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You can publish this if you want; I just wanted to let you know that my Instagram explore page randomly showed me Juliantina edits, and I immediately thought of you :) I’m always nervous about starting WIP shows (besides the obvious uncertainty about endings, I have also just… forgotten in the past to finish them up when they come back, haha), but I’m super intrigued by this, especially since I do know Spanish (not super fluent, though). Thank you so much for sharing them with us!

Aww, thanks so much for letting me know that! You associate them with me, huh. 🙂  I mean, not great if it becomes a bad association, but yay for now. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Yeah, I get what you mean about the uncertainty, but there is a certain charm in seeing things unfold in real time? As a slow burn lover, I regret not starting when the anon first sent the ask, which would have been before Guille’s party (if you ever watch, you’ll know the significance that holds, heh). 

Tbh, I did not go into them expecting to get this invested, at all. It was just supposed to be one ship of many on a long roster, perhaps to offer a distraction while we waited for the Kana wedding. Hell, I deliberately try to maintain that long list of ships just so I don’t get too invested in any one of them (the problem in 2016 being that the whole list was obliterated) but what can I say? I fell hard, lol. And the fandom response has just added to it, it’s nice to be a part of something so enthusiastic and positive.

I’m super hoping they finish well and the people who’ve been holding out get to see it. 

Thanks again for letting me know! As a rule, I haven’t published asks that are just nice things to me, but it’s recently been impressed upon me that people like being answered, so I’m also going to add these other asks as well (and sorry if yours isn’t here, I might have deleted it because I thought I wasn’t going to answer and was trying to clean things up–but it’s saved in my email still! I always really, really love getting them).

And another anon:

you’re my favourite blog on this damn website ❤️ just wanted to say thanks for all the top quality stuff!!! congrats to you

Honestly? Congrats to me indeed, for being so liked by somebody so nice, who would take the time to send this. 🙂

And another anon:

Mmm. I want to thank you for all the things you do for the fandom. For the gifs and the answers you gave. Thanks for helping juliantina to grow as a fandom and as the perfect ship they are. Also sorry for all the asks I send you with my audio English that you have to read. But you always answered in a kind way. A virtual hug if you like hugs, if you don’t, sorry and maybe better a thank you

Aww, thank you and definitely no apologies needed! I didn’t do anything, the ship was going to grow regardless. Quality will out. And I will definitely accept a virtual hug. 🙂

And another anon:

Thank you for all of your wonderful juliantina gif sets

Thank you for the wonderful ask! 🙂

And another anon:

Hi, I want to say thank you to the people who brought Valentina and Juliana to your attention and then a big thanks to you for posting so much about them so that we can get to know them! I really love the storyline and their relationship and just everything! I actually adore your blog in general! Kind regards ♥️

Thanks to them indeed! And it has been my absolute pleasure to watch Juliantina and post about them. And thank you!

♥️

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My big sister loves the show and is pregnant with a baby girl. She thought the actress who plays Valentina was the most beautiful girl she’s ever seen and very good. She decided to name my niece Valentina after her ❤️?

Really?? Wow. That is…that’s gotta be a record for how quickly a character gets a baby named after them?

She could do a lot worse! It’s such a pretty name in itself, but Val is such a strong character. Awww. That’s so sweet.

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So is it just me or juliantina has a much more important role in the plot than guille and Renata? I don’t watch the whole show so I’m wondering if its just me or smth

dealanexmachina:

booasaur:

No, you’re right. Their plot is what the f/f couple would usually get, it’s pretty separate from everything else. If you took Renata out of the show, nothing would really change. It’s a cute romance for Guille and a way to cause friction between him and Eva but she’s not doing anything plot-wise. 

Juliantina is one of the most central aspects of the show, you need them as an actual plot device to reveal the body-switching and the connection between the cartels.

@dealanexmachina pointed out to me that Guille/Renata might actually be another way to appeal to the audiences for Juliantina, to parallel the rich/poor trope viewers are already used to seeing and to have them to compare directly. If you’re going to root for the m/f couple then you should root for the f/f couple too. Juliantina are paralleled both by Guille/Renata as well as Lucia/Jacobo (Leon), where Lucia and Juls are from the wrong side of the tracks and brings complications to the relationship while Leon/Val are still besotted and willing to do anything for them.

Guille and Renata almost match the progression of Juls and Val beat for beat. Compare: 

 1) Renata seeing the house for the first time (and taking that selfie) vs Juls marveling in awe at her first time in the Carvajal house. Both times, Chivis features in that introduction. 

 2) Renata being Guille’s secret keeper with secret texts and calls about Mr. Castillo vs Juls being the only one Val confides in about her dad, secret calls in the night when she can’t sleep. 

3) Both Juls and Renata dealing with the money/wealth/hey Carvajals you don’t live in the real world class divide, wherein Val and Guille have to check their privilege (the fight about Renata getting kicked out of the car and leaving her bag situation vs scholarships) 

4) Renata giving Guille the perfect birthday gift of the puzzle that shows she knows him best vs Juls giving her gift for Val as an apology the same day. Both gifts are personal and make the Carvajal kids feel special in ways money can’t buy.

5) Both Carvajal kids realizing their feelings for Renata and Juls are quickly veering toward romantic on the same night (Guille remembers the kiss, Val almost kisses Juls) 

6) Both Carvajals bringing their secret working class girlfriends to the Valle house, which was a gift to their mom from Leon- a sacred, safe place to escape to. (Also filed under: reasons why Lucho is the Worst).

7) Val and Guille having their snacking/work out chats wherein they are talk about how much they love their girlfriends. 

8) Val and Guille both getting encouraging pep talks from Leon/Jacob when he is in a good place (and getting bad prep talks when Leon/Jacob was wrecked by the Johnny as murderer reveal, so the audience knows to read those conversations as Not Good Advice). 

9) Both of them being outed by jealous exes/almost exes (Lucho, Maylene) and Eva meddling. 

10) Both of them yelling at Eva and standing strong against her, in the same episode. 

By taking arguably the most traditional, familiar telenovela storyline, which the audience is expected to recognize and root for the couple, and then mirroring it with Juls and Val, it sends a direct message that same sex relationships are no different than heterosexual relationships, and we should root for the good ones. In fact, I would go a step further and argue that the writers deliberately gave Juls and Val a healthier, less problematic relationship than Guille and Renata, to emphasize that point. 

Because I love Guille but he is a Dumb Boy sometimes, and Renata is too good for him. A lot of their problems stem from a lack of communication or Guille doing stupid shit, whereas Val and Juls’ problems stem from outside circumstance of cartels threatening them and the fact that they love each other too much. 

Comparisons between Juls and Val vs Leon and Lucia can also be made, because Juls and Val are basically the purer, less problematic version of Leon and Lucia’s love, if Lucia hadn’t been conning Leon from the start and fallen in love with her mark. The ways in which Val is her father in how she shows her love is another list I could go off on, but I’ll stop here. 

Lol, see? There is hard evidence!

And share the Leon/Val list! It’s great.

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juliana/valentina are not only more important than guille/renata but they are years ahead in being better and having depth. I mean Guille started out being the perfect spoiled rich guy that was rude to Renata at all times til the moment she helped him solve a problem he got involved in cause he was that rich guy who wanted to see the world in a different way for a moment. As of now Guille/Renata “angst” is just so lacking

Hey, fighting over a cat is real angst! But you know what? Lesbians would never do that, so I rescind the comparison.

And another anon:

I was reading some yt comments on juliantina stories, and apparently the straights are rooting for them. The show is making the viewers to support their relationship and actually root for them. Like a girl was watching with her family and when they have their first kiss her father said finally. Cute right?

Awwww, so cute. I don’t know how any person who isn’t garbage can watch this telenovela–so already coming in with the mindset to invest in these stories and empathize with these characters–and not love them completely. If you put together all the ingredients to make a rootable f/f ship, they tick every box. Both fundamentally very decent people, a classic rich/poor trope, self-sacrifice, a bigger external enemy, genuine fondness and affection between them where you can see they like each other, the chemistry and yearning to show they want each other. 

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bro… i’m from Mexico and i never imagined i’d be out here actually WANTING to watch a telenovela like i always looked down on them bc they can be terrible but right now? we stan

Aww, yeah, it does change things when you can not only see how good something is but kind of get that validation from an external audience that, objectively, this is really good! It happened to me too with the Pakistani dramas Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzair Hai, where suddenly your perspective is changed because, in this case, they were really well received in India.

Maybe we’ll be more appreciative of our local media now. 🙂

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So is it just me or juliantina has a much more important role in the plot than guille and Renata? I don’t watch the whole show so I’m wondering if its just me or smth

No, you’re right. Their plot is what the f/f couple would usually get, it’s pretty separate from everything else. If you took Renata out of the show, nothing would really change. It’s a cute romance for Guille and a way to cause friction between him and Eva but she’s not doing anything plot-wise. 

Juliantina is one of the most central aspects of the show, you need them as an actual plot device to reveal the body-switching and the connection between the cartels.

@dealanexmachina pointed out to me that Guille/Renata might actually be another way to appeal to the audiences for Juliantina, to parallel the rich/poor trope viewers are already used to seeing and to have them to compare directly. If you’re going to root for the m/f couple then you should root for the f/f couple too. Juliantina are paralleled both by Guille/Renata as well as Lucia/Jacobo (Leon), where Lucia and Juls are from the wrong side of the tracks and brings complications to the relationship while Leon/Val are still besotted and willing to do anything for them.

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May I ask which moment do you like to see Juls in the most? I think that she has the prettiest smile ever

If you’d asked me this before the latest episode (which–you did, this is from days ago, I’m so sorry about the late reply), it would have been an eaaaasy win for happy smiling Juls.

What can I say, I love her in that denim jacket, the ponytail, and the added accessory of a Val tucked under her chin. 

But furious, protective Juls!

It’s tough…but no, happy Juls wins always.