When one of my best friends from childhood came out to me, he texted me after a few years of not having spoken (life stuff, not intentional on either side). This is basically how it went.
Him: hey, man
Me: [dead name]! I've missed you, what's up?
Him: Actually, it's [new, male name] now. I'm transitioning.
Me: [new, male name]! I've missed you, what's up?
Totally unintentional to the star trek reference, but he got a real kick it out of it, and reference ds9 after lol
She's a symbiotic species with a slug-like creature in her. The humanoid part only lives about as long as a human, but the slug lives for many centuries and when one host body dies, the slug is moved to another. It contains memories from previous hosts. This scene was from shortly after one host died and the slug was moved into a new one, who wasn't quite as prepared for the transition.
Also worth mentioning that while memories are retained in the slug, each host/slug combination is considered to be a unique being and not necessarily exactly the same person as past incarnations. They deliberately play with the boundary of this to show how having different body or gender is part of who we are but doesn’t totally define us.
Ok, it was mentioned that she is a Trill with a symbiote that moves from host to host, BUT a couple relevant points.
1 - The worm (symbiote) that lives in them merges with the host, combining personalities. This symbiote has been joined to eight hosts at this point, which means there's about that meany people's lives in there.
2 - Not all trill get a symbiote, they typically go to a special academy and need to be in an elite group to get one. Once you merge, you can't unmerge without killing the host.
3 - this host, Ezri, was untrained and would not normally get a symbiote, but the previous host was killed and she was the closest available host, so she was assigned this symbiote without being properly prepared.
4 - two of the previous hosts - Curzon (a male host) and Jadzia (a female host) were extremely popular and well respected, which put a lot of extra pressure on the current host, leading to a lot of self doubt and personal identity confusion.
A note on point 2: the merging doesn’t become “permanent” per se immediately. There’s a brief window of a few days or so when the symbyote can be removed from the host, undoing the blending, but it’s quite psychologically traumatic for the host the be separated once the blending has begun and physically traumatic for the symbyote.
This is Ezri Dax.. She is a Trill. Some trill host symbiotes. The symbiotes live longer than their hosts. During hosting memories and personalities blend, and the symbiote will carry that blending into the next host.
Her symbiote is named Dax and was previously hosted by both another female, Jadzia, and a male Curzon, and several others.
Jazdia Dax was the name of Jadzia hosting Dax. Curzon Dax was the name of Curzon hosting Dax.
A long lived slug lookin thing that lives inside a humanoid host body and kinda merges their personality and memories. Ezri is like the 8th host to Dax.
If you're gonna hang out in a Star Trek fedicomm you're probably gonna wanna watch TOS (The Original Series), TNG (The Next Generation) and DS9 (Deep Space Nine) at a minimum. They're quite good, but fair warning: the special effects are pretty dated, especially in TOS. The writing and acting hold up terrifically, though.
See, I've now seen two references to it in this commend section alone. I have no idea what's bad about it. Without watching it, I'm "left out" of that shared understanding. That's a... quality. Maybe not enough to be redeeming, but at least a reason to watch it.
I absolutely don't wanna squash your enthusiasm, but I think for people randomly popping in here from /all, watching three whole series to answer one question is a bit overkill. Even if I'm interested in ST (and I definitely am), the suggestion* that I have to watch them all in order to be a part of the community is a bit daunting. Personally, I struggle with having shows hold my attention anyway, so committing to all that is a non-starter.
* I know you didn't mean it as an explicit "you have to", but the expectation "you'll want to watch... at minimum" creates a certain impression
Trill don't seem to suffer much from social stigma or body dysphoria. Their "transition" is deeply rooted in their culture. TNG S05E17 "The Outcast" feels much more representative.
The Trill aren't a stand-in for trans people. The show used their experience to occasionally send a message. They had to be subversive enough in this era that the majority of middle America that had no appetite for it wouldn't even notice.
If trans, never stop looking for the supportive people to surround yourself with. They had to be subversive in the 90s and they may have to again in the future. But they will always be there.
After this show, I always wanted to name my future daughter Esri but then I wound up working with the IRL geo mapping software company which goes by the same name and now I just can't seem to bother.
That and I'm still a burnt out virgin still living with parents. lmao
Is it outdated, or just substantially different?
Human ideas of identity don't incorporate a person literally moving from one aged body to another youthful one, several times over hundreds of years.
The outdated part is the notion of needing to see under the covers to figure out gender. We know now that gender expression is not constrained by physical body features.
In humans that's true.
But what of alien body hopping slugs, who are half themselves and half their host? It doesn't seem right to assume the blending of consciousness and frequent body swapping wouldn't change that notion.
Of course not. But this is about opening up people to more broad ways of thinking. You seem to be ignoring anything broader than humans. Not all people are humans.
65 Comments
AbsolutelyNotSpez@lemmy.world · 132 pts · 19h
eurodyne@piefed.world · 50 pts · 19h
Kor, Dahar Master and Trans Ally 🏳️‍⚧️
dharmacurious@slrpnk.net · 28 pts · 16h
When one of my best friends from childhood came out to me, he texted me after a few years of not having spoken (life stuff, not intentional on either side). This is basically how it went.
Him: hey, man
Me: [dead name]! I've missed you, what's up?
Him: Actually, it's [new, male name] now. I'm transitioning.
Me: [new, male name]! I've missed you, what's up?
Totally unintentional to the star trek reference, but he got a real kick it out of it, and reference ds9 after lol
meat@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 18 pts · 17h
Makes me tear up a little
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 12h
Save this one to send to your transphobic family members as needed.
stankcheez@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 18h
male, female, or anywhere in between — the spots go all the way down
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 12h
"the spots go all the way down" can this be the universal code for acceptance?
one_knight_scripting@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 10h
I think it is what past Rutherford would have said to an attractive trill trying to get in their pants.
Sibbo@sopuli.xyz · 17 pts · 19h
Does anyone know the background of this character? Is she some being that changes sex randomly every night?
user1234@fedinsfw.app · 42 pts · 19h
She's a symbiotic species with a slug-like creature in her. The humanoid part only lives about as long as a human, but the slug lives for many centuries and when one host body dies, the slug is moved to another. It contains memories from previous hosts. This scene was from shortly after one host died and the slug was moved into a new one, who wasn't quite as prepared for the transition.
Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 18h
Brain memories and muscle memory. Ezir was able to do backflips because a previous host was a gymnast
SarahValentine@pawb.social · 12 pts · 16h
Muscle memory is a type of brain memory. It's not literally stored in the muscles or anything like that.
scarabic@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 9h
Also worth mentioning that while memories are retained in the slug, each host/slug combination is considered to be a unique being and not necessarily exactly the same person as past incarnations. They deliberately play with the boundary of this to show how having different body or gender is part of who we are but doesn’t totally define us.
LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyz · 33 pts · 17h
Ok, it was mentioned that she is a Trill with a symbiote that moves from host to host, BUT a couple relevant points.
1 - The worm (symbiote) that lives in them merges with the host, combining personalities. This symbiote has been joined to eight hosts at this point, which means there's about that meany people's lives in there.
2 - Not all trill get a symbiote, they typically go to a special academy and need to be in an elite group to get one. Once you merge, you can't unmerge without killing the host.
3 - this host, Ezri, was untrained and would not normally get a symbiote, but the previous host was killed and she was the closest available host, so she was assigned this symbiote without being properly prepared.
4 - two of the previous hosts - Curzon (a male host) and Jadzia (a female host) were extremely popular and well respected, which put a lot of extra pressure on the current host, leading to a lot of self doubt and personal identity confusion.
eurodyne@piefed.world · 9 pts · 15h
A note on point 2: the merging doesn’t become “permanent” per se immediately. There’s a brief window of a few days or so when the symbyote can be removed from the host, undoing the blending, but it’s quite psychologically traumatic for the host the be separated once the blending has begun and physically traumatic for the symbyote.
SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 13 pts · 19h
She's a Trill, a being that maintains its prior memories from host to host.
Sibbo@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 19h
I see, that's cool!
bss03@infosec.pub · 11 pts · 17h
This is Ezri Dax.. She is a Trill. Some trill host symbiotes. The symbiotes live longer than their hosts. During hosting memories and personalities blend, and the symbiote will carry that blending into the next host.
Her symbiote is named Dax and was previously hosted by both another female, Jadzia, and a male Curzon, and several others.
Jazdia Dax was the name of Jadzia hosting Dax. Curzon Dax was the name of Curzon hosting Dax.
Steve@startrek.website · 8 pts · 13h
A long lived slug lookin thing that lives inside a humanoid host body and kinda merges their personality and memories. Ezri is like the 8th host to Dax.
Tango@piefed.ca · 7 pts · 18h
If you're gonna hang out in a Star Trek fedicomm you're probably gonna wanna watch TOS (The Original Series), TNG (The Next Generation) and DS9 (Deep Space Nine) at a minimum. They're quite good, but fair warning: the special effects are pretty dated, especially in TOS. The writing and acting hold up terrifically, though.
acockworkorange@mander.xyz · 6 pts · 17h
*with caveats. Some episodes are best left skipped.
GraniteM@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 17h
Or specifically-watched to see just how BAD Star Trek could be at its lowest points. Looking at you, Code of Honor...
acockworkorange@mander.xyz · 4 pts · 16h
The episode that came to my mind. There are others, but none so bad.
usernamefactory@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 15h
Those episodes are frequently discussed and memed, though, so as far as community involvement goes they’re actually among the most important!
acockworkorange@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 15h
Not code of honor. There's no redeeming quality in that.
luciferofastora@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1h
See, I've now seen two references to it in this commend section alone. I have no idea what's bad about it. Without watching it, I'm "left out" of that shared understanding. That's a... quality. Maybe not enough to be redeeming, but at least a reason to watch it.
acockworkorange@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 1h
It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion. It keeps getting worse and it is absolutely indefensible.
luciferofastora@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1h
I absolutely don't wanna squash your enthusiasm, but I think for people randomly popping in here from /all, watching three whole series to answer one question is a bit overkill. Even if I'm interested in ST (and I definitely am), the suggestion* that I have to watch them all in order to be a part of the community is a bit daunting. Personally, I struggle with having shows hold my attention anyway, so committing to all that is a non-starter.
* I know you didn't mean it as an explicit "you have to", but the expectation "you'll want to watch... at minimum" creates a certain impression
SatyrSack@quokk.au · 11 pts · 16h
Because she's talking about being a Trill host to a symbiote, not being transgender. They are two entirely different things.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 35 pts · 15h
Animal Farm was just about farm animals
gnufuu@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 15h
Trill don't seem to suffer much from social stigma or body dysphoria. Their "transition" is deeply rooted in their culture. TNG S05E17 "The Outcast" feels much more representative.
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 14h
Yes. And trans people would be the same if accepted by society like trill are. That's the lesson.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 15h
The Trill aren't a stand-in for trans people. The show used their experience to occasionally send a message. They had to be subversive enough in this era that the majority of middle America that had no appetite for it wouldn't even notice.
gnufuu@lemmy.ca · -1 pts · 15h
You're ignoring my point but don't bother. Let's call it progress that you didn't call Ezri ugly in this post.
SatyrSack@quokk.au · 7 pts · 14h
Does that actually happen? If anything, I see posts fawning over her. Maybe I'm just thinking about my own posts, though...
gnufuu@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 13h
Certainly looks like it
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 12h
I knew that would be it before I clicked. You're batshit.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 14h
I guess mom's advice was right: don't feed the trills
gnufuu@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 14h
Listen to her. She doesn't want you to repeat her own mistake ;p
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 6 pts · 15h
"Would you still love me if my personality was the almagamation of 50 other people linked by a giant, immortal slug?"
SatyrSack@quokk.au · 6 pts · 14h
DaleGribble88@programming.dev · 5 pts · 12h
confuser@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 15h
Yeah I think the msot honest read here is just that the lines means she is forgetful lol
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 12h
Another example of this subversion was in one of the first few episodes of DS9 when someone refers to Jadzia "before she was a woman."
Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 14h
I believe DS9 showed two women kissing for the first time on TV.
Edit: Correction, it was not in fact the first kiss between women on TV.
schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 14h
First kiss was Law and Order Feb 1991.
Oct 1995 was Dax's kiss.
And in Feb of 2001 Willow Rosenberg couldn't figure out what to wear.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 12h
May not have been the first but it still made me cry happy tears when I first watched it a few months ago.
Kojichan@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 12h
Definetely feel this... dont feel comfortable, myself.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 11h
If trans, never stop looking for the supportive people to surround yourself with. They had to be subversive in the 90s and they may have to again in the future. But they will always be there.
darthsundhaft@piefed.social · 3 pts · 9h
After this show, I always wanted to name my future daughter Esri but then I wound up working with the IRL geo mapping software company which goes by the same name and now I just can't seem to bother.
That and I'm still a burnt out virgin still living with parents. lmao
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 9h
^when you wanted Ezri but got Norvo
Steve@communick.news · 2 pts · 18h
Is it outdated, or just substantially different?
Human ideas of identity don't incorporate a person literally moving from one aged body to another youthful one, several times over hundreds of years.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 15h
The outdated part is the notion of needing to see under the covers to figure out gender. We know now that gender expression is not constrained by physical body features.
Steve@communick.news · 3 pts · 15h
In humans that's true.
But what of alien body hopping slugs, who are half themselves and half their host? It doesn't seem right to assume the blending of consciousness and frequent body swapping wouldn't change that notion.
As I said, it's substantially different.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 15h
[sigh]... Animal Farm is just about farm animals
Steve@communick.news · 3 pts · 15h
Of course not. But this is about opening up people to more broad ways of thinking. You seem to be ignoring anything broader than humans. Not all people are humans.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 14h
All people watching this television show in the 1990s were in fact human.
HieroProtagonist@feddit.org · 3 pts · 14h
Speak for yourself human
Steve@communick.news · 0 pts · 14h
That's an assumption.
But even if true, it's immaterial to my point.
ruuster13@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 14h
That's an assumption?? Bro. Request new instructions.