#jadzia dax/ lenara khan

[captainkaseykirk]

Okay, I have another DS9 essay analysis to share. I’ve decided to be anal and title it like a real essay bc I’m cringy. This one’s titled:

Friend of Dax

@vulcanhothands recently annotated a song from the perspective of Ezri Dax and mentioned “I think Ezri’s people become less Jadzia’s people and more Dax’s people… Dax wants to see their people thrive.” This got me thinking about the Dax symbiont and the relationships it has developed through it’s hosts throughout the years:

The Dax symbiont is a particularly strong willed (and stubborn) symbiont and makes strong attachments to people, attachments that it refuses to separate from. We see how the Dax Symbiont will go great lengths to be with its people again after a new host has been joined, including:

1. The Khan symbiont (in Lenara’s body): Jadzia is compelled (by Dax) to give up literally everything in order to be with it’s previous wife’s symbiont even if it meant dishonoring Trill culture and engaging in forbidden behavior that would end the Dax line and prevent it from having new hosts.

2. Worf, AJ (after jadzia): Ezri finds herself drawn to Worf. It’s complicated because she doesn’t want to be with him romantically, but she wants a relationship with him and is hurt when he rejects and ignores her. She will go to great lengths to protect him and make sure he’s safe. The Dax symbiont is what compels her to go save him after he is left in the Badlands. Jadzia was Worf’s parmaqqay but Dax, and thus Ezri, will always be his wife and thus, all hosts have a responsibility to him in that way.

3. Deep Space Nine: Through Jadzia, Dax had formed deep familial bonds with people on the station. This is why Ezri felt compelled to stay with them for the long term despite it originally being a short term arrangement while she figured out all the Dax stuff. But Dax had to “see it’s people thrive,” and so Ezri stayed. This makes sense. All of Dax’s family is still alive and fighting a war, why wouldn’t it return home to care for it’s people?

4. The Klingons: Through Curzon, Dax had made a promise and familial attachment to Kang and when Dax was called to fulfill that promise, Jadzia was willing to risk her career in Starfleet to see it through despite being freed from the fulfillment by Kang.

5. Sisko: I saved this one for last because I believe Sisko is Dax’s greatest friend, deepest connection, and— quite possibly— soulmate (whether platonic or romantic is up to your interpretation). Dax has followed Sisko twice now and been friends across three hosts. After Curzon, Jadzia returned to Sisko’s side because (imo) she felt compelled to be near him. Jadzia chose the DS9 assignment because of Sisko. She would have followed him wherever he was because he is Benjamin. It’s an easy choice, one she is happy to make. We see this again with Ezri, who knows the only person who can help sort her out is Ben. So she leaves everything she knows to follow after him again. And what is interesting here is the difference between Jadzia’s and Ben’s first few months vs. Ben and Ezri’s. With Jadzia, Ben had to navigate losing Curzon to only gain Curzon again with a young woman’s face? But slowly Ben realizes its not Curzon that drove their relationship, it was Dax. This is why I think he so readily accepts Ezri. I think this transition with Ezri is so smooth because he has finally realized that he is Dax’s friend, and thus every host is his friend because every host is Dax. He was not friends with Ezri, Jadzia or even Curzon. He was friends with Dax and by default, he was also friends with Curzon, Ezri, and Jadzia.

The symbiont IS the host, they are not separate beings.. but it is also more than the host , and that little bit of “more” is what drives these strong attachments. I don’t think every host is like this, we see this when Lenara leaves Jadzia. I think this compulsion to be with it’s loved ones from previous lives is a special trait of Dax alone that each of it’s hosts adopts. Of course Jadzia would follow Ben, a man she’s never actually met, anywhere when she woke up from the implant. Of course Ezri would return home to the station after she’s implanted. Where else would she go?

Idk. I don’t put this eloquently, but the point is that the Dax symbiont loves and loves deeply. More deeply, I think, than other symbionts. And this love transcends time, space, and even hosts. The love is so strong, hosts will uproot their entire lives to be with the people Dax has formed attachments to. While I wish Jadzia didn’t have to die, I love that we get to understand who the Dax symbiont is through the hosts we have met and the great lengths they go through to be with “their people.”

[startrekladies]

Doctor Pren would probably have a heart attack. Forget about him, my brother's head would explode.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine│4x05 - Rejoined

[carawayscoffeebreak]

[theonlyfeckuser]

i want someone to kiss me the way they kiss on star trek

[thestarlightforge]

And finally

Incredible.

[marta-reblogs]

What with it being pride month, and what with me being a longtime DS9 fan, I've been thinking about one of my favorite throwaway lines from that show: "I’ve been a mother three times and a father twice." That's Jadzia trying to sympathize and show support for Sisko, who's struggling to parent Jake. But she could have just said she's been a parent across five hosts, or had five children, or whatever. It means something to her that she's been a mother three times and a father twice.

I mean, what must it be like to live in a species where so many of your leading members by definition have lived whole lives with both genders? There actually aren't that many symbionts available, but the fact that this is something Trill hope for, compete for, and part of what they want is that broadened, and that even if they're not doing this specifically because they want to experience both/all genders, it's an essential part of a joined life.... that's certainly Something.

I'm hesitant to call joining the same thing as being trans, because the different hosts do seem to hold on to their birth gender in a lot of ways; for instance when Jadzia meets up again with Lenara Khan in "Rejoined," her body language seems much more stereotypically masculine-presenting to me, because she's tapping more into her memories of life when she was a man. And of course there's "Facets," particularly Quark taking on the persona of the female Audrid Dax and talking about motherhood while he combs Jadzia's hair. It's played for laughs of course, but it does still create some space between joined Trill and human transgender experience, at least as I understand it as a cisgender person.

Even so. If it's not exactly making all your most important citizens transgendered, it certainly plays with a lot of the same questions I'd think would be at the center of that experience. So Jadzia can say, as she does at some point, that she's missed all the attention she gets as a young woman. She can smile when Sisko calls her "Old Man." And she can be confident that probably millions of Trill are fighting for the chance to be able to say the same. The chance to know both (or all) side of the gender-coin is the goal.

That seems special today. Probably moreso in the '90s. As a tomboyish teen girl who was supremely uninterested in the kind of things I was told teenage girls were supposed to be interested in, I certainly appreciated her doing her thing.

[peacefulplace2]

After all this time I’m still in love with you

Jadzia Dax ♥️Lenara Khan Rejoined.

#Jadzia Dax #Lenara Khan #Rejoined

[abstrekt]

HOOOLLLYYYY SHITTTTTT

i can finally post the piece i made for @abstrekt for the deep space valentine zine!

some of the glittery elements got lost in the photocopy lol

[isagrimorie]

I've been playing since forever with a Voyager rewrite fan fic; one of my ideas is to put both Jadzia Dax and Lenara Kahn on Voyager. Say Voyager's mission wasn't just to apprehend the Maquis, but Starfleet *also* packed a few scientists on board to make use of Voyager's advanced sensors in the Badlands - maybe a specific Trill scientist, backed by a certain Trill Starfleet officer, badgered them into it.

What do you think of the idea of the two of them being on board Voyager?

For the Trek Talks discussion ask

Oh, that’s interesting — but you know what? I think Janeway would love having two more Science officers/consultants on Voyager!

I’m not as familiar with Lenara Khan (but I bet if they meet the Borg Queen, Janeway would comment at how much she looks like her good friend Lenara — heh). But also Voyager would benefit so, so much with someone like Jadzia Dax, for a lot of the time Tom Paris carried the ‘fun loving’ fly boy type meandwhile, Jadzia can playfully prank Tom in return.

Go toe to toe with B’Elanna — they’d be doing a lot of sparring and I believe in my heart of hearts, if Lenara wasn’t around, Jadzia would be flirty towards B’Elanna.

Jadzia would also encourage Janeway to be closer with her crew and get her romance on.

Jadzia and Seska might get on like a house on fire until the time they realize that Seska was a Cardassian plant but I feel Jadzia would find a way to keep Seska. Which, would be so interesting.

Jadzia will also be discomfited about Suder — and he might be the catalyst for Jadzia remembering Joran.

Jadzia would also love to tease Tuvok and I wouldn’t put it past Curzon or one of the Daxes meeting a younger Tuvok from before!

[startrekladies]

STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE || Rejoined

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Benjamin Sisko

By Ames

We’ve segued so smoothly into Deep Space Nine for our character spotlights here on A Star to Steer Her By that you didn’t even notice it. Thank you, Worf. So this week we’re doing an in-depth look at one of the more complex lead characters of a Trek series, Benjamin Lafayette Sisko. He might be the leader who gets tested the most out of any of our main stars, and he makes probably the most wide-ranging decisions – though typically that decision is “let’s see how this goes.”

From first contacts with the Gamma Quadrant, to yet another standoff with Klingons, to full blown Dominion War, to whatever was going on with the wormhole aliens, Ben’s got a long list of moments for us to consider. So grab yourself a bowl of jambalaya, hop in your solar sail ship, and maybe get a little war crimes as a treat! Scroll on below for our Sisko spotlight and listen to a ton of spare moments on this week’s podcast (jump through the wormhole to 1:04:00). Ow!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

There’s no hurry Our first contact with beings from the Gamma Quadrant is also DS9’s first breaking of the Prime Directive. In “Captive Pursuit,” Miles is trying desperately to save Tosk from his hunters and Sisko is doing his best to technically stay within the rules, and it’s a rare success of doing both. Telling Odo to take his time in apprehending O’Brien shows that Sisko is coming from a place of real morality.

Find something you love, then do it the best you can We could name great moments between Ben and his son all day, but there’s more to our list than that, so let’s sum things up with a perfectly pure moment of excellent parenting from “Shadowplay.” Sisko is immediately accepting of Jake not wanting to follow in his footsteps and join Starfleet, and melts our hearts. Doing something he loves and being true to himself is far more important than legacy.

Cardassians love cosmetic surgery Appropriately, we watched Enterprise’s “Judgment” on the podcast this week and spent most it comparing it to The Undiscovered Country and “Tribunal.” When O’Brien is on trial in Cardassian kangaroo court and his lawyer is doing nothing to defend him, Sisko walks in with an undercover Cardassian spy in tow and wins the whole thing without saying a word. Like a badass.

Humans used to be a lot worse than the Ferengi We brought this up last week in our Worf chat too, but there’s a general racism towards the Ferengi all through Deep Space Nine. Quark calls Sisko out for it in “The Jem’Hadar” when Sisko and he are butting heads, and by the end of the episode, Sisko has seen Quark in a new light and refuses to leave him behind because Sisko got over some his prejudice (at least a little bit).

I’ll see that you get that chance Speaking of that prejudice against our lobed friends, everyone and their moogie is dubious when Nog claims he wants to join Starfleet in “Heart of Stone,” which would be a first for a Ferengi. But when Nog tells Sisko that he’s serious and looking for a life that will earn him real respect, the commander takes him at his word and vouches for him, putting in motion one of the best character arcs in Trek.

Some taboos are made to be broken Throughout the series, the relationships between characters are probably the strongest in Trek, and a true highlight is watching Sisko with his old/new friend Jadzia Dax. It’s such a beautiful scene in the equally beautiful “Rejoined” when Ben tells her that he’d still support her if she decides to break Trill taboo and hook back up with Lenara Khan. He’s that good a friend.

Don’t you see, Admiral? You’re fighting the wrong war. Around season 4, the show really tests Sisko with some ethical conundrums during the Dominion War. This is one he passes with flying colors. In “Paradise Lost,” Sisko is able to see his old mentor and silver medal winner from Jake’s Evil Admirals list, James Leyton, for what he really is: a megalomaniac who uses the Changeling threat as an excuse to incite a coup. Until Ben steps in!

Presenting the newest honoree in the Order of the Bat’leth It takes a certain level of crazy to think you can infiltrate the best warriors the Klingons have to offer, and luck for us, Captain Sisko is just that level of crazy. Avery Brooks seems oddly at home portraying a blood-thirsty Klingon being inducted into the Order of the Bat’leth in “Apocalypse Rising,” and even better, he and Odo (mostly Odo) expose Changeling Martok!

Don’t let Bajor in the Federation! We say it all the time on the podcast and today is no different: Bajor is NOT ready for Federation membership, no matter what Picard says. So when Sisko goes fully nuts after getting zapped by a plinth in “Rapture” and crashes the Federation membership ruling, we are fully supportive of his absolute batshit meddling. And ya know what, it works out for Bajor because of it!

Sisko, you’re baby crazy Any time Sisko is with a baby is truly joyful. This from a podcast of self-professed non-baby people. But this man’s mirth is so pure we’ve got to give it to him. Avery Brooks isn’t even acting in “Children of Time” when he dandles that baby, or in “The Abandoned” when he’s nostalgic about Jake as a baby, or in “Heart of Stone” when he’s delighted that Vilixpran is budding. This man just loves babies.

Let’s pretend that the Major’s not even here… By season 6, Gul Dukat is at his lowest point – he’s lost the station, his daughter is dead, and he’s more nuts than Ben in “Rapture”! And Captain Sisko plays him like a fiddle! “Waltz” is such an amazing showcase of acting talent, with Avery Brooks and Marc Alaimo bouncing off each other like pros. Sisko pushes his Cardassian counterpart over the edge and survives the cave of madness, some-freaking-how!

The Emissary has completed his task Sisko’s final action in this corporeal plane is also the climax of the whole series, culminating the wormhole alien plot that was started at the very beginning. And while we may whine that the Kosst Amojen plotline in “What We Leave Behind” felt rushed at the end, we have to admit that it’s cathartic to have the Emissary make a huge sacrifice to take out the pah-wraiths in the series finale.

—

Worst moments

This is how you hold a grudge Interestingly, the first taste we get of the jambalaya-slinging commander is him being bitter and fickle in the series premiere, “Emissary.” The show immediately introduces him being a dick to Picard, stewing with rage over Locutus’s part in the Battle at Wolf 359 (as if Picard had any control of that!). He also clearly doesn’t want to be in command of the station, starting him off with character conflict that the series will build on.

If I hear of you hanging around with him… Continuing our running gag that the only alien species the show seems to think it’s okay to be racist against is the Ferengi we brought up last week with Worf, we see more instances of it from Sisko early in season one in “A Man Alone.” When Ben basically tells Jake to not hang around with Nog anymore, it’s flavored with that anti-Ferengi racism we’re sadly accustomed to.

When in the Mirror Universe, do as the Mirror Universe people do We have a lot of issues with how DS9 trots out the mirror universe all the time, and it’s at its most uncomfortable when Sisko goes over there and sleeps with his friends’ counterparts in “Through the Looking Glass.” Sure, there’s not much you can do when Intendant Kira sets her sights on you, but it’s simply wrong to take advantage of Mirror Jadzia, regardless of how hot she is.

Abusing your power is so romantic Sisko is so blinded by love in “For the Cause” that he ignores all the signs that his girlfriend Kasidy has been aiding the Maquis. And then Ben abuses his power as commander of the station to get her out of an inspection when she bats her eyes at him, which is straight-up unethical. As we’ll see, Sisko tends to make terrible decisions when the Maquis are involved…

Red – the blood of angry men Arguably the most immoral acts that Sisko commits are the war crimes in “For the Uniform.” Even after Starfleet tries to take him off the Maquis assignment, Sisko’s obsession with taking out Eddington has gotten so personal that it clouds ALL his judgment. If we gave Picard grief about removing the residents of Dorvan V, then we’ve got to rake Sisko over the coals for POISONING A PLANET and relocating more people!

Prophets, take the wheel! Half our Worst Moments come from the last two seasons when Sisko is tested more than any other Trek captain due to the Dominion War. And so often, he chooses the messed up response. I am still trying to figure out his Hail Mary play in “Sacrifice of Angels” when he flies headlong into the wormhole against thousands of ships and ends up asking the wormhole aliens to do a literal deus ex machina for him. Leeeeroy! Jennnnkins!

What’s a better response to a “Yo Mama” joke than this? I shat on this one in our time travel post, but Sisko using his status as Emissary to let Kira play with the Orb of Time in “Wrongs Darker than Death or Night” because Dukat banged her mom and then gabbed to her about it is absolutely incompetent of him! Why anyone has access to that thing is incomprehensible because it just begs for time shenanigans!

I can live with it… because Vreenak can’t Arguably one of Deep Space Nine’s best episodes, “In the Pale Moonlight” forces Sisko to make the hardest decision a Starfleet officer has to make – and he jumps at the chance to pick the option involving committing more war crimes. While it is a huge benefit to get the Romulans on your side, Sisko knowingly accomplishes this through lies, counterfeiting, bribery, murder, and most damning of all: enlisting the help of Elim Garak!

Sisko SMASH! Here’s another instance when Ben abuses his power, this time in order to get access to an ancient artifact from Bajor in “The Reckoning.” And what does the Emissary do once he’s borrowed the tablet without asking permission, promising to take good care of it and that he’ll return it first thing in the morning? He destroys it utterly in a fit of rage, releasing some spirits that nearly gets Jake and Kira killed.

Pick a lane, Ben I will always give Sisko guff about this. In “Accession,” he has accepted his role as Emissary to the prophets while he’s already serving as commander of Deep Space Nine, and frankly, Ben, you can’t be both! It’s a HUGE conflict of interest. In “Tears of the Prophets,” Admiral Ross gives him some hell for this when he’s torn between the Prophets and Starfleet, and he’s right! Step down!

You’re outta here! “Take Me Out to the Holosuite" is a polarizing episode that fans either love or hate (even your SSHB hosts are mixed!), but you’ve got to admit: Sisko is a terrible baseball coach! He forces all of this senior staff to play a baseball game in the middle of wartime, cancels his girlfriend’s shipments to make her to play too, kicks Rom off the team, gets obsessively competitive about it, and then gets himself thrown out anyway! How many strikes was that?

They warned you that marrying me would bring you sorrow Finally, we are still cross with Sisko for knocking up Kasidy. In “The Dogs of War,” Kasidy tells him she’s pregnant because he forgot to take his contraception, even though Bashir is constantly reminding him! This is a world in which having children should always be a choice because future contraceptives are basically magic, AND he’s been told that he’s basically cursed, so take your damn meds, jackwit.

—

Well, we can live with it. We can live with it. We’ve also got more DS9 character spotlights on the way if you keep watching this blog, more Enterprise watch-throughs on the way if you keep listening to us on SoundCloud or wherever you podcast, and more announcements from Ops over on Facebook and Twitter. Computer, erase that entire personal log.

[walkingstackofbooks]

Okay so I'm dumb and while I'm guessing this isn't going to have a happy ending, I forgot that and happily watched them flirt at the bar and now I've remembered this isn't going to be happy and I'm so mad because THEY DESERVE EVERYTHING they are so cute together??

Ooooh, I was hoping from the off that Rejoined might be a bit gay, and I'm SO HERE for Julian and Kira's talk about how it's stupid to keep two people in love apart just for a taboo. My fingers are crossed that this episode is as much of a keeper as the first 8 minutes promise it might be.

[elizabethgoudge]

Star Trek DS9 - S04E05 - Jadzia Dax and Lenara Khan - Part3

The look of sheer love and belonging that Dax throws across the room at the end of this clip. If you have ever loved someone and lost them, and seen them again without the love diminishing a whit, this is that look.

You belong to me, I belong to you, time and space cannot part us.

The question is how such a young actress is able to put all of that into a single look. Had she already experienced it?

If you are wlw and you haven't seen rejoined, go watch it, it is still better than most lesbian movies, even after almost thirty years. Perhaps partly because it doesn't show the beginning of a relationship, but the rekindling of one. The sensitive direction by Avery Brooks is another good reason. There is so much romantic tension in this one hour of TV.

[divinemissem13]

8, 9, 11, 17 and 40 for the star trek asks

So many questions! Thank you @ussjellyfish !

8. Which captain would you most want to serve under?

Absolutely Janeway. It would never be boring, there would always be good coffee on board, and I would be absolutely certain that she would do everything in her power to make sure nothing bad happens to me (I mean, it still might, but not for lack of effort on her part!)

9. Which episode plot do you prefer?

Time traveling to the past or dealing with time travelers from the future?

Going undercover to spy on enemies or going undercover to explore pre-warp planets?

Holodeck malfunction or space anomaly?

Ship being taken over or being stranded on a planet?

Rapid aging or de-aging?

Diplomatic negotiations or all out battle?

11. Top 3 OTPs?

Janeway/ Crusher

Janeway/ Chakotay

Jadzia Dax/ Lenara Khan

17. What role would you have aboard a starship?

Just answered here

40. If you got a trek inspired tattoo what would it be?

Probably a small command insignia delta on my wrist or ankle… but if I were brave enough to go with something bigger, some sort of coffee/nebula thing

Trek asks

[hauntedmoonchaos]

Rare Trek April Pairing Prompts

So these prompts were created using a bot on Rare Trek Discord . They are rare and random, and some are weird and some make sense. These prompts are for everyone to use in or out of the server. Write as many you'd like.

There is a Anon Rare Trek Collection for those who wish to write them but would rather be anonymous or Rare Trek Collection for those who don't.

You can write these as serious, crack, platonic or romantic

1. Khan/Lorca

2. Deanna/Ro

3. Reginald Barclay/Erin Hansen

4. Hugh x Jal Culluh x Matt Decker

5. Raffi x Tallinn x Kat Cornwell

6. Harry x Tom x Leeta

7. Ezri x Janeway

8. Jadzia x Kira xSeven

9. Shaw x Seven

10. Seven x Tasha

11. Beverly x Liana x Ro

12. Raffi x BQ

13. Christine Chapel x Kes or Ogawa/Chapel/Kes trans-temporal nursing convention hijinks

14. Ro/Shaw

15. Tallinn/Ro Laren

16. Deanna/Janeway

17. Saru/Kira

18. Will Decker/Adreek-hu

19. Tallinn/Liana

20.Ro Laren/Jadzia Dax/Laris

21. Kira Nerys/Raffi Musiker

22.Ezri Dax/Seven Of Nine, Leeta

23. Lenara Kahn/Vadic

24. Liam Shaw/Kira Nerys

25. Sylvia Tilly/Seven of Nine

26. Sela/Laris

27. Oh/Sela

28. Data/Seven

29. Saavik/Tasha Yar

30. O'Brien/Samantha Wildman

[darktiger57]

reading the lives of dax and goddamn every page in Torias' story just reminds me how great a tragedy the love story of Dax and Khan is. Torias and Nilani, Jadzia and Lenara. Why is star trek so good at tragic love stories