They're such lame nerds. I love them. They had to be amazing badasses for everyone else. It was thrust upon them. But what they both really wanted was to eat food and have a book club, and they finally get that together.

garashir is incredible because you have an exiled spy for an oppressive state with fucked parentage who doesn’t want to let himself be happy, but also can’t resist temptation; then you have a genius doctor who comes across as naive and too optimistic, but has had an ongoing identity crisis since the age of 15 because he learned his parents’ solution to his childhood disabilities was eugenics

and yet somehow they are so lame, just so embarrassing

This is exactly it. The reason I love these two so much. Because they have no reason to be together, every reason not to be, but they just sincerely like each other so much that that overrides everything else. It’s beautiful and touching and super romantic. The only other couple that has a dynamic like this is Aziraphale/Crowley from Good Omens, and I love them just as much. My two OTPs.

i will never get over how garak likes julian for his talking and excited curiosity, and how julian accepts garak as he is, lies, secrets, and all. like that shit fucked me up.

the fact that everyone else is at least pretending to be discreet meanwhile julian just pulled up a chair and is straight up just staring at them like 👁👄👁🍿

My only real beef with NuTrek set at the same time that Bashir and Garak exist is that they haven't had the balls to make it screen canon. Like, it was there in DS9 to the point the Powers that Be had to tell Alexander Siddig & Andrew Robinson to Knock It Off, and separated the characters as much as they could without pissing off the entire fan base.

The actors saw it, the fans saw it, it is there!! If you can give us Picard and bring back all those people and little nods, you sure as hell can give us 30 seconds of Bashir consulting with Beverly with Cardassia in the background and Garak popping over Bashir's shoulder to ask about her magic-borg-son.

Oh my God and he only made the bomb to avoid asking for help. He’d rather literally explode than ask for help. I get it, I do but

Garak was late to lunch that day because he was building a bomb to destroy his shop. He was eating Delavian chocolates while he made it. He saw an assassin and knew for whom the bell tolled, but he still ate his chocolates, and he still went to lunch, just a little late. Because he was making a bomb to blow himself up with.

Logos, Mary Oliver /// I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well, James Allen Hall /// Hey Rosey, The National /// You with the Crack Running Through You, Kim Addonizio /// #319, asofterworld.com (remixed) /// yes & no, Natalie Wee /// Ceasefire, S.T. Gibson

Just to reiterate, Garak’s to-do list that day looked like this:

1. Make bomb

2. Lunch with Dr. Bashir ❤️

3. Explode

Garak was late to lunch that day because he was building a bomb to destroy his shop. He was eating Delavian chocolates while he made it. He saw an assassin and knew for whom the bell tolled, but he still ate his chocolates, and he still went to lunch, just a little late. Because he was making a bomb to blow himself up with.

incredibly low stakes garashir headcanons 😌

they're both pretty good cooks and like to make food for each other. garak is better at baking though and it drives julian insane bc even his augment brain can't help him figure out macarons

garak has never really been in a serious adult relationship and can't believe how much of it is just having different versions of the same conversation over and over again forever

julian isn't actually untidy or disorganized, but garak is. he tries not to be but there are fabric remnants and pins everywhere 😔

julian develops a taste for cardassian food and drink and is proud of it. garak develops a taste for human food but continues to performatively complain about it

the sex is great but it's mostly less weird than you'd think

they never, ever run out of things to talk about. seriously. they will never shut up

Garak was late to lunch that day because he was building a bomb to destroy his shop. He was eating Delavian chocolates while he made it. He saw an assassin and knew for whom the bell tolled, but he still ate his chocolates, and he still went to lunch, just a little late. Because he was making a bomb to blow himself up with.

Absolutely awesome! It would have to be so disturbing for Julian to figure out what had been going on. And I love that last line; heart wrenching. I can’t wait to see it in The Seven Year Prologue! I might play around with this concept in future work myself, but there’s no room for it in Every Broken Thing.

Very preoccupied with Garak’s brain implant right now. What level of pain would trigger it? Like would it only kick in if he was actually being tortured, or would all pain of all kinds turn it on? I like to imagine it’s the latter and Garak went like fifteen entire years without experiencing any physical pain. Maybe he’d even stub his toe on purpose if he needed a mood booster.

And can you imagine the unbelievably difficult adjustment period he must have had after it was turned off? Getting a cut and expecting it to feel good. Waking up with a stiff neck after sleeping poorly and groaning in pain rather than moaning in pleasure. Finding out he’s not nearly as kinky as he thought he was. Maybe he didn’t used to mind at all if his needle pricked his finger but now he has to learn how to sew all over again without hurting himself.

Honestly what touches me the most about him calling them friends is that they mostly aren’t even friends of his. Bashir, yes. But the other people who are nearby are Worf, who hates him, and Martok and the Romulans, who he met yesterday. I find it so endearing that calls them his friends when he barely knows them. I have always thought that there was something childlike about Garak, and this is part of it. He’s like a six-year-old instantly bonding with another kid because they played together for twenty minutes.

I just want to remind everyone of this extremely powerful scene from In Purgatory’s Shadow/By Inferno’s Light from season 5 of ds9.

“I'm sorry, but that's absolutely unacceptable. I'm under enough strain as it is, I can't have you quitting on me. Get a hold of yourself, Garak. After all, you haven't had one of these attacks in years. Yes, this is a tight enclosed space. Yes, there's not a lot of room to move. But a disciplined mind does not allow itself to be sidetracked by niggling psychological disorders like claustrophobia. Besides, this isn't like Tzenketh. The walls won't collapse in on you. Your friends are near by, there's plenty of air, so there's nothing to be concerned about. Focus on the job. You're the only person who can contact the runabout. People are depending on you. Ziyal is depending on you. You promised her you'd come back, and that young lady has had quite enough disappointments in her life without you adding to them, so control yourself. You're stronger than this. A disciplined mind-”

This is one of the most accurate depictions of a panic attack I’ve ever seen in a tv show. Andy Robinson went above and beyond here. He depicted it perfectly. That choking panic that rises in your throat and steals your breath, while your mind screams at you. The fear in his voice as he talks to try and ground himself.

The sheer strength and fear and dread of Garak, as he prepares to go back in, knowing what awaits him. That choking cloying panic, your mind and body betraying you…

I read somewhere that Andy Robinson is himself claustrophobic. I wonder how much of himself he poured out into these scenes.

It’s powerful because it’s real. People go through this every day of their lives. And seeing a scene like this, it reminds us we are not alone, that there are others who suffer like this too.

Whoops, Gabriel Bell is my age. Ok then.

Happy birthday, Gabriel Bell!

You are so absolutely right about the importance of pain and how it is crucial to understanding your own body and its needs and limits. What would that do to someone to go without it for so long? And then suddenly have to grapple with it? Fertile fic ground, for sure.

Very preoccupied with Garak’s brain implant right now. What level of pain would trigger it? Like would it only kick in if he was actually being tortured, or would all pain of all kinds turn it on? I like to imagine it’s the latter and Garak went like fifteen entire years without experiencing any physical pain. Maybe he’d even stub his toe on purpose if he needed a mood booster.

And can you imagine the unbelievably difficult adjustment period he must have had after it was turned off? Getting a cut and expecting it to feel good. Waking up with a stiff neck after sleeping poorly and groaning in pain rather than moaning in pleasure. Finding out he’s not nearly as kinky as he thought he was. Maybe he didn’t used to mind at all if his needle pricked his finger but now he has to learn how to sew all over again without hurting himself.

Very preoccupied with Garak’s brain implant right now. What level of pain would trigger it? Like would it only kick in if he was actually being tortured, or would all pain of all kinds turn it on? I like to imagine it’s the latter and Garak went like fifteen entire years without experiencing any physical pain. Maybe he’d even stub his toe on purpose if he needed a mood booster.

And can you imagine the unbelievably difficult adjustment period he must have had after it was turned off? Getting a cut and expecting it to feel good. Waking up with a stiff neck after sleeping poorly and groaning in pain rather than moaning in pleasure. Finding out he’s not nearly as kinky as he thought he was. Maybe he didn’t used to mind at all if his needle pricked his finger but now he has to learn how to sew all over again without hurting himself.

Not too long ago I read an article about how to tell if your spouse is cheating on you. One of the signs is if they frequently check their phone and smile while they do it, then quickly put it away. I'm constantly doing that, but what I'm checking is my tumblr for Garashir content and my ao3 account to read comments on my Garashir fics. So I guess I'm cheating on my husband with the entire ds9/Garashir fandom. Which he probably expects at this point. When I think about it, we basically have an open marriage and Star Trek is our unicorn.

My husband saw the Tumblr app icon on my phone and came at me all sad and confused about why I had Tinder on my phone.

At first I was offended because, I was like “What’s wrong with you! You don’t recognize the Tumblr logo?!” But then I realized that in the real world it is more likely for a person to be trying to cheat on their husband than spend their days on a weirdass website from the original days of the internet to read sci-fi fanfic, swoon over Garashir fanart, learn about obscure historical events, and make sure Neil Gaiman is still alive.

Hah, I should have checked! Thank you.

Also, the author’s first name is Kelas.

Make them straight adjacent for the homies

Anyone have a link to this interview? I haven’t seen this before and it’s making me just a little bit rabid.

Make them straight adjacent for the homies