What sort of occupation do you think Norman would like?
Because I 100% agree he should not be a CEO
[Offshoot of this post]
I'm very biased by @officersnickers and @salsae and either see him as a doctor of some sort (default to pediatrician) or a university professor/researcher. Something that can incorporate his affinity for mathematics and science, provide him with mental stimulation and challenges, and allow him to achieve recognition on a global stage if he so desires without throwing away his empathy and humanity.
(Chapter 85 Bonus Comic | Mystic Code Book Chapter 7 Q&A)
I feel like that last element is a big thing for a lot of people given what he went through at Lambda. The worst year and some odds month of his life had him isolated away from his family in a cage, alone, and he suffered greatly for it.
It's an idea that's illustrated so poignantly in the chapter 128 cover art. Ray has become so much warmer and devoted to his friends and family after being afforded the chance to hope "for a future that is like a dream" and to care for them openly under Emma's tutelage, heart a wellspring of love and empathy. They're all shaping each other while he's left to wither, and the cunning and ruthlessness that save him almost lead him to a point irrevocable (by the narrative's standards; for some, he passes it).
(Chapter 181.4)
It's hard to ascertain what capacity a CEO operates in in this future, what ethical standards there are and what boundaries he sets for himself on top of the vast range of industries they dabble in, but that he's tied up in it at all with all the negative connotations surrounding the role and potential exploitation involved after overturning fate itself and restructuring a world order leaves a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, even with the simplicity and flexibility it affords in explaining away financial woes.
With a doctor, teacher, or any career without that level of baggage, there's the opportunity for him to incorporate his interests and be met with engaging challenges while simultaneously tempering that ruthlessness via establishing interpersonal relationships and working toward a collective, communal good. The possibilities for him are endless, but that's what I like for him since he holds Emma as his guiding star.
(Chapter 14)
For Emma, I've seen multiple instances of her being a teacher, especially one who works with young children due to how wonderful she is at understanding and empathizing with people, but she also has the tenacity to become a political activist or some other role of leadership.
(salsae's to have and to hold and these hands could hold the world)
Like Norman, anything that gets her actively involved in the wider world for a communal or societal good and allows her to flourish works for me.
For Ray, I have such a big soft spot for him being a librarian and rekindling his childhood love of reading under kinder circumstances and sharing it with future generations, but with his aptitude for science that Shirai mentions in the mystic code book and we see crop up throughout the story
(Chapter 137)
there's a lot of possibilities for him too, though out of the trio I feel he'd be the least likely one to entertain the spotlight.
(Chapter 181.4)
But maybe an architect who blends art and science together to construct a community given one of the things he wanted to do in the human world with his family was see the Sagrada FamΓlia (another one influenced by Snickers).
Interestingly, I've yet to stumble across any fanfics or headcanons where he becomes a professional chef, and I wonder how much of that is a shared sentiment of viewing cooking as part of his love language that he'd rather stay personal, something he only does for his friends and family rather than making a career out of it.
(banana_slug_army's The Language of Cooking)
While also unlearning bit by bit the idea etched into his psyche after years as Isabella's spy that love is always transactional.
