#all the jeresa sets do though

[sietegotas]

ALICE BRAGA (and Peter Gadiot) Interview for QOTS 2016

+ bonus Peter

[mymostimaginaryfriend]

5x07 Reaction Post

The Fox in the Hen House...or you know, that Fox you convinced yourself was a pet despite repeated reminders he preferred to bite your face off, bites some faces off....

Love that the getting ready montage wasn’t just for the ladies.  Holsters and ties should be like an entire accepted dress code IMO.

I also love that Teresa emerging in full Queenpin regalia for the first time (low bun/all white/everything) was to mark her entrance into legitimate business and that the aspirational Queenpin we’ve seen over the seasons represented that sort of freedom, not her cartel ascension.  

“Teresa doesn’t take no for an answer.” “Especially not from us.” This is the Wonder Twin interaction we deserve.

Kelly Anne inviting Dumas to their safe house.   Girl what?  WHAT? That’s putting a lot of faith in an armed man with a grudge but okay.  

Also I’m with James on this one: too many eyes on them now.  They’re in this limbo between legit LEGIT and kinda sorta legit while participating in a shitload of illegal activities that is just ripe for federal charges.  Speaking of which, remember the feds? Did Kelly Anne forget to invite them too? :P

The Jeresa toast scene was lovely.  Loved Teresa asking James how he was, the light flirting, the way James heard her footsteps and KNEW it was her.

And L M A O at James’ whole ‘are you legit enough we can bang’ vibe check.  Honestly HOW did something not happen.  Those heart eyes were BEYOND intimate.  When they jumped to the next morning I full on booed. Listen, there’s a lot of unrealistic stuff on this show but that might have been THE most unrealistic lol. There’s just no way they didn’t have victory sex in view of her waterfront diorama, I do not believe it. Nope.

SO glad to see Marcel and a Marcel (albeit subdued) Suit back.  Loved that he got a condensed Queenpin arc in like three scenes, (I feel like only Alimi could sell that and sell that he did).  Though I have to wonder if by having Marcel come to these realizations about what you give up for power and rejecting it, they won’t go a different route for Teresa in a few eps? 

Although in a way, Marcel choosing to leave was the same thing driving Teresa to stay: she chose her people.

Teresa saying “you’d have done the same thing” to Marcel....okay but wasn’t it just like a few weeks ago in show time that he chose Teresa over the Judge wanting his help to either kill her or send her to jail?  Also perhaps give him a full 24 hours outside before expecting him to re-join the group text ya know??

And not sure you want to repeat almost word for word what Pecas said to you right before you shot him for setting you up, T.  As comparisons go that one is not ideal.

James telling Teresa to cover him in a gun fight??? That is what Action Couple dreams are made of, friends. The only thing that would have been better is if they had run inside the building for a 2x04/3x02 style emotionally fraught life and death conversation too but I have come to accept the writers do not agree with me on the need for those scenes this season and I’ll take what I can get.

The Castel not being on screen thing is unfortunate but are we finally circling back around to Teresa getting too big for the Devon/Castel deal?  My dramatic ass has been sustained by that potential drama (especially the idea that Devon could leverage James in that situation) since S3 finale, could it actually finally happen?

Boaz and Teresa both doing coke several times on screen this ep...Also Teresa of all people thinking Boaz’s childhood friend might be her ally.  

Pote a) saying “pee pee” in reference to his unborn child and b) pausing to take a final drag from his cigarette before running off to warn Kelly Anne?  It’s scenes like these that make his inevitable death less heartbreaking, show.

(And I know reduced sets/production and travel guidelines this season affected this but having Loya/Taza/Castel etc mentioned off screen while randos get face time is annoying.  All I know is they better not kill Camila off in a line of dialogue or I will sue.)

And finally, the rating system is ridic, I know it’s ridic, but getting week after week after week of gory closeups of head wounds (not to mention a boob shot this ep) and drawing the line at characters swearing at 10pm timeslot???  COME ON. Let Teresa say fuck already. She DESERVES IT.

[283livesforone]

Opinions on 5x08

• James I love you but please give him enough screen time to work through everything they just threw at him (Devon coming back, Teresa acknowledging him protecting her and then just cutting off before any actual development presumably because they have a big scene for them planned later?)

• So much happened in so little time and I really hope that’s just so that the last two episodes can progress smoothly without any messy plot holes. I get them wanting to pack everything they wanted to do into one and in that sacrificing the character aspects of the show so I’m really hoping the crazy 5 line conversations and two hundred confrontations one after the other is just for the benefit of the finale.

• Kelly Anne and Pote. I like them. They’re awkward and lack the right kind of chemistry but scenes like when he found her on the road worked well and look we need one happy relationship. Wasn’t a fan of how they rushed Potes decision. They really said massive conflict of his inner beliefs and moral code but then make Teresa chose for him and then five minutes later everything is fixed and he doesn’t lose anyone? Rushed but I’ll let it slide because as I said, I’m hoping the crazy pace was to move us to where we need to be in time for the finale. Also not a fan of how they rushed them having to leave. Hopefully they’ll cover that next episode, I can’t see them not doing but we need to see Pote furious and not knowing what to do with himself living like a normal human.

• Next week I need:

Jeresa power team going up against everyone and being hot as normal and either the emotional climax we’ve been waiting for or the set up for it to happen in the finale

Pote coming to terms with being a normal person so that he can actually be a father including the frustration of feeling like he’s useless and doing nothing to protect his family.

KA dealing with the trauma of almost being sex trafficked, being thrown around between a load of shitty men and feeling helpless, killing a man to save herself and her child and feeling like the won’t be a good parent because of the world she’s put herself in.

I’d LOVE to see KA and Pote have a heart to heart about how they both think they’ll be bad parents because they’ve done bad things and then realizing what matters is that they just TRY to do what’s right for the child. That would be the perfect ending to everything they’ve both got to deal with and force Pote to accept a life without murder.

I absolutely need some push back from Teresa. I can’t have her ending be she gave up to a load of men. Absolutely not. It would be a more satisfying ending if she died trying to keep the business but after the whole amazing feminist message of the show up to now, giving up would destroy everything she’s done before now. This was just episode 8 though so I doubt she’d go the direction she’s planning this early.

All in all, didn’t love this episode but I understand why it had to be the way it did. Mad about how they keep killing good characters in shitty ways but I shall hold in my anger for another two weeks

[jerepars]

Throwing Copper Extended Chapter Notes

1 / 5 Reinventing Your Exit

Hyperlinks appear in blue (underlined on mobile). The story is posted here.

Teresa could see the stress James carried in his jaw and the dark circles under his eyes. She recognized it because she’d seen it in herself before, the restlessness and slight delirium, when she wasn’t sleeping.

The first sentence is an ode to the opening lyrics of Remo Drive’s “I’m My Own Doctor”: I’ve been self-diagnosing all of my problems, carrying all my stress in my jaw.

David Lee Autry was one of many aliases James had over the last few years but one he maintained with close attention because the so-called Autry had a credit card in his name. James hadn’t exactly had time to pack a bag when he broke out of a CIA facility to warn Teresa about impending doom. He showed up in New Orleans in a stolen car, the clothes on his back, contents of his pockets, and a bullet lodged in his chest.

David Lee Autry is the name written on James’ fake passport in 2x03 (around 20:54 in the episode); Pete from the militia group reads it.

James felt a lump in this throat. Whether it was because there was something very domestic about letting someone else do his laundry or because he worried the warning he’d come with wasn’t enough to protect Teresa every time she walked out the door, he wasn’t sure. But he swallowed his feelings down and didn’t put up an argument to her laundry suggestion. He appreciated the clothing George had lent him, but oversized tracksuits and brightly patterned button-down shirts were far from James’ aesthetic. And he absolutely refused to put on King George-branded attire, aerodynamic or not, so he’d been going commando while waiting for David Lee Autry’s online order to show up at Teresa’s PO Box.

When Teresa and James meet King George for the first time in 2x01, we get the lovely scene where he yells for someone to get Teresa a King George bikini (1:12) and later points to the speedo he’s wearing, saying “aerodynamic as shit, will make you feel alive, I trust” (1:18). And, like, who am I to not bring up aerodynamic speedos and going commando?

The doctor had come back and after patching him up, again, prescribed bed rest for the patient who seemed to be doing everything to keep aggravating his body rather than help it get better. Teresa had been furious, asking if he had a death wish after all, so he’d spent the last two days bored out of his mind in bed from inactivity, barely sleeping and reading Faulkner. Or maybe he’d barely slept because he was reading Faulkner. Either way, James knew it best to tread lightly where Teresa was concerned.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t sit in a chair at a desk though. Anything would be an improvement over laying on his back and waiting for his thoughts to float up to the ceiling.

So, listen, since they’re in Louisiana, and given their close proximity to matters of death and dying, if James is going to be reading anything at all, it just feels fitting that he’d be reading Southern literature, specifically William Faulkner. As I Lay Dying is an obvious choice, but personally I think he’d be reading The Sound and the Fury. Not that it matters.

The last sentence in the second paragraph is a reference to “Dreamspace” by Glacier Veins, and the line that goes I’m on my back so I float up to the ceiling to feel different.

Teresa had cried herself to sleep that night thinking about everything that could have gone wrong, if he hadn’t made it in time, or if he had but if it had been too late for him. It wasn’t just anyone—it was James, and he would’ve spent his last dying breath to tell her to chase safety if that was what it took.

Never did I think I’d manage to make a nod to and with my one last gasping breath I’d apologize for bleeding on your shirt from “You’re So Last Summer” by Taking Back Sunday. To be here, in 2020, as an adult, and finding a way to make that reference is...strange yet somehow satisfying at the same time. Also, the chapter title is in reference to a song off the Underoath album They’re Only Chasing Safety, and it looks like I found a way to work that in as well. I don’t know why my musical inspiration for this version of Jeresa seems to come from music that peaked in the early 2000s?

There was a time when James had been her mentor to the underworld, always keeping her from sinking to the bottom, even when he’d been the one who had to make the tough calls and take the brutal actions. She didn’t think he’d ever be able to rid himself of that balancing act, of showing her the ropes but strongly advising her to untether herself from the line completely, to walk away. Teresa could still hear his voice in the back of her mind, from the night after the party at the Birdman’s when he told her in a matter-of-fact fashion why he’d sent her in: your job was to learn. Since then, and especially in his absence, it seemed there’d been only tough lessons to learn and bitter pills to swallow.

I have so much appreciation for the early dynamic between James and Teresa. The car scene in 1x05 outside the warehouse is a highlight because when Teresa gets out, all indignant, she thinks she has the last word (0:15), and James comes right back at her (0:21) to tell her how it is. He’s kind of smug about it. I love it.

And I know that there’s trouble all the time. But it’s interesting that when they get away from this dynamic (especially in S4 where it doesn’t exist, because James isn’t there), it seems that’s where the real trouble comes in.

The balance that they create is delicate.

They were so far removed from the time he’d said I’ve got a plan for a future and it doesn’t include getting killed by crossfire meant for you. But he’d chosen crossfire—sought it out, really—that was what his future devolved into. And like he’d said back then, she was trouble. More and more, Teresa had begun to wonder if there was anything the James she’d first met in Dallas wasn’t right about.

I know this scene in 1x04 is often reblogged and quoted. After watching it several times, my only question is if it’s just the lighting of the scene or did they forget to apply James’ tattoos on set that day? I can’t watch it or see gifs of it now without that bothering me.

It only took Teresa a day to get the cat to venture inside and it only took George a few minutes to declare its name: Peach. God damn, we got ourselves a grumpy cat on our hands, George had exclaimed as she sunk her claws into his flesh before escaping from his embrace like a magic trick, she’s got the same personality as Giant Peach over here. She’s little Peach.

So I guess I rolled with that bts picture of Peter from Alice’s story and wrote the cat into the story. I bet this cat makes zero appearance in S5 and at no point do any of them ever have a pet but I did it anyway. The first thought when I saw it was “Peach and Giant Peach”. Would James be a cat guy? I think he would.

George suspected there was much more to the exchange than the parting words voiced out loud, noticing there was a sense of thanks in her eyes, too. The looks Teresa and James gave each other exuded the tension between them and always made it feel at least ten degrees hotter than it actually was in any room. They had their own way of communicating that only made sense to them, that no one else was privy to. There were better odds throwing copper down a wishing well than trying to decode their language of silence.

The story title comes from “Throwing Copper” by Touché Amoré. Like throwing copper in a well. You’ll never know if wishes work only time can tell.

This is not really the part that made me decide to name the story after the song, but I was still happy to find a place for it in the narration.

“Think you might need to reinvent your exit strategy, Giant Peach,” George said with a frown, nearly in disbelief with himself over what he was about to reveal to James.

“Reinvent?”

“Reinvent. Rethink. As in don’t make one. Methinks the last thing Little Principessa needs right now is more people leaving.” George spoke without his usual puns, so James didn’t have to question if he was being serious.

As mentioned earlier, the chapter title is from a song off of They’re Only Chasing Safety, “Reinventing Your Exit”. I think this might be the biggest Underoath song there ever was? Just listening to this makes me feel 14 again. This was such a gateway to other music that I ended up loving.

Teresa’s evolving thirst for vengeance, to even the score, was foreign to James. It was part of Teresa that scared James a bit. Before he left Phoenix, he’d seen tiny red flashes of her anger, questionable decisions so far removed from when she’d stood within shooting distance on a train car and said we can do a different way, where none of us has to die. Her vision had seemed clear then; she wanted to move product without the same bloodshed as Camila. When James worked for Teresa, he’d never wanted her to lose herself in the business, and never thought she should stay in the business—those were things she’d said she never wanted, too. But being at the top in the business, like she was, it changed people. It was inevitable. It pulled them down into the fire until there was nothing left but scorched earth.

I get the sense that we are never ever getting this kind of James in canon, who is not totally cool with the part of Teresa that she shuts off in order to be queen. I think we probably get another yes man. And for canon, for the sake of Teresa being the queen, I get it. That’s fine. But, in any fic, I always find myself trying to humanize characters and not just leave them as archetypes. The reason this story got so long, the reason there was no way I was going to get through it in 2500 words or less (lol, who am I kidding, I can’t write anything of that length), is because I realized this is the James I want to explore. I want to see him push back at Teresa and not just let go, not just get shut down. Because Teresa is far from perfect and she doesn’t always make the right decisions (tbh, I think she makes a lot of dumb decisions). It’s a delicate balance between the two of them that gives the best outcome.

James’ thoughts in this first chapter are the setup for the exploration of the Jeresa dynamic in the next two chapters.

James used to see a blinding light when he looked right into Teresa’s eyes, a moral compass of sorts, always willing him to choose the humanity he’d buried so deep. But now it was light mixed with dark, integrated too well to be separated. Now looking into her eyes was like staring at a flickering light, not sure if it was going to illuminate the cave or burn out.

Here is the part of “Throwing Copper” that resonated with me for this whole thing: Like staring at a flickering light, you don't know when It'll burn out, or how much time you have left to let it light up your life.

So relevant.

I don’t want to lose you. Maybe that had been a proclamation of love in her own way, and maybe that was the last honest thing Teresa had ever said to James, after she’d realized she’d been wrong to doubt him. Those words had gripped him and followed him. He’d found solace and comfort in them even after he left, because he’d wanted nothing more than to stay, but he left to protect her because of what Devon had hanging over his head.

One of the lines in Tegan and Sara’s “This is Everything” is baby, this is the last honest look I’ll ever give. But by the end of the song it turns into baby, this is the last honest love I’ll ever give.

Teresa and James so obviously love each other but they never say that out loud, right? I feel like that moment in 3x12 when she says “I don’t want to lose you” (around 23:05 of the episode) is the closest we’ve gotten thus far. There’s a silent moment before she says it, and a silent moment after, before James answers and I swear all of it is so telling. The silence. The way they look at each other. The body language. Everything. They know.

[yiangchen]

Tagged by @nightbleeder <3

Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. don’t cheat. tag 10 (or however many) peeps.

atla

the 100

gran hotel

awae

qots

1. who is your favorite character in 2?

bell obviously. 

2. who is your least favorite character in 1?

i don’t think there’s any character that i don’t like? i mean, i don’t like ozai as a person, but as a character i do. you know?

3. what is your favorite episode of 4?

hmmmm idk. maybe the ep in s2 when they have the play?? or when they go to the party and we first learn that cole is gay?? both of those eps were so good and the latter made me cry.

4. what is your favorite season of 5?

fuck, i can’t decide. every season is so good. i love how it starts in s1, all the tension between the characters in s2 is incredible, and then in s3 we get canon jeresa, but the buildup in all the seasons for them is insane, so i don’t even know if i can say that s3 is my fave. i really don’t think i have a favorite season. 

5. who is your favorite couple in 3?

julio and alicia.  

6. who is your favorite couple in 2?

blork.

7. what is your favorite episode of 1?

i love every single ep, but the final four episodes are insane.

8. what is your favorite episode of 5?

the one where teresa kisses james in her hallucination/dream. or the one with teresa and james in the desert. 

9. what is your favorite season of 2?

s2.

10. how long have you watched 1?

since i was a kid.

11. how did you become interested in 3?

my mom was watching it, and i was learning spanish (still am) and wanted to improve.

12. who is your favorite actor in 4?

i don’t really know much about the actors, so idk.

13. which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

if we’re talking s1 and 2 only, then the 100. but as a whole? atla hands down. i also love qots, but atla is just a fucking masterpiece. 

14. which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3 ?

i’ve seen the entirety of both atla and gran hotel.

15. if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

gilbert. 

16. would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

holy shit, i think that would actually be possible. gran hotel is set during 1906-1907 and awae 1908. i guess maybe gilbert could have traveled to spain in that ship and wound up at the gran hotel??? i don’t really know enough about history though. would a ship like the one he was on have even gone to spain??? idk.

17. pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple.

ty lee and aang.

18. overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

the storylines in both are so good. i can’t decide.   

19. which has the better theme music, 2 or 4?

the 100.

Tagging:  @tyronndy @chants-de-lune @selflessbellamy and anyone else!!

[la-ermitana]

Do you think Bailey Chase’s new character is a love interest for Teresa? I hope not!

I hope not! And not just because I’m a huge jeresa shipper. I think writers are big jeresa shippers and the fans, so I don’t think so. Plus they wouldn’t set up their relationship in s3 after all that time waiting for them to finally do something about it. Of course also why James left her is a big gesture i don’t think would be forgotten just yet. Even though Teresa doesn’t know.

If anything I think his character, described as having demons who crosses paths with her, maybe relate to each other and bond through that, but as friends. Hopefully my guess. Not romantic. Maybe their discussions lead her to admit she misses James and thus sets off the potential rescue. Or maybe he is a hook up. Anything is possible!

[teresa-moyocoyotzin]

Things i would like to see in the finale, though i am not expecting very many to actually happen (AKA me literally not tempering my expectations At All):

- teresa coming “back to life” before the last 5 minutes. like give her at least. a solid 10 or 20 minutes for a big last adventure with her gang!!! plus i wanna see her rip boaz into pieces, don’t let the boys have all the fun! (jk i can never watch the super violent parts lol but i still think she should be there to get revenge) and she just really deserves some screen time and some full circle moments for her character arc!! and some time with her crime husband to enjoy the non-crime life!

- flashbacks to earlier in the s5 timeline to help explain the set up for the fake death plot, rather than just telling us what happened. i wanna see teresa and james late at night planning exactly where she was gonna step on the balcony! james making sure she picks a mansion with the perfect spot for his rifle nest! james making sure he knows Exactly where her organs are okay anyways i’m getting carried away but esp. if the coke has been laced w something to slow her heart all along, i wanna see them talking about it!!! and if james had a feeling devon was gonna make him do this all along i wanna see flashbacks to moments where it dawned on him! ik this might be asking a lot & they’ll probably just have james say it in like 1 line but i have hopes okay.

- ...more james than pote and kellyanne.. is this unrealistic? i feel like it shouldn’t be because james is supposedly. our second main character after teresa. but like. they don’t always treat him as such so who knows!! but i feel like james has a lot of things going on right now (just confessed to the love of his life, then had to shoot her, now has to go on the run from the CIA & possibly every single person in his life, set up a new life for his lover whom he just “killed”, also getting out of the business when?) so i think he deserves more screen time than pote being pissed about teresa (provided he’s not in on it which i don’t think he is) and ka doing whatever she’s gonna be doing now (i like them both but they aren’t supposed to be the main characters come on) but like i know... this isn’t actually super realistic because as we know, this has at times felt like the Kote show. i’m seriously praying that’s not the case tonight tho

- just. one. callback. to one of the classic jeresa sayings. the cave, being in it together, not leaving, questions of what they deserve, not hiding from each other, there’s so many to choose from just give me SOMETHING okay

- teresa getting to make her own choices about her life!!! please give her some agency!! she’s been under the thumb of so many gross men for literally the whole show. if they could give me like ten minutes of her actually having some free will and autonomy and it not going horribly wrong that would be Great thanks

- what we all really want: a happy ever after for our girl teresa and ofc james too ❤️

HAPPY QUEEN OF THE SOUTH FINALE EVERYONE 🎉🙏🏼🥰 GOOD FUCKING LUCK TO US ALL!!!!

[jerepars]

Ape Dos Mil Extended Chapter Notes

1 / 9 Skeptics and True Believers

Hyperlinks appear in blue (underlined on mobile and the dashboard). The story is posted here. 

She knew she hated him from the moment she laid eyes on him. Teresa’s parents had died when she was a little girl and she’d practically raised herself, so she didn’t exactly have any role models to set an example for her and teach her to be mild mannered, or to teach her that hate was not the opposite of love. She was emotionally driven, and the things she felt, she felt deep in her soul. But anyway, it was a matter of principle. She hated him. Teresa was in Dallas, in Camila Vargas’ warehouse where the prostitutes and drug mules slept, and he was in the space that could be considered the bullpen. When their eyes met for the very first time, she felt the fire ignite and build inside her chest, her heart like a caged bird trying to escape her ribs, blood thick as lead in her anger.

I don’t...I don’t know why writing about Jeresa brings up so many Saves the Day references for me. Maybe because a lot of the imagery in the lyrics are kind of extreme? It’s not a direct reference but the last sentence, with the part about her heart trying to escape her ribs was written with “You Vandal” in mind: yeah my ribs have parted ways, said ‘we’re not going to protect this heart you have’.

James was the carrot Camila dangled in front of everyone—the girls and the sicarios—to get them to do what she wanted. He was the Taylor Vaughan in the world of the warehouse; everyone would either willingly fuck someone’s shit up to be him, or, they would lose their shit to be fucked by him. It seemed to suit him—looking good while doing bad things. He was who they could never be, or never be with, and that was exactly how Camila wanted it.

She’s All That is back on Netflix and I couldn’t help myself. In my mind, there’s this whole backstory of Teresa watching teen cult rom coms growing up, and that’s why she speaks English so well when she lands in Dallas, but this part of the story definitely wasn’t the appropriate time to elaborate on that (there may never be an appropriate time to elaborate on that, lol). But she knows who Taylor Vaughan is, from seeing the movie. The way James is likened to Taylor Vaughan (portrayed by Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) is because of a line said by Dean Sampson (Paul Walker’s character) near the beginning of the movie. Dean says, “Every girl wants to be her, and every guy wants to nail her” (0:47).

This is an idea I’ve been thinking about for a while. Because Camila is certainly not dumb. James sets the bar for everyone, and it’s a standard that they can’t compete with or for. It’s like putting James in his position is her slapping them in the face with a “you wish”. James and Camila both know that, and Teresa is smart enough to figure it out quickly.

But James was good at his job. Even after he got Teresa riled up, even after she called him an asshole, even after he told her she was going to die, he got her into the custodian’s closet and she threw up every last baggie of coke. He was so good at his job, in fact, that when she was barely hanging on, declared she could not possibly go any further, he’d decided, no, it wasn’t her moment to tap out yet. James pulled the bottle of soap out of the dispenser and poured it into her mouth until she heaved on her own gag reflex one more time and the last three bags came up.

This chapter is named after “Skeptics and True Believers” by The Academy Is... . The paragraph mentions that Teresa was barely hanging on because of the part of the song that goes: near death, last breath, and barely hanging on. It also seemed fitting because it’s a story about about soulmates, after all, and it is made clear that both Teresa and James believe in soulmates.

There’s one more song reference here. The part about James deciding it’s not Teresa’s time to tap out yet is because of PUP’s “Kids”: And I had it maxed out. I had a feeling, oh. Nothing is working. And everything's bleeding, oh. I should've tapped out. Given into my demons, oh.

This is a really interesting moment for Teresa, because we know how strong she is, that she’s a survivor and fighter. But she says she can’t do it, she can’t throw up anything else. She’s defeated, which is understandable because it’s not everything she’s going through is easy. It’d be easier to give in and give up, right? But James doesn’t let her tap out and takes over when he pours the soap in her mouth to make sure she can, makes sure she survives.

“What time is it?” Teresa kept her eyes on the groud, avoiding the light from the warehouse windows illuminating the dust motes in the air.

“It’s almost three,” James said flatly, then emphasized, “PM.”

Teresa let out a long sigh but didn’t respond to his badgering.

“Get up,” James muttered. “You’re coming with me.”

She finally looked up at him and made eye contact, squinting slightly against the afternoon light, but didn’t make a move to get up. James rubbed his fingers against his thumb impatiently. She sat still.

“Where?” Teresa asked.

Okay, listen, when I use dialogue from the show I turn on the closed captions to make sure that it’s all exact to what is said in the scene. That being said, I’ve seen and watched this scene so. many. times. I turned the volume to max in my headphones as I edited this to make sure I hadn’t been mishearing it this whole time. The Netflix closed captions claim that James says “come with me” but I just don’t buy that. I swear what he says is “you’re coming with me”. If I’m wrong, I’m sorry that I wrote it in wrong. (But I don’t think I am.)

“Mil gracias, Jaime.” Charger was already waving him off, typing out a message to the supposed professional cheerleader. “Quiet night in for you and the hot redhead tonight?”

James has a lot of nicknames from George. Boaz calls him Santiago. There’s a quick moment from 2x06 where Guero is speaking Spanish and calls him Jaime. In the translated closed caption, he says, “look here, James” (0:23), but you can hear him say Jaime. I can’t have Guero being the only one to call him that (lol) so I decided that maybe a lot of the warehouse guys call him that when they speak to him in Spanish.

Teresa’s back was turned to him as he approached, making her bed. James meant to ask if she was ready to go but his voice got caught in his throat when he saw how she’d made the bed. Even though it was a thin foam mattress on a rusty frame, she’d made her space stand out. It was nice and neat, a clean line folded into the corner. It was the same way nurses made beds in the infirmary and the way soldiers did in the barracks. James believed there were certain skills from boot camp that could never be unlearned. It was how he made the bed.

When I said I’d come up with the weirdest soulmates fic ever based on the tiniest detail, I wasn’t kidding around. When Guero leads the DEA to the empty warehouse in Dallas, he knows which bed was Teresa’s because he sees the corner folded over. Then there’s a flashback scene to Mexico, with Teresa telling him she makes the bed that way because her mom was a nurse and taught her that way. 

James was in the military. He was a soldier. He would have had to have made it through boot camp. He would have to know how to make those hospital corners.

And that being a thing they have in common was screaming out at me to take it in a literal sense: it’s why they’re soulmates. And, even further, it’s how they find out they’re soulmates.

The gears kept turning in my head. Because what if they don’t come to the realization at the same time? What if only one of them knows? It changes everything about their dynamic and why they do the things they do for each other through the first three seasons.

James knew Teresa was trouble. He’d told her as much, with some snarl in his voice and his eyes narrowed, as the sound of bass from the speakers in Camila’s club thumped into their conversation the night before. Pointing out the dangerous nature Teresa possessed was a warning—to her and to himself—not to get too close so she didn’t pull him down with her. The feeling he couldn’t place when he was around her would land him in serious trouble if he wasn’t careful. And he had plans for a future, completely separate and away from the Vargas cartel.

Looks like I went in hard with the pop punk references for this one. There’s a song by New Found Glory called “Don’t Let Her Pull You Down” that made me go with the phrasing that’s in this paragraph. 

All things considered, it probably was an act of betrayal on the universe’s part. The odds of someone dying on their birthday were so much better than all of the stars aligning. It was why people made their plans and chose to love without the universe in mind.

One more pop punk song reference in name only. That’s just how my dumb brain works. I’ll write sentences because I think of lyrics or song titles (or both). This time it was Senses Fail’s  “The Irony of Dying on Your Birthday”.

[mymostimaginaryfriend]

QOTS S2 Re-watch Wrap Up

WE MADE IT THROUGH S2.  *kazoo noise* As always, my individual and sometimes extensive episode by episode commentary (along with my Jeresa spiraling) can be found in my “#qots rewatch” tag. Ready for some thoughts? Let’s do this:

Season 2 Favorite Reoccurring Trends:

Teresa + Math & Business: 2x01 (during KG negotiations), 2x07 (with the Korean mob boss), 2x09 (with Devon at the car show), 2x10 (with Devon while Camila is in prison).  Combined with “I have a deal to make” becoming her catchphrase, it was great to see her skills being put to use in her blossoming cartel career.

James being only mildly inconvenienced by weapons: 2x01 (KG holding a knife to his stomach), 2x02 (Teresa pointing gun at him when he walks in unannounced), 2x08 (Walking into the hotel room to find Devon’s crew pointing guns at him), 2x10 (KG pointing a gun to his head), 2x13 (the classic “idgaf I’m walking away” to Guero).  Combined with the trend of him antagonizing his captors (head butt to militia dude, high kick to Cortez) I think this says something interesting about James as a character.  Now if it’s not just him in danger, that’s a whole other story. James being kidnapped/held hostage three times after Teresa asks him in 2x01 “I’ve been kidnapped have you?”: 2x03 (tied to chair with militia men), 2x05 (tied to a chair by La Capitana), 2x09 (tied to the beam by Cortez in Chicago)

Teresa bonding with women thru men’s bullshit:  Camila telling Cartel guy at the horse race “Enough she’s with me now”(2x02), Camila and Teresa’s adventures at the car show with the sicarios and Cortez (2x09), Kelly Anne and Teresa vs Kelly Anne’s husband (2x10), Even Lil T and Teresa about Lil T’s uncle keeping her out of the business (2x12).  Obviously, bonding doesn’t automatically mean warm & fuzzy on this show.

James establishing an SOS signal and having to use it himself 2x05 (fire three shots), 2x08 (crushed sunglasses)

It’s Been 0 Days Since Jeresa Saved One Another Fandom Break Room Sign:

2x01: Teresa saves James by holding King George at gunpoint and “do I have your attention now?”

2x02: James saves Teresa by helping Pote with the guys trying to kill Teresa at the horse race, and then getting the money back to appease Camila.

2x03: James saves Teresa by splinting her leg in the desert and giving himself up so she has a chance to escape. Teresa saves James by coming back for him when he’s being held by the militia and talking their way out of it.

2x04: James saves Teresa by causing a distraction so Teresa can escape the warehouse and shooting the DEA agent when she’s occupied with Guero.

2x05: James saves Teresa by helping her through her overdose.  Teresa attempts to save James when he’s taken by La Capitana’s soldiers at the hotel.

2x06: Teresa saves James by giving herself up to El Santo and eating the poisoned beetle. James “saves” Teresa in her hallucination–actually in both her hallucinations.

2x08: Teresa saves James from the feds and Cortez in Chicago.

2x10 Teresa saves James by diffusing the situation with KG when KG is distraught with his men’s deaths and holding James at gunpoint

2x13: James saves Teresa by purposely missing her when he shoots at her in the train car. (I know, kinda a stretch to give him credit for saving her from himself but technically…..)  This kinda cancels itself with the tracker debacle and James withholding El Santo’s money from Teresa in the finale, but plot holes be damned.  I’m done thinking about it lol.

SEASON TWO TALLY: James saves Teresa 6 times, Teresa saves James 6 times.  Can’t help but notice that James doing the saving happens more heavily the first half of season and Teresa saving James is spread pretty evenly over the season.  Early S3 gets James back on the board pretty emphatically though.

James or Teresa asking after the other’s well being/caretaking etc:

2x01: I’m gonna count James offering the hug to Teresa

2x02: “Are you all right?” James coming across Teresa crying after Guero.

2x03: James making Teresa a splint, something to drink etc and “No, I can’t leave you” and “How’s the leg?”  Teresa “Are you ok?” and “I’m not leaving you.”

2x04: The mirrored “You all right?” with James asking Teresa as she sits outside with Guero’s lighter and Teresa asking James as they drive to Galveston.

2x05: Caaaaaaaaaretaking *echoes off into the void*  James during Teresa’s overdose and asking her “You sure you’re all right?”

2x08: “Where’s James is he okay?” Teresa after James is tortured by Cortez.

Speaking of which, Teresa’s version of “Are you okay?” this season was “Where’s James?” (2x02 at the horse race, 2x06 waking up from the hallucination, 2x08 Chicago).

Miscellaneous

James and Women: He continues the trend of sharing a majority of screen time with female characters although not as much as S1.  He does have some more extended scenes with male characters in S2 (KG, Boaz, Guero, Epi) but the scenes are usually either Teresa taking equal if not a lead part in the conversation (KG/Guero), or the purpose of the conversation is ABOUT a female character (James’ one on one convos with Boaz and Epi about Camila and Guero about Teresa).  Even though it would have made sense to have more Pote and James interaction, I really like how the show compartmentalized Pote as a Teresa Aligned Character foremost in S2. 

Speaking of Pote: Having him hang out with Tony after he MURDERED HIS FATHER, with no acknowledgement of that fact, stays wild to me.

Phoenix Foreshadowing? Guero mentioning a dealer in Phoenix and giving that info to Loya early S2 popped out at me.  How Guero would it be if he made life harder for Teresa by putting the feds onto Phoenix before Teresa even set up operations there.  Devon and Teresa also talked about PHX in 2x10, which ouch. Death Foreshadowing? Anyone else a little worried about how closely Guero’s vision death resembled 3x06? Guero does something foolish that he thinks is saving Teresa while James actually takes care of the situation.  His mortal wound is delivered by the soldiers of the woman in charge (Camila/La Capitana).  Guero bleeds out in Teresa’s lap.  Teresa wears a white shirt over a tanktop, Guero wears a button down over an undershirt.  He dies far from home. James is around to take care of the body.  Coincidence?  Or should James watch his neck?

Missed Opportunity: That we never got Kelly Anne Esq., lawyer to Queenpin Teresa remains UNACCEPTABLE to me.

Well, that’s all the rambling I have for now.  Thanks for following along, thank you to my QOTS fam for the asks and messages and THANK YOU to all the wonderful gif makers in this fandom that have made this re-watch much more fun and aesthetically enjoyable.  I’d never have gotten through hiatus without you all.  Only a couple months left!  Speaking of which... On to Season 3!

[la-ermitana]

Just wanna say thanks for staying active during hiatus and feeding us! I have a request. Can you make a gif set of Teresa getting ready in the beginning of 3x09? She so pretty there! And of jeresa escaping the safe house in 3x02? Do you also have any fics in the works too?

Aww hi anon thank you! Sorry for the late response, work got busy. But I had a low load at work a few weeks ago so I was just trying to entertain myself and hopefully some of you guys! I made a bunch of edits on a day I had nothing to do so those are all scheduled for every (QOTS) Thursday so be on the lookout! Thanks for the requests!

I thought there was that 3x09 set out there already but I didn’t see it. I did it just for you though in case it really doesn’t exist! She really is so pretty there! I love everything about it. Wish I could get her dress and shoes. POSTED!

The 3x02 one is made too and queued up to be posted one of these thursdays. And yes a fic is coming. Hint it’s about my KG and princess peach post awhile back. Just fluff I’m not even sure about yet but we shall see. Queued up as well.