A picture may be worth a thousand words, but what are five emojis worth? Young Ian actor John Bell had Outlander fans contemplating the value of the symbols on Feb. 25 when he described his day on the Season 6 set with them. Although decoding emojis is an art form onto itself, Bell's Outlander Season 6 tease on Twitter sure makes it look like love is (was?) on the horizon for Young Ian.
Young Ian has experienced some romance before when he lost his virginity in Season 3, but he came back from living with the Mohawk in Season 5 as a changed man. Part of that has to do with the wife he mentioned, and it seems Bell was busy filming what happened with his wife if his emojis are any indication.
Because we like to be formal here at The Dipp, the official names of the emojis Bell used are: Two hearts; ear (or sheaf) of rice; kiss (woman, man); sparkles; and sunrise. According to Emojipedia, the sheaf of rice "may be used to represent a variety of cereal grains." So expect his next roll in the hay — err, field of cereal grains — to be significant to his story.
While these emojis could be relevant to many a love story (if that love story involves sunrises and grain fields), Bell has to be referencing Emily (Wakyo'teyehsnonhsa, "Works with Her Hands") in these emojis, right? Unless, Rachel Hunter is entering the picture super early (she probably isn't) or the show goes into his fling with Malva (that's not so romantic to warrant a sunrise emoji, is it?), Emily seems like the most reasonable explanation. Especially based on how Season 5 has set up for this backstory to be revealed.