#and imogen choosing laudna :)

[yashley]

Say something true!

[towards-toramunda]

Okay so back on my “I find soulmates boring” bs but like do you ever think about how imodna was never meant to be? Laudna died thirty years ago, before Imogen was born, and she wasn’t supposed to become undead. Imogen was supposed to be a normal human living on a farm where she raised horses thousands of miles from where Laudna died. The only reason these two women were able to find each other and fall in love is because they were given powers they didn’t want! The only reason they know each other is because Laudna didn’t die thirty years ago and Imogen’s powers gave her the ability to protect this stranger who came to town! When Imogen imagines her life with Laudna its always in a domestic non magical way! They have these powers they don’t want and they wanna be simple cottagecore lesbians together, but if they didn’t have their powers they never would’ve met! They never would’ve fallen in love! They were not meant to be! They were never even meant to be in the same room together! In any other universe they didn’t meet! AND YET!!!!! Like THAT is romance to me!!! Actively choosing someone who you love despite it all! You love them and you never should’ve known them but you chose them and how lucky you are to be in the one timeline where you get to love them and how horrible that the only way you could’ve known them is by being forced into power you did not want!!!! UGHHHHHH

[sapphicstacks]

I think there is a lot to be said about Imogen trying so hard to meet Laudna where she is at emotionally post-resurrection.

It’s first obvious in the moment Pike doesn’t find Delilah’s spirit. Imogen is taken, for the briefest of moments, by joy because this is what the two of them have been working on for years together. From the very beginning, Imogen was in the conservatory looking up how to separate Laudna and Delilah. “We’re going to get her out of your head,” was Imogen’s reassuring promise to Laudna after the FCG fight. So, Imogen shows unabashed excitement for a split second.

However, Imogen also just made a new promise to Laudna. A promise that she will meet Laudna wherever she is and be there for her. So, Imogen uses her hands to cover her smile, steels herself, and matches Laudna. And we watch her do this over and over again that day in Whitestone. She takes every single cue from Laudna.

Laudna needs a hand to hold on to? Of course.

Laudna needs a promise that Whitestone is real? Imogen crosses her heart.

Laudna wants to touch the Sun Tree? Well, get up here.

Laudna is excited about a newly alive Pâté? Imogen has never giggled so openly.

Laudna can’t eat lobster? Luckily, potatoes are Imogen’s favorite food!

I can’t help but be impressed with Imogen in those moments. Imogen hasn’t had as many chances as Laudna to be the caretaker in their relationship but she will be damned before she neglects that duty now. She recognizes that Laudna will be in the place that Imogen was when they first met, and there is not a moment where Imogen doubts her ability to step up and be there for her. Imogen, in all of her self-doubt and anxiety, knows for a fact that she can keep that promise to Laudna. There is a confidence in Imogen’s love for Laudna that has never been more obvious.

[nellasbookplanet]

That one post which I can no longer find about how Laudna and Imogen simultaneously embody "I can fix her" and "I can make her worse" truly hit the nail on the head about them. They are each other’s tethers, keep each other grounded and help the other remember there’s a reason to go on, they taught each other that they don’t have to be lonely and isolated and feared, that they can be loved unconditionally not despite that which makes them dangerous and different but in part because of it, as an inherent part of themselves. They will fight for each other’s happiness tooth and nail.

But they are also the 'together either way' couple. Laudna would follow in Delilah's footsteps and burn the world and herself for Imogen. If she thinks Ruidus and Predathos are Imogen's destiny, what would make her whole and happy, she would encourage her to embrace it, Exandria be damned. Imogen exalted because of her love for Laudna. She was prepared to do just about anything to get Laudna back from the dead and is equally prepared to do anything now to stop it from happening again. She offered to let Laudna eat her soul. She's so so tempted by Ruidus and knows, even in her struggle, that the person she loves most would never hold it against her even a little bit if she gave in.

[big-moon-little-moon]

A friendly reminder that Laudna and Imogen didn't know that Fearne didn't want the shard and WHY she didn't want it. It is painful to see them tell her they are disappointed and that she should have taken it BUT they have only found out she didn't intend to take it when she told them so after Ashton's attempt. When they were talking before she was scared but was discussing the idea of taking the shard and what they might have to do after that, while also saying that it maybe should go to Ashton. And they were later led to the idea by Fearne and Ashton that yes, she is the one taking it after all. I am not blaming Fearne! She is hurt! But don't say Imogen and Laudna are the worst people alive for telling her that they are disappointed. They are allowed to have feelings, just try to put yourselves in their shoes too. She hasn't told THEM she didn't want it. She told Ashton, she told Chet and only Chet and Orym know WHY she wouldn't want it, as only they know about the dark fearne from EXU. It was awful to hear that from her fellow witches and it pains me to see her experience that. She doesn't deserve it. But she is not communicating her feelings, she needs to learn to do that. She was the only one during the honesty challenge to not share ANYTHING personal (saying she thinks they are not good enough for the mission isn't personal, come on, they mostly agree on that). Though I do understand why it is so hard for her, especially right now after what happened when she let herself feel and share her feelings. Both Imogen and Laudna are far from perfect and have many of their own issues and contradictions. And so does Fearne. They are not perfect, they have feelings and they may be misguided too, they are just people! Just remember that before you start a witch hunt (heh) and decide to burn them, especially Imogen, at the stake again.

[defyingthefates]

With the revelation that Orym had a feeling Laudna killing Bor'dor would give Delilah a foot in the door again, and let it happen even as Laudna turned to him as a lifeline to stop herself. And with the Expanse and its characters on the brain. I'm just thinking about how sometimes, even in the absence of evil necromantic soul parasites, the important question isn't "is mercy the morally correct choice?" it's "is revenge the right choice for us?" It's about self-preservation. About staying the person you want to be. The person you need to be to keep putting one foot in front of the other every day. The person you can look at in mirror every morning. It's about knowing your friend will be disproportionately burdened by that choice and chosing to intervene. Not even necessarily to stop the killing altogether, just to stop your friend from hurting themself in the process. ("You're not that guy" but "I am that guy." "It's not about [them]. It's about us." "It wasn't mercy. It was vanity. I didn't want to think of myself as someone who wanted vengeance.")

In that moment Laudna needed someone to step in for her. To take the weight off her shoulders. I don't think Laudna wants to be the kind of person who kills to satisfy feelings of revenge (even without the threat of an evil necromancer hiding in her soul). Imogen pulled her back from the brink before. But this time she wasn't there. And Orym, in her stead, let her fall. When he could have chosen to intervene. Ashton too, to an extent, although in the moment it was Orym that Laudna looked to for restraint. Either of them could have made the kill instead. That this also put Delilah back in the picture... well that just makes this situation all that much worse. How does it feel to know that your friends let you free-fall into the dark? How does it feel knowing you let your friend free-fall into the dark? Worse, how does it feel to know you gave them that final shove over the precipice?

[yes-m-ray]

i hate how the "Laudna just lives to please Imogen" discourse absolutely removes agency and development from both characters, while also completely ignoring 30+ & 10+ years of trauma at the same time.

i don't have the rhetorical might to develop those points in written form, but when i see people saying, with all certainty, how them "don't work together", or how they should separate to "grow"... i die a little inside.

I want to give those people a chance, i hope they don't really believe that after analyzing a 2 year friendship, and 12 DAYS of a formal relationship IN THE MIDDLE of THE END OF THE WORLD is enough to pull those conclusions. But i don't know...

I've seen this same people seething about their relationship since the start of the campaign so... idk

Anyway i trust the players over everything. They are very aware of their character flaws and arcs (even if these people seem to forget that somehow?) so i know i'm in good hands.

But at the same time... ngl, that this keeps happening to the women characters, and to the sapphic relationships specifically, over and over again... it gets a little bit tiring.

[leadmeastraylittlefairy]

rewatching imogen and laudna’s conversation from episode 49 is so bonkers now. imogen so clearly going through it

[ahelpfulpeach]

CR episode 49 spoilers ahead!!!

so this is rambling thoughts but like. to me the Conversation at the end of the episode seemed like a plea. It seemed like Laudna looking at this woman she loves and telling her that she has a choice and telling her that no matter what she supports her right to make her choices for herself... and begging her to choose her, and their friends, and their wonderful weirdness. never in so many words, but she spends a lot of that conversation pointing out they don't have to throw away their morals and their friendships and everything to get the "normal" life Imogen had taken from her. they don't have to side with the people who murdered Orym's family, all those other people, Fearne, Orym, her.

Laudna would never force her to choose something, no matter how much she hates that that choice may be on Imogen's shoulders, and she'd always love her and support her and her right to make that choice for herself. but I think she really, really hopes that coming back to the Hells and being surrounded by kindness and people who love her will be enough of a reason to reject the "promise" of Predathos.

[sapphicstacks]

imogen and laudna are both purposely avoiding an in-depth conversation with each other and i’ve never been more certain of anything.

they both know there is this huge thing and if they have an emotional conversation, they can’t avoid acknowledging it. neither of them are ready for what it could mean so they have no other choice but to drift apart for a little bit.

[thecobaltmonk]

I'm of the belief that Laudna is going to have to make the first move. While I think Imogen knows her feelings for Laudna, she won't act on them bc she doesn't want to push Laudna, especially if doing so would ruin their relationship. Imogen would rather have what they have now than not have Laudna at all.

[caeslxys]

God. just. This campaign and it's recurring theme of fate and destiny and just. a certain level of predestination in general. And Laudna and Imogen both, at separate times, telling each other (in not so many words) that they choose each other. I'm gonna pass out

[brjeauregard]

Laura and Sam sitting there while their friends talk about how to take out their characters

[criticalbeauregard]

the whole table is contributing to my imodna thoughts tonight