I wanna talk about Io and how I relate to them personally for a moment. This is more for me to put into writing & I will be delving into triggering topics so if you choose to read this, please be warned.
TW// Abusive relationships, SH ideations
I’ve related to a lot of HeyHay characters over the years— Rae and how he overworked himself too much. Theo and his need to protect and put his own shit aside. Vast and their gender identity, So on, so forth.
Io, however, is a character that I can see myself in. The parts of myself that I never knew that I was fighting so hard.
Io was locked away for centuries. Betrayed. Hurt. Enclosed. Sad.
The start of 2024 was the lowest I had ever been in my life. I was fresh out of an abusive relationship that turned my friends against me. I lost my job. I was finished with school and I was suicidal. I didn’t think there was anything left for me.
When HeyHay introduced us to Io, I didn’t feel that connection until further in. The more we learnt, the more it broke me how much I related to their character.
Io just wanted to be free and loved.
I just wanted to be free and loved.
My ex isolated me from everything and everyone, picked fights with me over little things, made me feel less than him, tried to break boundaries that I had clearly set and made me feel very unsafe.
Io was betrayed by the person who was supposed to love them. Elias broke their deal, and thus their trust, and left them imprisoned for 200 years. They were isolated from everything they ever knew or would know. They didn’t know how to handle the new world and felt threatened by the world.
Send me to Sleep was the straw that broke the camels back for me. Io so desperately wanted to sleep, that they felt like they weren’t needed or wanted. That they should only be woken up when they needed to fight. They had given up and were ready to sleep.
When I was struggling, all I wanted to do was sleep. I had given up on trying and spent my days alone, broken off from the world. But, I had a friend reach out to me that I barely knew and had only recently spoken to again and she didn’t let me go. She fought with me, every day and she still does. She helps with my panic attacks, when I’m stressed or when I don’t feel like I’m enough. She barely knew me at my lowest and she showed me more kindness than anyone I had ever known. She took a chance on me.
I was Io and she was Percy.
Words cannot describe how much a character like Io means to someone like me. They have become such an important HeyHay character for me and I am always front and centre for Siege.
They’ve helped me deal with my own issues by allowing me to see how they deal with their own emotions. And for that, I am immensely grateful to HeyHay for creating a character like Io, even if it wasn’t the intention in the start.
If you made it this far into my post, please know that you are enough. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. There are people out there who love you, more than you will ever know.
Keep fighting for them, if not for yourself. <3
