Do you think Laudna would hold some resentment when she heard about how it went down? I saw some people saying she would have done anything to make them choose Imogen and I can see her begging them to choose her, if not doing more, but Imogen didn't even plead. Laudna is very kind and puts oother people before herself, so I don't think Laudna would be mean to anyone because of that, but deep down, do you think it would sting? As in "I would do it all for her, but she wouldn't do half for me?"
Okay, so, I think this question is kind of doubled, because there's the direct question of "How would Laudna feel about how her death went down with everyone else & Imogen's role in it", but I also think there's a secondary implicit question of. "Did Imogen really try everything she could/if Imogen cares so much why didn't she try harder or offer more pushback/ reacted More or done something more in the moment" which I. Would like to address. Perhaps a bit defensively. So. Sorry.
tl:dr: I really do not jibe with the reading of "Imogen not fighting harder was bc she didn't care enough" interpretation, and while i could maybe see Laudna taking in the series of events as a sort of awful condemnation/indicator about how important/valued she is. I think its more likely for that to reflect in a negative self estimation/affirmation rather than resentment towards the others.
But to focus on the first q, first:
I don't know if Laudna would hold resentment, per se. I think that whole situation was an absolute nightmare and there were no good choices, and I don't see a world where Laudna comes back and doesn't see that, or try to understand that. Could hearing about it drive home some personal fears and bad feelings and questions for Laudna? Yeah, defs. But i feel like that negativity has a higher chance of going in than out. I think it could sting, sure. But I'm not sure Laudna, at least the Laudna we knew as she died, would have the mindset to view it as a "Well I would have, so why didn't she?". Rather than a, say: "Well. Of course. Of course." (And tbh, Laudna's opinion of Imogen is such that I'd be surprised if she heard ANY eval of the sitch and went "Well why didn't Imogen do more" instead of "Well I'm sure my beloved light and Target of Many Projections And Hopes did everything she could AND she brought me back, so-". I am saying this with the requisite levels of exasperation and affection.)
Also along those lines- I don't know yet what the Bells are going to do to try to get her back. But i think that would influence it as well. Bc i don't think they're going to make small swings.
And for the second, implicit question, which tbh I- really don't agree with. At least 40% of it might be personal read on Imogen and just Personal Beliefs, so I'm going to lay out as much of it as possible and we can go from there. If this is knee-jerk and off topic, my apologies.
Okay first, can we just- all agree that the entire situation was a clusterfuck from top to bottom? it was dire as hell, folks. Three of them died. It must have felt like a miracle it wasn't more. Everyone rattled and still trying to act. Fearne, freshly not dead, had never even done a revivify, and they were looking at. An impossible choice. Two are down. You can only choose one.
How do you choose which of your friends to kill?
(Let's be real. In that situation, that's what you're choosing.)
I really, truly, from the bottom of my heart read Imogen as the kind of character who is very used to pressing down her comforts and her wants to get things done. In regular situations.
So what happens when you want something, you want it so badly it feels like it could kill you if you lose it, when you need something, and you also know, you know with zero doubt, that pursuing that want means you kill your other friend.
What happens when this whole shitshow feels like it is your fault, your memory is still fresh with these friends dying to send a message to you, personally. What the fuck kind of right do you have to demand, your other friend die for this, for her, (for you, for your wants).
And at this point maybe we get a: Okay but this isn't about Imogen, this is about LAUDNA, who is the one who actually needs to be brought back to life, this is about Orym, whose life hangs in the balance as well.
And you're right. You're so right and I have so many feelings about it here have this excellent meta by @professorthaddeus about it so i don't add 8 more paragraphs here but yes. It's not about Imogen, right? it shouldn't be.
that's the point. that's the problem. i really, really think the depth of that want played right into why Imogen wouldn't have pushed back more, why Imogen was desperately trying to figure out an option that wouldn't kill one for the other- threatening Delilah, mentioning Laudna having been dead before. This wasn't about Imogen. This couldn't be, not with Orym lifeless looking up and Fearne's voice shaking and Laudna dead, Laudna dead-
(Imogen had also tried pleading, she had just pleaded, she had begged and tried to give in and- it hadn't done anything. It had accomplished literally nothing, her begging and desperation had done nothing but expose her friends as weak spots for Otohan to target and oh god that is so. so fucked up.)
(Also none of this even takes into account the whole "Imogen was probably still extremely shell shocked and disoriented after being a human shockwave and probably in some level of denial", but know I'm counting that too).
(ALSO the way Imogen yelled at Ashton after to treat Laudna's body with dignity, more than once. Those outbursts and insistences are just so. just so.)
And okay one last thing is this, which is this meta about Imogen and how she deals with Problems vs how Laudna does and I think its maybe relevant again.
god im getting off track a bit here maybe but like- i really think Imogen's reaction was heartbreaking and so fueled by love and fear and shock and panic and- understandable given a nightmare of a situation.
and i definitely think the details of this might impact Laudna, if she were to hear about it, although in what ways, as always, remain to be seen. But my guess is- not good for her self esteem. Everything else is a bit more up in the air.
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actually no. ykw. i want to go off about this. this post has been weighing on my mind all fucking day. look i know that 99% of the work that needs to be done in order to not view myself as a tool for people to use, as a thing that is only worthy of love if i am a tool or a weapon, is internal. okay? i get it. i take my ass to therapy weekly. i do the therapy homework. i'm so fucking aware.
but also. consider that for people like me, everyone in our lives gets comfortable using us like a tool, too. i'm just a thing for people to pour their troubles into. and you know what's hard? setting a boundary. saying "no wait i'm a person, please love me like a person and not like a tool that you use." that's really fucking hard. do you know what's harder? doing that--and then getting ghosted instead of loved like a person. when you set a boundary with your friends and family and they decide that actually if they can't use you like a tool anymore, you're not worth the effort.
this shit fucking sucks. it fucking sucks to have the people you love--that you love so much you turned yourself into a tool or a weapon for them--decide that you're not worth the fucking effort to be loved as you've asked to be loved. which, btw, isn't even anything high-maintenance, it's just asking to be treated like a fucking person!
and yeah i know. get new friends. substitute found family for blood. that doesn't mean it's not fucking heartbreaking & deserving of its own mourning process to realize you have to let the current ones go.
so what i wanna say to everyone, everyone who is a close friend or family member to someone else, are you using them like a tool? like a weapon? like an empty vessel? do you care? do you know anything about them? have you checked? can you do any fucking better than that?
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Deltavember Day 22 - Jevil
was soooo excited for deltavember and then school beat my fucking corpse into the ground. anyways. wanted to do jevil at least because there is something about his fight that drives me fucking crazy and i wanted to write about that so i recorded one to use as reference because lets make it realistic with getting hit and all, right?
i somehow did a fucking no hit. with a 12 turn. which is the fastest, most optimal method of defeating him and requires really really good grazing. by complete accident. what the fuck.
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Click. Up. Z. Hold control and x. Mash z and enter. Down, z, z. Hold right.
It’s muscle memory at this point. Ingrained by so many hours of practice.
Keep holding down control and x. Mash z and enter. The music starts up. It’s not the usual one- you’ve replaced it with another song.
Left, left, left. Defend, defend, defend. Mash through his textbox.
Jevil fires little spades at you with a laugh- you move closer to them, trying to graze from two bullets at once. He moves to the other side, firing again. You do the same thing again. Repeat it until the turn ends
.Right, z, z, down, z. Susie spins something around- tires him out more.Spades form around you, and oh, it’s this attack- you remember trying to get the dodge right, get enough Tension to do a Hypnosis. So many attempts late into the night, so many times you’ve come up a few points short of the spell.
You’ve long since improved, of course. Almost child’s play now. Stay still (it’s easier when you’re near the middle, or better yet, in it), then circle ‘round- graze on the inside of the ring, not on the outside.
ACT, Jevil, Hypnosis. Right, z, z, down, z. Susie spins it again.
Ah. Your favorite attack. Bombs drop just out of reach, a formation of heart-shaped bullets springing out of each one. Focus.Focus. Down-left, then right. Weave in and out of the gaps. Stay as close to as many bullets as you can- it’s all about gathering TP.47 TP. Not quite enough for Hypnosis. It never is, this turn. Right, z, left, z, left, left. Pirouette. Kris spins around then points at Jevil- tranquil! Their dance defended the party!
“METAMORPHOSIS!” Jevil cries out. He warps, stretching out until the Devilsknife stands in his stead. He splits into four and sends himself at you. You dodge easily- without the big red one, this attack is child’s play. Graze. You’ll need it.
78 TP. Right, z, z, down, z. Kris sends him a strange gaze. Jevil laughs and summons the carousel.
You move to the upper right corner of the box- it’s a safe spot for about the first half of the attack. Then down-left, following the gap in between the rows of horses. You slip in between two of them to get to the next gap, where you wait until the turn is over.
The carousel doesn’t give you enough for a Hypnosis this time. Right, z, left, z, left, left. Kris spins again, trying to tire out Jevil… it felt comforting! It heals Ralsei a little bit- he doesn’t need it, though. He’s still at full health.
Another bombs attack. Clubs, this time. Probably the easiest one to graze- move to the top, and then move up and down in little increments. You try to move closer to the bullets again, to graze a bit more TP.
88. Right, z, z, down, z. Ralsei takes action this time, chanting nonsense in a way that sounded intimidating. It works, somehow.
You haven’t gotten hit yet, you realize with a start. Holy shit. Jevil laughs like he just read your mind.
“I CAN DO ANYTHING!” Diamond bullets form below the box. You wince- this attack ruined a lot of no-hit attempts before. Better to be safe than sorry for this one, you decide, moving away from the initial cluster of bullets.
Somehow, you still manage to graze to 80 TP. Better put that all into a Hypnosis, then.
Jevil sends another ring of spades at you- this time, it spins in both directions. Clockwise, counter-clockwise, then clockwise again. Still the same technique as earlier, though. Still child’s play.
56 TP- enough for Hypnosis. Right, z, z, down- wait, no! The next attack is the second carousel, the one where every other column of horses move up and down. Doing Hypnosis here means you have to graze really well to get to Pirouette levels during that attack, and while you’re confident you can pull it off, you don’t want to risk your no-hit.
Up, right, left, left. Kris spins again. A perfect 10! The entire party is healed, though they’re already at max HP.
Damn, no Everyman this time. Maybe it’s for the best, though. You always get hit whenever they show up in this attack.
You pick Hypnosis this turn to make up for the Pirouette you took. Right, z, z, down, z.
The next attack is also where a lot of your previous no-hit attempts died- it’s hard to graze without getting hit. Still, you manage to pull through, grazing enough to bring your TP to 63.
Perfect.
One last Hypnosis- Kris again, you barely register. You hope the pattern isn’t too hard this time. There’s a couple of runs you lost at this last attack.
Hold your breath. Bottom left, upper left, bottom right. Slip in between the gaps before they spread out too much.
The turn ends.
“Holy shit,” You breathe out- Pirouette, Defend, Pacify!
Another one to add to the counter, it seems.
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... this is how the fight went, if you’re curious.
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