#with the “I am going to punt Ray into the fucking sun” undercurrent going on lsjfsklj

[fullscoreshenanigans]

have a emma ratri au in the brain rn so how do you think the escape would go without emma in it? im guessing norman would cut a lot more losses without emma there to encourage him (maybe even escape with only the older kids that can make it) and I really liked your post on how norman was originally planning to leave ray behind!

im thinking norman feels guilty and goes back at the last second to see ray with the lighter fluid but ray sets the fire anyway to make norman go without him. But norman isn't as physically able as emma so he doesn't catch the match and Isabella pulls them both out

then as norman and ray are healing from their injuries in lamba they meet emma ratri (who would do anything for her clan/family in this version) who tries to encourage them to coperate/make them test better for the tifari by making them happy?

don and gilda would meet up with sonju and muijika and be a lot more friendly to demons/knowledgeable about their society (maybe even meet up with ashye!)

thoughts?

[Mentioned post]

Without Emma there as a moral compass, Norman and Ray might convince Don and Gilda that only the four of them should escape and come back for the rest of the kids after they better assess the outside world, with Ray banking on Norman discreetly seething the whole time so he'll ditch him at the last minute, but it's also possible Don and Gilda might rub off on Norman in Emma's place that contribute to him going back to bring Ray along.

Both of the boys ending up at Lambda is very interesting because while there is the poignancy for Isabella in Ray being the only one of the trio supposedly destined to be shipped and gupna'd as normal, I think there's enough breadth to argue that if Legravalima ate her father to become queen and hid Norman away in Lambda from the demon god, she might have tried to push her luck with the promise and steal Emma and Ray away too with how prestigious the trio's reputations were among demon society.

It's also interesting to see an Emma who might feign a similar demeanor to her canon one but drops it when things aren't going her way, either impetuously out of petty anger or as part of a longer con after she discovers someone's tried to cross her, in a similar tone to this exchange:

(Chapter 87)

She likes to think she's benevolent and reasonable, but being raised as a future head of the clan, she's cunning and ruthless, and she doesn't make idle threats.

There's also the dynamics to consider of how the boys would play off her together versus how they'd do apart if they were kept isolated from each other, if they even know the other one is alive, if Emma holds that knowledge as leverage, etc.

(Chapter 172, tweaked)

And then her conflicting loyalties if she starts to grow attached to them.

don and gilda would meet up with sonju and muijika and be a lot more friendly to demons/knowledgeable about their society (maybe even meet up with ashye!)

Assuming it's just Don and Gilda that escaped and not the rest of the canon escapees, there's a variety of potential there too. Like you said, them having more time with their nomadic demon parents, maybe opting to stay with them rather than going to the bunker due to safety in numbers, making them the biggest advocates for demons to humans that puts them into conflict with the older brothers they looked up to when they eventually cross paths again.

There's also meeting an Ayshe who hasn't been dealt the tragic blow of losing her father, and while I still imagine her to be reserved, there is a bit of a lighter air about her now that her first meeting with other humans is much kinder. Her dad could also provide insight into the demon world that Mujika and Sonju couldn't, like the inner workings of farms as a substitute for the bunker's knowledge.