#(Yes I'm talking about Mako Mankanshoku and what about that)

[just-like-playing-tag]

Here is something fun to think about, fullscore trio confession headcannons?

Pffft fun ask here we go!!

I already mentioned it, but I believe canon and modern au would take different routes: in canon I can imagine the proposal sequence to go like Emma + Ray → Norman, while in modern au it seems more likely to be Emma + Norman → Ray. I'm not 100% sure tho... Because they're still very young in canon (I'm talking about 2047), and it looks pretty early to me to enstablish a relationship... But they always act so adult and mature so it doesn't seem too far from reality? I don't know. The shipping discourse in tpn is complicate and I don't have enough energies for it right now.

I didn't really know how to organize this, so pardon the messy form,,, It's mostly ideas I'm just throwing there. Enjoy! Under the cut because it got l o n g

You see, Emma and Ray arrive to the Paradise Hideout already being pretty much together y'know? They keep acting as partners and they're all extremely affectionate towards each other, but they don't really discuss about it with Norman- hell, their closest friend they had spent one year and eleven months considering dead just turned out to be alive, there's so much to discuss and to catch up with!!! So at first they don't really think about mentioning their relationship to him: for Emma and Ray, it's like having suddenly returned to the happy times of their childhood. Yet, Norman definitely notices they're closer than they where at GF. He is happy for them- he really, genuinely is! They're his best friends, his greatest source of joy, the reason he goes on; he's obviously, sincerely glad they're happy together. But still, deep inside he does feel a little distressed? He's been alone for so long, he didn't want to be cut out of the special bond that used to link the three of them. He obviously already knew things would have never come back to be like they were at GF, yet he couldn't keep himself from mourning how their relationship had been irreparably changed. However, he pushes these feelings aside, not even allowing the thought to take shape in his mind: Emma and Ray are happy, and that's all that matters. That's everything he's been fighting for untill that day, and that's the reason he keeps fighting every day- to give them a bright future where they can be safe and happy. But his unexpressed anxieties are hard to suppress: he fears that things will not be like they where before, that something was lost forever; he fears he is now going to be sidelined in their relationship. He has been crushing on them since he could remember, so it's quite obvious deep down it was a bit upsetting for him to come up with the realization the three of them wouldn't have been together- even though he would have rather died than admit it to himself, or allow it to show. So I like to imagine we are at the end of chapter 121, when the trio is spending some time just the three of them, chatting and playing and forgetting about everything scary or painful. Emma talks and talks, trying catching up Norman on everything: it's almost like she's trying to make the time they've spent apart disappear, rewriting the narrative to make Norman fit in their (terrifying) adventures. She would have probably been overwhelming to any other, but not to Norman, who looked like he was having the best time of his life, never getting his glimmering, adoring eyes off her. Then at some point Emma goes:

Emma: Mmmhh what else... Oh, apparently me and Ray are together now? Dunnot at some point Gillian and the others said that judging from how we acted we where totally together-

Norman: W h a t.

Emma: Ahah I know, crazy right? Obviously you're in as well lol

Norman: W H A T ?

Emma didn't have the time to talk about it with Ray beforehand, but it was ok: for Norman to be included in their relationship felt like such a natural consequence to Norman being alive that they hadn't felt the need to discussing about it at all. Besides, at this point of the story, Emma and Ray are so much on the same page that they don't even need to talk about something to know what each other is thinking.

And you know how Norman is. He was too taken by overthinking everything and reconsidering his life choices, too distracted by his self loathing to even consider Emma and Ray would have asked him to take part of their relationship, no matter how obvious it sounds.

Ok now, I didn't plan this beforehand but PLOT TWIST Norman doesn't accept

He's like "No... I... *Dramatic pause* I can't."

Emma and Ray are sincerely surprised. Emma exclaims: "Why???"

Norman panicks and says: "There's... Another person". There is, in fact, no other person, and he's just making up excuses.

Emma and Ray don't believe him for one second but go along with it basically just to mess up with him

Ray, mockingly: Yeah of course... Wait don't tell me, the mysterious girl with the coral dress is back? [Reference to the first novel]

Norman, flustered: I'M SERIOUS GUYS

The true reason why Norman didn't feel like accepting their proposal is because he's self sacrificing and stuff, and because he believes he's going to die in a year anyway so he doesn't want to make them suffer.

In his head he's probably thinking "I'm sorry Emma... Ray... But I'm taking a path you can not follow... You don't know the horrible things I've done... You deserve better than me..." (Yeah he's just THAT dramatic).

(Ok tho I later realized that this is literally canon:)

Ray, in the meantime, knowing exactly what he's thinking because he just knows him that well (and can relate to his self-sacrificial nature), is like *rolls his eyes*

Ray, telepathically, to Norman: You know you can't escape Emma's love, right?

Honestly the thought of the trio being romantically involved is so funny to me because then the whole conflict for Norman's genocidal tendencies would be like:

Emma, talking to Ray: Ray I love our boyfriend BUT IS HE DUMB, ALWAYS TRYING TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF AAAAAAAAAAHHH SERIOUSLY WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?????

Ray, remembering the times he used to be as sacrificial: *sweats*

I don't have much to add because the rest of canon pretty much does it without me having to change anything ahah. Norman tries to execute his genocide plan, stuff goes wrong, and Emma and Ray manage to talk to him before it's too late. I don't think much of any at all of their conversation from chapter 153 would change.

When this happens, Norman knows they intend both literally and romantically, and, as soon as he accepts, Emma and Ray understand he finally resigned to his feeling and accepted to stay with them forever. That's very sweet actually, this scene makes me soft 🤧🤧🤧 Still one of the best tpn moments ever!!!!

I'm reading the initial ask again and honesty... I'm not sure that's what Anon ment with their ask but I kinda got carried away /////////////

This got long enough and I don't want to make Anon wait any longer so I'm not going to write here how I think the modern au confession would go; however feel free to ask if you're interested in it and I'll try to summarize it! But I have just a vague idea of what it would happen so it would probably be shorter than this :)