It settles in.
But not as the word "settles" implies.
It settles like a Chinese woman's feet being bound. The arch of the foot, broken. Toes, broken. And then right away, she is forced to stand up and walk in all of that excruciating pain. The result: lotus-shaped feet.
I can't compare myself to the physical pain these women went through. That seems wrong. But it did come to my mind today as an apt, though as usual imperfect, analogy...nothing more.
Broken
and
standing.