app @ amatomnes

[cardasseam]

» Canon Point: post-2x18 "Profit and Loss"
» Gender: Male
» Age: It's not specified in canon, but Andrew Robinson (the actor) was in his 50's

CHARACTER INTERPRETATION
» Appearance: Garak is rather short and a little on the stocky side -- mostly muscle, with a little softness from spending 3 years as an exiled tailor. He is a humanoid, but with many reptilian qualities. He is covered in scales, giving his skin a leathery texture, and he has ridges that run down the sides of his head and over his shoulders, as well as around his eyes and forehead. His hair is dark brown and starts growing about halfway on his skull, as though he has partially shaved his head.

It should be noted that at this point in canon, he has an implant that turns pain into pleasure that is on the verge of malfunctioning.

» Orientation: Garak's sexuality is ambiguous. In his first episode, Robinson intentionally played Garak as pansexual -- "He's not gay, he's not straight, it's a non-issue for him." He very confidently flirts with Bashir, not caring that the young doctor is a man. However, this aspect of his character is very much toned down in later episodes (too controversial for 1990's Star Trek). Whatever his sexual inclinations are, they come in a distant second to his love for his home planet, Cardassia. His passions will either be suppressed or utilized, whichever option best serves the State.

» Personality
The most important thing to know about Garak is that he always lies. His own father, Enabran Tain, says that he "will never tell the truth when a lie will do." Garak, of course, would counter that truth is just an excuse for lack of imagination.

His entire life has been constructed on a pyramid of lies. Some were forced upon him -- his mother lied about the true identity of his father and Enabran Tain never acknowledged him as his son. Others are of his own devising, such as the lies he told while training in order to maintain an edge over the classmates who hated him. Lying was a survival skill for him long before he became an agent of the Obsidian Order, Cardassia's much feared intelligence network. While many use strength (or at least the appearance thereof) to achieve their ends, Garak prefers to have his enemies underestimate him.

He's a very Machiavellian utilitarian. He cares more about practicality than ethics; he has no compunctions about assassinating a Romulan senator in order to trick the empire into allying with the Federation. There are few, if any, lines that he will not cross in order to achieve his ends.

He's not Super Spy all the time, though. He's a man of culture; he loves literature, history, and philosophy, and enjoys debating these topics with his friend Dr. Bashir during their weekly lunches.

But his one true passion, the love that makes up the core of everything he is and everything he does, is Cardassia. He was exiled rather than killed by the Obsidian Order because exile was the far more agonizing punishment. When Cardassia joins the Dominion in its war against the Federation, Garak makes the agonizing decision to betray his government in order to save his planet. He wants a free, independent, and proud Cardassia, not a Dominion puppet.

SAMPLES
» First Person Sample
[video]
[Garak smiles at the camera, affable and abashed.]

Well this is extremely embarrassing. I have been informed that I've been here before -- that I ran a shop, in fact -- but I have absolutely no memory of this place at all. I've heard this isn't an uncommon occurrence, but it still distresses me to think that I might pass a dear friend on the street and not know them.

If you know me from my previous stay here, I would love to meet so we can catch up. It would be dreadful to let a good friendship go to waste.

[The best lies simply rearrange the truth. He couldn't care less about any "friends" he may have made the last time he was here -- that was a different time and a different self, assuming it was even true at all. But he needs to know how much is known about him here and the extent to which his security has been compromised. Knowledge is power, after all, and he does not care to stay unarmed for long.]

» Third Person Sample
His vision began to go black around the edges, and Garak reflected that perhaps it was time for him to find release. He had been told that it took two weeks without sex for the collar to kill, and as he was now on day 12, it seemed he had been told truly.

A pity. Lies were so much easier to work with.

Unlike some, Garak had not lost his calm when he discovered the collar and its purpose. He didn't like being forced into sexual servitude any more than the next person, but if he had thrown a hissy fit every time a harsh reality had been thrown at him, well, he would have killed himself long before Terek Nor became Deep Space Nine. He was a man accustomed to bearing with unbearable burdens (the implant in his brain certainly helped). He treated this situation like he would any other: Get the lay of the land. Test what he's been told. Look for opportunities to secure his position or to escape.

In the meantime, things could certainly be worse. The collar was an unfortunate accessory on more than one level, the lack of a Cardassian library a crime against literature, and the place too damn bright, but for the first time in years, he wasn't walking around with a chill in his bones.

He recalled someone mentioning that masturbation could loosen the collar temporarily. To what degree, he wondered, and did one have to fantasize while doing so or was the physical act sufficient?

Only one way to find out.

He leaned back, took himself in hand, and continued testing the boundaries of his newest prison.