Are there any particular sports or outdoorsy activities you think REN would enjoy post canon?
And on a side note, do you think the kids knew how to swim before arriving in the human world? Can't remember if we've ever seen that.
[Tangentially related post about REN doing activities typically centered around dyads]
Depends on what aspects of the beach bonus comics you want to count as canon?
(Chapter 83 Side Story)
It lines up with this analysis of the trio's respective intellectual strengths well, with Norman just knowing all the technical aspects of swimming and Emma just winging it and learning as she goes, potentially pushing or pulling Norman along with the speed she's seen going. Ray probably read something about it so he could swim after them if pressed.
Shoutout to @stray-tori for this edit of that strip from her reading of volume 10 (because NE would pull that shit to get Ray in the water fslkdj)
As a side note, I wish we had a confirmed scaling between the human and demon worlds since we're never shown that the kids need to traverse any large bodies of water in the search for Cuvitidala and the Seven Walls they would either need to swim or acquire a boat (playing into the demon world is underwater theory), but presumably none of the Grace Field kids ever had the opportunity to learn how to swim before they left for the demon world. The three other premium farms might of had a pool if they were set up like schools or towns to provide another venue for physical activity though.
(Mystic Code Book Chapter 3)
Regarding sports, I've seen multiple instances of Emma being into volleyball in part because of her similarities to Hinata from Haikyuu!, so if I had to pick a team sport I'd probably go with that, but I don't have any in-depth headcanons for it. I love @7w7thais' high school AU featuring this though!
I also adore this comic by winter_calm about REN's morning routine where Emma goes for a run after giving the boys a good morning kiss, and then she picks up groceries for Ray to make breakfast for the three of them. Incredibly canon to me. 🖤🧡🤍
I could see RE going on longer runs together, ranging from similar casual grocery runs or something more competitive, with Emma winning more often than not (and despite knowing her nearly all his life, Ray still wonders how someone so tiny can have enough energy for all three of them).
Norman…I think you could argue anywhere from him doing the bare minimum to stay healthy (it takes so much time and there's so many other things he could be doing! RE have to drag him to go running with them, and even then he ducks out early) to him eventually being a big cardio guy and looking akin to this ancient meme while doing it:
(Chapter 121)
But I just can't see him ever being big into weight lifting lol. I always default to Ray and Emma maintaining more muscle than him.
(Chapter 4 Bonus Sketch)
But general outdoorsy activities? He'd love to play tag with the younger kids. (Pre-finding Emma I've very fond of a scene I mentioned in this ask playing out, of Norman getting winded either from a general illness or him still dealing with Lambda sickness, reassuring everyone that he's fine and encouraging them to go off and play while he rests a bit, eventually the group whittling down to just him and Ray sitting under the shade of a tree, space left for a third. Watching their family indulge in such mirth without fear of a future cut short, they know even with the lows that have come before and could come again, when they find Emma, they'll be able to genuinely tell her they've been well.) Same for Emma and Ray. Frisbee golf, sunbathing or swimming at the beach, hiking, they're up for a lot of activities if it involves their friends and family.
They've also taken their siblings mini-golfing, but they've gone with just the three of them, too. It usually ends up with Norman and Ray taking forever to take a shot to irritate the other two (with the other two knowing he's already calculated the exact trajectory he needs for a hole in one or a birdie, and it's mini-golf, my ass you need to wait for the wind to change or whatever), which leads to Emma taking forever to take a shot in retaliation (she's more prone to being adventurous with her swings, which has resulted in breaking something at least once on a course, but she's not a slouch either) before they're all lowkey being judged by the group (or two) following them to move on already.
And picnics! They love going out on a walk to a favorite spot with a basket or two prepared by Ray, or planning an afternoon somewhere they've never been before to enjoy some new scenery and local cuisine (though Emma and Norman always insist Ray's is their favorite). It doesn't always turn out as planned between being rained out or sudden allergy attacks, but even then they're still able to enjoy themselves.
(There's nothing quite like catching the other two in conversation, wind gently carding through their hair, framing their faces so beautifully, as fondness seeps into each word and each natural pause, heart brimming with love both at the sight of their partners in their own unique dynamic and within their trio as a whole, each moment etched into their new forever.)
Sometimes the picnics lead into stargazing if they're out far enough. Emma loves pulling Norman and Ray close whenever she takes note of the North Star, because like she concluded when they were children, it's just like them.
(TPN Light Novel 4: Films of Memories - “The Guiding Star”)
The boys return the gesture, and all feels right in the universe, in this future they've forged for themselves.
2. Yes, but it's not his favorite. He lied so people would…
3. Yes, but it's not his favorite. He lied because…
4. Yes, but it's not his favorite, he just wanted to mess with people.
5. He's indifferent to it, but people wouldn't stop asking, so…
6. He's indifferent to it, but he still has hangups about being honest…
Voting ended onJun 25
2. Yes, but it's not his favorite. He lied so people would stop asking him about it and he's not sure why it's a big deal.
3. Yes, but it's not his favorite. He lied because he still has hangups about being honest regarding his likes and dislikes as part of leftover baggage from Grace Field as a means to protect himself.
5. He doesn't care for it, but people wouldn't stop asking, so he just picked something at random.
6. He doesn't care for it, but he still has hangups about being honest regarding his likes and dislikes as part of leftover baggage from Grace Field as a means to protect himself, so he just made something up.
As revealed in his character profile from the first chapter of the mystic code book (chart compiling all this information by @officersnickers, my favorites here, general asparaygusposting here)
You think the trio are big TV/movie watchers (or whatever future types of media they have in the 2040s-50s)? Any particular genres you think they'd be fans of?
Emma can get behind any heartfelt narrative with enough earnest passion in it. She loves having fun and getting swept up in the plot.
She also enjoys sports (volleyball, soccer, Olympics, etc.). If she picks a game for a date night, Norman and Ray will go with her, and she'll enjoy herself because she's with them and they'll enjoy themselves because they have fun seeing her get into it. If she wants to get really into it though she goes with Don, Cislo, Barbara, etc. lsfjdlj those are her sports buddies. She 110% is there going full throttle hyping up Cislo and Barbara at their events.
(Chapter 181; I think Cislo would compete in the paralymics and I headcanon Barbara as a boxer)
NORMAN FUCKING LOVES MUSICALS he lives for the flamboyancy and dramatic flair. I'm always saying this but Peter might still be alive if he had created a theater program at Lambda to stick this kid in.
Some people might have the expectation that as a girl Emma would be the biggest fan of romance of the three, but it's actually Norman, even if he's kind of picky about it.
He and Ray also enjoy hard sci-fi because they can appreciate the meticulousness of creators sorting out exactly how the technology would work.
(Mystic Code Book Chapter 7 Q&A)
(Chapter 140; this is what Ray looks like when he gets engrossed in the sci-fi)
Ray canonically enjoys fantasy based on his earliest reading picks at Grace Field before he committed to reading everything in the library:
(TPN Light Novel 1: A Letter from Norman - "The Ghost Incidents at Grace Field House")
Norman might be picky with romance but like how I headcanon Ray as a bit of a food snob, I think he'd be the most vocal movie snob of the trio and would be on about cinematography and the like. Most likely to like out-there indie films. He's seen Asparagus (1979). At least one trio vacation was to where they filmed scenes of one of his favorite films so he could personally capture the same shots, sometimes just the scenery itself and sometimes including themselves in it. Emma and Norman think it's cute how into it he'll get and will purposely do split-second silly reactions if he's trying to get them to recreate specific poses before eventually complying.
They can all get behind a good drama or thriller, and they have fun with mysteries seeing who can guess the answer(s) first. Action flicks also make for fun date nights the cheesier they are.
From this ask regarding the kids' feelings on horror media but while they wouldn't have a hard line on avoiding it, I don't think it would be a favorite genre for any of them. Torture porn, purposefully edgy works that revel in the audacity of boundaries pushed and the shock value of the obscene, exploitation films. Hostel, Funny Games, A Serbian Film, 120 Days of Sodom, etc., I can't imagine them growing up and being fans of this subgenre after everything they experienced. If it's not abject, wanton cruelty I think it just depends on the movie and if they're feeling the social commentary the director is trying to communicate. Works that involve medical horror could be triggering for Norman so they might opt to avoid those.
What ever happened to those lambda scientists? Emma asked for all the cattle children to cross over but nothing was mentioned about the scientists + she also said there should be no crossing over between the worlds. Did the demon god just…idk leave the scientists with the demons in the demon world while the rest crossed over?
All the Lambda scientists are dead by March 2047.
(Chapter 119 | Chapter 129 | S2 Episode 8)
It's implied they were all (conveniently) killed off in the explosion Norman masterminds to keep with Shirai's desire for the cattle children to maintain their innocence/"whiteness" in the neverland, i.e., not have Norman or any of the other Lambda children be forced to murder any humans there in a direct confrontation, only demons.
(Shirai in Mystic Code Book Chapter 4 on plans to have Ray or one of the other children kill Andrew | Exhibition Interview)
Even at the mass production farms only the corpses of demons are shown amongst the combatants, so it feels safe to assume human scientists were only at Lambda 7214 by 2047.
(Chapter 113)
(Chapter 162 | Chapter 165)
And then I guess all of Peter's henchmen at Grace Field in the penultimate arc either got to come over with the children or they fled the way they came in shortly after Peter killed himself (they had a few hours to do so before the children left for the human world later that evening).
Do you think after learning the truth about the farms the cattle children would develop an aversion to pre-prepared meat of any kind (the source of which they haven't seen with their eyes)? And if given the choice avoid it entirely?
[Related poll]
I appreciate the distinction you're making with pre-prepared meat as opposed to meat in general since this is established in chapter 49/S2 episode 2:
And we see the kids hunting/fishing at different points in the series.
(Chapter 59 | Chapter 96 | Chapter 114 Flashback)
Based on what we're shown of the human world in chapter 179 to contrast with the fears the children held about integrating into it in chapter 97, it seems like there would be a fairly robust regulatory body overseeing meat production now that profit isn't the driving force behind the companies involved with it ("Only caring about yourself at the expense of others would no longer work. In order to survive, humanity as a whole needed to be saved.") So for simplicity's sake, all the pre-prepared meat they encounter is likely safely and ethically produced from start to finish, and it comes down to the individual's preference as opposed to a general aversion collectively shared by them.
As noted in the linked poll, I don't have any strong opinions or headcanons for character preferences on this matter, other than believing Ayshe would still eat meat without any reservations, though she'd probably hunt/fish for a decent portion of the meat she consumed.
(Mystic Code Book Chapter 5 Bonus Comic)
But it could be different for cattle children who were only made aware they were part of the farm system after arriving in the human world.
got any fave Goldy Pond hcs? can be any one of them & other characters and about anything!
Copying a lot from this post but I'm always on about trans lesbian Violet and trans wlw Gillian 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵
I cannot pass up Shirai canonically making her favorite food pickles (noted in her mystic code book profile). It writes itself.
(Chapter 81 Bonus Sketch)
I usually prioritize ships over hard gender and sexuality headcanons so it’s like, “whatever facilitates the ship” + it’s fun to play around with multiple takes depending on what you're feeling on a given day. But this bonus sketch cemented the idea of trans wlw Gillian being the one to take Violet under her wing (with Violet in turn taking Gilda under her wing as a fellow lesbian during the search for Cuvitidala and the Seven Walls, specifically recognizing Gilda having [had] a crush on Emma [before meeting Ayshe because Gildayshe truther 💚💛]). Idk, I just like how welcoming and accepting and playful Gillian comes off here. <3
I prefer how the manga fandub handled the reveal of Violet's name in chapter 69, though:
(TPN Manga Fandub Episode 4: “The Forbidden Game” by @tpnmangadub [post here])
I don't interpret Emma's original comment as intentionally malicious at all, and we don't know for sure what Grace Field's as a whole or Isabella's personal stance was on education regarding gender and sexuality besides what's briefly mentioned in the first light novel:
(TPN Light Novel 1: A Letter from Norman - “The Day Emma Cried”)
But it's still just kind of, eh, odd for her, though since it never comes up again it's not a glaring issue. [Related thoughts on the farms' stance on trans children here.]
☆ I'm not as dedicated to these but I also headcanon Paula as nonbinary (she/they) and Pepe as genderfluid. No one in the Resistance is cishet though.
☆ My favorite/default ships within the Resistance are Oliver/Zack and Gillian/Nigel, and I also like Sonya/Barbara (only fanart I've ever seen of it courtesy of @matilsabell <3)
☆ I think it's stupid funny with Zack's favorite food being boiled eggs if he just. Will randomly lock eyes with Oliver, deadass stare, only to pop open his mouth to show he stuffed a whole egg in there. Just because Oliver likes eggs enough, but not to the level that Zack does, but it's one of his quirks and it can make Oliver laugh so Zack just keeps doing it. It's their thing. <3
☆ Zack's specialties are linked together because he fell off the windmill while repairing it at least once.
☆ He becomes an EMT in the human world, in part due to being an adrenaline junkie (incorporated from @officersnickers' headcanons)
☆ Also I talk about this on these posts but I love the full score trio regaining regaining an elder sibling relationship they lost when all the older kids at Grace Field were shipped out. Emma and Oliver get the most focus in canon because they share the mantle of leadership in their respective groups, and we were robbed of seeing Zack interact extensively with any of the Seven Walls Search Party, but I like to think he and Ray become closer. Zack never reaches the levels of aggravation early Yuugo brings out in Ray since he's not openly antagonizing him, but he's willing to push back on things like Ray insisting he's good to keep watch when he's tired/sick/etc.
☆ Norman and Ray ask Nigel for help when they're tinkering with larger projects.
(Chapter 4 | Questionnaire Translation Source | Chapter 121 – Last panel included just because I think this interaction between Nigel and the trio is precious)
☆ Nigel and Yvette bonding courtesy of @65thgames
☆ Gillian makes Don a Little Bunny patch to put over his heart (courtesy of @technikki [here and here] and @promised-daisy [here])
☆ I don't think Sonya and Barbara would interact much in the demon world since they're only in proximity to each other for less than a month, but once they're in the human world there's sort of an opposites attract deal going on. Barbara admires how Sonya is calm and collected and laser-focused in on the minutia of things, Sonya admires Barbara's boldness and honesty, even when it gets her into trouble.
This leads to some confusion prior to them getting together because if Barbara was really into Sonya she'd just ask her out, right? That's what Sonya tells herself when she starts catching feelings and overthinking their interactions , but really Barbara's just having her own internal crisis. Initially she started asking Sonya questions because she was genuinely curious about the answer in the spur of the moment, crowding into her space while she worked at her computer, but then it transitioned into her coming up with questions so she'd have more reasons to talk with her without coming off as completely stupid. Barbara worries about that, this perceived chasm between them because Sonya's smart, and Barbara's strengths seem better suited for the demon world. This eventually results in her blurting out half a confession and twenty seconds of her wishing the ground would swallow her up before she powers through the rest of it.
Barbara is totally the kind of girlfriend who breaks the high striker at the fair to win her girlfriend an oversized plushie.
Speaking of fairs, neither of them is the biggest fan of sweets, but when they're out at one of these they'll share a blue and pink cotton candy because those are *their* colors (and the pink streak of Barbara's hair makes me think of either that or the swirl of an ice cream cone).
Sonya eventually becomes Barbara's boxing manager.
☆ Lucas and Sonya cane buddies!!
(Chapter 106 | Chapter 111)
After Goldy Pond we see Sonya with a cane but there isn't a single panel of them using their canes together, it's tragic. I also like to think Sonya would be encouraging to Dominic and Chris as they learn to walk again after their respective injuries.
☆ I don't really have anything to add to what Shirai revealed during the 8th Anniversary Q&A but I think it's sweet how Paula and Dominic are close:
(The Promised Neverland Art Book World | Chapter 111)
☆ In addition to having her identification marker tattoo removed (outside of the Grace Field children I don't think any cattle children have a complicated attachment to their markers due to where they're placed, so they all eventually remove them [related poll here]), I think Paula would have some corrective surgery done on her injury, and only if you know they're there would you notice the faint hints of scarring. She still incorporates her bandanas into her outfits in some capacity though.
What kind of person do you think James might have been outside of his whole role... Like a more human side from him? I just love him way too much and you are one of the only blogs that talk about him nowadays!
Oh man you should hit up @officersnickers that's her guy when it comes to the adult characters in this series.
I like keeping with the Norman parallels and see him as someone who had no trouble engaging and speaking with people due to years of PR training but was still fairly introverted and reserved, which was either enforced by his upbringing or serendipitously suited for it.
As the 35th heir to the Ratri clan a lot fell on his shoulders, making him view the majority of his relationships outside of it as transactional even from a young age. "Don't be unkind, but never forget who you are" was a sentiment that probably always lurked in the back of his mind and colored a lot of his interactions. In this semi-emotional isolation I think he would indulge in escapism and latch on to the romanticization of heroic escapades in fiction as well as the history he knew of Julius.
All of this contributes to him having a rigid sense of morality attuned to his social standing that he fully throws himself behind, to the point that Peter respected him more than either of their parents or any other figure in either world because of it:
(Chapter 173: "[James] was kind, smart, handsome, sincere and refined.")
It's also why he reacts so viscerally to finding out the truth about Julius and the promise (and not to the events in 2020 preceding WWIII, although they may have planted some seeds even if he was shielded from the worst effects).
(Mystic Code Book Chapter 7 - Series Timeline)
(Chapter 179)
The Ratris are shown to still have enormous prestige even after the world was overhauled in the wake of this war. James threw away a life of wealth and comfort as part of his atonement, and while he wasn't willing to break the promise himself, he was willing to stand behind the cattle children if they did.
(Chapter 72)
We don't know if there were already pockets of resistance among the scientists and other Ratri associates, but regardless, James is able to use his intelligence, charisma, and networking to not only suss out people open to his cause, but convince them the head of the entire clan was genuinely trying to dismantle the world order that led to him having his wealth and prestige and that this wasn't just a ploy to snuff out traitors.
Under this united front, that voice in the back of his mind is silenced, and while still somewhat isolated given the role he had to play between the two worlds, he's able to find some of the most authentic, fulfilling relationships in the last years of his life, in keeping with the theme of finding true freedom in dismantling or breaking away from oppressive systems. (Again going back to me being a JamesSmee shipper but one of these is with Smee lol, even if it's bittersweet with the way it ends).
But through all of this, he loved Peter dearly. After spending so many years as an only child, having a younger brother whom he could drop some of his walls around and dote on was the greatest gift his parents could give him.
(Chapter 173)
And that love would be his undoing.
(Chapter 73 | Chapter 173)
Peter was always a loose end as the one who witnessed James' revelatory breakdown that he'd never be willing to tie up. It's unclear how long he kept what he saw a secret from everyone not sympathetic to James' crusade, but it was at least a few years given how young he looks during the flashbacks we're privy to and that he's 15 when James is murdered. All of that time, if he ever gave any hints of wavering from what he told James about agreeing with him, James elected to ignore them, and I don't know if that's more tragic than him being completely blindsided by his brother's betrayal.
(Chapter 173)
But it's very telling that even knowing who ordered his death and everything else in play, his final thoughts were spent thinking of his brother and apologizing for being unable to save him.
A few headcanons:
☆ I think James' romanticism is part of the reason he never had children in any capacity.
(Mystic Code Book Chapter 6 Q&A)
I don't think he was being pressured to start a family given he was still young and everything he had going on even before WWIII broke out, but with all the pretenses in his life I think he was holding out for at least this sort of relationship and commitment to be founded on authentic feelings that he could find refuge in as opposed to it being a box he ticked off to keep up appearances.
☆ We don't know how involved James was with Smee beyond that Smee was a Minerva supporter, the one who killed James on Peter's orders, and the one who took up the reins from James' afterword, but I like to ship them because of the James Hook-Smee connection from the original Peter Pan and then have the tragedy of Smee being tasked with killing James (for some reason). Another parallel with Norman but similar to how Ray is the only one allowed to see Norman's prideful and impish side at Grace Field, Smee's at first the only one who sees the cocky and impish side of James.
☆ Based on the chapter 173 cover art, l think he read to Peter a lot, be it bedtime stories or them being research buddies in the library of their estates.
I mentioned that I think he gravitated toward grand heroic escapades and probably favored ones dealing with ancestral duties to sort of explain how he subconsciously reinforced his own beliefs about the farm system being predicated on ancestral sin all cattle children inherited even 1000 years out from the original promise. I talk about this here too, but it's interesting to speculate on whether James still held onto this belief or if it made him reform his worldview entirely that maybe all people are entitled to certain inalienable rights regardless of their birth.
☆ He strikes me as someone who would enjoy parlor tricks. Initially he taught himself this to impress his parents, who weren't thrilled with it but they never dissuaded him from the hobby, and eventually even they had to admit how deft he was in his execution and timing during a few dinner parties when they were trying to ease relationships between themselves and other party-goers they wanted to remain on good terms with.
Peter also absolutely loved these as a child, and I like how it would play into him reflecting on James' creation of William Minerva as an adult. How his slights of hand evolved into such an elaborate deceit that threatened Peter's entire identity and lead to him losing one of his most foundational connections. How it made him question whether he ever truly understood his brother at all and if that was better than having known him once and him becoming unrecognizable.
☆ I omitted Mike from my general trajectory of how James' childhood went because I like playing around with how antagonistic he is toward the cattle children and I tie that up with who between James and Peter is his favored nephew, but if it's James, I think they bonded over alcohol (keeping the burdens of the gatekeeper side of things and the human world side of things within the family, James setting up contingency plans for cattle children who made it to the human through Mike without directly revealing his plans, etc.) to partially explain how James developed a high tolerance that he used to his advantage.
(Chapter 179 | Mystic Code Book Chapter 6 Q&A | Yakuneba Community 8th Anniversary Q&A with Shirai and Demizu)
