#and I've already talked more than enough about how I think Imogen only never asked bc she never overheard an active thought indicating

[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.

#for Laudna's part I think she fell in love with Imogen a long time ago but just never imagined someone would have romantic interest in her #one of those things you don't even let yourself fantasize about because it's too unrealistic #and I've already talked more than enough about how I think Imogen only never asked bc she never overheard an active thought indicating #interest from Laudna. But I think she wanted to and was hoping to hear that for like a really really long time #Critical Role #critical role spoilers #Imodna

[strawberrywindow]

hmm for the ship ask game Katherine Collins/Catherine Chun?

BRO we're on the same wavelength bc I literally had another post I was working on for these two about their parallels already in the works lol! 😭❤️

Ship It

1. I def ship it lmao. They may live in two different game universes with a centuries time difference between them but they're also two of the smartest people, canonically in their respective games, alive so I think they can figure that out 😂.

I think they would be able to understand each other in a way a lot of other people around them can't because unfortunately their intelligence winds up separating them from the people around them a bit and their less than stellar skills in socializing add further difficulty to that. But I think Kate and Cath are similar enough they'd be very comfortable with each other.

I also like to think they'd be just as mindblown by the other's prowess in science as people normally are by THEM and it feels like finally finding an equal in a lot of ways. I think Kath would find the ARK project an absolutely wonderful and endearing idea and Cath would be endlessly fascinated by the Pattern/liquid light phenomenon. The only hiccup I can foresee is maybe Kate getting attached to the WAU and personifying it in the way she does the Pattern which Cath would def not agree with. 😂 BUT Kate also mainly personified the Pattern bc she was lonely and sad and Stephen is a bit of a bitch so if she had Catherine that might help her feel the need to not resort to those levels of desperate companionship as much. 🤧🤧

2. My favorite things about the ship are honestly mainly that it's about two nerdy ass, science loving gals finding love in each other in the face of a world that literally shuns them for their idiosyncracies. Cath and Kate deserved so much better than they got and both of their stories end in tragedy. I've made another post a while ago talking about how it breaks my heart that Cath is murdered for finally speaking up for herself when the whole game we hear audios telling her she needs to be more assertive, and I think it is equally tragic that Kate sacrifices everything she has for an alien Pattern that likely is going to absorb her the same way it absorbed everyone else bc she incorrectly interpreted what it really wanted due to her own loneliness. Loneliness is a heavy running theme for these two and in my heart that needs to be fixed with sapphic romance lmao 🥲🥲🥲 (shoutout to the characters that WERE nice to them tho - Simon, Imogen, and Sarah for Cath and Father Jeremy and Frank for Kate 🤧)

3. Hmmm I don't know if I have any unpopular opinions on it bc I've never seen anyone else ship them so I guess the ship in and of itself is an unpopular opinion but that's probably bc more people need to play Everybody's Gone to the Rapture so they can enjoy Kate as a character! And if they've played that and not SOMA, then play SOMA, it's worth it avssgsdhdhf 🤣

Maybe bc it would take away from Cath and Imogen's relationship too? But I still love that ship just as much too, there's always room to pair characters up with everyone around imo bc its about making interesting dynamics💫 😂

Thank you for the ask and letting me ramble about these ladies, sorry it got a little long 🤣❤️

#ask game #catherine chun #katherine collins #soma #everybody's gone to the rapture #frictional games #the chinese room

[conditionaljewel]

Imagine if Imogen begins to interpret herself as being the opposite of Laudna upon hearing Dusk's compliment: warm hands, cold heart. And the worst part being that she cannot deny that due to how upset she is... while she is forcing herself to not dwell too much on it, screaming inside all the while.

Yet she tries to keep her walls up nonetheless because it's easier for her to blame Laudna for something beyond her control than to own up and admit that they both need to talk.

She called Laudna a liar, yet can't be honest about her own feelings... it hurts so much, and I really hope that his cold distance falls apart like the unsustainable front that it is, lest she end up with her powers, say, going berserk due to the strain, or to put it in simpler terms, lest she end up the Scarlet Witch or Dark Phoenix.

They can't go back to how things used to be, but they also can't afford to lose each other to their own demons, be they ruddy stormy dreams or a widowed ghost that just won't go away.

I will be totally honest, I am not a really big Marvel girl so I haven't watched Wanda, and I never was one for X-men, but I know enough about each to know what you're referring to lol superheroes were just never my thing but anyway

I've been trying to respond to this for the last like three hours (and even longer after last night when I first saw this) and I just have so many thoughts that I'm going to put them all here, because this was a fascinating message to receive and it opened up some portals and thought pathways that I just wanted to extrapolate upon a bit here, so I apologize that this got extremely lengthy. I'm gonna slap it under a read more because of length, spoilers, etc. for those who haven't seen it yet.

"cold hands, warm heart." This whole ask is a really interesting way of framing that particular moment, and it's one that I'd been trying to ruminate on for the past 24 hours or so now, and I'll come back to it in a second. I want to revisit it after I espouse something else, because I think it's indicative of something and I'm glad you brought it up, because it's also a thought that occurred to me could happen - this whole saga between them becoming a sort of catalyst for the evolution of her powers, but the catalyst specifically being her ability (or inability in certain respects) to communicate and open up.

She may be able to block people out mentally and physically, but she's also shown that she can't do it forever, or in heavier crowds - she's almost certainly keeping one up between her and Laudna if no one else, now that we're back in the city - and I feel as though if she were to let herself reach out and just get Laudna's surface thoughts, she'd see that Laudna were equally as distraught, as we saw while they were together in the air. Laudna's trying, timing being shite as it is when she did, but Imogen would see that Laudna were worried all the same.

I don't think that we'll end up with a Phoenix/Scarlet Witch sort of situation, at least not as far as becoming villainous - I'll be honest, and this is me metagaming it a little, I'm only a little surprised that there was not a conversation had between Matt and Laura/Imogen where her alignment was changed after she scorched The Verdict - but rather I think there'll be a shift in her energy and powers and (moon related or otherwise) she'll continue to learn more of the abilities she has and harness and control them. Sometimes, you've got to go through hell to get stronger, and to her, hell is Laudna seemingly breaking a promise.

And I know this was Imogen-centric but I want to touch on Laudna for just a moment. I can only help but imagine that Laudna's thinking, after "the worst thing that has ever happened to me has already happened," that surely, this is the worst thing that has ever happened to her (and now possibly, so far; Matt is a bastard and I love and hate him for this). She's unsure of what the rock was, what just happened, what Delilah did, what that feeling was, and now on top of that she's unsure of what Imogen thinks of her. Imogen called her a liar. Laudna's likely been called a lot of things but I am willing to bet she's never been called a liar before, not by someone she loves. So when she does try to reach out to her and Imogen gives the cold shoulder or that sharp "no" in response, she's really feeling that wall not just mentally but physically as well, and she's really not sure how to deal with that, on top of everything else.

I really don't know what Imogen is thinking with regards to calling her a liar though. (Edit: I misspoke, I know why she called Laudna a liar; I am extrapolating and simply am just following the thoughts thereafter.) Part of me wonders if she's not convinced it was Delilah controlling Laudna in that moment, and Laudna just did something with her rock after she promised not to? Part of me wonders if she thinks it was Delilah controlling her all along, and Laudna acted under her control and lied to her so she could use the rock for her? Is she thinking

So now going to Dusk saying Laudna may have "cold hands, warm heart," and the idea of Imogen perceiving herself as the opposite now, it's a peculiar phrase and thought process but it's absolutely indicative of the ability and inability to communicate that Imogen possesses. Yeah sure, she has the capability to touch others and warm them and comfort them, but she can also keep up walls and shut someone out very quickly, and hurt someone when she really wants to. This lines up with the aforementioned roasting of The Verdict. That was cold hearted if I ever saw it.

And being someone who is such a people person the way that she is, unique as it be, she would not ever accept herself to be someone like that. She may not be the bubbly happy-go-lucky type of people-person that Laudna is, but that's what makes her so lovely and unique and special to Imogen, and is all the more of a reason to open up and communicate with her so that she can get back to hearing that symphony from her. Imogen may be a bit stern, a bit rough around the edges, but when she cares, she cares deep and hard, and when she hurts, it's just as emphatic. She's just so caught up in her own maze of emotions that she can't see that Laudna is hurting just as badly, just as intensely, and perceives the interaction between Dusk and Laudna to be more than just Laudna putting on a happy face.

Now for the last thing I'll say, I know this is also a bit metagamey, but I'm just throwing this out there because I feel like it needs to be said: I don't think there's much of a way (read: it's barely a not-0% chance) that Erika would have known what happened at the end of the prior episode that would have prompted Dusk to have said something about a "warm heart" to Laudna, so I am trying very hard to just take this as a cordial compliment and greeting that she's giving to her just to simply say it matters not what you are but what's in your heart... Even if I fully expect Matt to take that line and twist it into something more in the next few days (episodes)

So that being said, it absolutely makes sense that Imogen could be feeling this way, and having that self-perception that could further impede her ability (or enhance her abilities). I do think that they could get back to where they were, any real relationship can if the time and effort and work is put into it -- that's what makes it so special -- but even in the realm of D&D and Exandria, and for our Southern Gothic belles, the possibility is there, they both just need to open up at the right time and be truthful to one another about everything.

And hell, just as a bonus after-thought to entertain the idea, I googled Dark Phoneix and Scarlet Witch... I'd love to see a PC go completely rogue and turn villainous a la Scarlet Witch or Dark Phoenix, that would be some pretty dope shit if Laura continued to control her while the rest of them had to subdue/etc., very Molly-esque but without the NPC part lol. I think it'd be an interesting angle to take in a game, certainly isn't without it's own plot hooks and twists, and I could honestly see both of them doing it in some form -- Delilah assuming full control over Laudna, and Imogen going full glowing-eyed-floating-hair-flying Dark Phoenix. That'd actually be kind of fun.

Wait, Jean Grey was in space, huh... and was hit with some cosmic energy... you don't say... hmm... so, we're getting Dark Phoenix in Exandria, aren't we?

#cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #campaign 3 spoilers #campaign 3 #critical role #bell's hells #laudna #imogen #word vomit #text post #ramblings of a southern gothic shipper #i hope some of this made sense #but at any rate #i just want my loves to be back together #thanks for the ask!