#garak is a ‘’bad man’’

[tokidokifish]

it’s just so funny to hear the “garashir is unhealthy” discourse as the big dumb baby i am, who actually doesn’t much care to seek out toxic relationships and balks on reading fanfics that are even tagged with bittersweet ending. i am a vanilla wafer of a fandom girlie and i fuckin LOVE garashir bc i think it’s a genuinely healthy relationship built on mutual respect and affection, and buddy what else do you even NEED??

[vaguely-concerned]

the face of a man whose entire inner monologue is currently 'elim when will you learn that this is always always what happens when you think with your ajan'

"I can't believe I'm going to die surrounded by subpar human interior design and didn't even get laid for it. maybe Tain was right after all"

[fauvester]

f it. garashir wedding

[hobbithabits]

Classic Star Trek time/reality messiness with DS9, where Garak is replaced by his younger self. The younger him is more impulsive and blatantly emotional, but still delighted by his own tricks. Same Garak but unrefined.

Elim, losing his mind cause they know his name already for whatever crazy reason, is hard to keep track of and evens harder to control. He finds joy in causing a ruckus after realizing that no one in his future reality likes him very much.

He’s absolutely enamored with the CMO who keeps trying to ask him about literature. In the middle of a full brief on the situation, Elim blurts out about how gorgeous the doctors neck is, and fails to pass it off. He’s mortified.

Elim observes everyone in that creepy, lizard like way that seems just like Garak, but none of them had ever seen Garak do it.

Julian, creeped out: Elim, you have a… staring problem

Elim, thinking he’s being called a slut: what? I absolutely do not, I only ever stare at you!

Julian: oh.

Elim is intensely emotional and fails plenty of times to hide it because you can just see it in his eyes. His default look is so earnest that everyone kinda feels bad that they aren’t super nice to him. He doesn’t blame them tho (he’s blowing them up in his mind)

[pissfaggit]

[bardicious]

Top ships that are canon OR are so romantic, they really might as well be canon (But their respective writers, studios are cowards):

Spirk

Hannigram (Murder Husbands)

Cherik

Garashir

Ineffable Husbands

Xena/Gabrielle

Feel free to add to the list!

Edit: Ineffable and Murder Husbands both canon. Love that for them.

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

Things I think would happen if Jeeves and Wooster were on DS9

Bertie is the only person on the station who has not yet clocked Garak as a spy. He spends a lot of time in Garak's shop either ordering the gaudiest clothes imaginable or asking Garak to back him up in whatever fashion argument he's having with Jeeves (which Garak is only too happy to do).

Jeeves fantasizes about murdering Garak a thousand times a day. This goddamn lizard man is his white whale. Any attempt to find blackmail material on him takes him down a hundred different rabbit holes leading to dead ends. He's met his match. There are flames. Flames on the side of his face.

He can't even take Garak to task for his garbage opinions on Earth literature because he knows full well how that would be taken.

Garak actually quite likes Jeeves, because game recognizes game and he respects a fellow manipulative bastard when he sees one. However, since he is, at the end of the day, a little shit, he takes great pleasure in dressing Bertie in louder and louder outfits just to watch Jeeves grind his teeth.

(He's also admittedly fond of Bertie, who's too nice and trusting to treat him with the same suspicion and contempt that nearly every other person on the station does. And if Bertie vaguely reminds him of a certain doctor, what of it?)

Quark quickly figures out that Bertie is absurdly easy to scam. Jeeves spends so much time foiling him that he's practically an informal member of the station security team. Odo drops by his table at the replimat every morning to swap Quark-related intel.

Jeeves also won't stop winning at the Dabo table, infuriating Quark even further. There's an ongoing arms race between Quark trying to find excuses to ban Jeeves from the bar and Jeeves finding ways to blackmail Quark into letting him back in.

Jadzia is the first person to notice the weird requited-unrequited thing J&W have going on and finds it endlessly entertaining. She makes a game of chatting to Bertie about Jeeves as if they're already an established couple (I hear it's Valentine's Day on Earth, are you and Jeeves doing anything special? Worf and I had an amazing romantic date last week at that new Bolian place, you should try it!) Her amusement gradually fades into astonishment the longer Bertie doesn't get it.

Jeeves sees Jadzia's increasingly unsubtle encouraging glances and wishes he could incinerate her with his mind.

Worf knows Jeeves does illegal shit in the course of protecting Bertie or extricating him from accidental alien wedding rituals. He knows it. He just can't prove it. And Odo is no help, because Jeeves keeps himself too unobtrusive and is too invaluable to the cause of keeping Quark in check for Odo to want to look into him that closely.

In the absence of hard evidence to pin him down, Worf's relationship with Jeeves remains tersely cordial. He grudgingly supposes that nobody who has such an amazing depth of knowledge about Klingon opera and poetry could be that bad.

You can't let Bertie and Morn in a room together. Once they get going they NEVER shut up.

Part 1.5 Part 2

[captaincrusher]

Thinking about how Damar killed Ziyal and then ended up the hero of the Cardassian people by the end of Ds9. The murder of Ziyal is not shrouded in any ambiguity. She was innocent and he murdered her.

So how can he end up being a hero? How can we reconcile this view of the Damar that commits a brutal, unforgivable act with the Damar that leads a rebellion and saves his people?

That's a hard question. It certainly comes down to character development. The Damar that shoots Ziyal is shaped by the same values and ideas that created Dukat. Cardassian military man, convinced about Cardassian superiority. But when Damar reaches the height of power under the Dominion, he's wrecked by guilt and the eventual realisation his people are not the rightful, imperial oppressor, but are being subjugated.

He changes and realize, very reluctantly, that Cardassia has to change to. His turning points are all centered around killing people: Killing Ziyal leads to his induction to leadership, killing Weyoun leads to his role as rebellion leader, killing Rusot leads to him finally accepting the new Cardassian reality. So does Kira "forgive" him? Is the audience to forgive him?

I think Ds9 tells us that people sometimes do horrible things and then we all have to live with it. Garak did horrible things, Kira did horrible things, even Sisko did horrible things. Justice isn't easy or smooth and certainly not swift. Maybe Ds9 tells us that there's no dichotomy where we either forgive and forget or we seek absolute justice.

We learn early in episodes like "Duet" that seeing things in black and white, where everyone is either Good or Bad, is not constructive. We learn in "Darkness and the light" that Kira killed civilians working with the occupying forces during her time in the resistance when she had to and also that being consumed by revenge will lead you down a dark path. All those things teaches us that in war, sometimes you don't have the luxury of absolutes. Kira chose to put her personal feelings about Damar aside and work at his side, not because she forgot Ziyal but because that's what she had to do.

It's also interesting to consider Dukat killing Jadzia vs. Damar killing Ziyal and how these horrid acts lead two people on very different paths, but that's best saved for another post.

[dragontamerno3]

DS9 S3 E5 - Second Skin

I wasn't sold on this episode until the last ten or so minutes but damn did it end up being a good one.

The idea of turning Kira into a Cardassian was simultaneously a very intriguing one that I was interested to see where it led but I was also very much not sold on it so it was just confusing. I kept thinking, this obviously isn't real so why are the writers putting us through this? What is the purpose?

Initially, I thought it was to learn some of Kira's past time secrets so they could use that against Bajor/The Federation but the real ending was so much better.

I can't tell you how many times I screamed "just hug this man!" in my head when Kira was interacting with the Legate. I admit I teared up when she was saying goodbye to him and he called her his family. The Legate was a damn good character that I'd be interested in seeing more of.

The B side plot with Garak was fun. I'm a fan of how savage Sisko is and how far he's willing to go to get things done, including blackmail. The show keeps warning me that Garak is a bad dude and I know he has a past but I can't see him as an actual villain. Maybe this is just me cause I have a thing for villains but I don't get proper villain vibes from him. More anti hero? I dunno. All I know is that I love him lol

8/10 

[vaguely-concerned]

okay. listen. a Concept. garashir roughhousing (gone (psycho)sexual) and at one point bashir wakes up from the high of finally getting to express all his repressed aggression in a safe space with someone who not only accepts that in him but can match him and is actively Into It, especially when he stops holding back some of his lil gmo twink strength, to be horrified like 'oh my GOD garak your nose is bleeding hang on I'll get a napkin or something I'm so sorry holy shit' and garak's lying there woozy with lust gazing up at him with wide betrayed eyes like 'no wait don't go you haven't even stabbed me yet :'('

(obviously this is mostly a shitpost, but I'm just saying I think they could provide a certain kind of space for each other that way. julian gets to have a place to live out all the rougher, less socially acceptable sides he usually has to downplay and push away to seem as non-threatening as (augmented) humanly possible with someone who loves him and who appreciates getting the entire spectrum of julian bashir, from the most obnoxiously annoying and needy to the unsettlingly coldly ruthless and back. and garak gets to have the shit beaten out of him in as medically safe and infinitely loving way as possible and/or finds he can still use his bloodied hands and take care of someone with them. this to me is the definition of what one might call a win/win situation. like don't get me wrong they would be having a lot of embarrassingly tender yearning gently-stroking-your-hair-and-holding-your-hand sex too. but. also this. which I think is also very tender, just in a different way. do you feel me.)

[fauvester]

Not sure if you meant for the questions to be askes BUT 9 for like iskra or something would be interesting since there is a mix of human and cardassian culture, does julian celebrate any terran holidays with them?

omg I wish I was a better worldbuilder, people come up with so many fun fake little holidays. Thanks to that one throwaway line in ST:D I've unilaterally decided that Cardassian culture is very food-centric, so you know baby Iskra got taken to lots of street food festivals celebrating military victories and elections..

Julian trying to figure out which terran holidays can be safely transported and re-potted on post-Fire Cardassia (I feel like he still tries to celebrate Federation day at home just so the kids can have some positive associations. Cue him and Lim trying to figure out how to cook a desert lungfish without soliciting their neighbors' help with removing the fibrous capsule..)

Halloween is a safe bet, I think. Scaring the spirits away is vaguely Hebetian and the locals enjoy both tricks and treats. Julian gives his coworkers at the hospital candy to distribute to her.

Still got to be lots of nationalist holidays to celebrate after the war, but now they're very much tinged with bitter memories. Now they're more of an opportunity to complain about the current administration and get drunk (both activities Iskra vigorously enjoys as an adult)

[lifeofcar]

Keep thinking about that time odo is deing And Sisko goes Garak get in here you're gonna almost confess to crimes to keep my grumpy security officer pre occupied.

He could have just bought a spy novel audio book or the first season of breaking bad, but no he had to bring the silly (perhaps evil) criminal spy man on a very dangerous and security critical mission to whisper almost truths and state secrets into Odo's ears.

Another insane and bad ass leadership decision from Sisko, Picard could never

(also I wanna hear peoples thoughts on what piece's of media would keep odo pre occupied)

[transmascswagpolls]

Transmasc Swag Polls- ROUND 1

Propaganda and other info under the cut.

CANONICITY LEVELS-

JULIAN: Subtext/ Coded VIKTOR: CANON Transgender Man

MEDIA?

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and other related media, The Umbrella Academy

JULIAN PROPAGANDA-

As a child, he had learning and socialisation difficulties, so his parents decided to "fix" him by getting him genetically augmented, despite this being illegal in Starfleet. As a result, he has a bad relationship with his parents because he feels that they never really gave his past self a chance, and he also has to hide his true self to get into Starfleet.

He also has a homoerotic relationship with Garak, a lizard man (Cardassian) spy aboard Deep Space 9. Their relationship starts with Julian being a little starstruck by Garak, but he quickly learns that Garak has problems of his own…

He's just a silly guy but also a very nuanced and well written character and I love him so much. My favourite trans-ish moment is when he finally stands up to his parents about them deadnaming him. A trans interpretation is definitely not the only way to read this scene, and there's also a lot of metaphorical stuff about being neurodivergent in there, but in my opinion he definitely easily lends himself to a trans reading in many ways.

VIKTOR PROPAGANDA-

Well I mean he is canonically trans and played by a trans actor but even before he came out he gave a lot of transmasc vibes. Also his dead name is considered masculine. So my guy has a male name even before he realized he was a guy. Also he was very isolated from the rest of the family which idk feels relatable as a trans person.

[captainkaseykirk]

Can we talk about a garashir scene in Our Man Bashir I do not see talked about a lot?

Remember in episode 3x15 when the Cardassian researchers come to the station and one falls for O’brien because he’s pissy and irritable with her? She thinks he’s expressing romantic interest because that’s how Cardassians flirt and express their desire to pursue physical relationships.

WELL,

with that refresher on Cardassian romantic overtures, let’s rewatch this scene (captions included!)

Garak is already ridiculously attracted to Julian, but we’ve only ever seen them flirt the “human” way over books and lunch dates, and light teasing. But here is the first time (to my knowledge) Garak encounters Julian “flirting” with him in the Cardassian way. He’s so shocked, and, more importantly, turned on that he’s speechless for a moment— a true feat for Garak.

Technically Julian probably isn’t flirting here. He is seriously concerned about his friends and Garak is getting in the way, but I don’t think it matters to Garak. Regardless of Julian’s intentions, Garak has interpreted this encounter according to his own cultural customs and he is down to fuck bad.

I would personally argue that Julian knows what is happening here and is reciprocating even in his serious annoyance because of his “what makes you think I wasn’t trying” response. Given what we know about Julian, not only his kind disposition, but also the fact that he’s augmented and has perfect aim, this statement isn’t true. He certainly was not trying to kill Garak. If he were, Garak would be dead or seriously injured. And there’s no way Julian is unfamiliar with Cardassian mating customs to not know how Garak interprets the action. I’m sure Miles told him all about his experience with the Cardassian woman in one of their gossiping sessions.

This episode marks another turning point in the Garashir arc. Julian has already seen the worst in Garak (The Wire) and he is no longer the doe eyed, flustered doctor obsessed with the (was once alleged but is now confirmed though retired except on some occasions) Cardassian spy. After this episode we see far more instances of Julian being “irritated” and combative with Garak who, of course, revels in the attention his dear doctor gives him… and you know what? I think Julian likes it too.

Anyway, I said all that for absolutely nothing other than the fact that it’s been in my head for months and I had to get it out.

[garaks-padded-bra]

I enjoy how garak gesticulates w his fork. That’s bad manners old man

[the-last-dillpickle]

I've been thinking lately about a possible fic concept where Julian gets poisoned while on a mission with Sloan (Julian was warned against sympathy for the target! But tsk tsk no good deed goes unpunished), and due to the mission being too secret for Julian to show up at a real medbay, he must ride out the effects under the care of an EMH and Sloan. (This was going to be a kinda hazy creepy nightmarish fever dream type fic). Anyways, the concept led to me thinking about the reverse---Sloan is unexpectedly poisoned while on a mission, and Julian must care for him. It's an alternate take on The Wire. In that episode, Julian protects Garak from interrogation by Odo, puts his own life in danger for a cure, and forgives him. We know Garak is/was a bad man. Julian knows this too and has seen the devastation the Cardassians wrought, but he's not personally a victim of the Cardassians or of Garak.

So here we ask: would Julian behave similarly with a man like Sloan--someone who continually manipulates him, has tricked and tortured him multiple times, and who is a member of an organization that Julian is actively trying to dismantle? Would Sloan's life and health take precedence over an opportunity to interrogate an addled-minded Sloan? Especially if Julian can calculate that the knowledge gained could save so many more? Would Julian put himself in danger if it was Sloan's life at risk, and he was the only one who could save him? What's more important to Julian in the end: his oath and duty as a doctor, or the opportunity to take back control of his life and remove a rot from the Federation? Where does Julian draw his lines?