#firefighter!carlos is here!

[adelle-ein]

okay yes ztd is pretty awful and i keep giggling at things i'm absolutely not supposed to be giggling at bc they're just so fucking stupid but like. at least it's an entertaining kind of awful. i'm amused by the awful. aini was just bad AND boring

[tarlosislove]

For those who are new to the 911verse because of Buck, hello! This is just another post I'm making to show that there's been Queer characters here all along! 🏳️‍🌈

I'm so glad because of Buck being canonically Bi new people have started watching the show, maybe you didn't know there's been Queer characters the whole time, maybe you don't know that there's a spinoff that is also v queer.

Both 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star have been Queer from the very beginning.

9-1-1: Hen and Karen are Lesbians, they're married and have a son together. The first season is.. rough with them but we as a fandom have basically agreed to ignore that storyline because they are incredible now and have been for a long time, just push through that storyline and it's all good from there. Shipname: Henren

You'll see Michael and David for a few seasons, they're really sweet and I love them, they're said to still be together but they're not on the show anymore. (That is completely the fault of the actor for Michael)

Josh is a recurring character, he's gay and Maddie's friend and co-worker at the dispatch center.

Buck has had so many moments throughout the show that just makes complete sense that he is now discovering his Bisexuality. So don't worry you're not gonna have to wait 7 seasons to see Buck have Queer moments.

There's also several times we see Queer characters that are just there for an episode because they were part of the rescue.

•

9-1-1: Lone Star: Carlos and T.K are gay and get together at the beginning of the show and are still together as we're going into season 5. Shipname: Tarlos

Paul is a Trans man firefighter. As a Trans person Paul means so fucking much to me.

Nancy is Bisexual, while there has only been one comment in the show both the writers and the actress for Nancy have confirmed she's Bi.

Again there are times when you see Queer characters that are there for an episode or for a rescue. I love when shows do this because it just normalizes Queerness throughout and it's not just main characters that are Queer.

These are both gay firefighter shows and I truly hope you love them! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜💖

[dumbseee]

i’ll protect you.

f1 au/fic: in which y/n is a driver for ferrari, her and lando have been friends since childhood and started together in formula one. their closeness sometimes confused their friends. ask them if they were more than friends, they will laugh and say that they were just friends. but one day during a race, y/n got involved in a major crash. which made lando realise how scared he was to loose her.

lando norris x driver!reader

(fc: maggie lindemann)

warnings: mention of crash, carlos is still a mclaren driver with lando, mention of injuries.

note: english isn’t my first language so this may contains some mistakes xx (idk what to think about this one tbh)

liked by charles_leclerc, landonorris, lewishamilton and 3 799 087 others.

y/n: ready for tonight’s race! your girl is going to get that damn podium, mark my words xx

_

landonorris: in your dreams kiddo

y/n: @.landonorris you’re three months older than me.

lewishamilton: good luck y/n!

liked by y/n.

fan1: WE ALL BELIEVE IN YOU Y/N

fan2: GO Y/N

fan3: with that car i’ll be praying for your safety first bestie

fan4: praying for your first podium!

lilymhe: i’m rooting for you!

alex_albon: @.lilymhe i’m literally right HERE

liked by y/n.

"dude, you should sit down." carlos’s voice echoed in lando’s head which almost made him jump. he didn’t even realise that he was walking around the hospital’s hallways like a maniac. the driver sighed and sat down next to his teammate, carlos squeezed lando’s shoulder to show him that he was there too.

a few drivers were at the hospital, waiting to know if you were okay. daniel, carlos, charles, alex and of course lando were there. to be fair, all the drivers wanted to come but crowding the hospital wasn’t the right thing to do so only your closest friends came while the others went back home but waited for news too.

"are you y/n l/n’s friends ?" finally a doctor came, lando immediately stood up and almost ran to the older man. "she’s out of surgery, she’s very lucky that the firefighters were quick to get her out of the car because she has some burns on her arms and legs but nothing major." the doctor felt kinda uncomfortable to have that many men surrounding him, but he added, "she has a broken arm and a sprained ankle. it could’ve been worse so whoever prayed for her tonight, it worked. she’s awake, so you can see her, but be gentle."

"you should go first." charles told lando, who still looked out of it. "i think she’d prefer to see you first than daniel or alex." he adds with a smile. "uh, first of all this is rude." daniel answer while pointing his finger at charles, which lighten up the mood. "we ALL know i’m her favorite."

lando smiled and thanked his friends before slowly entering your room. he almost choked on his own saliva when he saw you laying on your bed, looking lifeless. this wasn’t you, you were far from being lifeless, you were literally the life of the party. always smiling, cracking jokes, making fun of alex or george will the others would laugh. but there you are, breathing through tubes and covered in bandages. your eyes were closed, lando took a look at your face and swallowed back tears.

he hated it, he hated seeing you being hurt, he couldn’t close his eyes because he’d see the crash again and again. the sound of your car smashing against the barriers, the smell of burnt, gasoline, the sound of the ambulance, the audience’s screams and cries, the commentators struggling to find their words. for a second everyone thought you were dead, everyone including lando. for a second, he thought about a world where you weren’t there anymore, and the only thing he could see was the dark. a world without you meant a world where the sun wouldn’t go up anymore, where happiness was gone forever.

lando let himself fall on the chair behind him and completely broke down. the tears wouldn’t stop from running down his cheeks, he didn’t know that he was capable of crying that much tears. he couldn’t stop sobbing either.

"l-lando?" the driver jumped and immediately stood up when he saw that you were waking up. "y/n? fuck, y/n can you hear me?" he didn’t know if he could touch you, too afraid to hurt you even more. "yes i can so please lower your voice." you furrowed your eyebrows and opened your eyes. the sight before you broke your heart, a sobbing lando, with a worried expression.

"what happened?" you asked, while trying to get up but a sharp pain stopped you. lando gently pushed you back against the bed. "i almost lost you, that’s what happened." he softly pushed a strand of black hair away from your face and sat down, taking your hand in his. "fuck… everything is coming back to me now." you mumbles and bite your lip. you take a look at your body and notice a huge cast on your left leg and a second one on your right arm. you also had a few bruises on your face and left arm caused by the fire.

"how are you feeling?" he asked you, while caressing your hand softly. "could’ve been better, so not only did i not make it to the podium, but i also almost died, what a performance." you laughed and expected lando to laugh with you but he just dropped your hand and looked at you with a hurt expression. "wha-…"

"how can you say it like that? how can you joke about death when you almost lost your life for real? y/n i don’t think you understand how worried sick i was to fucking lose you! i saw everything! the whole crash happened in front of me! i saw the firefighters pull you out of your car, i saw you being literally lit on fire! i couldn’t even move from my car, i felt helpless and useless. i even wondered if the crash happened because of me." he snapped, he wasn’t yelling but his tone was loud enough for you to understand that he was really pissed at your joke.

you felt bad, you didn’t know that lando witnessed everything and now you felt terrible. how traumatic that must’ve been for him. you didn’t know how you would’ve reacted if lando had crashed in from of you. "lando, i didn’t know i’m-…" he cut you off again, he ran a hand though his hair. "let me finish, please." you bite your bottom lip and nodded.

"the thought of loosing you made me fucking sick. i threw up when i got out of the car, i wanted to see you so bad but the way your team stopped me from seeing you made me think it was over. and do you know what a world without you looks like to me? nothing, that shit cannot exist, because a world without you means a world without me. if you fucking die, y/n, best believe that i’m going with you." his words made you cry, silent tears kept streaming down your face. when he saw it, he closed his eyes and kissed your forehead.

"i didn’t want to make you cry, i’m so sorry." he continues to kiss your forehead and then kissed your cheek. "no, i’m sorry for making you so worried about me." you answer while grabbing his hand. he smiles at you and start to kiss every little bruise on your arm. his gentle gesture made you cry even more. "i swear to take care of you now." he adds while connecting his forehead to yours. you both close your eyes and enjoy the peaceful moment until you both heard noises coming from behind the door of your room.

"ouch! you fucking stepped on my foot, càbron!" carlos’s voice could be heard which made you smile. "move your ass leclerc, i can’t hear shit." now it was daniel’s. "all of you shut up they’re going to hear us!" alex added. "aie! carlos what the fuck! that was my foot!" charles almost yelled to his friend. "see how it hurts?" added the spaniard, with a devilish laugh.

lando and you both started laughing at your friends shenanigans, knowing damn well they were behind the door trying to listen to your conversation.

liked by landonorris, danielricciardo, alex_albon and 1 690 097 others.

y/n: thank you for being my guardian angel <3

_

landonorris: always and forever my love

danielricciardo: i can’t believe you have no words for me when i had to sleep with carlos and he pushed me off the bed with his fat ass

carlossainz55: @.danielricciardo LIAR

alex_albon: @.danielricciardo i slept on a CHAIR

charles_leclerc: @.danielricciardo i slept on the GROUND.

fan1: im so glad she’s okay

fan2: OMG LANDO AND Y/N???

maxverstappen1: glad you’re okay y/n! can’t wait to see you on track again!

liked by y/n.

fan3: MY DREAM CAME TRUE

[obitez]

Little Bo Peep

written for @bucktommywinterfest

Round 13: Meet cute and different jobs

Rating: G | Word Count: 1732

Additional Tags: No firefighters

Warnings: None

When Tommy got out of the Army, he could have moved anywhere in the United States and probably qualified for a wide assortment of jobs. Aircraft mechanic, car mechanic, supply manager, truck driver, and heavy equipment operator for various construction equipment. Tommy never got around to being certified on cranes though, shame. 

He ended up moving to a small beach town about two hours north of Los Angeles, when his uncle offered to let him take over his old bookstore - and it was probably one of the few jobs the Army didn’t train him for. 

Tommy didn’t know a thing about owning, running, and managing a bookstore. Had never even worked in one. Sure, he was a reader and read a lot of books, but the books he read were… not that popular with the general population. 

He doubted there were that many enjoyers of Napoleonic War dramas and biopics. At least in the states. Most of the online forums and reddit pages consisted of people in the UK. 

Although his uncle had told him that delivery services like Amazon and the like hadn’t moved into the town yet so the store was still the main supplier of books for the town, and if he listened to the book clubs that used the table in the back as their meeting location, they would give him the lists of up and coming books from all genres that he needed to keep in stock. 

And looking at the finances for his first official month as owner, he guessed his uncle had a point. 

That didn’t mean the whole thing was easy however, far from it. 

“I don’t think your parents will be that pleased if I sell this book to you,” Tommy told the nine year old girl as she placed the book on the sale counter. The book itself was a raunchy romance novel with a deceiving cover filled with cats and puppies. Tommy never expected to become a romance reader after moving here, but the book club that met Monday evenings pulled him into being one. 

“They said that I can read whatever books I want,” the girl countered. 

“And I think when they said that they implied any children’s book you want.”

“It’s called Puppy Love and has a bunch of puppies on it. How’s that not a children’s book?” the girl asked. 

“It’s not a children’s book because you got it from the adult section, that’s located all the way upstairs,” Tommy pointed to the stairwell that led to the upstairs bookcases. The bookcases Tommy specifically remembered restocking that book with that very morning. 

The girl huffed, a frown on her face and spun on her heel to go back to a shelf in the young adult section. Tommy picked up the book she had left and placed it on a shelf under the counter, filled with other books that he would need to restock once the customers left.

Then, ten seconds later, another person came up to the counter, setting down five books to purchase. So much for a short break. 

Halfway through the afternoon, there was a short spall when there were only five customers in the store. When Carlos, the highschooler he had hired to help around on his free afternoons came by, Tommy took the opportunity to leave the register to him and get started on the various tasks he needed to complete around the shop. 

“So you’re the new guy that Mr. Paul was talking about?” a voice sounded from behind him as he was restocking the shelves in the cookbook section. 

Tommy turned around and looked up. 

There stood a tall guy, maybe a half inch shorter than him, shirt curly hair gelled back, blue green eyes, and big muscles. 

“I take it you’re talking about my uncle?” Tommy asked. 

“Yeah,” The guy nodded, and Tommy spotted a small birthmark right above one of his eyebrows. It was cute. “He was telling me that he was about to retire and give the place to his nephew, I just didn’t…”

“Expect his nephew to look like me?” Tommy asked. The man was silent for a second, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. Tommy laughed. “Don’t worry,” he said. “You’re not the first person to say it.”

Half of the old ladies who came in the first week he was running the place said the same thing. What was a man with his looks and muscles doing running a bookstore out in this town? He should be down south in LA, hitting up all the bars and clubs down there.

“Y- yeah… oh… yeah, what you said,” the man continued, stammering over his own words, looking way out of his element. 

 📚  📚  📚  📚  📚

Buck looked at the small unassuming bookstore from where he stood in the cafe across the street. When he had been driving through the sleepy seaside town five years ago he had run low on cash, he had walked into the cafe and asked about the help wanted sign taped on the front window. Five years later and he was still there, and had made friends and a pseudo family with people throughout the town. 

One of the people he had come to regard as a friend was the owner and runner of the bookstore across the street, who had told him a couple of months ago that he was retiring and going to move to be closer to his sister in Oregon, and leaving the store to his nephew, who no one in the town had met before. 

Buck didn’t know how he should feel about it. Leaving one of the most popular shops in town to some stranger. 

“Have you met the guy who took over the bookstore, yet?” Buck asked as they were setting up one morning, pulling the outdoor tables outside. 

“Guy that took over the bookstore?” Eddie asked as he carried a set of chairs outside. 

“Yeah,” Buck nodded. “The old owner retired and moved out, gave the place to his nephew.” 

Eddie shrugged. “I only go there when Christopher needs to get a book for school,” he said. “Haven’t been there since like… last October or something like that.” 

Buck hummed to himself as he looked across the street at the store. It didn’t look any different, the same as it had since he moved to this town. He would have to go over there once he got off shift and meet the new man for himself. 

He and Eddie ended their shift around 2:30, and while Eddie drove down the street to the elementary school to pick his son up, Buck made his way to the bookstore across the street. 

Buck opened the door and heard the same bell chime that had sounded the numerous times he had come here over the previous years. The inside of the store looked the same as well. Same signs above the bookshelves, same sales counter, the only things that were really different were the books that were on the featured and new releases shelves. But those shelves always showed something different every time Buck came in. 

Buck spotted a disinterested guy who was clearly a teenager standing behind the counter, he vaguely recognized him from around town and guessed that he wasn’t the guy who had taken the store over. Then his gaze traveled upwards to the second story, seeing a man, probably a couple years older than him, unloading books from a box and setting them onto one of the bookshelves. 

Buck walked up the stairs and then studied the man for a second before going over to talk to him. He was kneeling on his knees, but Buck guessed he would probably be around his height if he stood up. He was also pretty muscular, a lot more than Buck would assume any bookstore owner would have any need to be. 

But then again, maybe he did? Books got heavy after a while, didn’t they? 

Buck cleared his throat as he walked up to the bookshelf and Buck saw the man’s shoulders perk up. “So… you must be the guy Mr. Paul was talking about?” Buck asked.  

The man turned his head and shoulders to look up at Buck, raising an eyebrow he asked, “I take it you’re talking about my uncle?” 

“Y- yeah,” Buck stammered, suddenly growing nervous as he felt the man study him. “H- he was telling me that he was about to retire and give the place to his nephew, I just- I didn’t…

“Expect his nephew to look like me?” the man said as he let out a soft laugh and stood up from where he was stocking the books. Buck got a better look at him now. And if possible, Buck thought he looked better than he had before. Buck stumbled over his words, and the man laughed again. “Don’t worry,” he said. “You’re not the first person to say that.”

Oh, that made Buck feel slightly better, he thought. 

“Y- yeah… oh… yeah, what you said,” Buck said as he still stumbled over his words. 

The man then held out his hand to him. “Tommy Kinard,” he said as he introduced himself. 

Buck took it as he shook the man’s, Tommy’s, hand. “Evan Buckley,” he said. 

Tommy smiled then, and Buck thought it was a nice smile. Buck thought that he would like to see it more often. “Nice to meet you, Evan.”

Buck couldn’t even find it in himself to tell the man he didn’t go by Evan.

 📚  📚  📚  📚  📚

“So, Evan,” Tommy started as he walked up to the front counter of the cafe the following morning. Buck perked his head up from where he was cooking up an omelet behind the counter. “What would you recommend here?” 

Buck smiled as he turned his head to face Tommy. “Well, Bobby’s not here today, so I’m head chef.” 

Tommy’s face took on that soft smile it had yesterday. “So what would you recommend then?” he asked. 

Buck hummed in thought. “I thought up this apple waffle recipe yesterday, would you like to be my guinea pig?” 

“Why not?” Tommy said as he took a seat. “Let me see ‘em.” 

“He calls you Evan?” Eddie asked later as Tommy walked back across the street to the bookstore. 

Buck rolled his eyes. “So what?” he asked, only slightly blushing.

[heartstringsduet]

Happy Sunday. Let's not think about what comes tomorrow. Here is a snippet from the upcoming chapter of A Few Moons Ago 🌙

Carlos stalls on his next step, turning back to the building. Marjan and Mateo nearly stumble into him on the way out, pulling off their masks, chatting. It’s only a gut feeling, until he walks just a step closer to the sliding doors and hears the faintest of knocks again.“Is your paramedic team still inside?” he asks the firefighters. 

They give each other a look, before doing the same as him, scanning the outside, knowing instantly which rig belongs to them. Marjan turns back toward the entrance, before grabbing her radio. “Cap, where is EMS at?”

“I ordered them out…Shit!”

Not waiting for any instructions, Carlos rushes back in. Not every floor was cleared, but Carlos flies up the first flight of stairs, the second, the third, with two firefighters behind him. The heartbeat he thought sounded calm just a minute ago now appears unlike a heartbeat at all. 

It’s too slow. OPEN TAG &

@carlossreaders @annoyingcloudearthquake @carlos-in-glasses @carlos-tk @future-tense

@paperstorm @strandnreyes @henrygrass @lightningboltreader @eclectic-sassycoweyes

@lemonlyman-dotcom @theghostofashton @ladytessa74 @freneticfloetry

@liminalmemories21 @emsprovisions @sapphic--kiwi @pameluke @neverblooms

@welcometololaland @rmd-writes @alrightbuckaroo @decafdino @liminalmemories21

@tellmegoodbye @ironheartwriter @literateowl @reyesstrand

@butchreyes @corsage @honeybee-taskforce @orchidscript

@never-blooms @irispurpurea @everlastingday @theghostofashton

@nisbanisba @bonheur-cafe @certifiedflower @firstprince-history-huh @denizoid

@nancys-braids @chicgeekgirl89 @ironheartwriter @pimento-playing-hopscotch

@rangersoup @the-126-family @carlos-tk @ladyknight1512 @ameriicansrequiems

[bitingdrivers]

bones au!! max tells daniel another new fact about himself - maxiel, 1.1k words - read on ao3

The Founding Fathers is busy tonight. The vintage interior of the bar is bathed in warm orange light, the chatter of people and soft music creates a gentle background to conversations. 

It's Friday evening, most people are here to relax after a stressful week of work, meet up with friends or celebrate. 

Max and Daniel aren't here to celebrate – their case isn't solved yet, but it hasn't been stressful either. Truth be told, Daniel is not sure why they're here. 

They were in the lab discussing the details of the case – the body was found on a demolition site, the victim turned out to be a stripper, who also worked in a financial firm. Max had said that he and Carlos found the cause of death – apparently someone punched the guy and he broke his neck on a corner of a bed frame when he fell. Daniel had decided that tomorrow he will talk to the victim's girlfriend. 

After that, they were both reluctant to end the evening, and instead decided to go have a bottle of beer at the bar. 

It's very noisy here so they have to sit close to hear each other. 

“You know, I don't understand why he was stripping,” Daniel says, taking a sip of his beer. 

“Well, a lot of young men become strippers because they need to pay for college,” Max explains before taking a sip too. 

Daniel cocks an eyebrow. “But he already had a job. He was a stock broker.”

“Then he simply liked doing it,” Max shrugs. “I understand it, the victim was handsome and he was probably doing it to feel powerful.”

“You think he was handsome?” Daniel smirks, taking another sip of his beer. He hopes it's not weird talking about a dead guy like that. 

“Yes,” Max hums. 

“I mean, you could be an exotic dancer too, with your alluring personality, muscular build and symmetrical features,” he adds, gesturing to Daniel. 

Daniel almost chokes on his beer. 

“Hah, thanks, Bones. But a good bod is not the only requirement to get into stripping,” he chuckles, rubbing his neck. “Оtherwise you'd be a stripper too,” Daniel ends, shaking his head at the ridiculous thought. 

As the evening marches on, the bar only gets busier, and louder, so it’s only natural for the two men to move in even closer to each other. Their shoulders are touching now, and Daniel can see the individual lashes on Max’s eyes as he studies Daniel before speaking. 

“I actually had once,” he admits.

“Had what?” Daniel asks, puzzled. 

“Stripped.”

Daniel almost chokes on his beer. Again. 

“Wh-For college?” Daniel falters. 

He doesn't expect Max to laugh. And it's not a chuckle either, it's his full-body laugh that makes him bend to the table. 

Daniel suddenly feels much drunker. Maybe this beer is stronger than he thought. 

Max wipes the corner of his eye, still shaking from laughter. “No, no, not for college. I wrote an anthropology paper on stripping in grad school,” he explains, grinning. 

“And you had to,” Daniel pauses, looking for the word, “participate for it?”

“Of course. I wouldn't be a scientist if I hadn't,” Max answers, taking a sip. His bottle is half empty. 

Daniel can see a slight blush on his cheeks. He decides it's safe to take a sip too. 

“What…what was your act?” Daniel finds himself asking. 

He feels a weird feeling rising in his chest, but he quickly pushes past it. There is nothing wrong with asking Max – his friend – about this. Daniel had had far more personal conversations with his mates. Maybe it's because Max is such a private person. 

Max raises an eyebrow. “My act?” 

“Yes, your stripping act. You know, a firefighter or a– a policeman…” Daniel trails off. 

“Oh. I didn't have an act,” Max replies, shrugging.

Daniel hums, picking up his beer – it's almost empty. It's getting late, but maybe they can have one more round. 

“I just used glitter,” Max drops. 

Daniel is starting to think that Max invited him here so he could kill him by making him choke. 

Max seems to take his silence as encouragement to continue. 

“One of the men there gave me this body glitter that you can put on your skin,” he says, rubbing his arms. 

“The next month I kept finding that glitter on all of my things,” Max frowns, shaking his head. 

The beer is definitely strong, Daniel thinks. He can't stop his mind from wandering – to pale skin covered in sparkly glitter, dotted with small freckles and soft hair. Max sits beside him in a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans. In his mind’s eye Daniel can see the way Max would peel off his shirt… 

He shakes his head to dispel the thoughts. No, they shouldn't do another round.

“Maybe if this anthropology gig doesn't work out you can pick it up again,” Daniel jokes, acting normal.

Max makes a face. “No, it was for the paper,” he pauses, “And I didn't like it.”

Daniel suddenly feels the need to stand up and do…something – shadow box or jump around or stand very closely to Max and growl at anyone who approaches them – but he's not sure why. He takes another sip instead. 

“The others of course loved it. But I don't think I was good at it. I am not used to acting like that,” Max says, looking away.

Like what, Daniel almost asks, but doesn't. His mind supplies an answer already. Jesus. 

Maybe he should go on a date or something. 

“I'm sure you looked great, Bones,” Daniel admits, trying to end this conversation. “But I think it's better for you to stay a scientist… less glitter,” he grins, wiggling his fingers. 

He can practically feel the mood lightening. 

Max groans, “Ugh, Daniel, don't even tell me. Sometimes I think I still find glitter in my apartment!” he exclaims and drinks his beer. The blush on his cheeks is even brighter now. 

They chat a little more, finishing their beers. When they get up and put on their jackets, Daniel reaches for his wallet to pay, but Max has already put a few bills on the counter. 

Daniel chuckles. Max grins at him. They somehow developed this game of who can pay the bill faster. Tonight Max seems to be the winner. 

Sometimes, very rarely, Daniel doesn't try to win because he wants to see Max’s pleased smile. And a few bucks wouldn't make a difference to him anyway – being a forensic anthropologist definitely pays more than being an FBI agent. 

As they say goodnight to each other and Max’s taxi drives off, Daniel pulls out his phone to look through his contacts – he needs to find a woman to go on a date with.

[paperstorm]

“Happy birthday, Tyler.”

TK hums into their next kiss. “How am I going to top this for your 30th?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Carlos mumbles before sealing their lips together. TK becomes lost in it, persistently swiping his tongue against Carlos’ lips until he opens up and accepts a deeper kiss. As much as Carlos wants to take him to bed and worship his favorite person in the entire world, he wants to make a few more happy memories out here tonight. 

“Can we clean the rest of this up in the morning?” TK asks when Carlos pulls back, and Carlos chuckles at the thought of TK worried that he was going to suggest they start deflating balloons and pulling down streamers even though it’s well after midnight.

“Yes,” he says firmly, and TK grins as he bites his bottom lip. 

“Good.” TK leans forward again, looping his arms around Carlos’ neck until it’s cradled in the crooks of his elbow. “Come to bed?” he whispers against Carlos’ lips. 

It takes all the restraint in the world for Carlos to counter with, “Dance with me first.”

TK gives him an adorable little confused smile. “I danced with you all night. We kind of ignored our guests, actually.”

Carlos holds his chin up high and straightens his shoulders. He pulls his phone out of his pocket—still connected to their speakers—and plays something slower, but still happy. When TK is looking at him in expectant amusement, Carlos offers a hand. “Not like this. Wanna dance?”

TK’s grin is blinding, and it brings a smile to Carlos’ face as they pull each other closer, hands on waists and elbows as they sway together. Their cheeks press close and Carlos lets his eyes slip shut as they begin their shuffled steps. He’s reminded of how they danced like this at their wedding, of how TK felt like his life raft in a vastless ocean. He’s had that feeling before, on that very first night. Carlos didn’t know who he was or where he belonged. Even in a crowded bar, it felt like he was always trying to figure out how he fit in, and then there was TK, and everything made sense.

“I fell in love with you on a dance floor,” Carlos murmurs. 

“Which one?”

The corner of Carlos’ mouth curls up as he presses his nose into TK’s hair and inhales slowly. He remembered thinking that he wanted to know TK so badly that night, and now, as TK’s cradled in his arms and their love surrounds them, he wants to grab his younger self and scream, ‘He’s yours! He’s everything to you and you’re everything to him. You got him!’.

“You know which one,” Carlos tells him and TK shifts to kiss his cheek. 

“Tell me again.”

“Tell you which dance floor?” Carlos knows what TK’s asking for, but he wants TK to say it as they sway back and forth, from foot to foot, holding each other close in the middle of their living room. 

TK slides his hands up, wrapping his arms around Carlos’ shoulders. His fingers scratch in the hair at the nape of Carlos’ neck and he smiles, eyes glittering in the fairy lights overhead. “Tell me the story of how we fell in love.”

“I was born on a rainy Tuesday,” Carlos begins, smiling when TK shakes in laughter against him.

“Maybe fast forward a bit.”

Carlos slips his hand underneath TK’s knitted shirt, splays his palm over the small of TK’s back where his skin is warm. They rotate as they move together, and for a moment Carlos feels as if they are the only two people in the universe. “Michelle was always trying to get me to come out with her. I said ‘no’ most of the time.”

“What was different that night?”

“I met a firefighter in the rain a few hours earlier. He was new to Austin. She mentioned he was gonna be there, indirectly. And something inside told me I had to go, had to try to see him again.”

TK tucks his head in, resting it against Carlos’ shoulder. Carlos can feel his lips curve into a smile against his neck.

“I didn’t know anything about him. Didn’t know his name or even if he was into guys. But he was so damn cute, and he smiled at me while his dad rescued a baby from a tree like some kind of superhero, and it made my heart beat faster and put butterflies in my stomach the way nobody else ever had, and I just … wanted to feel that again.”

“He was a mess,” TK interjects, a tinge of sadness in his voice.

“He’d been hurt,” Carlos corrects, holding his husband just a little bit closer against him. “The world hadn’t been gentle with him the way it should have, but he had the biggest, most golden heart. I didn’t know all that, that night, but I’d find out pretty soon.”

“What happened next?”

“I stood at the bar for like a half hour, watching him and his friends like a creep and trying to work up the nerve to ask him to dance.”

“You did?” TK laughs. “I didn’t know that.”

“There was this moment where he hugged his dad,” Carlos remembers, swallowing briefly over a hint of a lump that rises in his throat. Most days he feels strong enough to keep moving forward, but there are unexpected moments when everything’s still so raw. “They seemed so close and so unashamed of it, I was fascinated. I wasn’t close with my dad like that. I don’t think he’d hugged me in years.”

TK exhales and whispers, “Baby.”

“And then his friends hit the floor and started line dancing, and his dad was flirting with Michelle, so I went over. I’m not sure where I found the courage, I think maybe my feet just carried me over there even though inside I was having a panic attack.”

“I said ‘yes’.”

“Mhm.” Carlos kisses the side of his face. “We danced, and he made me laugh. And then he dragged me to the bathroom.”

TK chuckles. “Kind of a slutty move, when you really think about it.”

Carlos laughs too, but counters, “He made me feel right for the first time in my whole life. I didn’t realize, then, how much that was going to change everything.”

“You know, I …” Breathing softly, TK pauses before he continues and Carlos keeps on swaying with him. “I spent a lot of time in my 20s thinking I’d never see 30. It’s hard to plan for a future when you’re not sure you’re gonna have one, so I just … didn’t.”

“I know,” Carlos murmurs. He doesn’t know , he can’t climb inside TK’s brain and feel exactly what he’d felt all those years, but he does understand the pain of not bothering to hope for a happy ending you’re sure you aren’t going to get. And he can hold TK close when the ache of those memories flares up like an old wound.

“But I woke up the morning of my birthday with my husband next to me. And my dad brought a cake to work to celebrate with my friends. And our home was full tonight of people who care about me and wanted to celebrate with me. And that’s …” TK sounds overwhelmed, a tremble in his voice, as he says, “It’s so much more than I ever thought I’d have.”

“I’m so happy you were born.”

TK lifts his head. His eyes are a little misty, Carlos is sure his are too, and he presses their lips together. Resting his forehead against Carlos, he asks, “How does the story end?”

“It’s not over, yet. But in this chapter … I know now that man is my soulmate. And I married him, and built a home with him, and he calls me ‘baby’ and it makes me feel so loved every time. And I hate that he had to go through so many hard days—”

“You, too,” TK cuts in, thumb brushing underneath Carlos’ ear.

“Me, too,” Carlos agrees. “But something was pulling us towards each other. Nudging us along and telling us to keep going forward even when it felt hopeless, so we could end up on that dance floor.”

“You still believe that?”

“I don’t know exactly what it was. God or fate or something I don’t even have a name for. But I know you made your way to me as fast as you could. And I know I was made to love you.”

“It’s a pretty good story.”

Kissing him again, Carlos says, “I’ll tell you again when you turn 40. It’ll have a bunch of new chapters by then.”

“Are you gonna love me when I’m bald and wrinkly?”

Laughing softly, Carlos promises, “Yep. You’re stuck with me.”

From brighter in the morning by @strandnreyes and myself. gifs borrowed with permission from @lutavero

[emsprovisions]

I know I am being greedy here but,

3. I can't seem to take neither my eyes, nor my mind off of you, TK

8. being ur partner's mum's favorite.

from romance prompt please.

From this list of writing prompts that I am no longer accepting. Hello anon! Someone else has also asked for no. 3 so I will answer theirs :)

being ur partner's mum's favorite.

Carlos sits on the couch, his ankle crossed over his opposite knee and a beer in his hand as he watches his husband playing firefighter with action figures and a toy fire engine with their young sobrinos on the floor. They keep pausing because they want to hear TK’s stories from his firefighter days, since apparently–according to Six-and-eight-year-old Diego and Juliana–paramedics aren’t as cool. They giggle as TK keeps playfully correcting their terminology of the ladder truck and exactly how many inches of line they should start and Carlos’s heart just swells. 

“Ay, TK?” Carlos’s mom pops her head in from the backdoor, “Are you in here, mijo?”

“What do you need, Ma?” Carlos sits up, uncrossing his legs and making to get up.

“Oh, no, you stay right there, Carlitos. I need TK’s expertise.”

“It’s fine, babe, I could do with stretching my legs anyway,” TK smiles up at Carlos. He gets up, much to Diego and Juliana’s dismay, and promises he’ll be back. He purposely walks around the couch so he can pass Carlos, stooping to kiss the top of his head as he does so. 

After TK disappears, Carlos is left alone with his sobrinos, and they coax him into playing firefighter with him instead. But Tío TK does it better than Tío Carlos, evidently. 

When TK’s been gone for too long, and Carlos’s brother-in-law wanders in to check on his kids, Carlos stands up. 

“Have you seen TK?” He asks Ricardo as he approaches. 

“He’s out on the back porch,” Ricardo says, almost bitterly. “With your mom, and Tía Lucy, and my wife.”

“Uh, thanks,” Carlos says, looking at Ricky apprehensively before excusing himself in search of his husband. 

TK’s got a glass of sweet tea in his hand, slapping his knee, while Ana clings to his arm, gasping for breath. 

“No way!” She laughs. “Tonterías! That did not happen.”

“It did,” TK nods. “I swear it on my mother’s grave.”

TK looks up as the screen door swings shut and sees Carlos step out before anyone else. 

“Hey, baby!” TK calls. “Come join us.”

Carlos lingers by the door, watching TK fit in with his family so seamlessly. They’ve been married for nearly a year now, but sometimes it still surprises him that he has this. He not only gets to be himself, he gets to be himself around his family, and they are all enamored with TK, too. 

TK’s smiling at him, patting the empty seat beside him and Carlos smiles and slides onto the long bench beside his husband, an arm going around his shoulder and TK’s hand falling into place on top of his knee. 

“What did I interrupt?” Carlos asks. 

“Oh, I was just telling everyone about that call we got the other day, where the neighbors were having a domestic dispute and one of them threw pickle juice all over my patient and it turned out she’s allergic to pickles,” TK grins, catching Carlos up on the story. “Ana here doesn’t believe that we get calls as ridiculous as that all the time.”

“That’s because that’s impossible!” Ana scoffs. “Who’s allergic to pickles??”

“My patient, evidently,” TK smirks at her. 

Carlos laughs, “There’s a lot of stupid people in this world, Ana. You would not believe the absurdity of some of the calls I used to get under APD.”

“Babe, you get ridiculous cases now too,” TK reminds him. 

“Cuéntanos más de tus historias, TK.”

TK smiles warmly at Tía Lucy over in her blue adirondack chair in the deck before looking up to Carlos for help. 

“Tía wants to hear more of your stories,” Carlos tells him, looking up at his great aunt and the delight on her face. She can’t speak English, but she can mostly understand it, and joy and humor are universal languages anyways. 

TK launches into more funny stories from different calls before Ricardo comes outside with a screaming Diego, and it’s time for Ana to go home. 

Andrea takes TK inside and Carlos is tasked with helping Tía Lucy inside and to her chair in her room. 

“You have a sweet young man, Carlitos,” she tells him in Spanish. “Muy guapo y divertido.”

It’s not the first time she’s commented on TK. Honestly, Tía Lucy always fawns over Carlos’s husband to the point Carlos wonders if she doesn’t have some schoolgirl type crush on him. Carlos has no idea how TK charms everyone that comes into his orbit, he’s just happy he’s the lucky guy TK vowed forever with. 

“I think so too, Tía,” Carlos responds in Spanish, winking at her. 

They chat for a while longer before Tía Lucy says she’s tired. Carlos kisses her cheek and wishes her a goodnight. He wanders back out into the main room to find TK and his mom chatting in hushed voices on the couch. TK has his hand on Andrea’s arm, rubbing his thumb back and forth over her skin. She pulls him into a tight hug, then kisses his cheek and whispers something into his ear.

Carlos watches the scene unfold, feeling a little bad for interrupting. But before he can duck into the kitchen unnoticed, his mom catches sight of him. 

“Oh, Carlitos!” She pulls away from TK and wipes delicately at the skin beneath her eyes. 

“Hi, Mamá. Everything okay?” Carlos asks, coming nearer to them.

“We’re okay,” TK reassures. His eyes are a bit shiny too. He reaches out for Carlos’s hand and Carlos comes close enough to give it to him.

Neither of them offer up any hint of what their conversation was about, but Andrea stands up and gives Carlos a warm and tight hug. And even though he’s almost twice her size, he still folds easily into his mother’s arms. 

It’s not until they’re in the car, driving down the 35, the darkness of the night stretching all around them and Carlos’s hand extended over the console on TK’s thigh, does Carlos find the bravery to ask what that was about.

TK plays with Carlos’s fingers with both hands and says in a quiet voice, “She was talking to me about being a Ranger’s spouse…”

Carlos glances over at TK. It’s hard to get a read on him as they pass through swathes of light from oncoming headlights and the rare street light. 

“Oh?”

TK shakes his head, “You’ve been in law enforcement the entire time we’ve been together, baby, it’s not like her advice was anything I haven’t already worried about before.”

“What did she say?” Carlos asks, his anxiety spiking and suddenly wishing he’d saved this conversation for home so he could see TK better. 

TK’s fingers keep brushing over his knuckles. “She just wanted me to know you could be in danger sometimes, which again, isn’t really new. But she also wanted me to know if I ever need to talk to someone about what I’ll go through as your husband, I could talk to her.”

Carlos glances over again, softening a bit at his mom offering that to TK. “What do you think about that?”

“I think it’s nice.” Carlos can hear the smile in TK’s voice. “I love your mom, and I love that she would want to be there to help me support you.”

“Buuut…?”

“No but’s,” TK says, shaking his head. “She says we’re a strong couple, and sees how much we love each other. She thinks we can handle anything.”

“She’s not the only one,” Carlos smiles, squeezing TK’s thigh. 

“No,” TK smiles. “She’s not the only one. She told me the best thing I can do for you is love you, and remind you you’re never alone in life, and remind you to take care of yourself and put work away when you’re home.” 

Carlos turns his palm up and TK gives him his hand, lacing their fingers together. He takes it a step further by cradling Carlos’s arm and tilting sideways to lean against Carlos’s bicep. 

“You do a good job of making sure I’m taken care of, baby,” Carlos says softly as he takes their exit for home. 

“You’re worth it,” TK says simply, turning his face to kiss Carlos’s shoulder. 

“You know my family’s enamored with you, right?” Carlos smiles.

TK laughs and teases, “Are you jealous Tía Lucy dotes on me now more than you?”

“No,” Carlos says, his voice light. “I love seeing you with our family. It makes me happy.”

TK snuggles up against Carlos’s arm even more in the passenger seat and Carlos tells him he better not fall asleep when they’re five minutes from home. He feels TK’s smile against his arm, and fondness for his husband impossibly grows. 

TK sure does know how to steal a Reyes’s heart.

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

FINAL EMERGENCY THEORY

Obviously we have an asteroid coming, but in true Lone Star fashion, they are going big with this final emergency so an asteroid alone isn't enough!

For a while now, I've felt pretty sure that the asteroid impact itself wasn't going to be the true danger but would instead be the thing to trigger the true danger. Since the asteroid should be making impact at the end of episode 11 (according to the leaked episode 11 call sheet from back in June), it's clear that they will be dealing with a post-asteroid emergency/emergencies in episode 12.

I had some speculation about what exactly the final emergency would be, and that's come into clearer focus the last couple weeks.

In this TV Insider article from about 10 days ago, Rashad confirmed my suspicion that the place the asteroid is going to hit will be important.

Then in a few Natacha interviews from after episode 10 (like this one), Natacha kept mentioning the word NUCLEAR.

So from this we knew that the writers looked at places actually in Austin to find the worst possible place for the asteroid to hit, and we knew that NUCLEAR probably has something to do with it. This got me googling, and I came up with this:

There's a nuclear reactor at UT Austin!

The Owen sneak peek released this morning confirms that there is indeed a nuclear meltdown imminent. My guess is that it has to be happening at this UT nuclear reactor since there isn't another nuclear reactor in the city of Austin.

Some of the end of filming BTS also supports this conclusion. They did outdoor filming at a real university:

That's clearly going to be this scene from the episode 12 stills:

Around the same time, they were also filming in school hallways:

Here's a video of them filming

And Natacha also posted a picture taken in the same location

So based on all of this, my theory is that the asteroid makes impact and causes some kind of damage to the nuclear reactor at UT. The 126 arrive at the university and eventually make their way to where the reactor is located. When they get there, they either get trapped or they're in a position where they can't stop the meltdown and can't get away in time so attempting an escape seems futile.

Based on what we've seen in promos, I think only the firefighters get really close. (The moments at the end of this promo when they're in the dark and apparently fearing the worst only show firefighters, not paramedics.) We also know that Carlos is going to be wearing a headset at dispatch:

I think this sets us up nicely for a moment with everyone working together. The firefighters on the ground trying to stop a nuclear meltdown, Wyatt and Carlos helping from dispatch, maybe the paramedics fighting to get to the firefighters to help them since it seems like there are going to be injuries...

This all sounds a lot like what Rashad has told us, that the "final sequence" has everyone working towards a singular goal:

However, there's no way this is the very end of the episode. I think there has to be some kind of wrap up afterwards, but I also think it's possible that Rashad meant "final sequence" in a different sense. Maybe their final action sequence or the final sequence they filmed. You never can tell with the wording used in these interviews since often quotes are chopped up and presented out of context.

Well, anyway, that's it. My final theory 🥺

(Credit to @she-walked-away for first floating this potential theory of them all working together in this particular way, and I think it makes more sense the more we find out!)

[everlastingday]

happy new year everyone! 🎉 here's a little snippet from the survivor au!

thank you @carlos-in-glasses, @henrygrass, @whatsintheboxmh, @carlossreaders, @heartstringsduet, @futures-tense, and @lemonlyman-dotcom for the tags! 💜

--

He shares a small boat with six other people. Three older people, around his father’s age, and three other people who look to be around his age. Across the water, he can see an identical boat with seven other players. He hasn’t met them yet, but he knows at least one of them – his father and captain, Owen Strand. 

When TK found out that both his and his dad made it through casting, he was excited at the prospect of playing this game together, but also afraid of how their relationship would naturally put a target on both their backs. Before leaving New York, he had given his dad a whole lecture about how they have to keep their relationship under wraps for as long as possible, but knowing his dad, he’s not sure how long they’re going to be able to keep it a secret. In any case, although he’s disappointed they’re on different tribes, he ultimately thinks this is going to be better for his game. 

He studies his tribemates a little more intently. TK knows that in a season full of other first responders, he probably isn’t going to be the most physically adept, despite being a dual-certified firefighter and paramedic. On any other season, he’d probably have excelled at playing a physical game, but this season was a different ball-game. He’s going to have to play a very different game than what he’s always imagined himself playing, and the uncertainty both excites and scares him. 

He eyes the man sitting across from him. For a lack of a better phrase, the guy is hot. Dark brown curls, and warm brown eyes framed by a set of eyelashes so luscious that they looked fake. And based on the muscle definition that’s peeking through his muted red t-shirt, TK has no doubt that this guy is going to be a physical threat. 

Nobody says a word the entire ride over to the island where the game will begin. By the time he steps off and his feet hit solid ground, all his nerves fade away, and he feels the adrenaline kick in. Game on.

--

open tag & no-pressure tagging a few people under the cut!

@nancys-braids @welcometololaland @reyesstrand @thisbuildinghasfeelings

@captain-gillian @bonheur-cafe @lightningboltreader @eclectic-sassycoweyes

@firstprince-history-huh @nisbanisba @emsprovisions @paperstorm

let me know if you want to be added/removed, and please feel free to tag me as well, i love seeing what everyone else is working on! 💜

[reyesstrand]

Hi Maddie!! I wish you would write a fic where TK never ends up in Austin, he goes to California instead after hearing about his namesake from Owen. He becomes a surf instructor after leaving firefighting. He and Carlos meet while Carlos is on vacation after a less than amicable breakup. Carlos learns what TK does for a living and takes surf lessons from him. They fall madly in love and live happily ever after. If youre still taking requests. I love your fics! Thank you!

thank you so so much, and thank you for your patience with this <3 this is my last one, i appreciate all the prompts and everyone who read <3

The sunrise shimmers in pinks and oranges over the calm water, his face warmed by the early light as he dangles his legs in the Pacific. For whatever reason, it always makes him think of home—of the sharp contrast to everything he knew New York to be. There, it was cool breezes and the thrum of traffic when he stepped out into the street, the noises of a bustling city never ceasing, even before the sun broke over the horizon. Here, there’s serenity; the salty sea breeze and the lapping of the tide against the shore. There’s always been a tug in his gut, sure—something like loneliness looming over his shoulders. Even still, though, he wouldn’t change any of it.

Like he does every morning before a long day of classes, he murmurs quietly to the ocean. He thinks of his father’s brother, the first Tyler, the one who never made it to his teens, the one who inspired TK to live every day to the fullest. He thinks of his mother, and her gentle pride. They’re with him always, and he trusts them to watch over him as he brings newbies to the beach and guides them into learning the sport he’s grown to love.

Today, though, he asks for a little more guidance.

He can still feel fingerprints low on his hips, where eager hands tucked under the board shorts he prefers when he doesn’t need to be in his wetsuit. He can still feel the tingle of lips against his, and curls under his palms. Carlos. He’s from Texas and he’s only here for a week with his sisters and the scariest thing about him is that he could absolutely ruin TK. He probably already has, given the fact that TK can’t stop thinking about the man passed out in the hotel suite he’d invited TK back to, one with a beautiful view of the pier. The one TK crept out of this morning, six days into…whatever they’re doing, his head spinning and heart racing. The last time he got close to someone, they broke his heart. He doesn’t know if can handle it again.

With a sigh, TK glances down at his waterproof watch. He’s scheduled with an early class today, a work retreat for some tech company, and he can’t afford to be late. Even if his love life just took a dramatic spin from painfully dry to a little reckless, he can’t let his work suffer for it. And so he paddles back to the shore, thumbing over the little T branded into the top of his board, and stares in confusion at the familiar body waiting in the sand.

“Carlos?”

“I figured I’d find you out here somewhere,” Carlos says, slowly getting up and dusting sand off his swim trunks, the soft golden glow of the morning dancing across his features. His eyes had been filled with such sorrow when TK met him, a sort of pain that TK recognized immediately, and now they’re clear and bright and beautiful. He’s beautiful, in one of TK’s t-shirts from Pacific Park that sits a little tight across his shoulders and curls fluffy from sleep and the breeze. “I thought we would talk this morning, but then you weren’t there when I woke up, so…”

“I’m sorry,” TK bites the inside of his cheek, as he feels saltwater drip down his body. The facade they’ve built around their days of fun is clearly crumbling around them—quickly. It makes his head spin.

“I can’t do this, TK,” Carlos says, his voice quieter than before. A seagull caws in the distance. “I leave tomorrow night, so if we—if this is done, can we call it done? Because I can’t get any closer to you without falling even harder.”

“You shouldn’t,” TK says, the sand clumping under his wet feet. “You shouldn’t fall for me.”

Carlos frowns. “Well, it’s a little late for that.”

In a flash, TK thinks back on the past few days, and how they’ve been the happiest he’s had in a long time. The lights of the pier at night reflected in Carlos’ eyes; the look of pride on his face when he mastered his balance and stayed upright on his board for the first time; the way he tasted of cotton candy and lime when they’d kissed for the first time. The way he’d been so vulnerable with TK, trusting him to listen about his breakup, about his sisters planning a last-minute excursion to distract him even though he hated being away from home.

‘s funny, though, Carlos had murmured, his breath warm against TK’s neck as they sat together on the beach, curled in each other’s arms. Because as soon as I met you it’s like..it’s like my body knew I didn’t have to be homesick anymore.

When TK doesn’t answer, Carlos moves to walk away, hurt dancing in his irises. He panics and steps closer, resting a hand on Carlos’ shoulder.

“I don’t wanna call it done,” TK admits, his heart racing. “It’s crazy, but I think I’ve been homesick, too. Just waiting for you to come here and make it right ever since dad went to Texas and I came here.”

There’s a beat, before he continues on, still speaking to Carlos’ back.

“I want to keep knowing you, Carlos. I want to get to love you.”

It’s probably the most reckless thing he’s ever done. He’s known Carlos for six days. He’s known him as someone on vacation. He’s known him as someone recently heartbroken, someone who’s probably not thinking straight, someone who will run when TK ruins—

Carlos whirls around, and they’re close enough for their noses to bump.

“I want that, too,” Carlos is saying, and TK can’t not kiss him. He cups his face and pulls him in, and the kiss tastes of the salt of the sea and the warmth of the sun and maybe, under it all, a lot like coming home.

[f1povs]

You’re safe with me

Pairing : Sergio Checo Perez x reader

Summary- y/n sister of Carlos Sainz. When he followed his dreams of being a f1 driver she followed hers and became a firefighter. After things went south on a call y/n decided to move in with Carlos.

A/n : so this is an idea I’ve had for ages and thinking of writing a whole story on this idea. This is my first time actually posting something as never had the confidence to post but after seeing so many amazing writers on here and other apps I thought I might as well try so please no hate or negativity. If you have any advice then feel free to share and if you think I should write a whole story then please say and I will do my best 🙏

Y/n watched the world go by as she sat in her favorite park, her gaze distant and unfocused. It was as if she was watching a movie play out before her eyes, with all the characters moving in slow motion. She knew everyone around her, the way they smiled, the way they laughed, the way they lived their lives. But she felt disconnected from it all, as if she were merely an observer in someone else's story. Her mind wandered back to the countless times she had watched her brother, Carlos, race his heart out on the track, cheering him on from the sidelines, her voice echoing above the roar of the engines.

She remembered the day she had decided to become a firefighter. It had been an impulsive decision, born out of a desire to protect those she loved and make a difference in the world. Little did she know that it would lead her down a path filled with heartache and loss, with every victory she achieved coming at the cost of someone else's suffering. But she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in her accomplishments, even as she struggled to come to terms with the darkness that lurked beneath the surface.

The wind picked up suddenly, rustling the leaves of the trees and sending a shiver down her spine. Y/n looked up, her eyes meeting those of a stranger who was staring at her intently. For a brief moment, they locked gazes, and she felt a strange sense of familiarity wash over her. It was as if this person knew everything about her, all her secrets and fears, and they were offering her a glimmer of hope in return. But then the moment passed, and the stranger turned away, disappearing into the crowd like a ghost. After sitting in the park for a while y/n decided that she couldn’t be here, in this town anymore. Y/n picked up her phone and rang her brother.

Carlos: hey y/n are you okay?

Y/n: um yeah I’m okay. Um I’m just wondering if… I… um… could come move in with you?”

Y/n held back the tears trying to escape her eyes as she spoke to her brother.

Carlos: yeah of course you can move in when are you coming I’ll get a room ready.

After couple hours flight, Y/n smiled as she spotted her brother, Carlos Sainz, standing outside the airport terminal. He looked as handsome as ever, dressed impeccably in his racing gear. Despite the hectic week of training getting ready for the race on the weekend, he'd managed to take time out of his schedule to pick her up from the airport. She hadn't seen him in months, not since the accident at work.

It wasn’t a long drive but seemed like forever. Carlos tried making small talk but y/n wasn’t really interested. She was in a world of her own as she stared out of her brothers car window. No one knew how bad the accident was. All they knew was that y/n was in an accident at work.

Finally y/n and Carlos arrived. The paddock was abuzz with activity, a whirlwind of color and motion that seemed to swirl around her like a dream. She had been away for months, as y/n stepped out of the car the familiar smell of racing fuel and burning rubber hung thick in the air, mingling with the sounds of engines revving and tires screeching. It was like being in a live-action painting, vibrant and alive with the energy of a thousand hearts beating as one. Y/n thought it was nice to be back with her f1 family. Everyone was excited to greet y/n but there was one particular driver who was more excited to see her.

As Sergio Perez turned the corner, his heart skipped a beat. There she was, standing by the lockers with her brothers and his friends, her back to him. It had been months since they'd last seen each other, and the familiarity of her figure was almost overwhelming. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves as he walked towards her. His gaze drifted over her shoulder-length hair, the way it casually fell across her back, and the way she was hugging herself, as if she were cold. He fought the urge to run up and envelop her in a warm embrace, instead opting for a friendly wave as he neared.

“Hey, y/n!" he called out, his voice sounding a little more nervous than he'd intended. She turned around, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. But the usual sparkle in her eyes had gone. Before her eyes would sparkle in the fluorescent light, and Sergio would find himself blushing, but this time was different.

"Hey, Sergio," she replied, her voice soft. "It's good to see you ." She walked over to him, her steps light. He noticed that she was wearing the same perfume she had been wearing the last time they'd met, and it made his heart race a little faster. But as she got closer Sergio could see something was wrong.

Fast forward to race night

The sun began to dip below the horizon, bathing the grid in a warm, golden light. The race was about to end. Everyone cheered as the drivers rushed past the checkered flag. Max at P1, Sergio at P2, and Carlos at P3.

The three men stood on the podium as they celebrated their wins. The crowd cheered and shouted celebrations. Fireworks exploded overhead, their colorful bursts of light painting the sky with a kaleidoscope of colors. It was a beautiful sight, one that would have filled her heart with joy on any other day. But tonight, the sound of the explosions sent her spiraling back to that fateful night, the night of the explosion that had taken the lives of so many, including those closest to her. the fireworks only served as a painful reminder of the day that had changed her life forever. She couldn't help but shiver as she stood on the edge of the crowd, her heart racing and her palms slick with sweat. The memory of the explosion was as vivid as if it had happened only yesterday: the screams of terror, the heat that seared her skin, the deafening boom that shook the ground beneath her feet.

Sergio Checo Perez stood on his podium and searched the crowd for y/n. As soon as his eyes landed on y/n, He could see the pain in her eyes, the fear that gripped her soul, and in that moment he jumped off the podium and raced to y/n in the crowd. His fellow drivers and his team was shouting for him to come back and celebrate the win but he had to do everything in his power to make her feel safe, to make her feel loved. He knew that the accident was more than a normal accident that can happen on the job like she had said. He knew there was more to the story, he knew that the the memories were painful, he knew what was happening as he has experience people he knew go through the same thing and he could never erase the memories that haunted her, the demons that tormented her every waking moment.

Now, as she sat there, on the floor in the crowd, watching the fireworks light up the sky, she felt him approaching, his presence a warm, comforting blanket wrapping itself around her. He knelt down beside her, his expression a mixture of concern and understanding. "Hey," he whispered, reaching out to take her hand. "You don't have to go through this alone." She didn't know if she could believe him, but for some reason, she found herself leaning into his touch, feeling a small spark of hope ignite within her. "I know it's hard," he continued, his voice gentle and soothing. "But we'll get through this together, okay?"

Her eyes met his, and for a brief moment, she allowed herself to believe that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for her to find peace, to find happiness again. And in that moment, she knew that she wasn't truly alone anymore.

They sat there together, watching the fireworks explode overhead, their fingers intertwined. As the last of the fireworks faded away, leaving the sky empty and black once more, Sergio leaned forward, his lips brushing against her ear. "You're okay. You are safe with me," he whispered.

Y/n closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his breath against her skin. She knew he was right. Slowly, she turned her head, meeting his gaze once more. There was something in his eyes that she had never seen before, something that told her that he was in this for the long haul.

As they sat there, the wind picked up again, sending a shiver down her spine. But this time, it felt different. It felt like a new beginning, like a promise of better things to come. And for the first time in a long time, Y/n allowed herself to believe that maybe, just maybe, there was still goodness left in the world, still a reason to keep fighting, to keep going.

Hand in hand, they rose to their feet, the weight of memories and losses not so heavy now. Together, they began to walk through the paddock , their steps echoing through the darkness. As they walked, they talked, sharing stories and laughter, finding solace in the comfort of each other's company. And with every step they took, Y/n felt a little lighter, a little more at peace.

Eventually, they reached a small, secluded clearing, surrounded by tall, ancient trees just outside the circuit. Sergio turned to face her, his eyes searching hers for an answer. She knew what he was asking, and she knew what she wanted to say. Slowly, she nodded, her heart racing with anticipation and fear. He smiled, a soft, gentle smile that made her heart skip a beat, and then he leaned forward, his lips meeting hers in a kiss that was both tender and passionate.

As they kissed, the world around them faded away, leaving only the two of them, their love for each other the only thing that mattered. And in that moment, Y/n knew that she had found her home, her place in the world after everything she had been through. She knew that together, they could face anything, overcome any obstacle. Because no matter what happened, they would always have each other.

[guardian-angle22]

2024 Creative Round Up

Thank you to @thisbuildinghasfeelings @alrightbuckaroo @heartstringsduet @lemonlyman-dotcom & @annoyingcloudearthquake for tagging me in this!

According to my archive, I've posted over 340 edits this year.

That is way too many for me to round up concisely. I figured instead I would link some sets for every month in the year: the most popular set and then my personal favorites. I'll add a gif sampling for each month in here too for some ✨visual excitement✨and also put it behind a cut to save the timeline.

JANUARY Most Popular: HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN. Actor and Tea Connoisseur Personal Faves: 911 LONE STAR REWATCH 2024 -> MY FAVORITE SCENES | Paul rockin’ his gear in 1.04 Act of God

FEBRUARY Most Popular & Personal Fave: 911 lone star -> carlos + gripping TK’s neck

MARCH Most Popular: 911 lone star -> tk + holding carlos’ face in his hands Personal Faves: 911 lone star fashion -> every grace outfit -> 4.05 & 911 lone star fashion -> every grace outfit -> 4.09

APRIL Most Popular: 911 LONE STAR REWATCH 2024 -> 3.08 parallel Personal Fave: PAUL STRICKLAND (noticing things in the field set) & 911 LONE STAR REWATCH 2024 -> MY FAVORITE SCENES | TK antagonizing the firefighters in 2.07 Displaced

MAY Most Popular: 911: Lone Star | Nancy & Marjan Personal Fave: NICHOLAS GALITZINE is a Creed fan

JUNE Most Popular: This or That: Tarlos Edition -> Babe or Baby Personal Faves: This or That: Tarlos Edition -> Catan gang hangs or private date night

JULY Most Popular: 911: Lone Star | Tarlos Kisses (S1 -> S4) Personal Faves: 911: Lone Star | Music Monday & This or That: Tarlos Edition -> Monster Inside (1x08) or Push (3x04) & This or That: Tarlos Edition -> Dancing at the honky tonk or Dancing at the wedding & 911: Lone Star | Tarlos Head Kisses (S1 -> S4)

AUGUST Most Popular: This or That: Tarlos Edition -> Soulmate scene or proposal Personal Faves: 911: LONE STAR | PAUL STRICKLAND -> Hero on fire and ice & 911: Lone Star | MARJAN MARWANI

SEPTEMBER Most Popular: 911 Lone Star |3.13 -> 5.01 Personal Faves: 911 Lone Star | S3E9 -> S5E1 & 911: Lone Star | 5.01 -> Tarlos phone call & 911 Lone Star | S5E1 -> The Big Tortoise

OCTOBER Most Popular: 911: Lone Star | Tarlos in 5.03 Personal Faves: 911: Lone Star | Owen & Carlos -> burying their grief by overworking & 911: Lone Star | S5E4 -> Paul talking to the rats & 911 lone star -> owen ‘yee-haw!’ strand & TK/Carlos + Touch -> 5.05 Thunderstruck

NOVEMBER Most Popular: 911 lone star -> tarlos kisses rotated ↻ Personal Faves: 911: Lone Star | Tommy Vega S2E10 -> S5E7 & 911 lone star -> tk & jonah parallel & 911: Lone Star | ✨TK Strand's oral fixation✨

DECEMBER Most Popular: 911: Lone Star | Tarlos -> squished-nose kisses Personal Faves: 911: Lone Star | S4E18 -> S5E9 & 911: Lone Star -> 3 times Carlos smiled while thinking about Jonah & TK

tagging some fellow 911ls gifmakers! (with absolutely zero pressure to do anything as complicated as I did here lol): @lutavero @reasonandfaithinharmony @strandedbuckley

[exhaustedpirate]

under the california sun

day 11 and 12 of @bucktommyfluffebruary!! i'm a genius and i made bucktommy have their double date and a day at the beach with our beloved tarlos! this is my first time writing tarlos so pls forgive me if i fuck up!

rated T | 1405 words also on AO3

There is a heavy hand on his thigh, a hand supporting its owner on his shoulder and laughter all around him. The sun is shining, the smell of sea and sunscreen is all around. 

It’s shaping up to be a good day.

TK Strand and Carlos Reyes were on their honeymoon in LA. Buck hadn’t been able to make it to the wedding, what with the bridge collapse, his friend’s new baby, a new relationship starting. 

He had made it a point to where the suit he bought for the wedding when the four of them went out the day before. Tommy and him had been fashionably late - his boyfriend had been very supportive of his choice of attire and Buck was glad for the button-up shirt. 

“It’s a shame we didn’t get to see it at our wedding,” TK pointed out. “But at least now, you have a handsome piece of arm candy with you.”

Buck had laughed, leaning on Tommy’s side who hid his eyes in his hand to cover up his blush before joining. 

“He is handsome, isn’t he?” Buck commented breathlessly, relishing the way Tommy turned that scrunchy smile towards him, blush not faltering but enhancing his beauty.

“Oh god,” TK playfully groaned into his hand. “Were we this bad?”

Tommy’s arm wrapped around Buck’s shoulders, pulling him closer.

“Babe,” Carlos affectionately teased, laying a kiss on TK’s brow. “We still are just as bad.”

They laughed and Buck was happy to have kept in touch with the firefighter-turned-paramedic from Texas. They had so much fun that they prolonged their double date to the next day, Tommy and Buck taking the honeymooning couple to their favourite beach.

Which all led to Buck sitting on a lounger chair, between his boyfriend and the married couple, being teased to an inch of his life. He hides his face in his hands as Tommy’s hand rubs from his thigh to his knee in consolation and TK laughs against his shoulder.

“You broke his ankle?!” Carlos laughs, his hand entwined with TK’s.

Buck groans and Tommy tightens his hold on his knee with a laugh. “In his defense, it wasn’t broken, just badly sprained.”

“Exactly!” Buck emerges from his hideout to point at Tommy with vindication and a proud smile.

“Besides,” Tommy grins, that teasing glint in his eyes that Buck adores. “I found it really hot that you maimed your best friend for me.”

Buck groans louder this time, faking his annoyance even as a blush covers his cheeks while the others laugh. He tangles his fingers with Tommy’s over his leg and half-heartedly glares at his laughing boyfriend who brings his hand over to his mouth and kisses the back of it.

“I still can’t believe it took you this long to figure out you were bisexual,” TK teases, no judgement in his tone, just surprise. “You were flirting with me years ago.”

“I-I just, well, I didn’t know it was a possibility, I guess,” He stutters and Tommy rubs his thumb along his knuckles. “I never took the time to actually think about my feelings towards men.”

“And then you maimed your best friend playing a sport you hate.” Carlos points out to everyone’s amusement.

“My sister, Maddie, told me about her doing the same thing when she felt left out of her friend group when she was 14,” Buck explains. “I-I think I tried to fit my feelings in that platonic slot b-but it didn’t fit.”

“And then I kissed you.”

Buck turns to Tommy and spends a moment just looking at his boyfriend, sprawled out on the lounger chair, sunglasses on top of his head, body glistening in the sun and that smile - Buck’s smile - on his lips. He doesn’t want to think what would happen if Tommy hadn’t kissed him, if he hadn’t taken that leap of faith, if he hadn’t understood what Buck still had yet to understand. 

Would they be here right now? Would they be holding hands while their friends tease him about being happy together? Would he be able to look, kiss, touch, caress the man in front of him in all the ways he wants to? 

He pushes those terrible thoughts away, focusing instead on how glad he is that Tommy did kiss him, that Buck got over his insecurities and told his family, fought for Tommy. He likes to think that if Tommy hadn’t kissed him, Buck would have found a way to still get his man.

With a hand on Tommy’s chest, Buck leans over to place a soft kiss, very reminiscent of their first one, on his boyfriend’s lips. “And then you kissed me,” Buck whispers and watches as the other man’s eyes shine. God, he’s lucky that Tommy was brave. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” And, despite the smirk and the playful glint in Tommy’s eyes, Buck could still see the affection, the devotion, the care they share for one another.

“Should we head to the water?” Carlos asks, after what was probably a long moment of Buck and Tommy looking at each other - they did that sometimes, it annoyed their family. 

It really didn’t.

“Yeah, I’m getting very hot here.” Tommy winks, making them laugh, and Buck taps his chest a couple of times before standing up to stretch.

Carlos stands up first, taking TK’s outstretched hands and pulls him up until they are holding each other. Buck smiles at their display of affection, of love, at their wedding rings shining in the sun. Tommy stands up from his chair, hand running up the line of Buck’s spine before it lands on the nape of his neck before placing a kiss on Buck’s shoulder. 

As he hums in contentment, he can’t help but think of how they would look with rings on their fingers, how he would be able to feel the metal on his skin when Tommy touched him, how it would feel to commit to each other in front of friends and family like TK and Carlos did.

As they work towards submerging in the cold water, Buck thinks about the photos the married couple showed them of their wedding during dinner the day before. Thinks of all their family gathered to celebrate their wedding, their first dance, the beautiful recording of their friend singing TK’s mom’s favourite song. Thinks of the happy looks, shared kisses and toasts.

Thinks of how it would look like if they got married.

Buck climbs onto Tommy’s back, wrapped around him like a koala on a tree, seeking his warmth, his touch, his presence. As he laughs with his friends, with his boyfriend, feeling the sun on his skin, having an excuse to have skin-on-skin contact with Tommy, he thinks of how lucky he is. 

How in love he is.

Buck kisses the space between Tommy’s jawline and neck, smiling at the startled hum from the older man who looks back over his shoulder as best he can.

“What was that for?”

Buck shrugs and notices TK looking at him, a supportive glint to his eyes - are his feelings so clear on his face? - before he turns back to pulling his husband into swimming with him. He takes a deep breath.

“I just-I l-” He clears his throat against the lump keeping the words from slipping out, his heart pounding so hard against his chest, he’s sure Tommy can feel it. His courage escapes him. “I’m just happy.” 

But, from the way Tommy clings tighter to him, the way his nose bumps against his until their lips connect, the way his moans and sighs at the kiss echo Buck’s, he finds himself relaxing.

“I’m happy too.”

And he feels heard, understood, cared for. It feels like an “I love you too”. It feels like coming home, like kisses and touches. It feels like love.

“I’m freezing,” Carlos whines, body plastered along TK’s back, their hands held together. “Let’s take advantage of this California sun.”

Tommy laughs and Buck prepares to be put down, to walk beside his boyfriend back to the chair. Needlessly. Tommy carries Buck all the way back, trailing behind their friends and not for the first time that day, Buck thinks of how lucky he is.

With warm, strong hands holding his thighs, his arms wrapped around a warm body and the occasional bump from his married friends, he lets the warmth take him over.

It’s a good day.

[freneticfloetry]

favorite fandom things

I still can’t believe our little weewoo show is ending. This is a bittersweet one, but it totally tracks with the vibes this fandom has nurtured here, full of feels and squee and passing those things on. Thanks to @thisbuildinghasfeelings for starting this one, and @welcometololaland @rmd-writes @reyesstrand @strandnreyes @nisbanisba @carlossreaders @bonheur-cafe @tellmegoodbye and @heartstringsduet for tagging me.

These are a few of my favorite things about being part of the Tarlos/Lone Star fandom.

All the Words I’ve been a Lone Star viewer since the very beginning — as a 9-1-1 viewer, a spinoff with Liv Tyler and firefighting Chris Traeger proved too great a pull to resist. And for years, It was one of those happy place shows — things like The Good Place, Ted Lasso, Schitt’s Creek — that I thought I’d just enjoy watching every week, without any real need or desire to write it. After all, the cast was diverse (but not for diversity’s sake), the stories were compelling, and my ship had been canon since day one. Then the Season of Carlos got underway, and the bunnies began to breed. It had been awhile since I really wrote anything — my previous show did my ship and fave characters so dirty that I couldn’t get far enough removed from my hurt and anger to actually get words out. But I saw the preview for 4x04, it planted an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone, and before the night was over I’d written the first two thousands words of to build a home (not the first scene, by any means, but the muse does what she wants). There have been so, so many more words since, both published and not yet revealed, and somewhere in there my brain started to spawn bunnies for another fandom I picked up in 2020 and never thought I would write. I love Lone Star for a lot of reasons, but here at the end, the very biggest is the fact that it gave writing back to me.

All the Fic When I say my old show fucked with my head, I mean it — it even stopped me reading fic for a long time. Which is a shame. That fandom, though small, had such a high concentration of ridiculously talented people, some of whom I’m lucky enough to still call close friends today. It spoiled me, and I think it even kept me from venturing into reading in other fandoms for fear of not finding fic at that level. Imagine my surprise when I started reading Tarlos, and found myself immersed in another sea of gifted writers. I am continually blown away by the creativity and care in this fandom. Especially on the heels of my last one, which was a genre show with actual magic and batshit storytelling and seemingly limitless possibilities — the fact that I’m no less entertained by or invested in or consistently in awe of the things Tarlos writers are able to do with these characters, overwhelmingly within the bounds and confines of a real-world procedural, is kind of amazing. (Shoutout to CIG’s beautiful Fire Island, which was the very first thing I ever read.)

All the Enthusiasm I’m going to keep this one short, lest I get overly emotional. But I wasn’t sure, when I first started posting, how my particular point of view would be received — starting out of the gate with something deep in Carlos’ head, exploring parts of his childhood and culture that I desperately wanted to see on the show. The reception that to build a home got still shocks me, to be honest, and I’m grateful for every comment and kudo and kind word. Now everyone go read What Is Sown, What Is Grown, which is a goddamn masterpiece.

All the Tag Games! Not gonna lie, there have been weeks with so many tag games that I wondered how any of y’all actually manage to write. But it’s so much fun to read everyone’s snippets every week, to look at your inspiration images and listen to your Music Monday choices and just take a beat to collectively celebrate this shared obsession with our blorbos. I’ve been writing fic for twenty years (yes, I’m a fandom old, or what the internet has deemed a “geriatric Millennial”), and I’ve seen my share of drama and wank and mean girl vendettas and fandoms soured by BNF culture. And it’s so refreshing to have seen so little of that here. I remember my early days of Tarlos posting, and the way Lola and Rae and a few other people took me under their tag wings and never looked back. And that’s still happening, with so many new authors who emerge — the list of people being tagged and tagging in return just keeps growing. Yes, there’s discourse, and there’s disagreement, and things can get a bit heated. But overall, this is such a great space to inhabit, and you guys have made it that way. If you don’t believe me, look no further than this accidental Tumblr storm about vaguenotion’s You Keep Coming Back with a Bird in Your Teeth, which remains one of my favorite examples of the way this fandom happily opens its arms and offers new folks punch and pie.

A very honorable mention goes to Lone Star being the thing that gave @ambiguouspenny and I a shared fandom again (and so letting them grace the world with more of their art).

I am late as hell, it’s almost tomorrow. So, open tag! (But also @liminalmemories21 @never-blooms @carlos-in-glasses @paperstorm @herefortarlos @lemonlyman-dotcom @walkinginland @reasonandfaithinharmony I’m looking at you.)

[laura1633]

imagine some sorts of halloween party, everyone showing up in basic costumes like cowboys, firefighters etc. then doors open and there he is one and only max verstappen. in a ferrari fernandos years race suit. everyone just doing a collective “woooooow”, while charles choking on his drink.

later charles approached max, who was completely ignoring him all night, like he didn’t turned charles’ world upside down. charles asks him about his costume and max goes on full rant about how he wanted to tribute fernando, since he was his childhood hero. and charles is like “heyyy stop fangirling over fernando, i am here, i am ferrari driver, i am better, kiss me please, lets go upstairs”

safe to say max got massage and that night were pretty red lighted🤭

(i just remembered that charles and carlos have their surnames on suits and imagine charles later made max weat it🤭🤭)

Max in a Ferrari race suit, Charles would die 😂😂

I can imagine him saying to Pierre that surely Max was wearing that outfit on purpose to flirt with him!! So when Max says its because of Fernando Charles gets jealous... and Max did want to dress up as a bit of a Fernando tribute but also knew it would drive Charles wild 👀

Charles probably asks Ferrari to make him another race suit but with slightly different measurements .... they have no idea why but it's Charles so they just do it. The measurements are of course Max's! Max gets given the race suit as a gift to wear but when he looks properly at it he sees Charles has had a label sewn into it that says 'Property of Charles Leclerc' 😂

Loving the Halloween theme 🎃