>> Good fanfic knows how to be diverse without matters becoming an 'extra-special episode' <<
I agree.
>> If only Deep Space Nine had let Ezra have been male. <<
Ezri to Ezra ... I'd ship that, especially pairing him with Julian.
The thing most people forget, though, is that Dax-and-host always have a dual sex/gender going on. I suspect that Trill, both species, have a fair number of genderfluid members. You'd need that to be comfortable bonding with someone of the opposite sex/gender/orientation.
So Dax-and-Jadzia were male and female. Jadzia chose male love interests. There were indications of past dynamics with other hosts. Jadzia Dax was splendid at clocking across the spectrum; there are conversations where she codeswitches from feminine to masculine, and across different sexual interests, which pretty reliably throws the listener into a mental skid.
Ezri, now, she never wanted to bond. She was pressured into it, and it wasn't comfortable. Well, Dax survived worse, but jeez, poor Ezri! I always suspected that part of that was sex/gender/orientation shear. Most people just don't have that kind of flexiblity, and things can rupture, and that's a problem.
>> But considering why the prior actress left being Dax, that would have required Romulans beaming into the studio. <<
Alas.
>> Like the knee-jerk away from Bashir and Garak, TPTB wanted The Gay away from the core (to better jetison?) And wtf about using a young girl as a narrative beard? (I can't recall if she was of age; regardless she was young enough to be his daughter. That she was Dukat's, it's not incest, but possible pawn isn't clean.) <<
On the bright side, Star Trek as a franchise remains my all-time favorite plot farm. They pick a great idea, walk right up to the awesome part -- and then stop short. This leaves the awesome free for other people to use, either in ST fanfic or in original writing.
>> Fanfic does give readers more authorial voices, and thus more lenses. Fandom has assisted me in unpacking lots of cultural baggage, knowing is always the first step. <<
Agreed. I honestly think that Star Trek begat Kirk/Spock, which begat all kinds of more slash over the decades, which taught generations of young folk to think that queer lovers are cute instead of demonspawn. And now we're putting state stars on the gay flag, and I am happy about that.
Yes...
I agree.
>> If only Deep Space Nine had let Ezra have been male. <<
Ezri to Ezra ... I'd ship that, especially pairing him with Julian.
The thing most people forget, though, is that Dax-and-host always have a dual sex/gender going on. I suspect that Trill, both species, have a fair number of genderfluid members. You'd need that to be comfortable bonding with someone of the opposite sex/gender/orientation.
So Dax-and-Jadzia were male and female. Jadzia chose male love interests. There were indications of past dynamics with other hosts. Jadzia Dax was splendid at clocking across the spectrum; there are conversations where she codeswitches from feminine to masculine, and across different sexual interests, which pretty reliably throws the listener into a mental skid.
Ezri, now, she never wanted to bond. She was pressured into it, and it wasn't comfortable. Well, Dax survived worse, but jeez, poor Ezri! I always suspected that part of that was sex/gender/orientation shear. Most people just don't have that kind of flexiblity, and things can rupture, and that's a problem.
>> But considering why the prior actress left being Dax, that would have required Romulans beaming into the studio. <<
Alas.
>> Like the knee-jerk away from Bashir and Garak, TPTB wanted The Gay away from the core (to better jetison?) And wtf about using a young girl as a narrative beard? (I can't recall if she was of age; regardless she was young enough to be his daughter. That she was Dukat's, it's not incest, but possible pawn isn't clean.) <<
On the bright side, Star Trek as a franchise remains my all-time favorite plot farm. They pick a great idea, walk right up to the awesome part -- and then stop short. This leaves the awesome free for other people to use, either in ST fanfic or in original writing.
>> Fanfic does give readers more authorial voices, and thus more lenses. Fandom has assisted me in unpacking lots of cultural baggage, knowing is always the first step. <<
Agreed. I honestly think that Star Trek begat Kirk/Spock, which begat all kinds of more slash over the decades, which taught generations of young folk to think that queer lovers are cute instead of demonspawn. And now we're putting state stars on the gay flag, and I am happy about that.