HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! You are one of my favorite people on this hell-site & you’re nice and great at writing! And you have really good ideas and you let people just kind of have ideas with you??? And it’s really amazing because you’re really amazing but it’s also great because it makes me feel like I’m a part of something that’s maybe not the most important thing but it’s fun & I like it & it’s important to me if that makes sense?? Sorry for dumping. Anyways happy birthday!! Have a wonderful life!!!
Aw darling you’re so sweet!
I love getting to interact with all of you and bouncing ideas off of each other. You’re all so good to me and patient when I take forever to answer or update things. So really the love and appreciation is totally mutual.
hi there, just wanted to say that i noticed how you’d routinely reblog my old norray animatic every time its Ray’s bday and honestly just wanted to express my gratitude 😭😭 i made that when i was like 15 and didnt expect anyone to even like it, much less be so dedicated as to reshare it every once in a while so it makes me feel a bit shocked and flattered. i havent animated much since but im certain my illustrations have looked better since then at least. anyhow thank you for liking my art enough to do that !!! idk just wanted to say that i noticed and appreciate it a lot <3
@ ANYONE WHO HASN'T SEEN IT YET PLEASE WATCH THIS ANIMATIC IT'S LOVELY THERE'S A LOT OF NICE CHOICES IN IT
Like for the first "shooting stars never fly for me" line Ray finally seeing one once Norman and his family help him believe in hope again, and for the second one there being a vast starless sky (but specifically retaining the crescent moon for Norman's cowlick sharkfin tucked away behind the clouds 💙🌙🤍) because the next scene is Ray's shooting star reappearing once again 🖤🤍
But yes thank you so much for sharing your art with the world! I love coming back and sharing your recreation of such a poignant moment in the series on the day it happens along with its resolution.
I remember seeing this tag on your reblog of it lamenting the turn the anime took and thinking how tragic the whole situation is, seeing a series that meant enough to you to want you create something in tribute to it be tarnished due to fiscal calculations by faceless suits, knowing that was the final impression so many people would have of it. It almost feels like it invalidates everything you felt about it or renders it pointless.
On top of that, you have the people heading twitter or other social media platforms not valuing your work the same way you do, only caring about it to the extent it keeps people on their apps/sites so they’ll be exposed to more advertising, in turn pushing creators to constantly keep churning out new material in order to not be drowned out by algorithms. Very detached and soulless, always pushing the newest thing and barely giving previous works (hesitate to say “older” with how fickle time is on the internet) time to breathe. Some days it's very demoralizing.
But I love revisiting older pieces I've seen before (see the "filed under posts I'll reblog in perpetuity until blocked" and "filed under RENarts that drive me crazy stupid" tags lol) or discovering new ones creators were kind enough to leave up. Even if they don't feel the same way about the series, the fondness they held for it at some point still shines through even years later, and I like sharing that with other fans. <3
Ray’s birthday put this on my mind, what do REN do for each other for their partners birthdays?
Mishmash of canon and No Reward AU thoughts here.
☆ I feel like they'd be pretty lowkey about their birthdays in general? Since their main focus is spending time together. If they're not out on a trip together, they'll spend time with friends and family, though I imagine there's a special kind of energy for certain landmark birthdays.
↳ In 2048, while they try to keep their spirits up, Emma's disappearance is still so raw for either Ray or Norman to not dip into melancholy thinking about the last respective birthday of theirs she'd been present for, though there's some comfort in them finding their way to the other's side later in the night to gaze up at the stars.
↳ In 2049, Ray's able to reflect on how they've come so far already in truly stating their lives in this world, like what Emma wanted. For Norman, finding Emma again around the time of his is the best gift he could have ever received. They try not to overwhelm Emma on hers. It doesn't stop the guilt that creeps into her heart over little things like realizing a trip into town with Alex wasn't the first time she tried carrot cake, but something she was known to delight in on her special day back at Grace Field.
↳ In 2067 when they turn 33, I imagine there's some brief somber musings about how they're as old as Isabella was when she died, whether they're silently aware of them from their intimate familiarity with one another or they're openly discussed. RE already experienced this from living longer than Lucas and Yuugo, but it doesn't stop them from having that similar moment of reflection dashed with wistfulness for a kinder world with her in it, though ultimately they take solace in knowing she would be genuinely happy about the future they'd created for themselves and their family. Repeat in 2068 when they turn 34.
☆ Overlap with the REN dates post, but even if they have other events planned for the day, they like to take some time to themselves to watch the sunrise on Ray's birthday, wherever they might be. From a balcony or porch at their home or a hotel, a good spot on a hill that will allow them to have a nice picnic, etc.
☆ Eventually they settle into a routine of birthday cuddles and kisses to end the day (my general cuddle headcanons here), with the birthday boy/girl in the center. NE are pretty open in their delight of them, while Ray can range from putting up a fake huff over how they're making such a big deal over him to being a bit of a cheeky bastard in saying he's owed some birthday cuddles as his trump card in a playful argument they might be having.
☆ Norman is very open to having a hot tub soak with RE accompanying him during the cold, frigid month of his birth (ever one for the dramatics if they're in the northern hemisphere at the time).
☆ Maybe not on the actual day depending on the season, but they also like to take in the cherry blossoms for Norman's during peak bloom to recreate a scene similar to his 2023 birthday art.
☆ I debate exactly when NR present Emma with the replica of her Grace Field music box, but it could be on her birthday.
☆ Sometimes they'll set up treasure hunts for each other's gifts.
↳ The boys love seeing the energy Emma throws into her deductions and search just as much as they enjoy seeing her pout over more convoluted clues or things placed juuust out of her reach as they lord their few centimeters of height over her.
(Chapter 90 | Chapter 1)
It's a toss up of whether she bullies them into getting it for her or if she refuses their help to get it herself. Norman's very proud of himself on the occasion where she nearly slips and he catches her so she doesn't wind up in the hospital.
↳ Similarly everything will be worth it if a long-winded clue ends with some dumb wordplay or a non-sequitur that has Ray looking at them with a feigned disdainfully incredulous expression. It eventually melts to one very fond.
(Chapter 17 | Chapter 43)
↳ If Norman has even the briefest moment of open confusion with his clues RE take it as its own separate victory from the gift itself, but the ultimate one is drawing out a brilliant, unbridled laugh.
(Chapter 128 | Chapter 181.4)
☆ The boys get flowers for Emma. Sunflowers, marigolds, it switches up each year, but they always get a matching set of three to put on their kitchen table. They also take turns gently weaving one they find out on a walk together into her braid. She keeps them in a pressed flower journal with brief notes to further imbue them with loving memories.
hello :D i dont know if its just me but i m still curious about how we can find ray's actual birthday, Kaiu said it's possible yet i feel like no one managed to figure it out, i know it's not necessarily the most crucial part of the tpn universe but i always wonder abt itt
Hi! ^^
He did mention that in a WSJ interview (translation found here):
In that same interview, he also mentioned how no one correctly guessed what was in Ray's letter left out as bait for Krone, and then confirmed in chapter 181.3 that it was what a lot of people initially suspected. He's also given conflicting answers about who names the children and his feelings on Noremma (or Sugita has as his proxy), so I could see it as one of those "y'all, the WSJ grind had me running so ragged for almost four years that it caused me to have serious health issues, it can be whatever date in this timeframe that you want it to be" type of deals with how little consequence it has unless one's really big on astrology (or for some lighthearted antics play into some teasing if he's actually younger than Norman lol, but I don't think they messed around with the order the children were tattooed as another layer of deception).
@temporoom's calculations are the most in-depth dive into the Grace Field identification markers that I've seen (posted here, here, here, and corrected version here) putting it between January 31st and February 5th. I think to be safe, the farm staff wouldn't put the fake date in the same month he was actually born in to further push the thought from unconsciously rising up in Isabella's mind, so I'd probably put it in February, though my personal biggest takeaway from all this is that it was another thing Isabella and the farm system denied him and separated him from his siblings.
