It's not the same. Even if I turn my back on her, I still feel that she's part of me. And she can still hurt me whenever she wants to, like pulling the legs off an insect. I don't know why I ever thought that anything I did would be enough to rid myself of that.
[ he bristles a bit at this phrasing, because god he just really!! hates shar!! ]
Nonsense. [ he says, gently but firmly. ] She cannot hold onto you forever. You are capable of denying her any power over you. It's not an easy process, but each time you rally against her, it's prying another cold finger from around your heart.
Maybe. It would have been easier this way. And it makes me wonder, are we really going to pick up the pieces from this loss? I don't know if I'm cut out for this.
[trying to be open, trying to reach out to people - it was easier when she thought she'd done this herself.]
I don't know that it's so difficult as it is that I became overly confident. I've been trying to put Lady Shar behind me and find another way forward, but I admittedly don't find it easy, to try and face difficult things knowing I don't even have the faith I held onto before. [as poor of a handhold as it was.]
This week, it felt as though what I'd been trying to accomplish had just simply...worked. So a lot of other things suddenly seemed possible for me, too.
Is that so terrible? To just believe something will work?
[ thoughtfully. ]
That seems to me to be a different kind of faith entirely. A faith in yourself, perhaps, and not in a god. It isn't as if you don't have a safety net. All of us would catch you, if you fell.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 12:39 am (UTC)No, I - I felt better this week, really and truly. I felt that Lady Shar's influence had finally faded, and I could move on. But it wasn't real.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 12:44 am (UTC)a beat, and if she lets him, he shifts so he can hug her properly. ]
Ah, so that's what you lost. [ ... ] It still can be real. You are most of the way there already, if you'll allow me to give my opinion.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 01:01 am (UTC)It's not the same. Even if I turn my back on her, I still feel that she's part of me. And she can still hurt me whenever she wants to, like pulling the legs off an insect. I don't know why I ever thought that anything I did would be enough to rid myself of that.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 02:18 am (UTC)Nonsense. [ he says, gently but firmly. ] She cannot hold onto you forever. You are capable of denying her any power over you. It's not an easy process, but each time you rally against her, it's prying another cold finger from around your heart.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 02:41 am (UTC)[trying to be open, trying to reach out to people - it was easier when she thought she'd done this herself.]
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 02:48 am (UTC)[ ... ]
You really don't think you're capable of picking up the pieces?
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 03:42 am (UTC)[ not in an accusing way, but more the type of way to try and get her to talk him through it. ]
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 03:59 am (UTC)I don't know that it's so difficult as it is that I became overly confident. I've been trying to put Lady Shar behind me and find another way forward, but I admittedly don't find it easy, to try and face difficult things knowing I don't even have the faith I held onto before. [as poor of a handhold as it was.]
This week, it felt as though what I'd been trying to accomplish had just simply...worked. So a lot of other things suddenly seemed possible for me, too.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 04:28 am (UTC)[ thoughtfully. ]
That seems to me to be a different kind of faith entirely. A faith in yourself, perhaps, and not in a god. It isn't as if you don't have a safety net. All of us would catch you, if you fell.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 01:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-22 02:58 pm (UTC)Then I will have faith in you, until you can find it. I won't let that candle go out.