#dax symbiont

[thoughts-i-have-had-in-passing]

I was thinking about how the Trill got like that and have come up with a new (for me, someone else has probably though of it already somewhere) theory.

It has to do with the Guardians. You know, the slightly odd-acting Trill who care for the symbionts. The first time we met one he identified Dax without recognising the host, which means that he could sense not just the presence of 'a' symbiont, but specific symbionts. Dude was clearly a little bit psychic.

The next time we meet one it's because Jadzia has been a naughty host and not gone back to Trill for her Zhian'tara, so he's come to her. Seeing how easily he moves entire clusters of memories like he's playing musical Katras, it appears that to be a guardian you must have some pretty serious psychic ability, which no other Trill who appears on the show demonstrates in any way at all.

So the theory: The hosts used to be prey for the much more mobile and parasitic symbionts, who would stalk them through the marshland by the waters before taking over their bodies and using them to complete their lifecycle or something along those lines. Maybe they laid eggs in them idk.

Anyway, over time some hosts developed a small amount of psychic ability as a warning system, protecting the clan by sensing when the little bastards were coming. To counter this the symbionts got smarter and more adaptable, to which the hosts got even smarter, kick-starting sapience in both species. At which point a proto-guardian detected actual thought in the symbiont and, for the first time ever, reached out to answer.

Tell you what, how about we share? Asks the symbiont, somewhat rattled by this new development.

You can do that? Asks the proto-guardian.

Suuuure, says the symbiont, Don't you want to know what those old markings mean in that cave over there? I helped write them you know.

It goes well, and the over time the symbionts get less mobile and the hosts get more into it, while the Guardians, as per their ancient role, maintain the bridge between them.

[brynthatalien]

Soooo no one’s gonna mention the Dax symbiont is actually Trill gen alpha or..

[mysticaledelusion]

[searchingforserendipity25]

thinking about jadzia dax and her sense of confidence, her self-awareness, her mischief. and how much of that is dax and how much of that is her, initiate idaris, who took curzon's rejection of her ambitions and turned it into a fire to reach her goals.

how she talks about it as if it is a deliberate choice, and how interesting that is in trill society, where character is both mutable and innate. it seems the desire to join is partly motivated by a desire to grow wiser, stronger, bolder, better - and how jadzia decided to do that for herself, by herself.

she was what, twenty four, twenty five at the time? had an expert make her life hell and tell her her lifetime's training and hopes weren't for her? she doesn't seem to have had many strong relationships. she was curious, dedicated to her work, she was a scholar, she was not socially agile, she was tremendously driven --

she must have wanted dax very much. for the closeness and depth of the connection as much as anything else, yes: but also so she could do the things she wanted to, reach the excellence and skills and confidence she believed she could as an officer, as a scientist, as a trill.

and she did. she did! till the end of the quadrant and beyond, unlocking knowledge and facing peril, the only symbiont to have ever been rejected and then accepted.

how much of the humor was jadzia's already, before joining? how much the cool-headedness in danger, the ability to plan a party and the interest in other people, the taste for gambling and drinking and going on adventures? how much of it is dax itself, and how much the other hosts?

what kind of euphoria there might be in joining. all these memories and all these wills that are now yours, all these impulses you never had before, the choices you suddenly have and did not even know you wanted to consider. always new knowledge, always something to discover anew.

that hunger and thirst for the world? that's jadzia the initiate. and it is dax, too, i think, the symbiont itself in cahoots with her.

curzon was in love with her; well, i posit that dax, too, dax most of all was the one who wanted very much jadzia's fire and drive. dax itself. symbionts aren't supposed to have favorites, really, but the thing is: she was the one dax hoped to be a part of next, the only one it ha'd ever hoped for in advance.

[catboyelimgarak]

Lusting for worm 🎣

[thisloveforyourmom]

also funny that ezri and dax are worsties in the novels. they're two kids in a a get-along shirt made of mutually assured destruction

[deerspace9]

The Dax symbiont was canonically born in 2018 that means they're right now running around talking about skibidi sigmas on the ipad

[waterme-stories]

Unless your old man looks like this, you are introducing an invasive species into the old man ecosystem

[top-scar-maverick]

Their also all autistic

[genocidershodan]

Ever think about what the Dax symbiont must've been thinking when they found out they were merging with a hot woman?

like "Fuck yes. I'm going to be such a slut!"

[45780]

If there was a Star trek show about Dax would you watch it.

A show with every episode being a different moment in Dax host's life (for logistics for TV studios,if it went well it could repeat the same for the next season)

[thisplainsimplefeeling]

DS9 Character Poll

[thoughts-i-have-had-in-passing]

I have completed the Worm fic. In which the Dax symbiont and Julian Bashir are star-crossed lovers destined to be apart forever.

[catboyelimgarak]

You know, because Julian was hosting a part of the Dax Symbiote, and then Jadzia took Torias back, I’m pretty positive Jadzia is aware that Julian has a giant secret because Torias no doubt got curious with Julian’s own memories and got blocked out when he almost hit the augmentation labs memories. But Jadzia being a kind and loving bestie doesn’t press Julian in the matter — it’s not her’s or Dax’s business. And when the secret comes out, she probably complimented Julian for keeping it a secret even to a Symbiote host and tells him that Torias is impressed.

[nevinslibrary]

Make It So Friday

Oh, this is the coolest Star Trek novella I've read to date. It's Christine Chapel, Spock, and Audrid Dax going on an adventure.

It's set just after the first Star Trek Movie, and, in universe, during the time when the Federation and Starfleet personnel don't know about the symbionts that are in the Trills, and so, when everything goes most definitely sideways in multiple ways, Christine has to decide whether to break the taboo of not scanning Trill, and use the scanners to try and fix Dax, or to let Audrid die.

I’m a sucker for most things Dax, especially Jadzia and the hosts before her. Ooh, and, Christine Chapel never quite gets the same press that Dr. McCoy does in the universe, even though, in the books at least, she became more than just his Nurse for sure. Add to that the fact that it was a really cool chase sort of story, and this short story just had so much packed into it. A really fun read.

The More Things Change by Scott Pearson