Eternally Sunshine

Relationships that go through the test of time, distance, and longing can either break or become stronger. Such was the relationship of Fan Changyu & Xie Zheng. Although they were "fake" married, they both took their roles seriously to support each other and lean on each other. After finding out Xie Zheng's true identity, Fan Changyu lost her trust in his words. Something they built together but it was fragile.

Xie Zheng could never forget her; but for her it took her a bit longer to get back to him.

Whenever I edit videos, I reference back to some of my favorite music artists that talk about love, sensuality and heartbreak. That such person in this song is Tanerelle. I thought this was very fitting since she was trying to be where he is at.

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Finished Pursuit of Jade last week and have been slowing churning some fanedit videos. While the show is still fresh on my mind, I started browsing through some songs that I thought suited Fan Changyu, the female protagonist. From being a pig butcher to being a military Marchioness, Fan Changyu was always fighting injustice and seeking the truth all the way towards the end.

So when I started thinking about how she saw all many of her loved ones unalived or treated poorly such as her family, her sister, her village, her community, her husband, her friend and others who she loved, it was only a matter of time for Fan Changyu to seek revenge. And at the end, she was able to have her father pardoned and she would go down in history as a great female general.

Hey y'all! Long time no see. I've been busy filming and editing videos for my YouTube channel. If you are curious what else I create online, go check out my channel @breneworld.

I am currently editing the image above. It is a digital aesthetic journal spread. All made on Adobe Express.

Alright, one last Kizil Goncalar FMV I made using this song. I found it appropriate for Cuyned to have this similar experience as Chihiro in Spirited Away. I know many viewers disliked the 2nd Season of Kizil Goncalar, but I found it be have very good metaphors especially about name and our identity. Felt like 2nd season was very Carl Jung-ish.

In 2nd season, Cuyned loses his identity as his mom wants him to have only her as his memory. A memory that has been tormenting him all his childhood & youth. What I liked about this situation is that Cuyned was able to release those emotions of his torment, but still recall and become parts of who he was previously.

The only thing that had been constant in Cuyned's life has been the torment of his mother's death and the hope that Zeynep brings to his life. So it would only make sense for these 2 important females in his life shape who he is.

Season 2 Cuyned still continued to grow. I actually liked him in that seasonbetter because he was no longer held back by his tormented mindset, although he still had some internal strife to deal with towards the last episodes. At least it showed that he was still striving to be better.

Kizil Goncalar main storyline revolves around Zeynep's freedom of choice and the freedom to study. Zeynep has been supported by her mother Meryem to find a way to escape and send her to school abroad to avoid the same fate she was forced into. When they are unable to escape, Zeynep is forced to marry Cüneyd Güneş (sect leader's son) and she almost gives up studying. But instead of giving up, Cüneyd supports her wish to study and to help the girls in the dervish along with fulfilling her own goal. However, both their wishes are short lived with the coupe of the dervish.

The show has several references to birds throughout the series. These scenes in particular symbolically represent Zeynep (and the women of the dervish) to seek freedom.

I hope you enjoy this video. I am almost near completion with the another fan video edit for you about the show.

Songs in the video:

One of the key metaphors  in  Kizil Gonçalar is the story of two fish in water.  There are several mentions of fish in the series that refer to both Cuyned & Zeynep’s world. When Zeynep mentions that she and Cuyned are fish in water and when caught, they know what water is, they become the only two who can understand the circumstances they are experiencing and that is how their bond is formed.

The development of the purity of the bond that Cuyned & Zeynep form is one of the relationships I liked in the show; despite how rocky and controversial it started for them. The word romantic is not even a great word to describe their relationship. Zeynep and Cuyned were both afraid of their fates and tried or wished to reroute it but when they came to terms of seeing their situation differently, things became more clear that supporting each other is the way to go.

Thus, why I created this video: to show that their bond is way beyond the small thinking of the word romance. It is written in their fate, as Cuyned stated.

Kizil Gonçalar - Starting Recap & Review Posts

Welcome to my journey into writing recaps and reviews of the amazing Turkish drama Kizil Goncalar that had capture my eyes, my mind and soul. lol

Okay, it's really not that deep but the show did awaken creative and spiritual parts that I haven't used in a long time. It made me think, it made me feel and it made me ponder on the outlook of being a human in a structured society. And It made me question many things. The writers did a great job!

I'm not sure how to organize these episode recaps and reviews, so bare with me as I figure it out. The show is 46 episodes, with each episode running about 2 hrs + 22 mins. And that's without ads. I watched this show on Dailymotion (which were taken from turkish123 ) because it was the only site I could find with English subtitles (not the best but it was the only available ones). Kizil Goncalar's YouTube channel has no English subtitles but its the best place to watch it since the full episodes are on there (along with episode 36 which had the first 25 minutes cut during airtime).

There are many themes in this show that I will not be going over as I am no religious scholar nor am I a Turkish citizen. With my limited understanding of the Quran and Islam, I will not rely on a Television show created Story to tell or show me what the Truth is. This show is not the truth of Islam like some commentators have posted on several sites because people are easily offended without learning to understand first. (Please viewer do not take fiction as truth, even if it is inspired by it ) After all, Kizil Goncalar is an entertainment soap opera about fictional sects and secularism. It is not reality but instead someone's interpretation of how they see different aspects of the society they live in aka modern day Turkey.

I also will not be going in too deep with philosophical and psychological points of this show either; if i do, it will be a surface level understanding of it explained as my own opinion.

I truly enjoy watching long dramas with great storytelling, great acting and great chemistry. If I watch something this long is because I was craving for some entertainment that will be thought-provoking.

Kizil Goncalar is the only Turkish drama I have ever watched so I have no other show to compare it from that country. I'm not sure if I will be reviewing other Turkish dizis as they do not catch my interest. However, I will probably watch other shows/movies that have Mert Yazıcıoğlu because the dude is an amazzzing actor. His beautiful long lashed brown eyes are very expressive!

Here are some disclaimers about the show:

Disclaimer: the show has some controversial topics that deal with underage marriage and religious extremism. Which are the major premises of the show ; probably the reason it was almost banned within its home country of Turkey.

2nd disclaimer: the show brings up topics of abuse, trauma, mental health, and more traumatic/ sensitive themes.

Now, with that out of the way, let's begin with the Recaps & Reviews in the next posts! 🫡

I present you a video edit of one of the Cüneyd saddest scenes in the Kizil Goncalar series. I wasn't planning to cover this dark subject matter in my fan video edit journey, but as soon as I heard the song, it reminded me of the sad boy Cüneyd of Season 1.

As I was searching for music about Cüneyd's journey, I realized that one of the show themes were actually kinda sad. The theme of wanting to disappear. So when I came across SYML's music (side note: his music is in a lot of FMV edits), I never really paid attention to the lyrics of this song "Take Me Apart" . And boom! I realized that song fit the journey of Cüneyd perfectly. In Season 1, we saw him as a fragile man who just needed love, who could not handle the hurt, pain and guilt he grew up with, whom people labeled as crazy and ended up with trying to do the very same thing his deceased mother did. To disappear.

The moment I heard this song I could think only of the character Cüneyd.

I recently watched a Turkish youtube channel Scotopia that had explained the religious, spiritual and political points in the show. While watching his analyzes of Kizil Goncalar, it make me think about symbolism of Cüneyd's ends and beginnings. It's like his old ego had disappeared and his new one was surfacing; sprinkled with some memories. Thus why Cüneyd appears to be 2 different people in Season 1 & Season 2.

I had seen many comments on the show's youtube channel and fanmade video edits about Season 1 being the best one (it definitely flowed better), but we cannot just forget Season 2 entirely. It also had its small beautiful moments. Season 1 was more of spiritual & philosophical experience while Season 2 was a psychological & philosophical experience.

In Season 2, Cüneyd found a way to get past the self-guilt and literally had a reset of his life (un-thankfully to his deceased mother) so that he would start from the beginning. From death to rebirth. A return to oneself, but new and improved version. Still Human, still imperfect.

Trigger Warning: Sad Unaliving Scenes ‼️‼️⚠️⚠️

My favorite scenes of the show Kizil Goncalar has been the dream sequences between Cuyned & Zeynep. They are always seeking each other in both their dreams and their awake hours. Its like they protect and support each other in both reality and the subconscious.

I view the relationship of Cuyned & Zeynep as he being the guardian of her freedom from the very beginning. Even through forced marriage, fake marriage & eventual real marriage; Cuyned has always been a protector.

As much as I would love for more people to watch this show, I have not found many people willing to give it a chance due to lack of translations/ dubbing, length of episodes and theme. If only some viewers were more patient and understanding to something different, they would see how much of a gem this show truly is.

I have so much more to say about this show but there is just not enough time. I've been working on some more video edits, contemplating on show/episode reviews, etca but as I get more and more ideas, its kinda hard to complete some of these tasks. My eyes are bigger than my stomach as we say here in the States. Of course, I will do my best to finish what I started.

It has been such a long time since I have watched a show/film that has moved me and enlightened me. And I am not easily enlightened! I come out of watching this show thinking of the structure of civilization and cultural norms, questioning our humanity, seeking faith, etc.

Will be gushing over this show for years!

When two bookworms get together. Among the books, both find a name that calls their hearts 💕

Kizil Gonçalar is one of the most aesthetically pleasing shows I have watched in a long time. Season 1 was just so well done . Cinematography dialogue, beautiful male & female lead couples, diverse acting from everyone, intellectual, spiritual, pragmatic, emotional, everything you can think of.

About 2 years ago, I read this romance book about an older woman- young man relationship that left me heartbroken. The book is The Idea of You by Robinne Lee. Solene & Hayes were very complementary characters and their story is a story of what could have been. I felt like I was the one who got dumped 😅after finishing the book. It was a fast read and sexy and definitely highlights the double standards women face as they age.

When I heard the book was going to be made into a movie with Anne Hathaway being casted as Solene, I knew she was the perfect actress. Graceful, beautiful and youthful at heart. Then I saw the actor for the role of Hayes Campbell, I never heard of Nicolas Galitzine but his face did look familiar from the thumbnail of his other Netflix projects. And wow, he did such a great job being Hayes Campbell that I believe he was perfect for the role too.

The chemistry between these two actors was 💯🔥. Every scene they had was very well executed. Anne just has great camera presence. The movie is definitely stand alone work from the book as it had its own vibe and happy ending.

What blew my mind was that some of the songs were actually sung by Nicolas himself. The ending credits song The Idea of You was beautifully sung. His voice is very beautiful! I would definitely listen to his album if he ever released one.

I’ve seen very few critics who have actually read the book and understood its message about ageism , women, and choices mothers make. The book and the movie were not exactly the same especially the ending. I would say the movie is an inspiration from the book. Both are great in their own way. I’m always recommending it to friends who don’t mind a sad ending 😢.

If you haven’t seen me active on here, it’s because I am busy reading the series An Ember in the Ashes. Saba Tahir’s writing is beautiful and there are so many gems in this underrated book series.