Garashir First Meeting Role Reversal Only Their Ages And Careers Don't Change At All, Julian's Just An

Rewatching DS9 and I forgot how annoying Bashir was at first. Man both masked and masc-ed too close to the sun. I would die for him.

The irony is that with Star Trek not directly talking about the genitals of aliens to stay family-friendly, they inadvertently left the door open to our imaginations

Home, on Cardassia

This is my love letter to Elim Garak.

When writing Garak, the author must fill themselves with depraved, lustful pining for Julian Bashir.

If one is asexual, or otherwise lacking in such affections towards the dear doctor, picturing a gorgeous behemoth of a sandwich piled high with fresh toppings, thick bread toasted just so, leaking dressing onto its plate and cut in twain, but remaining one dollar short of buying it, is a suitable substitution.

You are dropped in a Star Trek location. Spin this wheel to find out which location and this wheel to find out who you are with.

One reason In the Pale Moonlight lands so well is that the show plants the seeds early on for Garak representing a sort of “out” for Sisko when he has to circumvent official procedures. There’s the bit in The Search where a holographic mental projection of Garak shows up to flirt with Sisko and enable his rebellion against Starfleet, and then The Way of the Warrior has the part where they’re wondering what to do about the Klingon invasion fleet headed to Cardassia and Sisko says “we need a third option” and it immediately cuts to Garak. In the Pale Moonlight picks those threads of Garak being someone Sisko leans on when he needs to take a more underhanded approach (and someone who, similarly to Quark, Sisko can put pressure on with no repercussions).

But Garak’s perspective on it is interesting, because of how much his dynamic with Sisko reflects the dynamic he used to have with Tain. There’s that part in The Wire where Tain tells Bashir “I never had to order Garak to do anything… that’s what made him special” and that’s pretty much exactly how Garak behaves with Sisko in this episode. He does what he does best - being maximally useful to someone more powerful and anticipating everything they want and need, taking an intention and shaping it into a workable plan with little direction. He comes up with the entire scheme pretty much on his own and puts it into play with minimal participation from Sisko save things he needs official sanction for, and anticipates all contingencies and variables beforehand. And then of course sees to it that the plan is carried out, in a way that Sisko would never sanction but that he knows that on some level Sisko wants - or rather, that Sisko wants the outcome while being spared having to order Garak to take the measures to see it through.

Garak molds himself into the role Sisko sees him as playing in a way that’s similar to how he made himself into the person Tain wanted him to be - in that case, as Garak puts it, he was a “reflection” of Tain himself. Except with Tain, that process involved Garak shaping himself to embody the values that Tain espoused, and expunging the parts of himself that Tain abhorred, namely weakness and sentiment. And with Sisko, Garak reflects the parts of Sisko that Sisko doesn’t want to face and wants to shunt off onto someone else. And that plays out not only re: Sisko’s willingness to make moral sacrifices for the greater good, but even just on a smaller scale - there’s the part where Sisko snaps and threatens Forgery Guy, and Garak steps up with that truly terrifying smile and promises to drop in on Forgery Guy to “say hello”. Just playing the role of Sisko’s Evil Henchman to perfection, and thus enabling Sisko’s loss of control and his cruel streak. He’s very subservient to Sisko throughout the episode! But it’s through that subservience that he actually gets the upper hand on Sisko, solely by reflecting his darker side at him and getting in that jab about Sisko’s self respect being sacrificed. It’s so utterly delicious.

You seem to have forgotten that some of us are older than all of these.

formative part of your childhood and/or early internet usage?

or pick whichever one is your main one today. i'm not a cop, i won't know.

He is a tailor, plain and simple

can this be considered an attempt at seduction? a successful attempt?

на столе стоит бутылка

а в бутылке лилия

что ты смотришь на меня

рожа крокодилия

Why is this the cutest thing I've read??? I was going to link to the original post but it's been taken down, so it seems like they've found their home 💖