Garak’s definitive gayest moment actually was when he was on the bridge of that Romulan warbird, smoke everywhere, death imminent and his immediate thought is to shout some Shakespeare that his bf gave him at his father who he has a complicated relationship in the middle of a military crisis.

@maid-of-the-golden-deer

#genuinely tho#that was maybe one of the first times we saw bashirs influence on HIM and not the other way around#he did.not.need.to.tell.his.dad.that.bashir.told.him#he could have easily been asked about it by odo later#but his dad HAD to know it was dr. bashir#ya know the guy whose house bashir broke into during the wire so tain knows exactly who he is?

Garak’s like hi dad you know the man who cared so much about whether I Iived or died that he braved an unauthorized trip to Cardassian space to try and get some obscure information from you the terrifying leader of the Obsidian Order which is super brave and also more of act of love for me than anything you’ve ever done? That Julian Bashir? His taste in literature is flawless and super applicable actually

#ive been noticed lol#but EXACTLY#bashirs mere existence in garaks life is a fuck you to tain#even on tains deathbed bashir was there for garak

Okay but seriously though. Bc here’s the thing even though we’re all here for this romance it’s not like Garak was happily Tain’s protege and then Bashir walks into his life and starts to give him a crash course in morality. If Garak were Tain’s perfect son and a soulless Obsidian Order agent he wouldn’t have wanted to befriend and fall in love with Bashir in the first place. He would have found his morals and whatnot laughable and his presence exhausting. The fact that Bashir’s empathetic and do-gooder personality is attractive to Garak in the first place signals that Tain failed in some way. Tain and Bashir are a neat way to simplify two opposite forces in Garak’s life that exist on a much larger scale than personal influences.

This is why I love the idea that Garak was secretly a dissident. Maybe he was exiled because Tain found out and somehow, once again, couldn’t quite bear to have Garak killed. Or maybe Tain never found out and he exiled Garak for some other reason altogether.

Viewed this way, Garak’s arguments with Julian are almost arguments with himself.

Adding to this, I like the idea that Garak isn’t actually sure why Tain exiled him. Does Tain know about his dissident activities? If yes, how much? Or did he exile Garak for other reasons? A perceived insult? Was Garak up to something else?