#interest from Laudna. But I think she wanted to and was hoping to hear that for like a really really long time

[nakanotamu]

I’ve seen loads of people atp talking about “when did Imogen realize she was in love with Laudna”, was it after being separated for weeks for the first time in years? Was it when Laudna died? Was it when they fought? And maybe Laura will talk about it on 4-Sided Dive and we’ll get a concrete answer. And I don’t mean to step on anyone’s headcanons or anything if you are mapping it to one of those moments.

And I see people talking about when Yu asked Imogen if her and Laudna were romantically involved and talking about how Imogen had never considered that before, and maybe I’m missing something, but that’s... just not how that scene reads to me, honestly. I watch the way Imogen reacts there and I see, despite the fight they were having and everything going on, someone reaching for any reason to say anything other than the hard truth she’s so frustrated with, trying to find anything remotely plausible that isn’t just “...No.”

Because the thing is, the way it comes across to me is that Imogen fell in love with Laudna about 2 years before the start of the campaign. The way she talked about hearing Laudna’s thoughts and it being like hearing music for the first time... that girl was in love right away. Day 1.

[utilitycaster]

It's become stunningly clear with this most recent episode that Imogen and Laudna's insularity, mistrust of everyone else in the party, and refusal to take responsibility for their actions is at the heart of the disconnect and lack of bonding within Bells Hells. It is not the only reason - I think Orym's constant smoothing over of issues in the interest of forward motion has certainly exacerbated the situation - but it's a significant and unavoidable factor. I'm hoping that while the actual exercises of the team-building probably won't themselves fix the issues this party has, addressing the various secrets that are now out, specifically the ones that touch on issues that affect the functioning and dynamics of the entire group, actually might.

As this post notes, their unwillingness to question each other or develop any conflict resolution with each other means they tend to, even if unwittingly, dogpile the rest of the group by acting as a singular voice. In a small conflict-averse group, this tends to constantly overwhelm the conversation. This is worsened by Imogen's psychic abilities, which permit her to glean information about the others without the need to have a conversation; it means the others in the party frequently start with two votes against them before they've even said anything.

They also both suffer from a pretty profound lack of boundaries. Again, Imogen's psychic abilities are invasive, frequently unwelcome, and often lead her to both jump to conclusions and to police the behaviors of others without considering their actions nor giving them any chance to have a full conversation. It also means she controls what information the rest of the party knows, as her interpretation of someone else's mental state is the only thing they're given when she reads someone's mind. Laudna, meanwhile, is extremely quick to trust, while also taking any deception as profound betrayal. As a result, they both tend to take a hot-or-cold approach to the others in the party based on the other person's most recent thought or action. They are prone to black-and-white thinking and snap judgments, which, as the next paragraph indicates, has serious ramifications.

Imogen and Laudna are terrible about actually talking to people and getting anything out in the open. This includes each other; again, see their frequent unquestioning support or the claim that their relationship defies words (which it does not; as of last episode this has culminated in Imogen revealing that, in fact, she is disgusted by a fundamental reality of their relationship, which is absolutely not something that can be addressed without a pretty intense conversation.) We also see this in how they've taken Fearne's choice not to take the shard. While, arguably, they had heard Fearne express her concerns about the shard to Morri by the time of the honesty exercise (which would make their behavior even worse), even if they hadn't, that's two voices shaming her for without hearing her side of the story. It's in sharp contrast with Chetney, who also expresses his disappointment with Fearne in episode 3x78, but immediately follows it up by asking her why she didn't want it. Imogen and Laudna never take it upon themselves to ask her how she feels or why she made that choice and let her explain; they jump straight to judgement.

That failure to ask ties into the final element of why they are the weak point in Bells Hells' communication: they are just as guilty as Ashton of "violent projection of responsibility", but unlike Ashton have not realized the depth of this flaw and the consequences it has not just on their own life but on the others in the party. This is less of an issue with Imogen with regards to Bells Hells (in fact one might argue she takes far too much responsibility in that she apparently sees policing the party on the basis of their thoughts to be her duty, though I would note that unattuning the circlet leaves her, the person with the clearest ties to the Vanguard, vulnerable to the powers of others within the organization) and far more so with the gods, from whom she apparently expects instant gratification. However, this is at the core of Laudna. It's true that she is by no means the only powder keg within the party; Chetney and FCG's abilities are also dangerous. However, one must take into account that Laudna has been aware of Delilah's presence for, as she has repeatedly stated, over three decades now, and only now realized the implications thereof, whereas Chetney became a werewolf less than a year ago and immediately took steps to mitigate the threat he posed, and FCG only learned of their condition within the past few months. Like Chetney, she has learned to remove herself from situations in which she could pose an immediate threat, but that slow learning curve and lack of proactivity is not promising for the future. It's also true that, keeping all other circumstances identical, the impact of Laudna's loss of control is far more dangerous. If Chetney bites someone or FCG attacks, unless they kill someone, the damage and curse can be undone and the power within them is unchanged. The same is not true with regards to what happens if Delilah makes Laudna absorb a magical item or a soul.

While everyone in Bells Hells shares some responsibility for the current state of affairs, Imogen and Laudna are without a doubt the primary source of toxicity. I think the others have become aware that they are in an environment in which Imogen is likely to either shoot them down, read their minds nonconsensually, or make insensitive suggestions, and that Laudna will nod along next to her as she does. It does not feel coincidental that Fearne chose not to voice her concerns and that Ashton avoided the group conversation entirely. This again does not absolve Ashton or Fearne of their deception of the party, but it does explain why they might feel an honest conversation is impossible. Unpacking what was said during the Honesty exercise might finally allow Bells Hells to excise this rot and to begin a new era of group conversations in which everyone feels they can say what needs to be said without fear, but it will be an effort to be sure.

Because it's me, I think it's worth noting that the fandom emphasis on absolving Imogen and Laudna of any accountability (which I've spoken about at length and have had on my radar for a long time now) is obviously not the cause of this behavior in-game, but does echo it in interesting ways. I'm not sure I would have realized the extent to which they evade responsibility in-game without this mentality being so prominently in the fandom. It explains why they are never expected, by many fans, to even achieve as minor a task as "asking Fearne how she feels instead of letting their own feelings dominate what they think she should do", let alone set boundaries for each other. But ultimately, that is the key: I think the only way for this party to achieve the trust they need is through the assertion of those boundaries. When Bells Hells know that they have the freedom to disagree with each other without being accused, dogpiled, ignored, or told to get it together, only then will they be able to actually come to true consensus rather than the fragile and tenuous teamwork they have had so far.

[fearnesbells]

I know you posted about wanting Imodna headcanons yesterday but here’s mine a day late. My head canon is that Imogen had been too bogged down with sapphic longing and doubt before she and Laudna became a couple and since then it’s been ~moon shit~ so she hadn’t really thought about children until that dream talk with Lilliana. So I imagine that her response was her being like “You know what yeah I do kinda want a family with the woman I love are you going to kill me so none of it gets to happen?”

ooooh interesting!! that’s very very sweet and i hope it’s true. juicy juicy headcanon. delicious.

i think for me, rather pessimistically, i believe that imogen is trying ANYTHING to get liliana to stay, to leave ludinus and the vanguard behind.

everything that liliana says, imogen has an answer for. she wants her mama to come back to her so badly. when she hears liliana say “when you have a child of your own, you’ll understand”(which, by the way, liliana, look at you go resolving that cognitive dissonance. your child just doesn’t understand, that’s why she wants you to come home. not because you’re encouraging the slaughter of thousands and dooming yourself. surely not) she searches for an angle, a way to make this thing that is important for her mother important enough for her to stay, and she says “are you willing to keep that child from being born?”

i don’t know if she even had the higher order thinking available to her in that moment to consider the wider implications of that statement—a family with laudna—but i certainly certainly agree with you that even subconsciously, that’s something she’s starting to want for herself. i just think that in this situation, it’s not so much a conscious effort as it is “please, mama, please, mama, please—what can i say to get you to leave?”

that’s my headcanon. yours, however, is a Very juicy one and i will be thinking about it all day.

if you enjoy imodna family feels, shameless imodna family fic plug here!

[arclundarchivist]

[Spoilers C3E79] A Theory Regarding….

Honestly a whole lot, but namely the Raven Queen.

So firstly, with the revelations that Fearne was a purposeful Ruidusborn and Imogen saying that she believes the Gods view her as tainted I began thinking about the Ruidusborn in general.

And I don’t think Imogen is on the money for her beliefs, for a number of reasons, but perhaps she isn’t fully off the money.

She is an Exaltant, and while we don’t know the full context of what that makes her, we do know that with her subclass she will soon gain an utterly alien Transformation something that has been building for some time, as seen by her growing scars and their shifting coloration. I claimed years ago that she was a cocoon, and it is becoming increasingly evident that is in fact the case. Very likely it will be revealed that she is a Reiloran, and that would in fact make her alien to the gods.

But perhaps not *every* god.

Something that seems to have largely been forgotten by the cast and by the audience is that a rather important figure was seemingly confirmed to be Ruidusborn.

The Raven Queen.

Now that could have all manner of interesting connotations to it, but it is even more intriguing when you realize that her herald, regardless of outside factors, was the one targeted by Ludinus to open the door to Ruidus.

We know he is deeply obsessed with her, and while folks have begun believing it is because of her apotheosis or because he knew her in life, it could be because she was tied to Ruidus, and went on to join the Pantheon.

Even more curious, look at her dominions, Death certainly for that was who she conquered in her rise, but also Fate, also Winter, a domain for each of the Gods Predathos devoured.

Was it a quirk? Did her predecessor claim those dominions after the fall? Was it due to her connection to the Red Moon? Did she perhaps wrench the strings of fate from the maw of the beast knowing what it wished to accomplish?

We simply don’t know, but while Imogen has claimed the Gods are ignoring them, outside of FCG and his own connection to the Changebringer, each time they have gone to investigate her, she has *not* been silent.

She has reached out to each of them at this point, through visions, portents and possible signs.

Even brief moments of Matt’s description have pointed the party in her direction, like notably when Imogen wanted aid for Laudna and when she left the Dawnfather temple Matt specifically pointed out the Raven Queen’s temple seemingly awaiting her but she turned away.

I think the Raven Queen has way more skin in the game than the other Gods. Even beyond Vax, and I hope something comes of it, but I’d love to hear what people think.

[pocketgalaxies]

i feel like we're gonna need a whole long individual post from you where you sum up your thoughts and feelings of c3ep51...it's a doozy and i'm interested to hear what you have to say!!😵‍💫

okay. okayyy. i just finished the ep so i haven't had a lot of time to think about it yet but. initial reaction is that i'm feeling a little hm. bad! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

obviously i haven't been on tungle so idk if a lot of other ppl feel this way or if i'm in the minority but. a lot of the latter parts felt bad. like in my soul, i mean. i was simply not having as good of a time as i wanted to be having.

cue complaining! apologies in advance:

it was like. liliana being obstinate, even with appreciably high rolls from imogen. ludinus giving this stupid-ass speech that went on for ages about how his life is sooo so so so hard. sky ship was a complete and utter bust. beau and caleb were a complete and utter bust. keyleth was obviously a complete and utter bust and then some. fcg was just stuck in a goddamn automaton for half the thing. destroying power cores maybe caused the key to malfunction, we'll find out, but they certainly didn't feel particularly influential in the final climax. nobody in the party even had an opportunity to do anything during initiative with the backpack having an AC of fucking 25 (when bh is only level 8!!!). laudna and ashton weren't even there, which obviously couldn't have been predicted or controlled, but it didn't feel good

i can appreciate and understand the idea of having it be very clear that this effort was actually futile from the beginning, because ludinus is unbelievably powerful and otohan beat their asses already and this was a plan centuries in the making and the manpower was there and the group is low-level etc etc. maybe this was always meant to happen, maybe the rest of the campaign as matt planned hinges on the majority of ludinus' plan succeeding, which is FINE. but i don't think i was alone in thinking that there was a non-negligible amount of hope going into this ep that something amazing might happen, esp with beau caleb and keyleth all explicitly involved. and it was all, very very unceremoniously, crushed piece by piece and all ludinus had to do was raise a fuckin pinky. you know what i mean? it just felt too easy for him. after watching bells hells painstakingly plan and desperately recruit help for two straight eps, i just sat here and watched ludinus shit and spit on all of that within seconds? felt bad. i think if there was more of an encounter, more of a fighting chance, then it wouldn't have made me as a viewer feel stupid for thinking something might actually fuckin work

i think it could be argued that the otohan fight in bassuras was similar in its feeling of futility, but like. it wasn't??? bc they were fighting her, they were doing damage, they were using up her spells and her legendary actions/resistances, and there was decision-making involved esp on laura's part. there was good rp and there was tension and risky choices, and the players were driving the ship. here it was like every single thing they threw at it didn't even make it in the door. the whole thing was over in one round

speaking of one round, i really actually quite unironically hated the 5 full minutes during which matt rolled 200 damage or whatever against keyleth. obviously because i love her, but also because it was the quintessential moment in the ep of making me sit here and go "what is the fucking point." one of the most powerful people on the entire planet, down before she can even think to do anything about it. and then vax shows up in this triumphant moment of divine victory just to get totally fucked. BY IMOGEN'S MOM, NO LESS. and NEITHER of them got a turn in initiative. bc ludinus is sooo smart and sooo powerful and sooo wise and sooo evil. vom

so anyway. i don't think i'm nearly as mad as this post makes me sound, but i am definitely having trouble finding parts about the latter half of this ep that i particularly enjoyed, at least in hindsight. like in the moment vax's appearance was Amazing. Legendary. but the fact that all it did was play into ludinus' hand made it feel lowkey like shit. so idk!

sorry this post turned into me saying mean things. i was trying to keep an open mind during my liveblog but i was quite frustrated at certain points lmao idk i'll keep thinking on it and you'll prob see posts from me if i change my mind about things

[genderlesssinner]

Okay okay okay, e109

Let's fucken go

Ah yes daddy Zathuda was turned into ✨furniture✨

And callomoore slept curled up with Gloamglut, cuties

Ash's comment about the world barely deserving to be saved,,, oof too real Tal

And then Fearne absolutely failing at the call and and giving him a friendship bracelet 😭

Gloamglut being confused about being free and basically asking permission to leave 😭😭

"go spread your legs!" *confused dragon sounds*

Good god Ashley

"For you, he's gonna come back." Assshhhhhghgg dkbxjd

Oh. Oh right. Braius and Nana. Interesting

Tummy Nana smiles.. Spooky

Nana apparently doesn't want the rooms (or at least *her* room) to be sound proof...

Chet talking shit about the other groups,,,, while yes they are, in fact, chuckle fucks but ...... Sir

Tallying favors,,,,, of course of course

Ashley, Travis doing a fake out every time he rolls for Chet Death also stresses me out

"I do know that she's kind of a fickle bitch." Nana speaks the truth yall, RQ is one of my favorite gods but also,,,,, yeah

The rat tails. RAT TAILS. Yall. No. Uh uh.

(right in front of Pate,, Laudna???)

Aaawwwwwwwuh I love Birdie so much

"New plan, if Fearne dies, we all sacrifice ourselves. I don't wanna be furniture." 😂 valid though

Duskhunger,, uh huh I did hear that right mid combat

Black fire cool cool cool extra damage ooooo legendary

Passed down... I wonder if it was a mark of his station / position as Sorrowlord

(brain immediately wanted to type Shadowhand,,,, woop)

Ashton with a sword with black fire..... 👀👀👀👀

As much as I love the aesthetic and the hammer.. Hmm

Suck List *heavy sigh*

Laudna "I'm much healthier now" Orym "no my sword has personal meaning"

Oh Dorian sweet sweet boy

*Dorian has no idea what's happening* Ash: I'm the only one that almost died its fine. Laudna: Nana Morri would rather you do it here where it's safe

I am crying guys

A tiny bit sad cause that harp was gorgeous but like those buff tho

"Let's find all Matt's best NPCs and eat them." turned into bells hells destroying the other campaign PCs to all of Exandria and I can't with these dummies sometimes

"Dorian or the funnel" "Yes"

I can't help but wonder how different things would be if Vox Machina had had someone who could minimize the time dilation from the Fae realm... *sighs sadly*

Let's go talk to the Matron fuck yeah let's goooo Laudy

I'm looking forward to another experience in the Matron's main temple

I don't think the Matron would be the other god that wants to leave. I don't think I would be surprised but I don't think she's the most likely to want to leave

"I been dodging this bitch for a while so I'm gonna hide"

"Tell that to FCG" MATTHEW.

Oh no he actually made her roll for it

A 0 yall, damn.

IT IS HER HELL YEAH Liev'tel my girl

YES THIS IS WHAT I HOPED FOR. SWIM IN THE BLOOD LAUDNA. DO IT.

YOUR TURN MARISHA.

Oh oh we're doing this as a group aight let's GO

I wonder how Dorian's Unending Breath is gonna affect his experience here, if it does

Ooh Orym don't panic they're fiiiiine

Whoa Orym okay then

Ooooo solo experience then

Wild but tracks

Oh god for the first time literally ever that has to Amp up the panic so much-

"this is what the satanic panic was afraid of-" 😂😂

Oooh my sweet blue boy

Oh no okay they are together

The strands of fate yaaaaaalllllll

THE FACT THAT IT'S MARISHA TO TOUCH IT AND SHE GOT A FEATHER IM totally normal about this mhm

"Thrice have you sought me.. Why?"

Screaming

Okay look I love her and I know this is kind of her Thing but why did we let Laudna lead this

Oooooohhh boy okay okay

So much to take in. I have no idea how this conversation is gonna go

Doorriiiaaaannn babyyy

Oh Ashton okay. Fair but uh. Uh oh

I guess we're doing this like that huh

Yes Orym fight for Vax 😭😭😭

Oooh oh no - Opal

Imogen's speech about all the others ♥️♥️♥️😭

Oh no Fearne - Opal 😭

WAIT MERCER WHAT THE FUCK THAT'S MEAN AS FUUUUCCK

THAT MAP THO HOLY SHIT

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAA

Oh my gods

Well. I guess one in particular huh?

Okay, Intiative.

Braius, Dorian, Laudna, Liliana, Vespin, Opal, Chet, Orym, Fearne, Ashton, Imogen

Oooh Doriaaannnn he's gonna make me cry before this is overrrr

Ohh good thinking about the Threads Marisha smart

Making the soft boys and Fearnie fight their friend is so mean and then you got Imogen having to fight her mom too like damn Matt

Oohh nnooo not drider opal noo

TIME STOP?? MATT. WHAT.

What the fuck. Awful. Hate.

Aaaaand this is why this ep is call Test of Fate, isn't it. Hate hate hate

Oh well this sounds like there rolling wonderfully

Matt you cannot make us feel bad for Vespin right now I refuse

Lightening titties, go 😂😂

Yaaaaassss zap them fuckers

Ooh fuck yeah I love the Wormhole Strike that's my favorite thing he does I think

ASH CAN DRAG BITCHES THROUGH THE PORTAL??? HILARIOUS

So many Smites. So many.

Cool move with the thunderwave Dorian

I get distracted during combat yall, sorry. It's midnight and I end up just vibing but listening

Matthew motherfucken Mercer. No.

Ooooohhhhhh and Orym gets the hdywtdt

Okay okay and he did non lethal? I assume. But she still go bye bye. No more drider. Yeesh

Oh. There's a edge. Hate

The Matron is Lady Gaga, confirmed.

"The monkey is going to throw flaming poop at the man who is responsible for the Calamity.. "

"We are kicking him while he's down."

That fucking chain lightening. Holy shit. 51 damage.

Oh no Ash woof okay jeezus. Almost fell into the abyss

LIGHTENING TITTIES. SEE.

Shimmies out of existence 🤣 jazz hands and all

Taaalllll "who's your other character?" you hush

He's seeing Opal memoriesssss noooooo aaaaaa 😭

But she's in the Hellcatch Valley! That's good! This is illusory!!

Laudna

Um

Uh.

Hm.

Good bad idea?

Okay okay okay we most certainly got the Matron's attention now

Imogen only got stunned,,, I was expecting worse

Orym reminds me of Link a lot sometimes man. Has anyone done that? Is that a thing? Has the crossover happened?

Sooo that happened

But now we just have to deal with a likely pissed off goddess

Parallel opinions, huh. I guess it is her

She took off the mask

She took off the mask

Holy shit

I need someone else to put in to words why it makes so much sense for her to be tired of being a god; I cannot my brain is soup

Ooohhh right right no I should have known she couldn't see Vax's fate; I'm pretty sure we knew that

He is stuck in the marble and sufferingggg my booyyyyyyyy 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Ah.. The other gods want to fight - as the Arch Heart said: Calamity 2.0.

The Arch Heart is bored, wants to leave before they cause more damage. The Matron just wants to let fate do it's thing and not intervene

Hm. So destroying the gods would just let Exandria's natural cycle restore itself.

Asking why - wizards and hubris, man.

Interesting that the previous god helped her to take his place

"I'll be seeing you soon enough."

HER MASK?????

I'm sorry. What.

She just gave them a calling card. Wow okay

Chet is so the one to literally try to bargain with the god of death

If she dies or whatever happens to gods

Maybe Vax would finally really be at peace

I'm sure he's made his peace with how his story went, the choices he made; but he could finally rest

Oh I can't think about that too much I'll cry

Vax was the one who surprised her I'm gonna ccrrryyy

Oh not these fuckers do not give them a beacon

The gods don't even know what they are. Hm. Maybe the Kryn's story of the beacons origin is true

Laudy's thread is silver. Interesting. But changes and merges. Huh. They're changing her.

And Laudna was nekkid that whole time 🤣

Lots of interesting conversations today. I'm sure I missed stuff but that's why we rewatch. See yall next week -

Don't forget to love each other ♥️

[inconmess]

29. "I broke my hand" for Laudna

OK. Ok... the prompt... I hope you don't mind if it is a 5 times 1 kinda situation! Kinda coincides with my HC of Laudna even in her younger days didn't register pain all that well so...

Five times Laudna didn't realise she had broken her hand and the one time she does it on purpose.

1. Matilda

She raced up to the front of her little home, out of breath with a big smile one her face as she held out a basket of multiple fruits.

"Mama! Can we make pie today?"

"I am not so sure, dear." she said absentmindedly as she folded the clothes that had been hung out to dry.

"But we have got lovely fruits and you said we can make pie when we got fruits!"

"Yeah, they do look lovely... Matilda, why is your hand swelling?" she asked, immediately crouching down to get a better look at the hand.

"Yeah, I fell off a tree when I was trying to pick up fruits? It didn't really hurt though. Is it broken?"

Her mother looked at the bent hand once more before looking back at her in a shielded panic. "You don't feel the pain?"

"I mean, it tickles but it is not aching. Andy complained the last time his hand went like this though. He was just being silly I suppose."

"Yeah, maybe." her mother gave her a weak smile. "You know what? Why don't we take care of this and I make you some fruit jam for your toast. And the next time your father gets home some flour, we can make the pie."

"ALRIGHT!"

2. The Briarwoods

Maybe she should've refused to go to the dinner party. If this is how rich people parties went, she didn't want to go to one anymore. If she could ever go to one in the first place that is...

"Doesn't it pain?" A fellow prisoner asked her out of the blue as he nudged her.

"What pain?"

"Your hand. It's broken."

"Oh... It's broken is it?"

In all honesty, it is not her fault she didnt know that her hand was broken in this instance. It was tied behind her back after all! It wasn't like she could see that it was broken? At least not until one of her fellow prisoner nudged at her and pointed it out.

"You don't feel it?"

"Not really, no. Maybe it hasn't kicked in yet."

"DUDE! It has been that way since you were thrown in here hours ago!"

She tried to glance back at it and... oh. It indeed was broken where the guards had tied the rope.

"Maybe the guards tied the rope up too tight?"

"No shit."

3. Roaming

"You saved me from the wolves!" the little girl beamed in joy.

"I... suppose I did do that, didn't I?"

"But your hand is broken" she immediately pouted.

"I suppose it is, isn't it?" Laudna pretended to consider her dislocated wrist for a moment before looking back down at the girl. "Want to see something interesting?"

"Oh yes!"

"I am going to fix this in no time, right in front of your eyes."

"Oh! I've seen my mama do it a lot! Can I do it on you?"

"You know how to set dislocated wrists?"

"Oh yeah! Mama used to treat other people when they are sick and some of them came with funny bones so she would help them set it right. Though you aren't shouting like they do..."

"Do they shout like this?" she asked in a high pitched voice, changing the pitch of her tone every few seconds, causing the girl to giggle.

"Want me to set it for you?"

"Yes, sure!"

4. Imogen

"Laudna! Laudna! Laudna!?"

"What is it, Imogen? It is too early to wake up..." she asked groggily, trying to pull Imogen back to bed

"I'm so sorry!" the panic and whimper cut through her sleepiness as she got up.

"What are you sorry for?"

"I don't know! One minute I am tossing and the next I hear a crack and your hand is at a weird angle! I think I broke it!" she panicked. "And we don't know any healers nearby!"

"My hand is broken?" Laudna asked as she inspected the hand in question closer. "More like dislocated. I'll be fine." she dismissed.

"What do you mean you'll be fine?"

"I'll be fine just like that. See?" she asked and quickly set the hand back into place. "That's all. I will just need to wrap a cloth around it and I'll be fine."

Imogen screamed and backed away two steps before coming back to her. "How are you not..."

"Panicking? In pain? Treating this like it is... normal?"

"Yeah, people's thoughts are usually loud when something like this happens but yours was just... quiet. Eerily quiet.

"When you go through the things I went though, you start feeling less of it.

5. Bells Hells

"Guys? I think I broke my hand?" Laudna shouted, waving it as the hand flopped around.

"Then don't move it around all that much!" Ashton shouted as he hit another wolf.

"How the hell did you break it from afar?" Chetney asked. "You were up a tree!"

"I fell." Laudna deadpanned as she tried to set it back.

"You do realise it is broken and not dislocated, right?"

"Eh, both are the same. Can't feel either much anyway. Probably until the adrenaline wears off, I suppose. I don't know why it always keeps paining after you guys brought me back to life..."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, I never used to feel pain when I broke my hand before. And I used to break it a lot at that time. Or people broke it. Either way."

"And now you feel pain?" FCG asked as his hand lit up, a healing spell ready on his lips.

"Umm... Not really? Like a little bit, I suppose but everything kind of aches after being dead and brought back alive twice, to be honest so I am unsure what is the cause of this... pain."

"Well, at least you can identify that you have a broken and dislocated body part easier now I suppose. It is a good thing, right?"

"I hope so..."

+1

"Ashton, break my hand."

"Why do I have to break your hand? Laudna, what are you up to?"

"You want someone to go see the cleric, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And I don't feel much pain when things are broken in my body so I should be the one to do it."

"Doesn't mean I have to break your hand!"

"Look, the reason I am asking you and not the others is because you know when something needs to be done, you will do it no matter the cost. And the rest aren't hurt and I don't want anyone bleeding just because we want to see a 'difficult to see' cleric."

"I can simply walk in, in that case. Any cleric is going to be interested in this shit." he said, knocking on the glass on his head.

"Nope. I am going in and you aren't going to stop me. Break my hand, Ash."

[mintywolf]

A Long Road Home Author Notes - Page 1

Hello! Going forward I’m going to be attaching author notes here on my personal blog for anyone interested in hearing me ramble about this. :)

For Page 1.

If you’ve been following me for a while you probably know me best from Guardian, my last big comic. (For those who don’t, it’s a graphic novel about Lulu from Final Fantasy X. You can read it here: @guardian-comic) Since finishing work on that in early 2020 I’ve been struggling to get a new project started. I’d had a number of other original and fan projects backburnered but found I had a hard time caring about them. (Or honestly, much of anything, after the plague malaise took over. A lot of things, on both a global and personal scale, happened in 2020 that made art just Hard in a way that it hadn’t been before, a feeling I’ve seen shared by a lot of creatives at the time.)

Then CR Campaign 3 started and I don’t know what it is exactly about Laudna and Imogen but these characters and their relationship have my entire heart. I have not hyperfixated this hard on something in years. As with Guardian the impulse to express all the heart emojis bursting out of the depths of my being in the form of an unwieldy graphic novel came out of nowhere, and the beginnings of it came in a dream. (Although as also with Guardian, the pages that I dreamt for it never actually made it into the comic, haha.) I woke up that morning feeling in my soul that it was Time. 

Fortunately I have the benefit of 10 years of experience this time so rather than just diving headlong into another opus I spent several months planning, outlining, writing the script, and working on character designs. I’ve thought before that if I’d known exactly how big Guardian was going to be at the outset I never would have been able to get started. This time I know. And friends . . . it is another behemoth. D: A few times, watching the script steadily balloon in size, I stopped to think what are you doing, this is insane, this could be a fic and take a fraction of the time, but I have no sense of artistic self-preservation. :D

I’m still scared! I know from having done it before that I can do it again, but it still feels very Big and I’m still working my way back up to the level of artistic productivity I had then. But I’m excited about it in a way I haven’t been about a creative project in a long, long time.

For a long time it didn’t have a title, it was just called “Southern Gothic Meet Cute Prequel Comic??” at the top of the script page. That got shortened to “Southern Gothic,” which fits it both as a ship and a genre, but I decided that was a little too cheeky since it is the ship name (one of them) and also not very indicative as a title. The meaning of the new one will I hope become evident as the story goes on. (I never did change the tumblr url though. It is what it is.)

Yeah so! Here we go. Here’s Imogen, with some curiously bare arms!

It’s implied that Flora is a white horse (when Imogen selects horses for the journey to the Heartmoor Chetney remarks that he thought she’d prefer a white horse, but she says she doesn’t want to replace Flora) and originally I intended to draw her that way but I ended up liking the palomino paint look. (Incidentally my first horse in Breath of the Wild looked like this so it’s kind of nostalgic for me. ;)) She’s still mostly white. She kind of disappears from the scene because it’s a dream. In the narration she always runs away before the storm hits.

I think I over-rendered the backgrounds, haha. But I just got all these cool grass and field brushes just for this! (Available here.) The quilt was also more intricate originally but I didn’t want to drive myself insane trying to keep the pattern the same every time we see it, so I simplified it a little. It’s still cute. Also a recurring staple of my art: cute jammies. :)

Her bedroom is in the attic, which we’ll get a more clear picture of later. I imagine she’d have moved up there to be as far away from the presence of other minds as possible.

[overnighttosunflowers]

HI I'M LATE TO THE WRITER ASK GAME! ❤️💥🎁🦈 (for my brand) 🧪🤩

HI NATALIE THANK YOU FOR THE ASK <3

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

What the hell, have a goofy excerpt from the journal fic:

List of ideas Prostrate self on spiky rock New rock??? Horse???? Sculpt horse out of rock Repair old rock?? Repair old rock with blood Sacrifice self → Delilah’s magic in soul = soul goes into old rock = repairs rock?? Find Delilah new magic = gives back rock?? Prostrate self on very very spiky rock on the ground in front of her so that she can step on me → forgiveness via pain as I deserve Give some other chance to take retribution?? Give her my hair?????

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

I really wish we’d spent longer in Yios—it felt like Matt spent soooo long building up to it and then the Hells found all the information they needed in like two episodes and skedaddled. The pacing has been pretty frantic and while I’m enjoying all of it I’m also hopeful that the second half(?) of the campaign will have a little more breathing room. I was put a bit in mind of the way Campaign 2 felt right around Travelercon—whipping through the visit to the Blooming Grove for instance. Having something fixed on a calendar is tough.

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

God I absolutely cannot get the hang of FCG and it drives me insane. I’m almost tempted to write something set during this Wildemount arc where Imogen gets to yell at him or something just to practice his (impossible) voice and getting inside their head.

🧪 Do you research for your fics?

I am a terminal canonfucker so yes I dooooo. Lots and lots and lots of linkable transcripts, primarily, but when I was writing the journal fic I had like seven or eight tabs open at a time—a couple of transcripts, the two critrolestats campaign calendar pages, a CR wiki page about the calendar, a critrolestats tab listing all of Imogen’s dreams, and a couple of CR wiki episode pages.

🤩 What led to your interest in the fandom?

I got really into TAZ balance in I think 2018—I’d been hearing @thunderburning talk about it for quite a while and then someone I was friendly with at work recommended it as well and I figured what the heck. I started seeing some CR on my dash from following TAZ blogs and gradually became interested. The thing that finally pushed me over the edge was meeting someone at a work lunch who spoke really enthusiastically about it, and then immediately going on a vacation where I had a lot of downtime (car rides and also jet lag insomnia). I think I listened to maybe the first six or seven episodes of Campaign 2 on that trip? It was a bit of a slow burn and then somewhere around the disastrous hospital heist episode I really went all in.

🎁 Have a piece of a WIP you want to share? I truly don’t have much right now so I am taking inspiration from you and using something I abandoned. I had fully forgotten about this one, it was set post-38. I’d written about a thousand words so I’m putting it under a read-more.

After dinner, after everything, they’re laying blankets out around the base of the sun tree. Laudna doesn’t really remember coming outside. She doesn’t really remember dinner. Snatches of it—Imogen beside her, hand on her arm, bracing her. It makes it feel more real. Imogen and the sun tree.

As they lay down, Laudna hovers a little, unsure of what to do, whether to—where to—it was her idea to sleep out here and they’re all looking to her and she doesn’t know where to, what to—

“Laudna?” Imogen says, and her voice is a touch to the hand, soft, firm, kind. “Come here, honey.” She’s found a spot in the curling roots, a trough between them. She sits and holds out a hand, and Laudna takes it and curls down beside her, lays against the rough, warm bark. She doesn’t quite realize she hasn’t been breathing until Imogen lays down beside her. Warmth in both directions. Everywhere. It’s been a long time since she was warm.

There’s a sound. The bumping of a wheel across ground. “Imogen, sorry, I wanted to check. Did you want me to—” Letters says. “In case tonight’s the night?”

Imogen shifts beside her. “Oh—sure, Letters. Yeah, thank you.”

Laudna turns to see what’s happening. Letters is laying out spell components—a feather, twine, a silver coin. She doesn’t recognize them. She wants to be conversational. She wants to ask, normally, what he is doing, and not because the presence unfamiliar magic makes her feel twitchy, like the time she’s missed is spinning out ahead of her, things changing in her absence, foreign and alone. She winds her fingers into Imogen’s, and just like that, Imogen squeezes back.

After a moment, she finds words. “What’s the feather for?” 

“Shared Dream,” Letters says proudly. “Lets someone come into a dreamscape with you.”

Her eyes move to Imogen. Imogen, Imogen. The dream—and Otohan—(a flashing sword, echo of a Imogen giving in for her, a liability, a nuisance)—Imogen looks brave and hopeful and scared. “Into the dream?” 

“We’ve been tryin’ it for a few days, while you were—gone. It hasn’t worked yet,” Imogen adds as Laudna’s heart falls, catching it. “But maybe tonight’s the night.” She forces a smile. Brave. Laudna wonders if there are updates her dream journal has missed. 

“I was wonderin’, actually,” Letters says. “Should I cast it like normal? Or now that Laudna’s back, do the two of you want me to try to send her in?”

She can go into the dream? She can be there for Imogen? She can escape her own nightmares, her own head? “I can—I can come,” Laudna says.

“Oh, honey, no, you don’t have to do that,” Imogen says immediately, and something inside Laudna caves in like wet sand. “I don’t need—all I need is for you to be here with me, okay?” Laudna’s expression must show something because she reaches out and touches Laudna’s face. Laudna is grateful. “I’m so glad you’re here with me.” 

“Me too,” Laudna says, and Imogen’s expression goes soft and intense and warm, and she wants to cling to it.

“All right then!�� FCG says. “So I’m just gonna get it set up, then, with one end on me, okay?” Their magic sparks and then they hand Imogen the silver coin. She slips it into a pocket; the feather, twine knotted around it, goes back into FCG’s bag. Laudna watches it disappear inside the cloth, stays sitting as they roll away.

“Laud?” Imogen has laid down again, tucking herself back into the space between the two hugging roots. She’s got a blanket from the castle; it’s getting dirty. Laudna makes a mental note to clean it tomorrow. Prestidigitation. She can do things like this again. She can make things better. “Come to bed?”

“Of course,” Laudna says, and she lays back down amidst the brambles crawls under the corner of the blanket where Imogen has lifted it, crawls inside to where Imogen’s arms are waiting for her, and lets herself be folded within them. The tree holds her; Imogen holds her. Imogen kisses her hair softly and, surprisingly quickly, with a sense of safety and assurance that Laudna has rarely seen in her, her breathing falls into sleep, where Laudna cannot follow.

-

Laudna dreams.

The tree is cold. The tree is cold and she is cold and the barn is cold. She’s dressing for dinner and the clothes are paper against the wind and there’s a chill wind on the air as they bring fire towards her home, and she doesn’t finish making Pâté and she is alone and it’s cold, she’s freezing, and then she’s not alone for the whisper of a voice, Delilah, always Delilah, waking rope around her neck to Delilah, the whisper of—

Imogen.

Warmth. 

Her face, through the branches; her voice, a rush of dream-memory, telling Laudna to fight. I want to, Laudna tries to say, you’re here and I want to, tell me how to fight and I can keep trying, I don’t know how anymore, but there’s nothing that comes out and she tries and tries again and her tongue is gone in her mouth and the fire picks up around her, how is the fire cold, and Pâté must be burning and her bird, the drawing, to take her away, she has a pocket full of feathers to build the bird and they’re carrying away on the ice wind,

“We’re here now,” Imogen says, and her hand is against the glass against Laudna’s and her eyes are warmth, and Laudna touches the glass and she feels Imogen’s hand in hers, they’re at dinner and there’s a sandstorm at the windows and Imogen’s hand is in hers and it’s steady and it squeezes when the lobster is served and her breathing stops and she looks to the end of the table and it’s Delilah, and Laudna looks at the lobster and it’s a noose, and she looks to Imogen in a panic and Imogen is there. She holds her hand and she’s there. Just stay close? Laudna says, and Imogen nods and leans towards her as though to kiss her, but there’s a barrier there, and she leans away. Don’t go too far, Laudna says, and Imogen says, I think that’s up to you, darlin’, and Laudna’s hands are Delilah’s and her face reflected in the glass is Delilah’s and the glass is a bubble and the dining room is a tree and Imogen is on the ground.

Don’t go too far, Laudna tries to say again, and Imogen’s face is terrified and she is farther away from LaudnaDelilah’s face, good, that’s safer for her, she shouldn’t be here, she shouldn’t, and Delilah’s voice speaks as Laudna’s mouth moves. Don’t go too far, don’t go too far, she says, don’t go—

and the tree closes around her

And Laudna wakes up.

(……anyway after that Laudna was going to beg her way into a dream with Imogen out of a need to feel useful, and in the dream she was going to be able to protect Imogen in some very Laudna way that I hadn’t quite worked out yet—something that gestured at just how false that “I haven’t been able to fight her for thirty years” was, that demonstrated all of the ways in which Laudna is and always has been so so strong. But then I started writing until the mosses take root in thunder instead and this one sort of fell by the wayside.)

[rosegrlwrites]

I posted 84 times in 2022

That's 84 more posts than 2021!

61 posts created (73%)

23 posts reblogged (27%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@romeoandjulietyouwish

@ghostofwhitestone

@rosegrlwrites

@katia-dreamer

@rp-meme-glaceon

I tagged 72 of my posts in 2022

Only 14% of my posts had no tags

#rosegrlwrites - 67 posts

#critical role - 60 posts

#bells hells - 37 posts

#cr campaign three - 34 posts

#cr campaign 3 - 32 posts

#imogen temult - 18 posts

#orym of the air ashari - 17 posts

#cr imogen - 17 posts

#cr orym - 17 posts

#critical role imogen - 16 posts

Longest Tag: 47 characters

#because she was am idiot and posted this at 8am

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

She was brought to dinner by a woman named Delilah.

"I mean, I remember quite a lot, for better or worse. My parents thought that getting an invitation to the palace, to the castle, to meet the Lord and Lady Briarwood was a great boon. We were promised a wonderful feast and an amazing party. We were told we were going to be serving a greater purpose for Whitestone."

Orym froze.

"Laudna?"

"Hm?"

"You know what's interesting about you?"

"Hmm. Well, I would hope a great deal of many things."

"There's the obvious, but you are the happiest person in this bunch."

"Of course. The worst thing that's ever happened to me has already happened."

"What the fuck is up with that?"

"I remember being tossed clothes to wear—it was actually quite fantastic. And then...the rest is a little fuzzy. They dragged me away, separated me from my parents. Next thing I remember is waking up, being hung from a tree. It was the Sun Tree, actually. Quite a spectacle. Oh! And there's these—"

Laudna pulled the small ear cuffs she wore off, showing the jagged tips of her ears.

"They cut my ears to make them pointy, to further match whatever warning signal I was."

We have to help them. We're did this to her. We're the reason she was on that tree in the first place.

And Vox Machina, mighty Vox Machina, keeps to the square's outskirts. Percy and Vax notice it first.

Eight bodies, hanging from the Sun Tree. One for each of them.

Each of the bodies dressed and set as a message.

A message received, and left for another party, years later, to find.

39 notes - Posted October 14, 2022

#4

@ghostofwhitestone was doing HCs around Orym/Will a while ago, and I had described a little thing in my ask and it just has not gotten out of my head, so here's a tiny drabble with my original thoughts and theirs included.

The house after the funeral is quiet. Weirdly quiet. Orym doesn't think the house has ever been this quiet.

Everyone is just sort of...staring. Nel's been crying since the funeral, and she's still sniffling, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief every so often. When they got back, Maeve made tea, but it's still sitting on the table where she placed it.

"Do you remember the time Will fell out of a tree watching you train?" The entire group looked at Berenie. "He had climbed up into the branches and just stared for...I don't even know how long. He leaned forward too far and the branch snapped and you could hear it through all of Zephrah. He wouldn't talk about it for a week—just get all red when anybody mentioned it."

"There was the time he almost burnt down the house making dinner." Lita added.

"The chicken." Orym laughed quietly.

"He ruined half the flower garden training once." Nel sniffled. "Then he ruined it again picking ones for you."

"There was the time you two went stargazing and he didn't think to tell us." Maeve laughed. "We all thought you two had run off in the middle of the night until we found you both dead asleep in the grove."

"First time you sparred, he almost knocked you unconscious with the wooden sword. Didn't want to spar for a week after that." Derrig added, with nods from Nel.

And the stories keep going. Their first date, ruined by the rain. The first time Will took Orym home and all the sisters doted on him, asking him all sorts of things. Will proposing before Orym had a chance to. They're all teary again as Orym jumps in.

"One of the dates—I think the one before the stargazing—we just sat and talked for the longest time and we started talking about what we would do if we got married and what would happen in the future and where we would—" A broken sob is wracked from the halfling, torn from somewhere deep inside of him as he talks. "—where we would go after we got married and what he'd wear and what everything would look like—and where we would go if we ever decided to leave the Blades—he went on about seeing everything and anything—"

"—Oh, Orym." Nel quietly moved beside him as he broke down into tears.

"And now we never will." He sobbed.

"I know, darling."

And the fact is that Orym knows too. It's come crashing far too hard and far too fast and he's falling into the fact that Will is gone much more than he ever truly wants to.

And yet, he'll be caught. Although Will may be gone, his family is not.

46 notes - Posted August 25, 2022

#3

Following threads. Dark fey influences. Members of the Cerberus Assembly. Power players in Marquet. One month out from trouble. Stay the course?

The words come through as Keyleth sits in the garden after a meeting. They're not from anyone she's ever heard before, but she knows who they're from. This is not good. Not what she expected, either.

"I thank you for the message, whoever you are. This is disconcerting news. Stay the course carefully. I'll pull threads on my end. Stay safe."

Keyleth takes a breath, steeling herself in the comfort of the garden. She is going to need help.

48 notes - Posted August 28, 2022

#2

Whenever Ashton gets a migraine from his powers or his head, each Hell has their own little way of helping.

If they're inside for the day, Imogen sets up the Dancing Lights around the room to keep it just lit enough for everyone else without making the headache worse.

Fearne uses her Ice Knife as an ice pack for when he needs it, and keeps a small mix of flowers to smell when it gets bad.

Orym keeps Gust handy if a smell gets particularly bad, but can Druidcraft little flowers to smell if Ash needs it.

Laudna is particularly handy with her Ray of Frost if a lot of things hurt, but tends to just keep anyone trying to interact with Ash away by simply being a little scary to them.

FCG tends to be avoided by Ash at all costs unless it gets incredibly bad. Then the aeormaton finds them.

Chetney is like a non-magical Laudna. Scary when someone gets close, but checks in every so often to make sure they're still doing okay.

71 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

If someone tried, the blend of anticipation, tension and pure worry could be cut with a knife across the small room in Pike's home.

They are so close to getting Laudna back. Well, hopefully. The threat of Delilah reappearing still looms over their head, a darker presence among them.

"Everlight, please bring these friends together."

Orym blooms the brightest poppies to frame Laudna's face, the bright red against the inky expanse of her hair and pale frame.

And FCG tries, their attempt at compelling her back into reality fading to the edges of whatever magical energy is working its charm.

And Imogen tries, tears running down her face, terrified of losing her again.

And there's a collective release of breath as the Hells find Laudna amongst them again.

And she's in Whitestone, but it feels more like home than before. Like some sort of dream, rather than a nightmare.

74 notes - Posted October 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[shriekshrike]

y’know what’s really interesting about last night’s episode is that it really revealed the BIGGEST flaw that bells hells has as a party:

they don’t fucking trust each other enough. or rather, they don’t trust themselves.

sure, they have the “you can have my back, you can save my life, you can heal me and switch places with me in a fight, you can head into danger and come out just fine” trust because if they didnt, they wouldn’t have made it this far. literally.

but they’re all so fucking careful when it comes to their suspicions! chet never says anything to anyone about dusk, orym doesn’t say shit about reading chet’s and dusk’s lips, imogen doesn’t say boo about not being able to read dusk’s mind. it’s not that they don’t think the others aren’t capable, but more like “if i don’t get all my ducks in a row no one will believe me” which!! is so much. to think about.

because when it’s said like that it’s not like they don’t trust one another, it’s more like they DON’T TRUST THEMSELVES individually! which makes so much sense! ashton got betrayed by ppl they thought they knew better than anyone else in the world, FCG finds out someone they thought was dead is actually alive and never bothered to get them back and they’re also fucking glitching more and more often and he finds out not only did dancer not make them but also they are MUCH MUCH older than anything or anyone else they’ve ever met (pre divergence BABY aeor is for LOVERS nd robits), imogen was a hermit in her own fucking home bc no one wanted to be around the girl who could get into your head (not like she had a choice sometimes) and she doesn’t trust herself not to somehow cross lines with people whether that be on accident or on purpose, laudna licherally spent 30 years post-death being ousted from town to town because people found her a freak and a witch and has a DEAD NECROMANCER WHO KILLED HER IN HER HEAD, fearne is slowly coming to realization that her parents maybe weren’t sending her post cards all those years and that her life really wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and her memory is a little fucky (that feywild shit, huh), orym still probably feels residual survivor’s guilt in being unable to protect the one person who really truly mattered to him and sees it as a failing in himself rather than just something that happened, chet is a werewolf who literally gets run out of towns because of what he is and he could literally lose control if he’s too hurt or out of it and hurt someone else (as seen w orym)

like they’re so...aware of the trust they have for one another, but because they don’t trust themselves, they never SAY SHIT bc they’re always second guessing their suspicions which is so fascinating to watch; they don’t trust themselves enough to follow their instincts to trust one another even moreso. they’ve all got like folie a deaux but it’s mass imposter syndrome instead.

and it’s not like dusk knew that abt the bells, but it worked so well in dusk’s favor bc even if it was an 11th hour realization and discovery for the pc’s who did start to get suspicious, it would have been enough time to maybe do something. but they DIDN’T and it kinda doomed them!

after this i hope they get more...confident in their own capabilities. or at least learn to trust their own guts without needing confirmation or waiting for all the chips to land. sometimes, you just gotta listen to the sirens in ur head because that’s the part of u that wants u to survive no matter what.

dusk says a lot of shit and idk how much was truth laced with the sweetness of lies you wanna hear, but they got one thing fucking right. bells hells are special. and they gotta realize it before it really lands them in hotter fucking water.

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

You know that comic about the witch giving her hand to the person who gets the key to her house from around her cat’s neck? Here’s an Imogen/Laudna fic about it :D

There’s a witch who lives in a small cottage in a clearing in the woods.

 She is known by all in town as the most beautiful woman in the village, with her soft purple hair that falls in waves down her back and her pink lips that look like roses on a sunny day. Polite and quiet, she’s tried to keep to herself. But since arriving at the secluded town, she’s been chased after by many men and women alike, trying to win her favor and her heart.

 But it’s not just her hand people seek, but her magic as well. Wherever she goes the smell of ozone and lavender follows, the scent of her magic. Magic that can levitate things, repair things, and delve into minds. Magic like that is rare in these parts, even rarer to come from a beauty like her.

 Laudna has only seen the witch a few times, never for longer than a brief moment. Imogen Temult, that’s what everyone calls her. She’s seen Imogen in passing in the market or drinking tea at the shop. She is wonderful, Laudna thinks and she’s always been somewhat drawn to her. But she’s never had the confidence to say anything. Besides, it’s not like Imogen would ever be interested in someone like Laudna.

 On this cool fall day, Laudna is doing her shopping as quickly as she can. veil drawn over her face and gloves on her hands to hope to dissuade the stares and rocks being thrown at her. Monster, they called her. And maybe they’re right, it certainly seems like it sometimes. Thankfully, she’s been able to fly under the radar today thus far.

 Laudna goes about her business, buying some vegetables and bread. From behind her, there is a wave of chatter, it doesn’t sound bad or mean, so Laudna doesn’t pay attention to it at first. Not until she hears the man shopping beside her say, “Gods, she’s beautiful.”

 Laudna turns and gets her first real look at her, Imogen. Her purple hair is pulled from her face with a yellow bandana, a teal dress with yellow and purple embellishments making her stick out in the crowd with their bland dress. And immediately Laudna knows that beautiful is not the word she would ascribe to this woman, unearthly, remarkable, powerful would all come first.

 Laudna watches as the woman tries to go about her shopping as well, only to be quickly stopped by a young man, “You are most beautiful, miss, might I-”

 “Please leave me alone,” Imogen says politely, pulling away from him as she turns to the vendor. Only for another young woman to step in front of her, presenting her with a single rose. Just as politely, Imogen dismisses her. Laudna watches as it keeps happening, the witch will try to do her shopping only to be interrupted by someone propositioning her. Laudna aches to help her, but she knows that in doing so the ire of the people will quickly turn to her.

 It’s incredibly easy for Laudna to tell that Imogen is getting frustrated and overwhelmed in the crowd, her hands clenching into fists, the smell of ozone growing stronger. A woman touches Imogen’s waist, tucking a flower behind her ear, Imogen pulls away quickly, careering into a tall man with a love struck smile. People begin to crowd around her, chatter growing louder and louder until finally-

 “Enough!” Imogen shouts, her voice crackling with the boom of thunder.

 Immediately the market falls silent as everyone looks at the witch, her hair flying up around her, veins of purple lighting starting to crack her skin as she floats a few feet off the ground. Laudna watches in fascination at the display of magic.

 Imogen glares down at the people surrounding her, “I’ve had enough of your advances and your compliments and your propositions,” Imogen says loudly. “If you want to win my affections, you must take the key to my house from around my cat’s neck. I’ll give my hand to whoever enters my house with that key. Until then, I ask you all to leave me alone.”

read the rest on ao3 (3k)

[utilitycaster]

Out of pure curiosity — since we’ve seen some interesting character stuff with the Uthodurn group, both the BH and the guest characters, are there any dynamics or types of interactions you’re hoping for/looking forward to in the other group once we see them again? And/or any guests you’d be excited to see with that half of the party (whether the players themselves, or types of guest characters)?

Re specific guests, answered here. Honestly though I probably wouldn't have thought of Christian Navarro for the first group but he's been great. My only real thought here is that while I won't mind the rest of the Crown Keepers as the guests, I'd prefer new guests instead. But beyond that...answering this question really is just yelling out actual players I like who live in the LA area, and that's not terribly interesting.

For dynamics: I would love to see more Ashton and Laudna interactions in general because they're always fantastic, and I would like to see Ashton finally get around to asking Orym about Hishari and Ashari. As for the rest, hard to say until we have more info on the guests. The main thing is, as I put in the initial answer about the guests, that they run into people who serve as interesting foils for all of them and who ideally are not as caught up in the solstice.

Off-topic, but answering this did help me solidify my thoughts on predictions though. I'm interested in making predictions if it's based on existing information, and I don't mind making wishlists (separate from a prediction, incidentally; prediction is what you think will happen and a wishlist is what you want to happen; mixing these up leads to dumb theories, bad fanon, and Spelljammer) in scenarios where we truly have no information (eg - what class we want cast members to play at the start of a campaign). But in cases like this were we have partial information (Ashton, Laudna, Orym in a group together) and nothing else (where they are, who the guests will be)? I just don't have much to say. I'd need to know the guests and their roles to talk about their dynamics in any meaningful way. It's simply not fun for me to go (for example) "I hope it's Brennan and I hope he's a paladin and I hope he interacts with Orym". Honestly this is also why I don't really care about guessing Laudna's patron or hearing other guesses; I just don't care for a return of Delilah, and do think it's boring that she seemingly has no patron, but beyond that I find it far more rewarding to be open to the possibilities than to throw out random unsubstantiated guesses.

[laudsimogen]

Prompt: Scar I might have something brewing on this theme, but I'm not above sharing! 💖🖤💜

Silver Lining

1.

The first scars either of them noticed on each other were the ones on Imogen’s arms. They were in plain view; her gloves covered a lot, but not nearly everything, and the faint purple glow of them made them more obvious than most scars.

“Did they hurt?” Laudna asked as she traced one thin, delicate finger over one of the raised lightning streaks. They’d only known each other for a few days, but they already felt comfortable enough to ask somewhat personal questions.

“No,” Imogen said. “They didn’t happen all at once. They…grow, I guess. When I use my power. It doesn’t hurt; it just tickles a bit. I usually don’t even notice.”

“I think they’re beautiful,” Laudna said. “Very unique. They suit you.”

Imogen fell silent for a moment, trying to process the compliment. Beautiful wasn’t something she thought of herself in general, least of all her arms. But Laudna was so transparent and genuine—if she didn’t think something were true, she wouldn’t say it. Which meant she really believed those words.

Imogen looked down at the scars and tried to see them the way Laudna did. Maybe she was right. They were interesting, at the very least, and maybe they could be beautiful if only Imogen could forgive herself for existing as she was.

She smiled down at Laudna, who still sat enraptured by the designs on her arm. “That’s a real nice thought,” she said. “Thanks, Laudna.”

2.

It took a while longer for Imogen to get up the courage to ask Laudna how she died. It had to come up organically, and Laudna had to be the one to bring up the topic, otherwise Imogen was afraid she’d trigger those traumas and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

“Oh, look at it,” Laudna said, staring longingly at a necklace in a shop window. Its delicate gold chain was the same shade as her ear cuffs, and hung from it was a polished black onyx pendant wrapped in elegantly swirled wire.

“It’s gorgeous,” Imogen said. “It would look beautiful on you.”

“I wish I could wear necklaces,” Laudna said. “They look so nice, but…” Her hand crept up to rub her throat under her jaw. The skin there looked darker, almost bruised, but Imogen had never known why. “It just feels wrong. Brings back some unfortunate memories.”

“Is that…how it happened?” Imogen stared at Laudna’s hand on her neck, and Laudna pulled it away as if she hadn’t realized she’d been doing it. She broke into a sheepish smile and tried to brush off the crack in her façade.

“Yes, it is,” Laudna said cheerfully, and she linked her arm through Imogen’s. “I suppose I haven’t told you that story yet, have I? Let’s keep walking.”

Imogen listened with rapt attention as Laudna animatedly recounted her death, holding tight to her arm, eyes locked onto the scar from the noose. Everything about it was horrible, and she didn’t understand how Laudna was able to talk about it so flippantly. She wished she could go back in time and change it, do anything to keep Laudna from having experienced such pain, but of course she couldn’t. All she could do was muster a few words that she hoped Laudna would like hearing.

“You know,” Imogen said, “it kind of already looks like you’re wearin’ a necklace. But you don’t need one, anyway; your spirit’s bright enough to make up for flashy jewelry.”

“Oh.” Laudna paused, and for a moment Imogen was afraid she’d said the wrong thing, but then a gentle smile spread across her face. Imogen wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw just a hint of dark blush to her cheeks, too. “I hardly think that’s true, but…Oh, Imogen, it really means the world that you think that of me. Thank you.”

3.

The first time Imogen changed her clothes in front of Laudna was the first night they’d spent together on the road. She didn’t think anything of it as she pulled her dress off to put her nightgown on, but the sharp intake of breath from Laudna’s direction caught her attention.

“Imogen, darling,” Laudna said softly. “What happened?”

Imogen followed Laudna’s eyes to look down at herself. “Oh,” she said. “That happened years ago; there was this steer with a real bad attitude. He got me pretty good.”

Laudna reached out to touch the deep, wrinkled scar on Imogen’s side. Her fingers brushed the tissue there, and Imogen couldn’t feel it—those nerves were long gone—but she still shivered at the gentle touch.

“It looks like it must have hurt a lot,” Laudna murmured. “How bad was it? Before it healed?”

“It was…it was bad,” Imogen admitted. “I think I almost died. My dad stayed near me until I could move around properly, and he…you know, he doesn’t like bein’ around me. So, I guess he had to be pretty scared.”

Laudna frowned. “You deserve better than that. Better than conditional love. I’m sorry your father doesn’t understand that.”

“I don’t blame him,” Imogen said, but her heart ached with Laudna’s words. There was something so freeing about hearing it out loud, from someone who had accepted her and been beside her since they’d met. “I do have better now, anyway,” she said. “I have you.”

4.

“Ow—fuck.”

Imogen looked up from her book to see Laudna putting the tip of her finger in her mouth, sewing abandoned on her lap and brow knitted with discomfort.

“Did you prick yourself?” Imogen set her book down and reached under the bed for the small first aid kit they’d put together. They hadn’t had much problem with injuries thus far in their travels, but they’d decided it would be a smart investment. Imogen opened the tin of salve and held her hand out to Laudna.

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” Laudna said. “It’ll stop bleeding in no time. Trust me; I’ve done this a lot.”

“Just give it to me,” Imogen said, and Laudna sighed and placed her hand down on Imogen’s palm.

“This is a waste of perfectly good salve,” Laudna protested, but Imogen just smiled and chuckled as she held Laudna’s finger close to her face. A new bead of thick, dark blood was forming from the prick, and Imogen blotted it off on the back of her hand before smearing a small amount of salve over it.

“Just a little bit won’t hurt,” Imogen said. She could have let Laudna’s hand go then, but she kept her hold on it, her eyes roaming over the scar-pocked topography of her fingers. “Are all these nicks from needles?” she asked.

“Mostly,” Laudna said. “I sometimes get impatient when I work; it results in a lot of little accidents. I’m sure my hands would be much prettier if I took my time, or maybe just used magic—it’s not as if I don’t know how,” she chuckled.

“Your hands look fine, Laudna,” Imogen said. “I think it’s nice that you stitch things yourself. It gives ’em character; you don’t get that with magical mending.”

“Imperfections, you mean,” Laudna said. She gestured toward the blouse on which she’d been embroidering a sunflower over a hole in the fabric. It wasn’t ugly, but the petals were uneven and some of the stitches were tighter than others. It was much more interesting than simply disappearing the hole away.

“Sure,” Imogen said. “But I don’t think things should be perfect, anyway.” She ran her free hand over Laudna’s, feeling each of the tiny marks on her fingers, then reluctantly let go. “Still, though. You’re the closest thing I’ve ever seen to perfection.”

“Well, that’s just silly,” Laudna said, but Imogen didn’t miss the soft smile on her lips as she returned to her sewing.

5.

Traveling with a cleric was nice. Neither Imogen nor Laudna had ever had the convenience of magical healing, but it was welcome as they found themselves in combat more and more frequently. Most wounds vanished completely under the effect of the spells. Worse ones still left scars.

“I’m sorry, Imogen,” Laudna said. They sat together in their tavern room, and the candlelight was dim, but Laudna could still see the fresh scar on Imogen’s forehead. Her dark eyes had been locked onto it since they’d settled in for the night. “I didn’t defend you very well today. I’ll do better next time, I promise.”

Imogen shook her head. “I’m fine, Laud. It’s not your job to defend me, all right? I didn’t even get that hurt.”

Laudna reached out to ghost her thumb over the scar. There had been a lot of blood, but Imogen was right; it was a relatively shallow wound, and even if it had been worse, she still would have healed nicely with FCG’s spell.

“I’m just afraid,” Laudna whispered. “Of the trouble we might be getting into with all of this searching. It’s worth the risk, of course, if you think it is, and you’re so capable and amazing…but I’m afraid of something happening to you. I can’t protect you from everything we meet no matter how much I want to.”

Imogen smiled and swept Laudna’s stray hair out of her face to see her eyes clearly. She’d never seen them so full of worry, but the tension eased a little with Imogen’s touch.

“I’m okay,” Imogen repeated. “I’ll always be okay as long as you’re with me, all right? I’ve never felt stronger than I do with you.”

“You’re so strong with or without me, Imogen,” Laudna said earnestly. “Please don’t underestimate yourself.”

“Fine,” Imogen said. “Long as you don’t underestimate yourself, either.”

Laudna made a small, dissatisfied hmph sound, and Imogen had to hold back a fond laugh at the way Laudna’s face scrunched up. “I don’t know what would ever make you think that I do,” she said. “But you know I’ll always be with you as long as you’ll have me.”

“Always,” Imogen said. “I’ll always want you here. Who else is gonna make me smile after fighting some fuckin’ creeps the way you do?”

Laudna ran her thumb over the scar one more time, then leaned over to kiss it. “And who will make sure you take care of yourself afterward, too? You should get some rest, darling.”

Imogen’s skin buzzed where Laudna’s lips had touched it, and she felt fainter now than she had with a gushing head wound. “All right,” she said. “All right; just lie down with me, will you?”

“Of course,” Laudna said. She smiled and curled up next to Imogen under the covers, and she fell asleep knowing Imogen was still smiling, too.

6.

The wound in Laudna’s chest was not a scar. It did not have the chance to heal into a scar, so it was just raw and open and stagnant where Imogen wished she could lay her head and listen to the familiar slow beat of Laudna’s heart.

But she couldn’t. So she cleaned it.

Imogen took a rag and alcohol, and she wiped the dried blood from Laudna’s skin as slowly and carefully as if she were alive to feel it. She threaded a needle to close the wound, wincing each time the point penetrated the cool grey skin. Would it hurt if she woke up? Was Imogen making things worse?

But she wiped her eyes when they blurred with tears and swallowed the lump in her throat. Laudna had taught her how to do this, so it was what she would do. And when she finished, she took what was left of their tin of salve and spread it over the wound. That would help with the pain.

It wasn’t until the first night they spent alone together after Laudna returned that Imogen saw the wound again. It was a scar now, healed by whatever power brought her back, and the stitches were gone but a row of tiny, regular marks was visible on either side of the wide, silvery surface of the scar. Imogen saw it, and she covered her face with her hands and cried.

“Imogen?” Laudna abandoned tying up her fresh shirt and reached out to hold Imogen’s arms. “Imogen, what’s wrong?”

Imogen shook her head, choking back a sob, and removed one hand from her face to lay it over the new scar.

“Oh, darling…” Laudna swallowed hard. “I know it’s ugly, but it’s all right. It doesn’t even hurt, really.”

“Not…not even these?” Imogen touched her fingertips next to the darker grey dots. “I’m so sorry, Laudna. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Laudna paused. “Did you do that? The stitches?”

Imogen sighed and nodded. “I don’t know, I guess I thought it would help somehow. I didn’t mean to make it worse; I just…I just wanted to help. I couldn’t do anything else.”

“Imogen, you didn’t make anything worse. You could never make anything worse. The stitches…that was so kind,” Laudna said. “I couldn’t imagine who would bother. I should have known; you’ve always given me so much more care than I deserve.”

“Don’t say that,” Imogen said. “Please. Please don’t say you don’t deserve a single thing I’ve done for you, Laudna, or any of the others; you deserve all of it and more.”

Laudna paused again, then murmured a hesitant “Okay.” Then, “I don’t mind that it’s ugly, you know. I like it.”

Imogen sniffed. “The scar?”

“Mhm.” Laudna looked down at herself and traced the dotted outline of the scar. “I don’t mind it,” she said again. “It’s a reminder.”

“A reminder?” Imogen tried not to laugh, not to give some sarcastic remark about wanting a reminder of the time she’d gotten Laudna killed. It wasn’t what Laudna was going to want to hear, so she’d hold back.

“Yes,” Laudna said. “A reminder that I was gone, and I was brought back because people love me, not because they needed to use me. A reminder that you care enough for me to stitch a wound I couldn’t feel. That you never abandoned me.” She frowned. “I would have abandoned me.”

“You know I would never,” Imogen said quickly. “Never. You know that, right?”

“Yes.” Laudna wrapped her arms around Imogen and pulled her close, tucking her chin over Imogen’s shoulder. “I love you so, Imogen.”

Imogen hugged her back, and she could feel on her bare skin the texture of the scar. She could also feel Laudna’s heart beating beneath it. “I love you more than anything," she said.

[wastingoxygensince1983]

My thoughts on C3E27

I was really thinking to write this before but I got a panic attack for a personal thing and I decide to postpone it.

Again, this is very dumb and not all the things I would love to post, and I’m sorry for the people that waste time reading this stupid stuff.

Having Ashley as a regular is such an improvement. I hope she gets to do a lot of Ads as mending the time she wasn’t there.

I mentioned before but I couldn’t look at nothing more than Laura and her arm during her merch segment. Although that shirt looked beautiful, and I think that would be the first merch I would buy If I have the ways to get one.

Fearne’s postcards had to be fake. I’m so sad for her and I’m more curious about Morrigan now than ever. I wonder if she wasn’t really Fearne’s nana but a high figure in the feywild and they left Fearne with her for protection. Also, how is all of this connected with Morr from the crown keepers?

The way every single one of the members of hell bells do everything they can to protect Fearne there. It shows how much this group has growth together in the time they have.

I want to believe that Dusk is reaching for a connection with the party and they have real interest for Laudna or Orym and is not a plot to mess with them.

I guess that during Laudna and Imogen conversation, Erika rolled a perception check and sent a text to Matt? I guess it was a perception check. That was sneaky.

My opinions about Imogen and Laudna’s conversation are in here.

I know they were always good, but is so interesting to see Ashton so supportive and interest on their friends. I wonder if it has to be with what happened to them during the fight meeting Dusk or has been in Bassuras.

F.C.G really need help. I hope they get someone that can give them answers. How they continue messing names was scary.

I don’t have that much to say about Orym more than I love him and I feel for him.

GIVE MISTER A GUN.

I wonder why Fearne doesn’t transform into a direwolf. I mean, I kinda understand the mechanics part, but I would love to hear a reason in the plot why she doesn’t reach that. I’m pretty sure the gang is gonna die from excitement when she does.

Holy crap what on earth is happening. I don’t remember any other plot connected in the way all of this is going.

So, I believe the black ring is pointing to the gem and not Fearne? So, I was kinda right and is something she is holding more than herself.

I’m not that interest in the race but it looks is gonna be fun.

[lessthanimpressedlesbian]

How about something interesting: Laudna is resurrected, but it's her old self (and free of Delilah for good) and everyone is worried that the Laudna they knew is gone forever.

And then Orym (gods bless his short king heart) notices and points out to the group with his insane perception that even though they've giving her distance, they still see Laudna doing things that she would do before, just not as exaggerated as when she was a Hollow One. Yes, even her fun-scary nature as she uses her OWN magic (with Delilah's long gone) to play with shadows and puppeteer Pâté and Sashimi.

As such, it makes everyone hopeful that the Laudna they knew isn't gone at all. They just need to get to know her again, and discover that she still has the same wanderlust as before. Especially when she notices and waves hello to them. And when Imogen still hears the same music as before, but a lot more soothing and clearer than ever.

And then... the faintest indication that some part of the old Laudna is there as she remembers flashes from earlier in the campaign, including what the Hells need to do. And so she goes back with them. Because they're fun to be around.

I love this! I really love the potential for the rest of Bell's Hells to help Laudna learn about herself and figure out who she wants to be as a person without Delilah's influence or the complete isolation she experienced because of the prejudice of others. I think this would be great because they might need to consider what happens if Laudna never remembers. That discussion will definitely help them keep from trying to influence who they want Laudna to be. It prevents them from holding onto their memories, and accepting Laudna as she is now. All of that will certainly make them seem fun to Laudna, and of course she goes back with them! Who else will help her puppet (less creepy) dolls? I love this idea so much, and I thank you for sharing it with me.