Lollipops & Unicorns

Some people think I should put together my thoughts on... TV characters. Here goes crazy. Be WARNED.

[goolagola]

“BARRY ALLEN HAS A PROBLEM”—he’s trying to ask Dr. Caitlin Snow out. Buuut he really doesn’t know how. So he enlists the help of the smartest person in STAR Labs… and it’s not Cisco Ramon. 

[goolagola]

I’m coming for you.

I’m opening the prison gates—

Cutting through the darkness;

I dare you to stop me,

But still—

.

.

I’m coming for you.

.

.

We’ll see;

Between the two of us—

Who’s yet more determined.

.

.

Yet perhaps even stronger

Is the undeniable strength—

Undisputable TRUTH;

A breathtaking display:

When LIGHT breaks through 

The mind’s furious storm,

Upon the heart’s blackened night;

.

.

And so—

As sunrise at dawn;

I will shine through.

.

.

.

I am not afraid

of your demons.

.

.

I am stronger

than them.

.

.

.

I dare you stop me—

Hurt me—

Still—

Dear,

I’m coming for you.

To rescue;

.

.

You.

.

.

.

You cannot stop me.

.

.

.

Just as I believe in you

And so—

Trust me;

When you hold on to me,

We’ll make it through—

Together.

.

.

I’m coming for you.

And I—

.

.

.

.

.

I will find you.

Find You. A poem.

When action speaks—what does the heart hear?

#thebestkindoflove is #loveondisplay

[goolagola]

It was a place of darkness, It was a grave of tears. Despair, loss, abandonment— And imprisoning fear. Where longing had raged And desperation screamed, In breathless whispers; To be found— To rescue. Yet it isn’t that graveyard where the dead belongs, Nor that darkened prison where lies cage and kill—

A home they seek, where they yearn to be;

But the sunrise of a new dawn—

When TRUTH’S light had begun to peek. There; they long to return; To words spoken— Yet words unspoken, still;

.

. 

.

How I love you, dear.

. . .

// A poem. How I Love You, Dear.

[goolagola]

#Love+Heart+Letters series. When Everything Is Said And Done.

[goolagola]

If you can pick an emoji to represent you, which one would you choose?

Ben:

And no—that is not a dude named “Ben”

. . . . .

What?— I crack corny jokes. Leave me alone.

[goolagola]

From The Case For Worthy Ships — A#YağHaz review

#Love+Heart+Letters series. A Priceless Heart.

[goolagola]

Who holds the keys to your heart?

#Love+Heart+Letters series.

[goolagola]

#Love+Heart+Letters series. From “The Case For Worthy Ships” #review

[goolagola]

“ You were a goner then, when you first held her in your arms, you’re a goner now—to the point of NO RETURN. Your pretenses have been leveled to Ground Zero. Your walls have been torn down like Jericho. And in the wake of their ruination is your pulsating love, flaring like an unquenched fire. To witness its blazing flames, all would just need to glimpse through your windows—your gleaming, unhindered eyes. Unless one is blinded, frightened, or just deceiving themselves, they’ll know that Yagiz Egemen is no longer just—Yagiz Egemen. He is a man whose heart now belongs to one woman—and one woman only. His soul engrafted to another. His first love, after his beloved mother…

Yet, one called ‘beloved’...

By his brother. ” . . .

—  A Pain Like No Other...

snapshot scene that never made it to a review. Post kidnapping, the morning after Yagiz & Hazan’s hospital stay. Episode 38.

#Love+Heart+Letters series.

[goolagola]

Your movements, Calm, steady... Yet— Urgency, exuding off your frame in waves To start—achieve what your desire set upon; F I X E D — your eyes were, on that hoop; A trivial— Substantial utterance that enlightened us Just what kind of man you are; Your clear, bright gaze, tracking that ring, A symbol of challenge, reward—WINNING; You kept your eyes trained on what you aim to do— Icy gray, gleaming with keen anticipation... . . .

— t o  S C O R E. . . He—a man of conviction, Who knew who he was—  And what he wants. . . small snapshots in #film  portraying BIG #lessons on #life.

[goolagola]

THE CASE FOR THE LIGHT (And The Dark) | #review

Originally posted on Fb, May 19, 2018.

Bear with me on this one. Might wanna read it in parts. Call it my own backstory or just plain explanations for things to make sense, it is what it is—still another super long post 😆. To be frank, they’re really a COLLECTIVE of reviews I'd written and had to put together. Stuff going back on episodes all the way in the 20’s. Keep in mind, I haven’t watched past half of E39. In other words, didn’t even finish it yet 🙈. It goes like this—watch more episodes or finish the reviews? Guess what I picked. That’s right. So if ya ever wondered whether I love y'all 😜

PART I  —  What In The World Is Happening 

There is that saying, which holds a measure of truth within the confinements of a specific context—

Stupid is as stupid does.

And as of the beginning of E38, Sinan Egemen hit a new low.

I had wanted to whiplash you all the way to Earth-2 Gorilla City like The Flash did with the obsessive, girl-kidnapping Grodd. 

But hey, Sirma has some designs for ya, and it looks like your Sirma-induced fate is looking worse and worse each episode. At least Grodd was a frightening genius of a genetically mutated gorilla—AND a chilling telepathic manipulator that enslaves your mind to do what he wants. A smelly gorilla who had lurked Central City’s stinkiest sewage he may be but still, a BRILLIANT one at that. But you… you iz plain STUNAD by now. Your only hope is Sirma’s generosity to resurrect your redemptive qualities from all the past episodes combined. You ARE Yagiz’ brother, after all. And the loyalty between you two was what you got going for ya. But IF that sailing ship is going down under as well… Whelps—

May the FORCE be with you.

Perhaps then Yoda might consider making a worthy Jedi out of you yet—but who’s counting on it? Yoda’s dead. Annnndd Star Wars fanboys might just light my hair on fire trying to detox that sacrilegious thought—

Sinsin and Yoda… Blasphemy to the highest order 😂

All jokes aside, though. There is a PURPOSE for Sinan’s character. But as of now, y'all can call him “Sinsin" or that freakish moniker “Sinsirella” (dude, sounds like a bad marriage between Dr. Frankenstein and Ella Enchanted)—or just plain STUNAD, as the Italians would say—Sinan is STILL being used as an agent of CONFLICT.

And stupidity is part of that CONFLICT.

Forget that he ruined Yagiz’ love confession to Hazan when the two were under the muzzle of a gun in that not so spooky cemetery, he could’ve KILLED the both of them running into an operation that the cops themselves were stealthily staking out. Stupidity galore. That gun had been aimed directly at Yagiz’ head. The possibility of a killshot triggered by sudden surprise...

Hey—maybe Sinsin thought he’d do a better job than a group of professionally trained, armed officers.

If I could insert that gif of that deadpan kid with the freakishly blinking eyes...

Hey, I very well COULD. This is Tumblr 

Oh—that’s right! He actually WASN’T THINKING to begin with, of the repercussions of his actions. Which is no surprise. It’s a usual pattern for him.

Anyways. Sirma utilized that stupidity to a) reveal that Sinsin may just be a bit SLOW on the uptake—which is a bane to YagHaz’ budding relationship and b) as a blessing in disguise because Yagiz’ QUICK thinking to overturn a sucky situation by using that moment of distraction pretty much saved their lives. See? There is a reason for Sinan’s existence in this perfectly sensible series. Btw, see what I did there? Slow... Quick...

Ok, ok 😂. I was trying to be—I don’t know what I was trying to be. Just taking the time to point out the palpable contrasts between the two brothers 😁

Alright. All teasing aside though, the key word is this—

PURPOSE. Which basically reveals MOTIVE. Because every story has a motive (the WHY), not just a MESSAGE (the WHAT). And METHOD (the HOW). We may eventually explore all that some time later but in order to do that, as too for the here and now, we may need to delve into some technicalities that actually goes on behind the indefinable world of Writing. Let me just say that I’m no expert—far from it—but I’ve been a nerdy student of storytelling. So what I’ll humbly share with you are the findings that I’ve discovered.

Cause don’t we all scream “What in the world is going on?” at one point or another when it comes to the unpredictable world of fiction? Especially when it’s pumped with drama ON STEROIDS.

Now, let’s start with this—

PART II  —  What It Really Boils Down To 

Remember when I told ya that every story boils down to CONFLICT and RESOLVE (a.k.a Resolution)?

Quite practically, you literally have NO STORY without CONFLICT.

When you have a “good” conflict with a “good” Villain as an agent of that conflict, you'd have a compelling story.

The job of a writer is no easy task. To write a good and inspiring WORTHY Hero, is an intimidating enough endeavor—not to mention it’s just plain HARD WORK. But writers must know how to write a GOOD Villain as well—“good", in a sense that they are a strong enough Villain that a Hero can defeat. Therefore the achievement of defeating a strong opponent that would result in great sense of purpose and accomplishment. And SHOW how that achievement against said Villain is EARNED. You have too much of a goofy Villain, the audience may have the tendency to undermine the Hero. You have too strong of a Villain—again, the inclination to UNDERMINE the Hero. But quite the contrary, if your Hero’s too invincible, he runs into the chances of failing us, the audience, the connection to relate with him. We want to see his process of growth in growing stronger step by step. If he’s the all-too-perfect untouchable man, he may come off as two dimensional because we’re not witnessing the depths of his soul and vulnerability. We can no longer empathize with his struggles, therefore, his achievements as well.

Now.

What’s quite compelling with YAGIZ’ STORY, is that not only does he have so many agents of conflict against him—

He is also fighting against HIMSELF.

Denying his heart of his own dreams, hopes, and desires. Sacrificing them for the wellbeing of others, instead of his.

Warring within against what he truly wanted yet could not have. And so became both the winner and loser for it was a battle that only he alone fought, against none other but himself.

For he is a man that lives by a code—upholding Integrity to the best of his ability. (That even when he masterminded the plan to dig up his father's grave, and in doing so, brought dishonor to himself and family, it was his sense of honor and integrity that had driven him—he would not allow his father's legacy to be further tainted; that his children can remember him in a better light. Yet his execution was wrong, therefore dishonor still came upon them. Nonetheless, it is undeniable, that he lives by a conviction).

Therefore, because of that conviction for integrity within, he had warred against his own heart. And so had given away the love of his life—the result of a wrestle that he had with none other but himself.

And THAT by far, has been more of a WORTHY conflict, that Yagiz Egemen, a worthy hero, has had to face.

Not with Fazilet, Kerime, or Yasemin. Or Gokhan, Selin—or Sinan. Or Hazim. NOT even with Hazan—Hazan, because his love for her seems to be the impetus for a major conflict. Note I said “seems to be". I didn’t say it’s the conflict itself. Or maybe I did? 😝

But that’s for later 😉

Now here’s the thing about CONFLICT. No matter how tastefully and masterfully written it is, conflict is just a flippin' waste of time if it doesn’t serve the whole POINT of the stinkin’ story itself—

RESOLVE; RESOLUTION.

Which is a story’s SOLUTION to a conflicting problem. And here is also where you may need recall what you’ve read in the past reviews; What have I said is the BEST resolve that a story could ever hope to deliver, be it a superhero ACTION flick or feel-good ROM-COMS…

LOVE.

And that is why Yagiz Egemen is the rock that GROUNDS this whole story.

A story that I’ve said is full of tumultuous happenings—from heartbreaking settings to ludicrous hilarity, with its share of questionable mishaps (like, the fact that if a DNA test succeeded to compare a burnt up corpse and an unborn baby with clear scientific report, then how come a hospital that the Egemens had usually frequented before mismatched Hazim's previous data and declared that corpse’s DNA to be his instead—AT LEAST get a transfer of his dental records to see whether the corpse' oral structure matched the Egemen patriarch's—but hey, I’m not here to nitpick. Just trying to make a point of some things being, err, questionable. Or perhaps just the result of some significant lack of research on medical expertise. But in the spirit of being generous with letting the writers take creative license, let’s just go with it).

Now you can say that it seems to be an overstatement that Yagiz "grounds this whole story"—Just HOW? And you can even turn the table back on me, since I made the case, a couple of reviews before, how lazy writing is just “telling” you about a fact but never really “showing” it (for example, I can say that, “The New York City skyline is remarkable at nighttime from across the East River”—and yes, it is quite special, I’m from the area so I’d at least can concur with anyone uttering the sentiment. But if you’ve never really lived there, taken the Tram to Roosevelt Island, and sit on one of the benches to gaze upon Upper East Side Manhattan at twilight till the moon peeked at ya, you can’t really buy into it—in other words, believe and understand what I mean by it being “remarkable”. But if I were to say, “The lights winked from the towering skyscrapers. The great daystar had retreated below the horizon. And so the luminescent glitter of sights of the Concrete Jungle began to pulsate as the moon upon the starless sky continued its journey with only the sparse clouds as company...” Now, I’m no longer just “telling” you that it’s remarkable. I’m beginning to SHOW it as well).

So back to Yagiz—he grounds this story in its entirety. And you say—

HOW? I can’t just say that he does, but I’d also have to show you just how.

For once, even a character within the story itself says that Yagiz is the sane one in their whole family. Gokhan, who used to burn with jealousy towards his younger brother now trusts his judgment more than the father that Gokhan himself idolized. That’s why he called Yagiz at the opening of E38. Did you believe him? That Yagiz sure is one most reliable out of them all? Now, if you had no hesitation agreeing with him whatsoever, that means the Writers have done their job SHOWING us through their story the traits of Yagiz Egemen that is aligned to Gokhan’s statement—which by the way, is really the Writers’ statement. Gokhan’s line by Tolga wasn’t shoehorned in there to make Caglar’s character look good. The Writers didn’t need to do that. They’ve done a good job showing us—therefore attaining our good faith—that Yagiz’s intelligence, whether emotionally or logically, is trustworthy.

Now let me ask you this—if LOVE, and that is, what is TRUE about love, is the best RESOLUTION a story could ever hope to deliver, who then out of all the characters in this story have displayed it more, both in word and deed? Yes, granted, no character is perfect. They are with flaws just as they are with strengths. Now having said that—who has then depicted closest to what love is, in all the different relationships that character has? Most of ya would say that it'd undoubtedly be an easy answer—Yagiz Egemen.

I really don’t have to build the case just how true that is. You see it in his unrelenting loyalty to his family, at the expense of his own heart and wellbeing. You see it in how he charged ahead to rescue Hazan, his own life didn’t matter—it was hers that he put first. You see it in his resilience and forgiving nature—his dad pretty much said that he’d disown him (granted Hazim wasn’t right in the head because of Yasemin’s drugs), after Hazim had married a girl younger than his own teenage daughter. Yet Yagiz still retained the respect that Hazim still deserved because he still was his father and the man that had raised him, no matter how abandoned he had felt when that same father shipped him off to the States. It’s clear. Yagiz Egemen is a generous man. 

And that is because he LOVES.

It is love that resonates with our hearts. We can be impressed and entertained by someone’s skill, intelligence, and wealth. But at the end of the day, it is LOVE that all of us yearn for. You see it early on in young children. A three year old doesn’t care whether they’re wearing Gucci or Prada on their body. What they want is the strong arms of Dad around them when they fall. Mom’s kiss on their head when she tucks them in before bed. Food maybe scarce on the table but if they got Mom and Dad? Their world is still what it’s supposed to be. They are not alone. Like Yagiz, the shadows that come at night are chased away when Dad is present. And the fever won’t seem so painful when Mom’s arms are around to lend strength all night long. 

There. 

LOVE. 

It is the single most thing that makes a story a WORTHY story—with worthy HEROES.

Out of all the characters in this story, it’s the second son of the Egemens that have displayed closest to what love truly is.

Let’s face it. We can be entertained by Fazilet’s antics. But is it really Fazilet that keeps you watching?

We love Hazan. But I reckon that by E39, many of us are just fed up with the lies that she keeps. So what causes us to have patience with this show?

Somehow, despite how ridiculous some plots may get in this series, Sirma and her team had done a splendid job inspiring our hearts with love through Yagiz’ story. And Yagiz with Hazan. And that’s what we believe in—LOVE. And that’s why we root for them.

But, still it remains, that Yagiz Egemen is NOT perfect. He is a flawed and fallible man. Worthy Heroes does not mean that they are perfect men and women. It means that their lives are marked with something that is worthwhile, living them in a way that transcends far beyond their own. Now before I go further, let me just bring this up;

IF something goes WRONG with Yagiz’ character, if Sirma and her team fail to develop his character further from where they’ve started, there’s then a good chance that WE, the audience, may lose faith in the story itself. Because it is the story of love that makes a story worthwhile and Yagiz Egemen has been a—yes, flawed—but consistent proponent of it by the Writers’ hands. And since love is what resonates with our hearts, if Yagiz continues to fail to display that, what then will resonate with us and cause us to continue watching?

PART III — We’re Not Perfect After All 

For the most part, I’m that nerd that usually laughs at a joke, like—LATE. Yeah. I’m that guy 😅. Or in my case, that chick. I’m also that annoying twit that LAUGHS during a dramatic scene. Or the fact, when my buddy and I got on The Zipper, being like 70 feet in the air, propelled left and right, up and down in high speed like we’re in a whacked out blender—and I’m CRACKIN UP cause he was screechin like his lungs flew out his ribcage. Then his phone FELL OUT.

So funny. I was close to wettin’ my pants. (Sorry, bruh! At least I got on that crazy ride witchu so u ain’t gotta be alone 😆). We got his phone back, thank God—AND his lungs 😂. Somehow, his phone escaped unscathed—I don’t know if HE did. Dude looked traumatized.

Aaaand I probably had something to do with it too 😬

BUT—

I’d be the FIRST to admit that I AM a bit whirly—I’m far from somebody who’s got it all together. When someone says “there’s always one in the room”—most of the times, that’d probably be me 🤣. Even my own dad says I’m just a bit... Different. BAHAHA 😂. Gotta love good ol’ Daddyo.

So here’s the thing. Because I am just a bit “different” 😁, just a FRIENDLY warning that ya might not like what I’m gonna say—Later. But I’m still that kid that takes the time to write these trains of a post because I care that y’all get some quality content, not just some mindless nonsense and receive at face value whatever writers and filmmakers dish us. 

Besides some juvenile teasing between the ships on my part, I realize that we’re talking about fictional characters here. But here’s just the simple but crucial TRUTH—

Storytelling has always been an EFFECTIVE tool to inspire people with something lasting. But also a VERY effective tool to do just the opposite—sell JUNK. And the scary thing is—people will STILL be buying.

So if I do call out Sinan on his shenanigans, I do so because there ARE young girls who really see his seducing ways as romantic and call it “love”, when the guy had actually been FORCING intimacy upon Hazan (see previous reviews for elaboration) when he should’ve been proving himself as a TRUSTWORTHY man, worthy of a woman’s precious heart, when he had just betrayed her. And the fact that these young and impressionable minds ACTUALLY pattern their real-life relationships based on TV shows… Let’s just say, to call it “shenanigans” is too nice. And certainly it’s erroneous to call it love; I even have said before—there is a word for somebody who forces intimacy upon an unwilling participant. 

Okay, I’m just gonna be real. That’s what rape is—forced intimacy. And it isn’t just physical. It’s emotional. In the real world, you’d knock out some creeper who stalks into your window at night and break into your bedroom while you’re sleeping. Why do you think Hazan was seriously disturbed initially, NOT wooed, when she found out Sinan had breached her privacy? Because that wasn’t romantic. That was straight up WRONG. I told ya. HUGE RED FLAG. And if it’d been my OWN little sister being impressed by his “romantic” chops—you’d bet I’d be on the frontlines raging against the machine. Not on my watch, bucko.

So if you REALLY want to know WHY I still write.

Like I said in previous reviews; writers and filmmakers have been given a significant gift to INSPIRE this messed up world through Storytelling. And to those much is given, much is expected. And whatever your craft, and your sphere of influence is, there’s a certain responsibility that we all carry. The bigger the platform, the bigger the responsibility.

And of the Writers and Filmmakers' story in FHVK, there’s just something very INSPIRING in Yagiz' story—and Yagiz and Hazan. Pfft. Otherwise I WON’T be writing these reviews.

BUT—

JUST like real life, NO man or woman is perfect. In fact, mankind is with SERIOUS flaws (have you seen the news? “Flaws” might actually be an UNDERSTATEMENT).

Therefore, there ARE impurities with Yagiz.

And Hazan.

And of course—Yagiz and Hazan, together.

PART IV  —  One And For All

One of the things that truly bug me is a double-standard. Man, it’s like a stick in my craw. Just wanna spit it out.

How messed up is it that just because somebody comes from a poor background, they can’t attend a certain school—but that guy turns out to be a flippin genius, who had earned his own tuition by bustin his tail working double jobs prior to enrolling. Only to have it thrown at his face that he can’t enroll, despite his means, simply because he grew up in the wrong zip code.

It plays out like this, ALL the time—Granted, for different people, and environment. If you’re going to apply a standard, apply it to all. Now, I understand that there are occasions that it just can’t apply to everybody. For example, at Walmart, or just most public places here in the States, the street to its entrance is painted with yellow diagonal lines. We know that that means there is no parking there at anytime for everyone EXCEPT the Fire Department, EMS, and Police. For obvious reasons—in the case that, God forbid, a possible fire, medical emergency, or terror attack happens.

But for the most part, when standard is applied to any one person, it applies to everyone. For example; if somebody commits murder, he goes to prison. It doesn’t matter if he’s a homeless hobo or the President of the United States. So is a rapist or a thief—to prison you shall go. That type of standard is clear. Because if you’re a mom to a 5 year old who was kidnapped and trafficked for the sex trade, even if that guy is the King of England, you’d want a standard to be applied, just the same for the one who's a cashier at the deli.

It makes me burn when double-standard thrives.

Because integrity is still integrity.

So.

It would bother me a WHOLE lot that if I’d call Sinan out for his wrongs and never bothered to do the same for the rest, that being Yagiz and Hazan. I’d mind as well quit NOW because my credibility would be shot—if I tipped the scale to anyone’s favor.

Brief though it may have been, from my very FIRST review I’d no qualms pointing out where the faults may lay with Yagiz. I did the same with the next ones but never expounded further because it was not the right context and time for it. By now, these characters feel like friends to me. We’ve been on the journey with them, through ups and downs, left and right, and in on going circles. But even in real life—how would you feel if your friends lie to you? Just because they’re your friends, all of a sudden you’re now a robot with no emotions, and therefore would react impassively, without anger and disappointment? I don’t think so. We love our friends. We love our family. Therefore we bestow grace, are patient with their weaknesses, and we forgive. But still it remains that the TRUTH of the matter is,

LOVE DOES NOT LIE.

And it hurts—

Isn’t right, when your loved ones do.

PART V  —  Life Is Really Simple...

So we know what happened. Yagiz sacrificed his dreams. He gave the love of his life to another.

But let me ask you this. What if…

What if, many many moons ago, Yagiz had just answered Sinan that night with the TRUTH? What if he had uttered those words…

Yes.

I love Hazan.

Instead of lying?

What would have happened then?

Well, we know what happened when Yagiz didn’t choose to tell the TRUTH. Where did he arrive? Back to his mother’s grave, the land of the dead. And what had his words been this time?

"It did not work."

If to lie is to keep things in the dark… to speak the truth is to shed LIGHT. And if lying will not “work”, only the Truth WILL.

There, in the LIGHT of DAY, he had returned to his mother’s grave. And Daylight itself was showing you wisdom of the way that you should go. Because Yagiz, the only time you’ll be free from this burden is when the TRUTH finally SHINES.

Because the TRUTH sets us FREE.

Whatever lie he keeps, whether from Hazan or Sinan, will only be a PRISON of DARKNESS that will continue to torment him and keep him captive.

Now, even if he had revealed the truth that night, I believe Yagiz Egemen would still sacrifice his own dream and give away the love of his life. Not only that, he would be a willing and active participant in uniting her together with his brother. He would’ve gone that extra mile. Why? To GIVE is simply in him to do. It is connected to who he is, his IDENTITY. Yagiz Egemen may not be a perfect person, but he had learned further the way of LOVE in this way… the giving of himself and what was his.

The conversation would probably have gone like this;

“Yes. I love Hazan. And I am sorry for it. I didn’t know how it happened, but it had happened. But this I promise you, because I love you—I am not here to steal her from you. She is yours. And because I am your brother, I will help you in getting her back. I will spend my resources, my wealth, my energy and intelligence, in order for you to find your way back to her again. And then I will leave. My only hope is that you forgive me.”

For Yagiz had certainly done all that, except the confessing of the truth part.

About life, Confucius had once said this,

“Life is really simple. But we insist on making it complicated.”

And that’s why FHVK is the way it is. The Writers are showing individuals who literally do just that. And a part of us are attracted to it, because we do the same exact things in our lives—we insist on making it complicated. Yet, another truer fact remains—we too are attracted, like water to a parched soul, to the solution for life’s complications;

For insisting in making life complicated is this story’s CONFLICT. But it’s RESOLUTION—

Is LOVE.

There is simplicity in just telling the truth. But we complicate things and we make it harder for ourselves.

Because of this…

PART VI  —  …But We Insist On Making It Complicated 

FEAR.

Fear of losing our loved ones. Fear of being rejected by them. Fear of being hurt. Fear of being betrayed.

Fear of being alone. Unloved and abandoned.

We experience fear.

YET, some wise person had said this about fear;

F.E.A.R. — False Evidence Appearing Real.

Boy, there’s truth in that.

Yes, we can choose not to, but what if—what if we TRUST that our loved ones DO love us back? That they will extend to be understanding and not forsake us in our weakness? Even if they wanted to. What if… their love for us is actually strong enough to be patient with our shortcomings? That in the end, together we will make it through.

I’ve said this about Yagiz awhile ago, and funny enough, it wasn’t even part of a review. I had commented on someone’s post a few months back and my perspective still remains. Here's what I'd said:

… Ever since that "Golden Boy" explosive scene in the office with Yagiz, Hazim, and Gokhan in early S1, I've been a truly engaged audience for FVHK. Quite honestly, it is Yagiz' story that had compelled me to the series, not even YagHaz'. What makes this show stands out among many, is that the Hero's IDENTITY is more established FIRST, before he is a love interest to the Heroine. Yagiz is his own person, his own man, before he was Hazan's. I was intrigued by his resiliency and was impressed by his sense of integrity. If he was a real life person, he is a man that I, and as with many others, would respect. Imperfect, but still certainly a man that a wife can follow. A trustworthy and principled man—a man of character. Now... with the extending episodes, and just the stretching out of Yagiz' finding the truth—AND his hiding it too (err—like the fact that he is MADLY in love with his brother's beloved)—there are variable possibilities that Sirma can really mess up Yagiz' character in terms of his integrity. And that can be PAINFUL for us to watch. And not only that, HAZAN'S integrity. Already, it's so burdensome—heartbreaking, really—to see, how Hazan keeps hiding the truth. Don't get me wrong—I understand WHY, and the why is FEAR. Fear for Yagiz being hurt. Here's the thing. Yagiz is a STRONG man. You don't walk away from being separated from your family at 12 and STILL be who he is today without becoming STRONG. (I surmise, given that Hazim schemed Yagiz' and Sinan's real age as well, Yagiz might've been as young as 10 years old then in reality, which would make a lot more sense—the residual brokenness that Yagiz still carries because of that separation). And we have witnessed the strength of his character over and over again. I'd say, Hazan, Do not rob him of the chance to respond FOR HIMSELF to the truth, whether it was going to break or make him. He deserves that chance. It is his RIGHT.

Here's the thing. Even God himself does not mess around with our free will. We as mankind have the freedom to CHOOSE.

Therefore, Yagiz Egemen can choose for himself HOW he will respond to the truth. Whether this betrayal will break him, or whether he will move forward. Hazan CANNOT rob that from him. And Yagiz needs to give that right to his brother as well. Sinan needs to choose FOR HIMSELF, whether he will retaliate with vengeance or not, IF and when Yagiz confesses his love for Hazan.

A weaker man would’ve responded with vengeance when they’ve been hurt. For it actually requires greater strength to turn the other cheek.

When the TRUTH comes out about the adoption, it will be a TEST for the strength of Yagiz' character.

But, the fact of the matter is, his character HAS been tested all this time…

Whether he would confess the truth or not.

And he failed.

A strong man would confess and own up whether he had lied. Yet a stronger man would've spoken the truth to begin with. A weak man would lie. Weaker still, lie to cover a lie.

So here, even though he did not covet her, concerning the truth of his feelings for Hazan, Yagiz had shown weakness.

He does not want to lose his brother so he lied to him instead. And made no resolution to confess afterwards that he had lied. That is a price that Yagiz Egemen will have to pay. Because lying is costly. Not only does it affect who you lie to, it affects yourself.

But WHY do we lie?

There may be many destructive complications that lies can cause us in our lives but it’s really quite simple as to why we lie;

FEAR.

Either for ourselves—losing things or our loved ones, losing our lives, being harmed, being cheated, and etc—Or for others.

When fear overtakes us, it reduces us to this:

Cowardly people.

How I wanted to smack Yagiz upside the head when he came up with that foolish scheme by bringing Farah in, implying to Hazan that they had slept together. I kid you not, I had bile lurched up my throat. And guess what? Yagiz himself looked like he was going to throw up after Hazan left his apartment. Right there and then, Yagiz Egemen, you were a coward. Whether Hazan loved you in return or not, you had harmed and disgraced her with a filthy lie.

And what about Hazan, just a few episodes before when they were back in Yagiz' apartment after she'd cut her hand? I tasted that same bile when instead of telling the truth when Yagiz confronted her for hiding something from him, she'd lied to him that people were suspecting they had feelings for each other. Although Hazan wasn't privy to the extent of Yagiz' heart, it doesn't matter. What matters is what she did, and being fully aware of it; She had shamed him then. Had premeditated to commit that wrong. And Hazan, too, wept like her heart was wrung out.

Those two scenes were heartbreaking and painful to watch. My heart was torn. The two of them had become enemies to themselves and therefore to each other.

They had DECEIVED themselves that they were protecting each other. But like Hazan had said even to herself—"Is that what you call protecting?" By hurting and betraying each other? And in doing so, they had hurt and betrayed themselves. Heck, Yagiz basically insinuated that he was a vile son of a gun who would dishonor and take from a woman that which should only be given and received within the sanctity of marriage. And Hazan? She was crazy. She literally cut her hand.

Let me be clear, it WAS NOT love that had driven Hazan to slice her palm. Yagiz, to dishonor himself—

It was FEAR.

Because LOVE is PURE.

Fear ISN'T. 

Fear robs you of your peace, joy, and sound mind. It drives you to do something that you normally wouldn’t do. It reduces you to something that you don’t want to be. Able even, to rob you of your DESTINY. 

How many people take to their graves, dreams and hopes that never took wing because they were afraid? As Miles Munroe had said, surely the graveyards are the wealthiest place on earth. There, there are books, songs, films, inventions, and many other creation that had never seen the light of day—because fear had robbed it all from them. And they let it. And so all those dreams are now buried together with them in their graves.

And as of the end of E38, what had Yagiz and Hazan said to themselves?

"Are you a coward? Are you so weak?"

They both may have had the courage to face each other. But when it was time for the rubber to meet the road…

There in the wake of more lies, they showed us they were weak cowards, yet again.

At least, in that moment in time.

Because true courage is shown after things are said and done, if truly it was courage. And whether that courage continues to stand.

LOVE is not—NEVER—the conflict. It is the SOLUTION. It is fear that is the problem. Hazan was afraid that Yagiz will discover the truth and be ruined so she cut her hand. Yagiz was afraid that Hazan would be shamed so he dishonored himself.

Now let me stress this, it is UNDERSTANDABLE why they did what they did—I actually sympathize with them. But it does NOT make it JUSTIFIABLE. Things can only be justified when they are RIGHT. Lies on the other hand, are WRONG. But I understand that we live with a fallen human nature.

Which is why we need GRACE.

And LOVE. Because love forgives and bestows that grace. Therefore, it circles back to LOVE, the resolve to our conflicts.

Now, let me just point out the silver lining in all this. Yes, fear is a dark, cursed, and wicked thing. But you can actually see what TRULY matters by the things that fear attacks most in our lives.

Like I said. Storms may blindside us—but storms reveal the TRUTH of any strengths and weaknesses there be.

Which is why, when Hazan was kidnapped, the TRUE strength of Yagiz' love emerged. And yet another truth is revealed;

LOVE CONQUERS FEAR.

Otherwise, Hazan would certainly be dead by now.

PART VII  —  Written In The Stars 

What is death ULTIMATELY...?

To be no more—It’s the ULTIMATE SEPARATION.

Guess what LIES do?

THEY SEPARATE.

They cause destructive and detrimental distance in relationships—Distance, which is an enemy to Intimacy. Each lie, like cancer cells. They multiply and corrupt the body. Until there is no more body with life to feed on.

Unless those lies are destroyed.

And as for our beloved Heroine as of E38;

Hazan, whatever your logic, you had already proven by your desperate attempts to survive that SEPARATION from each other was NOT an option. 

There, with him slumped over you in that grave, we’d witnessed with breathless awe how the thought of Yagiz to suddenly be no more ripped a soul wrenching wail out of your mysterious depths, resonating throughout that darkened and cursed cemetery… Only to return to your ears with a most cruel echo—

Yagiz was TAKEN from you. 

His clear eyes that had keenly searched yours, his frantic hands that had possessively captured your face, his furious whispers that had chased the desolation of being buried alive and alone, too suddenly ceased to do so—when the crazed Kerime landed that wicked blow upon his head. And so had your tormented keening cut through our hearts and the deepest of yours was bared at last;

You could not bear the reality of losing Yagiz.

So Hazan, ya can go ahead and say, “…EVEN if I lose him…” in your misguided attempts to "protect" Yagiz, by yet continuing to lie to him. But, honey, who you think you kiddin—your actions had already SPOKEN otherwise.

That you are not willing to lose Yagiz.

Just as Yagiz isn’t willing to lose you.

So, go ahead. Run. And KEEP running.

But as the shining light of the Sun that may set at dusk, yet ONLY to faithfully ARISE at dawn, so it is with the LIGHT of TRUTH.

Your story is written in the stars—how they set, yet ONLY to RISE again;

It is inevitable and inescapable;

It is undeniable;

The TRUTH will ALWAYS SHINE.

And it’s always DARKEST—

JUST before dawn.

[goolagola]

E37: A MAN’S MEASURE (Yagiz & Hazan: A Love Story, Part 2) | #review

Originally posted on Fb, March 5, 2018.

Yagiz Egemen,

Family man and entrepreneur extraordinaire, has been propelled on a PATH of DISCOVERY ever since his younger brother spun a vile lie off his wicked tongue. A path that I’ve said in previous reviews he had not chosen for himself. A path that had cost too much of him and he had tried to bail so many times. But in finally discovering the truth in E12, he could no longer try to abandon that path. For he was a man of integrity and strict principles. So he took ownership for his part in devastating a young woman’s soul, and ever since then, tried to care for that woman’s wellbeing. And since it is his inclined nature to put others before himself, just as he'd always done for his family, he did the same for her.

And now, in E37, Yagiz Egemen was propelled on another path.

Just as reeling and unforeseen that path of discovery had been from the fateful beginning, this as well. Yet more COSTLY—

Hazan was in danger.

And Yagiz was in danger of LOSING her.

SEASON 1 saw Yagiz’ attempts to forsake that path of discovery for the TRUTH—but only to be placed back again and again by designs not of his own.

But THIS TIME, like a drowning man desperate for air, Yagiz searched for Hazan.

Despite what others had insisted of him—a cold, unfeeling “robot”—the second of the high-society Egemen sons of Istanbul, is a HIGHLY perceptive and DEEPLY intuitive man. So at the sign of anything out of place concerning Hazan Camikran, Yagiz was the FIRST to notice—Hazan, who had now come to be more than just Hazan...

Who now makes up the half of a singular world of their own;

As Yagiz had uttered—

She and I.

JUST—

She. And I.

Brick by brick that world was built. Slowly. Subtly. And mysteriously. But as if history was repeating itself, a lie was loosed, then another, and another, and yet another more—and so like a wielded, vengeful hammer, those lies threatened to destroy what their world was building to be. Until the unthinkable occurred—

The brush with death.

PART V  —  I Will Find You... 

Patience has always been one of Yagiz Egemen’s better virtues—as well as self-control.

But not this day.

This day, found the usually level-headed rock, a ball of twisted knot. Yagiz, who in so many ways, a rock for his family, found himself SHAKEN—for somebody, in so many ways who’d become HIS rock, was taken.

When Yagiz found his world spiraling out of control at discovering his dad’s manipulated dementia, Hazan had become that voice of hope that kept him tethered to faith. And so, later, when he finally discovered that she’d been stolen, all he pleaded for in shouts of rage was to hear HER voice.

But before that first phone call from the abductor that took him closer to Hazan’s whereabouts, Yagiz was unraveling.

But what we saw in E37 wasn’t just a display of breathless desperation…

But the rising STRENGTH of a man in LOVE.

Yet—also the WEAKNESS of that man’s FEAR of losing his love.

Yagiz Egemen was tested and so the various shades of his soul were displayed.

For during the time of testing will a man’s strength—and weakness—be revealed. Where his true character will show;

And as for Yagiz’, he knew where he stood—he could not claim Hazan as HIS. She was his brother’s still. And so later, as if consuming toxic poison for how unnatural it was, Yagiz swallowed his screaming protective instincts and called Sinan by that cliff side… Only to have rage pierced through him once again when his younger brother—surprise, surprise—was M.I.A.

Ignored a crucial call, his brother had done. JUST as he had, too many times before.

And here is where a pivotal and deciding key is laid;

When it'd really counted, Sinan Egemen, was Missing In Action—once again.

Just as when you failed to seek Hazan in E14 when she discovered your lies, being too many steps BEHIND when you finally did. Just as when you failed to seek the truth when her sister was falsely accused, BOTH times, and became her enemy instead. Because you had so selfishly cared only for what YOU believed to be true.

And this is what selfishness is—being only available for yourself, instead of for others.

And so there, when the LACK of Sinan’s character was revealed, the strength of Yagiz' was PROVEN;

He gave Sinan the chance to be the one to search and rescue Hazan himself for that chance was rightly Sinan's yet—just as Yagiz had done in E14, when he told him to go after her, and later in Agva, when he locked the two together—but again, Sinan was UNAVAILABLE.

For if he was otherwise to begin with for Hazan, to listen, instead of being quick to accuse, there would not have been any need for Yagiz to even try to get them back together again.

So it was decided; it was up to Yagiz to get Hazan back.

“—I WANT HAZAN,” Yagiz had boldly demanded, frantic yet unapologetic. Against the odds and at his own expense. And so to him was given the chance that another man had missed. The chance to acquire Hazan, by way of rescue.

And so, like a restless wild beast stalking the ground was Yagiz Egemen by that roadside. No building could confine him now. Therefore we saw him pacing to and fro out in the open. Only the sky could contain the building madness inside and the growling shouts roaring from his throat.

But earlier, it had been far from the display of raging strength that we saw. But a weakened man instead, crippled by FEAR, when Yagiz found Hazan’s forsaken phone by the roadside instead of Hazan herself.

There, Yagiz was reduced to a hunted, vulnerable, mewling cub, instead of the regal, territorial lion that he was—The Lion of Egemen, who bravely fights for his family and defends the people of his company; Just as his name signifies, “The brave and handsome one”—If there’s one thing that Hazim Egemen did RIGHT, was bestow his son a name that did him justice.

But for a brief moment, no longer was he brave. One would even argue, he looked more uncool than he was handsome, with his distorted face in pain. Hands flailing in front of him, like a blind man lost.

There, Yagiz looked undignified. Desperate. Naked.

Foolish—shouting with all his might a woman’s name who clearly wasn’t there.

A child, he had seemed, for children knew not the composures of a grown man—Nor his strategic solutions when trouble strikes.

When Yagiz finally gathered that composure, it was to address the chief of police... only to have it fracture once more, when confronted with procedures, instead of real solution—and so, VERY UNLIKELY of Yagiz Egemen, disrespected the man of the law by exiting his office with nary a goodbye. Fracture that composure did, because of a force that could no longer be contained any longer. A force that the regimented men of military could relate, for despite the conflict of interests, there was not much difference between Yagiz and the police chief. For men of the law are men with a MISSION—to protect the citizens of the country.

But to them, Hazan was one citizen out of many. But to Yagiz,

She was the love of his life.

Therefore what burned in his soul and flared from his lips was, “I will find you—

“I WILL FIND YOU.”

And so Yagiz continued the pursuit of his mission. And with each step, the fire was growing stronger and another was about to glimpse its strength—Nil.

When Yagiz found her, his character was further tested for he was confronting the woman who had harmed Hazan in the past, and so became the likeliest suspect for Hazan’s disappearance this time.

We had seen his vulnerability by that roadside, but now we see the strength of a rage that he could barely contain.

In his dangerous eyes, demanding and piercing to cut. In his thundering voice, devoid of tolerance to games and cheap stunts. Quick as a deadly serpent, his hand had caught Nil’s arm. His instincts aflamed, like an unquenched fire—the love of his life was in DANGER. And so his body had moved in swift and automatic fashion, trapping the hand that had once poured Hazan with fuel to light her on fire.

It was his integrity that had stopped Yagiz from committing damage and let Nil go—And another’s lack of it, in Nil’s disorienting, certainly unexpected, answer…

The infidelity of his brother.

So to have said that it was akin to swallowing poison when Yagiz next had to call Sinan to rescue Hazan, was no exaggerated imagery. To entrust Hazan to an immature man was one thing. But to an immature, AND unfaithful man, was another. But Yagiz did what he had to do, his integrity would not have allowed him to be exempt of it—call Sinan and gave his brother the benefit of the doubt.

But we know how that one turned out.

Because Sinan, was still an immature man. But perhaps, in more ways than one, still more a boy, than he was a man.

And for once, Fazilet did not sound ridiculous when she had directed him with the question—

What kind of man are you?

PART VI  —  The Deadly Calm 

There is something in a man that compels him to fight at the call of danger.

For men were made for battle.

Storms may blindside a man. And storms may ruin his soul. But like the silver lining in a storm’s dark clouds, a hopeful truth remains:

Though storms CHALLENGE—

Challenge, AWAKENS a man’s strength.

That’s why in the wake of the blindsiding storm of Hazan’s disappearance, we only saw Yagiz’ strength arise.

But when that strength finds no venue to be released, a man could self-destruct. This is why soldiers choose to return to the battlefield, again and again, despite the ruin and danger;

In a time of war, to remain STILL was the HARDER battle yet. To run away, was unthinkable.

For how could he then call himself a man, let alone a warrior?

Like the tide of the sea, the pull of a warrior’s instinct is to charge and fight when battle beckons.

And so, when Yagiz could only WAIT in the cloak of night by that blackened sea…

It was WORSE than facing an unknown foe head on—a more torturous fate, ESPECIALLY for a man who was always driven to finish whatever he’d started.

That’s why, when later he was finally confronted by a strange man and his deadly gun, Yagiz remained cool. Much as he had been, when Yasin had threatened him with the steel weapon, many moons ago.

In fact, in the midst of the danger of losing his life, his logic returned. He calculated and deducted—even INSULTED the gunman by calling him a dog thrown a bone. Fully knowing, that the stranger could—WAS, going to kill him.

The thought of his own life endangered had not render him helplessly mad, imploding from the inside out. But knowing Hazan’s life was at stake—and NOT being able to do a darn thing about it was the culprit that had driven him CRAZY.

And so, when Kerime’s lackey contacted him again, Yagiz sprung to motion and found a semblance of calm, assuring himself that "Hazan was fine and only waiting for him."

But it was only the calm at the eye of the storm—deceiving. For from there on, the storm was only going to enrage higher and bigger.

And boy, what a breathtaking display it was.

PART VII  —  The Fury in The Raging Storm 

True to his word, Yagiz found Hazan.

Yet in the most terrifying place he’d ever imagined; underground—

BURIED ALIVE.

Just imagine the TERROR of finding the love of your life in such a fashion—why, it’s UNIMAGINABLE. Nearly impossible to DESCRIBE.

Yet, one incomparably stronger than that terror was truly THE unimaginably INDESCRIBABLE.

The fury of LOVE that had driven Yagiz to dig Hazan out of the dirt.

It stole your breath away and rendered your speech paralyzed. All we could do was behold it...

LOVE, that had enabled Yagiz to see where others could not. To search, when others hide. And to fight, when others run.

Some wise but anonymous man had once said,

“What makes a man is not when he fights a battle. But it is how he fights it when the battle is RAGING.”

Headlong into the danger, Yagiz had charged. Overpowering the old man who was just that—old and weak, without his deadly gun. Believing against all odds, that beyond that grave of dirt, Hazan still held her breath. And so in his lips were the hopeful and loving words of, “You are with me.”

Because that’s what love is—

PRESENT.

Not distant.

And what had I ask last review, of the BEST present, a lover could ever hope to receive?

Their lover’s PRESENCE.

Through thick and thin, and everything in between.

A man's most dangerous enemy is not the storm. It's not the battle. And certainly not a gun.

It is himself—when he QUITS fighting. Because the moment he does, he’ll no longer be PRESENT in that battle.

And this is the conflict of the story—

Will Yagiz Egemen continue to fight?

And with this, I bid you adieu.

Stay tuned for YAGIZ & HAZAN: A Love Story—PART 3.

[goolagola]

THE CASE FOR (dis)FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS (YAGIZ & HAZAN: A Love Story, Part 1) | #review

Originally posted on Fb, March 30, 2018.

So Sinan called Hazan out for being DISTANT in E35… Pfft. Aight. If ya really wanna do this, let’s stab at it. Here’s a whole entire #review on DISTANCE and its conquering nemesis—INTIMACY. Keep in mind, I’m not caught up like most of ya, still on half of E38.

PART I — And That Is The Question 

How would you define a relationship?

Ah. What a doozy—RELATIONSHIPS.

If we’re honest, just about everybody on this planet craves it—whether familial, platonic, or romantic, even ones of professional nature.

For if we’re truly honest, we are afraid of being alone. 

As sick as it is, even a psychopath who suffers total deficit of empathy towards anything with life, would have no channel to release his twisted and murderous intent if he’s utterly alone, being the only creature in the entire planet with not even an amoeba floating around anywhere to be his hapless victim. A frightening thing, isn’t it—to be completely ALONE? He’d soon self-destruct. Researchers have discovered that even babies would stop growing and eventually die, though fed with the proper nutrition to flourish, because of—check this—never being touched and held. 

There’s something in human beings that craves company. We need it, literally, if we’d ever hope to survive.

Well, here’s what Oxford English Dictionary describes what RELATIONSHIP is: 

“The way in which two or more people or things are connected, or the state of being connected.”

It’s pretty clear. It boils down to one thing…

CONNECTION.

Or LACK thereof.

Aaaaand ladies and gentlemen—that concludes this review. 

Kidding.

But for real though. That pretty much sums it up. If you want to make a case of how valuable a relationship is between any two people, you assess it by the strength of the CONNECTION they share with each other.

Now. Let’s humor all the existing ships in this series; but particularly, of the duel between Yag+Haz or Sin+Haz—or whatever they’re called—If you really want to test which of the relationship is actually more of a TRUE relationship... Well, test it by the connection the pairings of characters actually have with each other. Be it between Gokhan and Sevda—or even Fazilet and Riza 😆

Connection. It’s as simple as that. 

But before we go any further, what actually is a CONNECTION?

English Dictionaries on the World Wide Web pretty much say that generally, a connection is “the act of linking one thing to another”. Absolutely. But as far as relationships are concerned, that’s not really accurate, is it? Only because it isn't enough in its definition to just encapsulate connection in relationships as “linking” TO or WITH something or someone else. Shucks, your iPhone and Bose speakers can link up together via wireless and invisible Bluetooth technology, but it doesn’t mean that they have a relationship with each other. BAHAHA 😂. And so, just because somebody is linked to somebody else, it does not mean that they’re “connected”, sharing a CONNECTION with each other, at least the type of connection that truly makes up a RELATIONSHIP, one that actually LASTS. Any two people can be linked together because they’re from the same graduating year, of the very same high school, in the very same town they grew up in. But it doesn’t guarantee at all that they have a relationship. For all we know, they never knew each other.

In the case of relationships, CONNECTION is profoundly more than what Meriam-Webster generally says it is—“The act of linking one thing to another”… Yes; In relationships, there IS “linking"going on—

But it doesn’t mean mutual SYNCING is happening. 

Allow me to explain. 

Ya see, the iMac that I personally use at the office is connected straight to the Internet via Ethernet to ensure optimal speed for the particular set of things that my work requires. The modem is certainly INSTALLED and working as it should, just as my beast of a computer is. And the Cat6 cable connecting the iMac to the Modem is working just as reliably well. So, not only is the modem and the computer FUNCTIONING properly, so is the Cat6. But here’s one VERY CRUCIAL thing out of all this set-up… If the iMac is ON but the Modem is OFF, there will be NO Network connection ESTABLISHED. Which means, NO Internet, and since 80% of our system is a series of WEB-based data-syncing Applications, there will be little to absolutely NO work done. And the opposite is true as well, Modem ON but iMac OFF, I’d have the same scenario on my hands, if not WORSE, because the iMac is completely non-operational. Don’t forget—the Cat6 is installed and LINKING the iMac and Modem TOGETHER. BUT… 

There is NO SYNCING established for there is no EXCHANGE of SIGNALS between the two hardwares—therefore, NO CONNECTION, whatsoever.

In other words, to ensure and establish any type of connection is for the two "to be connected”—

Which is “to be JOINED”, and finally, interacting with each other.

Now we’re striking something.

And so, in RELATIONSHIPS, the Hundred Dollar times a Hundred Dollar question is (see what I did there 😏)—

What causes CONNECTION to transpire in the FIRST place? 

And THAT, ladies and gents, is THE golden question of the day.

Some would say that it’s the neurological receptors in the brain reacting or non-reacting to any one individual, some would say it’s the mystical act of the cosmos. Without getting weird or just overly complicated, whatever your stand is, the simple fact of the matter is that in relationships, when and where there is an EXCHANGE of THE HEART and SOUL between any two individuals, there occurs a CONNECTION between them. 

Now... remember what I said what INTIMACY was?

Beyond ANY physical interaction, INTIMACY is the EXCHANGE of THE HEART. It is the interaction of one soul to another that causes a CONNECTION between them, which over time, results in a BOND between those two individuals.

Whether that connection CONTINUES to flow, will determine just how STRONG their bond will be.

You must see where I’m going now. Hint—think back on the past reviews 😉 (and for once, I’m not telling ya “that’s for later”  😁—c’mon, gimme some  👊). Sooooo. If you’re a HazSin fan (I don’t know why, but I keep wanting to say Gesundheit every darn time I see “HazSin"! And NO, I don’t mean Hazim and Sinan 😑—pls, don’t make me spell it out), or just plain Anti-YagHaz… PLEASE come up with something other than just “Yagiz sucks and YagHaz is just gross—DUH” as your ammo for why Yagiz and Hazan just would not work. Now, I know many can give a comprehensive reasoning why they wouldn’t work and you are certainly, and respectfully, entitled to that opinion. And to be fair, I’m sure there ARE YagHaz supporters out there that’ve jumped on the bandwagon and ship YagHaz simply because “Sinan just sucks and he’s just GROSS—so is his relationship with Hazan”, without really expounding why and provide a respectful AND warranted answer for it. And I’m sorry if your encounters with those fanboys and girls have been less than savory. I myself occasionally dabble in the making of GIFs where sinsin—err, Sinan—has been the subject of some friendly but juvenile mild teasing (I mean, it concerns his HAIR, so even you must understand WHY—but if the subject of his hair and how it virtually smells truly offends you, do forgive me, for I still have a few more GIFs in store 😬). But in the spirit of good sportsmanship, my homies and I won't be screechin Queen's legendary “WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIENDS!” before the finish line—Scout’s Honor 🤘⚔️😁.  Aaand whichever ship you’re currently now aboard, I certainly am not here to say you’re right or I’m right or play tit for tat—or even say, “Grab the lifeline, honey, cuz yo ship is definitely sinkin,” even if that would save yo tails, if ya don’t want me to. 

I’m simply here to bring a perspective. And I’m still writing because you’re still asking for that perspective (cool yo jets there, HazSinners, I’m speaking to YagHaz Nation now—they’re the ones asking for it). Despite how loooonng of a post my reviews get. So, KUDOS to y’all for riding the Goola’s-Not-So-Express-And-Not-To-Hogwarts-But-Still-Somewhat-Magical Train to the end—Each. Friggin. Time. (Ok, ok, it’s only magical because we’re exploring Sirma’s world full of Unicorns, Lollipops, and Rainbows—no need to wonder any longer, the sanity of FHVK 👀). I DO hope that perspective has enriched your experience in watching this perfectly sensible show.  

Now… Here’s the thing about PERSPECTIVE—it can be RELATIVE. And when things are relative, it can cause a headache. Take “beauty" for example—someone can say that Sinan is beautiful, and another, the complete opposite, and World War 3 might just ensue after. In this case, to say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” as the definition for beauty makes it relative, because it can be true for some, that Sinan is beautiful, but it won’t for others. BUT, there are just some things that just CANNOT be relative…

TRUTH itself.

You can’t add or take away from Truth. If Truth is relative, then it wouldn’t be called TRUTH. It’ll be called RELATIVISM. But ok… 

WHY am I saying all this? Weren’t we just talking about Relationships? What am I really getting at?

Well, in a series that showcases relationships that are wrought with hidden secrets and lies, wouldn’t you reckon that TRUTH just could possibly be those relationships' SAVING GRACE? 

If you’re up for another train of a post, by all means stay on and let’s find out! All aboard, next stop—

PART II — To Be or Not To Be… 

The last time a PART of a Review was titled what you just read above, that Part was pretty much delving into just who IS Yagiz Egemen. In other words, it was expounding the IDENTITY of Yagiz’ character. 

This time, we’re going to explore what truly IS going on between Yagiz and Hazan… and Sinan—thus far. 

We’re going to call it for what it is. If it’s yellow, let’s call it yellow, not mustard. If it’s purple, let’s call it purple, not magenta. And if it’s lies, let’s call it lies, not truth. And if it’s love, let’s call it love. Just love.

In E35, when Sinan called Hazan out for being distant, boy, was I glad. Ok, before y’all rain down those poopy emojis on me, hear me out for a sec. Yes, I was glad for one thing—but I also wanted to whiplash somebody to Earth-2 Gorilla City till kingdom come. 

For one thing, Sinan's words caused Hazan to be aware that somehow, her being distant with him is connected with the convoluted feelings that overwhelmed her after witnessing another woman with Yagiz, punctuated by the words that Kerime spitefully said to her—that she could not take her eyes off of her boyfriend’s brother. Because that’s literally the flashbacks we saw Hazan being overwhelmed by after Sinan’s confrontation with her. 

And it caused her to run away, literally. Poor Yagiz—dude looked like a dancing Elmo with his hands stretched out, calling after her 🤣, I couldn't stop laughing. But this isn’t Sesame’s Street with happy sing-a-longs and dancing muppets. This is DRAMA on steroids.

So, was I glad that finally, something sensible was making its rare appearance once again. The TRUTH was raising its scepter—funny that it came from Sinan’s lips, though he himself had no idea just how crucial that confrontation was. 

Distant is what his and Hazan's relationship has become. And a distant relationship is truly the epitome of oxymoron—IRONIC. 

Halfway into the confrontation, notice that Hazan was able to see at which point Sinan started becoming “distant”. But Sinan had no clue when it was for Hazan. And aye, therein lies the rub—

He just DOES NOT KNOW. 

Period.

From the very beginning, he doesn’t truly know who Hazan really was. Just like he doesn’t truly know who his brother really was. Sinan has always been a self-centered, unaccountable, answers-to-no-one-but-himself, immature man. Check this, he doesn’t even know himself—He is not a character who has a strong sense of IDENTITY and PURPOSE like his older brother Yagiz. Even Gokhan had clearer goals than him—though divisive those goals were at the time. Heck, even that viper Yasemin had stronger convictions than Sinan did about having purpose in life, though those convictions are fostered by evil designs. Because if Sinan had truly developed strong convictions of values that a man should have—like integrity and character—he would not have sent Yagiz to that hotel room, making a devastating mockery of a young woman’s dignity. And he certainly would have taken ownership and responsibility for that distance between him and Hazan.

How did it come to BE in the first place?—

That DISTANCE.

PART III — The Perfect Present 

Valentine’s Day is quite a celebrated day all over the globe, whether you’re a believer or not. It’s a day where gifts are exchanged between lovers. You know the D.L—hugs, kisses, and chocolates are usually exchanged. With the signature bouquet of red roses—throw in there some teddy bears too. But what is the best present that a lover could ever hope to receive? Chocolate?

Last review I said that the only thing necessary for distance to develop is for the exchange of the heart to cease. 

Just like it requires an exchange of signals between my iMac and the Modem to establish a Network connection, it requires the SYNCING of hearts for a lovers’ relationship to THRIVE. And with Sinan and Hazan, at some point, somebody CUT OFF the signal.

And THAT was Hazan.

But before ya get your underthings in a bunch, hear me out again. The reason Hazan cut off the signal in the first place was because Sinan was sending a CORRUPTED one to her; he had betrayed her by his lies and had been the perpetrator of that shameful event in the hotel room, not Yagiz. And instead of truly proving himself to be a trustworthy man, he'd tried to seduce her instead. Long story short, if not for Yagiz' heroic attempts to bring them together, and grace on Hazan’s part, Sinan would not have been back together with her. But AFTER being granted a second chance that he really didn’t earn, the guy missed it—AGAIN. This is how.

First, he undermined his brother’s authority as founder, owner, and CEO of Egemenlar Cosmetics, by signing a contractual agreement to bring an investor into the fold behind his brother's back, an investor who happened to be his psychopathic ex-girlfriend. Not only did he make a mockery of his brother's hard work and sacrifice thus far to keep their company afloat, but his current girlfriend’s as well. 

I understand Sinan wanted to help, but it is what it is. Mockery is mockery.

Second, he made a mess of things with him posing as Kerime’s son and so became exhausted with all its complications. But instead of trying to find a solution with his girlfriend, he checked out and went for an ENTIRE WEEK having sleepovers at his ex-pyschopath ex-girlfriend's house.

And the twit had the nerve to call Hazan out for being distant… 

Of course she flippin was! But what caused it in the first place! 

The best PRESENT that a lover could ever hope to receive is their lover’s PRESENCE.

But Sinan, this is kinda what you’ve been ever since you got a second chance to be with Hazan again—M.I.A.

The times that Hazan truly NEEDED support in her life, like when Ece was accused for poisoning Hazim, it was Yagiz who provided that crucial support. If you really KNEW Hazan in the first place, much like Yagiz, family is the bedrock of why she does what she does. Family has always been an impetus for making and breaking her. But your spiting Hazan’s family, never giving them the benefit of the doubt, really speaks volumes of what you are in Hazan’s life—

UNAVAILABLE.

And up to E35, it was happening all over again. You accusing Ece—this time as the culprit for your sister’s miscarriage, and again, making you and Hazan opponents of each other. But even before then, you’ve been unavailable to her because of a stupid scheme you yourself cooked up, by posing as Kerime’s son—making yourself available in another woman’s home instead.

Let’s just call it what it is...

PART IV — Even When You Say It Isn't... 

The Nature of Hazan and Sinan's relationship has shifted.

Lovers they no longer are—they haven’t been for a very long time. And since we’ve decided to call things for what they are—lies for lies, and truth for TRUTH...

Lovers, is the description that is now more, and have been, TRUE for Yagiz and Hazan—

For how INTIMATE their relationship is. 

And THAT is just a TRUTH that Yagiz and Hazan does not truly comprehend themselves, and try to RUN AWAY from.

But TRUTH just IS. It just cannot be “NOT”. 

When Truth “is not”, it will no longer be called Truth. It is something else; Either a MIXTURE of some truth with something else—Or just plain LIES. The point is, it is NO LONGER Truth. Like I said above, you can’t add to or take away from truth. Truth, as it is—IS. And if Truth just IS, it cannot be killed or die. Check this—whatever was true at one time in a person’s life, if and when that person themselves dies, the truth STILL REMAINS about them. Whether they were married or not, whether they had children or not, and so on. The Truth just can’t one day be “no more” for again, it just IS. What it can be, though, is OBSCURED with something, which is the only thing you can do to “do away” with truth—

Hide it. 

But just as the sun that can only be hidden with dark clouds but CANNOT be denied its existence—nor its power; Beyond those obscuring agent, Truth is LIGHT that shines upon things in the dark that causes them to be in the dark NO MORE—that’s why we say to lie to somebody is to “keep them in the dark”. This is why Yagiz could not find a solution when he returned to his mother’s grave for the second time. The first time there, he found reprieve in confessing that he was in love with his brother’s beloved, despite his every attempt to be otherwise. In the deep hour of the dark under the moonlight, his confession was uttered. With only the thick of night as its witness. And God. And there in confessing the TRUTH, the LIGHT shined in the dark night of Yagiz soul, and Yagiz found some rest. But when he returned in the light of day, he was a man deprived of rest and peace, just talking to the dead;

What Yagiz Egemen failed to see is that things that are alive do not belong in graveyards. The dead belong with the dead. But the living belong with the living. And Yagiz’ love…

Is very much ALIVE. 

And that is the TRUTH that cannot be killed, buried, or do away with. 

It is what it is. 

Ever since the TRUTH came out at the end of E13 and A NEW BEGINNING commenced as E14 began, a bond so singular and exclusive was forged between Yagiz and Hazan, that even in its young stage, it had rendered Sinan INCAPABLE of approaching and disrupting them. That bond grew, like silver forged in and through fire, and became stronger and stronger, clearer and clearer, and more refined from its impurities. 

BUT… just like how LIES had set Yagiz and Hazan apart and AGAINST one another in the very beginning, LIES as well were THREATENING what they now have with each other, one more time causing them to be at odds with one another. But the difference is, they now have so much more to lose—

EACH OTHER.

The question is… is it WORTH IT?

Losing each other, that is. 

And so ladies and gents, this is where I must end this review. Like, seriously 😅. And before y’all proceed to light my hair on fire—let me explain. In writing this review, I realized it’s so long and comprehensive, I had to actually break it into 3 reviews. And so this is PART 1 of it. I wanted to get something to you as soon as I can, so I posted this Part 1 first. So please don’t kill me 😬. Next post, PART 2 on— 

YAGIZ & HAZAN: A Love Story.

[goolagola]

THE CASE FOR WORTHY SHIPS: Yagiz & Hazan | #review

Originally posted on Fb, March 5, 2018.

As I have said all the way from the first review—Just like how that rain puddle splashed onto an unsuspecting Hazan all the way from that fateful genesis, this was how love had caught her and Yagiz…

UNAWARES.

It has been an UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY.

Just how deep his feelings actually ran for Hazan, Yagiz was unaware. Already was he deep in love with her by E14 and he did not know it. How truly affected she was by him, Hazan too was oblivious. Yagiz had marked and imprinted upon her since falling asleep in his arms and she failed to notice.

Yet, as unforeseen a discovery as it was, love came upon them mysteriously—

Subtle and slow.

PART I — Matters of The Heart 

So when Sinan accused Yagiz in E17 about "something going on" between the two of them—in the wake of an empty whiskey bottle with Hazan’s photographs splayed all over his brother’s coffee table—Yagiz was completely dumbfounded. He so took offense to Sinan stalking his way around, watching him and Hazan from a distance as they left the orphanage, instead of encountering them like a real man would’ve. To Yagiz, to be accused of anything beyond the norm between him and Hazan then, was simply confounding. And insulting, as a big brother, to the point that he told Sinan to get the snuff out his house. It literally did not compute. Because as I have said last review, Yagiz completely would not have recognized himself—only a man in love could’ve done all that he had for Hazan by the time E14 arrived. Yagiz Egemen had truly, and genuinely, believed that he had NEVER been in love before, and he certainly was then NOT in love with a woman, let alone his brother’s...

Because he himself had bought into a faulty definition from what LOVE truly was.

No wonder you thought yourself a man not in love. The truth is, LOVE isn’t the stuff made up of bloated balloons that make hysterical victims of naive and unsuspecting girls like you had said of love in E14. It isn’t a smoke screen that causes people to be blinded—that’s INFATUATION. True LOVE causes you to SEE instead. And therefore causes you to put others before yourself.

But that’s for later 😉.

Now something that Sinan had said about himself when he was accusing Yagiz with Hazan in that E17 was VERY intriguing…

He could not even come near to them.

Though at this point Yagiz had a clear conscience that he was not stealing his brother’s beloved, it is undeniable that the bond Yagiz and Hazan shared together was ALREADY that strong, to the point of being singular and exclusive. As if they shared a world of their own... ONE that rendered Sinan incapable of approaching them. And it was only what Sinan had seen in E16, as the two were all smiles and giggles because of Yagiz’ teasing outside of that orphanage. (Pfft. He should’ve seen what had happened INSIDE the orphanage. Those 10 million-watt smiles were bright enough to light up all of Istanbul during a blackout for weeeeeks 😏)

Let’s make this clear. In E17, Yagiz wasn’t at all coveting his brother’s beloved. He certainly hadn’t been trying to force himself upon her. That sickening endeavor is actually accounted to his brother instead, as I’ve expounded last review. Yagiz wasn't out for some sly thievery or invasion of a freshly wounded heart. The man is one of strict integrity.

But one thing that Yagiz was definitely accounted to, one that Sinan did not truly comprehend but had intuitively felt the impact of—

Yagiz has been unlocking Hazan’s heart…

Just by being HIMSELF.

I told ya last review that by Yagiz unlocking that door we were actually witnessing who really possessed the keys to Hazan's heart. How did Sinan breach Yagiz' front door in the first place? He had to intimidate the lobby receptionist into yielding the key that he had no ownership of. But he failed to breach the second door of the bedroom—the door that mattered most for Hazan was beyond it—by trying to force himself in. He might’ve been able to breach the first one by way of intimidation and invasive seizure, but not this time. And there’s a reason why.

In metaphoric narrative, a home symbolizes matters of the soul. In a home, the bedroom is where the most intimate things occur. It’s where you rest. Where you feel safest. Where you weep when pain comes and find comfort in releasing your tears. Where you are not afraid to be naked, honest, and vulnerable. It's also the place where you dream. Where you hope. Where sacred secrets are kept. Where imagination soars to reach for the heights. Where wishes are whispered and prayers spoken. In that bedroom where Hazan had chosen to take sanctuary in, was a place that Sinan could not access. Only Yagiz…

Because he was the one with the KEY.

For hearts aren’t meant to be invaded. They are meant to be unlocked.

Your heart houses the deep things of who you are. And its uttermost inner chamber is where the core of precious and delicate fibers of your being make its home. It is to be guarded. Protected. And treasured. It isn’t meant to be invaded, to be forced into, but to be pursued and unlocked. It isn’t meant to be conquered—but it is meant to be WON. One must EARN their victory through the arduous tests of time and prove themselves worthy of the prize—a PRICELESS heart.

So… How then did Yagiz Egemen unlock Hazan Camikran’s heart?

PART II — To Be or Not To Be… 

Imagine you’re back in the Middle Ages. Where knights compete in tournaments and their noble ladies admire after them. Imagine... If there were truly a contest, in which Hazan’s heart was the worthy prize, and many a knight competing for it, Sinan and the rest would do well to fear one—

Sir Yagiz Egemen.

He is a frightening opponent. Staggeringly so. In fact, he is most fearsome out of them all. They would do well to truly fear him, let alone underestimate him.

For the man has been winning Hazan’s heart…

And he wasn’t even competing.

🙈🙈🙈

Bruh. THOU ART WORTHY ✊⚔️😆

Sir Yagiz Egemen has been steadily winning the prized heart of the Lady, and SHE didn’t even know it. Heck, HE didn’t even know it! 🤣

And the proof is in the pudding—err, in this case, the moolah. Well—

Sort of.

Let’s go back to E16 where that significant orphanage visit took place.

Remember that Benjamin Yagiz threw at Hazan all the way in that fateful hotelroom from the very beginning? Of course ya do! It’s only the most scandalous US dollar bill in all of Turkey. (100 bucks says Yagiz still kept that wrinkled Benjamin—AND those alluring black stilettos—hidden somewhere... but shucks—I don’t gamble 😝)

This time, Yagiz Egemen wasn’t rashly throwing moolah at a stranger who he’d thought made a living in selling their hush-hush cupcakes. He was peacefully handing money to a beautiful woman who had fallen asleep on his arms and slept on his bed instead. And NO! They weren’t doing the dirty, baking cupcakes all night 😂. She is FAR from being a ya-know-what. He’s gotta put a ring on that finger first and give her his name before he’d even think of scoring that cupcake 😏.

So this time, Mr. Freezer didn’t get his face cut after dispensing Miss Hot Oven with his money. And this time, she didn’t throw it back at him. The money was her salary, he her respectable boss, and she his employee. Ah. How far have things come from that bloody, carpet-trippin' hotel tryst.

Hazan, never having received such amount of money for her initial salary, was dumbfounded—even hesitant—to accept it. But accept it she did, for her boss was right, it WAS the salary she had earned.

But that salary wasn't the only jaw-dropping surprise in store for her. Nor accepting it the only unlikely thing she'd think she'd be doing...

After turning her boss into her personal chauffeur 🤣—as well as her shopping assistant and obedient errand boy 😂—the dynamic duo was on their way to a place that was turning Hazan into an animated eight-year-old with a pink doll on her arms—giving directions and telling Yagiz to be patient 😆. And a calm Yagiz into a grinning fool stealing glances at Hazan—trying to hide his smiles. He knew something she didn’t know.

Finally arriving at their destination, Hazan couldn’t contain her excitement. Loading as many gifts she adorkably could in her arms and with Yagiz chuckling after her that he’d carry the rest, Hazan then ran to the bright white gates of the Orphanage with the colorful and cheerful painted walls. Inside, she was then surrounded by just as elated and clamoring children for the various presents she’d come bearing—

Then in came Mr. Freezer bearing yet even more gifts.

And the children’s elation hiked even higher. And louder.

Their short little legs then went galloping like mustangs, reaching for the best gift yet—the presence of Yagiz Egemen.

Cool, calm, and collected no more, the ruthlessly logical entrepreneur was a happily grinning dork instead, ambushed by excited kids trying to get a piece of him... And Hazan got her most unexpected surprise she had discovered yet. As far as all things go concerning Yagiz Egemen.

With stunned wonder on her face, Hazan then watched as he called them by name and observed their recent speedy growth in bewilderment. With startling stupor, as the little princess in his arms kissed him—he, who supposedly was the princess’ husband—sweetly on his cheek. With confused amazement, as he answered their questions why he hadn’t visited them lately. And with twitching smiles, as he described how they’ve broken his record on the game they liked to play on his phone.

With unhindered fascination, Hazan looked on. His gaze then found her, and with automatic ease Yagiz smiled. Answering a boy, Yagiz' bright eyes then left hers, only to swiftly return, naturally, back to her, as the boy exclaimed how the big sister had brought them all presents too, causing Hazan to smile. Then holding her gaze with a just as unhindered fascination and a crooked smile of his own, Yagiz told the boy to know the big sister's value. And as if to punctuate on those words, he then said he needed to help that big sister with giving away all those presents. Then with yet another crooked, but now, shy, smile, Yagiz made his way to a speechless Hazan.

Why did he not ever tell her that he knew those children, Hazan then asked. You never asked, said Yagiz. Then she chuckled and he smiled.

And so it’d happened.

With the key that only he possessed, Yagiz Egemen unlocked the bright door to one of the chambers of Hazan’s heart...

Just by BEING who he is.

A man who was actually as warm as that sunny day and as bright as those colorful walls they had entered through. Those precious children certainly knew that. A man who had shared his heart to fatherless daughters and motherless sons—those who are often the abandoned and forgettable. A man who gave of himself and did not easily overlook the surface, but to reach deep, and therefore those children reached for him with just as deep a longing. Calling more for his presence in their lives.

A man who had displayed the characteristics of what LOVE actually—TRULY—is… 

Kind and does not parade itself.

As yet another old adage goes, never judge a book by its cryptic summary. Certainly not by its cover. And as far as all things go concerning Yagiz Egemen, flip further on those pages. Something unexpectedly precious might just be hidden there.

PART III — Into Me You See... 

But we can’t really talk about love without really talking about INTIMACY—can we?

Ya gotta give it to the Turkish. They know how to show intimacy. Honorable and untainted intimacy. (Some of you who who are fed up with the sex saturated shows that American TV tends to produce know what I’m talking about—that’s why you’re watching Turkish ones instead 😉)

In a relationship between a man and a woman, many associate intimacy with sex. It may be so… but only to a point. Why? Because you can have sex without intimacy, and we call that “cheap sex". Cheap, in a sense that it holds no real value. Because real intimacy, which is an EXCHANGE of THE HEART in the deepest and consuming manner, isn’t there. Intimacy is the very substance that defines just how valuable a relationship is. Therefore it is so much BIGGER than sex. It paves the way to any physical interaction, not the other way around. And what sustains the flames of intimacy is trust and security. But what births it... is LOVE.

But before we go any further, let’s keep in mind that quality and substance is always more than quantity. You don’t want to go a mile wide but an inch deep. There is no real value and substance there. It is shallow and holds no strong foundation. That’s why it may seem that cheap intimacy in cheap hotels can still be bought—but it’s a LIE. Real intimacy is priceless. And it begins with the heart.

Earlier, I had said that "the proof was in the moolah", and yes, "sort of” too. Allow me to explain further.

What did Hazan say when they were back in Yagiz' car after that lively yet significant Orphanage visit?

“Thanks to Egemen MONEY, I was able to fulfill one of my childhood dreams…”

No, that wasn’t simply a joke, though it may be so. Nor should it be overlooked as a careless statement. Because it was true, thanks to the RIGHT Egemen, something that Hazan had been dreaming about since she was a child was fulfilled. And with the fulfillment of that dream, Hazan REVEALED with breathless delight MORE for Yagiz to freely SEE deep into her heart—she truly desires to help the elderly and rescue the animals in the shelter.

IN - TI - MA - CY…

IN… TO… ME… YOU… SEE...

And so no, the proof isn’t really in the money. It’s more in how Yagiz was making it all possible for Hazan to achieve what she'd dreamed of, which caused her to reveal more of her heart in return.

That right there is the KEY. Yagiz, with his every effort to protect and care for Hazan from the beginning and all the way to E16, had ended up fulfilling Hazan’s dream. Dreams, which are the substance that the matters of the heart encompass. This is how Yagiz was able to unlock one of the doors to Hazan’s heart...

He cared for the things that her heart cared about.

If you’d ever desire to win someone’s heart, start caring about the things their heart actually care about. And dreams reflect those very things.

And with Yagiz actually fulfilling one of those precious dreams, a beautiful EXCHANGE of THE HEART—what was REAL intimacy again?—took place. For how had Hazan respond to Yagiz' care? Not only did she later on reveal more of her dreams to him in the car, she had allowed him to touch her. Tease her. Right outside of that orphanage, where the two uninhibitedly shared joy together in a singular and innocent moment, without the stain of bitter anger and heartache. And THAT, is what Sinan had actually witnessed, which had rendered him unable to interrupt—TRUE INTIMACY. Not the emotional invasion that he had been forcing upon Hazan, instead of giving her time to heal and proving himself to be a trustworthy man.

Unlike Sinan, Yagiz hadn’t been trying to seduce Hazan. He’d only been trying to put her needs first, and caring for the things that her heart cared about. And with that, he was winning her heart. All without him using his striking intelligence to manipulate anything into her liking him, or exploit any situation (like Hazan being alone in Kerime’s house, invading on her privacy, intruding on the bedroom she was sleeping in without her permission) to further that cause. Without his even discovering that he had been capturing Hazan's heart.

Just Yagiz being WHO he is. And Yagiz Egemen, imperfect as he is (which we’ll eventually have to talk about)… was NOT a stalking weirdo, creeping around young women's windows at night and into their bedrooms as they unsuspectingly slept. (UGH. No wonder we had such an aversion to Sinan 😑)

Nor was Yagiz Egeman an unfeeling robot.

Which leads me to my next point.

PART IV — CONFLICT and RESOLVE 

Remember when in the last review I said that every story boils down to one thing—

CONFLICT and RESOLVE (a.k.a Resolution)… ?

You can tell a lot by how a story’s keystone characters resolve a conflict—whether they are worthy Heroes or not. And for characters that are love interests to each other, the way they resolve a conflict together will determine whether theirs is the WORTHY relationship or not.

For Yagiz and Hazan, their families are the bedrock of why they do what they do. Their firm devotion to them is sometimes to a fault, especially for Yagiz. But—also their admirable strength. Their families is a central and continuous impetus in making and breaking them just on their own. And for Yagiz and Hazan together, their families have been a point of contention for their relationship, putting them at odds with each other repeatedly. One contentious and overwhelming issue is Hazan’s sister’s marriage to Yagiz’ dad.

In E18, there was a scene where Yagiz finally decided to confront Ece after he and Hazan rescued her from the school. In the aftermath of his aunt’s death, his sister’s elopement, all on the night of his dad’s disastrous and highly publicized wedding, Yagiz’ patience had finally reached its limits. In frustrated lack of poise, he demanded the controversial reason for Ece’s scandalous marriage to Hazim—what did she want with his dad. Eventually, Ece left in an abrupt manner without giving them a clear answer, and in her wake, the tension between Yagiz and Hazan. As much as she had wanted Ece to open up, Hazan then blamed Yagiz' harshness for her sister leaving abruptly. Then Yagiz asked Hazan to solve the puzzle together—pointing out what others from the outside were seeing, one that he on the inside was also thinking—money. To Yagiz, the harsh, shameful, yet obvious reason for Ece’s leaving his young fiancee and marrying his dad, a more than old enough man to be her own father, could only be that… Money. And with that seemingly obvious deduction, and Ece’s failure to give them an answer by keeping silent, to Yagiz, there was no longer any need to argue with each other, trying to solve the puzzle. Ece’s absent answer spoke loud and clear.

With that, Yagiz made his way back to his car, leaving a just as agonized Hazan on that boardwalk… Only to stop and look back at her. And saw her despairing shoulders. Unable to continue his tracks, Yagiz then returned to Hazan, and in silence, the two then sat by each other’s sides. How long they remained that way, just being in each other’s presence and looking out onto the sea, we truly would not know. Then Hazan broke the silence and revealed her heart. Her pain. Her suffering. Her tearful defense for the sister that she had helped raised. Then Yagiz tried to empathize with her difficulty, to which Hazan strongly argued that he would not have understood. But within the next few heartbeats as she stood to catch her breath, Hazan relented a semblance of understanding for Yagiz’ side, not dismissing him completely. That he too was a brother to a sister who had betrayed him and his family, but still Hazan, in yet more tears and agony, insisted that he could not fully understand what she, as Ece’s sister, was truly feeling because she wasn’t just an older sister—she was Ece's father too. Then Yagiz stood, wanting to assuage her distress with his, “Alright. Alright…" And in her roiling emotions and ache, with unbridled tears running down her cheeks, Hazan then quipped, how he, a “robot” could ever relate.

To which he patiently replied that he was not a robot.

Then with guileless yet intense eyes, Yagiz first brushed her face with his gaze... Before moving to caress it with his gentle fingers and soothing voice, wiping away her tears.

“If I was a robot... I wouldn’t be doing this.”

And for the very first time, Yagiz Egemen was cracking.

Because later on in the car, in stunned speechlessness, he told himself, a big BROTHER, to get a grip. Something else had moved him. Something ancient and as natural as breathing had driven him to comfort Hazan and alleviate her pain. Yagiz was finally catching up to what we had talked about the past reviews concerning all that had occurred up to E14. But as he was touching her tearful face, it had not registered yet. Only her distress and pain, therefore he continued his comforting ministration.

And so, with a final caress, he gently pinched her cheek.

Then started sputtering about robots, fingers, metal and stuff. As Hazan curiously looked on—Then actually confessing, when he could not answer her question to the things he was sputtering about... That he could not stand tears, sensitive as he was to them—they made him spin 😂. Methinks it's more got to do with whom those tears belong to 🤣.

What had actually happen between them? Though not arriving at a complete agreement concerning their common issue, Yagiz and Hazan were able to resolve their frustrations that was spilling onto one another. All because both had allowed each other to reveal and loosen those frustrations. All because Yagiz had put Hazan’s well-being before his own, rather than stubbornly holding on to his being right, and gave her what her heart needed most then—a company who was willing to stay and listen. And because Yagiz had taken the first step to reach out and make himself available to her, sacrificing his own need for justification, and despite their residual disagreements still, Hazan was then willing to reveal more of her heart for him to see. And allowed him to touch her. Without reservations… Yet again. Because the man had earned that right. For the right to touch a woman must be won, not forced or seduced. Before Yagiz moved to touch her face, he had moved to touch her heart. Giving it what it needed. And Hazan’s tears ceased to flow. All the while, causing the still stalking Sinan to only watch from the distance, unable to approach them. Yet again. 😂

As I’ve said, intimacy is the very substance that defines just how valuable a relationship is. It is the very currency for relationships. A relationship that is no longer, is no longer because separation has taken place. And for separation to occur, it occurred because distance was developed. And—borrowing the premise of Edmund Burke’s quote—the only thing necessary for distance to develop, is for the EXCHANGE of THE HEART—intimacy—to cease. In a relationship, the moment one fails to touch, and so access, the other’s heart, is impetus for its relational disconnect. And the more that happens, the more you no longer have a connection, and therefore a nonexistent and or dysfunctional relationship. A bond is as strong as the intimate connection that continuously REMAINS between one and the other. And that ladies and gents, takes HARD WORK. It takes the very thing that fosters and nourishes intimacy in the first place—

LOVE.

To love and to receive it in return, is single-handedly the best resolve to any conflict. When one loves, one simply wins. Because LOVE endures and never fails.

PART V — A Continuous Discovery

Then the question is, who among all the men and women in this story, truly LOVES?

As we’ve covered last review, words are POWERFUL. But what makes it even more so, is when they aren’t just SAID—but SHOWN. For actions do speak louder than words.

Sinan can say that he loves Hazan, and to that it bears asking—

WHERE is the PROOF.

To be fair, I do believe that he did love Hazan… but only to a point. For he also loved himself. And when those two facts COMPETE against each other instead of RESOLVING, the results is a mixture of… stuff. Which by the end of the day, like how that nasty puddle that had stained Hazan in the beginning, could no longer be called RAIN water but MUDDY water, for the nasty filth mixed in it—so it is with LOVE. Love with so much mixture of muck isn’t really love. It’s something else. What we have instead is an IMMATURE experience and knowledge about love. The good news is, we just need to learn. And what is life if not for a journey full of lessons? And there is grace available to help us on that journey as I’ve said last review, for mankind is capable of bestowing it. And bestow it we will, if we hope to receive it back. As the saying goes, what goes around, comes around. You will reap what you sow. It’s simply the Law of Creation. Everything produces after its own kind. Just look at the apple seed. You will reap an apple tree instead of a pear tree—will you not?

Here’s the thing about LOVE—it’s a CONTINUOUS DISCOVERY that requires the continuous refinement from impurities. And willingness and surrender to that process of discovery. Yet even so, it’s the most worthy gift yet, that we could ever hope to receive and bestow.

It’s beyond the roll and tide of emotions, love is a choice. Beyond the ebb and flow of feelings, love is action. Beyond the push and pull of instincts, love is a commitment.

Love is a vast ocean full of teachings and wise lessons. Full of treasures, wonders, and adventures. In varying heights, depths, and measures.

When storms come, love is an anchor. When fear descends, love is a confidence. And when pain rages, love is a healing sanctuary.

When burdens smother, love is a resting place. When danger attacks, love is a saving rescue. And when faith fails, love is an unshakable mountain.

When failures shame, love bestows grace. When hurt embitters, love forgives. And when strength falls, love lifts up.

LOVE is the only thing that’s TRUE when everything else is a lie. The only thing that remains when everything is said and done.

For Yagiz and Hazan, it has been quite a discovery thus far, and I’ve only covered up to some of E18. Yet of all the relationships that this story displays, we know of which where LOVE had existed. Though imperfect and still in need of continuous refinement from lies and fear, Yagiz and Hazan’s relationship shines brighter with the hope of love than the others. And in E18, they hadn't even realized what they shared with each other.

That heart rendering scene in E19, where Yagiz wept in Hazan’s arms at the loss of a father in the midst of an already grievous and harrowing times—On the very same night where earlier Yagiz had wiped Hazan’s tears away in the wake of the revelation of her suffering…

Well, if love wasn’t fostering that significant and remarkable exchange of the heart, I don’t know what is.

But perhaps, that’s for another day, and another discussion.

Hopefully though, I did those fan-favorite scenes above justice. Don’t kill me if I didn’t. I’d settle for your poop emojis instead. 😁

And last but not least. I’m not even gonna suggest you to do it—you know how every movie has the rolling credits at the end, with the really cool music? Well, do me a favor—to actually make this review more meaningful and lucid (Pfft. Like I didn’t write it looonnnngggg enough for all of Turkey to get it 🙈), check out this song below. You’ll understand what I mean. And no, It’s not Michael Bolton—sadly, our mascot’s epic voice took quite a beating from all that screeching last review 😂. Don’t worry. He’s getting plenty of rest though. And it looks like I now do, too! PEACE 🤘and…

Much LOVE, Goola 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coDLLGzXS1k

[goolagola]

THE CASE FOR WORTHY HEROES: Yagiz Egemen Decrypted | #review

Originally posted on Fb on February 27, 2018.

Here it goes. Y’all asked for it. But consider yourselves WARNED. I put a new definition on LONG Fb posts 😆. I did break it into parts so you can save the rest of the reading for another day. And I STILL haven’t watched the rest of the eps yet! 😵

PART I — Story Is As Story Does 

It’s been told, that good writing essentially is not just about what is being SAID, but what is being SHOWN. That lazy writing only TELLS a story, instead of DISPLAYING it.

The key to Storytelling isn’t just in “telling" your story—it is in SHOWING it... ESPECIALLY in Filmmaking. It’s more than just the visual portrayal of a story’s characters coming alive in film, but the crucial demonstration of an Author's narrative to earn our faith in their story and its keystone characters.

For even in life, you trust a man’s actions, not just his words. At times, you can ONLY trust his actions, NOT at all his words despite how profound and persuasive they may be.

Words are POWERFUL. Remember that old nursery rhyme "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never break me”? Yeah. That’s not really true, is it? Don’t get me wrong, I understand why the rhyme was composed—to advise kids to ignore the vicious words that bullies may attack us with. But it’s undeniable, though try as we may to insist otherwise, that words could, and HAVE affected us, even so systemically profound to the very deep of our souls, with either LIFE... or with DESTRUCTION. We understand the ugly end of the spectrum, what that looks like—we have more suicides and shootings now in the U.S. at our high schools, and though many have been for different reasons, but just as many can be ascribed to lonely and unstable kids who've been bullied with ugly beatings both physical AND verbal. And so they returned fire with much more cruelty. And the price was much more deadly.

I believe writers and filmmakers overall have been given a significant gift to saturate culture either with life or destruction through their craft. With LOVE, or with its dark ABSENCE. What’s more, with what is actually TRUE about LOVE, instead of what is erroneous and false. You and I know, down to our deepest instincts, what we need more in this world.

Now ask yourself, what is it about the story of Yagiz Egemen that compels you so? Why does this character and his resiliency resonate with us in no less than remarkable measure? Even more than Hazan at times for many different occasions, if I may say, though Hazan Camkiran is a compelling character herself. But why are we so enthused to root for Yagiz in this tumultuous, and at times questionable—even ludicrous—dramatical narrative? And for his fascinatingly indefinable relationship with Hazan?—

Why are we still watching?

For the most part, we are able to give a comprehensive reasoning WHY something affects us so. But just like how INTUITION has been showcased in the Writers’ story as I had said last review, many of you have been INTUITIVELY assessing THEIR story, hence in how you have expressed it to each other about a certain scene or just overall plotline—“'I don’t know what it is…' 'I just can’t put it into words…' 'I can’t really describe it…' 'Hazan and Sinan together just doesn’t feel right…’ ‘You’ve put into words what I’ve been feeling about Yagiz and Hazan all along...'” And so on.

Though many have been able to translate into words, yet just as many of you, if not all, have basically responded with how you’ve FELT about the story. You've INTUITIVELY evaluated that there’s just something quite special about Yagiz Egemen... ESPECIALLY Yagiz together with Hazan.

It is in the synergy of how and what the Writers, Directors, and Cast have SHOWN—not just said and spoken—about Yagiz’ story alone, and Yagiz and Hazan’s together.

But what exactly have they SHOWN?

If you don’t mind another lengthy summation, well, let’s get crackin’, shall we? 😁

PART II — EPISODE 14: A New Beginning? 

I’ve spent the past two reviews on the singular bond that Yagiz and Hazan share together and how it had developed through intuition for truth and series of instinctual behaviors. The thing is, it wasn’t so much of what they've SAID to each other, for we know that even after discovering it was Sinan who had been the perpetrator of the lies, Hazan still directed some pretty colorful choice of words at Yagiz about her keen mistrust of him. But funny thing is, what is being SHOWN with their actions concerning each other, contradict what they’ve said to, and or about each other. And ladies and gents (there ARE gents, right? We’re not all just crazy cupcakes here? 😆), like I’ve prefaced above, that’s what you can actually TRUST in these unpredictable happenings; As the old adage goes, actions DO speak louder than words. And what we can learn from E14... Pfft.. 🤣🤘😏

I definitely got the message, LOUD and CLEAR.

E14’s pivotal opening scene picked up from the ending of its preceding episode—Hazan FINALLY discovered who had betrayed her. It wasn't who she had thought it was. Her beloved... was NOT who she had thought he was. So what kind of man was Sinan Egemen? But then—

Just what kind of man—WHO WAS this Yagiz Egemen?

Well, missy, as we have covered last review, but let me expound a bit further on it: he’s quite the guy who’s been instinctually PROTECTIVE of you—so strung up was he to the point that he couldn’t even open a stinkin' car door properly when he was trying to get ya in his car, away from the fresh reminder and place of that crazy stunt ya pulled trying to put yourself in front of an insolent fool and his deadly gun. He also was the guy who had defended YOUR sister at the expense of HIS OWN sister’s good faith and adoration for him. The one who had sent the company lawyer to get ya outta jail, jeopardizing his good standing with his dad whom he had always and diligently aimed to please. Oh, he also sought to protect YOUR HEART from being broken from finding out how your mom had bargained you (AND your sister too, btw, by insinuating that HE had stolen Ece’s virtue and so he must pay)—all at the cost of HIS OWN PERSON by letting you to continue thinking that HE was a vile and disgusting son of a gun, even after finding out that it was his brother instead… All because he didn’t want you to end up on the streets and become fresh pickings for some unsavory characters, without the sustenance and protection that his family’s home could offer. Cause if you’d ever found out his brother's ugly betrayal towards you, he KNEW without a doubt that you would shun such security. And btw, he also had to return back to the company that he had resigned from, which he left under some very serious and still unresolved issues, in order to keep up the scheme that he’d thought would save you, but also work to provide a steady income that could give you the comforts and security you need should you try to leave the Egemen mansion in the future.

ALL without you even knowing just WHO has been truly looking out for you all along... And I have only covered his protective behavior up to E13 so far. Then again, I don’t think Yagiz would even recognize himself at this point. This certainly didn’t fit his M.O.—

Only a man in LOVE would display these types of actions and he certainly was NOT a man who LOVES a woman.

Right..?

ShuuUURE. 😏

Bro.

YOU’RE A GONER. A TOTAL GONER, I TELL YA! Michael Bolton is STILL pipin'—WHEN A MAAAAAAAAAAANNNN LOVES A WOOOMAN!—with his epic L’OREAL hair, and we’re ALLL singin' along. 💃🕺😂

(Disclaimer: I am not an official hairstylist for Michael Bolton nor have I been paid to endorse any L’OREAL hair products and represent its brand. Any attempt to recreate Mr. Bolton’s hairstyle or test his hair products, please do so at your own discretion) 😝

And I haven’t even BEGUN to really touch on E14 yet!

Shall we, then? 😃

PART III — EPISODE 14: An Unexpected Discovery? 

In a sense, E14 IS a new beginning—Hazan discovered the TRUTH.

She and Yagiz were put on a path of discovery and it led them to each other with the corrupting lies finally removed. And so begun a new chapter, and its beginning is already filled with breathtaking development. I know some of y’all’s lungs seized to function properly at the sight of an unconscious Hazan at the strong arms of Yagiz Egemen, as the stunning view of the sparkling sea splayed behind them. That beautiful sight of that vast sea that may harbor unknown wonders isn’t the only one beautiful to behold. Nor the sea the only one with some hidden wonders.

WHEN A MAAAAAAAAAAANNN LOVES A WOOAAHH—

Okay, Bolton. We get it. LOVE is pretty darn beautiful. And oh-so wonderful to behold... JUST like this episode. 🤣

I mean, so ya witnessed the girl just passed out right in front of ya onto that hard pavement, and the perceptive and levelheaded Yagiz Egemen who was notorious for his striking intelligence and ruthlessly logical but successful solutions, would probably react just like any normal person who’d attempt to bring anybody to health, but do so JUST a tad more brilliantly.

He kidnapped the girl.

Pfft 😂

The man’s instincts were kicked up to HIGH GEAR. He didn’t trust ANYONE to take care of Hazan and keep her safe, at that point, but himself. Not even professional doctors, for the hospital was NOT his initial solution, only later on. He took her to his home. And check this—he didn’t put her in the other two bedrooms that his apartment accommodated.

He carried her to his room.

His bed.

HIS.

🙈🙈🙈

If Yagiz Egemen was a LION, what we’ve just witnessed is a magnificent beast MARKING his territory. With his scent that was all over those bed sheets and his keen, vigilant gaze, all imprinting on Hazan. And sure, this was still not a man in love, right. 😏

Then Hazan woke up. And for someone who DESPISED Yagiz Egemen, it took her some time to actually start yelling at him and take offense for taking her to his home and laying her on his bed. Her initial thought wasn’t even to have lit outta there if she couldn’t so much stand his presence... 

But to ask for her phone 🤣—

Which in the midst of the shock and pain her discovery yielded, she had left at the studio, but somehow discovered that Yagiz had kept it after she came to, which tells me, the two even had a prior interaction, all in Yagiz room, before her anger actually emerged. 

So Hazan was angrily anxious to get out. And Yagiz became increasingly anxious about her being anxious, her trembling, her ability to process things properly, and safely, aaand the darn stairs she was heading to!

Then Sinan showed up—

And Hazan would rather face the man who she had just taken offense for holding her in his arms than face his younger brother.

Last review, I said that it’s never a good idea to lie to cover a lie (heck, it’s never a good idea to lie at all), even if that lie was to save somebody—which was simply oxymoronic. I also said I understood why Yagiz did what he did with that fib—it was a quick solution he could come up with in that moment. And so, as Hazan turned back to face Yagiz in his hallway after shouting at his brother to leave, we now could see that Yagiz’ quickie “solution” was actually backfiring on him. Though Hazan finally discovered Sinan’s full treachery, she had a hard time believing that Yagiz’ scheme of making her the face of his cosmetic company was no cruel trap but Yagiz’ attempt—misguided and ill advised, though it was—in trying to save her. So Yagiz pled for her to trust him, he wasn’t trying to hurt her nor was this some cruel game he was playing, as Hazan accused him for humiliating her and for being just as disgusting as his vile lying brother—until that same lying brother breached the front door.

And Hazan instinctively RAN to take refuge in the very room of the very man she had said she did not trust. 😂

And Yagiz’ swift instincts was to prevent his brother from getting to her with that awesome block action. 🤣

I told ya 😎. The man was marking his TERRITORY. 🤘

So sitting on top of those stairs he had moments ago feared, Yagiz continued to wait patiently, and calmly, as his foolish younger brother wax philosophical to get his girlfriend back… Till he started beating on Yagiz’ bedroom door to breach it—the girlfriend he had betrayed refused to buy his monologue. A clashing of shoving brothers ensued. Then Sinan had the audacity to holler at Yagiz “not to interfere” and Yagiz harshly barked back to remind the senseless twit that it was him who had pushed his unsuspecting older brother straight deep into the muck. And with Yagiz' sharp words, this is where a key fact is revealed:

Yagiz takes ownership of this whole thing. He acknowledges that he is now deep in the thick of it. By his “interfering”, shows that he was no longer trying to bail off the path that he had not chosen for himself (of which attempts to do so, I had expounded on last review), one that was costing too much of him. Yet finally discovering the truth for himself, he feels responsible for his part (even for his brother’s actions, if I may say—he IS the same man who had apologized to Ece for his sister’s action on her behalf), and therefore responsible to care for the girl that they’ve wronged, who was now choosing to take refuge in his room. Yagiz knew it wasn’t going to be easy for Sinan to win her trust, let alone her affection. So he advised his brother to give her some space. Give himself time. And “Give her time."

Ha. With those words, Sinan was DOOMED. Ya leave those two alone, and your big brother will STEAL her heart. 😏

And so the adventure continued. Sinan left. And Hazan was back on that darn bed 🤣, but this time at her very own discretion. Then something metaphorically intriguing happened... (those Writers are good! 😆)

What Sinan failed to do with trying to force himself in, Yagiz succeeded to accomplish with a different way...

He opened the door with a KEY.

Here's the thing.

Hearts aren’t meant to be invaded. They are meant to be unlocked. With that seemingly trivial action, they are showing who actually possessed the keys to Hazan’s heart.

But that’s for later 😉.

So then I guess we can’t really call Yagiz a thief of hearts..? But he is a kidnapper with a really good lawyer 😂. Hazan dear, if you’ve actually chosen to take sanctuary in his home—his bedroom, in fact 🙈—there was no way he was going to let ya go without a fight. Like, LITERALLY—y’all saw those glass shards everywhere, right. Remember what he’d said to her earlier concerning Sinan? That “If he found the strength to go after you, he wasn't going to leave easily"? Yeah—that line was a twofold literary device meant to actually describe Yagiz, not his brother. In fact, “wasn’t going to leave easily” is an understatement—abduction is a straight up crime 🤣. But I guess Yagiz’ defense argument would hold up in court. He DID say that that day, his home was HERS 😆, and if it was actually Hazan’s house, then it wouldn’t be called kidnapping, right? 🤣Oh, shucks. I was really excited to add Professional Kidnapper to his titles. But at least we can still call him Huggable, for drunk and brokenhearted girls—with the penchant for passing out on sidewalks in pretty dresses and bare feet—in need of compassionate consolation. And, err, Hazan, for a kickboxing coach with an athletic degree, you do have a history of zonking out (not sure if it looks good on that resume, gurl)—By day you pass out on random sidewalks and by night on Yagiz’ arms. 😆 But at least it wasn’t as cold and hard as that dirty pavement—ugh, who knows who last spit on it—so good choice this time. And I guess falling asleep on the arms of Yagiz Egemen does spice up your resume and one does require a healthy balance of spice, sugar, and salt in one's life. 😂

Well, what else was Yagiz Egemen besides being huggable... Whelps, he was a definite sucker for tears for sure. It’s what made him huggable in the first place. And perhaps it’s what had turned him into Hazan’s personal face-washing assistant, too 😂. But he definitely turned to be her partner in crime. She did say she wanted Sinan to feel just as hurt, and so Yagiz made it official—and with her signature, he too became her boss who lets her sleep on his bed at night and makes her breakfast in the morning...

Bruh. Bosses don’t do that... HUSBANDS do that. They worry about protecting their wives and keeping them fed. And make sure their wives sleep on their bed.

Wonder then what your instincts were really trying to tell ya. 😁

PART IV — The Villainous and The Heroic

Every story boils down to one thing—

CONFLICT and RESOLVE (a.k.a Resolution).

PROBLEM and SOLUTION.

Hence you have a Villain as an agent of Conflict, and a Hero with a Solution to resolve it.

There are many, many stories out there, with their even more many, many, many Heroes. Many of them are worthy. Many are not.

I believe Yagiz Egemen is a worthy one. And I hope I’ve SHOWN, not just TOLD (get it? 😝), why he is, with what you’ve read above and even in prior reviews. But perhaps, to really appreciate even further how worthy of a Hero he is, is to see the contrast with one who had really been more villainous than he is heroic in this story… Sinan Egemen.

If you’s a Sinan stan, do accept my apologies for there will be some roasting happening in the next few minutes. He had it coming. Dude needs to be called out.

Since we were on E14, let’s pick up on what was happening at the end of the next episode. True to Yagiz’ anticipation, Hazan did leave the Egemen mansion after finding out her beloved had betrayed her and had then found shelter at Kerime’s place. But Sinan showed up late one night, unannounced, and certainly unwelcome, trying to get her back. Then Yagiz showed up.

“What are you doing here?” Sinan asked, confounded. To which Yagiz replied, “I will not explain to you.” 😎🤘😏 I told ya, the man had also marked his territory. And he does not have to answer to Sinan for it. Still, Sinan challenged with, “You came to talk to Hazan at this time at night?”

Oh, please. This kid tryna front. Get outta here.

This little immature snot just don’t get it. Kid tryna be all territorial but what a bloated blimp full of gas you are at the end. Literally, a minute later (yes, I know, it’s the next episode for us but ya get my point), where did all that protective manhood go when Kerime showed up? Let me explain.

I’ve observed in the Eastern world, and me being of mixed blood myself, how honor and respect is a serious thing—VERY serious thing, in fact. I won't really get all into it, but the bottom line is, if you live in your father’s house, he looks after you. You answer to him. Before it’s your house, it’s first HIS. You respect his authority and his duty to look out for you. Now Hazan was staying at Kerime’s house. In the beginning of E16 when all four of them, that is, Yagiz, Hazan, Kerime, and Sinan, were outside, just look at their body language, and by “their”, I mean Hazan and Kerime. Hazan was standing behind Kerime waiting respectfully. This was Kerime’s house, and technically, Hazan was then under her care, though at that point in time Kerime didn’t know who Hazan was and that Fazilet was scheming again. The point is, Yagiz, Hazan, and Sinan were under Fazilet’s conniving that Kerime was Hazan's kin, and the one sheltering her by allowing her to stay at her house.

So, this little weasel dared to front at his big brother, “questioning" the wisdom of his nightly visit (yeah, and there he was, this foolish mess of hypocrisy and arrogance, INVADING on Hazan's space when she clearly had told him to get the snuff out)—but who in the world was actually answering to the person who was sheltering Hazan, wishing her to get well, trying to be respectful, and in doing so might perhaps excuse their late night excursion to see her young kin… Well, FOR SURE it wasn’t Sinan. It was his “questionable" brother instead that he was trying to drill. The nerve. So please excuse my harshness for calling you a little immature snot at this point in time but you clearly need a whoopin’. Grow up, man. Please. Don’t try to front if ya can’t own up. You trying to defend Hazan’s honor really rings empty and hollow when you left it to your brother to really be the one responsible for BOTH of your presence there. If you really felt responsible for Hazan, if would’ve been YOU facing Kerime. The reason your brother was there in the first place was because he was busy trying to take care of everyone else; His—and btw, is YOURS, too, if you recall—sister in particular, who had been in his home earlier and at the very brink of losing it (sorry bruh, she did lose it actually, strangling Ece, all drunk and crazed, but you just didn’t know that that was going on YET) because his hero father had married a teenager who was younger than his own teenage daughter... But there you were trying to score some lip action. *SMH*. You’ve been so caught up in your own selfishness and pain, you didn’t even realize THE REST of your family were suffering too. But it was Yagiz here trying to make sure all y’all’s blasted tails were alright (which includes you too, Gokhan, but you flippin' ignored his call, so you can't really accuse him for not reaching out like you will when y'all finally get your siblings night later on). Yagiz went to Hazan to tell her to try to reel her sister in because Ece’s taunting Selin was creating more pain and anger instead. He certainly wasn't there to seduce her, like Sinan had been doing.

Now here’s the thing about LOVE; before it receives anything, it seeks to GIVE instead, because LOVE does not seek its own. In other words, it is NOT self-seeking. It’s time to really just call it for what it is—Even in this early stage of whatever was happening between Hazan and Sinan, at the end of the day, can you really call that LOVE? The heart of the matter is, Sinan wanted to get back with Hazan because of the comfort that she can offer him in this heartbreaking, confusing, and distressful time (did he not say that himself, though with a different preface?). Because if he really was looking out for Hazan’s best interests, he would’ve listened to what his brother had said back at Yagiz' home when Hazan was hiding in his room—Give her some time.

“Did you really expect that it was going to be that easy? Yok ya!” Yagiz had wisely but, vehemently, said to Sinan. In other words, prove, and show her, that you can be a trustworthy man. Then WIN her heart again. But instead, there he was trying to emotionally FORCE himself upon her. The girl had told you to get out but still you invaded on her space, trying to seduce her. Oh man. This is a huge RED FLAG. There's a word for someone who forces intimacy upon an unwilling participant. Any sane Dad woulda whooped the salt out of this guy. That is somebody’s priceless daughter right there!

Sinan can SAY that he loves Hazan but at the end of the day, he was still seeking after his own first, instead of putting her needs before him. How long did that “I will save Hazan from myself” from E14 really last? What? Two days? Three days tops? Pfft. Even your way of trying to free her from you was breaking her heart by way of expensive booze and cheap women, instead of just go man up like your brother’s been asking you to. And it was Yagiz having to clean up after your hammered and sorry tail. Again.

One must stand as a man and be accountable for who he is and his actions before he’d even thought to be responsible for another human being, especially a woman he desires to win. If not, 

How could he be called worthy of her?

PART V — A Story’s Crown of Glory 

Of a grand and worthy Story, what then would be its CROWN of GLORY?...

LOVE.

I believe that the glory of ANY story is when it tells and shows the timeless story of LOVE... even if a story is a superhero ACTION flick.

Yet, even for a Superhero—super powers or not—whether he knows what he’s doing trying to rescue his beloved girl and humanity or not; he’s still a Superhero worth his salt. Why? Because, again, LOVE, is his motivation. A Superhero out to save his own skin is one you can't really respect. Can you actually even call him a HERO? Just look at any war movies out there. It’s the same repeated theme that resonates with our hearts over and over again—

A Hero who rescues and lays down his life for others.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we identify LOVE to be.

In by no means is Fazilet Hanim ve Kizlar a perfect story. In fact, it is seriously flawed. I’ve said it above that it is at times ludicrous. You literally have THE MAIN leading character in which the show is partly named after, and from the get go she was no inspiring Hero but destructive Villain instead. A broken mother who breaks her children, because broken people break people. And so far, though we had witnessed some redeeming qualities in Fazilet Camikran, she had remained steadily villainous, and again, ludicrous. Sirma and her writing team’s got to work some serious muscle to redeem their main leading character if they'd any aspirations to finish strong, which I’m sure they do.

Caglar had mentioned that FHVK is a story about the complexities of the human soul. Within the soul of mankind, there are shades of dark so black that all have been both the victim and perpetrator of an unrighteous deed and deeds at various points of our life. BUT... Mankind is also capable of great compassion. Great sacrifice. And of the always much-needed GRACE.

You and I know, down to our deepest instincts, what we need more in this world.

There’s a reason why Caglar’s character have risen to prominence more than all the characters written in FVHK. Yagiz Egemen is NO perfect hero. But he IS a Hero who had displayed closer to its TRUE essence what this world really needs most—

LOVE.

And perhaps that is why we are all still watching.

With this, I bid you adieu.

Cheers 😁

[goolagola]

Yagiz + Hazan… HOW DID IT HAPPEN? | #review

Originally posted on Fb on February 13, 2018.

UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY: A Journey to Truth... and Love

There is a considerable amount of argument out there of the distinct difference between “INSTINCT” and “INTUITION" (and might I add, “INSIGHT” is usually a close echo after)—I’m sure many of you are privy to it. Shucks, there’s even argument of the precise definition of what each of them actually mean, let alone their distinctions from each other. It’s warranted. I myself wonder what the differences are, subtle and delicate they seem to me. Which then caused me to question, whether I myself accurately know their respective definitions in the first place. With enough investigative research, it appears that many, even those who are notably educated in the human psyche, have not really settled on a clear definition. But thank heavens, there is enough understanding of what they are that we all can find common ground where we can agree on their meaning. I won’t recapitulate a comprehensive exposition of the arguments for its scope goes both wide and thin but I will say this; yes, there is a difference between the two and yes, there are both psychological and physiological components associated with them. And yes, sometimes they are used interchangeably with each other but the simple fact of the matter is, without having to acquire a degree in psychology or biology, just a brief digital jaunt to Meriam Webster’s site or Wikpedia, and add to it Oxford’s for good measure, you’d get a comfortable idea of what “Intuition" is versus “Instinct".

Okay... WHY am I saying all this?

For authors and writers in general, knowing the definition and difference, even the philosophy, of any two words is quite necessary. Well, hello, words are what you need to tell a story, so it’s a no-brainer that nailing the definition of what something actually means is crucial. But to stop there, is to just remain at the mechanics and technical expectation of what a writer does. And that’s just a bit, uh—boring. But, now... In the CREATIVE space of what they do with what they know… Well, that’s a different ballgame.

Especially in Filmmaking.

(Ha! Some of y'all were probably wondering if you were still on a Fb group for FHVK, or ended up at a linguistics class instead 😝. Caglar trolls y’all all the time so what’s another nerd to put up with, right ✌️)

Here’s the thing. INSTINCT and INTUITION… I don’t think we truly realize just how much both of these two concepts are SHOWCASED in the Writers, Directors, and Cast’s portrayal of FHVK. Because I am truly a nerd 😆, I would decode the snuff out of something and with YagHaz, I’ve made some findings peppered throughout their story. And I gotta say, these two concepts are what made the relationship between Yagiz and Hazan quite enjoyable for me to analyze. (And hey, it might just be the same for y’all too—but the jury’s still out on that verdict till y’all conclude this review).

What’s more, I’ve discovered that decrypting what was instinctual and intuitive for them was just the TIP of the iceberg. Because these concepts only lead to significant INSIGHT (whad I say—close echo!) of what was truly, and DEEPLY going on between these two lovely, yet in so many ways, misunderstood people—though methinks the latter is only truest for Yagiz (but that’s for yet another time and discussion 😉).

If you’re ready for a long ride, allow me to explain further. But consider yourself WARNED—I’m notorious for writing super long reviews 😆. But what can I say, things worth gaining do take time. Pfft. Just look at the pace for these two adorkable characters. Long’n’slow be the Writers' middle name, yo.

I’ve broken this review into parts and you are now just concluding PART I. You can pause in between and save the reading for another time if you’d like. Do with it as you may—but I do hope you enjoy the ride!

PART II: INTUITION — Could It Be…? 

Last review, we briefly covered on what was INSTINCTUAL for Hazan in this remarkable bond she shares with Yagiz. And believe me, there’s plenty more on that subject matter, not just for Hazan, but for Yagiz too—and it is quite mind-blowing on his part. I can’t wait to tell ya, but we’ll get to that later. Let’s first begin at the start of their journey.

When they first laid eyes upon each other on the 9th floor, in the 901st room of the Egemen hotel, both Yagiz and Hazan were under the influence of a LIE. It resulted in an intense confrontation on false premises of each other. But we also witnessed the electrifying chemistry between the two for the very first time as they clashed against and into each other. If that first brush with destiny as that rain puddle splashed onto Hazan as Yagiz passed by didn’t do it for ya, this hotel tryst is CLINCHER that the two were ENDGAME.

Two minutes into the encounter, the instinctual alarms were blasting off for both, pealing the message as they faced each other that the person standing before them was surely Bad News. Yagiz may have entered in already with his buttons pushed by Sinan’s deceptive tale, but the point is, a set of INSTINCTS in both were bred and sprung because of a single vile lie, which they believed for nothing but the truth at that point in time. To Hazan, Yagiz’ cryptic remarks denoted something oppressive and sinister, along with his dangerous eyes and icy tones. And to Yagiz, Hazan’s flummoxed reaction was just cheap trick to deny her harlotry whilst caught red handed. And so their instincts told them to defend, and ATTACK... Each other that is. And we got a showdown that literally drew blood. Yagiz thought she was a whore and Hazan thought he was a pimp. No wonder his face was cut. And no wonder she was thrown a Benjamin.

But here’s the good news; those instincts were bred by a FALSE reality... Which means there will be a different disposition altogether when the TRUE one emerges.

So HOW then, did these instincts we had gloriously witnessed in Hazan when she held on to Yagiz for dear life as the crowd watched upon her shame in E25 were birthed?

Well, that’s when INTUITION comes in.

Let’s take a look at Yagiz’ journey to understand what that means.

When things began to get disjointed for Yagiz concerning that hotel room incident, “something” began to niggle in his senses...

INTUITION.

It was telling him to seek the truth because things weren’t adding up, and so Yagiz followed a trail. But being on that path of discovery pit him against his immature, irresponsible, and selfish younger brother, to the point that not only was a construction project he’d committed sixteen months of his hard work and dedication was wrested from him, a two-year young company he’d started with 70 other dedicated people was shut down altogether. Which then led to his explosive revealing to his father, of the brokenness he had been carrying all this time because of the separation from his family. And so Yagiz chose to resign from his career and abandon that path of discovery entirely. It was costing too much of him. But he’d soon yet discover that it really wasn’t up to him… Fate somehow had kept linking them together; Hazan’s sister that he'd had to find and care for, Hazan's presence in his home as she embraced the sister he sheltered, Hazan's police arrest he'd witnessed and its reason that he had to solve—Yagiz unwittingly kept finding himself in the thick of things with all things Hazan (heck, they even began to share the same roof after her home caught on fire!), beginning with that historic hotel tryst, and on that path of discovery yet again and again, despite his previous attempts to bail. Eventually, the path led him to a key finding; Hazan had ripped the half-a-million lira check her mother tried to haggle out of his family. It was then that his initial INTUITION that first made itself known in E4 was proven right; a lie has been fabricated. 

Hazan was not who he thought she was.

PART III: INSTINCTS — When A Man Loves... 

There was a key phone call scene in E12 between Yagiz and Sinan, in which point Yagiz asked him what he finally wanted to speak to him about, and Sinan's answer was, “the first thing that you have in mind…”

Yagiz KNEW then, INTUITIVELY, that his younger brother was the perpetrator of the lie that had caused him to “trample the dignity” of an innocent girl.

The entire truth was finally revealed; And his INTUITION was the hand that wielded the SWORD that cut down the blinding veil of lies. And from then on, 

A peculiar series of INSTINCTUAL behaviors from the aloof and independent Yagiz Egemen was put on display. 

And his actions spoke ALOUD and OTHERWISE of what his words would eventually say on E14—that he has NEVER been in love...

Pfft. WRONG.

Buddy, you’re so smack dabbed in it, your soundtrack is a remix of Michael Bolton's “When A Man Loves A Woman” 😂

Allow me to explain why.

When Yagiz told a fib in E13, to interfere on Sinan’s confession to Hazan by offering her a deal to be the face of Egemenlar Cosmetics, some of y’all probably wanted to shake his head silly. I, for one, did. Why was this man covering for his cowardly, manchild brother’s sorry tail—a sentiment that Sinan even echoed. But what did Yagiz say? “THINK whether I saved you…

“I did it to save her.”

BAHAHA 🤣

Okay. Telling a lie to cover a lie is never a good idea. And telling a lie to save somebody is just an oxymoron—like “Civil War”; there’s nothing civil about wars, they are violent and brutal. Lies don’t really beget solution. Lies beget lies. Though I don’t condone his methods, I get why Yagiz did what he did. It was a quick fix that he could come up with in that moment. What I want to point out is not the fact that he could’ve handled the situation differently—because telling lies is never a good idea (shucks, isn’t he now suffering, some twenty episodes later, under the heavy weight of secrets and lies himself?)—but I’d like to cite the fact that his protective instincts were kicking up to safeguard the girl who he had once shamed; If Hazan found out that Sinan was the man responsible for disgracing her, Yagiz knew she’d leave their family mansion which was her shelter since a fire had ruined her home. His objective was to keep Hazan away from being homeless, especially after all that junk she’s had to go through. But this wasn’t even the first time we even saw him protecting her, isn’t it... A similar thing happened a few episodes before. Only that time, Yagiz was trying to protect and spare her from the cruel and humiliating fact that her mother was bargaining her (who he’d at that point thought was solely responsible for the lie, instead of his brother), when he said to Hazan that he only sent the lawyer to advocate her case because it was Sinan’s request—lying, because Sinan's initial objective was actually being Romantic Romeo, by landing himself in the cans to share the jail cell next to her, while Yagiz' was being out there trying to get her out.

(Mmm. Maybe there are girls who love those sort of things and call it “love", that a man landed himself in jail to join you there. But at the end of the day, TRUE love is about being someone RELIABLE. Someone who sacrifices and rescues. So it bears to think twice whether it was truly love or—yes it feels good, but still it was just—romance. Sure, Sinan eventually displayed the effort to rescue Hazan, which is credit to him. But Yagiz from the get go was trying to do that, retaining the perspective of what would serve and benefit Hazan more. Mark that at that time, that though he’s reserved a measure of intuition of the truth, the lawyer hasn’t even revealed yet that Hazan had ripped that check. So Yagiz was still under a lot of influence that Hazan was a ya-know-what, but still he sent the lawyer to help her, gave her the benefit of the doubt—speaks volumes of his character. So you tell me which should be the first choice—but the only choice, quite actually—of the worthy man of her heart.)

So where else do we see Yagiz protective instincts operating?

Remember when Yasin showed up with a gun trying to be the Grim Reaper for Yagiz’ soul? But Mr. Freezer here remained the cool headed guy he was, showing no indication whether he was worried for his own safety, only raising his voice once, and even that was to put an end to Yasin’s verbal attack on Hazan’s sister’s virtue, not his, and then continued to retain his chill.

Until Hazan decided to move towards the gun.

Yagiz sprung forward like the hounds of hell were at his heels, yelled her name with a rage, and pulled her body towards his. The look on Hazan’s face after, when she was in his arms... 🤣 Though we then proceeded to witness Yagiz' level-headedness in trying to set things in order afterwards, we briefly glimpse how much the whole ordeal ACTUALLY affected him. The three Camkiran women could’ve been down to two that night. Notice his ungainly walk to his car when he and Hazan had to make their way to the police station to give their testimony. Mr. Keep Cool no more, Mr. Jerky Movements he was; he abruptly stopped and looked back to assure himself that she was close behind him. And when he saw her, he just had to open her door 🤣. In the car, he was attuned to her movements. His ever perceptive eyes shifting between the road and her face, trying to detect any sign of stress plaguing her then finally asking, “Are you okay?” You could see the tension exuding off of him. The man was strung up; the anxious gulp, the worried eyes, the distorted face… though subtle they had. Yet what they are showing is that his protective instincts were kicking up again. And in his own cryptic way, he couldn’t stop himself from expressing that he took issues that she had put herself in danger. And guess what they ended up talking about 5 seconds later—like, literally?

REFLEX.

As in what comes to you INSTINCTUALLY…

Yeah. BAHAHAHA 🤣

So all these before E14 ever said hello, so err—still wanna tell me that Mr. Freezer here was “never” in love before?

And then alas, EPISODE 14 arrives. ✊

And what a HUUUUGE kicker it was!

But here’s the thing. In order from keeping this post stretching all the way to Istanbul, I’d have to call it a day. Because seriously, there is literally so much stuff going on in E14, flippin’ episode needs its own review all by its-oh-so-magnificent-self. I’m already struggling to keep this current review as succinct as possible. I couldn’t even fit some noteworthy epicness that should've really gone up above, but I shall try to on our next—and yes, mind as well warn you now—LONG ride 😆. So y’all stay tuned. Or go on a swim. Or take a long nap. Or go star gazing—heard Jupiter’s coming to prominence this time of the year. Whicheverhoo suits yo fancy! 😁

Been a pleasure, folks. 😎

[goolagola]

YAGHAZ’ BOND—in a long nutshell | #review

Originally posted on FB February 8, 2018.

Ever since they crossed paths for the very first time, when the seemingly innocuous van carrying the Egemen men hit a random rain puddle and splashed the murky water onto the unsuspecting Camkiran women, the story of two distinct and contrastive individuals began, caught in such manner:

Unawares they were destined to belong in each other’s lives.

And as that foul puddle that had offended Hazan Camkiran, so had the judgment that Yagiz Egemen passed upon her. Both UNAWARE of what the real truth to each other was—that they were not the people they were initially convinced of concerning one and the other. As murky as that muddy puddle—a mixture of clear rainwater and nasty filth—was the mirror they held to one another, believing it to display the truth. But it was not a true reflection. As certainly as Hazan was not the harlot that Yagiz saw—but only through the LENS of lies cast by his immature man-child brother (Lawd, forgive me, wanted to whiplash this guy all the way to Earth-2 Gorilla City so many times 😑)—Yagiz was not the dishonorable man who had shamed her in that fateful hotel room. The man lacking integrity and honor that night was not him. It was his younger brother, whom Hazan was seeing through a murky lens of her own, one that obscures the bases of reality of what a person’s character truly was—the lens of infatuation. It was lies that had made Yagiz and Hazan enemies of each other. And it will be truth that will connect them in a bond so strong yet so seamless, both would again, be UNAWARE, that they shared such connection for how natural it was.

Until one of them realized it… and it changed everything. But that’s for another time and another discussion 😉.

This bond between them, so special and singular, that saw Hazan leaning on Yagiz for strength on what could be the most humiliating night of her life; when her state of being shamed was disgracefully exposed before family, friends, and strangers through a cruel and calculating video presentation, during what should’ve been a joyous and celebratory moment. But a dreadful and violating nightmare it was turning out. In that momentous instant, mark that it was Yagiz she pled not to leave her side when he instinctively moved to set things in order, not her “beloved" Sinan, “Or I will fall,” she had said. She said nothing of the sort when Sinan was about to leave her side to address the crowd. What a significant statement that was that the Writers subtly injected, of how deep the bond between Yagiz and Hazan ran—deeper, and so much so, than whatever bond Hazan shared with her “beloved”. What had her sister ask her just days prior after she was reunited with Sinan again in a “love” relationship?

Do you actually TRUST Sinan?

Well, on a fragile but revelatory moment, when Hazan was most vulnerable before the inquisitive eyes of hundreds of strangers, there was one man she could not afford to leave her side lest she collapse into further shame before the crowd—and that man was NOT her “beloved”.

It was Yagiz.

For Hazan, this bond was INSTINCTUAL—when trauma hits and reason and logic fail, it kicks in. It was beyond comprehension. She may say that Sinan is her “beloved”, but Yagiz is her ROCK. Her anchor. The man she instinctively TRUSTS.

And it was similar with Yagiz.

For this independent and aloof man, his hero has always been his father, Hazim Egemen. His father has been his true love anchor, as a son loves his dad, and Yagiz’ loyalty for him is to a fault—for whom Yagiz dared to commit a sacrilegious act just to defend his honor so his children can remember him in a better light, by digging up his grave and in doing so, violating his OWN honor. Whose approval and affirmation he seeks, that as a vulnerable twelve year old boy he didn’t let slip what would’ve been a valid complaint, but obeyed when his father sent him to live in a strange land amidst strangers whose tongue he did not speak. That when this hero of his fell from grace by marrying a teenager who was younger than his own teenage daughter, it so shook him that he’d rather go back to that foreign land that he’d once felt abandoned in than deal with that reality. But that reality wasn’t worse one yet—losing his father to a demented state that he even forgot his children and his own self was yet more grievous. And one night back in Yagiz’ apartment with Hazan and his oblivious, sleeping brother after his spoiled plan to leave Istanbul, and discovering that their older brother had betrayed them all by keeping his dad’s condition secret, Yagiz found himself in that dark, devastating place where he, who in so many ways has been the rock of his family, could not keep faith that his father, his hero, his anchor, would be okay again.

But who then became a voice of hope in that moment of hopeless despair; one, that he had allowed to witness this weary and vulnerable state of his, a privilege that once belonged to his mother only; one, who had once told him to not be the “older brother”, but instead the child and grieve, when they thought that they had lost their hero dad; one, from whose strength he was finding the faith again, which later caused him to remain the rock that his family needed to believe that their father was going to pull through…

Hazan.

Because SHE BELIEVED in who Yagiz was, that he was the son of his father, and even if Hazim forgot who he himself was, Yagiz wouldn’t and that’s what mattered. For they could still create new memories. With those words from her lips and her gentle hand on his arm, Yagiz then found his steady footing again. And so with the help of Yagiz’ remarkable devotion and dedicated care, Hazim returned. I don’t know if you noticed, when Hazim was in that demented state, he only ever showed significant reaction and response to Yagiz’ care and presence, and had even told him not to turn off the lights once. Out of the three and Selin, it was Yagiz who truly was most devoted to their father. But Yagiz almost lost heart if not for Hazan’s unwavering belief in him, and if you look at the clip again, it was so easy for her to show her faith in him; instinctual—automatic—for her to do so. They’ve come a long way from where they once were.

Above, are just two examples out of so many (I’d end up writing a thesis if I list them all!), of what Yagiz and Hazan truly are to each other. Sure, they may not be a pair of “lovers”. But witnessing their bond, any unwitting stranger from the outside could’ve mistaken them for one.

O, gracious people, do forgive this long post 😭. And if you’ve made it this far…

Nice to meet ya! 👊😆