ASC Awards Digest 118: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
Stephen Ratliff
The Following is a Digest of ASC Awards Comments.
To comment, go to:
http://www.trekiverse.org/awards/ASCAwards/voting/
or post/e-mail a response to the posted ballots
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Digest 118: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
name = Mark Russel Stanley
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y1 At 2100 by Kathryn Ramage
comment = Ah, first season Bashir. :0) This hot little interlude in Garak's
first episode is just perfect, with Garak completely dominating young,
gauche, stuttering Bashir.
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y2 Just Another Discussion of Literature by Kathryn Ramage
comment = I always enjoy it when Garak and Bashir discuss their relationship
using the pretense of literature. Here, Bashir's bold plunge resembles a
parachute jump, and Garak lets him hang there for quite some time before
making his own intentions known. Fun and sexy without being graphic.
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y3 Fictions by Henrietta Wotton
comment = Bashir pointing out homoerotic subtext in fiction is rather
ironic. :0) This story contains excellent examples of many of my favorite
G/B elements... the subtext-loaded discussion of literature, the bold/shy
Bashir and the amused Garak deliberately flustering him, the quickie midday
sex in Garak's shop... I particularly liked how Bashir realised Garak loved
him.
I recommend reading this with Henrietta's "A Discreet Private Inquiry." They
aren't actually related, but they both talk about Preloc.
name = Mark Russel Stanley
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y6 Schemes & Deceptions by A. Kite
comment = Personally, I don't agree that Bashir's deception over his genetic
enhancements is this pervasive. But this is an excellent story that matches
Garak and Bashir as equals, already scheming to keep each other moments
after having sex.
name = Mark Russel Stanley
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y9 Deep Inside by T'Len
comment = I'm not usually a fan of genderfuck, but this does an excellent
job and has a good premise. T'Len accurately portrays the feeling of being
trapped, the fear of discovery, and the longing to change one's body. Very
good.
name = Mark Russel Stanley
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y10 On Top Once More by Invicta
comment = A weird, inventive, and unexpected alien sex story. Invicta does
it again!
name = Mark Russel Stanley
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y11 Talljet Quartet by Karmen Ghia
comment = Wow. This quartet is enormous, covering a lot of ground and
delving into truly alien mindsets. She has created a huge cast of characters
with complex relationships and motivations, who basically use Garak and
Bashir as pawns in an expansive scheme.
I read it all in one sitting, without really noticing how much time was
passing. The escalation from annoyances to irritations to outright threats,
mortal danger, and alien psychosexual assaults on Garak and Bashir might
have been hard to take, but Karmen depicted their romantic relationship as
solid and loving, and showed them as partners against adversity. She
respects the way they relate to each other and doesn't compromise on or
gloss over their rough spots, but they stick by each other in a way that
impresses even the most alien, otherworldly pair of assassins I've ever seen
in Trek fiction.
Karmen's imaginative world is a gift to Garak/Bashir fiction.
name = Mark Russel Stanley
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y13 Something More than Friendship by Kathryn Ramage
comment = Kathryn does wonderful things with Bashir's relationships with
Garak and Miles. This story is my favorite of her G/B/O'B stories. In some
ways this is a classic h/c story, but it stays more realistic than many,
depicting Bashir's serious injuries as properly debilitating, Garak and
Miles' fear for him as overriding whatever concerns they may have about
their own feelings and each other's motives.
Bashir's feverish weakness gives the story a slightly surreal feeling; it's
from his point of view, and so is fractured as he slips in and out of
consciousness.
name = Cait N.
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y11 Talljet Quartet by Karmen Ghia
comment = In this story, Karmen wrote in such a way that I was immediately
drawn in. I could see the characters in my head, see the action playing out
as I read. It was almost like reading a novel - once I started, I didn't
want to stop until I'd reached the end, and even then there was a sense of
loss because I didn't want to say good-bye to the characters I'd come to
know.
name = Data
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y8 As Twilight Falls by T'Lin
comment = Aside from the wonderful, thoroughly enjoyable smut aspect, I like
the way T'Lin portrays the G/B relationship especially in this story. All
of the characters emotions, insecurities and the 'image' they express
publicly are well-handled.
name = Data
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y11 Talljet Quartet by Karmen Ghia
comment = Absolutely amazing piece of work--great characterizations that are
well-done and relationships that are explored amongst complex political
intrigue and action. Kharmen covers an amazing amount of territory in this
work and does it in a beautifully written style.
name = Data
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y12 Warmth by Mark Russel Stanley
comment = This was a hot, brief piece that provided an intimate glimpse of
the G/B relationship. The characterizations were perfect and the story
manages to show a tender, caring relationship in the midst of a hot sex
scene.
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Last Comment in Digest Submitted:
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 16:09:32 -0500
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--
Stephen Ratliff 2001 ASC Award Coordnator
"To hell with crack, heroin, whiskey, tobacco. Writing is far and away
the single most addictive thing in the universe, IMHO." ~ Greywolf