Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
“Ex-spy reviews old spy films” and “sewing tips for beginners” are Garak’s two types of videos on YouTube
“Sew along: Tailor recreates period-accurate clothes from old spy films” is his weekly livestream, with snarky comments about the original film while he handsews a period appropriate gown
Dr. Bashir, a spy appears in your quarters in the middle of the night and offers you a mission. What do you do?
I just watched “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges” and I have a lot to say about the parallels and contrasts between Sloan and Garak, which are implicitly called to mind by the structure of the episode.
Like Garak, Sloan is a spy and an assassin. Like Garak, he appears in Julian’s quarters in the middle of the night to invite him on a spy mission. But while Garak’s midnight invitation fills Julian with excitement, Sloan’s elicits only contempt. This is despite the fact that Sloan works for the Federation and Garak during the time he brought Julian on spy missions was affiliated with an enemy power.
I think part of the difference is a matter of time and experience. When Garak used to bring Julian along on spy adventures, Julian had more of his James Bond spy fantasies intact. He was able to find romance and excitement in it more readily than he can at this point in S7, when he’s seen so many of the costs of war and skulduggery. But I do think it’s more than that. Even now, in S7, I think that if Garak showed up in Julian’s quarters at midnight again, the way he once did in “Cardassians,” and invited him along on a spy mission, he would go willingly and it’s not just because Garak is a hot lizard.
Whenever we talk about Garak, I think it’s incredibly important to consider words vs actions. Let’s think about what Sloan and Garak say to Julian in this episode. Garak says to Julian at the beginning that he should become more cynical and stop believing in the Right Thing all the time. Sloan says to Julian at the end that he works for Section 31 to protect men like Julian who do the Right Thing. If we go by what they say, then Garak is a Cardassian patriot (which, according to Admiral Ross, is a very dangerous thing) who wants Julian to abandon his principles and embrace cynicism, while Sloan is a true Federation believer who wants Julian to live out his principles.
But we can’t trust what spies say. It’s their actions that speak their true intentions.
Sloan views Julian’s principles as nothing more than tools to manipulate him with. He uses them as pivot points in his complex gambit to shift the Romulan government in his favor. He uses Julian to act against his own principles. He doesn’t even respect Julian’s skills, not really. The mission was never about using his doctorly diagnosis skills on Koval, or his augmented memory. It was about using his fundamental decency to screw over Senator Cretak.
Garak involves Julian in his spywork in a way that shows great respect for Julian’s skills and his principles. He involves Julian in missions to save Deep Space Nine from destruction, twice over, and to help out war orphans, all of which is in accordance with Julian’s principles. And Garak doesn’t just make use of the skills that everyone notices in Julian - his technical skills as a doctor - but also his quick intellect. He relies on Julian’s wit to uncover Dukat’s plot with the war orphans and dramatically reveal it in front of everyone.
Julian knows which of these spies actually respects him. No wonder, then, that he reacts so differently to their midnight visitations to his quarters.
I found this episode very stressful to watch, because the Dr. Bashir we first met was a James Bond fanboy who went heart eyes over a spy flirting with him at the replimat, and now that he’s become a real secret agent, it’s horrible, and maybe now he can begin to understand how Garak got so messed up.
Okay but fic recs where Garak is still like actively a bad person but instead of that being a problem, Julian is into it
Given the number of people who’s interacted with this post, and the lack of suggestions that fully meet the criteria. I have determined one of two things is happening
Gap in the literature (let’s get writing folks)
I have circled back to what was being written in the 90′s and very little of it is on ao3
Ooooh, actively bad Garak? Yes, please.
I can’t believe I didn’t think to mention @thebluemeany’s work the first time this post went around. Bad Dreams in particular has a terribly Actively Bad Garak.
Since this post went around, a number of works have been published in this vein, at least some of which were inspired by this request:
passively triggering the explosion of ur workplace & then just lying there while ur man has to sprint like a startled gazelle across tha shopping mall to save u from internal bleeding & the misery of ur own design… that’s a bottom move
