#laudna/imogen

[finelyfrenzied]

LET'S GO LESBIANS!!!!

Imogen: MissSarahJeanne (IG) Laudna: JunipersCostumery (IG)

[critmaswishingtree]

Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Laudna & Bella, Laudna/Imogen Temult Characters: Bella (What Doesn't Break), Laudna, Imogen Temult Summary:

Laudna was having a ball. She had won the last five hands at Imogen’s guidance, and a stack of chips was beginning to obscure her even better than the shadows. It was delicious, playing the lady. It seemed that with a certain but undefinable measure of wealth, she could cross from being dangerously different and into delightfully eccentric. She schooled her hungry smile into a fox’s grin and bade the dealer to begin another game.

She should have known it would attract the wrong sort of attention.

Laudna and Bella catch up 20 some odd years later after a chance encounter at a casino in Kymal.

This is part of the Critmas Wishing Tree Prompt Meme.

Submit your own prompts here!

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[minister-for-femslash]

The Truth?

Summary; After Imogen accidentally falls into Laudna's dream, she finds herself face to face with Delilah Briarwood, who wants to show her exactly what happened on the day Laudna died.

Pairings; Laudna/Imogen

Warnings; Torture and mentions of character death

Word Count; 1,885

Imogen doesn't mean to, dream walking is something she's never really done before. But its been so stressful recently and they finally have a chance to stop and not quite relax - that feels like an impossibility at this point – but there's a moment of calm where her and Laudna can curl up together just the two of them. She takes off the circlet because she needs the peace that comes with being immersed in the melody of Laudna's thoughts.

Laudna drifts off first and with their psychic link open, Imogen drifts off with her.

Her mind tumbles.

She finds herself in a corridor, high ceilings and thick stone walls. It's cold, there's a harshness in the air. Dark and dank. Water drips from the ceiling. There's a small wooden door behind her and lanterns on the wall. It feels familiar, but this isn't hers.

“Hello.” Her voice echoes back at her. “Anybody here.” She takes a tentative step forward and peers down the corridor. She's reluctant to go too far. Exploring her own dreams is one thing but accidentally tumbling into someone else's is different.

“Laudna! Are you here!?”

There's a whimper. It's faint, not soft and gentle but coarse like somebody's throat is dry.

“Laudna!”

Another whimper, louder this time. Imogen takes another tentative step, and then another and another. There are bars, thick rusted steel. The stone wall turns into a cell.

Imogen freezes. She knows what this is, where this is. When this is. She doesn't want to see. She doesn't.

“Laudna,” she whispers.

“She can't hear you, dear.”

The voice comes from behind her. Imogen has only heard it once or twice, a faint response to a desperate message sent but she recognises it instantly. A deep seated anger swells inside her chest, an unintentional snarl creeps onto her face as she spins around.

Delilah Briarwood stands in front of her in a long flowing dark purple dress, a choker necklace with a green stone in the centre and the faintest hint of a smile on her lips. “She's a little busy. Reminiscing.”

“Is this because of you? Is this what you make her dream?”

“Only sometimes, when she needs a reminder of exactly who made her.”

Imogen doesn't hesitate. Rage flashes and her hand shoots out, a psychic lance aimed straight at Delilah's heart.

It misses.

Delilah's form shimmers, flicker out for just a moment and the psychic lance slams into the wall behind.

A pain filled cry comes from the cell.

“Stop it! Stop this now!” Imogen yells.

“Now now dear, there's no need for tantrums. Don't you want to see the beauty of her creation.” Delilah brushes past her and heads towards the cell, stepping through the bars as if they're not there. “Sylas, darling. Don't be too hard on our sweet girl. She needs to be recognisable.”

Imogen turns away. If she can leave, if she can propel herself out of this dream then she can wake Laudna up. She can free her from this. But the corridor is gone, a large stone wall now inches away from her nose. There's pressure on her shoulders like hands grasping tight. She's pulled back. Her feet scrap against the ground as she tries to resist but this isn't her dream. She isn't in control.

She's dragged up against the bars.

Delilah is in front of her, twirling a large curved blade between her fingers. Behind her is a man, broad shouldered. He has slick-backed dark hair with a white streak running through the middle. There's blood on his hands. He's bent over a figure. Over Laudna.

“My husband, Sylas.” Delilah says. “Such a beautifully vicious man.”

“Don't touch her.” Something raw and bitter wedges itself in the back of Imogen's throat. Her vision blurs and she knows there's a risk of tears.

Delilah laughs. “This moment is long over, it can't be changed. Just relived. And I do hope you aren't lying to yourself, my dear. Even if you could change this, you wouldn't.”

“You're wrong. I won't let you hurt Laudna, ever.” She rushes forward, expecting to move through the bars as easily as Delilah did, but instead she slams into them. Locked out.

“This isn't Laudna. This is Matilda.” She steps back and allows Imogen to see.

Laudna is on the floor, curled up in a tight ball. Blood coats her skin, seeps deep into the fabric of her clothes. There are so many wounds, too many for Imogen to be able to focus on. Her limbs are twisted, bent at odd angles.

“Why would you change this? This is the day of her ascension. Matilda dies so that Laudna can be born, and you, the one who claims to love her the most should see the beauty in this moment.” Delilah brushes past Sylas and kneels down next to Laudna. She picks her up and cradles her almost gently.

Laudna's eyes are open and Imogen can see the pain in them. The fear. She makes another move for the bars, but they hold firm

“It's Laudna you care for, Matilda is just a tragic story. It's Laudna you want, so watch me create her for you.” Delilah brushes the hair away from Laudna's face. It's slick with blood. She brings the knife down against Laudna's ear.

Imogen tries to grasp at the knife with telekinesis, tries to yank it out of Delilah's hand. “Don't!” Imogen tries again. “I said don't!” And again.

It fails.

At the last second Imogen turns away. She can't watch this. She can't. Her eyes slam shut and she tries to will herself awake. To will herself somewhere else.

Laudna screams.

It's the most horrifying sound Imogen has ever heard.

“She made me so proud that day.” A finger presses against her chin, forces her head up and there stands Delilah, blood on her hands.

The stone walls are gone. The bars are gone. They're outside now, the Sun Tree in the distance behind Delilah, it's decaying branches seem to sprout from her shoulders like a grotesque parody of Laudna's beautiful transformation.

“She was Sylas's favourite. Of all the people he hurt, she was the one he loved the most,” Delilah says. “The others were weak, they couldn't survive his viciousness. They were long dead before our presentation. But my Laudna, she lasted.”

“I hate you. What you did to her...” The tears begin to falls. “I hate you.”

There are heavy footsteps behind her, the crunch of gravel under thick boots. Sylas brushes past her. Laudna is in his arms. Her head lolls against his shoulder. Her clothes have been changed, the blood washed away and a single feather placed into her hair.

Delilah and Sylas head off down the path. That invisible force wraps itself around Imogen once again, her arms are pinned as she's pulled forward, forced to walk just behind them. She struggles, tries to fight against the bonds. In her head she screams, rage and desperation battering against the inside of her own mind. She reaches for that connection, for that blinding white light and the power that caused her to level an entire city block. She needs it now. But she's alone.

“We're the same, you and me,” Delilah says.

They're suddenly at the base of the Sun Tree. Quickly. Too quickly. A noose already hangs from a branch.

“No. We're not.”

“I was willing to fight death herself to save the one I love -” Delilah runs her hand down Sylas' shoulder - “and you will do the same. For her.”

Sylas lays Laudna on the ground and then steps back.

“Witch!” A voice comes from the ether.

The night slips into day. The Sun Tree and the noose fades, the house and taverns slowly transform into carts and market stalls.

“She's a witch!”

A crowd slowly forms, their faces twisted with anger and fear. With hatred.

Laudna fumbles, and this is Laudna, not Matilda. She looks exactly as she did the day they met. Pale skin, a flowy black dress, her hair pinned up with a tiny rock hammer. Paté is hooked on her belt, not yet animated but still a piece of her. The small basket falls from Laudna's hands, the fruit she's brought spilling out.

The murmurs are growing, the whispers turning harsher, more vicious.

“It's her. She's poisoning our crops!”

“My horses died because of her!”

This isn't Whitestone, this is Gelvaan and Imogen knows what happens here. What she does. The crowd is growing bigger, a harsh tension building and there's nothing Imogen can do.

Laudna stumbles backwards, tries to speak, to explain, but she stutters unable to be heard over the bark of the crowd.

A rock is thrown. It catches Laudna in the side of the head. She's knocked to the ground, a drop of blood appearing above her eye.

“Leave her alone!” The words are ripped from Imogen's throat. She charges forward, physically forcing her way through the crowd.

Laudna is curled up trying to make herself as small as possible.

“Laudna.” Imogen drops to her knees. “It's okay. You're going to be okay.”

Another rock is thrown. This one misses but it comes close and Laudna visibly flinches.

Something in Imogen snaps. “Back off!” There's an explosion. It rips from the centre of Imogen's chest, this cacophony of pure defensive energy whips through the air.

The crowd is blasted back. Market stalls are thrown into the air, crashing into walls. Windows smash, bodies go flying. A storm of debris, wood and stones, and heavy rocks swirl, forming a protective ring around them. Imogen clings to Laudna tight.

“How do I bring her back? Tell me what to do. I'll do anything.” Imogen's own voice echoes in the air. It doesn't come from her lips, these are words spoken what seems like a lifetime ago.

The storm suddenly drops. Bodies are scattered across the thoroughfare, streaks of blood splashed across the path.

Delilah stands before them, larger than she's ever been. She towers over them. “You begged me once, to save her. I want you to understand, Imogen Temult. Look how far you will go to protect her. Without me there is no Laudna and if you want to keep her, you need me.” Delilah walks towards them, her shadow stretching out behind her.

Delilah kneels in front of her. Imogen's arms wrap tighter around Laudna in some futile attempt at protecting her from the monster.

Delilah grabs Imogen's chin. “This is why I can trust you. You will give me everything I want as long as it keeps her by your side.”

Delilah leans in. Imogen tries to pull back but Delilah's grip is like a vice. She presses a kiss against Imogen's cheek. “You're going to make an excellent daughter-in-law.”

Imogen wakes with a gasp.

Laudna is still asleep beside her, her arm draped across Imogen's waist. She feels nauseous, there are tears on her cheeks. She reaches for Laudna, her fingers brushing just above Laudna's eyes, the wound is long healed but sometimes Imogen can still see it.

She gently presses their foreheads together. “I love you.” Imogen can still feel Delilah's grip on her chin, the ghost of that kiss on her cheek. “I won't let her take you from me.”

[hearthianhatchling]

Imogen showed Laudna the stars, put new worlds and new constellations in her mind. She took Laudna’s hand and guided it and Laudna thought, not for the first nor the last time, how lovely it was to have company. She’d gotten so used to the loneliness that she had been convinced she preferred it that way, but this was among the many things Imogen taught her: Laudna loved people. She loved being around them, she loved making them smile, she loved loving and being loved in turn. This is how they met. This is how both their lives changed forever, for the better, forever and ever.

hiiii i've finally caved and written some imodna (with lots of sweet sweet laudna introspection)

[jadequarze]

Hells to the Bells

[yudol-skorbi]

worst tv marathon ever

[californiannostalgia]

The thing about Vox Machina is that they are a frat party that woke up one morning after a drunken bender and decided to hunt down the serial killers who murdered their friend's family. One thing happened after another and they ended up taking out some very bad individuals in power at great personal cost, which propelled them to mythic status.

But fundamentally, VM is a college frat party that got impossibly attached to each other in the process of trying to do some good.

The Mighty Nein are a group of confrontational, distrustful pariahs who are vulnerable to outside influences that try to manipulate them into a villain arc. But after they completed trauma dumping and crisis bonding, they closed ranks and ground every single one of their personal demons to smithereens.

In essence, the MN are an exclusive, protective battle blender that only saves the world in order to save each other.

Bells Hells are defined by extreme stress. VM was trying to save the world, and the MN were on a self-actualization journey. Bells Hells have to do both of these things at once.

They're quick to trust, which opens them up for numerous betrayals. They don't have enough power to protect against the losses of friends or family. All they've got going for them is their collective aura of tragic weirdness and their full-on willingness to kill immortals (fucking delilah).

In a way, BH view themselves as monstrous abominations. They gain trust from the unlikeliest people and will try to befriend you if they think you're a fascinating monster like them. They've never agreed on anything ever, but they're open to a lot of impossible things and take it in stride. After all, their own existence is an impossibility. And I think that's fucking special.

[ohbeauregard]

C3E105

Bells Hells + official titles

[maestache]

Give em' Nein Hells! Print Available

[sango-blep]

lizard girlfriend stealing warmth

[suraelis]

From Critical Role C3EP110

MIGHTY NEIN I'VE MISSED YOU SO!

[xandrikart]

[triaelf9]

Thank you Critical Role once again for a fantastic campaign, I'm gonna miss Bells Hells so much. Thank you for bringing us along for the ride, and can't wait to see what else is in our future from you all 💛

[thewhalelord]

Happy Pride from everyone’s favorite dead bird rat familiar

[starling-illu]

girls girls girls

[jadequarze]

Devotion

Another imodna piece that I've been chipping away on my own pace