haii any rayemma fic recs?? i read room 5A and cried my eyes out to that fic so i am desperately searching for more rayemma
Room 5A is fucking wild
That dedication over so many years to something you're doing for the pure love of the game, respect. Admittedly I haven't read all of it at the time of this response, but with my biases I was happy to see the tags switch from Rayemma to REN 🖤🧡🤍
I also appreciate how Emma handles the revelation of Isabella and Ray's biological connection:
Feels spot-on if you're in the camp that believes she figures it out at some point while they're in the demon world (between her and Norman, I feel like he'd be more likely to figure it out in Lambda, or somehow they become privy to the note Ray wrote to Isabella in chapter 22, but she's incredibly astute in her own right).
I usually gravitate to fics/authors that have endgame REN in mind so if you're open to that, here are some other recs:
☆ All of banana_slug_army's RayEm works are a gold standard for me.
– The Wanting Game is one I come back to regularly for how clearly it defines Ray's modus operandi and if I need to reorient myself on it.
I talk about this on this post, but Ray, while being an introvert, does not hesitate to take charge of a conversation and advocate for his siblings after escaping from Grace Field. He takes the vow to protect his family in chapter 38/S2 episode 1 very seriously.
But when it comes to himself, his emotional needs and pain especially, he'll downplay them. After everything he's done at Grace Field, there's still a part of him that believes he doesn't deserve happiness, that he should forever be punished for all the children he let walk to the gate knowing they would never return.
Emma prompting him to have that kind of advocacy for himself again after so many years in such a gentle manner is just...so incredibly healing to me and why I consider this fic essentially canon.
Including this being the point where Ray cements the idea of one day visiting Sagrada Familia in the human world. Fits very well.
All while Ray still struggles with consciously accepting how deeply his love for Emma extends because it fits my headcanons of him being the first to start putting a name to his feelings for NE but being the last to act on them for aforementioned reasons of self-loathing, and then specifically during this period of the story where he believes Norman is dead, feeling like any sort of romantic attachment to Emma is an utter betrayal to Norman's memory, regardless of any romantic attraction to the other boy.
– Comatose is also great and is another fic that I essentially consider canon that's set during the four weeks Emma is in a coma after Goldy Pond. While Ray's feelings for Emma are the main feature, I also love the snippets we get of other character interactions with her like a proud fatherly Yuugo (who pokes a bit of fun at Ray good-naturedly too).
And omg. Omfg my fucking ass at the "if you see [Norman], please don’t follow him. I promise we’ll see him again someday, and when that day comes we’ll all be together just like we were meant to be…" line. Fucking kmskmskms—
Also I think this fic balances Ray's temper well without making him come off as alien and uncaring? Sometimes you encounter people making him so acerbic and snarky or hair-trigger without grounding it back in his love for his family that he feels more like a walking trope. I'm not fond of it, even if I can understand people want to bring some of his Grace Field-era demeanor back to the forefront because it's fun.
If I had to nitpick something it would whether Ray would openly state Emma is all he has left to live for when 1.) Emma would never want that for him after they escaped the narrow, stifling confines of Grace Field to explore the whole world denied to them, and 2.) how it sort of undermines his aforementioned vow to live for his family, but as a heat of the moment type of deal I think you could argue he's emotional and desperate for any means to convey her importance to him as an individual (which tied up with The Wanting Game is a big deal) so it's understandable.
– Similar feelings toward Facsimile (Anna's perspective of it can be found in Snippets Chapter 24):
Again I feel like this fic does a good job of handling Ray's temper while also touching upon his unique relationship with Isabella and having it center it on him choosing to work as her spy rather than on their biological connection, something none of the other children know about but you can still see color Ray's dialogue. I think the former is often overlooked for the latter because of the extra layer of drama, which is another thing I get but lament because the reason any physical similarities would eat at Ray would stem from his choices, not the reverse. I also enjoy the interactions we see from Don and Gilda with how large of a role they play in supporting the trio. (The Don and Emma crumbs…they're both such big balls of sunshine it's a crime their relationship isn't highlighted more, and Emma being everyone's weakness, spot-fucking-on.)
The Raydon hug omgggg <3
And Ray having this lightness about him thanks to being in the healing presence of Emma and his family, <3
That mountain crumbling line is such great imagery and Ray's firm belief he should have died instead of Norman while Emma reaffirming that she wouldn't trade her favorite person for her other favorite person, still gets me every time.
– Already touched on Snippets but you can browse the chapter list for ones focused just on RayEm. Same with Sunshine and Solace's Rayemma chapters (2 and 4) focused on Ray struggling with happiness and other emotions in the human world and Emma comforting Ray when she gives him back the note he wrote to Isabella in chapter 22 of the manga.
☆ She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not by groundedreamer was a Rayemma fic I didn't realize was a Rayemma fic at first (or a Hanahaki AU; I usually don't read those) because I zeroed in on it being in the Jemima tag with the entire first chapter being dedicated to Ray & Jemima bonding, which I think is worth reading even if one isn't big on RE if you're also starved for elder Grace Field orphan-younger Grace Field orphan interactions because omg, these and the Ray, Thoma, and Lani interactions are so so good and healing. Same with the Ray and Norman interactions and Ray and Emma interactions.
So many "I know you're fucking lying, Ray" moments kljfsdk. (Spoilers for one of the pivotal scenes; I love Norman using the word "fuckwit" because of everything involved to get him to the point of doing so and because I don't think I've ever seen it happen in another fic while still feeling in character:)
There's a number of lines and exchanges I think about a lot from this fic. "You're running away again." The desperate plea for acceptance under the belief of being on the precipice of no return, so raw and vulnerable, underpinned with the importance of having multiple forms of love in one's life. The revelation of perception.
"You love us so much, why can't we love you?"
The simplicity in their exchange of I love yous on the foundations of everything they've been through since they were children on top of the build-up in the immediate story gives such a weight to the cadence of the delivery for me.
Tremendous amount of respect for anyone who takes such care for handling the complexities of Emma in general and in these newer frontiers for her since TPN isn't centered around romance, I think groundedreamer executes this balance very well and is true to her character.
Adore how confidently playful and teasing she is here, so comfortable in their dynamic, not believing that she can't love Ray like he believes he can't love her but still shy in making that final push and a bit overwhelmed at how all her feelings are coming to a head.
On top of Ray being an oblivious dumbass.
yeah
☆ Declining the Queen's Gambit by Piper_Emerald/@bri-chihaya, a canon divergent AU with a refreshing take on how the kids get to the human world and settle into society after how rushed the last arc was in canon. The feeling of stagnation, being mentally stuck in survival mode and just treading water, lost in a fog, it's all made very palpable here in a way that makes your heartache with a pacing that makes the clearing of that fog feel well-earned.
I love how sweet Gilda and Ray's relationship is too and how they help each other out with their respective crushes too with how often Gilda's role is to be in the background just to comment on whichever trio ship is being featured in a fic. Such an underexplored dynamic.
There's also artwork for the fic here that captures a scene from chapter 2 so beautifully:
That look of pure awe and adoration, transfixed, mesmerized at the wonder before him, simultaneously a force capable of shattering convention and reality to suit her desires and a being so human and empathetic said desires are founded on a wellspring of compassion and love (because for her the thought of such resources being finite is inconceivable), one that he relies on and cherishes so profoundly‚ so dearly, and the world honors this intricate interplay by adorning her features with the last light of a radiant sunset as she looks ahead (always looking ahead, to contrast his instinct to look toward the ground, that balance of how they keep each other in check) toward their future. Ray says he wishes he could take a picture of her in this moment but he's already committed it to memory (an instance of it being a blessing rather than a curse).
And some spoilers but the confrontation with the demon god too is great too!
☆ Fragments by khgnh, a post-canon, canon divergent fic that also does a through job of exploring the trauma left in the wake of the children's time in the demon world ten years out, the lifelong path of recovery, all while Emma's been missing the entire time and the weight of that loss for the people around here. I really love this fic because I've never seen another one where their tattoos (through Ray since he's the POV character) are treated with such gravity. And like, I do get it, especially for the Grace Field children they're very much iconography for the series, but for a lot of multichapter fics set in the post-canon that don't address their tattoos one way or the other (either keeping them out of a sense of kinship or altering/removing them, something I discuss more here and here) something feels missing to me with how dehumanizing their original purpose was. Also Ray and Violet being buddies. <3
☆ every flower's reaching for the sun I sort of hesitate to put on here because the author has voiced how much they hate it as an exercise in putting a bunch of conventions/tropes they despise into a single fic, to the point they orphaned it, but I still find all the interactions enjoyable, from the main ones between the trio to Isabella's interactions with Ray and Norman respectively. One of the most authentic portrayals of an Isabella and Ray relationship to me where it isn't the main focus and they don't have the baggage of the farms forcing a chasm between them, they aren't schmaltzy, but Isabella's dry wit and teasing are still founded in love. All of this coming from someone who prefers sticking to the realm of canon over full-blown AUs (because at what point do these just become original characters borrowing names if not tied to the integral in-universe experiences that shaped them, though if they feature REN I am more inclined to check them out) and isn't a big flower shop AU fan.
Not officially art for the fic but fanart I still associate with it here and here.