#afterimage

Elim Garak understands something really upsetting and bad happening, but when you look back on it, even if it was straight up abuse, going “oh, that wasn’t too bad” and underplaying it. It might not make sense, but it’s a common reaction to trauma or abuse to underplay it and try to convince yourself or others that it wasn’t too bad, or that you’re overreacting by calling it abuse, even if there’s evidence to the contrary. It can take a while to admit to yourself that this thing that happened was really bad and maybe even damaging to you, and it can be really hard to do that. Remember to take care of yourself and reach out to safe people who care about you if you need help working through this. He believes in you.