I think you're confused about the difference between [x]*4 and [x for _ in range (4)]. It's not, at any point, a difference between something being a value or r

I think you're confused about the difference between [x]*4 and [x for _ in range (4)]. It's not, at any point, a difference between something being a value or reference. The first code is equivalent to: list_multiply([x], 4) (the function is actually called list.__mul__, but that's an unimportant detail). The latter is a syntax sugar for: out = [] for _ in range(4): out.append(x) (actually a bit more complex, but close enough). When you understand it, the behavior is obvious in both cases.