r/araftaa

I need to talk about what’s happening with the narrative this season, especially regarding Elif.

Instead of giving us the development of love, peace, and emotional depth we were all hoping for, the writers are practically pushing Elif to look like a bad person. It feels like the plot is completely losing its direction and original charm.

What bothers me the most is all the hatred and anger directed at her brother Atesh. Look, the hatred towards Mercan because of her father is understandable, but why Atesh? Why target him with so much resentment when he shouldn't be taking the blame?

It feels like forced drama just to drag out the story, and the core authenticity of the show is fading away.

How are you all feeling about her transition and this whole hostility toward Atesh this season? Can the writers still save the storyline? Let’s discuss!

Let me start this by saying I’m not hating on S2- I very eagerly wait for the new eps :) that said there are a few things that I really wish would happen:

Cemet wedding: don’t want any of this jealousy/ex drama. Those two got their own fanbase because 1) Demet knows what she wants and goes for it and 2) Cemal is the love guru, so they don’t need any of this. Let’s see that wedding!

MerTes Cemet friendship: I hate how little those guys interact! I want to see MerTes on Cemet’s case teasing them like they did in S1. And 💯 I want to see MerTes keeping Cemet apart the night before their wedding! Their friendships were such a wholesome part of S1 and I really want more of it!

MerTes relationship: wish they would stop with Mercan dodging kisses. Let’s just make it look like they kiss like a normal married couple or leave it out completely. At this point why is this happening?

Questions to Eylul: I wish someone would ask Eylul what is it that would make her happy. Things that happened cannot be undone, so is she wanting to see her brother divorced? Is she wanting financial support to live on her own? Is there anything Ates and Mercan can actually do that would make her happy? Also, 💯 appreciate she had a shitty life, but wish someone would ask her if she cares what Ates went through and why she hasn’t asked him by now how last 20 years were for him?

The parents: bothers me so much that they have completely ignored the fact that the parents DNA tests were don’t at the same time and same lab as Eylul and no one is even considering re-doing it. I am guessing this is because the parents will turn up to be alive too, but wish they would acknowledge in some way such as the remains are too old and need to go to a special lab and it’s going to take a while.

Anyway few of mine. Keen to hear what do others have on their Wishlist?

First, he posted calling her during the interview as someone who knows him best. Then posting several photos and videos of her or with her. I really don’t think it’s just PR. He clearly loves the girl 🫠 And if they’re just friends, it’s really adorable how he cares for her.

The show is getting unnecessarily repetitive and it's exhausting to watch now... Every week every episode is the mixture of the same 3-4 scenes per plot line... It's very disappointing considering the fact that they have built up such strong characters that they could have added so much more to the show, yet all it is now is just random scenes which don't make any contribution towards the plot.... Talk about wasted potential smh

Right now all we get is mercan crying, unnecessary mertes acting like children (like that's literally all their scenes at this point 1-either mercan crying and ates comforting her or ates angry and mercan calming him down and 2- them playing children games) , and all the cemet scenes we've gotten so far is mostly them arguing for no reason??? WHY ISN'T DEMET TELLING CEMAL THE WHOLE STORY?? Every scene they keep on arguing only... At first it was cute but now it's annoying... And even in the kitchen staff like if I see burak and cicek together I will literally stop watching the show... It will be the last level of my patience... Why did Malik have to leave? Did virat have some other commitments or what?

There are so many dynamics the makers can explore... Cemal-eylul, ates-demet, mercan-cemal, demet-hazar, cemal-ates-eylul being a sibling trio and what not and so many more too like idk maybe yasar-berat, abdo-cemal etc..... Currently the show is running on three parallel stories who are completely disconnected with each other and somehow the makers are ruining all three storylines.... What I would love from the show is a little connectivity of all the different people from time to time, not just random phone calls from ates to cemal, or random scenes between the kitchen staff and mertes... Some more slice of life things.. You know like natural mixing of the three worlds.. From season 1 it turns out that Tahir knew Berat and cicek too from his childhood yet we never ever get any scenes of them...

I really thought that when ates and mercan went on their honeymoon and ates told eylul that cemals here he'll help her look for her family that maybe we would get some scenes of cemal and eylul bonding over the fact that they're completely alone in the world.... Or maybe that after nezirs death ates would sympathize with demet and offer support, or if not that I was definitely shocked by the lack of support mercan has been giving demet... At this point I don't even feel that mercan and demet are friends anymore...

There are so many plot lines which we can explore too like first the obvious mysteries which we don't know hazars full background, demets fiance, cemals background- how he met ates and how muzeyan adopted him and who are his actual parents, but no, here u go guys, learn about yasars fiance first because that's what is the most important right now....

The makers are unnecessarily prolonging each plot line for no reason when they could easily end one plot and explore the other new ones.... Why are the cresting this random misunderstanding between cemet? WHERE DID DEMETS FIANCE COME FROM? Why did they make Malik leave? Just get them married and find a new plot for them please. Even like why do they keep hinting at the fact that zehra might loose the baby? Let her have the baby and THINK what to do with the plot after that

Right now they're just creating problems in everything for no reason and it's so annoying because they have so much potential to use. Even with mertes. The scenes in season 2 are absolutely unbearable. All the cliche stuff. Blech. Mercan and ates are already established as two powerful individuals, and seeing them so spineless with each other is really ruining their power couple dynamic. They're both strong, independent, they don't always have to act like children around each other. Explore some more ideas for them. Maybe let them come to the office every once in a while and show their professional side. What do they even do at home all day every day? They havent worked a day in their lives since ates confessed his love for her. Show their powerful professional dynamic too.

I'm not hating I'm just annoyed at the extremely poor and inconsistent writing and character plots and the wasted potential.... I watched arafta because of mercans strength in season 1 but now all she does is cry... Truly... Sorry to say it but it's true.... They've turned the powerful dynamic of ates and mercan to a weird dominant husband-submissive wife thing....i literally cannot watch any scenes of mertes in season 2...the dialogues are so incredibly cringe worthy like who's coming up with this stuff??? They are both grown adults. Ates should learn to get a grip on his emotions and mercan should learn how to not cry at everything. Right now it literally feels like they are each others parents rather than a healthy relationship dynamic. Ates is the father mercan never had and mercan is the mother ates never had. Truly I'm sorry to say this and I know I'll get hated for it but that's truly their dynamic right now. They're not a healthy couple at all. One person is always acting like a child. And what the heck is mercan still recoiling from affection ?? All scenes they're copying from season 1 directly and just labelling it as season 2...the red dress, the bathroom fight, the mercan not wanting to kiss and what not... Those were iconic things from season 1-theyre done they're in the past now focus on better writing and create new iconic things for season 2!!!!

They're married now... I would love to see some more NEW domestic scenes like them cooking together or whatnot, we got more scenes like that in season 1 than we're getting now lol

Pls god I hope the upcoming episodes are not as disappointing as ep 9-10 and have a little tiny bit of plot in them... Just a tiny bit... Just a little....

In summary I just want the show to have something NEW not old stuff from season 1

In the last episode (ep 10) Müzeyyen and Hazar have a short exchange by the stairs where Hazar makes it clear he knows about Müzeyyen being involved in the burning of Saliha's house. Müzeyyen gets nervous and obviously fears Hazar will blow her cover.

But I ask myself: Do they not have the same goal in the end? Both want to make Ates miserable and see him suffer.

Will we see a Müzeyyen/Hazar alliance?

I genuinely think people need to separate Elyul’s character from the actress playing her, because I can understand Elyul completely while still being incredibly annoyed by her.

Imagine being five years old, having your entire life destroyed, being separated from your brother, losing your parents, undergoing an operation where one of your kidneys is removed, and then growing up in extreme poverty while being physically and mentally abused by the woman who was supposed to care for you. She remembers virtually nothing from before she was five, so the only life she knows is one where she had to become hard just to survive.

Then she meets this incredibly wealthy man whom she already dislikes, while simultaneously seeing the family, comfort and opportunities that she never had. Of course there is resentment. Of course there is longing. She’s literally looking at the life she could have had.

And then she finds out that this man is her brother.

She knows how wealthy he is. She knows the life he got to have. And yes, she initially feels guilty and tries to soften. But then she discovers that the person her brother married is connected to the reason her entire childhood was destroyed. WHAT exactly do people expect her to do? Smile, forgive everyone and happily move into their family? 😭

Obviously there is going to be resentment. Obviously there are going to be misunderstandings. You don’t spend your entire childhood being deprived of love, family and security and suddenly become emotionally well-adjusted because you discovered your biological brother.

That is why I understand Elyul.

What I don’t understand is the acting.

Respectfully, Aleyna Çalışkan, I have defended you many times when people harassed you, bullied you online or attacked you over your personal life, but I cannot pretend that I think this performance is good. I don’t.

And especially when she cries, I find the acting even more distracting. You can visibly see how much she strains her eyes and pushes the expression, to the point where the emotion starts feeling forced rather than genuinely felt. Instead of making me feel sorry for Elyul, it sometimes pulls me out of the scene completely and makes me even more annoyed. The character is going through genuinely heartbreaking things, but the performance doesn’t always make those emotions feel natural.

The problem isn’t that Elyul is annoying. She’s supposed to be emotionally complicated. She’s carrying years of abandonment, anger, jealousy, longing, insecurity and resentment. That’s an extremely difficult character to play, and I don’t think Aleyna has the experience to carry a role with that much emotional weight.

She would probably suit a more straightforward badass character perfectly — someone cold, intimidating and completely unbothered. But Elyul requires much more than that. She needs vulnerability underneath the anger. She needs the audience to understand why she’s acting the way she does even when she’s being unreasonable.

And that’s where Ates,despite being toxic himself in s1, had an advantage. HE knew how to act. He could make the audience hate them in one scene and understand them in another. The could actually captivate you.

With Elyul, I mostly just get annoyed.

And another thing that makes her feel even more disconnected from the story is the casting. She doesn’t resemble the child actress enough for me to completely buy that these are supposed to be the same person. The hair, facial structure, height and overall appearance are noticeably different, so instead of feeling like an older version of the same character, she often feels like someone who was simply placed into the role.

So yes, Elyul is annoying. But I don’t think Elyul is badly written.

I think the character actually has one of the most understandable backstories in the entire series.

My problem is that the actress isn’t giving that complexity the performance it needs.

I mean her anger is justified but she is too reckless and exhausting of a character. I like Muzzy panicky though due to Hazar. Also where Cemal lives now? that saliha took his seat at the dining table.

https://preview.redd.it/66i0xi49izjh1.png?width=820&format=png&auto=webp&s=d3e8c416068aa8cb8623b1ec4cc398d0cec1634f

https://preview.redd.it/qarny55gjzjh1.png?width=826&format=png&auto=webp&s=933849c2abdac8ea83c44ffe464e6bf90932c9ef

https://preview.redd.it/kj6nivt3kzjh1.png?width=826&format=png&auto=webp&s=2638eeba0547a9414d19140dd116592980d0e896

https://preview.redd.it/ikexzk15kzjh1.png?width=838&format=png&auto=webp&s=950e7d5f24086cbcd1f62155652992cbb269185c

Didn’t she collect trash on the road?

I haven't been able to watch the show past episode one for personal reasons but I just saw a few posts about Malik leaving and Cicek and Burak potentially getting together in the future?

Someone please spoil it for me! How did all this happen!?

I watched the entire S1 and some episodes multiple times but still posting in case I missed something because I skipped many scenes of S1. I was thinking how did Muzeyan find out about Ates and how Eylul was taken so Mercan could’ve the kidney? Was she keeping an eye on Hayder to see what he was doing? Just a little confused here!

I have so many questions.

1. How on earth do they not ask Saliha how Eylul came to be in her custody?

2. How does Ates not suspect, or at the very least, question Muzzy how she knew Eylul died?

3. Why is Cemal so bad at digging up information and still the right hand man of Ates, despite failing every single time? Like he failed to see Asli's reality and even when he knew, he said nothing. His security is shit, Nezir got in, Hyder got out. He fails at literally everything he does.

4. Why don't they try to find out how the test they did on Eylul's grave was compromised? It's not rocket science that someone sabotaged it, should they not be asking who and why?

5. If they found Asli guilty based on cctv footage of the wedding night, how did they miss Muzzeyen letting Nezir in?

6. How do they miss Muzzeyen and Saliha meeting secretly?

7. Why are Ates and Cemal so naive and gullible when it comes to Muzzeyen?

8. Why is no one trying to find Hyder when he is the one person who can answer all questions?

9. Why don't they seek therapy for Eylul and themselves?

10. Why does Hazar blame Ates for whatever his father supposedly did?

Why am I still watching this?

I mean, what the fuck are the mods even doing at this point?

First it was Emin being dragged left, right and centre, and now for the past few days Ilsu has been getting dragged for her looks, her body, supposed procedures, eating habits and God knows what else.
How is ANY of this acceptable?

Are these actually the rules of this sub? Can people just make whatever disgusting, invasive post they want about real people and face absolutely zero consequences?

Because from what I’ve seen, the mods clearly don’t give a fuck.

I’ve repeatedly seen people ask for posts to be removed, yet somehow the same garbage continues to stay up. I genuinely cannot remember the last time I saw the mods actually step in and do their fucking job.

At this point, is this even an Arafta sub anymore? Or is it a place where people can dissect Emin and Ilsu’s personal lives, relationships, bodies, eating habits, appearances and personal choices and turn every irrelevant detail into a fucking discussion?
WHERE exactly is the line?

Because apparently there isn’t one.

It’s honestly pathetic that people can repeatedly drag real people, body-shame them, speculate about their private lives and make completely baseless claims, while the people responsible for moderating the sub sit there doing absolutely nothing.

If this is how moderation is going to work, then just remove the fucking rules altogether because clearly nobody is enforcing them anyway.

Mods, wake the fuck up. Start removing the nonsense posts and comments before this sub becomes nothing but a cesspool of personal attacks, body-shaming and irrelevant bullshit.

People joined this sub to discuss Arafta. Not to watch a bunch of bored people obsess over the actors’ personal lives while the mods pretend they can’t see it.

I know i am probably the only one who didn't understand that scene. First of all why the heck did Ates just barge right into Hazar's house unarmed and without any of his men?

Also, why would Ates ask Hazar to shoot him with such conviction? Ates was legit provoking Hazar more and more. I mean what if Hazar actually shot him 😭? Did he want to get unalived or something? That too when Mercan is right by his side, why would Ates take such a risk?

Everyone was saying that Ates's aura increased by that scene but tbh I didn't understand how? It was a very risky move and could've gotten him unalived in a second 🤦🏻‍♀️.

Soooooo we are still romanticizing and idealizing extremely emaciated and dangerously thin women with their collarbones and entire skeletal structures visible as the epitome of beauty and attractiveness?? Really?? In 2026? My thoughts in reaction to Ilsu's photos that are being circulated on this sub and her extremely emaciated frame with visible bones underneath her skin being touted as the epitome of "beauty".

For the record, my comment is not to target Ilsu, but to understand the broader public attitude towards women's bodies and what is considered acceptable and desirable by societal standards. Please look up what is happening to Ariana Grande and other women in the Hollywood industry and how their ozempic-pumped, emaciated and starved bodies are being upheld and idealized for public consumption, which also include impressionable young women. This is even more disturbing if you are an educated and well-aware woman upholding these standards and romanticizing extremely problematic "trends".

As someone whose life revolves around academics, my 2 cents to girls is, please please please pay attention to your nutrition. You need a healthy and balanced diet to have a functioning brain. Please do not romanticize these beauty trends and harmful eating disorders established by the entertainment industry. Your health and well-being are of the utmost importance. Please put utmost emphasis on ypur financial independence and building a strong career, because those are the only things you can count on in life. Just a food for thought that I have expressed respectfully.

NOTE: Any hateful or abusive comments will be dealt with firmly.

I genuinely tried to understand Eylül in the beginning.

When she first found out everything, her anger, outbursts and trauma were completely understandable. She had every right to be angry.
But after the last 2-3 episodes? Girl, enough.

She is now acting like a spoiled, entitled brat who thinks the entire world owes her something.

Ateş and Mercan have been absurdly patient with her. They have done nothing but try to protect her, understand her and make her feel loved, and what does she do? Continues treating them like they are the fucking villains of her life.

Yes, Eylül suffered.

Yes, she was tortured.

Yes, she was abandoned and left to die.

WE GET IT.

But Ateş didn’t exactly grow up in a fucking palace either. He was also a child. Mercan was also a child. If Eylül’s defence is always “I was just a child,” then SO WERE THEY.

What exactly does she want from them? Should Ateş and Mercan somehow travel back 20 years, find little Eylül on the street and magically fix everything that happened to her?

Because apparently that’s the standard she’s holding them to.

And the most ridiculous part is that she spent 20 YEARS being tortured by Saliha, yet where is all this rage for her? Where is the confrontation? Where is the energy for the people who actually ruined her life?
And Haydar? The man who was actually behind so much of this?

Nothing.

But her brother and his wife, who are literally bending over backwards to take care of her, get the full force of her fucking tantrums.

Make it make sense.

And today’s membership episode genuinely pissed me off. She literally put herself, Mercan AND Ateş in danger because of her impulsive bullshit.

At some point trauma stops being an excuse for every reckless decision you make. You are a grown-ass woman. Use your fucking brain.

MerTeş haven’t even gotten one peaceful moment since she came back.

Every time they breathe, Eylül has to create another fucking disaster.

And I’m sorry, but I am officially done feeling sorry for her every time she behaves like this. I can understand her trauma without excusing her treating two people who are doing everything for her like absolute shit.

I swear, by Friday I want Ateş to finally lose his fucking patience with her. Not because she doesn’t deserve compassion, but because someone needs to finally tell this woman that Ateş and Mercan are NOT responsible for what Saliha, Haydar and Muzzeyen did to her.

Stop punishing the people who are trying to love you.
Stop treating MerTeş like your punching bags.

Stop acting like being traumatised gives you a free pass to put everyone else’s life at risk.

Girl, your beef is with the people who destroyed your life. NOT WITH MERTEŞ.

FREE MERTEŞ. They have suffered enough.

Mercan is honestly one of the most understanding characters in this story. What I appreciate about her is that she doesn’t just look at someone’s actions and immediately judge them,she tries to understand the reason behind them. Even when Ates did something behind her back today after lecturing her that they should discuss everything with each other, Mercan was able to understand why he did it.That is exactly the same understanding people expect from Ates.

I’m not saying Ates isn’t understanding toward Mercan, But sometimes his first reaction is to snap or react emotionally without thinking about how deeply his words or actions might hurt Mercan. Sometimes , he processes things through anger first and understanding later. Mercan, on the other hand, often does the opposite. She gives people the benefit of the doubt, tries to understand their emotions, and only then reacts. I just wish Ates would sometimes stop, stay calm, and give Mercan the same patience and understanding that she constantly gives him.

And then there is Eyul.

I completely understood Eyul’s initial anger. She found out about everything suddenly, her entire understanding of her life and relationships , and she needed time to process it. Her hurt was valid. But at this point, she has had time to think, process, and understand the situation. She knows Mercan didn’t wrong her.Yet she continues to behave as though Mercan is personally responsible for everything that happened to her.

What bothers me most is that Mercan continues to be understanding toward Eyul even when Eyul hurts her.At some point, understanding becomes something people can take advantage of. Eyul knows that Ates and Mercan already carry guilt and that they genuinely care about her, and she seems to use that guilt to keep demanding more from them. Instead of moving forward, she increasingly behaves like everyone should keep running after her and proving their love to her.

And honestly, if Eyul’s goal was truly revenge, why is Saliha not the first person she is holding accountable? There is a difference between being hurt and deliberately hurting people who you know did not intend to hurt you. Eyul’s anger was understandable in the beginning, but her continued behaviour is becoming increasingly difficult to justify.

Another thing I don’t understand is Eyul’s issue with Ates loving Mercan. Mercan has always understood Ates’s love for Eyul. She understands that Eyul is his sister and that their bond existed long before her. But why is it so difficult for Eyul to accept that Ates can love Mercan deeply too?

If Ates loves his wife more than his sister in certain situations, why is that automatically wrong? After marriage, shouldn’t your spouse naturally become one of the most important people in your life? Mercan herself puts Ates before her own family at times, so why shouldn’t Ates do the same for her? If I had a brother, I would actually expect him to prioritize his wife in many situations after marriage. It wouldn’t mean he doesn’t love his sister ,it would simply mean his relationship and responsibilities have changed.

And this is why I appreciate Mercan so much. She doesn’t constantly demand to be chosen. She understands that Ates can love his family while loving her at the same time. She doesn’t treat love like a competition where someone has to lose for her to win. She gives people space to have complicated emotions, and she tries to understand them even when she is the one being hurt.

Mercan is also incredibly emotionally strong. She has every reason to become bitter, defensive, or selfish, but she keeps trying to communicate, forgive, and see the good in people. She doesn’t weaponize every mistake someone makes against them. She doesn’t constantly remind people of everything she has went through.That’s what makes her different from the people around her.

But I also hope the story eventually shows that Mercan can have boundaries too. Being understanding does not mean she has to tolerate everything. Forgiveness does not mean allowing people to repeatedly hurt her. She can understand Eyul’s pain without accepting Eyul’s behaviour, and she can understand Ates’s intentions while still telling him when his actions hurt her.

Mercan deserves the same grace she gives everyone else. Her kindness should be appreciated, not exploited. She can be still compassionate, but finally putting boundaries around that compassion.