#The Lives of Dax

[leehallfae]

“ezri braced herself for the inevitable questions that would follow… how can you make such a profound decision that will affect your entire life at so young an age? how can you not aspire to fulfill the biological destiny of your species? how can you disappoint your parents? or, ezri’s favorite, what dark secrets are you hiding that you don’t wish a symbiont to know?”

— judith & garfield reeves-stevens, “second star to the right…,” the lives of dax (ed. marco palmieri)

[nevinslibrary]

Make It So Friday

Dax is one of the best characters in Star Trek. (I could say, I think, but, I’m not gonna, the I think is baked in since I’m writing this blurb). There’s something about an immortal being who is also not immortal, who dies and yet still lives. And, there’s something about the combination of newness of the host and oldness of the symbionts that is just, really cool to think about.

This is technically a book of short stories by some awesome authors like, Michael Jan Friedman, S.D, Perry, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, and more. They each take on a story about one of the 9 Dax symbionts, from Lela, to Torias, to Jadzia and Ezri too. My favorites were the one by Susan Wright, "Infinity" about Tobias, and of course, the one about my favorite Dax, Jadzia, “Reflections” by L.A. Graf.

But, honestly, the coolest part of this wasn’t just that we got to learn about all the Dax hosts, but, that so many of the Dax hosts also knew other big characters in the Star Trek universe, like Dr. McCoy and others. Fun.

You may like this book If you Liked: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack, The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard by David A. Goodman, or Star Trek by John Byrne

The Lives of Dax by Marco Palmieri, Ed.

[trillscienceofficer]

“Reflections” (The Lives of Dax) L. A. Graf Jadzia returns to Trill to help her sister. “Julia [Ecklar, half of the duo writing under the name L. A. Graf] wrote this story on her own, after being invited to participate in the collection. It might seem like a lot less work to do a short story than a novel, but she found out that the plotting and outlining took almost as long! Writing was much easier, of course.” Marco [Palmieri, editor of The Lives of Dax anthology] notes, The TV series talked a lot about Dax's past lives, but said very little about Jadzia's personal history. (We learned more about Ezri in one season than we did about Jadzia in six!) She did, however, once mention that she had an unjoined sister. That became the starting point for ‘Reflections’.

From “Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion” by Jeff Ayers (2006)

[hopecomesbacktolife]

started reading The Lives of Dax today and it’s already getting me firmly on team loving & supporting Ezri Dax

[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

[do-you-know-this-queer-character]

Do you know this queer character?

Dax is Queer and Genderfluid and uses varying pronouns based on presentation!

[pacificsaury]

♡ ilove her so much ♡

[catgirljaneway]

my little space guys :)

[catsharkie]

FINALLY settled on a jadzia design thank god

[leohttbriar]

i've been thinking about this scene a lot bc it seems so much more than a filler moment in which to establish that sisko is still worrying about his son and everyone is trying to help him through it. maybe it's bc dax's story here is told in such a visceral way by the actor? but i also was thinking that this establishment of the value of presence when you are helpless to help is a small reflection of jake's journey in the main plot of the episode. while he ventures into the gray areas of heroism and honesty, jadzia is coaching sisko through uncertainty and delivers this gut-wrenching speech about sitting and watching your child suffer when that's the only thing you can do.

it's not a story that seems like it's meant to help sisko in his struggles (especially since she doesn't even offer up the happy conclusion herself--and why would she? not like a illness from hundreds of years ago will affect how jake gets out through a battlefield in the present day). it's definietly more a function of acknowledgement, to stress to sisko that he isn't isolated. which is exactly what dax had done in the story--insisting on her own presence with her child, on doing and connecting, even if it was useless, even if it was just to keep busy. it's an unresolved feeling but this whole scene seems to be arguing exactly what jake argues in his recollection of his journey: whether some pain is beyond your control, and you can still be there and attend it. sisko with jake, dax with her past life's daught, dax with sisko, jake with all those who suffered in battle and with himself. like the value of uncertainty is translated to the value of the conviction in your affection. like it's good to just be in it.

[thatwholethingwiththeduck]

So there is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in which one of the main characters, Jadzia Dax, encounters her wife, Lenara Kahn, from another lifetime. They're both in different bodies now (alien biology stuff) and there's a taboo against 'reassociation', but they fall for each other all over again.

So, bear with me here, what if instead of that version of Dax dying in a shuttle crash, leaving behind a grieving widow, it was an illness? What if the haunting thing wasn't "I should have stopped you" but "I should have been able to save you?"

Like, say, what if they were doctors.

DO YOU SEE WHERE I AM GOING WITH THIS, YES I WROTE HILSON IN SPACE.

[sysig]

Wouldn’t want him getting lost now, would we (Patreon)

[trillscienceofficer]

The Lives of Dax (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) Marco Palmieri, Editor December 1999 (347pp) Originally published in trade paperback Marco [Palmieri] remarked, “The Lives of Dax holds a special place in my heart. It wasn't the first Star Trek project I worked on after joining Pocket [Books], but it was the first one I'd originated. To me, the idea for it was the perfect synthesis of character and format: Joined Trills are serial beings—living anthologies—and it seemed only natural that their biographies would be anthological. Add to that the fact that Dax is literally almost as old as all of Star Trek's entire future history, which gave us a single point-of-view (albeit an evolving one) through which to experience that history. It's one of the project I'm most proud of.”

From “Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion” by Jeff Ayers (2006)

[raisehightheroofbeamkimbo]

Top guys... Out.

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k d e e p s p a c e n i n e created by rick berman, michael piller [dax, s1ep8]

'As for you, there is one favor I would ask.' - tandro

'Of course.' - dax

'Live, Jadzia Dax. Live a long and fresh and wonderful life.' - tandro

[yourfavelikesnickelback]

Jadzia Dax listens to Nickelback!