To: garakbashir@yahoogroups.com
From: "Mark Stanley" | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 22:18:58 -0600
Reply-to: garakbashir@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [garakbashir] New G/B story page

Karmen Ghia wrote: > > Hi Mark and y'all, > > --- Mark Stanley wrote: > > Karmen Ghia wrote: > > > > > > The Talljet Quartet > > > by Karmen Ghia > > > http://oocities.com/talljet_quartet/ > > > G/B;NC-17;very very long story (114K words). > > > > > > > I'm only partway through the first one, but I'm > > enjoying it a lot. > > > I'm really glad you're enjoying it, Mark. It's not > very canon, but I think you get to see a little of the > happily ever after between Garak and Bashir. I think > somebody who read _Dysecdysis_ said they'd like to see > more of that and voila! >

Well, I'm finished the whole quartet now. An extremely long and satisfying read, with plenty of strange characters.

I felt sorry for poor Garak and Bashir the whole time -- what a frustrating bunch of people and circumstances to have to deal with, particularly with that fricking Admiral on Garak's back the whole time. I was certainly happy to see him thwarted.

Yrin and Gvo were actually a nice force for relief in the whole mess. It was a good thing they decided to take Garak and Bashir's side!

Mrs. Azbury's part in things was certainly surprising. So was Spock's involvement, for that matter. (I haven't yet read the original After The Rescue... I'm presuming he's involved in that.)

Mark with computer headache from reading obliviously while the room grew dark around me

To: garakbashir@yahoogroups.com
From: "Mark Stanley" | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 22:23:18 -0600
Reply-to: garakbashir@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [garakbashir] New G/B story page

Karmen Ghia wrote: > > But all the sermons, poetry and stories, except Winnie > the Pooh, are, as far as I know, from me. However, I > would love to know what I'm stealing, if I'm > stealing. > > Karmen >

What tweaked my memory was that the title _The reliable and inevitable mercy of the unknowable mind of god_ sounded like something out of Thomas Aquinas. (I figured right away that it was used ironically, but I thought the title might be actually *from* something. :0)

Mark

To: garakbashir@yahoogroups.com
From: pg66213@aol.com | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 11:34:42 EDT
Reply-to: garakbashir@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [garakbashir] New G/B story page

Hi Karmen,

So far (I'm on the fourth story), I enjoy your story very much.

I especially like how you portray the Garak/Bashir relationship. After reading Avatar and dealing with discussion groups who think the Julian/Ezri teenage posterings are the height of romance, your supportive, adult depiction of Garak/Bashir is a welcome change.

I also enjoy the rich characterizations of the Talljets, ThiaZole (my favorite character from previous stories), etc. But more of my feedback after I finish! :-)

Thanks for sharing the story.

PGray

To: garakbashir@yahoogroups.com
From: "Karmen Ghia" | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 13:54:19 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-to: garakbashir@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Pronounciation Guide for ATR/Dysecdysis/TQ Re: [garakbashir] New G/B story page

ATR/Dysecdysis/TQ Pronunciation guide

This is pretty rough; I'm not an expert at linguistics, just a fan.

Jir and Maja have hard J sounds, like jar

Hobie (like Hobie Cat sailboats [or hoe-B]) and Ling (like fling w/o the f)

Hobie's children:

Polmira - Pol (like pole) -mira (mir like beer with an A on the end)

Lyra - like mira with an l

Bot - like hot with a b

Maja's children

Tien - like rien in French with a T or Te-en

Hraja - like maja with a guttural hr sound instead of the m

Faro - like marrow with an F

Jir's children

Hobeia - like Hobie with an A and Ya at the end

Rezdi - like Fez with an R and then Dee

Catanya - like Cat-an-ya

Ling's children

SaKoszt - like Saw Coast

SaRija (BTW, Rija is an anagram of Jira) - Saw Re-ja with a hard J like jar

SaDobra - Saw-doe (with a long O like sober) -bra

Zbricacolvir - (even I have trouble with this) Zbar-cha-low-ver

Xriet - Zee-rhet

Tymat - Tie-mat

Neria-Tza - Nea (like ear)-ree-a (three sounds) t-za as (one sound)

Djerian - D-jee-rian soft J almost a sh sound

ThiaZole - thigh (like high)-a zo-lee

Cheq - like check.

Let me know if you need anybody or anything else.

Karmen

--- Mark Stanley wrote: > Karmen Ghia wrote: > > > > PS. Someone offlist asked me to make a > pronounciation > > guide. It's not the greatest thing in the world, > but > > would anyone like me to post it here or are y'all > > okay? KG > > > > I've got my own pronunciation things happening, but > I'd be interested in > seeing how close I am, if it's not too much bother. > :0) > > Mark > --

To: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
From: mysticmcknight@hotmail.com | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 04:06:04 -0000
Reply-to: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ASCEML] Re: Talljet Quartet

--- In ASCEML@y..., Karmen Ghia wrote: > Title: Talljet Quartet

Wow! What a story! You created a lot of memorable characters, some had me in stitches. (hey way all the Bashir bashing!) Just venting, I know that was not your intention. And I did love the story...I read all 39 parts in a matter of days...lost sleep for I had to know what happened next...right, that's right isn't it? hehehe.

Keep up the wonderful work!

Kim aka MYSTIC

To: COCO_CHANNEL@yahoogroups.com, ASCEML@yahoogroups.com, fcanon@egroups.com, garakbashir@egroups.com
From: Dunyazad9@aol.com | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 07:11:43 EDT
Reply-to: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ASCEML] Re: [COCO_CHANNEL] Talljet Quartet

Karmen has posted this faster than I can read it, but I love what I've read so far. The characters are so *alive* that they practically leap off the page. Many have a charisma that is quite remarkable. The sophisticated, intelligent dialogue is music to my ears. Karmen always does an excellent and thoughtful job of creating alien backgrounds and social context, and this story makes me feel as though I'm really in a multi-world, multi-species environment, not a set with a bunch of people in funny costumes and facial appliances. The attention to the details about the characters -- what they read (I love the things they read), think and talk about and wear -- certainly helps create this effect.

A great read!

Judith

To: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
From: smoke_perro@hotmail.com | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2001 04:38:30 -0000
Reply-to: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ASCEML] Re: Feedback Penance/Karmen

--- In ASCEML@y..., Karmen Ghia wrote: > Thanks for the feedback, Data. I wrote _After the > Rescue_ before I had internet access at home so I had > few distractions and had so much fun writing, I hardly > knew where the time went. > > Karmen

Well, Karmen, apparently getting internet access at home hasn't slowed you down (I'm exceedingly thankful for that.). The Talljet Quartet is HUGE. So far I've only finished the first segment. I decided to go back and reread After the Rescue before the other Talljet segments, just so I had all the Klingon and Talljet characters fresh in mind.

I can't believe that you started in the TOS timeline and have now worked your way through DS9! You must have some encyclopedic mind to keep it all together.

And taking a wild leap: am I correct in picking up implications of more than sibling relationship between the Duke & his loud sister in The Taming Trilogy? Or is it just my depraved mind? She is one of my favorite characters, I kind of hate to think of her that way.

K'Sal

To: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
From: Ellen_Fremedon@hotmail.com | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 01:48:10 -0000
Reply-to: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ASCEML] Re: REP ATR III: Talljet Quartet (DS9;G/B;NC-17;17/39)

--- In ASCEML@y..., Karmen Ghia wrote: > Title: Talljet Quartet > Part III of the After the Rescue Trilogy > http://oocities.com/talljet_quartet/ > http://karmen_ghia.tripod.com/trilogy.html > Part: 17/39 > Author: Karmen Ghia, karmen_ghia@y..., > http://karmen_ghia.tripod.com, > Series: DS9 > Romance Code: G/B > Rating: NC-17 > Feedback: Please and Thank You! > See part one for summary, warnings, disclaimers and > notes. Click here for more explanation, downloads, > etc. http://oocities.com/talljet_quartet and click > here for the notes page > http://oocities.com/talljet_quartet/notes.html >

> "Do you, Mr. Garak?" Hobie turned sideways to meet the > Cardassian's eye. "If you marry me, you'll be joining > a family of eccentrics, actors, priests, a biomachine, > a possibly dead oracle, a there and back again > transsexual, exiles, half-breeds, pirates, artists, > dancers, gamblers, adventurers, engineers, an > accountant, and a lawyer. You'd be a very respectable > addition to our rather motley crew."

And all of them at the Rell of Vron's estate at once! I love the way you choreograph these huge cast-of-dozens scenes, Karmen. And I love having a new part to look forward to every day.

Ellen, enjoying the story

To: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
From: Dunyazad9@aol.com | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 02:09:32 -0000
Reply-to: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ASCEML] Re: REP ATR III: Talljet Quartet (DS9;G/B;NC-17;17/39)

Ellen wrote,

>I love the way > you choreograph these huge cast-of-dozens scenes, Karmen. And I >love > having a new part to look forward to every day.

Yeah, I love that, too. And the way Karmen manages to create stories of such scope and grandeur, populated by characters that are motley and idiosyncratic as hell.

To: "asceml"
From: "Karen one of seven" | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 19:50:31 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-to: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ASCEML] re: Talljet 4tet

after today's post I couldn't wait any longer & read the rest of this. I *hate* when characters die, I cried about *** & the rest. I want to complement your amazing talent for orchestrating this rich and varied tapestry but tapestries are just 2 dimensional. Should i call this a hologram of a work? All these beings, all these lives: it's a multidimensional spreadsheet-database kind of thing. THIS should have been the next Star Trek series (although Enterprise is OK). In summation: gush, gush, gush.

k1

To: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
From: Ellen_Fremedon@hotmail.com | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 03:53:43 -0000
Reply-to: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ASCEML] Re: REP ATR III: Talljet Quartet (DS9;G/B;NC-17;39/39)

--- In ASCEML@y..., Karmen Ghia wrote: > Title: Talljet Quartet > Part III of the After the Rescue Trilogy > http://oocities.com/talljet_quartet/ > http://karmen_ghia.tripod.com/trilogy.html > Part: 39/39 > Author: Karmen Ghia, karmen_ghia@y..., > http://karmen_ghia.tripod.com, > Series: DS9 > Romance Code: G/B > Rating: NC-17 > Feedback: Please and Thank You! > See part one for summary, warnings, disclaimers and > notes. Click here for more explanation, downloads, > etc. http://oocities.com/talljet_quartet and click > here for the notes page > http://oocities.com/talljet_quartet/notes.html

Waaaaah!!!! No more Talljet Stories! Noooooooo!!!! Say it ain't so!

Okay, I think I can handle this. I can always reread them all (and undoubtedly will).

Karmen, as sorry as I am to see this trilogy end, I thought it ended well. I really am sorry to see the Brothers Talljet get their long- overdue comeuppance, but I can't say it was undeserved... well, the cost in blood was certainly too high, but you know what I mean.

TQ has been a great story. Every character had a chance to shine, and I'm astounded at how neatly everything tied up in the end; almost every event in the plot seemed surprising and sometimes totally random when it turned up, but in retrospect it all seems so simple. Like life, really.

I'd be here all night if I were to list the parts I liked the best, but here are a few moments that stand out most vividly in memory: the entrance of the old blind Cardassian on the _T'Paga_; Messrs. Death and Suffering, after they've just been called in, turning and saying "Basssssshir"; the croquet game; Hobie shouting "Kiss me, Quark!" in the corkage argument; Ling reciting poetry to the Klingons in Quark's; Bashir's bitter comments to Garak when he closes the door on Doxoru and Rubicion, after the dinner. And the dinner itself. Actually, all of the big, many-character, set-pieces: the dinner, the qwooba hunt, the tsra.

And I *love* this:

> "Hochofedra," Spock said and shrugged. > > ~*~ THE END ~*~

Somehow, you just know everything will turn out all right eventually, in a universe where Spock has finally learned to say hochofedra. A perfect ending (though I loved the one-sentence epilog, too!)

Or perfect, except that it is the ending. No more Talljet Stories < sniff>.

Well, I suppose all good things must come to an end. And I bet the trilogy will be even better the next time through. But still, I'm going to miss the Talljet clan, Karmen.

Ah well. Hochofedra .

Ellen

To: ASCEML@yahoogroups.com
From: l-long@attbi.com | Block Address | Add to Address Book
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 07:35:40 -0500
Subject: Re: [ASCEML] Golden Orgasms: DS9 Podium Results

>> **The DS9 Golden Orgasm Awards for 2001** >Congratulations to all and to all who still write DS9. >Heaven bless you all and especially your muse(s). > >For myself I can only say > >OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!

That was my own reaction when I read your own Talljet Quartet. I read it on the web site rather than through the news group and I read it through from start to finish, taking breaks only for unimportant things like work and sleep. I'd head off to work, or to bed, leaving the computer on and the cursor right where I'd left off as a bookmark.

That was one hell of a ride and one hell of a job, Karmen! I'd meant to compliment you on it profusely before now, but could never find the words, you know? Your ability to write ALL of that, and to keep it in perspective and true to itself, is nothing short of amazing. I can only wonder how many hours of work it represents, since it took me many, many hours to write my own (short and simple, by comparison) "Bingo and Kewpies".

Kima

name = Rabble Rouser
cat = 2001 ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y11 Talljet Quartet by Karmen Ghia
comment = It can be hard for a fanfic writer to keep a reader's interest when a story starts with, and has as a central focus, original characters. Such is not the case here with the Talljet's. I found the story absorbing from the beginning since Jir is such an engaging, seductive artiste personality with an interesting alien perspective. I laughed at a certain mishap with a ripped gown (of course repaired by a certain tailor) I like how Karmen uses elements from a previous section to lead into and structure the next. Like the way a Klingon sermon given by one brother in the prior portion is delivered by another brother in the next (A Klingon sermon given by a Vulcanoid and incorporating a tale from the Terran "Bhagavad Gita" Part of what's delightful about the tale is the diversity of cultures and unexpected combinations of things you first might think wouldn't go together). I'm not likely to forget Hobie kissing Quark, or the croquet match, or any number of small moments.! The dialogue was sparkling and intelligent and the descriptions often sensuous. I was amazed at how small things dropped here and there are all tied together in the end. I loved Spock in this. This is long and breathtaking in scope--easily enough here for two long novels. And yet you come to an end and think damn? Too short. How am I going to deal with the withdrawal symptoms now?

name = Kathryn Ramage
cat = ASC Awards: Deep Space Nine Garak Bashir
story = Y11 Talljet Quartet by Karmen Ghia
comment = My goodness! There's so much here that it's impossible to address this story even remotely adequately in a few sentences. Karmen once again takes her work in new directions that continue to impress me. The scope and intricacy of this story, the details, are incredible. Oh, and it's a pretty good read too. My favorite bit is the very funny scenes where the relentless Jir takes an interest in poor Garak. Beautifully done!

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 = 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 = 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.

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