WE THE NORTH WEEK 2K21 - DAY 004
↬ sadness = henlia ↫
*cries and cries and cries... and then cries some more*
honestly. this whole story. the path of henry and talia, of the bell-armstrongs and armstrongs to get to this point was such a great story, it was such a great rallying amongst players to figure out how to get it donewhen characters were left in a lurch. talia went through some revamps, henry switched a couple of jobs. but they found their final forms. the badass record exec and the wholesome author, both raising such a great family as part of a great family.
family dynamics are underrated a lot in rp but its not underrated at all on wtn which i think is great. that the site builds off more than just romantic relationships. (i know i'm raving a lot about elle this year but she deserves it) but this was a ship that was essentially something she was doing on her own with a couple of people who would step in to write henry when he was needed. henry would be there with friends and family too. he helped develop plots, helped to get them to where they needed to be so that there was no scrambling. so there was no waiting for someone to take an ad when the bell-armstrongs were left without a patriarch. and i think that's something so lovely about this site as well.
i think there are two reasons that henlia is sadness for me this year. its not only because henry died and that everything thread i read or am apart of breaks my heart with the emotional depth from everyone involved. it hurts so much to read talia, hudson, sienna, vince, nick and samson. it hurts my heart to write tez having to watch it all unfold with vince and emilia. they were my pain prompt because it doesn't hurt the same way when something is so immensely sad and the way it just makes you want to cry, it just breaks you. and this isn't something that's going to go away, its going to stick with these characters and shape them. a son, a brother, a father, a husband, a good man. all of it, affected so many people on the site. i personally have three at least, who will feel this in some way for years to come.
i was on the edge of my seat with zelda/henry/simon and then it got sad and i cried. and then there was the talia/zelda thread which ruins me. my heart hurts. dont get me started on the bell-armstrongs thread (i cried just this morning at 5am) or the cortez-armstrong one. elle, devv and kat, are doing something so good with the brothers too i just can't. i know emma has some out there that i haven't ventured to yet. and there's so much more. i’m in for the long run with plot and it’s shock waves.
everyone has written such beautifully sad posts about this, but talia really makes me hurt. and i think this is because i've spent a couple years at this point writing henry, falling in love with henry and falling in love with how much henry was in love with talia and how much she loved him. he technically wasn't my character, but i call a third of him mine, he's in my drop down menu. so there's this connection that i have to him and its sad to see him pass on. one of my favourite things to write with henry was his love for talia, its the kind of love you want for yourself. which tbh i played myself because it made this hurt all the more. i've known this was coming, to some degree but it didn't make it any easier at all. i feel like i'm going through the stages of grief along with these characters.
thanks to @ellectricmuse for letting me be a part of this journey. shout out to @charlieweasleyy and @the-dcrkling for helping to make henry the man he was. and if any of the armstrongs/bell-armstrongs need anything i've got chars that are here for you.