#boy I want to write more grace/judd into it

[heartstringsduet]

For the tarlos drabble..maybe a peek into the danger zone universe👀

Thanks for being invested in that fic still <3 Had to find y way in and this might not ever be a true part of a sequel because I had to speedwrite to meet my word count, but I had a BLAST writing this. But also...sorry???? 👀😂 The second inspiration is by @strandnreyes prompt for the Speak Now Writing Prompt song "Enchanted" and the line "Please don't be in love with someone else" - liberally interpreted. - Danger Zone Universe

Week 26 - Freshman Year - January

TK lays on the blanket, head in Grace’s lap and hums as his hair is tugged at playfully. UT students rush by, all a mass his eyes never focus on. He should be doing his first assignments for the semester, but he can’t be bothered to. 

Christmas break has made him long to be back and lose himself again in anything that isn’t the mess of his family. Christmas break has made him miss room 126, the meticulously made bed on the other side, the sink filled with only his stuff, the little pad of sticky notes and the cramped space of his own bed. He’s missed strong arms and the familiar little snores and being kissed like he was worth being known.

He misses sharing a room with Carlos. 

It was only made worse by how little time they had to give into the need that had built for months and months of fighting and pining. It’s the second week of the new semester, 10 days of sleeping in the same room, and neither of them has picked up where they left off. TK had felt too vulnerable for once to face rejection if Carlos didn’t want him after he had gotten his fill. TK just hadn’t had the strength to make a move after a week of pretending to be fine in his father’s new house and new life. 

And Carlos… Who knew why Carlos also hadn’t come into the room, pulled TK in and fucked him into the mattress until the neighbors hammered against their door.

Maybe it was a one time thing after all. Maybe once was enough to ebb Carlos’ curiosity. TK thought that maybe Carlos would be different. But in the end, they get what they want from him and they move on. It’s how he is, too. It’s okay. It has to be. They have four months of sharing a room to either go back to being in a war or at least be civil. 

TK has done a good job at pretending that everything is fine. Casual. Carlos is out of the room more often than not and when he’s in, TK slips in his headphones and quietly listens to a podcast, not even in the mood to provoke Carlos by turning the volume up. 

Nights are the hardest. He sees the silhouette of Carlos’ body under the blanket on the other bed and remember how it had felt to feel it against his back. They’d fallen asleep after a second round, Carlos first, then, TK, the arm around his waist keeping him warm and safe.

There’s a party tonight. There’ll be other guys. None which will make his blood boil or his mind go into loops. But there’ll be guys who will show him just how much they want him and that’s what he needs. 

Gracie’s hand in his hair is a nice comfort, a bandaid, but he feels like he is slowly bleeding out the longer Carlos and him are so goddamn polite and distant to each other. He doesn’t even feel like bringing the Danger Zone sign out. It’s tainted now that he thought they’d both use it together. 

So Carlos isn’t actually interested. So what?

TK will just have to find a bathroom or an empty bedroom tonight. Maybe someone who looks like the complete opposite to Carlos, so he can remind his body that it doesn’t truly desire it. TK doesn’t need shyness,  warm brown eyes, sweet fumbling and kind questions, leading into passion that felt incinerating.

All TK needs from tonight is to forget what it felt like the one moment he thought he was in love and loved.

“Darling? You sure you’re okay?”

TK hums under Grace’s gentle hands. “Yep.”

“Really? Been hearing zero complaints about a certain roommate and that is a trademark TK Strand thing.”

“We’ve been getting along this semester.”

“Hmm. That’s nice?”

“Yeah,” TK says, voice carefully light like he has learned to do for both his parents. “It’s nice. What about you and Judd? Didn’t he invite you over to his uncle’s ranch over New Years?”

Grace softly flicks his ear and says, “With a bunch of other friends. And you were invited, remember? So don’t get ideas, mister.”

“What ideas could I possibly have?” TK says, finding genuine joy now that they’ve wandered away from his endlessly hung-up mind. It’s easier to lose himself in trying to see the two friends - the one not-yet couple he might see an actual future for no matter how bitterness about romance was nurtured in him early on - get closer and closer.

They talk about the New Years party he was invited to but couldn’t go to because the night before, his dad had come home from chemo and TK had heard him wretch in the middle of the night. He’d sat up with him after the third time, both of them just watching TV with a tea in hand, silent but together. When TK has slipped into sleep, he’d dreamt of a funeral, of a tombstone, and he had woken up in fear that this was the last New Year’s he might have with his father.

It was a miserable night. Followed by a miserable night. But that had felt right to TK, matching the guilt he carried about being a bad son.

Hearing about the party doesn’t make him feel worse though. Hearing how much fun Grace had dancing on an ancient oak table that creaked under the weight of her and her friend, how they had given each other a friendly kiss on the cheek (yes, all of us, okay, yes Judd gave me one, too, DON’T SAY ANYTHING) and how they had all stayed over, having to sleep on the floor on blankets, TK thinks it’s what his friends deserve. 

He wouldn’t have been able to party the way he usually did with them anyway. Judd and Grace are worriers. The less they know of this side of him, the better.

Grace breaks off in the middle of telling TK about the one box of cereal fifteen of them had to share for breakfast the day after. TK looks up, confused, to see her smile and shout, “Carlos! Hey, Carlos!”

His stomach drops. She waves and TK feels it like motion sickness. He holds his breath until he hears a sigh. Grace finally stops shouting and mumbles, “Doesn’t even hear me.”

TK finally follows her gaze over. It’s in between classes, there are a bunch of people walking between one campus building and the next. It still doesn’t take TK’s eyes more than a second to find the familiar shape of his roommate. It’s the way Carlos moves, like each step is a bit weighted, like his shoulders have finally learned to stay straight, like he can part the sea of people without intended to draw attention.

TK’s eyes also find familiar red curly hair and a slight, sturdy body right next to Carlos. The world shifts upright, more motion sickness, as TK sits up. Carlos is laughing. Laughing at something Oliver is saying. He didn’t know they were talking anymore. Why would they be, after Carlos had chosen TK, had blown Oliver off to fuck him, after the Christmas party?

A question settles in and once it’s there, it’s all TK’s mind can think.

Is Carlos actually into Oliver? Is Carlos actually into Oliver? Is Carlos actually into Oliver?

TK’s hands curl into the dry grass and he rips at it until it comes up with the soil still attached. 

The anger will make him go into their room later, will make him want to not just peel up a corner of Carlos’ fitted sheet but rip it off and to shreds. Instead he will lay in his bed, hands over his eyes and hope he’s wrong. That even if Carlos isn’t in love with TK, he at least isn’t in love with someone else. He can live with the former. If his fear is founded though, then TK just lost a hope he thought he had squashed over the last two weeks.

[swords-and-starlight]

ok i think this is my first time ever watching a show while it’s coming out so i’m gonna write out my reactions as i watch the episode for the first time, even though i’m watching it from streaming (i don’t have cable rip) and i already got a bunch of spoilers.

obviously spoilers ahead

CARLOS!! first time we’re seeing him with his friends this season! and he looks so good!

Natacha looks so good in green, man. they seriously need to have her wear it more.

TK Marjan and Mateo look so good in that shot even if the person they’re being mean to is Paul :((

i really want to see them actually play a whole game of catan it would be so fun

i fs know those two boys are from paul’s past. i thought they might be people he lost but i feel like people who bullied him would make more sense in the context of the nightmare?

i know this is gonna turn out badly but i feel like this dinner is going surprising civilly for now

“LT” aww

why is the chore chart so big i don’t think we’ve ever seen it before

this is kinda making me miss clipboard Marj

paul is gonna crash and burn poor baby

wyatt is so cute omg but i miss gracie

i missed judd soooo much he’s the ultimate cutie pie

paullll why you doing this to yourself

PAUL CALL FOR HELP JESUS

tommy is so nice actually i would never facetime someone i didn’t like just to check in on them

love tk and nancy giving each other looks lmao they’re so siblings coded

gina torres is literally the cutest woman on this show (with the exception of sierra) i love her so much

tk and nancy “it’s convenient” “a little too convenient” omg this feels like one of those disney movies where the kids are trying to solve their parents kidnapping or something

why does tk know that??

nancy loml keep being a dramatic suspicious bitch please

“the enemy is behind the gate” so dramatic for no reason omggg what’s cassandra gonna do?

love paul and owen bonding time, i feel like we barely saw owen interact with the house on a personal level so far this season

genuinely how does judd afford that house by himself especially when grace was out, he didn’t have a job, and he was taking care of wyatt

TOMMY UP TO SHENANIGANS AGAIN oh i’ve missed you devious bitch tommy

i love that tommy has just fully embraced her work kids’s delusional ideas and judds the one trying to talk sense into her now

aww i know judd and tommy have been best friends forever but i know if sierra was here she would be going to grace :(

PAUL BABY WHAT ARE YOU DOING

rich people are so strange

i already love jenna hope nothing happens to her

nancy and tk sending each other looks again lmaooo

ofc the elevator broke down

damn poor augie

aww ok they’re better now

WHAT THE SHIT why is she bleeding from her eyes!?!

it’s really cute that wyatt takes all of 126 medic teams calls it feels like he’s trying to look out for them after they saved his life

paul’s gonna get hurt and mess up on this call isn’t he

oh nooo paul it’s so hard to see him cry

i feel like we need more people to die yk like how does tnt consistently bring people back from the dead? like the kid that was trapped underwater in a frozen lake for at least ten minutes and was expected to make a full recovery but tk who was in there for ten seconds was in a coma? but it was for the drama so whatever

tommy’s hair is my favorite part of every episode. is she even allowed to be whipping that horse tail around?

weed pen lmao

judd is such a nice probie

ok so i was kinda right about the kids in paul’s dream

aww paul he must have been so lonely growing up

i’m sorry i can’t take the weed pens

girl miss melody how did you think poisoning your mom and getting ur sister suspended would be better than just asking to live with your mom

episodes almost over :((( i don’t wanna wait till next week

tkmarjan friendship i’ve missed you!

im glad joe and marjan are still together! they were so cute

PAUL!! i love this entire scene with my whole heart

controversial but i really love it when people choose logic and their personal values over love. this show does that so well. like with marjan and salim, they were both in love but marjan couldn’t see herself building a life with someone so flaky and that’s a valid reason to break it off! with tommy and trevor, i think it makes sense that tommy can’t love someone who might contribute to a family breaking apart.

i know that tk and nancy are gossiping about all of tommy’s drama right now

TOMMY CALLING HER MOM!!!

idk if this is obvious yet but tommy is in fact my favorite 9-1-1 character

anyway that’s a wrap i loved this episode

[liminalmemories21]

WIP Wednesday

tagged by @rmd-writes and I think by someone else, but now I can’t find it and I need to go run and put the rice on for dinner - so thank you whoever it was!

There’s something funky going on with the grammar in the section I’m writing on the Huntington’s section, so putting a pin in that until I have time to figure out where I’ve screwed up my tenses.

He glances at Wyatt's room.  "Any news?"

Grace shakes her head.  "The doctors say wait and see, but none of them will tell us how long is good waiting and when that turns into bad waiting." He looks at her.  "How are you doing?"

She gives a half shrug.  "Thinking about how stupid the spat I was having with Tommy was.  Thinking about Leigh Ann and praying their baby doesn't have to grow up without a daddy.  Praying for Judd, because I don't know what he'll do if he loses that boy."  She gives a half laugh.   "This time last year I didn't even know he existed, and now I don't know what my family looks like without him." He takes her hand, folding it between his.  "I do a lot of praying when I'm here."  He smiles ruefully.  "I'm not sure if God is impressed that it's about the only place I do any praying these days, but He's never turned me away either."

She smiles faintly.  "God's forgiving like that.  I'm not sure I can pray any harder than I already am."

He wraps an arm around her, and she's stiff for a moment and then slumps against him, letting him take her weight.  He wishes fruitlessly that he could promise her something, but she wouldn't take it as a kindness.   "Is there anything we can do to help?" he asks instead.  "Do you want us to watch Charlie so you can stay here?" She lifts her head at that.  "You're getting married in a week, you don't need anything else on your plate."

He jostles her with his elbow.  "You know, I have a really clear memory from not that long ago of this really smart woman I know telling me that it's not a burden to help the people you love."  She gives him a narrow eyed look, and he smiles innocently at her.  "She's one of the smartest people I know.  Seems like maybe you should take her advice."

She hmms, but she's smiling.  "T's got Charlie for now, but I'll let you know if we need a shift change."

He nods and turns his head at the sound of the hotel PA system.  She peers at him, and then grabs his chin when he goes to turn back.  "Looks like someone had a good night last night."

He coughs and flushes and twitches the collar of his shirt back into place, covering the mark.  "We got some good news last night, and we were celebrating."

She snorts, and sounds more like herself than she has since he walked in.  "Between TK's shiner and your," she pauses and he can hear the quote marks, "celebration, y'all are gonna be quite the pair walking up the aisle."

not sure who is left to tag, but umm @doublel27, and @ravens-words and @ramblingdisaster73?

[braveclxrke]

You can find my ao3 here at: Lydiamxrtin

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TK tries to balance moments of joy with grief/guilt following the months after his mother's passing.

[outrunningthedark]

While we're still on the subject on Timothy shifting focus to LS, I kinda remember seeing people complaining/mentioning that OG fans have been asking for a baseball episode but LS got them first instead. Not to mention LS's gay wedding proposal using a few notable elements of Buddie's legal guardian reveal. Not to mention LS having Bi rep first when people have been asking for Bi!Buck or Bi!Eddie, regardless of the can of worms I just opened.

I really don't want to be that person with "the grass is greener on the other side" mindset and I'm afraid you answering this will start a discourse on your back, but doesn't it feel like Timothy takes either what works on OG or what OG fans want and applies them on LS instead to boost the latter while keeping OG... what it is?

(I'm not worried about the discourse. People get mad very easily when they misinterpret the meaning behind a post and don't ask for clarification.)

Yes to the baseball episode! The Eddie fans in particular have been pushing for it due to Ryan's love of the game/his role in Everybody Wants Some!!, but LS got it because...idk. It looked "cuter" for Carlos to root against his own people for TK? It was an opportunity to revisit Owen's anger issues? The proposal scene...boy. What makes it extra hard to digest is that Tim worked with Bob Goodman (as in, his name is in the credits) the same way he admittedly worked with Kristen to create the hospital scene. It's pretty easy to see, in my opinion, how Tim took something from a year ago and went "What would that scene have sounded like if they were actually together?" and applied it to the canon gay couple. If Buddie were canon when that convo took place, it wouldn't have *just* been about Christopher. It would have been about Eddie not wanting to waste another moment without Buck now that he came close for a second time (just like the Tarlos proposal happened after TK & Owen talked about living in the moment because "that's all any of us have").

The sudden bi rep...you gotta laugh, almost. OG fandom is so caught up in its own feelings that not having a canonically bi Buck or Eddie meant Tim was allergic to bisexuality. Except...no, He's not. He just didn't want to make either of THOSE characters bi. He (yet again) took something from OG and found a way to make it juuuust a bit different. OG has lesbians. LS has bi and trans rep. "A little something for everyone", as they say. There's also the way that a concerted effort is made to keep Grace and Judd connected despite their schedules, whereas OG fandom has to make excuses like "It makes sense that Madney can go more than one episode without interaction when they work different hours." Judd...literally drove to the dispatch center to check on his pregnant wife. Grace...talks to her husband while he's trying to perform a rescue. Even Sierra previously said that she believed Tim knew better than to have Judd MIA for Charlie's birth 'cause he'd get grief from the fans, but OG fan base's opinion was irrelevant when deciding to write Chimney out with no explanation? That's how it is now? Following the 911verse has basically become a game of "If you don't like the way OG did something, just wait to see it end up on LS." Maybe being too predictable is a bad thing in this case considering LS can't keep up ratings-wise. But don't fret! The Big Gay Wedding that fans actually get to enjoy will help. 🤪 (In all seriousness, I do hope the numbers are good that week, but the effort given to Tarlos vs. the long established lesbian couple in 5x18...what exactly was I supposed to be praising Kristen for? Not making the blink-and-you-miss-it ceremony about a couple of hets?)

[freneticfloetry]

hi courtney 💜 N, U and X from the alphabet game please 🙏

N - Name three things you wish you saw more of in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

This isn’t specific to one, but it seems like most fandoms that have been big for me — The Magicians, Firefly, MCU and Netflix Marvelverse, now Lone Star (we’ll just ignore the Superlock of it all) — have diverse casts, but that diversity isn’t necessarily well-reflected in fanworks. I think part of it is certainly that there often isn’t a wealth of PoC writers and creators in fandom space, but there’s also the age-old fandom tendency to focus most of the fanwork efforts and energy on the prettiest white guys. I’m hoping that, as more canonically queer pairings actually include diverse characters, there will be more inclusivity where other characters are concerned as well.

So that’s one (big) thing. In Lone Star fandom specifically, I wish we had more magical realism! That’s probably a side effect of coming in from a fandom where magic is a main character, but I’d love to see some Soulmarks and daemons and fairy tale lore.

And third, selfishly… I kind of crave some good Grace/Judd/Tommy. Not just in a “that would be hot” way, but in a full-on “making a life together” way.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

I feel like I’ve recently exhausted a fair amount of words sort of explaining why a certain boy breaks my heart and is my absolute favorite, so we’re going to pivot a bit here.

Grace Ryder, 911: Lone Star: Grace was my very first Lone Star love, and I am still so enamored by her heart, her humor, her self-possession, and her generosity of spirit. I remember watching that space station call in 1x10 in real time, and being utterly blown away — yes, the call was tragic, but it was Grace’s wordless reactions that made it truly heartbreaking. The show has a lot of people that make up its beating heart, but she is right at the center. I remain floored that Sierra is the youngest of the cast, when she’s given Grace such boundless wisdom (without it ever going Magical Negro).

Claire Temple, Netflix Marvelverse: Claire is the very definition of capability, and I love that. She’s also passionate and principled and resourceful, selfless but not a doormat, and incredibly sure of and secure in who she is and what she wants. I think she was the most perfect link to tie together all the threads of this universe, and every time she popped up on a new show she made it better. I remain salty that the only place she didn’t venture was Punisher land, because I desperately wanted to see what she would’ve made of Frank Castle (who’s my other forever fave in this verse).

Margo Hanson, The Magicians: It would’ve been incredibly easy for Margo to be an entertaining Mean Girl and that’s it. Instead, she’s whip smart, incredibly adaptable, a talented magician, fucking hysterical, and utterly unapologetic about who she is and how she handles herself. I honestly think she’s one of the single most quotable characters in modern television history. Writing her is a both a joy and a terrifying adventure, but I am always here for her kind of layers. (We won’t talk about how the show completely assassinated her character to pair her up with the most basic bitch guy on the show for absolutely no reason.)

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

I love Soulmates a lot (like so, so much), but I’m picky about the pairings that get the soulmate treatment — for me, they have to have a certain dynamic. Fake Dating, on the other hand? Bulletproof. Give me two people who barely know each other (even better, two people who barely like each other), throw them into a situation where they have to pretend they’re in love, and have them catch all the feelings, and I will be putty in your hand.

Thanks, Lola! 😘

[bluegreene118]

About Me:

Name: Parker

Pronouns: they / them

Age: 26 years around the sun

Time Zone: West Coast (US)

Won’t Do: R.pe, d.ugs, in.est, swearing, anyone under 18.. sorry so be 20+, no Discord or anywhere else just on Tumblr sorry!

Will Do: Third POV, write maybe 3-5 sentences. (With swearing I’ll read and write it like ‘son of a b ch’ if needed but you can doesn’t bother me.), probably a thousand percent be down for lgbtq+ plots. Love au or canon or even something in middle of both.

Ao3: bluegreen_118

Example: Dean was watching a movie about cowboys.. again. Hearing the doorbell he drank some beer before setting it by his remote. Running to the door he opened it and gasped at the blue eyed man with the pizza box. The guy’s name tag read Castiel and Dean looked back at the man taking the pizza boxes. “Thanks.” Dean said out loud but in his head he said ‘son of b ch he’s hot.’

I bolded who I prefer to be but we can figure out if you want to be them instead.

Supernatural: Dean and Castiel, Jody and Donna, Sam and Gabriel …

9–1–1: Buck and Eddie, Tyler Kennedy and Carlos, Hen and Karen, Judd and Grace, Josh and Ravi …

Atypical: Izzie and Casey …

Stranger Things: Steve and Eddie, Nancy and Robin, Jonathan and Argyle …

School Spirits: Maddie and Rhonda, Charley and Wally …

Shadowhunters: Magnus and Alec, Clary and Izzy, Simon and Raphael, Simon and Jace …

Marvel/DC: Harley and Ivy, Erik and Charles, Steve and Bucky, Eddie (Venom) and Wade (Deadpool), Kate and Yelena, Logan (Wolverine) and Wade (Deadpool) Agatha and Rio …

Shameless: Ian and Mickey …

Good Omens: Arizaphale and Crowley …

The Last of US: Bill and Frank …

Our Flag Means Death: Stede and Eddie, Jim and Oluwande, Lucius and Black Pete …

A League of Their Own: Bertie and Gracie, Greta and Carson, Jess and Lupe …

Red, White & Royal Blue: Alex Claremont Diaz and Henry Fox Mountchristen

Teen Wolf: Stiles and Derek …

House of the Dragon: Rhaenyra and Alicent …

Umbrella Academy: Klaus and Dave …

Dead Boy Detectives: Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland …

Love Simon: Simon Spier and Bram Greenfeld …

Descendants: Gil Gaston and Harry Hook, Mal and Evie, Hook and Morgie Le Fay …

Sooo yeah that’s all I can think of top of my head. Will add more to this list as I can think of them.

Thanks for reading and if this all sounds interesting message me. Be happy to start a journey of story telling. Also heads up sorry if I vanish sometimes. Promise I’m not ghost just you know life happens? I’ll get on promise but heads up life does get in the way too. Can’t always be fictional gotta be real world too (bleh I know but eh haha.)

[harvestleaves]

Coming Out (Chapter 1)

Prompt: Could you write something where one of Judd's kids (Wyatt, Charlie, an oc, etc) comes out to him? Maybe include him doing research online or talking to the LGBT+ 126 members and friends, basically him going all out and overthinking everything to try to show his kid how much he loves and accepts them. It's up to you, I'd basically just like some fluff with Judd and an LGBT+ kid of his if you could! Thank you!

A/N: I was going to try and make this a one-shot, but it’s going to be a muti-chapter fic, so here’s chapter one.  And send me some chapter recommendations!  You can also read this on Ao3 here.

Rating: General

Word Count: 875

"I'm gay."

To be honest, Judd wasn't all too surprised when Charlie sat him and Grace down a few days before her 14th birthday to tell them her announcement. Grace, as usual, took it in stride, saying she was proud of their daughter, and Judd told her the same, though newfound panic set in as he realized he had no clue how to raise a gay teenager.

The logical part of him knew that there wasn't really going to be anything truly different about Charlie as she started to date people, the main difference being that it was going to be girls he was going to have to tell not to break his baby's heart rather than boys. But despite Austin being a fairly progressive city, he still worried that her life was going to be much more difficult now, and he knew exactly who to call for help.

"Judd? Hey, what's up? Did you want to talk to TK? He's currently trying to get Bella ready for soccer practice," Carlos laughed as he picked up the phone, tucking it between his ear and shoulder as he filled up Bella's water bottle and packed a bag full of snacks for practice, including apple slices, cheese sticks, and granola bars.

"No, well, yes, but I also wanted to talk to you too. Do you guys have some time to talk later? Maybe come over for dinner? Charlie's going to her friend Olivia's house for a sleepover and I wanted to get some advice from the two of you about something," Judd asked, hoping he wasn't rambling too badly.

“Judd, breathe.  Whatever is going on is going to be okay.  We’ll be there.  My mom and sisters wanted to have a girl's night with Bella anyways.  We’ll drop her off and be there around six.  Is that okay?” Carlos asked as he zipped up the cooler, moving to lean against the countertop.

“Yeah, six is great.  Thank you, I’ll see you then,” Judd said before he hung up and went to talk to Charlie, wanting to make sure she was okay with him talking about her announcement with her not-blood uncles.

Judd smiled as he watched Charlie from the doorway to her room, hunched over her desk working on some math homework before her sleepover.  She had grown up so fast, practically in the blink of an eye, and there were many times he saw himself picturing her running around as a three-year-old in a wrinkled princess dress with a fire hat on explaining she wanted to be a firefighting princess that was also a doctor.  She was such a good kid, not jaded by the world yet, and he wanted to keep her safe just a little while longer, it was his most important job.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on her doorway before smiling as she looked up, moving to take a seat on her bed to talk.

“Hey, dad, what’s up?” Charlie asked curiously as she set her pencil down on her notebook before turning to give Judd her full attention.

“Hey, kiddo.  TK and Carlos are coming over for dinner while you’re gonna be at your sleepover.  I was hoping to get their advice on raising a gay teen because obviously, they have more experience, having been gay teenagers themselves.  Do I have your permission to talk to them about this?  I just want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to support you and they’re gonna be able to help me help you,” Judd explained gently, not wanting to overwhelm her with everything.

“Oh!  Yeah, that’s fine, I told Uncle TK and Uncle Carlos last week.  They encouraged me to tell you and mom,” Charlie smiled, a giggle slipping past her lips at the surprised look on Judd’s face.

“You told them first?” Judd asked, trying, and failing, to hide the hurt in his voice as he looked from Charlie down to his hands.

“Did I ever say or do anything to make you feel like you couldn’t tell me and your momma?” he asked nervously as he finally brought himself to look at Charlie.

“What?  Dad, no.  You and mom didn’t do anything wrong.  I just wanted to talk to other gay people first and they were the first people I thought of.  I’m sorry if that hurt your feelings,” Charlie said gently as she got up to sit next to Judd on the bed, leaning over to hug him.

“Okay, that makes sense.  I just wanted to make sure,” Judd smiled as he blinked back tears, quickly swiping one from his cheek as he returned Charlie’s hug before he moved to get up.

“Finish your homework, then I’ll drive you over to Olivia’s, TK and Carlos are gonna be here in an hour and a half and I gotta get cooking,” Judd smiled, dropping a kiss to Charlie’s forehead before he headed towards the door.

“Wait, dad?  Thank you, I love you and mom so much,” Charlie beamed as she turned back to her homework.

“I love you too baby girl,” Judd said as he paused in the doorway, before grinning and heading back to the kitchen to start making some chili for dinner with TK and Carlos.

[beautifulhigh]

Work in Progress Wednesday

I have rewritten a good chunk of this fic to make that AMAZING proposal part of the canon. Because I could never hope to write something as perfect for them as what we got to see.

No, of course I’m not over it. How do you expect me to be over TK talking about how “every moment we’re not married is a moment wasted. And baby, we only get so many”?

So have a scene I’ve probably posted before but now Grace and Carlos get to talk about the engagement so...

===

"Anyway, Judd's set up this savings account for Wyatt, pays into it each month. He's tryin' to make up for all the time he's missed. Won't be a college fund or anything but it'll maybe buy a car or a trip if he wants."

"You're paying in too?" Carlos asked.

Grace shrugged as they took a single step forward. "He's Judd's family so he's my family."

"You're good people."

"We're tryin'," she smiled. "Didn't reckon on having a teenager in my home this soon though. We love havin' him over and it's great that he gets a chance to build a proper relationship with Judd, but between that and Charlie's teething it just feels like a lot, you know?"

"Not really," Carlos smiled.

"Well it is. She's amazing but there are times when I just think about everything that we've been through and what's coming and I pray for the strength to get through it. I have no idea how my mama did this more than once." She stopped and threw a look over at Carlos. "Sorry. I'm rambling."

"No, it's fine," he said. "You ramble away. Ask me, all mothers are amazing for what they go through."

"You're a good son," she laughed, "your momma raised you right."

"She'd be pleased to hear that," Carlos laughed too.

"You ever think about it? Kids I mean," Grace asked before shaking her head. "Sorry. Not my place, forget I asked."

"Yeah," Carlos said. "I've thought about it. Not talked about it yet, we're working our way there though. We're a bit more focused on wedding prep at the moment."

"You are? Or your mom?"

"Both," Carlos laughed. "I don't think I've ever seen her so excited about a wedding which would normally upset my sisters but they're just going on about finding the right dresses to match the colour scheme."

"Well it's important."

"So I'm learning," Carlos laughed. "But I'm excited for it. We're planning a proper family wedding, very kid friendly so the invite will be for the whole family."

"That doesn't surprise me one bit," Grace said. "You're both big family boys." She smiled softly and put one of her hands over his. "You'll be amazing dads. Charlie adores you."

"We love her."

"I'll remember that next time I need a babysitter."

"Do, please," Carlos said. "I think it helps TK, you know? He doesn't get to spend much time one-on-one with Jonah, video calls aren't quite the same. So spending time with Charlie means—"

"He's getting baby practice in, I get it. And maybe not just for his brother?"

"One step at a time, Grace."

"Fine, I'll stop," she said, holding her hands up in mock defeat. "You've heard my reason why I'm stuck in a bank queue on my day off, why do you need to close your account today?"

"That one step," Carlos said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked the screen and loaded up a webpage, showing the image to her. "I'm picking it up this afternoon."

"Carlos!" Grace exclaimed. "It's beautiful. He'll love it."

"I know," Carlos said.

"Well I hope he gets you a good ring too. Or do you buy them both? I'm sorry, is that insensitive?"

"It's fine, Grace," Carlos laughed. "I haven't got that far."

"Still cannot believe y'all celebrated without us."

"We threw a party the following week!" Carlos protested. "Got everyone over, proper catering—"

"Yeah, yeah," she mocked, "sure your mama didn't mind waiting to find out her baby was getting married until you'd told the 126." She watched his lips curl into his mouth and realised what he was trying to hide. "You called her first, right?"

"I would like to live to actually marry him," Carlos pointed out.

[woodchoc-magnum]

L*ne St*r Hate Watch 3x08

Disclaimer: if you love the show, don't read this, please have a wonderful day.

Eddie Diaz, because it's only prudent we should gaze upon his beautiful face before embarking on this torment:

Prefacing this by saying I genuinely don't know how much of it I'll actually be able to get through – equally the TK & Owen shit but also as someone who recently lost her mother. I'm not sure if this is going to trigger some strong emotions or not (probably not - let's face it, it's LS, the writing is fucking terrible, but still). We're just going to roll with it and see what happens.

This is a really awful death for Gwyn who absolutely didn't deserve it (for those not watching – she's knocked over by a bike rider and she hits her head on the curb, and she dies instantly).

I hate this because I really love Lisa Edelstein and I feel this show has done her dirty.

I feel like we're 100% heading for a TK relapses storyline, right? But they're too cowardly to do it to their golden boy so probably not

"leave me alone" TK says in a monotone

God I'm gonna hate this episode so much

He can't act. Like he just actually can't act. I know he's meant to be acting "numb" or whatever but like every single line is delivered in a monotone.

Rob Lowe looks particularly old in this scene? Maybe it's the lighting

Is Carlos going to get to go with them in this and actually have something to do? Amazing

I thought it would just be a Strand family adventure (note from future!me: oh past!me how wrong you were)

Maybe I would feel more if I actually cared about these people, but I don't.

Oh TK is doing the thing that I tried to do which was to simply deny it – damn it, I will not identify with this asshole

I mean I suppose if you really like TK this is exactly what you've been wanting

And like, if the OG did an episode that was all about Eddie, I would be over the moon

So I guess I can't complain about that

But I just find him so intolerable

Confession – I'm not really watching it so much as I'm listening to it, because it's very boring and I can't look at TK too long without getting annoyed

Carlos can do so much better

I'm only 15 minutes in, this is going to be interminable

And no Grace or Judd to relieve things

Also off topic but I feel like I'm the only one who has absolutely fucking zero interest in seeing the new Batman movie and I've always thoroughly disliked Robert Pattinson

It's Batman Returns or fucking nothing

I like my Batman with a lot of camp, thank you very much

"oh no let's make all superhero movies dark and serious" - NO, you put DANNY DEVITO IN A PENGUIN COSTUME AND HAVE HIM EAT RAW FISH, YOU COWARDS

This has been an unsolicited Batman rant

One of the ladies from Superstore is on the plane with TK (couldn't tell you her name, she's a larger blonde lady)

I'm not sure why Rob Lowe doesn't just slap TK and tell him to get the fuck over himself

He is the whiniest of bitches

God I just don't care

21 minutes

Oh what now the plane is going to crash? Plot twist

That would be amazing, two birds with one fucking stone right?

I mean the window blew out on their row and NEITHER ONE OF THEM WAS SUCKED OUT?

The lady from Superstore solved the problem of the broken window by shoving a suitcase in it, don't worry

Oh wow it's TK's time to fucking shine, he's going to save this lady's life and it's almost like he was put on this planet for a reason, right? To help people? Wow, this isn't heavy-handed at all

Why did they leave it to the day of the funeral to fly to New York?

Lady from Superstore saving the day again

Look I'm not saying that she's doing all the heavy lifting in this episode but she definitely is

All right so basically to recap what's happened is that the lady they were sitting next to was partially sucked out of the plane, and they pulled her back in but she's severed an artery in her arm and they're trying to save her life

And that is the bulk of the episode at this point

And I am not invested

30 minutes in

Okay so one of TK's vodka bottles fell in the toilet (in a flashback) and even though the other two were fine, that was the one he drank

And I am side-eyeing that decision

(unless the other two broke and I didn't see that happen - if so, fine)

"you can't save me, mom" TK says in a monotone

While Lisa Edelstein acts her fucking heart out

Can you imagine having a scene partner this fucking bad?

You know how insignificant Gwyn was as a character that her death is solely about TK and Owen's shared man pain, and not about the partner and baby she left behind

I mean I know the OG killed Shannon to further Eddie's storyline but for the most part, they don't kill characters like this

And I just think it's a cheap ploy for drama

And it's bad writing

Apparently the fucking plane was still close enough to Austin that they're just going back to the airport so that TK and Carlos can have an emotional reunion

Ugh I hate this show so fucking much

7 minutes to go

I wish the plane would blow up

Damn it

The plane didn't blow up

Also the lady from Superstore is FINE

Gwyn was a good mother and I'm annoyed that they killed her off when they absolutely didn't have to

Booooooooooorrrrreeeeddddddddd

4 minutes to go

Like now they're not even going to the funeral? All because their plane nearly blew up? Weak as piss

Now Carlos is crying and blaming himself for putting them on the plane

Okay here's the spooky thing, after my Mum died my friend and I had Chinese food to honour her – and they're doing the same thing on this show and I'm bothered by it

Also Rob Lowe is looking rough in this episode? Not sure what's going on there, maybe he's laid off the botox

OH THANK GOD IT'S FINISHED

All right so ultimately I did not find it particularly triggering. I also thought I would fast forward most of it but I half-watched, half scrolled through Tumblr which I feel was a happy medium.

I am side-eyeing people who thought this was a strong episode though because like... ??? If it doesn't have Grace or Judd in it, it's not a strong episode.

In conclusion I still hate this show.

Eddie Diaz for beautiful cleansing energy:

Maybe a couple more - we've earned it:

The fucking HEAT in this moment you guys AAAAHHH and it was in the first episode of Season 5

5b is going to kill us, I can't wait

[oabf45]

Rant time...

I hate being one of those people to write long, negative thinks pieces, but its been bothering tf outta me and I need to release it somewhere.

Don't agree, then keep it moving.

Unpopular Opinion:

I'm sorry but 911 Lone Star is not even enjoyable for me to watch anymore because now its so Owen & TK Strand central. They're definitely the Mary Sues of the show; nearly perfect, can do no wrong, always saves the day, and front and center every episode. Like how do you have such a diverse cast and focus on the same two bland white boys every episode?

I haven't even watched the past few episodes cuz I'm so annoyed and bored.

Say what you want about the OG 911 show and their storylines, but one thing they always were very good at was giving screen time and storylines to every single character. Every character has shined in their own way every episode. Hell even Ravi, Taylor, and Albert have had more stand out moments than Marjan, Paul, and Mateo, and they're not even main characters! I learned more about Ravi in a single episode than I have about Marjan in 3 seasons. And lets be real, if Grace and Carlos weren't in relationships with the white men on the show they probably wouldn't have gotten as much of a storyline as they have, and even then it ties into the white men on the show. They don't get to stand on their own and tell a story that doesn't involve the white men.

It wouldn't even be that bad if they had never advertised the show as being a very diverse show. I hate when shows do that and then treat the characters of color as nothing more than background characters and then constantly let the white characters shine.

And don't even get me started on Ronen. I'm sorry, but that man is so annoying. Like it's always great when an actor of a show you like loves the show as much as you do and connects with the fans. But he's always so over braggy. Like he's a few times stated how Lone Star is better than the OG show, which is just fucking rude to the actors of the OG show. Like its supposed to be a community supporting each other. And without them and their show he wouldn't even have his show! And he just goes over the top about how Lone Star is the number one show and what not. Like its great that you're proud, but fucking humble yourself some my dude. He's just coming off way overly cocky, and you can just tell that he KNOWS he's the face of the show and its starting to go to his head.

Give me more Majan, Paul, Mateo, Carlos, & Grace. Give me way less TK & Owen. (I will never complain about too much Judd, especially if he's with Grace). Until then i'm going to impatiently wait for the OG 911 show to come back.

[disasterfandoms]

This is Your Home Now ~ The Ryders x teen!reader imagine

@atjafshelby​ requested: “Okay so I was thinking maybe a teenage reader who was like Judd as a child, gets in trouble and needs help and stuff. But maybe she lives on her own so Grace and Judd take her in and try to help her? No rush though, thank you!!❤️”

A/N: I appreciate you sending me a complex ask. I’ll be honest, I had no idea how i was going to write this one when I first saw it. I tweaked it a tiny bit, and instead of being on their own the reader is in a group home. This may be part 1 if anyone is interested in part 2?

TW: foster care, mentions of violence, mentions of therapy.

Your POV:

Sitting in the principal’s office, you began to take in the various lame quotes around the room. “You miss 100% of the chances you don’t take” sure, whatever.

“You have to look through the rain to see the rainbow” this has to be the worst one of all. What rainbow? and why go through hell to be able to see a prism of light in the sky?

The door shuts loudly, pulling you from your thoughts. You roll your eyes when you see your social worker walking in with the principal.

“So, Y/N, you’ve been getting into more fights recently, including earlier today when you struck another student in the face for saying something about your family,” your principal read from the file, then looked up at you, “Anything you’d like to say for yourself?”

”yeah, they deserved it,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes at him again. Everyone here should know by now the topic of your parents is off limits, especially what he said about them. 

“Just because someone says something you don’t like doesn’t mean you can assault them.” Your social worker scolded, probably hating her life for having to deal with you. 

They went on lecturing you for another 20 minutes, but at that point you zoned out, focusing on the view out the window behind your principal. It was sunny outside, the trees on the outskirts of school grounds blowing slightly with the wind. You could see people walking out there, and instantly wanted to be anywhere but here, supposedly listening to how you’re a screw-up and if you “don’t get your act together” you’ll “never have a future.”

“Y/n, what do you think about the compromise?”

You snapped your head to the principal, trying to figure out what all you missed in the last few minutes so you could figure out to answer appropriately. You studied his face, before deciding agreeing would be the quickest road. How wrong you were, you wouldn’t have the faintest idea until an hour later.

“Sounds good to me, as long as I can go back to class. Ms. Neal is teaching about the wage gap and I want to see conservative boys lose their ever-loving mind.” you smiled, hoping they buy it for now. They both nod their heads, then you stand up to leave. 

“I’ll see you after school, Y/N,” your social worker spoke confidently, seemingly proud of herself for her part in the supposed compromise. With that, you left the two adults to work out the details amongst themselves.

Going to Ms. Neal’s class quickly, you started to wonder what you agreed to. It had to be something significant if you weren’t getting in trouble for giving the star of the baseball team a black eye, which he deserved, by the way. 

Class went by as a blur, your attention focusing in and out on class, except when it came time to debate your stance on the issue of the class. You loved to argue, especially with privileged, snotty teens who don’t know how well they had it. You were good at it too, you could be a lawyer if you had any shot of a successful life.

Sooner than you’d like, class was over, and you started to get up and leave. You were too occupied with making sure you had everything that you didn’t realize you were making a beeline into your social worker.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!”

“Hey, watch it!” You both say simultaneously, backing up and looking at who ran into you.

“Oh, there you are Y/N! Come on, I’m driving you back to the home to pack up your things” She signaled with her hand to come with her, and you obliged, confused.

“Pack my things? Why?” You asked while walking to your car. You know you’ve been in trouble recently, but being kicked out of the group home seemed a little extreme.

“Did you listen to the compromise at all when were talking about it? Before you agreed to it?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

“Not really, just figured agreeing would get me in the least trouble,” you replied, and you could see her smile a little as she shook her head at you.

“This last fight isn’t going on your permanent record, as long as you get anger management classes, and move out of the group home and into a foster situation with two loving people who know how to handle situations like yours,” 

“Crap, I really should listen more.” You sighed and leaned your head on the window. You didn’t see how moving you out of the group home would help at all, it’s more change and more adjustment, and you were tired of both.

“Want to know about the couple?” You social worker asked you, but you barely heard her. You shook your head and put a headphone in, hoping this wasn’t a mistake.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Judd’s POV:

“Are we sure about this, Gracie?” Judd asks, pacing between the living room and the kitchen, pausing every now and then to look at his wife. He stopped, turned to her, and rubbed his face before putting both hands behind his head, cradling it as he thinks about everything that could go wrong with this.

He knew they both wanted kids, and adoption seemed to be their only hope due to ther infertility troubles. But still, he argued to himself, a teenager? With this kid’s anger management issues, stubbornness, and troubled past, this isn’t what he necessarily had in mind.

“Yes, Judd, we’re sure. This kid needs our help, and a stable home to thrive. I understand you’re nervous, I am too, but we’ve been doing our research and interviewing with child protective services for months, and now they’re gracing us with a child that needs us.” Grace had walked over to him at this point, and taken his hands into hers. He looked into those beautiful, rust colored eyes of hers and took a deep breath. He knew she was right, she usually is, but he was still nervous.

He wrapped his arms around her, leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. “I love you,” he whispered. She looked up at him, grabbed the nape of his neck, and kissed him lovingly. After a few seconds, she broke away, and whispered, “I love you too, handsome.”

Before anything could further along, the doorbell rang. The two looked at each other, took a deep breath, and walked to the door. Grace opened the door, and they both saw the social worker, Malia, with a teenager that looked less than happy to be on their doorstep.

Judd quickly scanned the teen, noticing the frown on their face and the bruised knuckles they were sporting on their right hand. They had a suitcase in the other hand, and looked short in stature. Everyone looks short to Judd, though. 

“Hi Malia, Y/N, please come in.” Grace states, welcoming their guest and their now-forster child into their home. Once the social worker guided Y/N in, the pair sat on the couch while Judd and Grace sat on the other, clasping their hands together and looking at the child who’ll be staying with them, being nurtured by them, for next couple years.

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Your POV:

The house is nice, you thought to yourself as you sit on the couch, waiting for someone to speak to you. You look at them, whose names you aren’t aware of yet, and study their features. The man was tall, and you can tell he’s been working for a while due to his build and the scratches and burns on his hands. The woman is much smaller, and seems softer, but you can tell they love each other just by the way they can’t keep their hands off each other.

“Judd, Grace, this is Y/N. Now, I know the department have given you their file, but do you have any questions about their history, or anything I can answer?” Malia asked, putting her hands in her lap. At least you know their names now, you thought to yourself.

“I don’t think so, ma’am. You’re welcome to stay for supper, though. Y?N, is there any allergies or diet restrictions we need to know about?” The woman, Grace, you remind yourself, asks. She smiles at you as she asks, and she has a pretty smile. You start to wonder why they wanted to take in someone like you.

“No ma’am, thank you for asking though. Can one of y’all show me to my room, though? I’d like to unpack and start on homework before supper.” You try to be polite, not knowing who they are once the social worker. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

“Of course, I’ll show you up there, and let you get settled.” Judd offers, standing up to guide you to where you’ll sleep.

You go up the stairs, and are impressed by what you see. This is better than the group home, at the very least. You head down the corridor he’s taking you through, and walk into a moderately sized room that had a full-sized bed, two nightstands, a dresser, closet, desk with a chair, and a door to what you assume is a bathroom.

“Take all the time you need to settle in. This weekend we’ll all go shopping and you can buy decorations for your room. Once supper is ready, we’ll call you downstairs to eat, get to know each other better. Alright?” He asked, looking as if he expected you to answer. You quickly nodded, and got to putting away your things and taking in the space. Maybe you actually belong here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once supper was ready, you were called down, you stumbled down the kitchen, washed your hands, and then took a seat at the table. Malia had left, hopefully to bother another kid and leave you alone, and you sat there quietly, eating the dinner they prepared.

“So, Y/N, is there any hobbies you enjoy? Anything we can look into getting you, like an easel or a video game?” Grace asks, making conversation.

“Why do you care? It’s not like I’m your kid,” You rolled your eyes, then looked down and played with your food. You wouldn’t let yourself get attached to the idea of having people truly care about you, especially not now.

“Hey, you-” Judd started to raise his voice, but Grace cut him off with holding her index finger up to him, then spoke.

“Y/N, I know this is all too new for you still. You don’t know us, you do not know our intentions, and you’re past makes it especially hard for you to believe anyone would love you and care for you. But, and I mean this, this is your home now, Y/N, and we will not abandon you, no matter the obstacles ahead,” she paused, and looked to her husband. Judd nodded, and took a deep breath.

“Y/N, I was just like you when I was your age. I was going through somethin’, and it left me violent and not knowing who to trust. We want you here so we can help you through the hurt you’ve been through, and make you into the young adult we can already see inside you. We have two rules, don’t disrespect us, and be honest with us. Got it?”

“Got it,” you spoke quietly. The rest of the dinner was quiet, and afterwards you went upstairs to your room, lying on the bed, thinking about how this is going to be good for you. Maybe, just maybe, everything will be okay.

[morganaspendragonss]

if your looking for a bth prompt what about used in sacrificial ritual where tk gets abducted on a run and carlos is the lead detective on this case of people getting murdered as sacrifices and they arrive in time to save tk but the ritual involved cutting limbs off and tk ends up losing a leg? perhaps w lots of fluff at the end? <3<3

anon, i cannot tell you how excited this prompt got me. i’d been toying with a very similar idea for weeks and this was the push i needed to actually write it - with certain modifications to fit your idea. (i promise it has a happy ending!)

i’m super proud of how this came out, and i hope you like it as much as i do!

@911lonestarangstweek day 7:  Free choice!

Two months ago, TK vanished, snatched while out on his evening run. Carlos will do anything to get him back, even if that includes running himself into the ground.

ao3 | 4.9k | cw: kidnapping, depictions of violence, death and injury, forced amputation, career-ending injuries

It’s been two months.

Two whole months since TK left for his evening run with nothing but a shouted goodbye and a promise to be home soon.

Two months since Carlos hadn’t even turned around, because apparently the dishes were more important than his husband.

Two months since they found TK’s shattered phone and wallet, abandoned in the park next to a pool of blood.

Two months since Carlos’s world came crashing down around him.

He blames himself - how could he not? He’s been the lead detective on this case for months; he’s the one who’s so far failed to catch the guys who have mutilated and killed so many people, and now might do the same to his husband. More to the point, he’s the one who is supposed to protect TK, and it’s clear he’s resoundly failed in that department.

His captain had tried to take him off the case, once they’d found out that TK had become the latest victim. But Carlos had informed him in no uncertain terms that he was going to keep looking for his husband, even if he had to go above his head to do it. 

They’d allowed him to keep the case, but Carlos knows he’s being watched. They think he’s having a breakdown and, the thing is, Carlos isn’t entirely sure they’re wrong.

He hasn’t slept in their bed since the night it happened, when he got woken up at two am to the sound of his ringtone blaring through the room.

“Reyes,” Mitchell had said, tone heavy. “I… Shit, Reyes. You gotta get here. There’s another one and I… I really didn’t want to be telling you this over the phone, but…”

She’d paused, and Carlos had sat bolt upright in bed, suddenly all too aware of the empty space next to him. And, in that moment, he’d known; even so, he’d still choked out a quiet, “No.”

“I’m sorry, Carlos. I truly am.”

*

He’s been living in a daze ever since, work and TK the only two things on his mind. He eats when he has to, barely sleeps, and never hangs out with their friends anymore, which he almost feels guilty for. They’re suffering too, Carlos knows this, but he can’t afford any distractions right now. If he were to be out somewhere and ends up missing the one chance he has to get TK back, he’d never forgive himself.

He’s just about to leave for another shift when there’s a loud, insistent knock at the door. Carlos rolls his eyes and goes to yank it open, about to tell whoever it is to leave him alone.

Only to come face-to-face with a very determined looking Grace Ryder.

“Grace,” he sighs, irritation dissipating. “Can this wait? I’ve got a -”

“I know you don’t have an official shift today, Carlos,” she interrupts, folding her arms. “Just like I know you’re working yourself to death, and I’m not going to stand for it anymore. You’re coming out with me, no arguments.”

Carlos shakes his head. “Grace… I can’t.”

“Oh, yes, you can.” She clicks her tongue, levelling him with an unimpressed stare. "You should be thanking me; Judd was planning on bringing the entire crew down here to stage a full intervention. Now, I managed to talk him out of that one, convinced him the last thing you need right now is a house full of people, but I will not hesitate to go back on that. So you've got two options. Either you go back upstairs and get changed and I'll take you out for coffee, just the two of us, or I'm gonna unleash my husband and the full force of the 126 on you. Choice is yours, Reyes."

He sighs, wearily meeting her eyes. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

"No, sir, you are not."

Carlos closes his eyes and hangs his head, knowing just how stubborn Grace Ryder can be. “Alright,” he says, though his every nerve is screaming at him for it, “you win. Give me a minute.”

She smiles encouragingly at him. “I’ll be here.”

*

The coffee-shop Grace takes him to is mercifully empty, both of people and memories. He wonders if she did this on purpose, but figures it’s more a stroke of pure luck, his first in months. It’s a nice place; he’ll have to remember it for when - if - they get TK back.

Grace quickly returns with their drinks, placing a sandwich in front of Carlos, too. “Don’t even argue,” she warns. “I won’t hear it.”

Carlos forces a smile. “Thanks, Grace.”

They sit in silence for a while, Carlos keeping his gaze turned to the table, picking listlessly at the sandwich. He can feel Grace’s eyes on him, feel the tension in the air between them, and part of him wishes she’d just come out with it already.

The other part wants to run for the hills, but he’s pretty sure Grace would catch him before he got too far.

Eventually, she sighs, setting her mug down and leaning across the table. “Carlos, we miss you,” she says softly. “I know it’s tough, but you’ve barely spoken to any of us since it happened. We’re worried.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“No.” She shakes her head, voice still unbearably gentle. “You’ve been keeping yourself busy. There’s a difference. And that’s okay, up to a point, but you haven’t given yourself a break in two months and that is not okay. You know TK wouldn’t want you to be doing this.”

“You say that like he’s dead.”

Grace sucks in a sharp breath. “Sweetheart, you know that is not what I meant -”

“Maybe you’re right,” he cuts in, ignoring the pain in his chest as he finally looks up at Grace. “It’s been two months; you know as well as I do what survival rates are for missing persons, even in normal circumstances.” His breathing trembles and he squeezes his eyes shut, images of the bodies they’ve found so far flashing through his mind. His voice is barely a whisper when he speaks next. “You also know that the third month is usually when the bodies appear. We’re running out of time, Grace, and I don’t - I don’t know if I believe any more.”

“Carlos Strand-Reyes, I did not just hear you give up on that boy.”

He smiles humourlessly. “Not on him, Grace. On me.”

A long silence follows his words, though Carlos can feel the disappointment and worry rolling off Grace in waves. He should probably feel guilty for ruining a perfectly fine day, but he’s just so tired. He’ll do anything to have TK by his side again, but each day that passes is another day that TK slips further and further away from him, and it’s difficult to hold on to hope.

“I’m terrified,” Carlos admits quietly, tears pricking the back of his eyes. “Any day now they’re going to tell me they’ve found another body, and it’s going to be him, and I won’t be able to handle seeing him like that. You don’t know what they do to them, Grace, it’s - it’s -”

His breath hitches, and suddenly Grace is next to him, gathering him in her arms as he breaks down in sobs against her chest. She shushes him, running a gentle hand through his hair and, for a brief moment, she makes it easy to push away memories of sightless eyes and missing limbs and slit throats.

Grace holds him close, murmuring assurances Carlos doesn’t really hear, until he’s cried himself dry. Then, she pulls back, swiping her thumbs under his eyes, unshed tears shining in her own.

“You’ll get through this, Carlos,” she says, wobbly smile on her face. “No matter the outcome, we’ll all be here to help you get through this.”

Carlos nods, but, privately, he thinks she’s wrong. If TK dies, he’s not sure he’ll be able to find a way through that, no matter how many people are by his side. Because the only one he really, truly needs, won’t be there. 

*

Carlos rubs his eyes, his vision blurring as he stares at crime scene photos, as he has been doing for the past however many hours. He must have gone through these thousands of times over the past eight months, and yet he’s still drawing a complete blank as to clues that could help them find the killers.

They’re always too careful, never leaving any DNA on scene, never caught on camera, never seen by witnesses. There’s not even much of a common denominator between the victims, aside from the fact that they’re all young - the oldest being 38 - and they were all alone when they were taken.

The only consistency in this entire thing is the bodies. Official cause of death is always a deep cut to the throat, accompanied by at least one limb being cut off when the victim was still alive, sometimes more. They never find the missing body parts, which bothers Carlos more than it probably should.

He rubs his eyes again, blinking hard to try and stay awake. He didn’t sleep well last night, which is nothing new, but the past two weeks have been exhausting. After Grace’s coffee outing, the 126 have been stopping by regularly, one or two at a time, to check up on him and make sure he’s doing okay. Carlos appreciates it, he does, but he doesn’t have the energy for it these days. 

He’s so tired that he doesn’t notice Mitchell walking up to his desk before she’s standing right next to him, casting a shadow over his papers. Carlos looks up, and dread washes over him at the grim expression on her face, the tense set to her shoulders.

“We’ve got another one.”

Carlos makes a noise halfway between a choke and a sob. “A body?” he whispers, looking up at her fearfully.

“A disappearance,” Mitchell corrects, and Carlos doesn’t even feel guilty for the relief that floods him at that. “Industrial estate across town, one of the workers got nabbed when he went for a smoke. Same MO, no witnesses - it’s them.”

He nods, praying that Mitchell doesn’t notice the way his hands shake as he gathers up his papers. If she does, she doesn’t say anything, though he catches her exasperated head shake when he turns back to face her.

“Let’s go.”

*

The crime scene is, as always, pristine, and Carlos can’t help but be frustrated, even if this is what he’s come to expect. The case had been wearing on him even before TK was taken, but now it feels like every dead end is a spit in his face, like the universe is taunting him directly.

He’s about to wrap up the scene when a young officer comes barreling towards him.

“Detective!” he yells, panting. “Detective Reyes!”

Carlos stops, raising an eyebrow as the officer skids to a halt in front of him, hands on his knees as he catches his breath. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good,” he gasps. Straightening, he clears his throat, pointing across the street. “There’s a hidden speed camera over there.”

Carlos blinks. Of all the ground-breaking news he imagined might warrant such dramatics, speed cameras weren’t one of them. 

The officer heaves a long-suffering sigh, which, under any other circumstances, might be amusing. “We’re not sure yet, but, looking at the angle, we think it covers the place the guy got taken from,” he explains, and Carlos’s eyes widen. “If it does, we might be able to get some ID, maybe even a license plate. I know they’ve always been careful not to get caught on camera before, but they might not have known about this one. It’s a chance, Detective.”

Carlos breathes out shakily, mind reeling from the officer’s words. It’s a chance. An honest-to-god chance. “Have we pulled footage yet?”

“Doing that now.” The officer grins boyishly, and Carlos feels a small smile tugging at his own lips. He can’t let himself get too invested in this; there’s every chance that it’ll turn into yet another false lead. And yet.

Something like hope lights up Carlos’s chest, and he dares, just for a second, to believe in it.

*

It works.

It fucking works.

They don’t have an ID - the killers are at least smart enough to cover their faces - but they do have a plate, which they’ve managed to track to a warehouse on the outskirts of town. Carlos taps the steering wheel of his cruiser anxiously; they’re parked in some trees just out of sight of the building, and he itches with the desire to jump out and go.

Every second they wait here is one more second in which TK is still with them, suffering, dying. He chews on his lip, then turns to Mitchell.

“We clear on the plan?”

She raises an eyebrow. “I am. Are you?”

“What -”

“I know what this means for you, Reyes,” she interrupts, not unkindly. “I know what might be waiting for you in there. Now, if it were up to me, you would be benched. It’s too personal, and you’re way too close to it. But, since it’s not, you’ve gotta promise me that your head is screwed on tight, you hear me? We’ve got a good plan, and it’ll work, but it’s only good so long as we are all following it. So, you tell me. Are we clear on the plan?”

Carlos swallows thickly, glancing back in the direction of the warehouse. Mitchell is right - he is too close to it, and he’d be thinking the same thing if the situation were in reverse. He just… He can’t fathom being anywhere but here right now.

He can do this; he knows he can.

He has to, for TK. 

“Yes,” he says firmly, meeting her eyes. “We’ve got this.”

She nods. “Alright, then.” Her gaze shifts past him and she jerks her chin up. “There’s the signal. Let’s move out.”

*

It’s almost too easy, in the end. The suspects are woefully unprepared for an ambush, and Carlos doesn’t even need to fire his gun, which is always a good thing. They find the guy who was taken today in the same room as his kidnappers, a little worse for wear, but not too injured, all things considered.

Carlos wants to be happy about that, but he can’t. Not when TK is still nowhere in sight.

Mitchell takes over managing the scene and questioning the hostage. He’ll have to remember to buy something for her in thanks when this is all over; she’s been a rock over the past three months, often covering for Carlos with their supervisors when things became too much.

He glances around at the swarms of police and paramedics filling the warehouse, feeling oddly detached from it all. He’s itching to go looking for TK, but there’s only so far he can push things - though he’s being no help here, he has to maintain an appearance if he wants to not get fired.

That appearance being, the calm and collected detective, which is the furthest thing from what Carlos is right now.

His hands tap restlessly at his thighs, his senses dialled to eleven with anxiety, which only spikes when he sees an officer making her way towards him, a grim look on her face.

Please, god, no.

Carlos moves to meet her, but he’s not able to form the words for the question he needs to ask. Fortunately, she takes pity on him.

“We’ve found your husband, Detective,” she informs him.

Carlos swallows around the lump in his throat, trying to tamp down the fear. “Is he...?”

“Alive,” she says, and Carlos could cry with relief. “But he’s in bad shape. I’ve been told not to let you back there.”

He stares at her, dumbfounded. “I appreciate the concern, but my husband has been missing for nearly three months,” he says tightly. “It would not be a wise idea to keep me from him any longer.”

She hesitates, biting her lip uncertainly, but eventually relents under Carlos’s hard stare. “Alright. Follow me.”

Carlos is led down several corridors until they stop outside a door, guarded by two other officers. The woman who brought him has a whispered argument with them, but Carlos pushes past her to glare at them, his patience at an end now that he knows that TK is mere feet away from him.

“I told her to bring me here,” he says. “That man in there is my husband; I’m going in there one way or another.”

The two officers exchange a glance, then wearily sigh and nod, stepping to the side. Carlos doesn’t bother to thank them before rushing inside, coming up short at the sight of three paramedics crouched around a body on the ground. He can’t really see much of TK yet, but he feels frozen in place, his mind suddenly rebelling at the thought of having to witness what three months of captivity have done to him.

He shakes his head and wills his feet forward, feeling like he’s walking through treacle as he rounds to TK’s side. Bile rises in his throat and he can’t stop the gasp that escapes him when he finally catches sight of his husband - it’s worse than anything Carlos had imagined, and he’d imagined a lot.

TK’s completely naked; the paramedics have lain a sheet over his lower half, but it does little to hide his emaciated state, his entire body outlined with sharp corners where his skin seems almost shrink-wrapped to his bones. Carlos can count every one of TK’s ribs, and the hollow of his cheeks is deeply pronounced. His torso is discoloured from bruising and he’s horribly still and pale - Carlos would think he were dead if not for the barely there rise and fall of his chest.

That’s not the worst of it, though. Carlos’s eyes travel down TK’s body, cataloguing his injuries, before sticking on his left leg.

Or, rather, the space where his left leg used to be.

Carlos barely refrains from throwing up, his stomach turning at the bloody mess in front of him. This isn’t… In the back of his mind - in his nightmares - he’d known that this was a possibility, but he’d never prepared himself for actually seeing it. He doesn’t know if he could have prepared himself, even if he’d tried.

“Detective.”

He’s broken from his horrified staring by one of the paramedics, now standing in front of him. Strange - Carlos hadn’t noticed him moving.

He sighs, obviously disapproving of Carlos’s presence here, but his expression holds nothing but sympathy. “Your husband is lucky we got here when we did,” he says. “But I can’t make any promises, and he is nowhere near out of the woods yet. To be perfectly honest with you, Detective, it’s a miracle he’s still breathing right now. He’s severely dehydrated and suffering from starvation - it looks like his kidnappers were giving him just barely enough food and water for him to survive. I’m also worried about infection in his leg, plus there might be injuries we can’t see yet. We’ve done everything we can for him here, but we have to get him to the hospital as soon as possible. I’m assuming you’re going to ride with us?”

Carlos immediately nods. There’s no way he’s going to remain here, even if he knows he won’t be able to stay with TK when they get to the hospital. He trusts Mitchell to handle things, and he wouldn’t be of much use anyway, even more so than before. Not after everything he’s seen, everything he’s heard.

The paramedics get TK loaded on a gurney and Carlos follows them out, eyes locked on TK’s still form. He brushes a hand through TK’s limp hair, forcing back the tears burning in his eyes.

“Hold on, my love,” he whispers. “I’m here; you’re safe now.”

He hopes, somehow, that TK hears him.

*

“Oh my god.”

Carlos looks up from the bed at the sound of Owen’s voice. His father-in-law has a hand over his mouth, shock written all over his face at the sight of TK - what little that can be seen underneath all the bandages and machines he has hooked up to him. Carlos had done his best to prepare Owen for what he’d face when he arrived, but it had been an impossible task. He’d barely been able to get the words out, for one, but there was no explaining just how bad things are.

Nothing will ever be the same. Not that Carlos had ever expected that it would, but when (if, he reminds himself) TK wakes up, it will be to a completely different life than the one he had walked out of all those months ago. 

The physical injuries alone would be bad enough - and, god, he’ll have to do so much at home to make it safe for TK - but he’s more worried about how this will have affected him in other ways. Carlos can’t imagine the level of trauma his husband has suffered, and he just prays that they can find a way to get through it.

Owen’s face crumples as he makes his way across the room, collapsing heavily in the chair on the other side of the bed. He reaches out as though to touch TK, but snatches his hands back just as quickly, expression stricken. “Oh my god,” he repeats.

Carlos lets him be for a few moments, allowing Owen to process what he’s seeing at his own pace. He turns away so that he can have some semblance of privacy, though he can’t ignore the soft sobs he hears. It’s almost as though they’re mourning TK, even though they now have proof he’s alive, which is more than can be said for the last three months.

Eventually, Owen sniffs, and turns to address Carlos. “Have they… What did the doctors say?”

“Nothing concrete,” Carlos answers, focusing his gaze back on TK. “If he makes it through the next few days, then they think he’ll have a chance, but that’s a big if, Owen. There was so much damage. His organs weren’t functioning properly, he has a head wound from when he was first taken that never really healed right, and his leg… It had become infected where his kidnappers cut it; they had to take some more in surgery to stop it from spreading any further.”

He tears his eyes from TK to meet Owen’s gaze, almost wishing he hadn’t when he sees his own pain and grief reflected back at him. “It’s bad, Owen,” he chokes out. “I don’t know… I don’t know what I��ll do if…”

He shakes his head, the words sticking in his throat. Not that he really needs to say them; they’re both thinking the same thing.

“The doctors probably told you, but they’re restricting visitors to two until he’s more stable,” Carlos continues, eyes dropping back to the bed. “I know the team will want to see him, but do you think you can hold them off for a while? Just for a couple of days, until we know more. I don’t want to keep them from him, but I just…” He trails off, guilt welling up in him even though he knows this is what’s best. “I know it’s a selfish thing to ask, but I think it’s for the best, for everyone.”

“I understand,” Owen says gently. “I’ll let them know. And… I’ll do my best to prepare them, for when they do come and visit.”

Carlos nods his thanks and the two lapse into silence, broken only by the hiss of the ventilator and the beeping of the heart monitor. Proof that TK’s still with them, but each noise sends another bolt of pain through Carlos’s heart.

He squeezes his eyes shut, finally allowing the tears to fall down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Owen,” he sobs. “I’m so sorry.”

Owen gasps. “What for?”

“I was supposed to protect him! This was my case, I’m the reason he got taken, the reason he might not make it. He could still die, and it’s all my fault!”

Carlos drops his head into his hands, chest heaving from the force of his sobbing. Distantly, he hears the scrape of a chair on linoleum, then Owen’s hands are on his shoulders, turning him into an embrace. Carlos falls into him, not caring about the almost childlike way he clings to his father-in-law.

“You found him, Carlos,” Owen whispers, rubbing circles on Carlos’s back. “You found him. Any chance he has at making it through is because of you. That’s what matters now; it’s the only thing that matters.”

*

It’s several more weeks before Carlos’s prayers are finally answered.

TK was declared stable some time ago, the doctors saying that, barring any unexpected complications, they should expect him to wake up. They hadn’t said anything about what the damage might be once he did wake, but Carlos hadn’t wanted to ask; at this point, he can’t focus on more than one thing at a time, else he knows he’ll fall apart.

He’s practically lived at the hospital since they brought TK in. He’s pretty sure Owen, his parents, and the 126 came up with a rota for making sure he wasn’t starving himself, because it was always someone different who attempted to pull him away from TK’s room for food or sleep in an actual bed. Carlos resisted as much as he thought he could get away with, but he’s not stupid. He knows he needs to keep his strength up if he’s going to be of any use once TK wakes up.

It happens early one morning, when the sun is just beginning to filter through the blinds. Carlos is already awake, keeping a vigilant watch over his husband, though he doesn’t quite believe it when TK’s eyelid twitches.

He holds his breath, waiting, and, just when he’s given it up as a trick of exhaustion, it happens again, both of his eyes cracking open this time.

“TK?” he breathes, half-rising from his chair. He reaches out and grabs TK’s hand, which moves - actually moves - in his, and tears spring to his eyes.

It takes a few more minutes before something like awareness creeps into TK’s face, his eyes fully opening for the first time in weeks. Carlos just sobs at the sight, drawing TK’s attention to him, at which point his expression turns to shock and disbelief.

TK’s mouth moves, but he can’t force out any words, causing panic to flash over his face and his breathing picks up. Carlos leans forward, squeezing his hand and stroking his cheek.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he says softly, reassuring him. “You’re okay, I promise, everything’s going to be okay. You’re in the hospital. I’m here, and you’re safe. God, TK, I swear I’m never going to let anything happen to you ever again, I swear it.”

TK shakes his head, still not understanding, so Carlos reaches to press the call button. He forces a smile for TK’s sake, though his mind is crowded with worries about what their next steps will be. It’s going to be a long time before they can even think about going home, he knows this, but everything is so uncertain now.

Carlos wants to believe that there can be some sort of normality in their future, but, right now, it seems like a distant dream.

*

Time passes.

He brings TK home.

It’s hard, so much harder than he thought, but they have a whole team of people willing to help out as much as they can. Paul and Grace often bring food, usually stopping to talk for a while afterwards. The others - most often Marjan and Judd - sometimes come by and take TK out in his wheelchair for a while, giving Carlos time and space to relax or tidy. Letting TK out of his sight was difficult at first, and he still gets anxious watching him disappear out the door, but he knows that the 126 would do anything to keep him safe.

He just has to trust them, which he does, implicitly so. 

Owen’s also a frequent visitor to their house, staying overnight a time or two in the beginning. Carlos is grateful for it; he doesn’t know how he would have coped if not for Owen’s steady presence while they were still figuring out their new reality.

TK struggles a lot, even with simple things these days. The head wound caused brain damage, leading to migraines and he has problems with speech and carrying out tasks. It breaks Carlos’s heart to see him, but he forces himself to keep up a front, only letting the emotion out when he’s alone - or, rarely, with one of the 126.

He suspects TK knows anyway, but they don’t talk about it.

It’s a long few months of recovery, of pain and exhaustion and frustration. But it’s all worth it, because it means that TK is alive. It means that Carlos has him back, and they can work on getting better together.

It means that, one golden morning, Carlos wakes up to see TK’s beautiful green eyes already open, watching him intently. He reaches out to caress TK’s cheek, then leans in and presses a gentle kiss to his lips, lingering for a long moment.

And, when he pulls back, TK smiles.

And it feels like everything is going to be okay.

[reyeslonestar]

Question what are some things you wanna see in season 3 of lone star? Character development, plots, anything

I want to see Tonya Kong write every episode. that's all. thanks for asking!

-

sadfkja I joke, I do have other ideas, but that is definitely high on my wish list! i'm gonna go through by character and talk about what I'd like to see for them, so this is gonna get quite long whoops...

the main thing that I'd like to see overall, though, would be evidence of an overarching season plan or arc - it doesnt necessarily have to be a plot that stretches through all the episodes or anything major, but I'd love them to have plotted out the season before they start. from watching this season and then reading interviews after the finale, they dont appear to plan many things from the start and end up throwing in ideas as they go along. if they plan it from the start they can foresee how theyre going to affect character development more, and they can have a bit more balance in the types of episodes they have, so that the season is less insane and more naturally ebb-and-flow with a few light episodes to break up the drama.

okay, onto the characters! just going to do this in billing order for simplicity's sake. customary reminder that these are just my own opinions and thoughts, and this is more of a wish list than a realistic expectation.

if you want to search for a specific character, ctrl F for one of these terms including the dash at the start:

-Owen

-Tommy

-TK

-Grace

-Judd

-Marjan

-Paul

-Carlos

-Mateo

-Nancy

press “j” to skip the whole post.

-Owen

okay so I'd love to see them actually develop his character. Owen has been given a lot of backstory with lots to play with development-wise, but to me it feels like the show never goes anywhere with it. he's got a lot going on what with 9/11, feeling responsible for the fates of his fellow firefighters, the codependence of his relationships etc. I'd like to see him go to therapy and see him grow some self awareness and seek to manage himself better, rather than all his screentime devoted to him being a hero when other characters have the situation handled. it would really show him as a good leader if he drew on the skills that his team has and refer to them for advice/ideas. realistically he is the main character, so I'd like them to develop him like one.

also, I kind of love the chief role for him? I think it would suit him really well. but it would drag him away from the 126 and split up the dynamics too much so it would make for bad tv and I wouldnt actually want to see that. good for his character though.

-Tommy

I love Tommy :) just wanted to say that.

so obviously Tommy's got a lot of grief to handle next season, and I don't want them to shy away from that. I want it acknowledged and processed. (I'd also like a little bit of seeing the twins' grief too, because they're also suffering a massive loss). maybe something with Judd helping Tommy learn to manage her grief with his own experience of losing the original 126, encourage her to go to therapy, plus Tommy, Grace and Judd all feeling the loss of Charles together. after all, Grace and Judd were his friends and they will be grieving too.

I'd also kind of like to see Tommy have something outside being a working mother. obviously we're going to need to deal with that a lot especially now that Charles is gone, but I feel like she's been assigned the Character TraitTM of being the working mum and I'd like to see them give her a hobby or something. idk. and give her a night off with Grace or something. give her something just for her.

-TK

okay so I think theres a fair likelihood that theyre going to return to looking at TK's addiction next season which im not averse to. I think him struggling with his sobriety would be worthwhile to see for his character and to show that its not a straightforward path, plus it makes sense with all the insane stuff they've thrown at them in s2. however, Id like to see it in the context of his friends and family rallying around to help and support him and show him that he's got people to rely on, and that he's allowed to rely on them, plus the support of his AA meetings and therapy. I also need them to lay the groundwork for him struggling, so putting in signs of him deteriorating so the situation makes sense. this storyline doesn't need surprises to be interesting or good, and frankly it shouldn't have any.

as for him and Carlos, I definitely want to see them househunting! I'd like to see the combination of househunting/Carlos with Tommy's kids/Grace and Judd having their baby have an impact on their perspectives regarding their future and spark that conversation (like, looking at houses with more rooms and thinking about kids, future, marriage etc). I think that maybe one of them, probably TK, or maybe both of them those boys have way too many parent issues having anxieties about being a dad could be an interesting way to add tension without being too drastic, and then that can be resolved in a way that reassures them of their relationship and reaffirms their strength as a couple. the talk about the future would also lay the groundwork towards a proposal at the end of s3.

-Grace

grace :) my love :)

I could watch episode after episode of Grace kicking ass and saving people over the phone. I'd love to see an episode set there? like, some kind of story within the call centre with all the handlers having to resolve that between them, but also tie in the first responders, so we see the fire team, the paramedics and Carlos all working but we only see the bits that Grace and the other call handlers hear, if that makes sense? also an actual Grace/Carlos team up where they are coming in from the different angles with different amounts of evidence and figuring out the best way to solve something together. plus I'd like to see her maybe get some recognition for being awesome at her job, maybe another handler coming to her for advice on how to solve something.

of course we've got the baby Ryder on the way, and I want that to go comfortably and smoothly for her. she deserves that. lots of wholesome excitement for her and Judd from the whole extended firefam, baby shower, gifts, the full works. pamper grace please.

-Judd

judd4captain2k22. please.

yeah I know its not gonna happen, but I loved judd stepping in as captain this season and I'd love to see that continued with him taking more leadership, and Owen deferring to him for advice/council in a work environment rather than personal life. maybe set up a long term idea about judd being a captain someday.

he's gonna be a dad :') so what are his anxieties about that? why were they putting it off before? was it related to his PTSD? he's got lots of people relying on him now, how does that make him feel? what if his kid loses him? id like to see him still using therapy as a tool to help himself deal with everything. lots of meaty questions to dig into there :D

-Marjan

I'd quite like to see more of her balancing her daredevil nature with the impact of that and realising how much danger she puts herself in sometimes. or on the flip side, maybe the team is dealing with a really dangerous situation and they utilise her fearlessness to save people. her relationship with social media could also come back? but bring in the development they gave her this season, and her Firefox presence is more serious, less flippant?

I think that theres now a space for her to explore her sexuality/romantic experience now that she hasn't got her engagement with Salim as a kind of failsafe. maybe she wants to put herself out there and date, but thats really daunting as shes never really had to do that before? personally I think this could tie in really well with a self discovery/exploration regarding her sexual orientation, but I doubt they’d go there with her, so thats just my headcanon.

-Paul

I want them to draw on Paul’s observational skills and perceptiveness more, especially on calls and in emergencies. I remember someone (sorry I cant remember who) pointed out that he would have been a great character to centre the arsonist plot around in terms of noticing the clues etc, so id love a storyline that revolves around him dealing with an emergency like that. I also really want a Carlos and Paul friendship so maybe them collaborating on a call to solve something, that’d be cool.

can we give Paul a girlfriend please. if im not complely insane, there was a reference to someone in like,, 2x04?? someone who put mayo in his sandwich? idk I havent checked (edit: it was aioli in his banh mi! thank you @meneatyoghurt), but if there is someone can we show him having a fun and loving relationship please. I dont need there to be any drama. just them having fun on a date or something.

-Carlos

so I know that some people are keen to see him in his police role more but I really don't need much of that. on calls with the 126 I'd like to see him be the officer in charge more, but I don't need police-exclusive storylines. I've talked about it here if you want to know why.

the only area that I'd like to see would be in the direction of reform/addressing the flaws of the system, and I think they can do that on a personal level for him, because he and Mitchell need a chat. if they'd gone with her decision in 2x08, he, Mitchell and the bank robber would all be dead, and I think thats gotta have some impact. also the fact that he was suspended for trying to preserve life. theres a lot they could work with there and maybe have him thinking about how he can do good and how he can effectively protect and serve. not to mention, the opportunity that would provide in terms of addressing his relationship with his dad and how he maybe sought approval by pursuing a police career?

also I’d like him to learn that he doesnt need to accept blame/preemptively put blame on himself and that he doesnt need to apologise when someone else hurt him. kind of want to send him to therapy. kind of want to send all the characters to therapy. but yeah, him learning that he can accept apologies and understand that he doesnt have to make people feel better for hurting him. hes allowed to be hurt and feel pained about it. and that can tie into his relationships with Mitchell, with TK and with his parents.

I think I mentioned most of the tarlos stuff in TK’s section, but I wouldn't mind at least one instance for them where we see it all from his perspective instead of TK’s.

finally ive mentioned above how i’d like a team up with Paul on a scene and both of them figuring it out together. I'd also like them having a friendship outside work, just the two of them, bonding over books and being relatively sane people compared to the rest of their friends.

-Mateo

Mateo is so sweet. I loved 2x14 and the recognition he got, more of that please! also theres still so much I want to know - one of the more consistent things they set up for him in s2 was his faith, so I want to know more about that. what's his relationship with religion and God? he's pretty isolated from his family so how does he feel about that? is his religion something that helps him feel connected to them? maybe the church helped him find a community when he first came to the states, before he got settled with the 126, and he finds reassurance in faith that God is looking after his family while he cant be there? I think maybe there's scope for a conversation between Marjan and Mateo about that, about that distance and caring for their families through faith and prayer.

also, if he's still with the horrible firehouse, I'd like to see the other firefighters being won round by his resilience and stepping up to look out for him, and someone backing him up against the captain. Mateo is used as the butt of the joke most of the time, but I'd also like to see a bit more acknowledgement of things like losing his house and the bullying hes going to get more of from this firehouse.

-Nancy

I think that her speech to Tommy in 2x14 was really telling, and I'd love to see them expand on that a bit more. first on the loss and fear of losing her friends and coworkers, but then also on her hopes and aspirations - she said she wants to be a paramedic captain so lets see her working to take her exams and qualifications, and showing initiative on scenes etc.

id like to see more of her being integrated into the 126 group. she and marjan turned up to the hangout together, so lets develop that relationship more. I would love it to be romantic but I'd also love to see that as a friendship. but also her forming bonds with others in the group as well as more of her and TK being a chaos duo. I love that they stole the ambulance, more of that insanity please!

-

I think thats it? if youre still reading, youre insane and I appreciate you a lot! honestly im open to all sorts of things in s3, this isnt a prediction or anything, its just stuff I think would be interesting based on where the characters are now. 

[tngrace]

Tarlos Prompt: “You look really tired”

Love your writing 💗💗

Thank you nonnie. I'm so glad you love it ❤ these little messages encourage the muse to keep going ❤ this is gonna be a coda/extension of 2.03

Thanks @howtosingit for posting how far away San Angelo was from Austin.

Send me prompts from this list if you want. Probably gonna be closing it out soon, but I might find another list.

4 word prompts masterlist- find all completed fics & requests waiting to be written here.

The wildfire in San Angelo popped up at a terrible time. The 126 was still recovering from their loss at the hands of a freak volcano. Owen got the call early that they would be needed to help battle the wildfire. He broke the news to his team, and was met with silence but nods of understanding. It was the nature of the game, the job they'd all signed up for.

They were disappointed they weren't going to be there for Tim's funeral, but they all silently agreed to check in on that day. Judd said goodbye to Grace; Owen to Gwyn; and TK to Carlos, which had to be the hardest one. He was still feeling raw and vulnerable; he really didn't want to leave, but he knew he had to.

"Be safe," Carlos murmurs as he kisses TK goodbye.

"I will," TK says giving him a soft smile. They promise to check in as much as they can, and then TK is gone.

After a week of hard work, battles against the wind and time, and almost losing his dad, TK was ready to be home. His dad was awake and doing better, and the out of state teams were heading back home. TK couldn't wait until they were cleared.

He hadn't talked to Carlos since before the helicopter crash, so he found a quiet spot and pulled out his phone. He saw a few messages from him, and couldn't stop the smile from gracing his face despite the exhaustion he currently felt.

Michelle was in town for the funeral, and Carlos had gone with her, being the best friend ever. Michelle was also currently crashing in the spare bedroom, and Carlos had sent him some antidotes from their time. She was heading out tomorrow, Carlos would have one more day off, and TK was really hoping to be home by then, despite being sad he'd miss seeing Michelle.

He sent Carlos a text checking in, letting him know TK was safe, and that he really missed him. He wasn't expecting the immediate reply, but he couldn't stop the smile when it came. Carlos told him how much he'd missed him and that he couldn't wait for him to be home either.

TK was in a middle of a reply, when Judd walked by. "Come on lover boy. Let's go home," Judd calls making TK look up with a smile.

"Seriously?" He asks jumping up as Paul and Marjan walk by.

"Yes seriously. Now let's go. Get Cap and let's get home," Paul says as they start loading the truck.

"Sweet," TK smiles pocketing his phone and going to find his dad. He finds him in the tent gathering everything up, and TK takes his bag before helping him to the truck. They get him settled and it's not long and they're pulling out headed back for Austin.

TK sends Carlos a text telling him he'll see him soon, but not exactly when. He wants to surprise him. Everyone's talking about showers, food, and sleep, possibly at the station they're all so exhausted. "Not I," Judd pops up. "Yall can have the station. I'm going home," he says with that whipped love sick look he always gets when talking about Grace.

The team teases him and TK just shakes his head good-naturedly because he knows how Judd feels. He sends his mom a text too asking her to come to the station to get his dad. He doesn't trust him to drive yet, and he wants to make sure he gets home and gets a good sleep. She promises to meet them, and makes him promise he'll be safe getting to Carlos's.

Three and half hours later, the truck is pulling into the station. TK is so happy to be back. They all stop and give Buttercup some much needed love, but they're splitting off their separate ways after just a minute. Gwyn is waiting as promised, and TK stops to give her a tight hug more than happy to see her before she's pushing him off to the showers and turning her attention towards Owen.

TK decides to make it a quick one, washing all the sweat and grime away. He just wants to get home to Carlos. He's grabbing the first thing in his locker he can find, which just happens to be jeans and an APD hoodie, making him smile despite the fact it's lost Carlos's smell. He bids his teammates good bye, all of them earning four whole days off, before he's getting in his Uber and heading for home.

When he pulls up, he tips the driver and is out before he can even think about it. He's through the door in minutes, surprising both Carlos and Michelle. "Hey," he says bashfully when both pairs of eyes turn on him, exhaustion clear on his face.

"Hey," Carlos smiles jumping up and heading right for TK. He wraps him up in his arms, TK's bag falling to the floor forgotten. TK collapses against Carlos just breathing him in as he holds him tight. "This is a nice surprise," Carlos murmurs.

TK looks up with a smile. "I wanted to surprise you," he whispers before their lips meet in a long but soft kiss.

"And that's my cue," Michelle says leaving the couch. "Nancy and I are going out. Don't need me," she teases as she passes them on her way out the door.

Carlos chuckles as he watches her go, before turning his attention back to TK. "You look really tired," he murmurs softly rubbing a hand down TK's cheek.

"I am," TK yawns. "This week was rough; was hoping someone would wanna cuddle me," he grins as he grabs his bag to drop in the laundry. Carlos takes it from him, wanting to make life a little easier on TK for now, before they head upstairs, . Carlos knows he'll get up in a bit once TK is sound asleep and do his laundry and cook for him, but for now, he's just as happy to have TK home and back in his arms.

Once in bed, TK falls sound asleep within seconds. Carlos holds him until he is sure TK is out. He softly kisses his forehead before whispering, "Welcome home Tiger." He eventually gets up and does all those things he'd planned, and if TK sleeps sixteen hours without moving then Carlos is happy he's finally getting his rest.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Okay! Back. Sorry it took so long, I had some stuff to do, and I also had to rewatch some of the Carlos scenes lol.

Anyway! Quick last little thoughts before the actual review, consider that if Carlos becomes a detective we may not get to see Police™ Carlos anymore, bc no outfit 😔😔 Nah jk lol, mostly, it just hit me and I was like aH that would be funky xdd. But seriously YES please Detective!Carlos :)))))))). As I saw in a post I will reblog later, manifestinggggg.

Also, again I'd just like to bring up how awesome Grace is 😭😭😭. Like look at that girl. She was angry and hurt and she acknowledged that maybe it wasn't super rational but it was what she was feeling (which she's always been good at but still manages to improve :)) ) and then she dove right into it and invited the woman over for dinner 😭😭😭. I love her, she's an icon.

Okay!! :)))

Now it's time for the. . .

REVIEW

Okay! So. I very much enjoyed this episode. It almost felt sorta odd having a plot actually wrap up in an episode xDD. Like, the main plot, I guess (Owen's is more on going, and I'm assuming we'll get more with Grace and Judd on that subject). But, there weren't really any big cliffhangers, is my point - stuff wrapped up, at least partly. Yk when like professional dough-ers (idek, like bread making people or whatever xDD what am I doing lol, also people who make it not it making people lol xDD) chop dough up with their little metal thing and it still sorta looks together but you can tear out and it like has a stopping point and is there both as a whole and individually? Well that last bit of the sentence makes more sense than the entire metaphor (what can I say? Pretty sure I need to write out my whole process here lol) but yeah like that.

LOL.

XDD Anyways, yeah.

I loved Grace and Judd's storyline, if more for the feelings than the plot itself. I thought the plot itself was fine, certainly interesting, but I feel like there's other things they could've done :/. Nonetheless, the emotions were ALL THERE (Grace mopping in that kitchen scene 😭😭😭 and afterwards I mean lol like the whole thing xdd), and of course, the acting was, as always, phenomenal. Also, Judd and his glasses 👍👍. Get it, boy (lol xD).

Now, Owen!

Ehhhnnnhhhh, y'all know I feel about Owen. But I actually didn't mind him and his storyline too much the episode! Wish he didn't have to be the savior once again, but if it's the producer's will it's the producer's will, lol. Anyway, I thought it wasn't a horrible plot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. And at least it was very funny, lol xDD. But, I'm sure he'll get a love interest that sticks eventually, and he'll have to either shape up or we'll dislike her too <3 <3.

Anyway lol, I think you know what's coming next xDD ;).

TARLOS

Most specifically, Carlos <3 <3 <3

Look buddie (buddie 😳)/bud then, you got full, texted out, hearts. Wild 😍😍. Lol xDD. Anyway,Carlos was a g e n i u s this episode and I love him so hard for it <3 <3 <3. We do really stan so hard for it lol xDD <3. But, seriously, he was taking on the clues, the case, the circumstance, the research, whatever. Idk what this sentence is/was lol but whatever xDD. That Tarlos scene was ADORABLE and I'm just glad Carlos is moving up in the world 😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️. Not that it's required, but since I'm pretty sure he wants it, he deserves it :'))). Also maybe get a discussion about it with TK 👀? Or at least after the fact, if (when hopefully!!! 😁😁😁😁) he does, kinds like how TK did with him when he was talking about his problems with how he interacted with Nancy. Idk, just some kinda parallel to that would be cool 🥰🥰🥰. But, if it does, I don't think it'll happen till later in the season (naturally, but fairly late, or at least a while from now even if it's in the making for earlier episodes than that), possibly the last few episodes or the finale. And, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't believe we'll have a mid-season finale since we didn't start in fall - so, therefore, it's not a "winter" finale. It would just be a middle break for fun finale xDD. Anyway, idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, but it was all cute 🥰🥰🥰. ALSO, of course, THE "FATHER-IN-LAW", EVEN WITH THE "MORE OR LESS" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭🥰🥰🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍❤️😍🥰😍🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😍🥰❤️❤️❤️🥰🥰😭😭😭😭🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰. I just- I love them, especially him, okay?? 😭😭😭. Well I actually love them both equally but yk him right now I'm talking about because he said it and we saw more of him this episode (in general, and than TK) 🥰🥰🥰. Also, just him saying "my boyfriend thinks I'm a control freak" (he is, unfortunately, but it's okay baby, lol, we all have our flaws), I- aGH, I love them :)))) :'))))) 😭😭😭😭🥰🥰🥰😁😁. Idk, I just like them (and any other couple) acknowledging what they are, especially to other people 🥰🥰🥰. Or just mentioning each other, even. So iconic, and loving ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️, I love them so much :))).

And as usual, I am in love with the 126 <3 <3 <3. Well, it's more like I am love them, but yk :)))) ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️. Anyway, Mateo was hilarious (and heartfelt, as he's so good at being - both of them, I mean, if not always basically at once or one right after the other, but probably usually lol), and he could really clearly see down to the route of Cap's problem. Nice :)) 😁👍. I mean, a lot of them could, but I feel like Mateo just gets people really nicely :)). Anyway, Marjan was cute and adorable and funny and great and amazing as usual 🥰🥰🥰🥰 (❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️), and Paul, yes :). Him <3 <3 <3. And him getting Judd out! Emotional :'(( and iconic :')). You get him out of there, he's your family. And, natural, Judd being iconic. Love how honest he was with Grace, especially there at the beginning <3. "I have no secrets from my wife" dang right you don't. Heck yeah <3 <3 <3. You have no secrets from her <3 <3 <3 (or whatever he said exactly sorry I don't remember right now xdd). And, again, yes, those glasses xD. But yeah, love them, and, of course, their honesty <3 <3 <3 <3. Also, Wyatt's sweet :)). A baby - my child now. Love you sir, son <3 <3 <3 <3 <3.

Lol, anyways, yeah!

Overall- I loved this episode, even though it had some bits I wasn't a huge fan of, I thought it was a really great concept with some amazing Carlos content, and teases for the future :))) 🥰🥰. Everyone was great in this episode, or at least no one (looking at you Owen) was bad, so that's good for me :)) 😌😌😌😌 ^'^. So yeah! I absolutely loved the episode :). Glad to be picking back up into the normal swing of things - the ice storm was great, as were it's episodes, and their cliffhangers and continuations onto/through each other, but I'm happy to be back to a little bit of a semblance of normal :)). I thought it was a great episode :D.

So, yeah! Amazing, I loved it :)).

That was my review of. . .

9-1-1: Lone Star, Season 3, Episode 5: Child Care

I'm super excited for next week!!! Next week will be. . .

9-1-1: Lone Star, Season 3, Episode 6: The ATX-Files

See you then ;) :))!!!