#eda is trying to drive the car away while this is happening

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

anyway i know cars arent a thing in the boiling isles but i think the hagsquad during their school years would have been the types to crash a car into a stop sign at 50 mph in a school zone.

and after that perry would try to make sure no one is hurt and call his parents/the cops to pick them up. alador would try to fix the car but he'd get distracted and start taking it apart instead. odalia would try to bribe the cops to not report this. darius would get in the cop's face and be like "arrest us no i DARE you to arrest us do you know who i am? my mentor is THE golden guard suck it." lilith would curl up in the back trunk and have a two-hour long panic attack because she'll never get accepted into the emperor's coven if she doesn't have a spotless driving record. (she wasn't driving.) (alador was.) (he got distracted by a bird.) raine would try to hide the broken stop sign. eda would try to hide the car.

[bleachanimefan1]

The Song of the Titan

Chapter Nine!,

In a secret room of the castle, Belos stood in front of the repaired door of the human realm, that he had managed to salvage and recover. He ordered an abomaton to turn on a switch and it did as it was told. Glowing green goo flowed down from the pipes of the machine and headed towards the door, powering it up. Belos took out a handmade key and stuck it into the keyhole.

It disintegrated almost immediately as soon as he turned it. Hidden in a corner, behind the emperor, Hunter quietly watched, curious about the portal. Lil rascal had managed to sneak into the room as well and landed on Hunter's shoulder and let out a small chirp.

"Shoo!" Hunter brushed his hand to get the cardinal to leave.

"Would you like to see how this works, Hunter?" Belos called out. Hunter gasped and went tense. He had heard him. The cardinal went ridged and turned to wood and Hunter quickly put the bid inside his cloak, hiding it. Hesitantly, Hunter stepped out approaching Belos.

"I didn't mean to hide, Emperor Belos," He murmured.

"We found every piece of the door, but without the power of the real key, it refuses to open," He told him.

"Is true that rain doesn't boil in the human realm?" Hunter asked. Belos turned to Hunter with a surprised look.

"It is. But, how did you know that?" He asked, smiling.

"I ran into the other human the other day. She told me," Hunter told him. He saw his uncle's smile immediately drop. Hunter immediately shifted his gaze away from Belo's cold and dark eyes as they stared intensely down at him. Hunter nearly jumped as he felt his uncle's fingers tuck under his chin, tilting his head up, making Hunter look at him.

"Hunter, I need you to promise me that you won't see that human girl again." Hunter's eyes widen a little as he stared up at Belos confused.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"She is a bad influence, especially since she's hanging around with the owl lady, learning about wild magic," His uncle told him. "She's dangerous, so promise me that you will stay from her."

"I-...I promise, Emperor Belos," Hunter said, his eyes dropping a little as he looked down.

"Don't make that face, you know how I feel about that, Hunter."

"I'm sorry, Uncle," Hunter replied.

"You know I've been there before, the human realm, did I ever tell you that?" Below asked, immediately changing the subject. Hunter looked back at him, and shook head. Belos had a soft smile on his face.

"The trees they're green, nights are quiet," He told Hunter. "I look forward to seeing it again." Then he turned Hunter as he walked down the stairs with him. "Were you spying on me just to hear these boring stories?"

"The operation at the knee, why did you switch me out with Kikimora?" Hunter questioned. Belos smiled.

"Everyone has a use, Hunter. Kikimora has her intricate little plans, the scouts carry out orders, and you, well..." He wrapped his arm around Hunter, placing his hand on Hunter's shoulder as they continued walking down the stairs. "The Titan has BIG plans for you and it would be such a hassle to try and find an replacement." Hunter's eyes widened. He was going to be replaced? No! He worked so hard to get where he was! If he was replaced then what use would he be? He wouldn't be able to help his Uncle.

"So right now you can be useful by staying "safe" here in the castle," Belos told him as he led Hunter out.

"If this is punishment for failing my last mission, I swear that I can do better!" Hunter insisted.

"Good night, Hunter," Belos smiled, closing the door.

Hunter stood in front of the door for a minute, before making his decision. He was going to help his uncle, no matter what happens. He had to prove that he wasn't a failure...not again.

Hunter turned around and ran, heading straight to his room and dropped off Lil' rascal. The little bird made a confused chirp as it looked at Hunter.

"I'll be back," Hunter told the cardinal palisman. "Just STAY here and don't be seen. I have to do this on my own."

As he turned around to leave, Hunter heard the small red bird began chirping frantically before he saw Lil' rascal beginning to fly straight towards him. Quickly, Hunter shut the door, before Lil' rascal could get out. It nearly broke his heart hearing the frantic and coming from the small bird as it heard it pecking and clawing the door.

Hunter shook his head, making up his mind and quickly grabbed a coven's scouts uniform as a disguise. So no one would recognize him, since his own had been eaten and was getting the uniform and mask fixed and replaced. He put the scout's clothes and cloak on and left the castle, heading to the Knee.

Back at the owl, Amity was prepping and fortifying the security of the house. She walked past the window, seeing Hooty outside.

"Hooty, what's your status?" Amity asked.

"The perimeter is secure nothing's getting past me!" The owl beast told her as he broke the window, coming in.

"Good! Clean up that mess," Amity smiled.

"Ma'am!" Booty saluted. He sweeped the broken glass aside, using his neck. Amity walked into the living room to see Willow coming in and placed some groceries on the table.

"Willow have you gathered the supplies?" Amity asked.

"Yes! We're ready to attack this at all fronts!" Willow told her.

"Excellent!" Amity smiled. A small white car walked over to her. Amity bent down petting the cat. "Aw, Ghost, did you help, too? Who's a good palisman! Great, now all we is-"

"Rain? Beach wave?" Gus suggested as he and King walked up behind the two girls.

"Something called "Lo-fi beats to study and relax to." We've got it all!" King shouted.

"Eda was rummaging through her basement and gave us these soothing human noises!" Gus explain.

"That's, great," Amity replied. "Wait, Eda's still here? Eda you're supposed to be helping Hooty build up our defenses." Then she heard Eda scream.

Amity walked into a room to see, Eda screaming loudly at nothing, while Azara and John watched in amusement. "Whoo! Don't mind me, I'm just learning how to turn into Harpy Eda on demand. According to this human workout, you just got to scream a lot until you forced your inner beast out." Eda said.

"Eda, this is a cartoon," Azara told her. "Of course, it's not going to work."

"Gee, you just love to suck the fun out of everything, do ya kid?" Eda teased.

"This looks ancient," Amity replied picking up the tape.

"What? No! You're telling me-Thirty years old? I remember seeing this in theaters," Era frowned.

"Yes, you're old. Who cares? We have a crisis on our hands!" Amity exclaimed.

"Chill bossy boots. Everything's fine," Era reassured her. Amity gestured Eda to follow her, along with Azara and John as she walked them to Luz's room, opening the door.

"Does THIS seem fine to you?!" Amity asked gesturing over to Luz.

"It's like I have snake for arms!" Luz exclaimed, as she wildly waved her arms in the air at nothing. Luz's hair was a mess and she was inside of a sleeping bag. Her nose was red and her eyes looked blood shot and tired. She was sick.

"Please, she just has the common mold," Eda explained. "it's harmless."

"But, she's a human," Amity said, worried. "We have no idea how this will affect her!"

"If I eat the portal key, would I return to the human realm?" Luz questioned. Azara's eyes widen.

"Luz, no!" she tried to stop her. Luckily, Amity made a small abomaton and it quickly took the key from Luz, walking away, and gave it to Amity.

"I am not giving this back until you are better, okay?" Amity told her. Luz whined and took out a small device that looked like a tomagachi and started to type something on it. Amity had one as well as it pinged. She looked at it seeing the strange emojis, not understanding them.

U R PRETTY...

"Uh, you got it!" Amity smiled and winked at Luz. Luz stared at her confused and disappointed as she closed the door.

"I got to admit, Amity, seeing you around more often is different, " Willow told her as Gus, King and her approached the them.

"I know but I was taught to see every situation as an opportunity," Amity told them. "And today I am going to show Luz that I am an awesome girlfriend!"

"Feels like is it a few months ago you almost got her dissected by your crazy principal," King pointed out.

"She did what now?" Azara asked, interested. Amity blushed and looked away.

"That was a few months ago," Gus added. Suddenly, everyone jumped as they heard Luz scream.

"AAH!" They quickly opened the door to see Luz frantically grabbing a pen and paper. "Luz!"

"Mouse! Uh, Philip's dairy entry!" Luz exclaimed, frantically. They saw the echo mouse projecting something on the wall, in black and white, like an movie from an old film reel. Azara a strange man dressed in weird clothes that looked like from the 16th century. His hair was tied up in a pony tail and had two long strands of hair hanging from his face.

"After five years, I have finally found it. A power source so potent it can pierce through realms, Titan's blood. There are old tales of lakes reflecting green trees and blue skies. The Titan's veins run through the land and many believe that these wild portals are created when a little of It's blood leaks into the water. That is how I came here, so that is the first place I shall look. I will journey back to Eclipse Lake."

"I have to go to Eclipse Lake!" Luz shouted as she finished the drawing the location down and quickly got up, practically jumping out the door. Willow and Gus quickly caught her, dragging Luz back inside the room, putting her back into the sleeping bag.

"Luz, no! You are not well!" Willow told her.

"She is shockingly strong!" Gus added.

"Alright, Luz. Me and King will get your Titan blood," Eda told her. "if you just calm down."

"Yes! Perfect chance to take our new powers for a test drive!" King cheered.

"You guys are the best!" Luz smiled. She handed Eda the paper, however it looked like it had some snot on it as well. Eda cringed in disgust and took it, holding the map in front of her, walking away.

"You might want to get that disinfected," Azara chuckled.

"I volunteer as well, as Luz's girlfriend, I must -" Amity immediately volunteered, following after Eda.

"I get, Boots. Just grab a coat," Eda told her.

"I'm coming too!" Azara replied.

"Well, if you're coming, you're going to have to wear boots. Where we are going is cold and I can't afford to have another sick kid on my hands," Era told her.

"Fine," Azara pouted but agreed.

"I'm coming as well!" John shouted. Azara frowned and shook her head.

"No, you're not. You're staying here," she told him. John whined.

"You're not the boss of me!" he complained. Azara smirked.

"Actually I am, since mom's not here," she reminded him. "Therefore, I am in charge of you." She approached him and bent down to his level. "And if YOU get into trouble, "I" get into trouble, and WE don't want that, do we now?" John pouted, crossing his arms, before sticking out his lips.

"Fine," he replied.

"I need you help look after Luz, okay?" Azara smiled. John nodded his head, understanding.

"Willow, Goops, watch after Luz," Eda told the two. "She thinks she has snakes for arms." Willow and Gus looked back at Luz who had her arms in the air before she noticed them and hissed.

High above, on a snowy mountain, Kikimora and the coven scouts were digging around outside in the ruins of an abandoned mine.

"Dig faster, scouts!" Kikimora ordered.

"Kikimora, these tunnels are unstable, maybe we should slow down?" One of the scouts suggested.

"Not now, captain. This could be my last chance to show Belos what I can do! And I just know that brat golden guard will try to spoil it!" Kikimora said. "Hey Steve! Jump over that chasm before I throw you into it!"

"She's getting so paranoid," the captain shook her head.

Not too far off, from the scouts, Hunter was hiding behind a tree as he watched them. He leaned back against the tree and pulled back the hood his cloak, only to be startled as he saw the cardinal palisman right there next to him.

"Why do keep following me?!" Hunter hissed. "How did you even get out!?"

I'm.....h#r% to h#lp! Lil rascal chirped. Hunter frowned as he looked at the bird.

"I don't speak palisman," He replied then continued to explain his plan to the bird. Lil rascal was nodding his head the entire time, listening.

"Here's the plan, I slip in with this disguise, I find the Titan blood before Kiki, I give it to Belos. Boom! I'm useful again!" Hunter smiled. It suddenly dropped as Hunter heard one of the abomatons fired in his direction. He and Lil rascal quickly ducked and took cover as the blast exploded the tree that they were hiding behind. Hunter gulped nervously and quietly crawled way before the scouts noticed him. That blast almost blew his head off!

"Ma'am, is everything alright?!" The captain asked. Kikimora's eyes narrowed with a dark glare.

"I just thought I heard an annoying voice!" She hissed.

"Uh, another way in! We'll find another way in!" Hunter stammered, nervously. He ran got up and ran away while Lil rascal rode on top of his head. Lil rascal 's eyes widened as it sensed something nearby and happily chirped.

Hunt*& Th%$ #ay!

Hunter stopped and saw the cardinal land on a branch in a tree and walked over. His eyes widen in surprise to see Eda, King and Amity, approaching.

"The owl lady and her dog and is that the youngest Blight?" He questioned to himself. Then his eyes noticed a familiar pair of green eyes as he saw Azara walking with them as well. Hunter's eyes widen and he had almost fallen off from the steep slope, slipping on a small patch of ice, as soon as he saw her. He nearly lost his breath and felt his cheeks burn as he felt strange feeling in his chest. Hunter's heart began to beat faster, watching Azara as she and the others got closer. Her again!?

"This place is crawling with tools! What gives?!" King asked.

"Titan blood is the most powerful source of magic on the Isles. I'm not surprised Belos wants it too," Eda explained.

"Well, we can't afford to mess this up," Amity said. "Luz is counting on me! I mean, us!" She blushed.

"Well, as soon as we find this Titan's blood the sooner I can get out of these boots!" Azara complained. She was shaking her feet as she walked along side them. Eda and King laughed.

"She's like a small cat!" Eda chuckled. Azara frowned, as her cheeks turned red, embarrassed.

"I heard that!" she yelled out.

"Alright, new plan," Hunter smiled. "They can lead us to the Titan blood."

Lil rascal stared at Hunter for a minute before he lunged out and pulled on Hunter's strand of hair.

I'm doing Th&$ for you# #wn &ood!

"Hey! Hey! AH!" Hunter screamed and he lost his balance falling right in front of the group. He groaned as he sat up. That little sh-

"A coven scout!" Amity exclaimed. Hunter's eyes widen underneath the mask as he looked up at the group. Eda and Amity had their staffs ready and pointed at him.

"Uh, yes, I am but a humble scout and I surrender," Hunter surrendered holding his hands up. Azara's eyes widen, recognizing the voice.

"Heh, that was easy!" King smiled. Eda narrowed her eyes at the strange scout in front of them.

"Not so fast, King. Don't you recognize that annoying voice?" She asked.

"Why does everyone say that?" Hunter replied, sadly. He quickly took off, running away, trying to escape.

"Don't let him get away!" Eda shouted. Amity made some abomaton goo fly out of her flask with a wave of her finger. It shot out, wrapping around Hunter, knocking him off of his feet, and he flipped over, falling down to the ground. His mask had fallen off, as well, revealing his face. The group walked up, looking down at him.

"This is none other than-"

"Hello, Hunter!" Azara smirked.

"Wait, you know him?!" Eda asked, confused.

"Yeah, he's the guy I've been telling you guys about." Azara told them.

"Well, did you know that he's Belos right hand man?" Eda frowned. "I thought I told you to stay away from them!"

Azara smiled sheepishly, shrugging her hands.

"The golden guard!" Amity gasped. "He is a lot scrawnier than I've imagined." King laughed.

Hunter growled and glared up at them.

"Did I do it? Did I go into harpy mood?" Eda asked, excitedly, busting through a wall of ice.

"No, you just screamed "Hoot!" and ran head first into a wall of ice," King told her as he walked into the mines from the hole Era had made, along with Amity, Hunter and Azara, "It was pretty funny actually."

"You can put down your staff, I won't run," Hunter said.

"Too bad, because I don't trust you," Amity answered, still pointing her staff at him.

"Huh? This stuff is old," Eda commented the old abandoned mining equipment that was left behind, lying about near them.

"Ancient witches used to mine the veins for titan blood-" Hunter tried to explain.

"They're not listening," Azara told him.

"Go on, fire it! Maybe the adrenaline will kick in and bam! Harpy Eda!" Eda insisted. King jumped on top of the mine drill, getting ready to activate it.

"Sounds perfectly safe!"

"Wait! Don't!-" Hunter tried to warn them. But, King had already activated the drill and it unleashed a blast of magic. It barely missed Eda and started to ricochet off the walls bouncing around wildly like a ping pong ball!

"This isn't a normal cave! These walls are made from the veins of the Titan any magic that you shoot will bounce right back at you!" Hunter shouted.

"Oh, you must be fun at parties," Eda teased. She turned back to King. "Hey, King How about you use your new power to echo-locate the lake?"

"Okay!" He jumped off the drill running to the tunnel in front of them. King opened his mouth and let out a sonic blast. There was silence, then King turned around to them, shrugging his hands.

"Nothing," he replied.

"These two are definitely going to get us caught," Hunter frowned.

"Us?" There is no us! Now, keep walking," Amity said.

As they started to head deeper into the mines, walking further in, Azara stopped when she heard a voice whisper in her ear.

Azura...

Azara eyes widened and she wildly began looking around.

"Who said that?" She asked.

"Who said what?" Amity asked. The others stopped, as well seeing Azara looking around at nothing. They stared with confused looks on their faces.

"We didn't say anything, kid." Eda told her. She frowned seeing the uneasy look on Azara's face. "Is there something wrong?"

Azara shook her head. "It must have been my imagination. Let's just hurry."

"Oh hey, look! People died here." King added. Everyone gasped as they saw a couple of skeletons lying on the ground.

"Okay, this is getting too creepy. Let's just find that Titan blood and get out of here." Amity said.

"Maybe, it's the lost souls of the witches who died here in the mines?" Eda joked. "And now they're angry that their tomb is being disturbed!"

"Eda! You're not helping!" Azara shouted. "I know that I heard someone! They said Azura..."

"Azura? You mean, the the good witch Azura?" King asked and chuckled. "But, she is just some storybook fantasy. She's not real!"

"I know what I heard..." Azara replied.

"Maybe, you're crazy," Hunter sneered and commented. Azara frowned, looking at him.

"Alright, let's just keep going," Amity told them. "Hearing voices is never really a good sign. Let's just find that Titan's blood then get out."

"You know, Luz told me about her trip to Latissa, where she met someone very interesting," Eda explained as they walked further into the mines. "A beat-up blond with no magical powers. She called him and these are her words, "A bad but sad boy," She snorted as she finished and chuckled. Hunter cheeks and ears turned red, blushing, embarrassed.

"If I ever see that human again," He muttered.

"Hey, watch it!" Amity warned him as she narrow her eyes.

"At least I'm not delusional to think that I can turn into a harpy!" Hunter retorted. Eda turned around and hissed.

"Hey, come on, give it a rest, you two!" King said, although he looked amused at the fight between.

"Yeah, listen to your rat," Hunter replied.

"Whee!" King screeched angrily and jumped off of Eda, pulling on Hunter's hair.

Suddenly, Amity shushed them telling to be quiet. She motioned them to take cover and they did. Everyone saw Kikimora, along with two abomatons and two coven scouts had made their way into the mines, too.

"Why are we stopping?" Kikimora demanded. "Is it the golden guard?!"

"No, ma'am, this is a dangerous area," the captain told her. "We need to move carefully."

"Careful takes too long! My butt is on line!" Kikimora shouted. "And so help me Titan, if you ruin this, I will throw you off of the peak of the tallest knee with a smile!"

"She definitely has issues," Azara cringed.

"That poor girl is going through something," Eda commented.

"She's also blocking the path to Eclipse Lake," Amity added and pointed ahead.

"We should create a distraction," Hunter replied.

"We should create a distraction!" Eda shouted. "You kids wait for my signal!" She and king jumped over the edge, getting into place to create a plan.

"Ha, that was easy! When they're caught, you two and I can take the Titan blood for ourselves," Hunter said as he leaned against an old mining machine.

"Stop talking like we're a team!" Amity shouted.

"Why not just quit the emperor's coven and come with us?" Azara asked. Hunter's and Amity's eyes widened in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" Amity asked in disbelief. Hunter chuckled and sneered.

"That's an attempting offer, but no thanks," he replied.

"Better than being miserable." Azara commented.

"I never said anything about being miserable," Hunter frowned, looking away from her.

"But you are, aren't you?" Azara asked. "Why can't you just admit that you need help?"

"I..Don't..Need..Help," Hunter replied, coldly, as he narrowed his eyes at Azara. She sighed.

"Everyone needs help every once in awhile," Azara told him. Amity stared at the two in silence with a disbelief look on her face.

"This is crazy," Amity said, shaking her head. "I am not working with the emperor's coven just because you two have a crush on each other."

"WE DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON EACH OTHER!" Hunter and Azara yelled at the same time. The two blinked and looked at each other.

"But we might as well work together," Hunter replied. "The owl lady and her pet have nothing at stake unlike us."

"You have no idea what you're talking-" Amity's tomagatchi bleeped in her coat pocket, interrupting her. "I was going to say, you have no-" It bleeped again. Hunter and Azara stared at her, blinking and raised their eyes staring into the witch's pocket. Amity huffed and turned around, her back facing them, and pulled out the device. Azara walked closer peeking over Amity's shoulder. She saw strange emojis on the screen but couldn't understand them. She was never really any good with that kind of stuff, it was from confusing.

"Oof, that doesn't look good," Hunter replied reading over Amity's shoulder. Amity jumped as she saw Hunter and and Azara behind her. She glared at Hunter.

"Stay back!" She demanded. He stepped away as she wanted. Amity frowned, wondering what he had meant. "But, what doesn't look good?"

"Seems clear to me, come back with results or else....you can figure out the rest," he told her.

"That doesn't sound right," Azara replied. "That doesn't sound like something Luz would do."

"No, Luz wouldn't make that kind of threat." Amity agreed, shaking her head. "I'm an awesome girlfriend!"

"Has she told you that?" Hunter asked. "We have a lot in common, Blight. We both trying to show what we can bring to the table. And we can't fail cause there's nothing worse than disappointing someone who thinks you are special." he finished. Azara stared at him, silently.

Amity bit her lip and looked down, with an uncertain look on her face.

Suddenly, a blast of purple magic bounced near Kikimora and the scouts. The abomatons deployed a shield to protect them.

"Why didn't you wait for our signal?!" Eda called out as she and King, ran to catch up with Hunter, Amity and Azara, heading straight into the tunnel ahead of them to Eclipse Lake.

"We don't have time to play around! We are getting that titan blood!" Amity shouted.

As they ran, Amity's tomagachi had fallen out from her pocket and landed on the ground. Kikimora spotted it and picked it up, inspecting the device with a crazed look in her eyes.

AS the group walked down the tunnel, the cardinal palisman had been following them the entire time, unnoticed by them. Lil rascal landed on Hunter's shoulder and made a small chirp.

"Hey, find a different perch, bird," Hunter replied, shrugging his shoulder. Lil rascal flew off of him. At the end of the tunnel, everyone walked out to see some strange dried up crystallized dark blue liquid surrounding all over the room.

"Is this titan's blood?" Eda asked.

"But, Eclipse Lake is farther ahead," Amity said, confused, checking the map again.

"Who cares!? We did it!" King shouted. Eda and King began to approach it.

"STOP!" Hunter shouted. "That's fools blood. Don't touch it!"

"Oh, so you can keep it all for yourself?" Eda smirked. "Pfft! Hard pass!" She slammed the end of her staff into the crystal. It cracked and suddenly the ground began to shake beneath them, before ripping open giving away under their feet. Eda and King fell into the huge chasm below.

"No!" Amity and Azara cried out. Amity was about to hop onto her staff to go after them but Hunter stopped her.

"Wait! Take me with you!" he shouted.

"Yoo hoo! Golden guard!" The three heard Kikimora call out, getting closer to them.

"Can you at least untie me so I can escape?!" Hunter insisted. "Please, I don't want to be replaced."

"Fine!" Amity groaned. She waved her finger and released the goo from Hunter, freeing him. Hunter stretched his arm as she glanced behind her, seeing the shadows getting closer. "So, where will you go now?"

"Now..." Hunter sweeped his leg and knocked Amity and Azara off of their feet, knocking to the ground. He ran and hopped into a mine cart and wheeled off. "I get to Eclipse Lake before anyone! BYEEEE!"

"That little-!" Azara growled as she got up.

"That jerk!" Amity shouted, angry as well. Just as the two were about to get up, a spear pointed at their faces. The two girls froze as they saw Kikimora and the coven scouts in front of them.

"Would you look at this, captain?" Kikimora said "We find our little fire starter." Then she noticed Azara, and glared at her. "YOU! You will pay for blinding me!"

"Well, you shouldn't have walked so blindly to my trap," Azara scoffed. "Some coven scout leader you are."

"Silence!" Kikimora shrieked angrily. The abomatons aimed their cannons at Azara, ready to fire. Azara's widened and she gulped. She stared at the end of the cannon, glaring up at Kikimora. "But, after a deal with another little pest. Then I'll deal with YOU!" The abomatons lowered their arms. Azara felt a sudden relief rush over her as they did.

"So, the golden guard is also looking for titan's blood and he took off to Eclipse Lake," Kikimora said. "I knew it! That little snake is always making me look bad. Well, now I can get my revenge!"

"Ma'am, what about the Titan blood?" The captain asked.

"Oh, yes, I'll get that too," Kikimora replied. "This is going to be a good day!"

"What should we do with these two?" The captain asked.

"Oh, I don't care," Kikimora replied. The two abomatons transformed into carts and she rode in one, as well as the other scouts as they went after Hunter. The captain aimed her spear at Amity and Azara.

"So, did you come with anyone else or...Ugh! This is boring!" she picked up Amity and tossed her into the cavern.

"Amity!" Azara cried out. She felt the captain push her as well as she kicked Azara into the hole. Amity and Azara screamed as they fell down into the dark depths. Suddenly, several hands grabbed the two girls, catching them. Eda and King pulled them up as they hang on tightly onto Owlbert. Amity quickly grabbed onto the tomagachi, catching it, just before it fell as well.

"Guys, you're okay!" Amity said in relief.

"Just barely," Era told her. "Owlbert's knocked out so we can't fly."

"I'm just like throwing it out there, but, this would be a great time to bring out harpy Eda!" King said.

"I don't know how! I tried yelling at it, scaring it-" Everyone gasped as they saw Owlbert was starting to crack.

"Did you ever think about talking to it?" King asked.

"Ha! I-I guess I didn't, but it's a wild animal," Eda said unsure.

"You thought I was a wild animal, once," King commented.

"Okay, I'll try. Just give me a second," Eda agreed. "What?! You want to make a deal? I-I don't know if I can." Owl was beginning to crack more as a large crack appeared on it's head. "Okay, okay, I'll do it! Just change NOW!" Her eyes turned black and golden irises appeared.

"Haha! Yes!" Eda cheered as she flew out of the pit in her Harpy form, carrying Amity, King, and Azara.

"What did you promise to do?" Azara asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Eda told her.

"I can't wait to see a real life mine cart chase!" King exclaimed, excitedly.

As they reached the end of the mine tunnel, everyone had saw that Kikimora and the other scouts had gone off the rails and crashed.

"Ooh..." Everyone cringed.

"I guess mine cart chases are a lot more dangerous than videogames make them seem." King commented.

"There it is!" Amity pointed out.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Eda as she was caught by an abomaton. The captain of the coven scouts got up.

"I don't know who you freaks are, but that blood belongs to Kikimora!" she yelled. The abomaton slammed Eda to the ground with the others.

"Get to the lake!" Eda shouted, telling them to go on. "I'll take care of-" The abomaton pulled Eda away from them and slammed her into the wall.

"Eda!" King cried out in worry. Azara grabbed him and ran after Amity. The captain of the scouts threw a spear at them but Eda caught it and snapped it with her hand, breaking it in half. She turned to the captain and smirked.

"Alright owl beast, let's see what we can do!" Eda flew up high into the air and began spinning around as she corkscrew straight towards the captain.

Azara caught up to Amity and looked ahead to see a large crater of what appeared to be a pool in front of her. However, it was dried up and there was no Titan's blood. The trees that surround the pit were dried up as well as roots extended all over the area. She froze as she saw Hunter, desperately digging in the dirt.

"Don't worry, I won't pick a fight," He told them. "There's no titan blood."

"Then why are you digging?" Amity asked. Azara eyes widened as she saw Hunter turned around. His eyes looked a little off and a little crazed. Great, she was dealing with a crazy person. This guy was literally digging his own grave.

"It's simple really. Belos needs Titan's blood, to make a new portal key. Can't get to the human realm without it," Hunter explained.

"There's blood in the key?" Amity questioned. Azara's eyes widened in surprise. This trip had been for nothing! The key had Titan's blood all along...and it was the one thing that Emperor Belos needed. It can't fall into his hands!

She frowned, staring at Hunter, concerned.

"Since, I failed my last mission, I thought "Hey! A chance to make up for it!" But, I can't go back empty handed!" Hunter let out a hysterical laugh. "Not again. Long story short, this is my grave! Do you want me to make you one, too?"

"This is really bumming me out," King replied.

"That's just life, rat. Everyone has a use and if you don't-Pfft! Bye-bye! Your friend gets it!" Hunter said.

"What's he talking about?" King asked confused.

"Luz has been sending me these strange human codes. I don't understand all of them, but this one seems pretty clear," Amity explained and showed King the emojis. "Come back with results or we're done." King frowned until he saw something strange about the emoji's. He turned the device sideways and the emojis appeared to spell out words. Amity's eyes widened surprise.

"U ARE RAD," She read. "FOOLS BLOOD BAD. U OKAY. COME HOME."

Amity laughed and smiled overjoyed and happy. "Of course! This is Luz we're talking about!"

Suddenly, the three heard frantic chirping and turned their heads back to see Lil rascal trying to pull Hunter out of the hole that he had dug. He swatted the bird away from him.

"Hey, go find a better witch to be with!" He groaned, falling back into the dirt face first and shoveled some more on top of his head.

"We need to help him," Azara told King and Amity. King frowned.

"I don't think that he's your type," he replied. Azara blushed a little.

"I don't care, we still got to try and help him," she insisted. "You told me how your parents treated you. You and him have the same experiences, maybe you can get through to him." Amity nodded, understanding. She knew how he felt. This was a chance to help him. Amity and Azara walked over as they approached Hunter. Amity bent down to Hunter and Lil Rascal landed on her shoulder.

"You know, you were right. We do have a lot in common. I grew up thinking that everything was an opportunity to justify existing. But, there are people out there who won't make you feel worthless. You just got to let yourself meet them." Amity smiled and held her hand out to him.

Hunter opened his eyes and looked up at her then turned his attention towards Azara. He saw that her eyes were pleading at him to take it.

"We want to help you Hunter," she told him softly. "Come with us."

Hunter's felt his chest began to grow warm as he heart began to beat faster at the sound of her voice. It relax him, made him feel safe. Just as Hunter was about to get up, something shined in Hunter's eyes. He gasped a little and his eyes widen as he slowly got up.

"What are you?" Amity questioned before glancing down to where Hunter was looking at. The key!

Hunter lunged at her, and Amity quickly rolled out of the way. He quickly turned back towards her, with a desperate look in his eyes.

"Oh, come on!" Amity complained. "Being nice usually works for Luz!"

"Hunter, please don't do this!" Azara cried out. But, Hunter ignored her and ran towards Amity. King quickly jumped in front of her.

"Weh!" King shouted unleashing a sonic wave.

Hunter's eyes widened as it came closer. Lil rascal quickly jumped in front of him, reflecting the blast. Hunter grabbed the staff but Amity shot out some abomination too at him, wrapping around Hunter's body. Hunter struggled to get it off when suddenly he teleported out of the binding then started to teleport uncontrollably a little unleashing a yellow burst of energy.

"The staffs are weird," Hunter frowned looking at the staff. Hunter teleported again as Amity shot an abomination goo at him again to catch him. Now high in the air, Hunter aimed the staff down at them and unleashed several burst of yellow magic, and it began to bounce wildly all over the room. Azara quickly made a ice pillar as she made a spell circle with her finger just before a ball of magic hit her.

Hunter teleported next to Amity and she tried to block his attacks as he teleported wildly around her, trying to break through her shield. As he stopped in front of her, King tried to jump at him and knocked Hunter to the ground. Amity created a giant bubble with the goo encasing Hunter inside of it. She quickly got on her staff and grabbed King, heading towards Azara.

"We are leaving!" she shouted, getting ready to grab her. Azara shook her head.

"Not without Hunter!" she shouted.

"We HAVE to go! NOW!" Amity urged her, grabbing her hand. "Forget him!"

"No!" Azara argued, pulling back. "I won't turn my back on people who need my help!" Amity's eyes widened in shock.

Suddenly, the abomination cage exploded and a giant hand made out of earth smacked right into Amity, knocking her off of her staff.

"Amity!" Azara cried out trying to reach her but Hunter sent another ball of magic at her, stopping Azara in her tracks. King had managed to land safely but his horns were embedded deep in some tree's roots. Amity used her goo to make a slide and slide down to the ground landing on her feet. Then Hunter quickly appeared beside her. Amity's eyes widened.

"You really want to help then gimme that key!" Hunter shouted. He used the staff to rip the necklace off of Amity's neck and Amity quickly caught it before he could get it. She quickly made a sharp weapon and aimed it directly under Hunter's neck as he pinned her hand with his staff, glaring up at him. Hunter panted completely tired and exhausted and sweat dropping from his face.

"Listen your strong and I'm tired. If this continues, you'll probably escape. But here's the thing: we know where to find you and your human." Amity gasped. "So just, hand over the key."

"Fine," Amity said. "Just stay away from Luz." She let go of the key and Hunter took it from her.

"I appreciate it," He told her. "I, uh, mean that, too." Just before he was about to take off with Lil rascal, Azara stopped him. She stepped in front of Amity, clasping her hands together.

"Hunter, wait. Just think for a a minute," She tried to reason with him. "You don't want to do this. You know that this is not right. I know that your not happy there. You know that your not happy there. So, come with us..."

Hunter turned and stared at her for a minute, silently.

"Can you really turn your back on your own family?" Hunter asked. Azara's eyes widened. Hunter took off flying away with Lil rascal.

"Hunter! Stop!" She cried out. But, he was already gone.

"HaHa! Yes! I heard fighting!" Eda smiled as she flew in. "I'm ready to go! Where's the nerd?" She stopped when she saw everyone.

"Weeh!" King whined as he tried to pull his horns out from the tree root that he was still stuck upside down on. Amity looked like she had made the worst decision in her life. Azara was still standing where she was, frozen. Tears were slowly beginning to fall from her eyes as they run down her cheeks.

"Oh, dang it." Eda sighed.

Back at the owl house, in Luz's room, Luz gasped and suddenly shot up with a surprised look on her face. "Huh?! I feel great!" Luz exclaimed before she realized that she had mushrooms growing on her head. "I wonder if this is permanent?"

"I got to find everyone!" She yelled. She quickly got up, the mushrooms fell off from her head as she did, and she quickly ran into the hall. Luz bumped into Willow who was carrying to bowl of soup, knocking it out of her hands, along with Gus. Hooty caught it with his head. "Have the others returned?"

"Ow, ow ,ow! Just get an elixir!" Luz gasped as she heard Eda shout and ran into the living room . She saw King and Azara trying to pull on her wing go get her inside, but she was stuck at the door. "I got into harpy mode and now I can't get out."

"She also ate like nine voles on the way home?" King added.

"Hey, I had to keep up my end of the bargain," Eda said.

"Amity!" Luz ran over to her, knocking her down, and hugged her tightly. She smiled. "I'm so glad my awesome girlfriend is okay!"

"Me, too!" Amity smiled back.

"No king hug? What is this?!" King complained. "You are a swindler and a thief!"

"Come here, buddy!" Luz rushed towards him and swooped King up in her arms hugging him.

"I regret this!" King shouted. Eda leaned in closer to Amity.

"You want to break the news or should I?" she asked.

"News?" Amity asked, confused.

"The empty lake, the golden guard, losing the portal key?" Eda told her. "Today was an disaster."

"Actually, we might be okay." Amity said, as she showed Eda the Titan's blood that was stained on her glove.

"How did you get the Titan's blood?" Azara asked, surprised.

"I broke the key." Amity told her.

Nighttime was beginning to fall, and stars were shining in the sky. Hunter stared at the key in his hand as he held it in front of him. He had an unsure and confused look on his face. He felt terrible and guilty about taking the key. Then Lil rascal landed on his hand and happily chirped at him.

"Oh, hey. You stuck with me the whole time, huh, bird?" Hunter asked. Lil rascal made another happy chirp.

Orion.

Hunter's eyes widened in surprise. He had understood what Lil rascal had said! He can understand him!

"I think I understood that!" He smiled. "Is that your name? Can you say it again?"

My name is Orion, Hunter.

"Weird." Hunter chuckled. He thought it was a funny name to name a bird after a star constellation. But, it did seem to suit him. Hunter's life had been brighter since the little bird came into his life, even leading him to Azara. Hunter's eyes widen as her name came into his mind.

It didn't matter. She must hate him now. He quickly shook it off and looked back at Lil rascal.

"Can you say other things?"

Hunter continued on ahead, heading to the castle, as Lil rascal continued to chirp talking to him.

[whisperingrockers]

would u. i dunno. perhaps articulate some thots on toh infinity train au 😳 if u can

HM. i will do my best. but...i dont really know how to organize my thoughts.  i guess i should probably just start with the characters and go from there, huh. also in this particular au these characters don’t actually take the place of tulip, lake, jesse, grace, etc- i think they’re all just there under different circumstances. 

Luz

okay so we’ll start with Luz because. she’s the main character, y’know. very important. i think the catalyst that brings her to the train is her mother signing her up for Reality Check summer camp because as a creative it’s just! disheartening to have someone you love tell you that you’re not going to make it in this world if you don’t conform to what everyone else wants. so of course when a huge mysterious locomotive suddenly pulls up to the bus stop you KNOW luz gets on, no hesitation. after all, isn’t that something right out of a sci-fi adventure novel? 

unlike tulip, luz is THRILLED to find herself on some unknowable train where each car is a new adventure just waiting to happen, where there are always new friends to make, new places to see, and tons of puzzles to solve? she’s made to feel like the protagonist right out one of her fave animes. 

also, really important to note that her number is probably tied to how she relates to the other passengers on the train. i feel like there’s an overarching theme in the show about how luz is going through a lot of firsts when it comes to interpersonal relationships, especially friendships, so i wanted to keep that going in this au- i imagine her number goes up when she finds her friends tapes and convinces them to watch with her because this is obviously the easiest and most straightforward way to get to know them! (luz poppin that bad boy into a vcr player: this mama is ready for trauma!) 

realized how wordy this is going to be LOL

Eda

hough so this is a human au also (i assume? infinity train world really do be existing in some limbo state of reality where your reflection can just up and ditch you). i see her as a jack of all trades, master of none type, with a lean towards perfumes and handmade soaps that she sells at fairs or farmers markets and also pickpocketing. i think she sees something that reminds her of the life she used to have/would have had before lilith [redacted because i do not know what she DID yet but on GOD we will have canon continuity] and that drives her to get on the next train headed anywhere.

her number is tied to how much she allows herself to open up; the more she uses her salesman cover to keep others at arms length, the higher her number goes, which is why it’s so important for her to team up with King and Luz; they help her open up and be more honest with herself.  

King

king is actually a denizen of the train in this au; i love him too much to turn him into a real ass dog, so i wont. eda meets him in a car full of plush toys, which he refers to lovingly as his army of the damned. i almost want to hold off on writing up any more for him because i know there’s more to king’s character than meets the eye. still torn between eda trying to bring him off the train with her or having him realize that the whole TRAIN is HIS KINGDOM, and all its passengers loyal peons who need their mighty rulers HELP, for without him they would PERISH.

for now though eda sees him and is immediately like get over here (reaching emoji) 

Willow 

willow is a tough one for me because in all honesty having your longtime friend tell you out of the blue that they can’t be friends with you anymore would be enough to send me packing to the train, but with willow i think it’s less about amity and more about how the fallout between them affects her social and academic success. the frustration reaches a tipping point that has her running out of the classroom and finding the train. 

and yes, willow is a very sensible, bright girl, but she was also SO ready to trick the principle and steal from the emperor for her friend so i don’t think getting on a mystery train is wholly out of the question for her, y’know? 

There’s a lot about repression in the way willow deals with things generally, so her number is tied to passivity. the more she allows others to infringe on her personal boundaries to keep them placated, the higher her number goes. when she stands up for herself to others (sometimes even her friends!) the number goes up. willow x agency and clear limitations is my otp

Gus

gus was actually a SUPER easy one for me we know so much about him from the episodes he’s been in; he’s an overachiever, he’s passionate about what he loves, he’s a natural showman, and he is constantly pushing himself to be the best that he can be, all the time. the hustle doesn’t STOP for gus, and i...i...(tears up) 

anyways, i think the thing that draws him to the train is getting suddenly ousted from the club he formed at school. he’s young, and having everyone you had assumed were your friends turn their back on you and throw you out of the space that you CREATED FOR THEM would be shocking to anyone, but it broke gus’ heart clean in two. after he’d picked his bag and himself up off the hallway floor, he’d left the building in a daze, not even realizing as he boarded the train door that had suddenly opened up in front of him until it was too late. 

i’m actually going to go so far as to say that gus would likely be the one MOST interested in the truth of the train- he’d be asking the tough questions, like what is the purpose of the train? who made it and its technology? where does it exist that it can be both at his school and also speeding across a barren desert landscape at the same time? How does it create sentient lifeforms? the train helps him discover a new passion; journalism. he finds a journal that speaks to him as a friend and advisor in one of the trains, and he takes careful note of everything that happens to and around him. by the time he meets up with willow, he’s got so many ideas and theories that the other girl would have never thought to consider until that very moment. 

idk what his number relates to because he’s perfect the way he is but if i had to take a shot in the dark it probably has something to do with finding somewhere he feels he can belong, as well as being able to mourn and let go of the people he’d considered his friends before he’d gotten on the train. 

sorry this is so long i just have a lot of . gus feelings. 

Amity ( + Edric + Emira )

lumping these whites together 

okay so nobody wants to hear me talk about blight angst there are 800 posts about blight angst, so long story short the three siblings run away, get into an argument with each other, amity ditches them for the train while they’re asleep, and the twins panic and chase after her, determined to find her because in the end they’re all they’ve got. 

‘next stop: amity blight’ 

i think it’d be a cool journey to see the three of them going from ‘we need to be together out of necessity’ to ‘we need to be together because we love each other, and that genuine support structure will pull us through when everything else fails.’ but in order for that to happen they all have to have their own journey, so at some point edric and emira finally get into a spat and that’s enough to get edric and emira stuck on opposite ends of a retracting bridge. send that mans to the BACK of the train. 

emira: my greatest fear is being stuck with edric forever emira: (gets separated from edric)  emira: haha wait please say psyche

amity’s number is definitely tied to her fear of failure, of not being enough for the people she holds closest to her- in this case her siblings, and then lilith, and then luz when they finally meet. when she acts without concern for what the people around her think and when she sticks up for what she knows is right, even when the majority is against her, her number goes down. 

for ed and em im...i don’t want to think about their feelings because they’re supposed to be clowns but i am forced to consider that they may be jealous of their sisters independence. also separating them means they both have to take responsibility for all their own actions and choices, which is probably pretty new for the twins. 

Lilith 

im out of energy actually znzzzsnsz uh. estranged sister who sees something that reminds her of the relationship she used to have and she’s not actually as over it as she thought so the train....she..hghrg

[lizacstuff]

Hi! Your thoughts on the epi? How emotional was the ending? I also loved that the stories came full circle (Apollo and the little prince). With how much they were discussing the strawberry allergy, I knew it was a matter of time before an allergic reaction emergency would occur. Serkan is not perfect but honestly who's parents are? I'm glad he got the reassurance he needed from both Eda and Kiraz. I'm also glad the truth about Aydan and Kemal's five year relationship is out to Serkan.

My apologies in taking so long to answer this, but LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. For me, this was a very gentle, but very enjoyable episode of television. I think you'd have to go back to season one episodes 4,5,6 to find three episodes in a row that were as good as 43, 44, 45 (coincidentally episode 4,5,6 of the 2nd season). How delightful that cliffhangers in season 2 are emotional plot points for our dynamic duo, instead of the nonsense like falling off of boats or getting caught by a gunman while playing detective, or non-stop, third-party psycho trauma like we endured during 29-38.

The ending was very emotional! As you say, it was always a matter of time before the strawberry allergy played a role, they've mentioned it too many times this season for it not too. Here it played two roles, first putting Kiraz's life in danger thus cementing their burgeoning family unit AND being the genetic tie between three previously hidden generations. Potent stuff.

I was thrilled by all the domestic Edser in this episode. Outdoors, kitchen, living room, bedroom, kid's room, we got it all! I just loved the family time, and the sexual tension and the way they grew closer throughout the episode. I saw some criticism that they made no progress in this episode, but I disagree with that. Just because they didn't make out or have sex, doesn't mean they didn't progress. In this episode they went from being on opposite sides of a custody battle to agreeing to buy a car together, travel together, work together, not to mention having a romantic dinner together.

So buckets of progress was made, however, more on that later, first the supporting characters...

(more under the cut)

What a relief to have both Eda and Serkan treating Aydan and Ayfer as the meddling interlopers they are! Serkan wordless, furious glares were delicious, seriously I don't know how AA had the courage to stay in the house with him looking at them like that, he couldn't have been less welcoming. And Eda actually questioning her aunt about why she was there was a surprise. Of course Ayfer continues to be super punchable. I really, really wanted to hit her right in the face when she gloated over Kiraz calling him Serkan Bolat. Seriously, bitch? You know that's your grandniece, right? And you know that she must have some issues about her dad being absent from her life (which you are partially responsible for) so the fact that you're gloating that a man who was prevented from knowing he had a daughter (again, partially your fault) and a girl who was prevented from having a father (again, you bear some blame) have an emotional barrier in their relationship is beyond shitty. What happened to her personally that made her such a cynical asshole?

Aydan on the other hand is still annoying but she has her own problems, lmao. I'm dying because early in the day the episode aired, I said to both @echoapothecary and @melly326 that it was a shame that the show had decided to waste the potential of Sinan's resemblance to Kerem. I have been hoping they would do the Serkan father storyline since the moment the character was introduced, but the day I give up hope for it is the day it happens! I legit had no expectations that there was even a chance it could still happen.

Personally I'm excited, It's nice that the writers gave Aydan some cover, she didn't lie, she simply didn't remember they had hot baby-making sex back when she was having problems with Alptekin. Imagine what might have happened had she remembered at the time. If Aydan had come clean and left Alptekin, Serkan never would have been sent away, Aydan would have had the support she needed when Alp died and Serkan would have grown up loved. I hope Alptekin suspected the truth, because it would go a long way in explaining why he was such a shit-stain to Serkan his whole life.

It was obvious what direction the story was going from the conversation between Kemal and Aydan when he told her they'd "you know'd" that night, but I still let out a squeal when he revealed his strawberry allergy. Three generations of aversion to frangeria. Google tells me that severe strawberry allergy is rare so this really is an obvious flag they've been waving in front of everyone.

The story also dovetails nicely with Serkan's own journey with surprise fatherhood. We know he hasn't taken to Kemal, has been suspicious of him, however hopefully his own experience being kept out of his daughter's life will make him sympathetic to his newly found father.

Engin and Piril... were there. I can't tell you how much I don't care about Engin's out-of-the blue catering business, or Piril's suspicions. However, I did enjoy the 3 way family phone call, once again Can comes through with the right bit of info for Kiraz, he's definitely the most useful member of that family.

Pina and Kerem were also... in the episode. I did giggle when Asst Kerem admitted he was stunned into silence by Serkan's charisma. Tell me about it.

As for Melo, she stole the show among the supporting characters. Her heartbreak was palpable, but WHYYYYYYY did she have to fall for such a no-personality sad sack? Seriously, even drunk that guy is boring. Also why is he lurking outside Eda's house like a creeper, staring in windows? What does it take to get through to him? Serkan and Eda are following a court order and living together, they are in the process of making their first lunch together, you, sir, are not needed at their home for their first meal as a family. GIVE THEM SOME SPACE!

I really don't get what Melo sees in him. However her crush gave us the funny scenes with the mug turning red and also the heartfelt friendship scene with Eda. It's about time Eda is shown taking an interest in her life, it was really lovely how Melo got over the awkwardness of telling her and Eda was supportive and kind. Also hopefully it made Eda aware of the problems associated with not drawing hard boundaries for someone she knows has feelings for her. Draw the boundary, Eda.

As for Eda, she was a bit softer this episode, you could see Serkan getting to her. One of my favorite things about the episode was how Serkan was subtly planning their life together as a family, and Eda being swept away with the tide and going along with it. (gif set here) Family car? check. Family trip to Italy? Check. Sharing an office and working together at Art Life again? Check. Answering questions and giving preferences about one specific house Serkan is designing? Check.

This is significant because no matter that Eda still (understandably) needs time to forgive Serkan and to trust him with her (and Kiraz's) heart again, deep down she knows it's inevitable. She knows they're inevitable. There's no reason to seriously fight the inroads he's making into their life, because she knows he's going to succeed. In the deep recesses of her mind, she knows she's going to forgive him, and that they're going to be together, not just as co-parents to Kiraz, but as a very much in-love couple. However, she still needs a little time to get there. And that's okay. You don't erase five years of loneliness and heartbreak in a few days, nor should you try to. There's no reason for her to rush to let him back in her bed or into her heart, there's time for her to heal and for him to prove she can trust that he won't leave her again, even for noble reasons.

The bet was a clever way to extend their time living together. And I liked the detail that she was secretly so pleased to have him there, and still so attracted to him, but she knew she couldn't let him know because then it would be game over. He'd settle in and never leave. Not that I think she wants him to leave, she doesn't and that's what scares her. She clearly wants him, and wants him there, she got melty every time she looked at him with Kiraz, but she can hardly be blamed for needing to take it slow. That being said, while putting Kiraz to bed, I loved how Eda's plan to put Serkan on the hot seat completely backfired on her. Hee hee. She decided to tell Kiraz that they're being honest and to ask whatever she wants (that could have gone really wrong, by the way, if she asked if Daddy had really been in space) but daddy's-girl Kiraz immediately turns it back on Eda and wants to know if she loves Serkan Bolat and then sets them up in the same room. Good girl, Kiraz!

I immensely enjoyed the tension of Eda and Serkan sharing a room and sparring about which side they have to sleep on and OF COURSE they can only sleep facing one another. And OF COURSE Serkan migrated to the bed in the middle of the night. Funny how these two keep waking up all wrapped up in one another, almost like... they not only gravitate to one another, they also calm and comfort one another.

Once again, every scene between Edser and Kiraz was gold. I can't say enough how tiresome I usually find children on screen, but here I'm just delighted by her precociousness. Even her making a giant mess in the kitchen was endearing. As I said, I loved how much domestic Edser we got this episode. Them running around the kitchen with their daughter, having a flour fight? Pure delight. And I swear Maya Basol looks more like a mixture of Hande and Kerem than their own child would. It's simply uncanny.

Beyond their domestic scenes, it was lovely to see them both just falling back into a spot where their lives were intertwined. Loved Serkan driving her to work at the hotel, and then driving her home again when she quit. Not to mention how supportive he was, I'm not sure how she didn't either jump him right then and there or start crying in relief, when he was telling her she has the talent to be doing bigger more prestigious jobs and now that he was here to help she could do it. Eda's had support in raising Kiraz from Ayfer and Melo, but they really don't understand her career. Serkan understands. He is the life partner she's been missing.

Eda and Serkan seem to be on the same page as far as their families interference, being annoyed at both Ayfer and Aydan, I'm glad to see neither trying to defend mother/aunt to the other. Eda also seemed annoyed by Serkan moving his office to her house for the day, and she made several inferences, as she's been doing, about him putting work first. This is completely understandable, IMO. He left her on their wedding day for work, and he used "work is the most important thing to me" as the reason both times he broke her heart. Yes, after the fact, she found out that there were other, much bigger reasons and work was just the excuse, however that doesn't erase her deep-seated, pavlovian-like response she has to him seeming to prioritize work. She lived five years, raising their child alone, thinking he loved work more than her. It's completely natural that she's holding onto that for a bit. And it's okay if he needs to prove to her that he can prioritize her and Kiraz over work before she lets it go completely. I get it.

As I said, I enjoyed Serkan trying to trap her with the mood mug, that's the kind of gentle friction and comedy I'm here for. Of course he does catch her later on the phone admitting that she loves that he's there and it's game, set, match. For Serkan. I think we're all glad he won that bet. However, him removing his bed on the floor was a bold move and he pretty much deserved her locking him out after he did it. I read a lot ridiculous discourse on this, and my response is: you're taking this show too seriously again. This is a romcom move, it was done for comedy, and I promise you Serkan is able to fend for himself. If he didn't want to be kicked out, he shouldn't have tried to force his way into her bed again. Waaaaay presumptuous, man.

Buuuuut... how did Serkan get off the balcony? I don't know, but as I said he can fend for himself. Dude probably spent the night on the living room couch. Serkan's sneezing was cute, but being cold doesn't give you a cold. Maybe it's an allergy from too much time outdoors, lol. LOVED Serkan smoothly convincing Eda to come back to the office. If he'd approached that directly, it might have been a weeks long endeavor to get her to make ArtLife her office, but Serkan building the play school was genius! He never wastes time, that guy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but this was impressive.

It warmed my heart how they fell so easily into working side by side. Casual conversations about what they were working on, and, you know, randomly deciding to go on a family trip to Italy with your estranged lover, as you do. Which all led to one of my favorite scenes... dinner! They got back to honest, open communication and it was lovely. Thankfully, Eda stopped letting him think she was running off to spend time with Burak and I adored Serkan coming clean and allowing himself to be vulnerable in admitting that he'd made the dinner for them and that he'd been upset when she didn't show. That's how you make progress. Just beautiful.

As for the "we need to all tell the truth" scene, that was silly, but if it gave us Aydan's secret being revealed I'm a-okay with it. About time! Buba was once again annoying and it was cathartic for Serkan to be able to tell him he doesn't like him. Same, Serkan. Seriously, can he and Ayfer fall in love and move to the country to run an Alpaca farm or something? The hospital scene was very poignant, I wrote more about it here. Now what I need is for Eda and Serkan to walk out of that hospital room and, out of relief, fall into the tightest hug. Crossing fingers!

[mrsgreenworld]

Okay, it's impossible to predict what the writers have planned and where they're going with this amnesia storyline. So this idea for an angsty one-shot, that just popped in my head, is pure speculation. It's also canon divergence since I am going to ignore Eda's fake engagement to Deniz that's apparently coming, based on the second fragman for episode 30.

Let's imagine it going this way: some time passes and Serkan starts getting to know Eda. There are some situations where they're forced to spend time together so Serkan gradually starts falling for Eda all over again + he keeps seeing the flashes. Then Serkan and Selin's engagement party takes place and Eda shows up in her yellow dress. Serkan is assaulted by the memories from their fake engagement party. But they scare the hell out of him and after the party he tells Selin they should get married as soon as possible. They decide to do it in a week but don't announce until a couple of days before the wedding. Feeling defeated, Eda transfers her shares to Serkan and asks Engin to give Serkan the envelope with the docs, saying it's her wedding present. On the wedding day, Eda packs her bags and goes to the airport to go to Italy. At the same time, during the wedding, Serkan gets all his memories back. He chases Eda who's on her way to the airport (hello, episode 12 parallel).

Declaimer: I don't own the show or any of its character. All of them belong to the SCK writers, the production company and FOX channel.

___________________________________________

It Shouldn't Be This Hard

Thank god Engin and Pırıl were at the wedding when it happened. They had made it a point that they didn't support his decision but they couldn't leave him completely alone, given that even his mother had refused to "take part in this farce" and watch him throw away his happiness and future.

So, when Serkan was suddenly assaulted by all of the memories, his mind on overdrive, head ready to explode, vision getting blurry, breaths becoming short, his friends were there to literally catch him, when his knees buckled.

"Abi? Are you okay, Abicim?" Serkan heard his best friend's worried voice that, however, sounded muffled and strangely far away.

Serkan felt two pairs of hands pulling him somewhere and then pushing him to sit down.

"Eda?... Where's Eda?" were the first words Serkan managed to utter.

"Eda? Abi, do you... do you remember?"

Serkan just nodded, the motion making him slightly sick.

"Oh, thank god!" Pırıl and Engin exclaimed at the same time.

"Abi..."

Something in Engin's voice made Serkan lift his head and he blinked, trying to focus on his friend's face. His vision was still blurry, so he was only able to see the outline of Engin's face.

"What is it? Where is she?"

"She's leaving, Abi. She's flying to Italy today".

"What? When?"

"I don't know exactly when her flight is. I think it's possible she hasn't left yet".

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! But you'll have to drive, I can barely see your face".

The rest happened in a blur: getting to Engin's car, driving to Eda's house, frantically banging on Eda's front door, only to have Melo open it and tell them that Eda had left about fifteen minutes ago. Deniz was driving her to the airport.

Serkan and Engin got in the car, in the hopes they could still catch up with Eda. While Engin's car was whooshing through the traffic on the road, leading to the airport, Serkan couldn't help but remember his mad chase after Eda's taxi all those months ago. He would get to her on time again. He would be able to stop her and convince her to stay.

"Look, Abi! I think that's Deniz's car! Yes, I recognise it! It's definitely his car!"

Serkan urged Engin to drive faster to catch up with the vehicle. Engin started honking to make Deniz notice them. Luckily, he did notice them and soon pulled over at the quay, much like the one where Serkan declared his love for the first time.

Engin barely stopped the car, when Serkan was already pulling the door open and jumping out. He basically ran to Deniz's auto. Once he reached it, Serkan pulled the passenger door open and practically fell to his knees in front of it, relieved.

"Eda!"

She was looking at him with wide eyes, confused.

"Serkan?..." she asked tentatively.

"Yeah... It's me... It's me, baby. I'm back" he whispered and reached out a hand to cup her face.

When Serkan's right palm came into contact with Eda's cheek, all breath left her and she closed her eyes. She didn't stay long like this, however. She pulled away and turned to Deniz. They exchanged a few words in hushed voices and then Eda was moving to climb out of the car. Serkan sprung to his feet and backed away.

Once Eda was out of the car, she looked over him, her eyes guarded.

"Is that really you?" she asked in a whisper.

Serkan started nodding frantically and took a step forward, closing the distance between them. He took her face in both of his hands and leaned his forehead into hers, just like on their wedding day. Only this time it wasn't a goodbye. It was a hello and welcome. It was them finally reunited after all this lost time.

Eda let out a half-laugh that was half-sob and her hands moved to cover his on the sides of her face. But the second she rested her hands on his, her whole body jerked and she practically jumped away from him, as if she had been burned. Serkan looked at her, confused, his hands holding onto the air now, instead of her face. She looked horrified and he followed her gaze to his left hand, only to see a ring. A wedding ring sitting firmly on his ring finger. Serkan felt his own eyes widen.

No-no-no... Not this, please... This couldn't have happened...

"Eda, please, let me..."

He wanted to take a step closer but she backed away from him until her back hit Deniz's car. Eda closed her eyes, drew a couple of calming breaths through her nose and opened her eyes again to meet Serkan's pleading gaze.

"I can't do this anymore, Serkan" she said quietly.

There was no heat, no anger, no hurt, no disappointment in her voice or on her face. Only this tiredness and utter... defeat.

"What do you mean? What can't you do?" Serkan asked dumbly, knowing very well what she'd meant.

"This" she said, motioning between them.

"It shouldn't be this hard. This love... Us... What we get are just moments, snippets of happiness that are followed by weeks and months of heartbreak and this excruciating pain. And it shouldn't be like this".

"It's not gonna be like this. It's never gonna be like this. That's it, that's the last obstacle we had to overcome and we did. Nothing is going to come between us ever again".

"Did we? Overcome this?"

"Of course we did. I remember everything! I am here!"

"You getting your memories back doesn't magically fix everything, Serkan. I need you to come back to me, as you".

"I am back!"

"I need you to come to me as my Serkan, not someone else's husband!"

Her words rang between them and stung him more than any slap across the face ever had.

"This means nothing. She means nothing... Look!"

Serkan pulled at the ring until it was off and then just sent it flying.

"You can throw this ring away all you want but it doesn't change the fact that you're married now. You married her. And as long as you're married to her, there won't be us".

"I will fix it, I swear! Just give me time. Please".

"You have all the time in the world" Eda said and turned to the car.

"Wait! What... what are you doing?"

Eda turned to face him again.

"I'm going to Italy, Serkan. And I'm already running late for my flight".

"What? No! You cannot go. Please, don't go. Not now, not like this!"

"I have already given up on my chance to go to Italy once, for you. I am not doing it again".

Serkan knew he had no right to ask her to stay and sacrifice her dreams for him yet again. So he just asked, resigned:

"How long are you going for?"

"A couple of months".

"Months???"

"Yes, I will prepare my thesis and final project there".

Serkan just nodded.

"So... What will happen to us?"

"I will finish my education and you will take this time to heal and deal with your wife, whichever way you see fit".

Serkan flinched upon hearing Eda refer to Selin as his "wife".

"Come to me, when you're ready, Serkan Bolat. When you're truly you".

With these final words to him, Eda climbed back into the car.

Serkan knew he had no choice but watch his Peri Kızı fly away from him this time.

[ladylillianrose]

Episode 15 Thoughts

I love the parallel convos. But oh god they make my heart break.

Engin needs to talk to Ceren asap.

"The problem is that I considered myself worthy of an angel like her." *sobs* But you are Serkan!

"Half of my soul is her" I'll just be over here crying forever now!!

This man I swear his selflessness because he loves her so much.

Oh god he's looking at her star!!

The look on his face as she's berating him, he's so in love with her and her passion and fire!!

"In life you cannot replace me with anyone" oh Eda he knows, he knows hon

Eda telling Aydan that "he broke me to pieces" while Aydan is crying and telling her she will move past this. *sobs*

Ooofff Eda that was harsh "ask yourself how you raised such an insensitive son who does not know how to love." Especially because he loves her so much!!!

Alptekin knows he deserves Serkan's scorn.

Moving out?!

He cant even bring himself to pack up her stuff.

Even the world?!!!

He cant bring himself to take off the ring. It's the only thing he has left of her.

Oh Eda trying so hard to distract herself and be chipper

"Hair and stubble in a mess" you say Seyfi? That sounds incredibly sexy, I'm okay with this.

Oh shit! It's not enough that her heart is broken but now she finds out about Ayfer's lies.

I really really don't trust Efe!!!

Too convenient that he shows up to "rescue her"

Engin protecting Serkan from everyone bothering him about Eda.

Efe offering her her dream job, and the opportunity to get under Serkan's skin

Serkan is so upset that not only is she working for Efe but that Eda's giving up studying in Italy.

Efe is way too conveniently playing the white knight to Serkan's unfeeling robot.

Of course we have Eda and Ferit vs Serkan and Selin on opposite sides.

Dammit Selin did you have to point out the ring!!

Yowch Selin talking about Serkan breaking women's hearts.

Serkan telling them to help Eda and Efe, because he wants Eda to have the better design

Ooo the guys walking towards the girls love this shot.

Lmao "did fifi start working here too?"

Also side note but damn is Serkan looking extra fine today in that vest!!

"Eda pretended not to see me?" Oh Serkan sweetie

Oooo Selin wants nothing to do with Ceren

Erdam trying Adam play it cool with Fifi

Oooo Eda wearing the ring again just to bother him.

Staring at Serkan's hands often there Eda?

"So no other woman distracts me from my work" lmao mmmhmm sure Serkan that's why you're wearing the ring

Serkan has to keep his hands in his pockets around her to keep from pulling her towards him

Alptekin ugghhhh you should have told Ayfer!!!!!!

You idiot!!

Smart Serkan knowing that Efe would offer to buy Ferit's shares.

Seyfi knowing how Serkan and Eda work lol. Knowing that them working together and fighting will just bring them together again.

Eda has to know from the way he watches her that everything is not what it seems.

Engin stepping on to ask where they are going since Serkan can't

Lmao "I don't want to talk to Erdam"

Serkan you are not the only one missing Leyla

Yes Ayfer take Efe, keep him away from Eda.

Mmmhmmm also from Mardin, with family there? Either a distant cousin or related to one of Grandma's friends

Uggghhh both of them working alone and totally thinking of each other!!! * sobs*

Face timing him just to see his face, oh Eda honey

Serkan hiding the flower because he cant look at it but he can't bring himself to get rid of it

Oh no you did not bring up Serkan breaking up with Eda, Efe. Forget Serkan fighting you, I'll fight you!!!!

Serkan can never say no to his mom.

Oooo yes Seyfi going to the office to spy on Eda and Serkan.

I'm on Serkan's side about not talking to Alptekin. They already didn't have a good relationship and this made it worse.

I feel for Aydan hurting because Serkan is going to move out, but he does need his own space. She didn't think he would marry and stay there the whole time?

I think he will move into that house that he was having Eda design ideas for.

The new picture will be just as marked up as the last was.

Eda making a plan for school yaaaassss!!!

"The woman saved me from my own cruelty, from my terrible condition" *sobs*

"Now I realized how much I need her." Just stab us in the heart why don't you!!

Serkan is totally picturing Efe's face on that punching bag.

Lmao Engin hitting him with the towel!

Good on Eda for getting the university to agree to a payment plan.

Ooo Serkan is jealous that Eda was willing to use Efes name and not his

Leyla and Seyfi as friends? Yaasss the duo we deserve!!!

Serkan watching Eda throw everything out! Ouch!!!

Someone go dig it all out!!!

Sirius!! Go get Mama's stuff from the trash!!

Engin just wanting to hug Piril

Serkan thinking she poured him coffee but its for Efe

Efe charming everyone even Aydan

Lmao at jealous Serkan sending Efe away. Oh honey you're so bad at staying away from her

"If you are not ready, you should not have accepted me into your life" Damn Eda!

Serkan is so proud of Eda and her presentation/work

Oh Serkan, throwing the presentation because he doesn't want Eda to lose!

And Eda knows he's throwing it too, because she remembers what he was saying in the car.

Engin us so terrible at hiding his relationship with Piril, lol Serkan's smirk.

Yaassss team camping trip!!

I'm glad that Ayfer and Eda made up, but

Yaaaasss Serkan coming to go camping! Casual clothes Serkan!!

"I only came because you are here" we all know exactly who that's directed too

Efe go away we want Eda vs Serkan

Leyla not wanting to pick a side lol

Oooo Selin has to ride with Efe

Lmao Serkan still calling her "Eda honey"

Lmao the look on Serkan's face knowing Eda wants to drive!

The teams should just agree to lock them in a closer until they solve their issues

I'm okay if Efe and Selin end up together, both are competitive enough for each other

Serkan back seat driving

Gorgeous view there!

"What if something happened to you?" Eda don't you get it, it's never about him its always about you!

Selin go away you just ruined things!

Serkan knows where Eda would go of course!

You end it there??????!!!!!!!

[grimelords]

My September playlist is here, 37 songs from opera to bossa nova to a song about marrying Tom Collins to thank him for the sips. I’m hopeful there’ll be at least one thing in here you’ll enjoy

Been Drinkin’ Water Out Of Hollow Log - Mississippi Fred McDowell: I love this song because every other version I’ve ever heard sings it as ‘I’ve been drinking muddy water, sleeping in a hollow log’, but straight up drinking out of the log sounds so much better. Also I just found out that this version I’ve loved for years was the original Alan Lomax recording and not a later one like I’d assumed, which is nice!

Tom Collins - The Sloppy Boys: I have not been able to get this song out of my head since I heard it. “I sent an edible arrangement to my travel agent because they had free booze on the carnival cruise” is a masterpiece of rhyme and the way he screams “hold him in my grips!” is just perfect.

What Means Of Witchery - Gospel: This is a perfect song. I think it’s criminal that Gospel aren’t more widely known and I think I’ve decided to make it my life mission to spread the word. The gospel of Gospel if you will. You don’t have to. I had a long daydream a little while ago about transcribing the drums in this song, which feels like an unresolved brain problem but exemplifies just how much I love it.

A Saint Among Madmen - Helen Of Troy: This is the band the drummer from Gospel was in before Gospel and they’re really really good. This sort of spoken word song is hard to pull off without sounding totally corny and I think him being so low in the mix really helps. It reminds me of some early At The Drive-In instrumental wise. The way it finally kicks off, and the sort of yelping desperate tone to the screams in the second half is just so satisfying.

shimripl casual - Autechre: Another cut I enjoyed from Autechre’s immense new album as I work on comprehending it. I like this song because it sounds like a field recording of a prototype mechanical swamp.

New Rules - Dua Lipa: This song feels like it deserves a marching band. There's just so much going on rhythmically, the dancehall rhythm at the centre of it is constantly augmented by all sorts of other percussion, the great snare work throughout, the perfectly formed tiny fill that introduces the chorus, it's just an absolute feast. I only found out the other day that the guy who produced this, Ian Kirkpatrick, also did Bad Liar - what a year for Ian!

My Girls - Tears For Fears: Hey Tears For Fears did a cover of My Girls by Animal Collective and this might be controversial but I think it's better than the original. It tightens up the structure and differentiates the sections a bit, so that it changes from a slow building jam into an odd pop song. They also draw out the harmonies more so that you really notice how funny it is to sing 'my father's graaave' over and over in a big bass under everything.

Crosses - Zero 7 and Jose Gonzales: Sia's career from before she was world-famous Sia is so interesting because she had like a full 15 years of being notable around the world in a bunch of different ways before it all coalesced into Big Sia. She was a backing vocalist in Jamiraquai's band for god's sake. She also was the de facto vocalist of this downtempo band Zero 7 for three albums, but she's not on this song but Jose Gonzales also sang on about half the songs on this album is! This is a remix/cover of his solo song Crosses but this version really shows the song in a whole different light to the original.

Napoleon Solo - At The Drive-In: Years ago in high school one of about 5 videos I had on my iPod was this version of Napoleon Solo from 2001 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nlfmqsx1r0 and I would watch it over and over and over. It's also a good example of why Cedric's lyrics are like they are. He just talks like that. He says things like 'they had the acme weight dropped on them' to describe his friends who died in a car crash and you just have to go along with it.

Act Three: No. 27 - A Real Slow Drag - Scott Joplin: Did you know Scott Joplin, the man behind everyone's favourite song The Entertainer, wrote TWO operas?? Because I didn't. One of them is unfairly lost to history but the other, Treemonisha, was written in 1911 but not properly performed until the Joplin renaissance in 1972. This is the big finale and it's partly because of the performance but partly because of the way he wrote it but it feels a lot more modern than any other operas I've heard from the era. Even though it is mostly a march, it feels like melodically and structurally he's drawing on pre-blues and gospel music in a way that presages rock and roll and the influence it's had on all music since - it feels more like a musical than an opera.

Celia - Cults: Cults have a new EP and it's an entirely different sound for them. Pounding, dark, Ochestral Manouveurs In The Dark type synths under their best lyrics in a long time.

Sharp Dressed Man - Xiu Xiu: Xiu Xiu did this ZZ Top cover for The AV club and I absolutely love it. It sounds like Queens Of The Stone Age if Josh Homme’s charisma stat overflowed and reset back to 0. This recording they did later is is great but the original video is even better https://youtu.be/0SG6yDSbtxULazy 

Nina - Greg Phillinganes: This was a recommendation from my friend and yours @megapope and thank god he did because I've had it stuck in my head all month. Written by Donald Fagen from Steely Dan for Michael Jackson's keyboard player's solo album, a true behind-the-scenes hit.

Gobbledigook - Sigur Ros: I was thinking about how after Takk Sigur Ros got so big and famous and rich off advertising money for their beautiful music and then made the best move possible and pivoted abruptly away from ethereal graceful floating melodies hung from the moon by a gossamer string to good old fashioned stompers made of wood. This is another in my very short playlist of songs like this and The Dodos first album where the driving rhythm plus acoustic guitars are the centre of it all. A little genre that I think has a lot left in it to explore.

Betty Dreams Of Green Men - Guerilla Toss: This feels like the energy drink version of Aqua by Eurythmics from last month's playlist. This sounds like BATS to me and I'm excited because there's not enough music like this around. Extremely energetic power music about some kind of 1950s alien invasion.

#NeverUseTheInternetAgain - Homeboy Sandman and Edan: I love this song. It starts out with a sentiment everyone can agree on (facebook sucks, the internet is bad) and quickly veers into 50 year old man gripes (GPS has ruined everyone's sense of direction? you should order pizza over the phone? match.com??) but it's got such conviction in the hook that I'm sold anyway and have pledged to #neverusetheinternetagain.

Vanishing Hour - Helen Of Troy: This is another Helen Of Troy song but it basically sounds like an unheard Gospel song, which is incredible new for me; the guy who will never stop tracking down every cassette and live recording they ever did. I don't know how the membership of Helen Of Troy went beyond sharing a drummer but the vocalist of Gospel is unmistakably in the mix here and it sounds fantastic.

Canon x Love S.O.S. - Justice: Another great cut from Justice's new sort of live album. This whole album has really made me appreciate Love S.O.S. a lot more. It comes back two or three times and I'm grateful every time. It's a perfect glam rock sentiment. Sending a love ambulance because there's a love emergency happening.

Mariners Apartment Complex - Lana Del Rey: I feel like we don't deserve new Lana yet. I'm so grateful but I'm still getting over Lust For Life and she's going to do this to me? Amazing.

I Got Cash - Brooklyn Funk Essentials: Another @megapope find. Perhaps the most powerful song I've ever heard, in the sense that I feel like I'm being personally admonished throughout. The power structures at play here are towering and the beat.. it's funky.

Pray - Jungle: Jungle flat out released five (5) singles before their album came out and they were all so amazing that I was worried they wouldn't have anything left for the actual album but guess what: the whole thing is absolutely gold, and especially this last song Pray. The feeling I get from the hook into the big drop feels like being dropped bodily into a big tub of honey, if there was a way that that could feel good instead of terrifying. It’s just luscious.

Sad Rude Future Dude - Ball Park Music: I googled “haven’t had a friend in years” trying to remember what this song was called and became instantly suicidal at the sheer amount of reddit threads that phrase returned. Which is I suppose exactly what this song’s about: posting on reddit about how the internet has ruined my relationships and brain, but in a very upbeat, singalong way. This song is a good example of how a dynamic drummer can completely elevate a song to another level.

Knuck If You Buck - Crime Mobb: Knuckle up if you're buck wild it's Crime Mobb. The best named crew since Ruff Sqwad. The two women in this (Princess and Diamond) absolutely carry the whole song. Everyone else has got such a mopey boring flow but they both come in so lively and so aggressive you cannot get away from it. Is there a more powerful opener than "I come in the club, shaking my dreads, throwing these bows and busting these heads"? Is there a better line in general than "Crime Mob, it ain't no stopping, it be like Saddam Hussein, Hitler and Osama Bin Laden"?

Deixa - Toquinho: I'm quickly becoming one of these 'the end is near' sandwich board guys grabbing people on the street and yelling at them except about bossa nova. It is criminal how much this whole genre has been reduced to funny elevator music or The Girl From Ipanema as ironic intermission music when it has stuff like this to offer us. I really recommend this whole album, I've been obsessed with it over the last couple weeks and it's just breathtaking start to finish.

The Way - Friends: This band's spotify page is good because it's full of absolutely no-name recordings of Blank And Friends that have fucked up their tagging. Anyway I have never heard a song like this, and I didn't think it was possible to use big 80s pinch harmonic guitars like this but they pulled it off in an absolutely beautiful way.

Mass Grave - Health and Soccer Mommy: Corrin Roddick of Purity Ring produced this new Health song which brings the degrees of separation between Health and Katy Perry down to a thrilling 1 since Purity Ring did two songs on her new album. This really does sound like Health covering a Purity Ring song and that's excellent news in my book. I don't know much about Soccer Mommy but this song has definitely inspired me to check her out so I'll undoubtedly report back on that next month.

(two circles) - Boredoms: I only just made the connection that Yamantaka Eye from Boredoms is the same Eye from from Hanatarash who famously drove a bulldozer through the back wall of a venue as part of a performance. Which I mention only because it really exemplifies just how much of a change of direction Vision Creation Newsun is from all that, just ten years later he's in a totally different direction of building something beautiful instead of tearing music (and buildings) apart at the seams. Nobody knows how to describe this album, it's space rock it's post rock it's experimental but it has something that a lot of that music doesn't - positivity. This whole album is a sun-worshipping positive fever without ever feeling lost or meandering.

Centreline - Ava Luna: I'm mad at this song. At about 1:15 they do an extremely satisfying thing sing the 'line' in 'centre line' in a deep bass and it sounds great. Then every other time that section comes around they either don't sing it or there's something else going on that obscures it and it blueballs you for the whole rest of the song. Other than that it's good, but i'm at war with this song.

Venice Bitch - Lana Del Rey: I am so excited that Lana Del Rey is finally embracing the most often ignored part of americana and facilitating a jam band. This is the last thing I would expect from Jack Antonoff but he did amazingly. It sounds closer to Ultraviolence era than anything else she's done and I'm just plain excited to see what the album is going to be like if this is any indication.

Act 1 Scene 4: This Is Monstrous, Wozzeck! - Alban Berg: I found an english version of Wozzeck and it's one of the best opera recordings I've ever heard. It's just plain mixed and recorded well, which is a rarity when a lot of opera recordings seem like they just hung a single mic somewhere at the back of the theatre and pressed the button. Anyway here's the good bit from Wozzeck where Wozzeck goes to the doctor and the doctor yells at him for "Pissing! Pissing there on the pavement!" See, opera’s fun!

Pop Roll Flow - Clypso: I heard this song on Unearthed when they had Nick Littlemore from Pnau guest programming and I love it. It feels brand new and very familiar at the same time, every sound in it is in absolute hypercolour, and the verse vocal sounds like a cool insect is singing at me. What's not to love!

I Might Survive - Architecture In Helsinki: I always feel like Arcitechture In Helsinki are poised to make like Portugal The Man and have an international superhit off their seventh album. They have been consistently reinventing their brain of weirdo-pop every single album for 15 years now and it feels like they've still got so much more to give. This song especially deserved to be a hit in my opinion, it's pop perfection and I've come around from hating to completely loving the little 'than alive baby!' adlib near the end.

Angels - The xx: My two best friends got married to each other this month and it was beautiful. What's more, she picked the perfect song to walk down the aisle to. I'm so happy to see two of the people I love the most in love with each other, and also when I drove them to their suite after the reception my phone accidentally started playing Merzbow's new album which was good.

Jesus Was A Cross Maker - Judee Sill: I'm so glad I found out about this album. Judee Sill had a crazy life, and her wiki page is a ride but unlike a lot of musicians with a back story her music stand alone - unique, rich and beautiful. Tightly structured and thoughtfully composed for such hippy-dippy christian mythology themes, and melodically beautiful even when her voice isn't quite up to the task. It really does feel like the spirit was moving through her. This song in particular is amazing I have been straight up listening to it on repeat. The phrasing is insane, the self-harmonised vocals sound like they're phasing in a very cool way, the violins break into a Bach figure halfway through - it's just amazing. I cannot stop listening. I've also started a playlist of this, Jesus Is A Dying Bedmaker by John Fahey and Jesus Came To My Brithday Party by The Middle East so I'm absolutely 'on one' as the kids say.

Rappers Convention - Harlem World Crew: another thanks to @megapope for bringing this incredible moment to my attention. A very early rap song that was recorded in the middle of the Iranian hostage crisis and helpfully gives a complete breakdown of the situation in the opening verse before getting back to basics and detailing how much they love partying for the remaining 5 minutes. Music is truly incredible. 

I Need A Lover - John Mellencamp: I'm learning a lot about John Mellencamp this week. Apparently this song was originally on the album 'A Biography' in 78 that didn't get a release in the US because his first album did so badly, but I Need A Lover was a top ten hit here in Australia and was thusly included on his next album a year later and blew up in the US. The other surprising thing is the album version, this version, has a fully two minute long intro before it gets to the song.

High (feat. Elton John) - Young Thug: The Lil' Nutsack song that makes Dewey Cox famous again in Walk Hard is real now and it's good as fuck.​

listen here

[justanartsysideblog]

Oh my goodness can we have more of tiny Olwyn with her demon and angel parents? That is just too adorable!

Sure thing, anon! I agree, it’s just too adorable!

Thenvunin, Uthvir, and Kel belong to @feynites. Eda belongs to @palindromekomori.

Sometimes, Nanae and Papae have to leave. Not because they don’t want her anymore--they make sure to tell her that, every time it happens--but because there are things angels have to do that little girls can’t be there for.

It must be hard being an angel, because then you have to do both Adult Things and Angel Things, and that seems like a lot of responsibility. And it doesn’t matter what Nanae says about not being an Angel--of course they are, they’ve got pretty wings and they’re super nice and they kiss her on the forehead every night before she goes to sleep.

It is always hard, if they’re gone overnight. The fear creeps back in, that maybe Nanae and Papae have had enough too. That she’s just too sinful, and even angels can’t see a reason to stay around her anymore. 

She knows it’s silly. They always come back. They promise they will, and angels can’t break promises. That’s something everyone knows. 

So Olwyn gives them big hugs, and lets Papae squeeze her as hard as he wants--Papae doesn’t like to leave either, and that always makes her feel a little better, because it helps her remember they’re going to come back. And Nanae always walks her through what she needs to do, if something goes wrong: how to contact them; how to draw Nanae’s picture, and how many times to say their name to make them come quickly.   

But there is one thing that Olwyn loves, when Nanae and Papae go to do Adult Angel Things, and that’s going over to Eda’s house. 

Eda is the prettiest person Olwyn’s ever seen--Nanae and Papae aren’t people, so they don’t count, Olwyn thinks, so she doesn’t think that would hurt Papae’s feelings. Eda’s got freckles, just like Olwyn, but she’s got so many more of them! It’s fun to try to count them all. Between the two, Olwyn thinks they’ve got as many freckles as all the stars in the sky.

Eda’s house has a yard, and that means that Eda has room for a dog. The new house that Nanae and Papae moved into with Olwyn has a yard too, and that means she could get a dog. If it was ok. And if Screecher didn’t bully them. Screecher doesn’t like new things.

But Eda’s got PoPo, and PoPo is a mabari, which is the smartest kind of dog in the whole world.  And Eda makes hot chocolate, and she wears soft sweaters and has big woolly blankets and the two build giant blanket forts in the living room and watch nature shows about wild animals in the forest and the jungle and the ocean.

Nanae and Papae always read her bedtime stories, before she goes to sleep.

Eda can’t read her stories, because Eda lost her voice a long time ago. Eda talks mostly with her hands, and the way she moves and smiles. She teachers Olwyn how to read hands, and speak with them too. 

It’s ok that Eda can’t read the stories, because Olwyn reads the stories instead. She sits snuggled up against Eda and PoPo and reads as well as she can--and Eda doesn’t ever get mad that Olwyn doesn’t know all the words, and has to read some of the big ones slowly. 

Sometimes, Olwyn wakes up in the middle of the night to Papae carrying her to the car to go home. Nanae says it’s because Papae misses her so much that he can’t stand to be away from her.

She thinks that might be a little silly.

And Papae always reminds her that Nanae missed her too. She knows that, of course. That’s why Nanae always checks all the locks in the house, and drives the car to make sure it’s safe. 

Olwyn loves her parents. She doesn’t care that her parents are different. She thinks that makes them even better, because they’ve got pretty wings and do magic.

And so when a new girl transfers to her class and shows Olwyn her lucky feather, Olwyn knows exactly what it is. It’s a different color than Nanae or Papae’s feathers. It’s blue and green and shiny.

“It’s my Papae’s,” Kel tells her, before carefully putting it back between the pages of Henrietta Hedge: Girl Detective for safekeeping. 

Olwyn nods. “My Papae’s wings are white. And my Nanae’s wings change. Sometimes they’re brown with little gold speckles that are the same color as my eyes, see?” She holds her eyes open as wide as she can, while Kel leans forward to investigate, “And sometimes Nanae’s wings are all shadowy and whispy.”

Kel smiles, “My Babae doesn’t have any wings. But he’s got a motorcycle.”

“Nanae had a motorcycle, but Papae says it was too dangerous for little girls, so now we have a minivan.” Olwyn sighs, “Are motorcycles fun?”

“They’re loud.” Kel supplies.

“Wanna eat lunch together?” Olwyn whispers, and points to her lunchbox, “My Nanae let me have an extra pack of fruit snacks.”

Kel grins, and Olwyn gets that funny little flip in her stomach, like she did when she realized she liked Adi, the Vashoth girl at her old school. Her mama and papa had gotten mad, when she’d told them about Adi.

But Olwyn thinks that if she told her Nanae and Papae that she maybe wanted to marry Kel one day, they’d be ok with it.

And she thinks they’d like Kel a lot. Because she’s pretty and smart and is really good at soccer. 

After all, Kel’s got a parent with pretty feathers too!

[mrsgreenworld]

Whoo-hoo!!! Finally! The second chapter of "A Technicality" is here. Hope you enjoy it as much as the first part 🤞

I don't own the show or any of the characters. All of them belong to the writers, production company and FOX channel. This is only fanfiction.

_____________________________________________

A Technicality. Chapter 2

Serkan tried really hard to blink through the fog before his eyes. There was a strange noise ringing in his ears. The sound of a familiar voice got to him through the noise:

"Serkan, canım benim, can you hear me?..."

And then:

"How long is he gonna be like this?"

He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Look! He closed his eyes! Serkan? Dear? Can you hear me? Please, look at me!"

Serkan opened his eyes slowly, blinking a couple of times, before he finally managed to focus on the first thing in his line of vision - his mother's worried face.

Aydan Bolat looked distressed to say the least. She also looked like someone with no tears left to cry. Serkan's heart squeezed painfully at the thought. He dragged his eyes from his mother to glance around. It seemed like he was in a hospital room, with him half-sitting, half-lying on a hospital bed, an IV attached to his left arm.

"Mom? What's going on? How did I get here?" he croaked out.

His voice sounded strangely dry and rough, even to his own ears.

"Hold on a second, I will get you some water," Aydan Hanım grabbed a water cup with a straw from a nightstand near the bed.

Serkan took the cup from his mother's hands and started gulping down a chilly liquid, foregoing the straw.

"Careful, dear! You're gonna choke like that!"

Serkan didn't really seem to care. He greedily emptied the cup and then just blindly handed it back to his mother. Upon looking around once again, Serkan noticed a nurse, who was checking something in his medical chart.

"I will let the doctor know your son came around," the nurse addressed his mother and left the room.

"Mom, can you tell me what's happening? Why am I here?" Serkan inquired yet again.

"Well, you went into shock. You just froze and were completely unresponsive so Engin had to bring you to the hospital".

"I went into shock?" Serkan repeated dumbly.

His mother just nodded mutely and a shadow fell over her face.

"You called me. You called me and you said..."

Serkan felt all of it coming back to him - the overwhelming fear and crippling pain brought by his mother's words, the words she had said to him over the phone - "I am so sorry, dear".

"You said you were sorry. Why? Why were you sorry?"

"Canım benim, please, you need to calm down!"

"What's happening? Where is she? Where is Eda?" he almost yelled the last question.

"She's alive!" his mother did yell the words, grabbing Serkan by the shoulders and making him look at her.

"She's alive," Aydan Hanım repeated, lowering her voice.

Serkan nodded and exhaled loudly.

"But..."

"But?"

Aydan Hanım cupped one of Serkan's cheeks, while tears started running down her own.

"There was a car accident. She was driving. Then something broke down, I guess. She crossed to the oncoming traffic lane. Her car crashed head-on into a truck".

"Her car? Her car broke down?" Serkan mumbled.

A hysterical laughter bubbled up in his throat. Her car. God, he hated it with passion. How many times had it broken down before? How many times had he told her to fix it? Why hadn't she done it? Why hadn't he insisted on just getting rid of the damn thing and buying her a new car?

Serkan rubbed at one of his temples, where he felt a splitting headache had started to form.

"How do you... How do you know all of this?"

"Me and Seyfi, we were visiting Ayfer Hanım, when she got a phone call from the hospital. When they managed to get Eda out of the car, they checked her phone for the emergency contacts. Obviously, her aunt was the first one," Aydan Hanım explained.

Serkan nodded in understanding.

"Where is she now? You said she is alive. So everything is fine. She's gonna be fine, right?"

Aydan Bolat gave her son a look that he didn't like one bit.

"Canım, her heart was not beating when the ambulance came. They managed to bring her back, but... she flatlined twice on the way to the hospital. And now she's still in the surgery".

"No... no-no-no... what... what are you saying? What do you mean she flatlined? And how... why is she still in the surgery?"

Serkan knew he was rambling and spiralling and basically not making any sense. But what his mother had told him was making even less sense. No, it was - all of it - just one big cosmic joke. None of it was real.

Serkan grabbed at the needle, attaching his arm to the IV, just ripped the thing out and hustily got up from the bed.

"Serkan, baby, what are you doing? Where are you going? You need to rest, to calm down. You cannot go anywhere in such a state!" his mother tried to reason with him.

"I need to see Eda. Where is she?"

"I told, you, canım, she's in the surgery. They won't let you see her".

"Where is the surgery?"

"Darling..."

"Where is it, Mom???!!!" Serkan yelled, making his mother jump and yelp quietly.

"Sorry. I am sorry, Mom," Serkan apologized immediately for his outburst. "But I need to get there. Please, show me which surgery she is in. I need to be as close to her as I can get".

"Tamam, canım," his mother relented.

They left the hospital room and Serkan saw Engin, Pırıl as well as Leyla and Seyfi waiting at the door.

"Are you ok, Abi? We were worried about you," Engin said, his voice strained with concern.

"I am not the one you should be worried about," Serkan dropped, striding with purpose.

When all of them got to the surgery Aydan Hanım said Eda was in, Serkan saw the girls - all in various state of distress. Ayfer Hanım was restless, pacing in front of the sliding doors, leading to the surgery room. When she noticed Serkan and all the others approaching, she stopped.

"And what are you doing here?"

"You know what we are doing here. We are all worried about Eda," Serkan responded calmly, trying to remain understanding. "Do you have any news? Has the doctor come out to talk to you?"

"And who are you to ask me that?" Ayfer Hanım scoffed right into his face.

It was the contempt she said the words with that got to Serkan.

"Who am I? You want to know who I am? I am the man whose whole damn life is right there now, behind these doors!"

Serkan felt his mother touch his arm.

"Canım, please, calm down".

"Calm down? You want me to calm down? When I might very well be losing everything?!"

"All of us here are losing her, you know," Ayfer Hanım's resigned voice pulled Serkan's attention back to her.

"Well, I am the only one who won't survive it," Serkan told with raw honesty, looking her dead in the eye.

He wondered what exactly Ayfer Yıldız saw in his eyes in that moment. What was it exactly that made her nod mutely? Was it a primal terror? Or hot agony? Cold desperation? Maybe his bleeding loving heart? Or, perhaps, all of it, all at once?...

Whatever that was, it allowed Serkan and his mother, along with all the others, to stay and wait. Wait for any scrap of news, any sign that Eda was gonna be ok.

Two hours later the doors, keeping Eda from Serkan and everyone else, finally opened and a completely run down doctor came out. Everyone got into motion, surrounding the doctor and talking over each other, bombarding a poor man with questions.

"Friends, please, calm down. I will answer all the questions to Eda Hanım's immediate family. Who's her next of kin?" the doctor asked.

"I am. I am her aunt," Ayfer Hanım said.

The doctor looked at everyone else, who had formed quite a crowd.

"These are all close friends, some are pretty much family. You can say whatever you have to say with everyone present," Ayfer Hanım commented.

The doctor nodded.

"Ok, then. Eda Hanım received some very serious injuries in the accident. There's head trauma, a punctured lung, fractured and broken bones. There is a chance of permanent damage to her musculoskeletal system. The next few hours will be critical".

"So, what... what do we do now?" Serkan asked nervously.

"I suggest you pray," the doctor said with a morbid expression on his face.

Ayfer Hanım let out a loud sob. All Serkan could hear were cries, sobs and pained whines of various volume and intensity.

"What... what do you mean pray? That's your advice? What kind of doctor are you?" Serkan started attacking the man in white.

"Tamam, canım, calm down. It's not the doctor's fault. I am sure he's done everything he could," his mother tried to placate him.

"Well, it's not enough, obviously! We need another doctor! We have to find the best doctors!"

"Ok, we will. We will," his mother said soothingly.

She mouthed an apology to the doctor and took Serkan by the arm to drag him aside.

"You're not going to help Eda by attacking her doctor. We need to stay calm and strong, for her sake. Okay?" Aydan Bolat addressed her son.

Serkan exhaled loudly, all anger and frustration leaving him along with breath.

"Okay, canım?" his mother asked, peering at him intently.

"Okay. But I want to hear what other doctors have to say. We need to find the best ones".

"We will. Leave it to me. I will take care of it".

Serkan nodded and in that very moment the doors to the surgery slid open once again and two nurses rolled out a gurney with Eda.

Everyone moved, trying to get closer to Eda, while the nurses told to stay away and let them take her to a room in intensive care unit. Serkan was looking at the scene, transfixed, rooted to the spot. He couldn't bring himself to move closer. Because it wasn't Eda over there, it couldn't be. So small, her head bandaged, face littered with cuts and scratches.

Serkan felt someone squeeze his hand and turned his head, only to see his mother's face, wet from tears and shadowed by grief.

"I will start making calls now. We'll get the best doctors for Eda. She's gonna be okay," despite the tears, Aydan Bolat's voice didn't waver.

Serkan could only nod mutely, willing his mother's words to come true.

Please, let her be okay.

___________________________________________

The next few days were filled with torturous wait and useless doctors. None of the ones his mother had found were any good. All of them said the same things. So Serkan took it upon himself to find the best of the best. He organised a private flight on his jet for a surgeon from America. The surgeon was said to be one of his kind, the best in the world. If he wasn't able to help, then no one would.

However, the prodigy doctor told pretty much what all other doctors had said. How there was only so much medicine could do, how they had to just wait, hope for a miracle and pray.

After the talk with the doctor Serkan just couldn't stand being inside the hospital anymore, so he went out for some fresh air. That's how his mother found him - pacing in front of the main entrance, rubbing at his temples, contemplating what to do next.

Aydan Bolat approached her son carefully, as one would a wild and wounded animal.

"Canım..."

"Not now, Mom! I want to be left alone. I need to think. I need to find a way, find the best doctor who will help us".

"Serkan, my baby boy, that is the best doctor. And he said..."

"I don't care what he said! We'll find another one, a better one. He's not the best if he cannot help".

"Canım, sometimes no one can help. Even the best. There's nothing anyone can do..."

"Stop it! I don't wanna hear it! If you cannot help, then just... Don't say anything at all".

Aydan Hanım put her hands up in surrender.

"Okay, as you wish".

"Just... Don't ask me to give up".

"I am not asking you to give up. I will never ask you to give up. And I will never, ever, do it myself. But I need you to accept the reality of what's happening".

Serkan stopped his mad pacing and turned to his mother. Aydan Bolat saw the look of absolute defeat on her son's face.

"How did I allow this to happen? Why did I allow it?" Serkan muttered dejectedly.

"What?... Darling, it was an accident, you couldn't have possibly..."

"I am not talking about the accident, Mom".

Aydan Hanım furrowed her brows in confusion.

"How did I allow myself to become so dependent on her? I haven't even noticed when I completely lost myself in her. And now... Oh god, Mom... I cannot breathe".

Serkan rubbed at his chest, where he had been feeling tightness for days, ever since he woke up on the day of Eda's accident. It felt as if he had a steel band around his sternum and it was getting tighter with every new day Eda remained unconscious.

"Oh, my dear boy..." Aydan Hanım uttered with a sob and pulled Serkan into a tight hug.

"That's the thing about love... It's completely out of our control. It takes over us, over our minds, bodies and souls... But it's not necessarily a weakness. You can turn it into your strength. Because, while you feel like you're dependent on Eda, she's also dependent on you, she's connected to you. So you have to stay strong, for her. This way she will be able to draw that strength from you".

Aydan Hanım rubbed at Serkan's back, then squeezed him and moved away, in order to look into his eyes.

"Okay?"

Feeling slightly better and stronger, Serkan nodded.

"Okay".

"Great! And now go home, you've been here for days".

"What? No, I..."

"Go home! Because, honestly, dear, you need a shower. It won't be very nice if Eda wakes up and you stink, will it?"

Serkan let out a small chuckle, even if it lacked any real joy.

"Go. Even Ayfer Hanım went home to get changed. We will be here. Me and Seyfi. The girls are here".

"Okay. But if anything, and I mean anything, changes - you call me".

"I will, I promise".

Serkan glanced at the hospital entrance and reluctantly moved to his car.

___________________________________________

Serkan felt sunlight on his face and warm breath on his neck. He peered his eyes open. She was here - alive, breathing and smiling at him. He brushed his hand over her dark hair, then over her smooth shoulder and down her bare back. He let his eyes wander over her face, trying to commit every tiny detail to his memory. The flutter of her long lashes, the buzzing energy in her deep chocolate eyes, the perfect curve of her mouth, the dimples that revealed themselves every time she rewarded him with one of her pearly smiles.

"What are you thinking about?" her quiet voice reached him.

"You. Always you. And what are you thinking about?"

Her smile got impossibly wide and painfully happy.

"Us".

He wanted to say something but a strange noise got his attention. And Eda's face turned blurry, as if she was a mirage that started dissolving.

"No-no-no... Please, stay..."

... A loud knock pulled Serkan from his dream, constructed by his memories and partially - by his wishful thinking. He was alone, the space near him empty and his arms Edaless. Serkan pulled himself up with a groan. He didn't remember falling asleep. He must have been more tired than he thought.

Another loud knock echoed in the big living space and Serkan had to leave the couch and move to the door. Once he reached it, he saw Balca through the glass, smiling at him cautiously. Serkan pulled the door open.

"Balca? What are you doing here?"

"Hello! Sorry for coming unannounced but you weren't answering your phone. So I got worried. And there are some issues at the office, actually. That's why I was calling in the first place".

Work issues sounded like a great way to take his mind off things. So Serkan moved to let Balca in. She came inside and closed the door. He motioned with his hand towards the couches.

"Take a sit. Can I get you something?"

"Well, actually, I brought you a special tea. It really helps in situations like... Well, it helps me in stressful situations. I thought I could brew it for you?"

"Well, that's very... thoughtful of you, thank you".

Serkan felt confused and a little uneasy but brushed it off. So what if it was something he would never do? People were different, there were different ways of helping someone. Eda had taught him that much. So he showed Balca to the kitchen area and told where to find cups and everything else she needed. While Balca was preparing her magical tea, Serkan was studying the files that she had brought.

"Okay... ready," Balca's voice pulled him from his work.

Serkan lifted his head from the files. Balca took two steaming cups in her hands and motioned behind him, to the couches.

"Maybe we should sit over there? You will be more comfortable".

Serkan shrugged indifferently but collected the papers and followed Balca to one of the couches. He took one of the cups that she offered to him with a muttered "Thank you".

They started looking through the documents together. Serkan sipped at his tea every now and then, and after a while he felt his body relax. Maybe Balca's tea was indeed magical.

"Thank you," Serkan said, once they discussed everything and Balca put all the papers away.

"I mean, for keeping me updated about what's going on in the office. And the tea. And for... for not asking me if I am ok".

"Well, I hate it myself. I mean, people asking if I am okay, when being okay is so clearly impossible," Balca told him with a small smile.

Serkan nodded and rubbed a hand over his eyes, that suddenly started feeling heavy.

"Let me get these cups," he heard Balca say.

The next moment he felt himself drift, his head pulling him down, eyes drooping. The last thing he registered was a warm hand on his face and a light kiss.

"Eda..." he muttered.

"Sweet dreams, my love".

(to be continued...)

[lizacstuff]

Sen Çal Kapımı / Edser Asks

After the fragman, I got a few anons this afternoon, my answer are under the cut. 

(Also my initial reactions are in this post.)

Anonymous said: In the spirit of optimism- when Eda broke up with Serkan in 25, everyone freaked out but by the end of the next episode, she proposed LOL. Maybe just maybe they won’t do the “everyone pretends Selin and Serkan are a thing for medical reasons for multiple episodes” route and someone gets her kicked to the curb in 29. I wonder how much of the 2.5 hrs will be before he comes back and how much is after.

LOL, I certainly would like Selin to be back for only one episode. I hope my speculation is right (this post,)and her narrative purpose is to make Serkan distrust Eda from the start and once she’s done that she can exit stage right. 

As for the theory you mention, which I have seen on twitter, I don’t see people pretending they’re together for medical reasons. That makes zero sense to me (not that medical diagnosis on a silly romantic dramedy dizi would be accurate, lol) why would that be necessary? Why would anyone go along with that? Especially when all he would need to do is google himself to find out about his relationship with Eda.  They were all over the tabloids and on the cover of a magazine. Plus it seems like he knows about Eda, Selin tells him "she turned you into someone you’re not and dragged you into a different world.”  He has to know they were in a relationship.

There is a lot of knee-jerk hysteria over there right now which is leading to completely neurosis-induced, nonsensical, worst-case scenario speculation. I recommend avoiding for awhile if anyone is easily upset by that type of thing. 

As for the timeline of the ep, great question. I am hoping that the walk into ArtLife is not the end of the episode. We’re going to need to see Serkan and Eda meeting face to face before this episode is up in order to survive! We know almost the full cast (including Hande and Kerem) were shooting at a cafe yesterday, and the cast looked dressed up. Most thought it was for 1x28, so that seems like there are scenes with Serkan and the full cast in this ep. 

Though, the show has a lot of questions to answer.  How in God’s name did he end up in that cabin? Did he get on the plane or not?  Was he held captive and got dropped in the woods with only Selin’s phone number? Has he been in a coma?  Was there foul play involved?   Was there a brain injury or did Babaanne arrange his kidnapping and give him some experimental drug to wipe out his memories of Eda? 

Not sure if this Deniz is a law enforcement official or some sort of private detective, but there would have been some sort of official inquiry and search when he went missing. So he can’t just be lazing around for 2 months, easily findable. And Selin can’t have been with him for anything length of time without the others knowing he’s alive, because that would pretty much be kidnapping. So what HAPPENED? 

Anonymous said: I hope we get good Eda and Aydan moments. She didn’t get married but she is still Aydan’s daughter now. He’s going to come back and find that this woman has his mother, his company, his dog, his car, his friends.....there’s no way that he doesn’t just know that Selin has been a snake.

Yes, please!  I’m sure we will get Eda and Aydan moments, it looks from the first trailer that they will lean on each other while he’s missing. Which they should, they’ll be the two that will hold out hope and give one another comfort. 

I am LOVING that Eda is driving his car and taking care of his dog. As she should, they were hours away from being married! And yes, you’re correct, he’s going to find Eda so deeply embedded in everything he remembers (except Selin) that it’s going to drive him crazy. Who is this woman and how did she ensorcell him so thoroughly? Can’t wait for him to find out. 

You know what I’m most looking forward to in regards to Aydan? Serkan’s shock that his mother has conquered her agoraphobia. Can’t wait for him to find out that Eda was instrumental in helping her do that. 

She is going to hit him like an emotional freight train. A second time. 

Anonymous said: i know most of the fandom has already accepted it as fact bc they can't wait for the actual ep to make conclusions, but i'm less inclined to believe he's been in that cabin w/ selin for 2 months.. idk HOW he gets there, or how selin ends up there.. but for some reason i think they find him first, and he takes off by himself for a bit as he's overwhelmed with the whole situation.. and then selin enters. idk, we'll have to see it, but i think, like all trailers, it's confusing on purpose.

This theory is definitely possible. That he’s found and freaks out and goes to the cabin. Perhaps the last he remembers he was still with Selin so he reaches out to her for answer about what’s going on.  That would make sense why he accepts her comfort, and she gives it, but can’t help herself from trying to do everything in her power to make him distrust Eda. Even if she doesn’t have hope of reconciliation, just to cause chaos because she doesn’t want them to find happiness together. She’s said it more than once, she didn’t want him happy, while she was not. 

Anonymous said: I am not emotionally prepared to watch the look on Eda’s face when Serkan walks in holding hands with Selin after being missing for the last two months....😭😭😭. Also even if Serkan & Selin are purely platonic watching their scenes together are going to be brutal. I am prepared to cry ( both tears of joy & sadness) & be very mad at various points in this episode. It will be an rollercoaster of emotions for sure.

Yep, pretty much all of this!  I don’t think I’m going to enjoy watching this episode at all. However, my hope is that I will really enjoy watching the storyline that it sets up where we get to watch Serkan fall in love with Eda all over again.  Think of all the delicious, UST-y, sexy, funny, fiery, passionate scenes that are in store for us! 

Off the top of my head, things I want:

Serkan opening Madonna in a Fur Coat and finding their photo

Serkan’s deep-seated memory kicking in and mindlessly tearing the crusts off bread for her without realizing it or knowing why

Finding out his computer password and what it means

Seeing photos of them from their matchmaking party. Looking so in love and surrounded by friends and family and everyone looks so happy

One of the friends, Engin or Piril snapping and telling him the big change Eda brought about in him was just that he was happy

Serkan seeing media clippings of them and their relationship

Eda handcuffing him so they have to spend time together while trying to jog his memory

After being suspicious and trying to keep her at arms length, Serkan finally breaking down and asking her questions about their relationship

Serkan being mistrustful of her, but still unable to say no to her

Anonymous said: So I get that SCK is going through a reset and now we will get to watch Eda & Serkan fall in love again but seriously they brought Selin back like that...WTF? Now she is even worse than Balca. Plus the entire world thinks Serkan is dead but somehow Selin found him and never bothered to tell anyone else...that should send up some red flags for sure. Regardless of the explanation, this situation is going to crush Eda. And it seems like a lot to go through to have him immediately get his memories back so we could be stuck with this storyline for a while.

Yes, poor Eda is going to be crushed no matter what.  However, I know that people have been theorizing that the memory loss would be short, but I never thought it would be.  What’s the point of this reset unless they’re going to follow through with it and milk it for as many episode as possible. They’re trying to find ways to keep this show going and this is their big swing. 

The entire point is to recreate the magic of Eda and Serkan falling in love, and, honestly, I'm not sure why anyone would want that to be over in 2 episodes. I don’t see it as being stuck with the amnesia story, I’m excited for all the parallels, watching Serkan get struck by lightning a second time when he first sees her.  Watching him be suspicious of her, of her motives of her abilities, but then finding out all the same things that he found out the first time, that she’s fierce, kind-hearted, loyal and talented. And just a bright shining light for him. 

My heart melts just thinking about it.  We just have to get rid of that opportunistic, malevolent, bitter hag. 

Anonymous said: one complaint that i've seen in regards to sck is that characters aren't sent off properly.. but outside of maybe fifi (which we don't know how they'll explain her leaving) am i the only one that doesn't... really care? everyone that's left has been unsubstantial or in a villain role, and personally whatever way they leave i'm fine with lol.. i know when selin left ppl were mad bc they wanted a redemption story arc for her.. but not every character NEEDS that by default, if that makes sense.

For context, this ask was sent before the fragman.  I agree with you, no side character needs redemption by default. I’ve said it many times, but on this specific show, really only two characters matter: Eda and Serkan. This is their story. Their love story. Everyone else is supporting in the truest sense of the word. They all exist to prop up the A story. So for most of them their journey doesn’t matter unless it directly affects Eda or Serkan. (Aydan’s growth and redemption has directly impacted Eda and Serkan and that’s why time has been spent on it). Selin is a tool. She’s behaved erratically at time because she only exists for the writers to use her to antagonize the protagonists. Her story in and of itself does not matter. 

I laughed hysterically when some on twitter were thinking Serkan might really be dead and Kerem was leaving the show. 

Seriously? You think they would try to keep this show going without Edser? That anyone would pay money for it, without them?  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! If one of them were to leave, the show would be over. Dead. Cancelled. There is NO reason for this show to keep going other than for more Edser. Everything else is an after thought, filler, or characters that prop up Eda and Serkan either literally or symbolically or thematically. Nothing else stands on it’s own.

They devised this storyline in order to go back to the magic of these two people falling in love. Full stop. That’s why we’re seeing this reset.  Because no other characters or their storylines are compelling enough to carry the show.  I applaud the writers for creating a situation where we could watch Serkan fall in love with Eda one more time. (just get rid of Selin, please, so I can enjoy it... and do it quickly.)