwed with time, it had been a more direct consequence. like okay, the first time you messed with time, you got away with it. so this time, let's go back to revisit those consequences you experienced and make them more impactful than they were originally. maybe cisco stays loyal and refuses to give up barry's identity and dante dies as a result. maybe cisco DOESN'T stay loyal, reveals barry's identity in a desperate attempt to protect his brother, and dante dies anyway.

so then when cisco finally finds out, it's like, double the betrayal. barry played russian roulette with time not once, but twice. they dodged the bullet the first time but then he chose to play a second time, armed with the knowledge of what could happen, and the consequences were more severe. i feel like cisco has far more justification to be angry in that situation because it's harder to logically see it as barry's fault that dante got hit by a car (even though it WAS but he wasn't as closely involved in the situation aside from time having a vendetta against him personally that had a ripple effect on the people around him).

also, it increases the opportunity for coldflash angst because we then have the added layer of cisco struggling to accept that his best friend could see good in and care deeply about the man who murdered his brother in front of him, but that's neither here nor there