Tarlos Unites Fans Worldwide
- Kassia Skorzewska
- Apr 23, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 24, 2023
Ever since 911 Lone Star dropped a sneak peek of Ronen Rubinstein (T.K. Strand) and Rafael Silva (Carlos Reyes) making out in the fall of 2019, fans dubbed their ship name, Tarlos, a mashup of their characters’ names.
Since then, Tarlos has been used as a hashtag by fans of the show, the characters and actors. #Tarlos has also been modified to #TarlosTuesday, when fans post edits or photos of Rubinstein and Silva every single Tuesday.
Right now, the Tarlos hashtag on Instagram has 35.2 thousand posts, and the Tarlos hashtag on Twitter has 3509 tweets in the last 7 days.
“I have to admit that I haven’t joined the #TarlosTuesday thing for a while now, don’t know why, I just stopped at some point. I believe, though, that it’s absolutely adorable and interesting to see all the posts each Tuesday,” said Giulia.
“Plus, Rafael being the one who sort of started it, makes it even more special. I remember when he took the time to actually repost every single story he got tagged in on Tuesdays. That was really cool,” she added.
Giulia runs the account RonenRItaly on Twitter as the first Italian fan account for Rubinstein.
Speaking of the reach #Tarlos has had around the world, Camille, from France, runs the Instagram account SilvaRubinstein. Steph, from Australia, runs the Twitter account Aussie_Tarlos. Natalia, from Poland, runs the Twitter account RoroPoland. Bee, from the United States, runs the Twitter account Incorrect_TK, and Maddie, from the US, runs the Twitter (MaddieMak96) and Instagram (Maddiee96_art) accounts.
“A few months ago, I found this IG page from some fans from like Asia, I can’t really remember the country, and I was stunned by the fact that the show had reached that far in the world,” said Giulia.
“I think that Tarlos getting known and acknowledged all over the world is a sign that people are actually getting more and more involved in the LGBTQIA+ community, which is probably the goal. I love to see the different takes people have on Tarlos, and seeing all the love Ronen and Rafael are getting from the world is always so amazing,” they added.
Using the Tarlos hashtag, Camille reposts photos of Rubinstein and Silva, as well as other photos related to #Tarlos and the show, in higher definition which they were originally posted.
“I love being able to share with other fans about 911 Lone Star, to share about the interviews, I’ve created my own little bubble with this account -no one I know watches the show-. This account has also allowed me to make friends, but also to be able to give services, or to show our support to Ronen and Rafael. That’s what I like about running this account,” said Camille.
Bee creates digital faceless cartoon-like art based on the actors,
“I don’t know if I can honestly choose one favorite thing about creating art. One thing is seeing the way I affect others. Knowing I’m responsible for making someone else happy is one of the most fulfilling feelings I can ever experience,” said Bee.
Maddie also creates digital art with the actors’ images.
“I was really burned out on creating art after my last semester of grad school in the fall and I was in a complete block artistically. When I started creating fan art of 9-1-1 Lone Star characters/ actors, I felt that block slowly start slipping away after months of it building up,” said Maddie.
“Battling this art block with digital art has also allowed me to find my style and play around with styles until I found something that spoke to me. It’s been a journey in finding the fun in creating art again,” she added.
Every so often, Rubinstein and Silva interact with the #Tarlos fandom by viewing people’s stories, and occasionally reposting some of the fans’ artwork.
“When Ronen posted the one piece I was literally just repeating “HOLY SHIT!” over and over again. My hands were shaking so bad, and I was kind of in disbelief. It was like the first notification of him liking the post I came across and I was like OMG. Then I got a notification he tagged me in a post, and I was like “NO WAY!” I was supposed to be going somewhere when he did that, but I got stuck on my couch for like an hour in an “oh-my-gosh-I-can’t-believe-this actually-happened” stupor,” said Maddie.
Not only has the #Tarlos hashtag brought fans together from around the world and allowed them to form friendships, but seeing Rubinstein and Silva portray an LGBTQ couple on national US television has brought courage to many fans of the show and the actors.
“Ronen and Rafael do a fantastic job playing the roles of TK and Carlos, they make this relationship so natural. I think it’s great to be able to see all this on TV. Some people still have a lot of prejudices,” said Camille.
“It’s time to shake things up, show this over and over again and normalize the fact that, yes, 2 men (or 2 women) can have feelings for each other. It’s time to show the LGBTQIA+ community, to accept that we are all different but all human and with the same rights. Our sexuality should not define our rights,” she added.
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