#but the furry fangy love era of the bloodrayne au was an artistically prolific time

[mintywolf]

In relation to the ask game, monk?

Also btw your art is great it’s been so fun following it for so long :3

Thank you so much! <3

Monk: what is your favorite canon relationship?

Hahaha. :) In case this was somehow not obvious, it’s Laudna and Imogen. They had me by the throat within seconds of their introduction.

And okay here’s the thing I’ve only ever had one (1) character relationship dynamic that I really care about. Like, this isn’t my criteria for shipping or anything it’s just that ships I get hyperfixation-level attached to happen to fall in this one weirdly specific category and it is this: romantic friendship between two magical and/or monster ladies, one pastel and one goth. One of them is doomed or carrying around some kind of Destiny and the other one is Very Concerned about it.

Whether or not they’re actually kissing doesn’t matter*, it’s the strength of the bond between them that makes my heart try to escape my ribs. Bonded like shelter cats who can’t be adopted separately. No one else more important to them than each other. A love that can (and does) save or end worlds.

It’s had a few iterations over the years but it’s never been canon before. I’ve always had to do a lot of AU heavy lifting because there’s some canon heteronormative boyfriend in the way or the setting was mostly original content and characters because the source material didn’t have many so the ship was half fanon to begin with or something. So to have the exact thing I’ve been longing for for probably close to 20 years fully realized and canonical handed to me right at the start of the campaign permanently altered my psyche. I have not cared this much about fictional characters in ever.

And what’s really special about it is that they are BOTH the magical and monster ladies!! And they are both doomed by their destiny while being very concerned about the other’s and trying to undoom each other! They understand each other on a soul-deep level – Laudna is the only person whose thoughts don’t cause Imogen psychic pain and Imogen was the first person in her whole undeath to regard her with compassion rather than fear. They were each the unique antidote for the other’s loneliness. And it’s beautiful!!!!

And they absolutely check all of the romantic friendship boxes so it was everything I wanted right from the start. While everyone was (understandably) crowing “Imodna canon!!” after episode 65 because they kissed I was kind of like Oh! Okay! This is new. :) :) but it didn’t change me as a person because that had already happened. They were canon from the beginning. The bond was always there. Imogen would have gone into hell and dragged Laudna out of it regardless of whether she had romantic feelings for her. They can’t be adopted separately!!

(CR asks)

*(I actually kind of prefer it without the conventional-romantic “dating” aspect because fandom in general tends to value the romance over the friendship but it’s not as compelling to me because I'm ace and though romantic and sexual attraction are two different things, the prevailing cultural understanding of "romance" tends to presume both and I'm just not interested. Intense friendship used to be much more of a social norm but it fell out of favor with the rise of the Standard Nuclear Family in the 20th century. But whether or not they could have remained a Strong Platonic Female Friendship has already been examined. ;) )