I am so heartbroken. 😭 The story was JUST getting started. I'm just so confused as to why it didn't get renewed?????
And now I'll never see my sweetest couple ever again. 😭 I just want to thank you for your tickets with them. They were and still are truly a blessing 🖤
I'm sure Netflix's numbers weren't high enough on whatever algorithm-metric-bullshit-counter they were using. I think the project was really expensive based on the technology they were using, but still, it was clearly meant to carry over beyond a single season.
I feel so bad for all of us who were so invested in theorizing and trying to figure out the mystery — people spent hours writing detailed meta and analysis, considering all the small details and clues that we painstakingly noticed. So knowing that it won't ever be solved makes it all so much worse.
As for Olek and Ling Yi, I'm still going to keep writing. We won't have any more of them, it's true, but we still have eight episodes that gave us some amazing moments with them, and they can't take that away.
First of all, Oli is one of my favourite names so kudo's to your parents for naming you that.
Second, for Murray and Emilia aka the 2 last Australians, could you do from the list "Touching: falling asleep on the other’s shoulder" or "listening to the others heartbeat."?
*casually stealing the kudos you gave my parents, because I named myself hehe* Thank you, friend! Hope you like this one.
Murray/Emilia: "Touching: falling asleep on the other’s shoulder", G.
He has no idea what compels her to visit him so much, the Tail isn’t exactly the most warming and attractive place. But Emilia keeps showing up when she has the time and it’s the best part of his day when she does. He’s learned not to expect it too much though, because days on Snowpiercer are even more unstable than before and the Tail has never been more cut off.
Still, when she has to make the trip from somewhere up-train back to Big Alice- she tries to find time to spend with him.
Today they have an hour, Emilia tells him and Murray pulls back the curtains of his small make-shift bed as they settle and they talk, back to the wall of the car wagon. (He dismisses the crass jokes from his friends, making sure to have his revenge later on when Emilia is gone.)
They talk about everything and anything and Murray realizes how easy the conversation is with her, he notices how her eyes sparkle when she talks about their homeland. It’s bittersweet and he admits that he feels a bit homesick for the first time in seven years. Emilia talks a lot, she rambles, he learns- he loves it.
When she stops, he’s the one who resumes talking. He tells Emilia about his family, the one he lost in the freeze and the dysfunctional one he’s made in the Tail. He talks until he feels a small weight falling onto his shoulder that makes him jump slightly, not that physical contact between the two of them wasn’t common, just because it is very sudden.
He looks down at her, and finds her sleeping against his shoulder. She looks so peaceful. He is overly aware that this moment isn’t going to last but he enjoys it anyway, pushing back to thoughts of endings as far away as he can. A strand of hair is falling loosely on her face and he tucks it back behind her ear, letting her sleep.
He hopes it’s not creepy.
After a while, he wakes her up softly, his hand traveling to her face until she stirs.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep.” She apologizes when she wakes, he shakes his head.
“It’s alright, love. You looked tired.”
“I guess I was.” Emilia flashes him a smile before she says, apologetic. “I need to go.”
He nods, taking her hand and pressing his lips to her knuckles before winking. “See you later.”
In his dreams the ghosts arrive, pale-eyed and silent, shadows drawn across faces, a discordant buzzing sound reminding him that none of it is real, even as it aches with familiarity.
The scrape of a chair against a wooden floor. His father's grunt and the roll of his powerful shoulders as the wood splits in half along the oiled blade of the axe. His mother's hands kneading bread, the sour tang of dough filling his nostrils even as it transforms into something bitter and resinous. Olek reaches out to make it stop—for he has watched this happen so many times, these shards of nightmare coming to life—but he is powerless. His fingers pass like air through his mother's sleeve, his feet stuck to the floor as the ink-black pitch rises higher and higher: ankle, knee, thigh, then chest. They are all there with him—mother, father, brothers—sinking into the stygian darkness, faces covered in tar with only the whites of their eyes left to glare accusingly at him. And they are right to accuse, for all of it is of his making. He is the monster and the nightmare is his own.
Olek wakes in a sheen of sweat, disoriented, his heart pounding in his ears. His eyes blink open into darkness, but of a different kind than before. It feels softer, a comfort rather than a curse.
Still, there is enough light to see her there, to watch her hand reach out towards him, palm resting against his chest like a benediction. Ling Yi is whispering something, a soft susurrus, the meaning clear even if the words are not. In the dim lantern light, she moves closer, her touch a reassurance that slowly starts to anchor him back into the world. She traces her thumbs along the curve of his cheeks, finding them wet, a remnant of his dream—and a reminder of all that he has lost.
Perhaps it is a miracle, then, to have been found.
Her breath warms his skin, a gentle prelude to the sensation of her lips following the path of his tears. Olek's heart begins to stir once more, but he waits, surrendering himself to her, until no trace of the bitterness and salt remains.
[send me an Olek x Ling Yi kissing or touching prompt]
Hi! I have so much fun reading your responses regarding Olek/Ling Yi so I have some of my own!
These questions will take place in 1899:
1. a) How would Olek describe Ling Yi to his brother?
1. b) How would Ling Yi describe Olek to her mother?
2. If they wanted to tell the other they love them, how would they do it? Do they know/understand the words, "I love you" in english? Or would Olek/Ling Yi say "I love you" in their native language while simultaneously pointing to their selves, making a heart shape with their hands, and then pointing to the other? I know they can SHOW eachother that they love them but if they verbally wanted to say it, how do you think they would go about doing that in 1899?
This question will take place in 2099:
1. If Olek and Ling Yi were workers on the spaceship, what would their jobs be?
These questions are about your NY AU:
1. Were there any sleep habits either had to get used to? (Ex. Snoring, blanket hog, window open...)
2. Have they ever seriously (emotionally) hurt the other by accident? (Emotionally)
3. Who would bring home a stray dog?
General Questions that can take place in any time:
1. How would they make eachother laugh?
2. Who gets more easily embarrassed?
3. Who's more foul-mouthed?
4. Who will be the first to snap if a random person was bad-mouthing the other person?
Thanks for the questions — I will do my best! :)
I imagine Olek would be really hard-pressed to explain Ling Yi to his brother. Aside from being able to say, "This is Ling Yi. We met on the boat," there's not a lot he can tell his brother, because he doesn't actually know that much about her, at least in terms of her life before the Kerberos. Plus, how do you explain a girl you met by freeing her from a box (when she seemed to be having a panic attack) and with whom you have a deep, but unexplainable, connection? He certainly would be able to tell his brother about their days together on the Kerberos, how her mother died and they were forced to pilot the ship back to harbor, but I think the rest would be really difficult to describe, even to someone who spoke the same language. I think it would be really clear, though, that despite the fact that they haven't known each other that long, they are devoted to one another, with Ling Yi deciding to stay with Olek and Olek taking on the role of her protector.
Given that her mother most likely would not approve of Olek, I can see Ling Yi sticking to adjectives when describing him ("kind," "sweet," "protective," "caring," "loyal"), rather than nouns ("working-class stoker," "a Pole"). For Ling Yi, Olek's character is far more important than his occupation or his country of origin, and it would be important for her that her mother understand Olek's worth as a person, rather than something he was born as or had no control over.
I love the idea of them saying "I love you" first in their native languages when they know they won't be understood, just to be able to say it out loud and not have to worry about the emotional impact it might have. When they did actually want to say it, I would imagine it would be easiest in English, but there's also something so ridiculously sweet about each of them secretly learning how to say it in the other's language, just to surprise the other one (and it would be a pretty astonishing surprise, I would imagine!).
On the spaceship, I think we've definitely determined that Olek would be a mechanic. If there aren't just straight-up passengers on the spaceship (and she had to have an occupation), I could see Ling Yi working as a singer or entertainer, which would involve her putting on beautiful and glamorous clothes as part of her costume, only to take them off (along with her stage makeup) at the end of the performance.
In the 1899 New York AU, Ling Yi definitely had to get to used to the fact that Olek is a heavy sleeper, and he's pretty big, so he's hard to move to a different spot on the bed. He is very warm, though, so on those cold winter nights (when they have no central heating in their building), he's very nice to curl up around.
I don't know that they've ever seriously hurt the other, although there are bound to be a ton of miscommunications between a young couple, especially considering the gaps in language and culture. Ling Yi tends to get frustrated more easily, and she was clearly unhappy in those first few months in Brooklyn when they lived with Olek's brother and sister-in-law. (Who could blame her? She didn't have anyone to talk to, no job, around people who saw her as a strange and foreign intruder.) It hurt Olek a lot to see her like that (and this is something that I'm going to get into more with the longer fic I write), so much so that he was actually willing to let her go. Olek also tends to keep his hurts and frustrations much more close to the vest, leading him to bottle things up a bit, and Ling Yi finds it difficult to read him sometimes.
Alas, there will be no dog in the 1899 New York AU. Pets weren't really a big thing among people of their social class (they're hard to afford), although I can imagine Ling Yi leaving a little saucer of milk for some of the stray cats in the neighborhood.
I think they make each other laugh by being playful with each other, either with teasing or physical affection. They both also love to see the other laugh, so it almost becomes a game to see how they can manage it, particularly in settings where it might not be appropriate to be laughing. Also, they are really young, so things can also seem much funnier than they might at any other age.
Olek totally gets more embarrassed. When it's really bad, he also can turn pretty pink as well, although Ling Yi tries not to exploit that fact too much.
Ling Yi definitely swears more in English (mostly in the modern AU), although Olek isn't far behind with all the Polish swear words he uses.
Olek is protective — like super protective — but Ling Yi would actually be the one more likely to go off on anyone saying anything bad about Olek or threatening him in any way.
Let's say seasons 2 is another simulation where they're all now on a space ship. They don't remember the water ship simulation they were just in.
1) what series of events lead Olek and Ling Yi together again?
Let's say they DO remember the water ship simulation and the space ship is reality.
2) What types of things do Olek and Ling Yi get up to on the space ship? What do they do when they're hanging out? What sort of activities? Are they trying to figure out why they're on this ship and not on earth?
Interesting! So if they’re on the 2099 Prometheus and don’t remember what happened on board the Kerberos, then I imagine they might be initially wary of each other (although maybe a little intrigued, much like when, as @eyk-larsen hilariously pointed out, you see someone your age at the airport). But unless the characters have a complete personality change, then it’s not hard to imagine a moment where they might be in danger or there are heightened emotional circumstances and Olek would act out his natural tendencies towards empathy and concern. (I mean, Ling Yi shouldn’t be playing a damsel in distress role in every scenario, but it is telling that they were drawn together by his immediate desire to help her and her treating him like a human being and not a lump of lower-class muscle.) Essentially, I think that difficult situations bring them together, and I think that would be the same case in 2099. (I just don’t want anyone stuck in an airlock! For some reason, airlocks in sci-fi shows really freak me out and the idea of watching someone through a porthole as they gasp for air and then drift out to space sounds legit terrifying.)
If they do remember what happened on the Kerberos, then I want lots of soulful gazing and giggling and sneaking around looking for deserted parts of the ship to make out in (they are teenagers, after all). Also, they all seem to be wearing identical black outfits, so maybe they could find something else to wear that isn’t quite so shapeless and utilitarian. Olek and Ling Yi (Olek especially) seem to be Team Maura and Eyk (not necessarily in a shipping sense, but seeing them as leaders/allies), and I think they would want to assist the two of them in unraveling the mystery of what they’re all doing on the spaceship and how they came to be there, if they don’t already know. (They want to be helpful, and they’re also useful at steering ships, so if the Prometheus is in distress like the Kerberos was, they could end up being important in keeping the ship safe and moving.)
Anyway, I have the feeling that Season 2 would blow our minds even more than Season 1, so it’s really hard to predict what any of it might look like! Thanks for the ask!
You're getting some questions that I want answered too and I honestly feel like I'm a student and your a teacher because I have no idea how I would answer any of the questions and then here you come in giving in depth explanations that make complete sense. I'm just like woah 🤯
Aw, thanks! I'm surprised (and very flattered) that I keep getting these asks... I mean, I watched the same show as everyone else, so it's not like I have some sort of secret knowledge to convey... :)
(But don't get me wrong: I love getting asks! If anyone has any other questions they want to send along, please don't hesitate.)
It is super fun to dive deep into something and try to pull apart — and then put back together — all the little pieces. (It definitely appeals to my quasi-obsessive nature.) Luckily, 1899 is full of little pieces and hidden details (some of which may actually be clues to things we'll learn later, I think), which makes it even more enjoyable!
Yeah it's like... A riddle or a puzzle 👀 there's clues all through out the show. And the first 4 episodes are pretty slow (which some people like and some people don't) so I don't want you to fall asleep or get too bored watching them.
Dark was a really good series too!
ooh i love shows like that!! guess i'll start it when i'm at the library then <3
