#Colombian telenovela

[insatiablesk1n]

María Fernanda Yepes as Yésica “La Diabla” on Sin Senos No Hay Paraíso

[siriuslyobsessedwithfiction]

If I had a nickel for every time my favourite character from a vampire show was a centuries old vampire with issues and toxic relationships who became a rockstar, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it has happened twice.

[long-sleeved-sandwich]

why colombians get mad and start doing this: 👄👌 talm bout “POR LO QUE MÁS QUIERAS”

[lostwithnointernet]

My favorite headcannon is that Buck is fluent in Spanish and it’s never something that he talks about. Everyone finds out when they’re on a call and someone doesn’t know English but Eddie is busy so Buck starts talking to them without thinking. Cue the shock.

[mesillusionssousecstasy]

Las muñecas de la mafia (The Mafia Dolls) - Season 1 : Review

I started to watch the series for fun, but unfortunately it’s too long and the story is way too slow. Shame because it has such potential. 

Some quotes:

- “Sweetheart, why do you have five servants doing nothing? To complete your collection?” (Episode 1)

- “The day you love someone as much as I love your dad, you’ll understand. But not now. (Brenda’s mother) - That’s not love; it’s masochism.” (Brenda - Episode 1) 

- “Cars are like women. After a few years, something inevitably goes wrong.” (Episode 12)

- “Do you want a drink? I have cyanide, kerosene, gas, you see.” (Lucrecia Rivas)

- “The devil looks after his own.” (Episode 14)

[boneskullravenriver]

There's a show I like and that I watched when it was airing, and later on Netflix but Netflix removed it... At least, for the US (idk about other countries) and I'm so so tempted to try my hand at putting English subtitles and posting it somewhere (tbh, idk where) for other folks to see. Because it's a good show but it's not in English, and it was already a bit of a chore for me to find reuploads online 😭

But subtitling 62 episodes... Especially when even I miss some words and have to Google wtf they mean... Idk man.

[apricitystudies]

 what i read in june. 2023:

(previous editions) bold = favourite

race & gender

a few good men (usa)

catching the men who sell subway groping videos (china/japan)

wonder women

i learnt about masculinity from a colombian telenovela

the romance scammer on my sofa (nigeria)

politics & current affairs

have assisted dying laws gone too far? (canada)

inside man (usa)

cruel, paranoid, failing: inside the home office (uk)

portugal’s radical drugs policy is working. why hasn’t the world copied it?

the twenty-first century of (profitable) war (usa)

history, culture, & personal essays

i called everyone in jeffrey epstein’s little black book

ngũgĩ wa thiong’o: three days with a giant of african literature

the man in the iron lung

a mother’s exchange for her daughter’s future

30 years ago, romania deprived thousands of babies of human contact

inside the secretive world of penile enlargement

the promise that tested my parents until the end

greek migrant boat disaster

drowning in lies

‘If they had left us be, we wouldn’t have drowned’

survivors of greek migrant tragedy say coastguard rope toppled boat

greece imposes silence around shipwreck of overcrowded migrant boat

[respectthepetty]

What are some of your favorite novelas, Petty? I grew up loving them too and personally I will ALWAYSSS show up for anything Fernando Colunga is in!

Anon, I'm not giving you some of my favorites. No. I'm giving you my favorite - If you know this bitch (affectionate and derogatory), you KNOW where this is going!

For all the BL people, this is why @italianpersonwithashippersheart, @lukaherehelp, and I are having no qualms about Twins or Playboyy.

Telenovelas, soap operas, y lakorns have trained us well for these shenanigans and hijinks.

Why y'all can't remember twenty-two people's names is beyond me, but I had them down the first episode.

Why y'all don't like the tonal whiplash is odd to me because for me, ten minutes on one couple is TOO MUCH TIME. Six minutes, TOP, and move on to the next one.

Someone getting stabbed in one scene then the next scene being someone celebrating at a birthday party is the way I like my shows, and don't let that person be getting stabbed AT that birthday party because that is my bread and butter.

Oh, and TWINS!

My favorite show includes all of these fine points, and it's the 1998 Mexican telenovela called

La usurpadora

Somewhere in fictional hell, Soraya Montenegro from María la del Barrio is pissed as fuck.

The plot: Paola is a rich bitch and wants to leave her husband for her evil lover but can't figure out how.

¡Sorpresa, cabrona! She meets a worker who looks just like her while on vacation or some shit.

Paulina is the other woman and she is too poor to contour. Therefore, rich bitch Paola convinces kind and caring Paulina to be her stand-in. Paola tells Paulina she will live the best life and be rich, while Paola can be free. It's a win-win.

¡MENTIRAS!

Paulina refuses! So Paola blackmails her into doing it, and with her mother dead, her fiance gone, and no job (since she was fired as part of Paola's blackmailing scheme), Paulina is forced to take the offer. This is like episode 2 out of 102.

In the next 100 episodes, we get forty-five other characters who are all important to the plot, amnesia, cheating, murder attempts, Paola pretending to be paralyzed, Paulina GOES TO PRISON, someone discovers they are actually twins (no duh!), and a crap ton of more drama.

Oh, and the car crash!

But God got Paulina, so she good. Even in the sequel when she had cancer, pero no, she was just pregnant.

The show is based on a 1971 Venezuelan telenovela that was adapted from the book La Intrusa, and has since had several remakes. One was in 2019, which made Paulina Colombian (or was she always Colombian?), and A MUSICAL THIS YEAR!

It holds a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes because the people know this was a 🎁🎁🎁 from God, and it is not up for debate because it featured men dancing around singing Celia Cruz's "La vida es un carnaval" y Selena's "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom." This movie is the moment.

The lead is Cuban actress Isabella Castillo Díaz who played in America and México's co-produced telenovela ¿Quién es quién?, which is basically the boy version of La usurpadora because of the twins plot. Do you see the theme?

But back to the musical, which also features Drag Race superstar, Valentina. If you know this bitch (affectionate and derogatory), you KNOW!

The 1998 version and musical both embrace the camp of it all. The music in the original 1998 version was peak telenovela, and even if you don't speak Spanish, readers, just watch the first minute of this video. I promise you it will be worth it, and it will give you three perfect examples of the *vibes* I'm always rambling about.

So, yeah, Anon, I hope this explains a lot of about my taste in BLs. I'm here for a show, not the show. Soraya understands.

[jacarandaaaas]

have you ever heard of rebelde/rbd? its a latino pop group from the 2000s (originally from a telenovela) and honestly i think its a little bit like the vibe youre going for with the popstar AU!

they're not colombian, theyre mexican, but they were a huge success in all of latin america (including brazil! and we dont even speak spanish!)

unfortunately this is my first time hearing about them! but this sounds perfect for what I’m going for with Popstar au so thank u I’ll check them out!!!

[telemna-hyelle]

BASICALLY ITS A COLOMBIAN (yay :D) TELENOVELA AND ITS ABOUT AN “ugly” WOMAN NAMED BETTY (Beatriz) AND THERES THIS GUY CALLED ARMANDO, WHO IS THIS RICH HANDSOME GUY AND HE RUNS A COMPANY

I think it’s some sort of model company?

AND HE NEEDS AN ASSISTANT AND HE HAS TWO CHOICES AND ITS BETWEEN BETTY AND THIS “beautiful” WOMAN, I think she called Patricia? Or however you write the name, AND HE CHOSE BETTY CUZ SHES SMART

*inhales*

AND LIKE. HES MARRIED AND STUFF BUT DOESNT ACTUALLY LIKE HIS WIFE AND CONSTANTLY CHEATS ON HER BECAUSE EVERY WOMAN REALLY ONLY LIKES HIM FOR HIS MONEY

Anyway, some time later the company loses money, yadayadayada and armandos best friend Mario says that they need Betty’s help and Armando needs to make her fall in love with him and shit

(The thing is betty already is in love with him because he chose her and didn’t dismiss her just because of her looks)

And Armando’s is a bit grossed out and feels kinda bad

ANYWAY FAST FOWARD

He ends up actually falling in love with her and ig they get their happy ending. I’m still watching the series with my parents.

BUT

IDK IF YOU KNOW THIS BUT I LIKE PUTTING MY FAV CHARACTERS IN SCENARIOS

AND LIKE

I- THEY-

RAVIO AND HILDA

SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG, I JUST NEEDED TO TELL YOU

Wait... hm... would betty be Ravio in this situation? cause that's the vibe i'm getting

[thekatebridgerton]

Speaking of how much I like a well written drama, Shoot me a message about your favorite telenovela. I've talked a lot about how much I like well written inlndian movies here. But I never seem to mention that old telenovelas are my guilty pleasure.

My personal favorites are The 1998 version of La usurpadora (rich Evil Twin forces poor Nice Twin to take her place and pretend to be her with the husband she hates, but Nice Twin falls inlove with the husband and the kids). Carita De Angel (cute little girl gets into lots of trouble, her dad is a hardass, the pretty nun who always takes care of the little girl, falls inlove with the hardass dad and I shipped them!), Lola Erase Una Vez (Mexican version of Floricienta, I've got OPINIONS about this one okay! Lola and Alex were bae). And of course Colombian classic, Passion de Gavilanes circa early 2000's (Franco and Sara were the perfect friends to lovers couple, in this essay I will...)

What about you guys what's your favorite telenovelas

[mintmatcha]

mint you def do not care but i never knew what it was like to be into a small fandom but i recently just finished a show and after scouring the internet like a fucking detective i found:

three fics on ao3 and one of them is a crossover with the hunchback of notre dame...

...it's a Colombian telenovela from like 2020... i do not understand

anyways i just wanted to share my despair

its the WORST I'm so sorry

[miss-latam-sexy-tournament]

Round 1

Show results / I'm not latine but I like the chisme

Juan del Diablo is the male lead from the telenovela "Corazón Salvaje", he lived as a pirate and fell in love with the broken hearted high-society lady he made a deal with to take revenge on both their exe's. He is canonically, Mexican.

José "Chepe" Fortuna is the male lead from the telenovela "Chepe Fortuna" he has humble beginnings and is often discriminated against because of it. He dreams of becoming mayor so he can help his community, and he too falls in love with a high-society girl. He is canonically, Colombian.

[respectthepetty]

Okay I’m not watching step by step but maybe I should because man trisanu is making me feel sOME TYPE OF WAY and idk if it’s just me and I don’t know how many telenovelas you’ve seen in your life but tell me this boy doesn’t have NOVELA HERO ENERGY

Okay, pero like . . .

¡Es la verdad!

I think telenovelas and Thai BLs go hand-in-hand, and Man could definitely be a novela hero.

I'm using La Fea más Bella as a general example because 1) it's an office romance, 2) English speakers are familiar with its American counterpart Ugly Betty, 3) it's a redo of the Colombian original Yo soy Betty, la fea, so it obviously has components that are universal, and 4) it has the best babygirl-fication of a 6'3" tall tree.

My love of telenovelas (and soap operas) is why I'm okay with flawed male leads, hijinks and shenanigans (amnesia?! a mom telling the love interest to leave her son alone?! a crazy ex?! CHEATING?!). If people can watch a telenovela almost every single day for one year (300 episodes), watching 8-12 episodes, one per week for 2-3 months is NOTHING!

Mostly if the visuals are good!

Fernando (known as Nando if you watched it) in La Fea más Bella was NOT a good boss when he started, but he wanted to get better. He was working in his father's company just like Jeng, but unlike Jeng who has always liked Pat, Nando didn't like his assistant Leticia (known as Lety), yet quickly realized Lety was a valuable asset much like Jeng has with Pat and protected her like the diamond she was.

This is a very simplified synopsis of La Fea más Bella, but understand that Man could easily play Nando because he is already playing a version of him as Jeng. He wants to be a good boss while trying not to fall in love with his employee, but a worthy opponent will push him to see what's been in his heart all along.

Man is serving BDE - Big Drama Energy

And really, that's what separates the boys from the telenovela men

Alexa, play Latto's "Big Energy"

[cheesybadgers]

(GO TO PART 1 AND PART 2)

PART 3

74. The poets listed in the epilogue refer to a few names I’ve mentioned before in this fic, plus a couple of new ones:

Federico García Lorca (see point 17 and also Sonnet of the Wreath of Roses, Night of Insomniac Love, To Find a Kiss of Yours and Blood Wedding)  

Jorge Gaitán Durán  (in particular, see I Know I’m Alive… and Death Could Not Beat Me)

Jotamario Arbeláez (in particular, see After The War and this article about the group of poets from Medellín who called themselves the Nadaistas)

Pablo Neruda (in particular, see One Hundred Love Sonnets and Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair)

Octavio Paz (see Touch, Counterparts, Colophon and Sunstone/Piedra de Sol)    

Rosario Castellanos (see point 8, plus there are several poems here, I particularly like Amor, Telenovela and Pasaporte)

Gabriela Mistral (see Drinking, Slow Rain and Gabriela Mistral's Letters to Doris Dana (Doris Dana was Gabriela Mistral's alleged romantic partner – see more here and here)

75. In the epilogue, there is a reference to Operation Orion (more info here as well) which was a series of controversial military operations in Comuna 13 in 2002.

Although the Colombian military and government declared it a success, there were questions raised about disappeared individuals and an Army General, who allegedly colluded with far-right paramilitaries (including none other than one of Don Berna’s underlings) and the CIA to bring down FARC. It’s also worth noting Plan Colombia existed at this time as well, which was a US initiative to provide foreign aid to Colombia.

Here are also a few articles about what became of Comuna 13 in the subsequent years and the regeneration of Medellín after so many years of violence:

Medellín: Front Line of Colombia’s Challenges

History of Comuna 13

Medellín, Colombia: reinventing the world's most dangerous city

76. I mentioned in point 69 about the INS re-branding as ICE. This happened in the wake of 9/11 when ICE was brought under the Department of Homeland Security, and this is what Javier alludes to in the epilogue.

Speaking of 9/11…here are a few articles about the impact it had on everything from the War on Drugs, the DEA, the immigration system and illegal border crossings:

The Costs of Homeland Security

Narco-Terrorism: The Merger of the War on Drugs and the War on Terror

How September 11 Changed the U.S. Immigration System

9-11 and the US-Mexico border: New challenges 20 years later

77. The Supreme Court decision referred to in the epilogue is Lawrence vs Texas (see point 62 above), which was heard in 2003 (the epilogue is set on 15th December 2004), which struck down America’s remaining sodomy laws.

It wouldn’t be until 2015 when the Supreme Court heard Obergefell v Hodges that same-sex marriage became legal in all 50 states (Texas was one of the last to legalise it off the back of this case).

I didn’t want to skip that far ahead in the epilogue, but I shall leave readers to draw their own conclusions about what they think Javier and Horacio might have done in 2015…

78. The inscription on Javier’s ring is, of course, the same one as Elena’s ring from chapter 22. I couldn’t really mention this when I talked about that chapter, as it would have been a spoiler for the epilogue lol.

The epilogue is named after Suerte by Shakira (the Spanish version of Whenever, Wherever). The lyrics of both the English and the Spanish versions are just so very them. And obviously, Shakira is Colombian, the story ends in Colombia...I had to make it happen lol.

79. I had always intended the epilogue to be all about the callbacks, especially to chapters 1 and 2, so I hope people spotted some as there are a few in there. Tolú is where the story started and it’s where it ended ❤️

I randomly remember dyeing my hair at some point in 2023 and it just came to me over my bathtub that “Old habits die hard, he supposed” was going to be the final line. It’s a thought Horacio expresses in chapter 1 but in a very different context and with a very different meaning. But that line was where the fic title came from, so it just felt fitting for it to be the last line as well. They’ve come full circle, but everything is different. I’m such a sucker for that trope lol.

And I think, that’s all folks! If I think of anything I’ve missed off (which is a distinct possibility), I’ll add them as and when I remember.

Thank you to anyone who has followed me down these rabbit holes of absolute insanity. I don’t think I even put this much effort into my degree tbh lol. But I’ve had a blast learning so much, challenging my ideas and expanding my understanding of countries and cultures other than my own. If I’ve encouraged anyone to go off on and explore, then I’d be thrilled and would love to hear from you 😊

[selcaby]

When do you think Encanto takes place?

Based on tweets from Jared Bush I tend to assume the main story takes place in 1950, but the whole place has been cut off from the outside world since the miracle 50 years earlier. Their fashion and technology are from around the turn of the century.

I assume Bruno’s gift is the only reason he knows what telenovelas are. He’s never watched an actual TV. His football rat theatre scene is of a specific goal that Colombia scored against Germany in the 1990 World Cup.

The tune Agustín plays on the piano is “En Barranquilla Me Quedo” and was first released in 1988. I think either Agustín learned it from Bruno or it’s artistic licence. They were trying to cram as many Colombian things as possible into the film, even if some were anachronistic.

In one of my fics I posited a magical shop that sells goods that they can’t manufacture locally, such as books. (I mean, they could have their own printing press, but they would be short on texts to print.) So now if I spot something that seems too modern I just assume it comes from there.