#but I think Eyk is her brother

[just-stupid-stuff]

why is no one talking about Eyk being an anagram of key hello????

[mazekingdom]

also I’m sorry to any daniel stans but he. did start to annoy me by the end........ I am a maura x eyk guy I think............

[fatherramiro]

1899 university AU

This fic is set in the present day, at Singleton University (a private university, extremely selective and incredibly secretive). Maura has taken up a psychology teaching position there, through family connections, after her controversial research into memory and the self cost her her position at Oxford and after suffering the loss of her son, just in time for weird shit to start happening there.

Iben runs the theology department; her two oldest children Krester and Tove are both studying at the school due to her connections. Krester is studying theology, but Tove shocked everyone and is studying engineering. She's taking one of Maura's classes for fun.

Other notable characters: Eyk (teaches history), Ramiro (PhD candidate; I'm leaning towards comparative lit since I want him to also be a humanities guy, though possibly linguistics), Ángel (was supposed to be studying law, pissed off his mother because he's now getting a Master of Fine Arts in drawing), Olek (engineering student), Ling Yi (still figuring out a major), Jérôme (first year Masters student in political science), Clémence (Maura's TA for her psychology class, finishing up her degree in psychology), and Lucien (first year Masters in political science, he and Jérôme were roommates in undergrad but now hate each other). Daniel is there too but I'm working out his role currently. Virginia Wilson is also there, I think she's an alumna of the school and now basically controls the board of directors.

Ciaran Singleton, a genius at computer science and coding, disappeared from campus a year ago after he and his sister's research into simulating human consciousness came to light and he fell from grace. No one has seen him since. Henry Singleton, the dean of the college, seems way too chill about his son's disappearance than he should be. I wonder why...

As the school year begins, students start mysteriously disappearing or dying on campus. Some who go missing are found having gone mad, rambling about a steamship and deeply disturbing traumatic flashbacks. Maura recognizes some of what's happening as being tied to her old work, and thinks that her brother might be trying to take their incredibly fucked up research from when Maura was at Oxford and take it to new, even more fucked up levels. This is devolving into a full story and I'm going to add it to the list of AUs I want to write.

[the-girl-in-the-high-castle]

Everyone who knows me in this fandom knows that I'm a sucker for mauraeyk and that they are the most important part of the show to me. Besides them, I also love Clémence and Jéromé, I've mentioned that before, too. These two ships, connections, are quite obvious. They are so obvious that it's impossible not to see them, even if you're not right in the head.

But, there are two characters whose subtle connection I love so much. It's barely noticeable until you see their last scene, but then you watch again and see it's always been right there. Tove and Franz. The two of them are also my favorite characters right after the main trio. I think they are way too underrated, especially Franz. Franz doesn't get the hype he deserves, but he's definitely one of the best characters in the show. He's too overlooked.

Anyway, I've seen a few people talk about these two, but definitely not enough. Many people, myself included, needed that last scene to realize the two have a very obvious connection, and I'm dying to know what kind of connection that is. When you re-watch the show and actually pay attention to their interactions, you realize it's always been there. I mean, look at Franz. Throughout the entire season, he's shown as a violent and cruel man. His very first scene is beating someone up. He has a bloody face all the time and is never nice to anyone. He questions Eyk's orders and decisions multiple times, unafraid of the consequences. He organizes a mutiny, as stated, punishable by death, yet he doesn't care. He believes he's doing the right thing, not from any selfish desire, but for the good of everyone on the ship. But who is the only person he's never been rude to? The only person he's ever been nice to and considerate with? Tove, of course.

You'd think, okay, maybe because she's pregnant. But I don't think so. I mean, it's not like he showed any politeness to children. His mutineers threw Elliot overboard. He didn't bet an eye, let alone try and stop it. He even encouraged it. He beat her brother and threw him down the stairs, calling him a rat or something like that. He's been violent and rude to everyone but her. Never her. She's a woman? It's not that either. Maura's a woman too, he didn't care.

When they find Ada's body, and they examine it in the morgue, Maura says she's met her: "There's a pregnant girl downstairs, this is her sister." In that very moment, the camera is on Franz, and it's obvious he has a certain reaction to Maura's words. But up until this moment, him and Tove haven't crossed paths if I'm not mistaken. No interaction between them yet. Why does he react like that at the mention of her? After that, when he decides he's had enough of Eyk's shit, he goes to the third class not going to Anker or Iben, or Krester. He goes to Tove. He takes her to Ada, all the while acting like a kicked puppy in her presence. As if he was afraid of her judgment. He offers her his help, and when she dismisses him, he acts like a kicked puppy even more. That is his last straw that drives him to riot. You can compare that scene and his scene with any other person on the ship. It would look like he was a different person.

When the mutiny starts, she's one of the first he gives a shotgun to, without hesitation. He doesn't think her fragile or incapable. When everyone starts jumping during the calling, the two of them tie each other up, together, and he helps her and Anker stop Iben from jumping. When the storm begins and Eyk and Sebastian are gone, Franz takes over, and they all split up in order to keep the ship afloat. The French stay together, Angel and Ramiro stay together, Ling Yi doesn't want to leave Olek, and Tove's first instinct is to go with Franz. I mean, she leaves her parents there while they're giving up on life because her father chooses to die with her mother over living with her. Yet, Franz doesn't hesitate for a second to take her with him when she asks. Which ultimately cost him his life. Would he have done it if she hadn't been there with him? Maybe, we don't know. But he commits the ultimate sacrifice in order to save her. You don't get further than that. Giving your life for someone, someone you've supposedly met just a few days ago.

"Promise me you'll live" is the last thing he says to her. He might have done it for the sake of everyone else on the ship, but he had done it first and foremost for her.

Up until that moment, Tove's always been the one keeping her family in check, in spite of being someone who actually needed them and their support. She was the one keeping them together in spite of everything that happened to her. Her father kept choosing her mother over his children, while everyone else was falling apart. But then she got to experience what it was like when someone put her first. Franz did that, and he did by giving his life for hers.

Now, I'm not sure how their connection feels to me, whether it is romantic or platonic. Honestly, I wouldn't mind either of those. The SanSan shipper in me kind of feels like it could be romantic (my fellow SanSan shippers would understand). The one thing that was weird to me is the age they're supposed to be. I refuse to believe Krester is older than Tove. That is simply impossible. And there is about twenty years of age difference between them if those articles were right, so it may seem weird to people.

Anyway, I love their story either way, and I would give blood to know what it was all about.

[tay0la]

Did I just finished watching 1899? Yes.

Do I want to share my thoughts? Yes.

That intro??? That was so good. I didn't skip it for the whole show.

The character writing? I could kiss the creators. & the actors for being perfect.

Daniel🥺

The mind fucking plot? 10000/10 (I don't get it but I love it)

I can't go on without spoiling (do not read further when you haven't watch the show)

Daniel, again. Like he is really out there suffering the most (suffering isn't a competition but you know what I mean)

The scene, where they all go jumping off, was hilarious to watch (the shots with the whole ship, ofc not the scenes with Krester and Lis mom)

Olek being a decent human being. 🥰🥺

I do think Maura's father is wrong when he tells Elliot that his father doesn't care about him. Daniel knows his son is dead (probably) so he knows he can only save Maura. He'd save him if he could. I am 100% convinced and you can't change my mind about this.

Did Krester really blame Tove for killing the man, that attacked him and abused her?😐 (Yes, killing isn't good but how dare he to be so rude?? Especially since he was the reason. It was bad reasoning from the man but still.)

Krester's mom out there testing and stressing me. (She threw a boy out of the ship because she thought he was the devil. The way she treated her children, especially wishing death on Krester?)

Clémence is amazing. I would die for her.

Also, everyone is like Eyk+Maura 🥰 —Well everyone except me because my man (Daniel) is out there awake for at least 16 days (he must have gone through 2 simulations at least) just to help his love, who does not remember him.

Also theory: if Maura created this simulation, she also created that Daniel would come to help her get out of it. Because she trusts him.

And now my sore hate against Netflix for canceling this show (we got so many Riverdale seasons???):

This show has so much potential for a second season. I mean come onnnnnn. The show was so so good and it only had 8 episodes. Robbed.

Did we got robbed of the hot villain brother that is keeping his sisters in simulations solely because he hates her? Yes. I'm convinced that we got robbed. (I do think he hates her, because on the envelope to Maura, he wrote Henry and Maura stated that he used to call her like that because he hated her.)

Maybe he doesn't want Maura to suffer but their father. (Wow, I just realized that could have been another option)

I do think the spaceship is another simulation because of the triangle in her eyes and (I might didn't notice) Daniel wasn't there and he said a minute before, he would be there if she woke up. Always.

I felt like everyone else was there except him (—and maybe that's because of my bad eyes—) which is fine because he wasn't supposed to be on the ships either.

I feel like we could have seen a traumatic flashback from her father and brother in the second season.

All I want is for Daniel and Maura to find peace again.

Please.

Also, I wanted Tove, Clémence, and Maura to team up and being absolutely badass. Got robbed.

Everyone did such a good job with this show, the actors, the creators, the camera staff, the post-production staff (special effects, etc.). Everyone except Netflix.

The plot is amazing and there is so much left to unpack and I'm really devastated that we won't see all that “glowing up” for another season. :(

Now a poll because I am finally able to make on😁:

[eggsaladstain]

Hey, it's me again! Bc I loved how insightful your posts about Olek and Ling Yi were, showing you clearly think deeply about the show, I would like to ask you something outside the couple, if that is okay! So, I was rewatching Ep 3 (I have a severe case of brainrot for the two lovebirds) and something that Eyk said about the ships messed me up. He said the company bought 3 German ships. We have Kerberos and Prometheus, but who do you think is the third? I almost lost it. Could it be important?

@inferubim hello hello again, i'm so glad we are all still foaming at the mouth over this show.

i don’t know if the third ship itself is important, but the fact that there are three ships is important, and that importance is twofold: first, it continues the show’s central theme around triangles, and second, the ships themselves serve as a clever bit of foreshadowing for the plot.

triangles are obviously a huge part of the show, both literally and metaphorically. you have the ship company’s logo being the triangle with the line through it (the alchemical symbol for earth) and that symbol is repeated throughout the show in the set and costume design. we see the symbol tattooed behind elliot’s ear, and later on in the “present,” we see it tattooed on maura as well.

the characters are also grouped into sets of three, but never equally. there is an imbalance in each trio, and while that is certainly just a fact of human relationships, given the context of this show, i think it’s an intriguing detail we can’t overlook. maura’s first family unit is with henry and ciaran and her father prefers her to her brother. her second family unit is with daniel and elliot - she doesn’t remember either of them and the two of them are working together to change the simulation, and henry later tells elliot that daniel will always pick maura over him. maura has a love triangle with daniel and eyk and while she is married to daniel, she arguably has a stronger connection with eyk. speaking of the captain, he has three daughters but nina is clearly his favorite as she’s the only one he calls out to by name over and over again. clemence is married to lucien but has an instant connection to jerome and jerome and lucien have a shared history and secret from the war. krester, tove, and ada are siblings with krester and tove being much closer in age to each other than they are to ada. ramiro and angel are lovers but angel is tempted by krester. ling yi and yuk je are both employed by and at the mercy of virginia wilson. i could keep going but i won’t, and i should mention that of all the main characters, olek is the only one who doesn’t have this dynamic. he does have a brief scene with the two stokers, but that’s really it. instead, he has two strong duos - his partnership with jerome and his relationship with ling yi. this may or may not be significant, but when you take a step back and see all the other trios happening on the ship, olek’s lack of one really sticks out even more.

there’s also the fact that more or less everything significant to the plot is presented in a set of three. the three items that can alter the simulation - the pyramid, the remote control, and the lockpicking bug (alfred, you’re doing amazing sweetie). the three distinct time periods - 1899, the 70s/80s look of henry’s office, elliot’s bunker, the soundtrack, etc., and 2099. the three times we see the words “wake up” - on the memorial cross, on the stone pyramid, and on the toy pyramid. and of course, the fleet of three ships that started it all.

which brings me to my second point - the ships and their names directly tie into the events of the first season. prometheus is a titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind, giving them knowledge and technology, and it’s only after discovering the prometheus that maura and eyk gain the knowledge that there is something deeply wrong about both ships and their entire reality. kerberos is a computer protocol that provides authentication and allows a server and user to identify each other and it was named after cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld. many of the passengers on the kerberos are hiding their own and discovering each other’s true identities, and in the last episode, the remaining survivors end up in an afterlife of sorts in the graveyard with all the other failed simulations. i love little details like this when you reach the end of a story and then realize all the breadcrumbs the creators left starting from the beginning. and fun fact, in episode 1, we learn that the prometheus had 1,423 passengers, and in episode 2, we learn that the kerberos has 1,612. which means the kerberos has an additional 189 passengers. i know we’re missing a whole digit, but come on, what a great detail!

i’ll end with this - cerberus’s three heads are said to represent the past, present, and future. you have prometheus as the past, kerberos as the present, and the unnamed third ship as the future. but is that a happy future where everyone is free of the simulation or is that future simply a return to the beginning of the loop as the cycle begins anew? despite ciaran welcoming maura to “reality” in 2099, the fact that they are once again on a vessel named prometheus also with 1,423 passengers should at least make us consider the possibility that they have simply traded environments, swapping a steamship for a spaceship. so perhaps we end at the beginning where the future is the past. after all, a triangle can always fit a circle inside it and vice versa.

[sidprescot]

i uhhhh finished 1899

(spoilers for all episodes below the cut, don't read if you haven't finished watching!)

GOD this show!!!!! i have been screaming internally for like 10 hours now and this is going to be so incoherent sorry

who else thinks the space ship at the end is just another simulation and the start of another loop? the season beginning and ending with maura waking up to a 'letter' from her 'brother', the ship also being called the prometheus, the technology also seeming out of place for the time period, being trapped in the vastness of space instead of the vastness of the ocean but it's still a prison.... could be totally wrong and it's just parallels but i trust nothing and no one on this (space)ship

literally every character on this show is so fucked up (affectionate) i am studying them all like bugs

i did guess that the boy was maura's son but i thought daniel was either an older version of him or her brother, the husband reveal fully knocked me on my ass because up until that point i was convinced they were setting up a maura/eyk romance which i 100% think was intentional clearly they have some connection outside of the simulation and the heart wants what it wants when you have amnesia lmao it's so valid of her tbh i too am making eyes at andreas in that coat

also hear me out what if daniel and elliot are both dead in the original reality (or never existed at all) and the versions of them that we see are actually AI created by maura to cope with her trauma... seems like elliot at least is dead or dying considering the grave bunker and his memory in the chair... if maura is the creator of the simulation, maybe she's also their Creator? what if she can wake up but they never can

tinfoil hat firmly ON

or alternatively what if daniel is actually the antagonist leading her deeper into the simulation OR maybe they're both literally exactly what they seem to be and he's just a guy who loves his wife and wants to save her from herself and also her fucked up family and also maybe loves his son sometimes i am sooooooo full of shit lmao it's 3am bestie

also i was NOT expecting olek and ling yi to fuck me up like that... they speak the language of LOVE ok do not perceive me

and speaking of that i've seen some people say that they feel like the simulation reveal took away the gravity of the death scenes but it didn't at all for me, for one everyone jumping overboard like lemmings off a cliff while you hear their bodies thunk thunk thunk was fucking haunting and that was the bulk of the deaths, but also i just think the implications of the whole thing fuck me up more on a psychological level when it comes to the main characters... they are all doomed by the narrative, new liver same eagles, this is going to happen again and again because they can't escape their emotions, they can't escape love or hate or rage or fear or desire or grief, they can't escape what it means to be human no matter how deep into their dreams and nightmares they go at the core nothing ever changes and it's fucking tragic

in other words, i ugly cried through most of ep 7

and then there's the triangle symbolism, the tattoos, 'what is lost will be found', 1011, some of the names being anagrams, etc etc

THERE ARE SO MANY LAYERS

everything is too real nothing is real at all they're alive they're dead they're in purgatory they're in a hell of their own making they are the glitch in the matrix they are the (literal) bugs in the code i am going to scream

actual footage of me making this post

also i am definitely going to gif the show but i have a really busy week coming up and i'll be out of town for most of it so it might be a while unfortunately but just know the gifs are coming eventually they are living in my little brain as we speak

ok i'm going to shut up now if you read this far thank you, i love you, and i'm sorry lmao

[ben-crytalker]

since it all appears to be over anyway, here was my big, mid-development crackpot theory that i previously didn’t want to share before working it out more...

spoilers below

daniel and eyk are the mind and body of the same dude. eyk is the body with a simulated/ai soul and daniel is the soul with a simulated/ai body.

daniel solace was in fact maura’s husband, but in true reality his body looks like andreas pietschmann. daniel’s body (”eyk”) might have died/be dying/in stasis in reality but somehow his consciousness was uploaded into a different figure in the simulation (a figure that looks like aneurin barnard). while in the 1899 sim, maura's body innately responds to her husband’s physical form (1899!eyk) but for some reason her mind can’t fully register his mental form (1899!daniel) [nor can she truly recognize the avatar it is in even though she maybe should too*]. this could explain certain visual and thematic parallels between the two men and other cues such as:

both being drawn to / partnering with maura and vice versa (to varying degrees)

wedding bands (eyk and maura wear them and daniel has a scar) and daniel turning her wedding band into the key in the end (her symbolically having to take it off/let him go in order to exit that simulation)

her grasp of eyk’s arm is similar to checking for a pulse (this might have been an impactful last touch that they’re intuitively replicating, or it could be her brain subconsciously trying to confirm if he’s alive)

daniel and eyk both somehow cross from the prometheus to the kerberos on their own and are the only two characters who we actually see** pull themselves up into the hanger on the kerberos (visual similarity of their arm hoisting them up: daniel in the last moments of the first ep, eyk in the first moments of the last ep)

“he lost everything he loves” / “i lost someone too”

coats & crying

control/authority (daniel is an alleged creator alongside maura, eyk is the captain in the 1899 sim)

eyk being an anagram for key

eyk following at least the basic explanation of heady tech theories maura gives to him and making quick leaps in logic himself, eg. hoping questioning if daniel’s story/room/pictures may be constructions too

maura might gasp at the sight of eyk on the spaceship because in that reality she realizes it is not really (or is no longer really) her husband, just a shell. OR her last memory in that reality was thinking he was already dead and she is surprised to see his body alive/revived, to a certain degree

*and then going a step further than all this i wonder if the “daniel” avatar used as an 1899 character is ciaran’s physical appearance in reality... especially if somehow ciaran exited the 1899 sim already, maybe his avatar became like an empty vessel that was up for grabs to inhabit and maura’s husband’s real consciousness took the first available spot? the only non-incest way i can think of to explain the love scene though would be if somehow her brain’s memory-wires got mixed up and fused her husband’s soul with the false 1899 visage, or the idea that “brother” in the 1899 sim actually means something different in reality so they aren’t literal siblings like we assume.

**it is implied that Jerome was a stowaway in the 1899 sim but i don’t believe we ever actually see him climb into the hanger or how he initially got onto the ship; we just start with him in the coal room

[cabinboy100]

1899: Season 1: (Conspiracy) Theory: Undercover Clemence…?

Beware: Season 1 spoilers! If you have not watched all eight episodes of 1899 season 1, get thee to your streaming device and watch! Then come back for some outlandish connection-making and crazytalk theorizing based on a funny look, the wrong pants, and an envelope. =)

THE HONEYMOON IS OVER.

CLEM: Are you telling me this is my fault? LUC: Stop your little act. It's pretentious. Your parents aren't around anymore. It's fine. You don't love me, you never did. This is not a marriage. It's an arrangement. So you can stop pretending.

Lucien explicitly characterizes their marriage as a sham and releases Clemence from any obligation she feels to keep up appearances. He exits the cabin immediately after this and we see Clemence aghast, at a loss, for maybe three seconds. Then a change comes over her and her expression turns to lip licking satisfaction or anticipation. It is a pretty radical transformation, and remarkable to witness.

This may be relief and pleasure at being freed from playing the role of doting newlywed wife, but I like to think that it's something more—delight in something falling into place as planned.

SAY YES NO TO THE DRESS!

Later, when searching for survivors of the clock ticking siren song, Tove and Clemence wander into a certain cabin and Clemence is moved to wax philosophical on the compulsory wife and mother role of women in society. She does not find anything fulfilling in that purpose, a part she was raised to seek and play and accept. Inspired by the strength and independence she admires in Tove, she decides to declare her own independence from patriarchal expectations with a fashion flourish…

CLEMENCE: I feel ridiculous. Do you know what they say? That men invented dresses and heels so that women can't run away.

With this, she trades her skirts for a pair of trousers from an open wardrobe trunk, signifying her rejection of the societal expectations she has experienced placed on herself and women in general.

Her words and actions *are* a nice follow-up and follow-thru on her reaction to Lucien's real talk about the nature of their marriage. But maybe that's not all they are…

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE…

Later still, when Eyk and Maura are reunited in the lifeboat launch bay of the archived Kerberos, Maura produces the envelope she received from her brother…

MAURA: The last thing I remember before waking up on board the Kerberos was finding the envelope in front of my door. I think my brother sent it.

This prompts each of the survivors* to produce their own identical envelopes.

*Except for Jerome, but I believe we've already seen that he has received one, as I'm certain that's how he acquired the information that led him to Lucien and his cabin on the Kerberos.

And just like everyone else, Clemence pulls her envelope out of her pocket. 

Correction—she pulls an envelope out. And not out of her pocket, but out of the pocket of the pants she is wearing! Whose pocket of whose pants, then? And whose envelope?

Let's take a closer look at that cabin she and Tove were in. Look there, behind Tove, over her left shoulder…

It's the wolf and sheep painting! They are in Angel and Ramiro's cabin! If you didn't notice it before, that is the painting that inspires Angel's wolf-sheep metaphor when he chastises his definitely-not-his-brother earlier. It is also the painting hanging in the sexytimes corner of their cabin.

In the boat launch bay, we see Ramiro pull out his envelope, so the pants Clemence is wearing—and the envelope contained in its pocket—must belong to the dear departed Angel!

I believe that Clemence has maneuvered her way into being counted as a member of a select subset of travelers aboard the Kerberos—those who have received envelopes from Ciaran. She did not receive an envelope herself, but is aware of them and who received them. How and why?

1. She is a passenger who remembers the envelopes and their recipients from a previous Prometheus loop or loops. This would mean that she is aware of the repeating nature of their world and is immune to or able to avoid the memory reset between loops, perhaps like Daniel and Elliot do, or perhaps thanks to an innate natural gift. She has experienced loops in which Ciaran contacted other travelers and realized that they always survived longer than she herself did. Once she understood this, she began trying to get her hands on an envelope and so make it to the end of a loop. In this scenario, she does NOT necessarily know that the loop is a programmed and hackable simulation.

2. She is an undercover "plant" of Father's, like First Mate. Her mission is to locate and acquire the exit key via more surreptitious means than kidnapping and extortion. Flashing one of Ciaran's envelopes is meant to ingratiate herself with Ciaran's "chosen", a subset of travelers who for whatever reasons manage to keep closer to Maura by the end of a loop than most everyone else on board. This in the hopes of getting a chance to locate or even seize the key for Father.

3. She is an undercover "plant" of Ciaran's, a traveler selected—or created?—by Ciaran to maneuver herself into an ever-tightening spiral orbit around Maura for the duration of each loop.* And she may be doing so without being consciously aware of it, hacked/programmed to do it at a subconscious level. 

We don't see her make any drastic moves that seem to directly affect Maura, but perhaps her being a connection between and for Lucien and Jerome is an important role in itself. Producing the envelope in the launch bay bestows upon her some mystery cred, "proving" that she belongs among the final survivors of the loop.

*This is the weakest explanation that's come to me, because if she is Ciaran's agent, there's no reason he couldn't pump up her story and inventory with an envelope of her own. I say "no reason" based on his already demonstrated ability to materialize envelopes containing traveler-specific content for others.

4. She is a passenger whom Daniel has tweaked to be an agent in his plans, programmed to contain a piece of code vital to Maura's exit. She operates completely independently and in character to go unnoticed, but her ultimate goal is to be one of the last travelers standing when the Kerberos is deleted and the simulation shut down. She contains a vital piece of code that is only effective at the moment of ship deletion and in conjunction with the activated key, saves Maura from deletion and/or reboot into a new loop. Sure, Daniel never mentions her role, but why would he, when doing so would only expose her to Father and his henches?

5. Some other crazy possibility… =)

Of course, if crazytalk notion 1, 2, or 3 is true and Clemence ends up with Angel's envelope by design, it doesn't seem to get her—or her puppetmaster—anywhere, right? But we have only been privy to this last loop. Perhaps in previous loops Clemence is not one of the last travelers standing, is not immune to the click ticking, or does not have a friendly exchange about prisons with Jerome on deck, or does not enter Angel and Ramiro's cabin with Tove. We just witnessed the latest attempt, and the closest she's gotten to Maura and the key. Who knows? Perhaps she has won enough of Maura's trust in this last loop that Maura will wake her in 2099 and Clemence will be able to proceed with the *next* phase of her mission. =)

Are her earrings another sign of her secret agenda and/or allegiance? Perhaps, but the "Earth" triangle icon/logo appears in so many elements and contexts, it's difficult to say when it is significant and what it's significance might be beyond as an artifact and clue that the world of the Kerberos is not as real as its passengers and crew believe.

Wake up 🜃

Keep on keepin’ on~

[ledstuckatred]

Unpopular thought:

I think that Maura and Daniel have chemistry, and that their relationship / marriage is real. Maybe just at some time-limited point, but I believe he does exist.

Sure, she also has a connection with Eyk, but she hesitated quite a long time to tell him that she also has that letter and that she's seeing things that shouldn't be there.

Having somebody else live through the same things as her could've helped her staying sane throughout all this madness, and yet she decided to play alone as long as possible.

Her main interest seems to be herself, always, and it wouldn't surprise me if she were an antagonist in the end, too. What speaks against this is the fact that she helps Tove early on, but her scientific interest simply might be stronger.

I wonder if her connection (if you can call it that) to Elliott is because there is some part in her brain remembering things, or because it's the classic "I was told I can't have children and I suffer from it, so I adopt the first random kid I see"?

Due to being face blind, I still have no idea who's on the ship at the very end. I do believe that they are in space and that this is most likely the actual reality, not another simulation, but the reason remains a mystery to me...

Some say they needed to find a new habitable planet and used the time to work with people's minds to strengthen them, and that her brother was supposed to take care and went mad instead.

But living through this also has a high chance of breaking them, no matter whether the simulation initially was supposed to be a positive experience or not. People usually don't really do well with actually believing in things to be real, only to find out that they weren't...

Also somebody pointed out that the coordinates only have two values, while three being actually needed. But the third might be hidden somewhere throughout the series, who knows.

I think Daniel might be a scientist just like her, but that she went down a path he didn't want to follow her, so he tries his best to get the old, nice Maura back instead by playing the simulation game, and trying to have her make positive decisions.

Elliots room being in a grave and him reacting so emotionally to the "truth" makes me think that he was also real, but died at some point. Maybe he was traveling on the space ship as well, but couldn't survive everything due to being an untrained child.

In the end, Maura feels very emotionally detached to me.

My theory is:

She clings to Eyk because he's a mirror to her mental damages, whatever they have been caused by, and wants to be in the role of a mother because that's generally seen as a positive human quality.

But I think she might not be the person we saw throughout the show so far, and crossed the fine line of scientific research that's still acceptable.

The whole dialogue between her and Daniel about what is the actual reality is mildly concerning to me, because: both are valid in my opinion, but the type of reality around you is the defining part for society and humanity in general.

One can not exist without the other, because the "personal reality" is essential to your mental health, and the "outside reality" is essential for social interaction. We already do have people where these two collide, and we all know how good that works...

I think Maura might be some kind of antagonist in the end, and that Daniel still exists in some form somewhere and tries to save herself from the things she created.

This being said, I also think there's a lot of truth in the words of her father. With him being also part of the simulation, he caused a lot of misery for both Maura and Elliot who she's trying to save, and while horrible things happened on the ship she has never been actually emotionally or physically damaged (unlike everybody else). So why would she build a simulation where she's confronted with her father? Having him tell a lie would have proven her point that she's not crazy, but what he said was indeed proven to be true, at least in parts.

This seems to be a bit odd considered how much control she actually had over everything in the end, except from this truth being brought up. Or maybe not control, you could call it blissful ignorance what others went through. She barely interacts with most of the people suffering after all... Even if Elliot was only part of a simulation, this didn't invalidate her father's words after all.

I'm really looking forward to what the showrunners have planned further on, and I hope that they don't try to make it too complicated and thus too absurd.

I also think that everything we saw so far has happened in reality in some was, with all being realistic enough for every time episode to happen.

[cefonteyn]

Maura & Her Brothers

Starting to believe in the Maura-Has-Two-Brothers theory. In her story about being left in the woods, she tells Elliot that she has an older brother, but doesn't mention him by name. Later, she tells Eyk about her mother that "she had two children: me and my brother," and with each successive birth, she suffered from memory loss.

The order in which Maura mentions "me and my brother" could mean nothing. It likely does mean nothing. But it's grammatically incorrect, which I wouldn't expect of Maura, and I have a feeling that it's meaningful -- that she was the older one, and her mother had a son afterwards. Maura also specifies that her mother had two children -- not that her parents had two children.

Something about the way she tells this story gives me the feeling that Maura has an older half-brother (same father), and a younger brother (same mother and father). I suspect Ciarán might be the half-brother.

Ciarán is an Irish name, as is Maura -- but Daniel points out that Maura isn't Irish. Henry Singleton isn't Irish. And I don't think "Franklin," Maura's mother's maiden name, is an Irish surname.

So maybe Ciarán's mother was the Irish one, and Henry chose an Irish name for Maura to honor Ciarán's mother or to build a bond among his children.

As an aside, Ciaran and Maura both seem to be names used in Scotland as well. We already know that Maura was born and raised in Morefield, in the north of Scotland. So maybe Daniel's "Maura is an Irish name, but you're not Irish" comment is a red herring entirely.

[harrietmjones]

Theories that came to mind, whilst watching 1899

Just thought I’d write them down somewhere, just so I could see how right or (very wrong) I’ve been with thinking these.

I’ve tried to put them down in order of when I thought them but might be a bit all over the place!

I’ve also tried to write down/remember at what point whilst watching, that I had these theories come up. It’s going to be a mess, I am sure…just like my mind always is!

I’m not going to say if I’ve got any right or wrong, for spoilers if you haven’t watched the show but anyone who’s seen it will know.

Maura and Daniel are married but only Daniel remembers. I thought this as, when he introduces himself as her neighbour; I noticed he seemed to stumble on the word, neighbour, almost like he wanted to say something else, like husband. (1x02)

The passengers who are drawn to one another, even if they’re with someone else, such as being married to another, they’re who are actually together in the real world, as I assume the ship life is false. The moments/examples that made me think this were, the French couple, Clémence and Lucien are married but she’s drawn to Jérôme and my mind went to this theory when Clémence and Jérôme first spoke. Also, they and Maura and Daniel said the same thing about the other looking familiar. (1x02)

Everyone’s being watched, very much like The Truman Show. (1x02)

The mysterious boy is Maura and Daniel’s son. The theory stemmed because I thought he looked legitimately like an amalgamation of both Maura and Daniel and I thought it was for a reason (well the show’s casting found someone who looked like Emily and Aneurin because it’s all a tv show for us viewers and not real). Also Maura’s maternal-like tendencies towards the boy made me think this. The theory built up in my head over several episodes, starting with seeing a resemblance with Maura. (1x02 - 1x04)

The boy technically only exists as a memory (similar to the tv show Killjoys), pulled from Maura’s memories, where then a false memory is created for her, which made her think she had a miscarriage instead of her son dying at some point after being born, which she found extremely emotionally painful. The boy is her son having been allowed to grown up. (1x03)

The main setting is actually a fake world, whether it through a dream or a created reality and in reality, it’s a futuristic world and not actually the 1800’s. (1x03 - 1x04)

The main setting is a fake world (same as above) and reality is an alien world, that’s more advanced than ours but is still in the 1800’s, if we’re using the earth’s way of telling the time (1x05).

Maura is actually her mother. As in, what she’s said about her mother to Eyk in 1x06, is actually what’s happening/happened to her in reality. Her missing brother might be her son (or who I had thought of as her son) or she had two children but lost another son. This is all only if the ship reality is all a simulation that is. (1x06)

The passengers who jumped were all, basically NPCs. (1x07)

The passengers with letters, their physical bodies are somewhere else, a scientific compound or ship of some kind. (1x07)

Wow is it a mess but there we are!

[lanistas]

in the sea of lovers (Maura x Eyk, shameless fluff; Maura doesn’t understand why she barely feels anything when Daniel kisses her. So, naturally, when Eyk is washed back into her arms, she wants to test a little theory)

also on ao3

Daniel kisses her. Daniel. Her husband. The father of her child. He kisses her, and she can taste his tears on her lips, as he pours all his love and longing and affection into his touch. Maura kisses him back, and suddenly it’s a racing flood of images that overload her system.

The lights are dimmed, the sheets are soft, and Daniel’s touch is reverent, as he makes love to her on a makeshift bed, caressing her skin and intertwining their fingers.

It’s too much, the intensity of it all, and Maura breaks the kiss. This is not real. This can’t be real.

Because, if those are indeed the memories that got stolen from her, why doesn’t she feel anything? Anything at all?

She should feel like she is a terrible mother, forsaking her son like that. Like she is a disaster of a wife, if she doesn’t remember the man who is sitting in front of her right now, looking at her with so much adoration that Maura should feel guilty, unworthy of such devotion. And yet, she feels… nothing.

This man kisses her and needs her and loves her, and Maura Franklin is empty and tired and even more confused. A stranger in her own body, baffled at the memories that supposedly belong to her.

Maura thinks it’s driving her even closer to madness.

* * *

When the Kerberos emerges from the vortex unscathed, when Maura sees the Prometheus in front of her and spots Eyk right there, not an illusion, still here, still alive - Maura feels like she can finally breathe again.

When Eyk climbs aboard the Kerberos, when she runs to him, and he envelops her in a hug so tight she is melting against him, clinging on to him for dear life - Maura feels like her heart is once again alight and beating, warmth blooming in her chest.

When Eyk asks after Daniel, and Maura has to explain all of the things that she’s discovered on her own (she speaks of husbands and sons, and Eyk’s face falls) - Maura feels her world’s axis shifting, like all of this is somehow inexplicably wrong.

Thinking of Daniel makes her head hurt.

But holding on to Eyk, feeling Eyk’s pulse under her fingertips, keeping him close… this steadies her and brings her peace.

Her anchor in the raging sea of questions and doubts.

Maura doesn’t know what any of this means, but seeing Eyk again drives a little bit of madness away.

* * *

Maura Franklin is a doctor. A scientist. A scholar. She likes figuring out complicated concepts, playing with the unthinkable and unimaginable. And if she has a theory that needs testing? Well, then she will do just that.

This theory of hers thus far has proven to be… well, odd at best, but Maura Franklin is certainly not the type of woman to reject the possibility of the impossible.

She looks at Eyk, who is pacing around his cabin, telling her about the thoughts that passed through his mind while they were apart, and Maura is certain of two things.

One - Eyk’s presence comforts her, and his touch carries familiarity that she’s hardly ever felt with anyone else, even her brother. Two - her memory of Daniel is confusing and distant, as if she is simply watching a creation of Lumière brothers. A story of someone else, but not hers. Never hers. So, Maura thinks, she has a hypothesis in mind, and she has already decided what she has to do.

“Eyk,” she says, interrupting one of his stories. “I have a theory.”

Eyk stops talking and moving around and looks at her. “All right,” he simply nods, waiting for her to continue at her own pace. Maura takes a deep breath.

“I have a theory, and I need you to test it. With me.”

“Of course,” Eyk says, and Maura’s heart quickens, because the man in front of her trusts her so completely, and, to be honest, she is slightly embarrassed to abuse this power now. “What do you need?”

Maura chooses not to explain anything. She simply walks up to him, takes his face into her hands and kisses him.

The stubble on Eyk’s cheeks tickles her palms as she runs her fingers over it, closing her eyes and trying to lose herself completely in the sensation. Maura kisses him, moving her lips against his unresponsive ones, and when Eyk is still shocked after a second or two, still a stone statue unable to answer her desperate plea, Maura feels a hot wave of shame washing over her. How wrong she was. How terribly, terribly wrong. Maura ends the kiss and mumbles an apology, but she doesn’t even get the chance to finish a full sentence before Eyk presses her closer to him and captures her mouth in a kiss that makes her head spin.

She is locked in his embrace, his hands gently pressing on the spot between her shoulder blades, while her own arms find their way up and around his neck, her fingers running through his hair. Eyk groans at the contact, deepens the kiss, and it’s as if both of them are melting, the air around them hot with lust and love.

Eyk’s tongue is in her mouth, and Maura moans when she finally gets a taste of him, and memories come flooding back.

It’s Eyk peppering her face with kisses as Maura laughs and tries to playfully push him away. “I need to finish deciphering this,” she says. “I know,” he answers, “and I don’t care. This can wait”. She smiles, and she laughs, basking in this rare moment of simple human happiness.

It’s Eyk pulling her closer to his chest at night, humming a quiet lullaby, so that she can fall asleep faster. She plants soft kisses on his jawline and succumbs to slumber feeling cherished, adored, and protected.

In every moment, every second, every simulation it’s Eyk, his smell and his voice and his touch bringing her home.

Eyk breaks the kiss when both of them need to stop and take a breath. Still, he doesn’t let go of her, his arms resting on her waist and his forehead pressed to hers.

“It’s you,” Maura whispers, her heart aflutter. “I knew it was you.”

Eyk grins at her and plants a quick kiss on her tingling lips. For a moment they stay silent, breathing each other in, but then Eyk clears his throat, his brows furrowing in confusion.

“Wait. You said you had a theory to test.”

Maura licks her lips and averts her gaze, trying not to smile.

“I did.”

Eyk squints at her, and Maura just stares back, defiant as ever.

“Care to share your findings, miss Franklin?”

“Well,” Maura starts, caressing the back of Eyk’s neck, “I believe the results are still rather inconclusive.”

“Uh-huh,” Eyk fiddles with the fabric of Maura’s blouse, his eyes glinting with mischief. “I suppose we can’t have that, now can we, doctor?”

It’s Maura’s turn to grin at him, as he is leaning down once again.

“No, we definitely can not,” she practically sighs into his mouth before his lips cover hers.

[tvobsessedcarl-blog]

1899 Season 2

So I’m gonna need this in the next season...or someone to write a fic about it, at least ;) Season 1 wasn’t Maura’s simulation, it was Daniel’s (or he made some tweaks, at least. Maybe her brother helped him). Daniel works with Maura and as one who is around her for that much time would do, fell in love. Can’t blame you, buddy. Problem for him being she is clearly in love with Eyk. Daniel knows she can’t have kids and so he uses that. Makes it so they’re married and they actually have a child. How can she deny that. He also knows he can’t just have Eyk married. People cheat all the time. They’re less inclined (I would think anyway) if he makes it so Eyk is a widower. And not just a widower, but one with children who also perished in the fire along with his wife. And to make it even worse, maybe he has some guilt there and blames himself for it happening. Problem for Daniel is that Maura isn’t exactly remembering any of this so-called marriage or having a child with him, and she’s also connecting with Eyk no matter how hard he tried/tries to take that away. I don’t know, someone make it happen! lol 

[spectraling]

I just found it really interesting how Maura didnt gaf about daniel being her husband emotionally and more interested in finding out answers than anything else. Usually if writers want you to ship something or believe in a love story they would create a bond between them that maura cant explain like they did wit marta and older jonas. But here there is nothing from maura and if this is a game between her and her brother then its so interesting how her other relationships pale in comparison.

Oh, there's def something fishy about the whole husband thing. It's too pushed and one-sided for it to be as simple as that. It feels artificial. A bunch of the characters are intrinsically drawn to each other and Maura is drawn to Eyk, while being told she should be drawn to Daniel and she just...can't for some reason. The quote about the body remembering is def going to play a huge role going forward.

Whatever is going on I'm sure we'll get a fun twist on Daniel, who he is and what his motivations are. I'm sure he's genuine in his care for Maura, but why that is I think is going to be more complicated than what it appears to be.

[andorerso]

1899 WIP?!? screaming I would love to know more about this one

so I made a really quick outline of this during watching the show because Maura and Eyk gave me Rebelcaptain vibes from the start but then I quickly realized I'm not smart enough to actually write it 😭 plus I'd already forgotten a lot since watching the show so it's currently in the sleeping wips but I envision this as a oneshot

I'm not 100% sure about everything yet, but I think I'm most likely going to do away with Daniel's character because I'm not really interested in a love triangle, but I could also go the "he's not real and she's being lied to" route so I don't know yet

Jyn ofc is in Maura's role, Cassian is in Eyk's, I think Bodhi is her surrogate brother (but he's not evil), and I think Maura's father could be separated into Galen (the one who's doing the experiments) and Krennic (the antagonist who's stuck with them in the simulation). if I decide to just remove Daniel, I think Bodhi could fill his role as the person who's trying to get her to wake up and remember her real life and telling her the truth about what's really happening.

but ofc the main emphasis is on the relationship between Jyn and Cassian because that's primarily what I write. so it focuses on them working together and trying to figure out the truth first, then trying to find a way out, find the key etc. there's definitely a moment when someone tells Jyn that they fell in love in every simulation (I was envisioning Krennic taunting her with it, idk). also when they're looking for the key, Jyn thinks at first that it might be her kyber, but it's definitely 100% Cassian himself.