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inconmess · 10 months

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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..."

"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."

#critical role #laudna #ask answered #5 times 1 #ashton greymoore #imogen

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svartalfhild · 2 years

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Do you think that most people don’t ship Laudna with Ashton because they desire explicitly queer or homosexual relationships portrayed and even though Ashton is he/they, Ashton is still voiced by a man and “acts like” a masculine man, that somehow reads that Laudna and he/they would be in a “heterosexual” relationship?

I ask because it seems like the official reason “reason” for not shipping Ashna is pretty flimsy (“Oh, they only give off brother/sister/sibling vibes” well yeah but Laudna’s relationship with Imogen could also be read as sisterly)

People also seem to ignore that even if Laudna is bi/pan/demi, so far the main targets of her possible romantic/crush/dating interests were described as or shown to be male or mostly male presenting.

Therefore, they shouldn’t see it as out of left field if some fans ship Laudna/Dorian, Laudna/Ashton, Laudna/Eshteross, Laudna/Whitestone Andy, Laudna/Pretty, Laudna/Minotaur Dude in addition to or instead of Laudna/Imogen, Laudna/Fearne, and Laudna/Imogen/Fearne, etc. (No Laudna/Chetney because our gnome-wolf is too devoted to his Fae-Lady to consider anyone else 😆). Nor should they claim queer baiting of Laudna does wind up with someone other than Imogen (weirdly enough, that term is thrown around even if the character’s official love interest isn’t a member of the opposite sex just because they didn’t end up with the preferred same-sex person)

I dunno. Just curious. At the end of the day, people have the freedom to ship whatever they want because that’s what they like; I’m just tired of some of the more annoying shippers trying to force their own ship on others and be offended if someone else prefers a different ship.

Sorry for the rant.

No it's okay, Anon; I get you.

I certainly think a perception of Ashna as a het relationship could be a contributing factor to many people's disinterest in it. There is a pervasive notion in fandom culture of certain things not being "queer enough" along very predictable lines that reflect discourses in the queer community at large. As an ace demigirl, I am deeply familiar with this problem.

Ashton's gender is unspecified, but we know he's nonbinary because he's a he/they, but because he presents in a masculine way and is comfortable with he/him, this places him in a weird "not a pure nonbinary" box in people's minds because he doesn't fit the fully androgynous image people have of nb people. As result of being "nb lite", his potential relationship with a female character is seen as a m/f ship, and therefore once again "not queer enough" to be interesting. (Side note: Taliesin has talked about genderqueer experiences before, so I hesitate to assume he's a cis man, but his masculine presentation is certainly an aspect of people's perception of Ashton.)

I do see a lot of Im*dna shippers talking about how they perceive Ashton and Laudna as a sibling type relationship, and you're right, people could easily read it the other way around. I definitely perceive Imogen and Laudna as a sisterly best friend relationship and Ashton and Laudna (especially Ashton's attentions to Laudna) as hinting at romantic interest. It troubles me that so many people take the attitude that there's only one correct way to look at it, even though there has been no confirmation of anything and we're all floating in the soup of ambiguity.

The notion that it'll be queerbaiting if Laudna ends up with someone other than Imogen (esp. if said someone is masc) is fucking ridiculous, and I severely need people to check the definition of queerbaiting. Someone already did a good post on the notion of queerbaiting in CR, so I won't rehash all the points, but yeah, there very much is this implied idea of certain outcomes not being queer enough to be appealing or even acceptable.

Ashton queers everything they touch just by being themself, but again, because they present in a masc way, any ships with female characters get categorized as het and thereby disregarded.

Then there's the matter of Laudna's sexuality, which is unknown, but we do know that she's attracted to men and isn't categorically opposed to the attentions of a nonbinary person. We don't know if she's attracted to women, but it's certainly possible. The notion of Laudna as mspec and/or aspec in a relationship with a masc character seems to not be queer enough for a lot of people (especially the latter, but that's a whole other essay), as it is perceived as "basically het" and somehow queerbaiting. This is kinda bringing me back to the days of Campaign 1 and the huge fit people threw over Vaxilmore vs. Vaxleth, calling it queerbaiting and homophobic, despite the fact that Vax is bi and Keyleth is demi, so there was no actual loss of queer rep (not to mention the fact that the people who play those characters aren't straight).

Long story short, there's a lot of unexamined and unspoken biased against nbs, mspecs, and aspecs in the way people perceive and talk about character relationships because of the pervasive idea that these identities don't provide good enough queer representation, especially among main characters. I think that could definitely be a strong contributing factor in people's unwillingness to consider and leave room for the possibility of a Laudna and Ashton ending up together.

#Critical Role #CR Ashna #CR Gravestone #ask

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macabrepuppet · 2 years

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Seconds tick by, growing into minutes. Minutes become hours, and hours turn into days. Time was quite the concept. Days become weeks, which translate into months. There never could be enough time. Months roll into years. When you have been given a second chance at life, how do you choose to live when you know you’re running on borrowed time?

Laudna had always been the simple and weird farm girl growing up on the outskirts of Whitestone. Her life was never easy, but she appreciated what she had with her family. Whitestone was chaos but when offered to meet the Briarwoods and hear promises of opportunity, would you accept the giving hand? Of course her parents would do what was best for their daughter. Any parent would want to see their child well off and prosper. Clothes, a fancy dinner consisting of filet, surf and turf, lobsters... the options were endless. Their lives were about to turn around.

Lies, deception... separation and pain. This is what it all lead up to, being dragged away from her mother and father. Screaming to be let go, to free her family. Only to be brought to a room to be beaten to death. Everything starts getting fuzzy until the darkness consumes the rest of her consciousness. Twenty years old. Twenty years and nothing but the love for her family to show for it. There should have been more time... time to explore Exandria, perhaps find that one person to grow old with, maybe even start a family of their own. There had been Whitestone Andy but nothing came of it. All of this had been robbed, and for what? Just to become a warning for some group known as Vox Machina. Time continues to pass until one day she wakes up hanging from the Sun Tree, surrounded by the others that had been there that day. Grayed skin, inky black hair with streaks of white, and blackened finger tips. It wouldn’t be until later on that she learns of her ears being cut to match whoever she was supposed to be. This was her second chance, but for how long?

Everything had been quiet and lonely. She couldn’t stay at a home that had turned on her and one that was now filled with trauma. Along her travels a voice starts to call from within her mind, offering her power that one simply could not deny. Days turn into weeks. Weeks become years. How long without actual genuine conversation does it take to start slowly going insane? Time continued to move on as if nothing happened. Nothing can ever stop the minutes from passing. One day she comes across a recently dead black rat and it doesn’t take her long to summon that black ichor to start puppeteering it around. His voice almost comes naturally and finally she had her first friend in so long.

Towns turned into treacherous territory. Learning from her mistakes, Laudna began to hide herself within a cloak, trying to mask her horror-like features. She would create little things here and there, sometimes even chairs or stools to sell for either other goods or silver and gold, just to get by. She wouldn’t stay in town long, out of the fear of being run out from being discovered. No matter how many times she swore she was careful, whispers moved quickly as suspicions became true. Pitchforks would be raised, fire tossed towards the huts she had turned into a little abode. No place would truly be home.

Twenty-eight years. That is what it took to find the one person she would grow to love and cherish with all of her heart. She stumbled into Gelvaan, once again making a place of her own on the outskirts of the village. Though instead of it being a quick visit to the local market to gather more food for the day, she comes face to face with a woman who was slightly shorter than her, long lavender hair with striking purple eyes. A woman who was capable of wonderous magic, and treated her with the upmost kindness. It was strange, she didn’t run at the sight of her outward appearance. Instead being told she sounded like music.

Eventually they left together and didn’t look back. Hand in hand, for better or for worse. They learned about each other, their stories, abilities, interests... growing closer as the months passed and the line began to blur. Two years go by and they end up arriving in Jrusar in search of the Starpoint Consevatory, wanting to find answers and the origin for Imogen’s powers and abilities. A month into their time there, they were starting to make headway. Though they were initially denied entrance as they were not students. All was not lost though. The two met two groups of people that would eventually become their greatest friends.

Time would pass as it always had. Eventually the group became known as the Bells Hells. Imogen began to learn more about who she was, that her powers were connected to the fact that she is Ruidus born, and that even her own mother Liliana was involved somehow. Friends would come and go, such as Dorian and all the other people they met throughout their travels. Relationships would continue to grow stronger with their main group that consisted of Ashton, Fresh Cut Grass, Orym, Fearne, and Chetney. And most importantly, her friendship with Imogen grew into something beautiful. While they weren’t originally sure of what they were, they realized at some point that they fell in love.

And that love was tricky. Laudna being undead, didn’t originally believe that anyone could feel that towards her. She couldn’t give much of what some people may have wanted. She certainly wasn’t fully alive, and had a mad woman living inside her head that may or may not have been an issue, at least at first she posed no threat, feeling as though she was some sort of ghost that wouldn’t be able to do much of anything. Laudna also does not age. Forever twenty, almost frozen in time. Surely no one would even bother with someone such as herself.

Imogen. Sweet, darling, Imogen. She proved her wrong and loved every single thing about her. It didn’t matter that she had a sluggish heartbeat, or had puppets such as Pâté and Sashimi as friends. This gorgeous and caring woman proudly stood by her side and refused to go anywhere. She even wonders if they would have gotten married if the opportunity presented itself. Time could be both so rewarding and cruel, all at once.

When on borrowed time, there is no real indicator when the clock starts ticking down, counting your final days until it’s nearly too late. Looking back, even though she missed her family dearly, she wouldn’t change the worst thing that has ever happened to her for even a second. Getting that second chance led her to Imogen, and that in itself was worth all the pain and suffering she had to endure while alive and at the beginning of her undead life. All the years of traveling alone, being chased out of every town and village possible led up to that very moment. Her first real friend. Her first best friend. Her first and only lover. How she cherished those precious moments and memories... and she was starting to realize she was indeed now running out of time.

She remembers when the Hells arrived for the first time together in the Heartmoor Hamlet, the look on Imogen’s face, how radiant her expression was as she told Laudna ‘let’s move here after everything’. While she may not have verbally responded, she took note, knowing that this could be their future. Ever since then, she had been setting aside gold, enough to where she’d have ample spending money if needed still. If Imogen wanted a home here, she simply could not say no. She’d do just about anything she asked of her. That gold would go towards a plot of land to where they would have a small cottage built. Not directly in the village, but just on the outskirts so they could still have their privacy and be further away from the thoughts of the town. She could see it now, them standing there together, hand in hand as they always did. A stable would be out back with plenty of horses for Imogen to take care of. Just the thought brought a smile to her face.

Laudna went up to everyone except for Imogen, entrusting them with different tasks. For Ashton, she would request them to end things in the off chance Delilah took over for good. For Orym, she gave him her gold and a deed for the land, entrusting him to make sure that Imogen got the home she deserved. For Chetney, she would request him to make all the furniture for the home, knowing it’d need the touch of a master. For Fearne, she gave her a goodbye letter to hand over to Imogen if the end does reach her. And lastly for FCG, just to be there for her girl. Talk to her, help her get through it cause she knew deep down that it would destroy her.

Despite the effort they all put in to find a way to remove Delilah, there were still too many risks or some paths led to dead ends. It may have been worth a shot to still attempt something, but the woman in her head continued to grow stronger. They may have been too late. The line was starting to get blurry. What was still her, and what was Delilah? Looking out towards the night sky, a sigh escaped her lips. “I’m surely going to miss it here...” she mumbles to herself as she finishes reminiscing her past. “I just... I wish I had more time.”

#☾ laudna : the end of the journey future verse #☾ character study #☾ open to mutuals #this was going to be just a character study but fuck #if any mutual wants to really dive deep into some feels here you go #changed the ending for it just in case lmao #still can be a standalone piece as well #imodna is definitely a thing in this #and to quickly edit onto the tags #this was all based on what marisha said last night on 4-Sided Dive

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criticalbeauregard · 2 years

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id like to hear the whitestone andy theory!

I would love to tell you about it, anon.

I’ll preface by saying I haven’t organized my thoughts about this in the slightest, but I’m going to try to make this comprehensible.

The idea is that Whitestone Andy wasn’t really someone Laudna had a “crush” on but was mentioned more to come across as “normal” when the conversation of past relationships came up with the group in 3x09, or as an improv device for Marisha to communicate how Laudna’s life was before her death (the town freak).

This moment can also be read as Laudna attempting to make Imogen more comfortable (which Laudna has been quick to do at her own dispense multiple times.) Laudna freely offers this information after the rest of the group discovers that Imogen has never been on a date, effectively steering the conversation away from Imogen (and saving her from everyone’s attention and probing questions that she’s clearly uncomfortable with.)

I don’t think Laudna is “lying” per se, but it is worth mentioning that she is functionally 50 years old and has never had a romantic relationship and canonically has never been in love (before meeting Imogen, which she states in 3x06). It’s not a stretch to think this may be something Laudna is insecure about and that she could’ve spent time post-Whitestone trying to rationalize the life that was stolen from her and even convince herself that she never would have had those experiences anyway. (Despite Laudna’s radiating positivity, things like When I Grow Up by Fever Ray being on her playlist and the ear cuff conversation in 3x17 seem to tease more and more at something deeper beneath the “open book” Marisha states Laudna to be.)

There are two meta-knowledge things that also made me question the whole Whitestone Andy situation. The first being that Marisha is well known for her extensive note taking and detailed backstories. This situation directly parallels episode 2x118 when Beau discusses HER past relationships. Marisha references her notes during this scene down to having a name chosen for Beau’s first (and only) boyfriend that was never previously mentioned (which she can’t locate but it’s clear that she had it written down at one point). (Sidenote: It’s funny that Sam used the same voice for Whitestone Andy in 3x18 that he used for “Tony” (Beau’s first boyfriend) in 2x118.) When some of the cast is surprised that Marisha would have a name written for this irrelevant part of her backstory, Liam even says “it’s her” and Taliesin says “of course.” Which, yeah, it’s completely in character for Marisha to have fleshed out all these details.

This is why something Marisha says in passing during 3x17 was surprising to me. She tells Travis “nobody was supposed to ask me what his name was” and then “[that was] very made up shit.” (After it’s joked about how poorly thought out the name Whitestone Andy was and I suspect there may be another joke here that’s going over my head but that happens sometimes with CR and I usually chalk it up to that fact that I’m 18 and the cast is in their 30′s and 40′s.) So, it’s unclear here if she’s talking about just the name or the entire story.

Anyway! This became way longer than I expected and may have been very obvious to some people but I’ve been thinking about it a lot because...Laudna. I realize this kind of ended up being the opposite of a theory and more just me saying Whitestone Andy specifically ISN’T significant in terms of lore but more in terms of Laudna’s characterization and the even more obvious fact that CR is improvised and when they say things it just becomes true. To kind of quote Taliesin, “[I’m] saying this is a D&D game.” Marisha’s choices are very often devastatingly intentional, so this storyline has just stuck out to me. Especially as it’s become a running joke with the cast.

TL;DR This mostly devolved into Laudna analysis and talking about Marisha’s past character building. I think Whitestone Andy was mostly a catalyst to a larger discussion about Laudna’s life and the tragedy of what happened to her.

I also have Imogen brainrot thoughts about Sam the stableboy (who, yes, was only mentioned once in episode 10) and the notion of Imogen’s flavor of wanting to be “normal”, but that’s for another time.

#this is so stupid now that i wrote it out but i didnt actually think anyone would be that interested #many thoughts about what it would be like to feel like im an outcast now but someday i'll be all of these things and then #you are murdered at 20 and then live 30 more years and are an outcast for a completely different reason #i apologize that this isn't some big theory about him being percy or something #just...laudna breaks my heart every day #cr laudna #critical role #marisha ray #imogen temult #liam o'brien #taliesin jaffe #long post #kind of?#text post #anonymous #asks #whitestone andy #cr spoilers #this is not a revolutionary take in the slightest and can barely be called a theory

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yes-m-ray · 2 years

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The idea of Laudna meeting Vox Machina in the future is interesting. The potential for a dramatic encounter with Vex, Percy or Keyleth, a conversation filled with pent up feelings, apologies, and closures is of course, delicious.

In my innocent opinion though, i’m not sure that’s what Laudna wants; or what she would like.

What about something more intimate? something personal. Not something that serves a purpose to a bigger story; but something that’s just Hers? Her story:

In Whitestone

Bells Hells walk towards Whitestone. The reason is not that important. There is a reason, but the group is more focused on Laudna. All of them know what happened here. Imogen hasn’t left her side since they made the choice to come.

Laudna just smiles, excited to show her friends the place where she lived and died. Long time ago…

The first stop is the farm, of course. The group is a bit worried, most of them hesitant. They don’t know how to act or what to say. Orym and Imogen exchange looks, they are the ones that know the full story. But Laudna’s genuine smile and giddiness disarms their worries, for a moment at least. Orym remembers how Laudna asked him personally, to not call his boss or her powerful friends; she didn’t want to bother them at all, she was just interested in her friends and their mission. After a small back and forth, Orym accepted. Her other… issues would come later then. He’s going to do this for her.

Laudna walked the farmlands, with direction to the farm. The small roads have changed. It makes sense of course, almost 30 years is a long time. A few farmers pass by, and Laudna keeps her smile and waves eagerly, just as she did before death. The paths have really changed, but Laudna trusts her instinct, her feet almost walk by themselves, and after a while, she finds the entrance.

Overgrown, destroyed. The farm is gone. Her smile vanishes for a moment when she sees the ruins of a stone foundation from the place she called home. Imogen grabs her hand immediately. Laudna smiles again. It was ok, it wasn’t a big fancy farm or anything like that. She looks away and sees a tree, and without letting Imogen’s hand go, she saunters there, telling her a story about her childhood. The group follows and listens. She walks around telling even more stories about those near places to her home. Simple stories about a simple farm girl.

Next, the town. Or, huh, well… the city? So many different people. Even the usual double takes towards Laudna disappear. People go around doing their business in the middle of the day. So many people. Laudna worries and checks in with Imogen. Imogen in disbelief reassures Laudna, telling her she will be fine if Laudna is fine. Laudna smiles.

More stories. The place where Andy threw dirt at her, the place where her mom bought the lantern oil, the bakery where a nice old lady gave her cookies sometimes. Everything is… smaller somehow? Is not like she grew a lot, but the streets and the houses, and everything else seems… closer. And different. The last time she saw the city, destruction was the norm. Now? Everything is clean, and just, more. More roofs, more constructions. The town she knew was still the same, but different. Better.

Time for the Sun Tree.

Imogen, at her side, whispered she didn't have to, Orym was on her other side giving her worried looks, and agreeing with Imogen. Laudna was feeling a lot of things, but in that moment, she decided she had to. So she walked there. The group followed.

It was so beautiful.

Like nothing else she had ever seen. She barely remembers how the Sun Tree looked before the Briarwoods takeover, and it wasn’t this. This was majestic. A giant white tree filled with green luscious leafs and flowers, even some colored ribbons from a future fair maybe? It was so immense and wonderful. Moving everywhere with the wind, and the birds and smells and… Life.

The square itself was also bustling with life. People around went by, talking, selling trinkets to tourists, sitting in conversations, reading. Kids ran around, laughing. Laudna looked at Imogen and made a small gesture. Imogen understood and she stayed put with the rest, as Laudna walked alone, closer to the tree. No more stories right now, she just looked at the green leafs, at the white branches. The branches. in silence.

As the sun came down, she was startled by the soft touch of Imogen’s hand on her shoulder. Laudna realized that she was standing there for a while now. As her friends waited. Imogen told her to please rest for today, she told her that they’ll get to an inn for the night and that they can resume the visit tomorrow. Imogen seemed worried. So Laudna agreed. She felt tired.

The group asked if Laudna wanted drinks or food, but the moment she entered the inn, her tiredness took over, it covered her like a heavy blanket. Her eyes felt slow and unfocused. Imogen answered for both of them, she gave her -thanks but no-, took a room, and very calmly told the group they were going to rest now, and that they will see them tomorrow. Laudna didn’t say a word, she just felt tired. Imogen took her into their room.

Laudna was on the bed, eyes closed. She opened them up a bit as Imogen entered the room with some tea. What time was it? Imogen was gone? She sat, and took the tea in silence, it was a cold night outside now, full moon.

“Alright, this is the tea that helps me sleep sometimes, well… as you know, not always, but it could help you now!” said Imogen, with a bit of worry in her voice.

Laudna looked at her.

At every moment today, Imogen was at her side. Worried, but calm. Ready to run away at any moment, no questions asked. How lucky she was, to have her as best friend. As a soulmate.

“I want to go to… a place” Laudna said “And i want you to come with me”

“It's pretty late, and you went through so much today… Are you sure?” Answered Imogen

“Yeah… yeah i’m sure, lets go” Said Laudna standing up “If you want, of course”

“Absolutely” Said Imogen standing up in unison “The others?”

“No, just… you”

Getting to that place was a blur for Laudna. After arriving at the outskirts, it was pure instinct. Imogen was always close, ready for anything, surefooted and a bit winded, but with no doubt in her eyes. After a small hike under the moonlight, both of them reached the peak of a small cliff, deep in the forest, looking at each other, panting and… smiling. No words.

Laudna walked close to the edge, to a rock with space to sit very comfortably. She sat, then she offered a seat next to her, looking at Imogen; she accepted. They sat in silence for a bit. Laudna took a deep breath, taking the forest in, eyes closed.

“This was my favorite escape place” Laudna said, smiling “You know, for those times when I fought with mom, or when some of the other shitheads kids were mean to me” she ended with a small giggle. “This is the place where I dreamed about the future. My future…” She continued, and then she hesitated.

Imogen took her hand. Laudna felt brave.

“The night before the feast” Laudna continued, with a renewed certainty “I was so nervous and excited. I sat here and thought about so many things, so many possibilities. The places I could go, a way to help mom and dad, the new fancy people I would meet, new ways to use my magic… the chances… the opportunities… that i could…” and her voice started to waver, so she stopped.

“It's ok, take your time” Said Imogen, as she put her arm around Laudna.

Looking into Laudna’s eyes, Imogen whispered, softly “I’m here for you, take all the time you need”

Laudna broke, she felt the sadness overpower her. She couldn’t keep talking. She buried her face on Imogen's shoulder. Then, the tears came.

“I’m here for you” said Imogen, with tears on her face too, embracing Laudna with both her arms “I’m here for you, always”

#critical role #Laudna #Imogen #cr3 #fic #this is the first fic i write in many many months #so don't mind mistakes and all that #i'm getting back into it :)#u can take a shippy angle too i don't mind!!#i'm just a bit scared of doing it overtly because... some past experiences

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northisnotup · 2 years

Text

It was a normal, average Thursday, when Imogen first tried to kiss her beau.

She'd thought she had made her... interest clear. They shared a life, been travelling together well on two years in fact, they shared a bed when needs be. They shared...everything.

So it was with some evident shock and dismay that when Imogen gathered her courage in trembling hands and leaned in - Laudna leaned away.

"No, no, my dear - it's not!"

Laudna caught Imogen's face in her cool, rough hands. Hands that no matter how well washed or perfumed, always smelled a bit like the sweet-sour of decay. Like a forest in fall. Leaf rot.

"It's not that I don't want to, with you. It's that I don't want... that. If that makes sense?"

Laudna looked at Imogen as she always had. Cheerful and hopeful and adoring. Imogen's heart, previously pounding redness into her face and sending cold shocks down her spine, relaxed, and she did too, into Laudna's familiar embrace.

"No," she sighed, "but, could you maybe explain it to me?"

"Right. Well."

At Laudna's urging, they sat down side by side on the bed, snuggled into each other's sides and their hands clasped together. Imogen liked to imagine it wasn't just her own heartbeat that she could feel echoed, but Laudna's as well.

"You know my whole," she gestured with her wild eyes and their joined hands to her body.

Laughing softly, Imogen nodded. "I do."

"Yes! Right. Well." She repeated the words again. And again. As though trying to work up to what she wanted to say. "I was - middling. You know. Not a quite a girl, not yet a woman, when I was taken. I hadn't yet developed the want for such things, if I ever would. Of course I made eyes at Andy, who wouldn't, you know what I mean?"

Imogen nodded, thinking of Samuel and his liquid brown calf's eyes, mooning always over Tiffany, the lawman's daughter, and not her.

"But the point is, when I came back - I was... this." Laudna rolled her skull on her neck, which made a series of sickening pops that Imogen was well used to, to look at Paté, on her hip as always. "I can play act the ideas, but it's just fun. It's not real. I don't feel it, you understand?"

Oh. Oh that. Imogen took a shuddering breath. "I understand. Paté and Sashimi have somethin' special, that's for sure. But. Do you think you could love me in... any other way?"

Laudna blinked. Her big, dark eyes reminded Imogen of a deep sea creature she'd seen in a book somewhere. Mayhap the one with Fjord the sailor. Giant eyes for seeing in the sea depths. "Oh, I already do love you. Surely you knew that?"

"Of course!"

It wasn't every day someone offered to kill everything if something happened to you.

"Of course I know that." Imogen lifted their joined hands and used her own sleeve to wipe at her nose. "I mean. Do you want to live with me always? Have a life with me? Raise - heck, I dunno, a whole buncha cattle somewhere and have our own stable to breed horses... when this is all over? However that turns out. Or. You know. Whatever. I haven't really thought of it that much." Lie. White lie. Probably fine, in the long run. Fearne did it all the time.

Mentally, she felt Letters poke at her and she shoo'd him away with half a thought.

"Oh, Imogen. Is this?" Laudna fluttered her eyelashes. Patchy and grey though they were. Unique and beautiful, like the rest of her. "A proposal?"

"No!" Imogen gasped. Then. "Maybe? If you want it to be? I just. Aw, shucks. I love you, Laudna. I do. I don't want to ever be without you."

Her other sleeve, the non-snotty one, was sacrificed to swiping at her eyes.

"Even if... I can't ever?"

"Even then." Imogen made herself smile through shaking voice and trembling jaw. "What d'you say? Partner?"

"I say... we'll need to commission some small dolls from Chetney."

"What?"

"Well! Paté and Sashimi have quite the active love life."

"Do they now?" Imogen drawled.

"Sometimes thrice a night! It makes sense they'll give us grandbabies before long!"

"Does it now?"

"You know - the first time I heard the word 'boning' was on the farm - one of the sows had bucked off her boar in the heat of the moment, and his squealing could be heard well across town!"

"Could it."

"He was never the same after that - took him off the breeding line entirely, poor thing. Good eating, though."

“Oh, I bet he was,” A breathy voice piped up from the doorway and Imogen jumped.

“Fearne?!”

“I’m not here,” Fearne giggled, “Sorry! Carry on.”

“No, no it’s fine. We should probably be heading to bed anyway,” Imogen made sure her cheeks were dry.

“Congratulations.” Orym said, quietly. “If you wanted some privacy, to celebrate, we could -”

“See if Chetney is interested in a threesome?”

“Get our own room.”

“Oh,” Fearne sighed. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

Laudna tilted her head. “Whyever would we want privacy?”

Orym looked to Imogen, eyebrows up. Shaking her head, Imogen gave him a shy smile. “It’s okay, thank you Orym, but it’s not, uh, necessary.”

Laudna scooted over, patting the bed beside her. “There is nothing I want more than to share this wonderful news with our friends!”

“We’ll share the news tomorrow,” Imogen hesitated, and then, excitedly, “Dear.”

“Dear?”

“Sweetheart? Honey? You have a preference for petnames?” Imogen joked dryly, making room for the other two by habit. She’d gotten used to sharing a bed with three other people, and the crush of bodies and familiar minds all cuddled in around her.

“I’ve always liked honeysuckle,” Fearne said.

“As a petname?” Orym sounded like he was trying not to judge.

“No.”

Helplessly, Imogen began to giggle. “Well. We’ll figure it out. Goodnight, darling.”

“Goodnight, my love.”

“Goodnight, you guys. And, seriously. Congratulations.”

“Goodnight, I hope we all sleep well and no one is awoken at three am by a howling wolf.”

“...Isn’t that exactly what you want?”

“Hm. Maybe. Night.”

#laudnogen #laudna/imogen #critical role campaign 3 #crc3 #my fic

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