#sofía herrera

Sofia and me:

(tw for brief mentions of hazing/bullying and self-harm).

Raúl/Sofía is supposed to be the “I’d do anything for you” couple, but all of the “grand gestures” Raúl does for Sofía don’t actually make her life better and aren’t things she even asks for. The point is supposed to be that Raúl is willing to ruin lives for Sofía, but the end goal was never to help her or improve her life, it was to get her to be with him. Being the hacker in season 1 and trying to make her his emotional crutch in season 2, and meddling in her dad’s prison sentence/investigating Susana’s body removal in season 3 have nothing to do with Sofía herself and what would be best for her; they’re all just efforts to make her like him, either by manipulating her feelings or proving that he’s Not As Bad As People Say He Is :( Raúl can’t really be doing these things solely for Sofía because the ultimate objective is his own personal gain.

In contrast, Javier offers Natalia financial help-making it clear that he expects nothing in return-and when he threatens the group on the rooftop with the gun, he has everything to lose. The only reason he does that is because he’s worried about Natalia. He doesn’t stand to gain anything from the situation: Natalia isn’t even there (so she wouldn’t know what he did); his friends will be afraid of him if not hate him; and given his Dark Past™, if he intentionally instigates a violent act (or threat of one), he’ll lose the sense of morality he’s been trying to develop after The Soccer Incident, and have blood on his hands in an even more serious way. Obviously, don’t threaten your peers with guns, but if you wanted an actual example of Bad Behavior In The Name Of Love, then that scene is...right there...

Raúl/Sofía is also supposed to be the “I’ll forgive you for ANYTHING because I LOVE you” romance trope. But, imo, that trope only works if it goes both ways. Raúl never has anything to forgive Sofía for. She didn’t hurt him in any way at all. In fact, up until Susana’s death, she was probably the most innocent person in the show. Javier and Natalia both have checkered pasts. They both made selfish, ill-advised choices that hurt other people-Javier through participating in hazing culture to Be Cool (which led to someone dying) and Natalia through school fund embezzlement (which led to dealing drugs via working for The Local Mob and all of the consequent complications). And Javier forgiving Natalia for agreeing to sleep with his dad seems a little weird, but I think the important thing here is that it actually had nothing to do with Javier at all. She didn’t do it to hurt Javier (or help him somehow, which Idk how that would work logically, but also we have Raúl/Sofía, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), and she would have behaved the same if it had been any other man offering her a way out. She felt backed into a corner because she was desperate, scared, in danger, and running out of time. And Javier also understands what it’s like to be scared and backed into a corner come season 3. What Natalia did disturbs him, but he gets why she did it. (And in return, Natalia gets why he asked his dad for help and hid his removal of Susana’s body.) Forgiveness in this context seems a lot more plausible to me than Sofía forgiving Raúl for the extreme privacy violation of her peers, her dad’s imprisonment, her friend’s murder, and Raúl and Friends’ ableist comments. Raúl hurt her and the people she cares about directly. But Natalia and Javier, though they may have irreparably hurt people, didn’t irreparably hurt each other.

And the major “appeal” of Raúl/Sofía is supposed to be that He Becomes Better Because Love and that Sofía...Idk becomes more confident or spontaneous or something? Something something opposites attract/we aren’t so different trope. But Raúl...does not ever actually change. He never apologizes for ANYTHING, he’s still trying to manipulate things behind the scenes of Sofía’s life, he’s still blackmailing his peers, HE NEVER ACTUALLY GETS BETTER. In terms of Sofía gaining...anything? From this relationship? I guess she becomes more impulsive, but that’s hardly a good thing-on it’s own or in the context of the show. Her rushing at Raúl for sex in season 1 led to losing her virginity under dishonest circumstances. Self-harm (which she is shown to struggle with) is an impulse. Her biggest impulsive decision was confronting AYS directly, which led to The Game™, and fucked things up on a level that even this show hadn’t reached before. She doesn’t become more open-minded or forgiving, because the only person she forgives for terrible behavior is Raúl. She shuns Alex, she breaks up with Javier, she even walks away from her dad. Instead of confidence or loosening up, she just becomes a completely different version of herself, with no clear arc to show how she got there. Every time their onscreen together just goes to show how little they have in common and how little their relationship is actually based on. (I don’t have the energy to talk about Raúl/Sofía anymore, so if you need a more fleshed-out explanation of this, just read this and/or this post.)

Javier had a) already started on a self-improvement journey before the start of the show, b) as mentioned above, chose to help Natalia with no expectations because he was genuinely moved by her desperation, and c) when he fucked up with Sofía by lying to her about moving Susana’s body, he immediately went out of his way not to make the same mistake with Natalia. He tells her that he can’t be with her while harboring such a serious secret, and then when she offers communication with no strings attached, he opens up and is completely and totally honest with her. He even outright admits that he’s a shitty person. Similarly, Natalia is surprised and inspired by Javier’s kindness toward her, which-along with rebuilding her relationship with her sister-softens her edges and brings out her more compassionate side. She also becomes closer with the other members of the group through her relationship with him and comes to care about them, too. She even tries to help Rosita when she thinks the latter’s unique traits are being washed out by her romantic relationship. Javier and Natalia make each other better.

Derived from the Navier fic

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When Sofía had suggested splitting into pairs, Raúl had thought it was a bad idea.

Then she said they’d be going together, and he thought it was a great idea.

Truth be told, he was surprised she didn’t want to go with Javier, but it did make sense for him to go with her to check the computers considering he’d spent months with a hacker and learned a thing or two.

He didn’t care if it made sense or not, of course— He just wanted to be with Sofía.

So, here they were now, in a room not unlike the one he used to hang out in with the hacker. Sofía hadn’t said more than ten words to him, being all business-like. He was determined to change that.

Raúl leaned casually on the desk as Sofía typed away on the keyboard, hunched over the computer.  

“How much do you wanna bet they’re eating face right now?”

Sofía laughed quietly. “Considering what Natalia did to him, I’ll take you on that and bet all the money I have on no,” she said.

Raúl frowned. “What did she do to him anyway?”

Sofía looked down. “That’s Javier’s story to tell, not mine.”

“Hm.” Had to be something big then. Maybe he could find out somehow. But, then again, he didn’t give a shit. “Well, whatever it was, it doesn’t seem to stop him from following her with his gaze everywhere.”

“Sadly, hate and attraction are not mutually exclusive,” Sofía said with an ironic smile. She stood straight, facing him. “I mean, look at me. I hate your guts and I still managed to kiss you. I don’t know how I stomached it.”

He got close to her, leaving just few centimeters between their faces. “If memory serves me right, you did way more than kiss me.”

“And if mine serves right, you lied to me like one thousand times,” she said flatly, not even batting an eye. She turned to the computer. “Now come help me with this.” 

Raúl cut his losses with an internal sigh and moved to the computer. If only she could forget about that.

...

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