[Report This]Date: 17 Oct 2011 12:21 Title: Chapter 1
And a powerful conclusion to a powerful trilogy.
What Ziyal's death did to Dukat is more than obvious, but I think Dukat has a point: Garak never allowed himself to fully embrace his feelings for Ziyal and controlled himself to a point that all he did, all his love was half-hearted. His loathing for Dukat was blown to its fullest, though. Hating doesn't make one weaker, does it? Does he think so?
Date: 10 Nov 2009 06:58 Title: Chapter 1
For some reason, your pre-Battle of Cardassia Garak is one that I always want to see brought low. I'm never quite sure if it's because I despise him so thoroughly that like with the canon Dukat I simply want to see him destroyed, or if it's the thought that the harder and harder he gets hit, the lower and lower he goes, the more likely he becomes to realize he needs something other than Tain's conditioning to sustain himself.
Going back and rereading this after writing "Those Who Live in the Shadow of the Night" with you was quite the shock, that's for sure. This Garak and the one we see in that story--yes, you can see the similarities, but to me they now read as dissimilarly as canon and AU Dukat.
Author's Response: Sometimes people do have to hit rock bottom before they see the need for a change. I definitely think that happened with Garak, and I think in the end, he was a much better person for the experience despite the pain of it. He did change quite a bit between this story and ours, didn't he? Thanks for the review and insight!
Date: 24 Aug 2009 14:58 Title: Chapter 1
Oh wow PSGarak. That was really I think beautiful is the word. Certainly sublimey told, with lots of emotion and terrific on the spot dialogue. You channel these characters. I almost feel as if that actually were a scene in the show, it just seemed so real and evoked that real a response in me.
Ziyal indeed deserved such a scene to justify her end. it brought a little humanity and some emotion, some heart to the charcters of Garak and Dukat who were two rather deplorable figures, very opposed to one another and yet she managed to bridge that divide and their cold hearts.
This scene of yours tells the pain and anguish her loss is to them and points to how much lesser their lives and understanding of others will be with her passing.
Once again, I find myself blown away with your writing and characterisation and scene setting and dialogue and everything. Plain and simple, terrific writing.
Author's Response: Thank you. The story played out very visually in my head. Bashir surprised me with his ability to put Garak in his place without being cruel about it, regardless of how Garak saw it. What he said to him about keeping his lies to himself came out of left field, but I remembered how he responded to Garak's attempts at provocation in "The Wire". For all of his flaws, Bashir is a deeply compassionate man, very dedicated to his role as a healer, and intelligent enough not to be run roughshod by Garak or provoked into a fit of temper when he needs him for something.
I've often wondered what would have happened had Ziyal not died. As much as she loved both Garak and Dukat, and as much as that love was reciprocated by both of them in their own ways, I wondered if she would have been able to bend them to a certain degree toward one another, as she did Dukat and Kira. It's a moot question, but it doesn't keep me from wondering.
I felt a lot while writing this. I'm glad that the feeling came through for you. It's really humbling to get such high praise. I think all of us as authors strive to touch people with our works, whether it's to entertain, amuse, horrify, or tap into some of the more uncomfortable emotions like grief or guilt. It feels good to succeed at the goal, so again, thank you very much!
Date: 24 Aug 2009 01:20 Title: Chapter 1
Wow, PSGarak. This is above and beyond anything you've written so far, and that's saying a lot, because the rest of it has been really good. Not only did you nail every character, you made my heart break for them all -- for everyone who loved Ziyal. What a perfect piece of writing.
Author's Response: I always felt Ziyal got short shrift. Her death was rushed and treated as barely an afterthought. She was a good character, and she deserved more. I know the writers had a lot of material to cover, and that's why they did it that way, but it never felt complete. Now at least I have the closure I wanted for her and her loved ones. Thanks so much for the very high praise!