💕 Tarlos Secret Cupid Exchange 💕

We are very happy to welcome you all to our first Tarlos Secret Cupid Exchange, 2024 edition!

We know this is very short notice but after realizing there's no other Tarlos Valentine's event happening this year, we decided to act quickly - and we hope you will all join us 💕

How does this work?

It's quite easy: sign up using our form so we can match you with someone to create for (your giftee) and with someone who will create something for you (your Cupid). You choose what you want to create and what you want to receive, and it doesn’t have to be the same sort of creation. Once you receive the information for your giftee, you begin creating until posting dates come, so you can share your gift with your recipient. And, in the meantime, you can always share thoughts and spread the love with your giftee — but remember to keep it anon because this is a Secret Cupid Exchange!

Schedule

JANUARY 14th - JANUARY 21st — The sign-up form will be available for joining the exchange. JANUARY 24th — You will receive an email with all the information regarding your recipient. Please let us know if you don’t receive it, so we can resend it. FEBRUARY 2nd — First check-in through email, to keep in touch and see your progress. This is the moment to let us know if you need more time or if you need to drop out. This is also the moment to claim your preferred posting date. FEBRUARY 5th — You will be notified about your posting date. FEBRUARY 14th - FEBRUARY 18th — Tarlos Secret Cupid Big Reveal! All the creations will be posted by the Cupids and reblogged to the event Tumblr.

Sign-up Form

Now, don't hesitate — come and join the fun! Since this is all about creating for someone and receiving a creation in return, any kind of creation is welcome: fics, gifsets, art, fanvids, playlists, podfics… If you can create it, it belongs here!

-> Sign up here <-

Any more questions? Please read our rules and our faqs, or drop us an ask in case you need further assistance!

Header, icon, and title picture are creations from @911icons and are used with their specific permission. Many, many thanks for that!

💕 Tarlos Secret Cupid Exchange 💕

We are very happy to welcome you all to our first Tarlos Secret Cupid Exchange, 2024 edition!

We know this is very short notice but after realizing there's no other Tarlos Valentine's event happening this year, we decided to act quickly - and we hope you will all join us 💕

How does this work?

It's quite easy: sign up using our form so we can match you with someone to create for (your giftee) and with someone who will create something for you (your Cupid). You choose what you want to create and what you want to receive, and it doesn’t have to be the same sort of creation. Once you receive the information for your giftee, you begin creating until posting dates come, so you can share your gift with your recipient. And, in the meantime, you can always share thoughts and spread the love with your giftee — but remember to keep it anon because this is a Secret Cupid Exchange!

Schedule

JANUARY 14th - JANUARY 21st — The sign-up form will be available for joining the exchange. JANUARY 24th — You will receive an email with all the information regarding your recipient. Please let us know if you don’t receive it, so we can resend it. FEBRUARY 2nd — First check-in through email, to keep in touch and see your progress. This is the moment to let us know if you need more time or if you need to drop out. This is also the moment to claim your preferred posting date. FEBRUARY 5th — You will be notified about your posting date. FEBRUARY 14th - FEBRUARY 18th — Tarlos Secret Cupid Big Reveal! All the creations will be posted by the Cupids and reblogged to the event Tumblr.

Sign-up Form

Now, don't hesitate — come and join the fun! Since this is all about creating for someone and receiving a creation in return, any kind of creation is welcome: fics, gifsets, art, fanvids, playlists, podfics… If you can create it, it belongs here!

-> Sign up here <-

Any more questions? Please read our rules and our faqs, or drop us an ask in case you need further assistance!

Header, icon, and title picture are creations from @911icons and are used with their specific permission. Many, many thanks for that!

FIC: Now, and in the hour of our death (911 Lone Star)

—

Carlos couldn’t see TK, but he could hear him gasping for air. Trudie was looking down at him with genuine anguish on her face.

“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” she told him.

—

(How 4x04 could have gone if TK had gotten suspicious of Trudie and sweet-talked himself into the house, namely everyone getting head injuries from common household items.)

For @whenshereads for the 2023 Tarlos Secret Santa exchange. Thank you to @tarlos-santa and @whenshereads for your incredible patience with me.

AO3 link / PG-13 / 3k

So I'm two days late with Starbucks, but I'm here. (Does this count toward Seven Sentence Sunday?)

The Reyes family has opened their hearts to him in so many ways. Tonight, TK’s determined to open their home in return, no matter how clueless — or Carlos-less — he might find himself in the process.

Three days of discovering new traditions.

In general, this is a love letter to the mass insanity that is the Mexican holiday season. Specifically, it's a @tarlos-santa gift especially for @sugdenlovesdingle!

esta noche es de alegría (read on AO3)

It’s technically a three-parter, but could be read as a slice-of-life standalone. Will update again on Saturday, and finish up the Saturday after that.

As always, huge thank you to @ambiguouspenny for all the support in my time of flailing (especially since they were plotting in the process).

Merry Christmas Eve to all those who celebrate!

🎄 Silent Night, Holy Sh*t 🎄

Ship: Tarlos | Fandom: 911 Lone Star | Author: noxsoulmate | Read on ao3

Written for: Tarlos Secret Santa Exchange @tarlos-santa Giftee: @eclectic-sassycoweyes

Word Count: 13053 | Rating: Mature | Warnings/Tags: Established Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Married Couple, Paramedic TK Strand, Police Officer Carlos Reyes, Competency, Competence Kink (mentioned), Competent TK Strand, Medical Procedures, detailed and accurate, medical accuracies, proofread by people working in medical fields, Gunshot Wounds, Heart Attacks, Concussions, Head Injury, Blood and Injury, Ice Skating, Christmas tree farm, Traditions, Christmas Tree, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Carlos Reyes, Worried TK Strand, Soft Husbands, Domestic Fluff, Soft and happy ending, Canon Compliant, Set after Season 4

Summary:

🎄 Read on ao3 🎄

Many thanks to all the wonderful people helping me with this fic 🥰 you're all heroes!! 😘

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Sneak peek under the cut:

This is so so SO late but @chicgeekgirl89 here is your @tarlos-santa gift!

I absolutely loved all three of your prompts but in the end I went with: They lose power on Christmas Eve and Carlos freaks out about dinner but they make the most of it and still celebrate together.

And after several rewrites, mental breakdowns, existential crises, exasperation over the English language, and wondering if it's even real... this is the result and I hope you like it! Merry Christmas!!

---

Perfectly unperfect (AO3)

“What are your plans for the holidays, cap?” TK asked, making conversation as they headed back to the firehouse after a call on their last shift before Christmas.

“Oh, nothing much. I’m just going to enjoy the downtime with the girls. Staying in our pyjamas all day, eating junk food, and watching Christmas movies.”

“What about you and Carlos?” Nancy asked. “Let me guess, not leaving the bed unless absolutely necessary?” she teased.

TK snorted.

“I wish. Carlos has been planning the dinner for weeks. We’ve been all over the city to get ingredients and I thought he was going to cry when his schedule changed and he had to work Christmas Eve.”

“Are you hosting the family Christmas dinner then?”

“No, that’s the worst of it.” TK sighed. “Dad invited us over and so did his parents but we decided to stay home. So it’s just going to be the two of us. And he’s still bought enough food as if both our entire families are coming over.”

“Oh that sucks dude. Your husband cooking you a fancy holiday dinner? Damn that’s rough.” Nancy said sarcastically. “I’m glad nobody is going to do that for me this year. That would just suck.”

“Shut up.” TK rolled his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate him cooking us dinner, it’s that he’s stressing out over it when I would be happy with a frozen pizza and watching Home Alone in bed.”

“Have you tried telling him that?” Tommy asked. “Communication is the key to a long and happy marriage.”

“I have, but he just gives me the Carlos Cow Eyes and tells me he wants to make it special for us. And I can resist anything but that. Those soulful brown eyes will be the death of me.”

Tommy laughed.

“I remember those days well. Charles’ laugh made me melt when we first got married. And then when the girls were born, seeing him with them…” she sighed. “I was a goner.”

“Yeah, I’m still working on Carlos making friends with Lou. He’ll make him his salad and sometimes even feeds him crickets or meal worms but he still won’t touch him with more than just a finger.”

Nancy looked at him.

“How do you go from babies to lizards? Your mind is such a strange place sometimes.”

all the quiet nights you bear

6.8k - tarlos - teen+

my @tarlos-santa gift for @moviegeek03 <333 brit, happy holidays!! i combined two of your prompts—anything with hurt tk and caring carlos & something dealing with the holidays—and kind of went wild with it. i had so much fun bringing them together. i hope you enjoy <333

7 Days Of Festive Fanart

Merry Christmas @lemonlyman-dotcom from your secret Santa!!! I hope you have the most wonderful time whatever you are up to and thank you so much for all of your love over the last year! I hope you like your gift 💞

Thank you for hosting this event @tarlos-santa!!

The One Where... (for @watmalik)

My @tarlos-santa gift for @watmalik! I hope you like it. Many thanks to @wandering-night19 for the beta.

Summary

Imagine the 126 was never rebuilt as a firehouse but as a community center by former FDNY Captain Owen Strand, who was unable to requalify for the field after his lung cancer diagnosis. He works with the Austin FD and has recruited some new members to the department who live in the apartments at The 126 and spend their time volunteering and socializing there when they are not out in the field. Imagine TK didn’t overdose but fled to Austin to escape NYC after a bad breakup way after his dad got there; imagine everyone knew Carlos was married and a gay disaster. And then you kind of sort of get this fic. 

Based on the Following Prompt (under the cut)

with love, i glow

SURPRISE BITCH! (i could not help myself i am so sorry)

for the lovely @theghostofashton for the @tarlos-santa 2023 Secret Santa exchange

merry christmas neha <3 my fandom experience gained so much depth and enjoyment since you slid into my DMs this summer, and every day i'm more and more grateful for it. here's to you and the chaos we're gonna stir in this fandom with our fics next year.

also this is wildly unbeta'd so excuse any mistakes, thank you!

for the prompt: they spend the holidays with carlos's family, and carlos has a moment of quiet reflection on the love and gratitude he feels for his life

Read more on Ao3!

don't want to set the world on fire

[rating] teen and up audiences [pairing] carlos reyes/tk strand [prompt] tarlos historical au [warnings] angst with a happy ending, canonical character deaths, pearl harbor au, world war ii, grief, mourning, fluff, kissing, alternating pov

[summary] 1941. tk strand and carlos reyes arrive in hawaii ready to recover from their own, personal tragedies. what they are not expecting is to find love among war.

happy holidays, @tailoredshirt! i really hope you enjoy reading this story just as much as i’ve enjoyed writing it! 

it wouldn’t have made sense without the incredibly fast beta-reading help of @morganaspendragonss and the hand-holding offered by @moviegeek03 when i thought i couldn’t do this. 

title from the song by the ink spots, which was released in 1941.

don't want to set the world on fire 15k+ | read on ao3

March 27th, 1941

“What do you mean, you're going to Europe?” TK tries to control his voice as he chooses to ask the first of the myriad of questions that are exploding in his head.

“They need the help,” Alex explains calmly. He doesn't look TK in the eye when he continues, “That's why I enlisted.”

“You volunteered?” TK screeches, earning themselves a few glares from the other people having dinner at this fancy restaurant where he had thought about proposing to his boyfriend.

Maybe proposing isn't exactly the right word, since they can't actually get married, but TK had planned to promise forever to this man who's now telling him that he's volunteered to step into a war that doesn't even have anything to do with them.

This definitely isn't how TK had envisioned his evening going.

“Yeah,” Alex confirms in a low voice. “It's not unheard of, you know. We need to help.”

“We?” TK huffs. “It's not our war, Alex. Your selflessness is amazing, but I highly doubt that you dying for them is going to change the course of the war.”

“You can't know that,” Alex retorts. He sighs as he stretches his hand across the table to rest it on top of TK’s, but TK jerks back. “TK, please,” he tries again. “I know it's difficult to understand and almost impossible to accept, but all I'm asking of you is to respect my decision.”

“How can you ask me to respect that you want to—die for people who will never even know your name?” He tries to keep his voice steady and still low, so as to not attract any more attention upon them, but it breaks around the middle, tears threatening to fall. “Alex—”

@alrightbuckaroo the time has come and this is your @tarlos-santa gift from moi!

you, me, and the lizard makes three

1/1 | No Archive Warnings Apply | 6k | For @birdclowns for Tarlos Secret Santa (@tarlos-santa) | Written for the prompt, "tarlos + their lizard boy son" | All the thanks in the world to @heartstringsduet for being my second set of eyes on this one <3

Summary: While TK is away in New York City for a short trip, Carlos is left to care for Lou II, feeding him mealworms and all, until TK gets back. What starts as something that feels akin to pulling teeth ends up becoming an exploration into just how much love Carlos realizes he has to give. Even if he didn't realize it, at first.

Enjoy a story in which Carlos goes down the "pet he didn't want" to the "pet he can't live without" pipeline, only on AO3 :)

When TK takes Carlos to New York for the first time during the holiday season, he thought showing his husband all the typical tourist sites would save him from a rush of memories of his mom and all of his childhoods spent here, but TK should’ve known that grief doesn’t play by the rules. Even though it’s been nearly three years without her, TK finds that she’s still alive in every block of this city. 

Read on ao3

Small Wonders | Orchidscript

Read here on Ao3

(Just a quick note: I'm currently traveling and planned poorly, so I'm trying to post all my installments on airport wifi. I hope to have the next three chapters uploaded by the time I'm actually in Texas. Keep your fingers crossed for me!)