one the one hand i understand the fandom's attitude toward the reassociation taboo. it was an allegory for homophobia, if a flawed one. but like. it wasn't homophobia. for one thing, reassociating is a choice and being gay is not. reassociation is an action you take, being gay is an unchangeable aspect of who you are. for another, reassociation was actually dangerous and antithetical to the entire philosophy of joining. how are you supposed to live a new life and give your symbiont new experiences if you're focused on a past lover? how are you supposed to establish yourself as a new host - not just an indistinguishable part of the symbiont as a whole but your own unique person bringing the symbiont a new and valuable perspective - if you're caught up in past hosts' relationships? the reassociation taboo was necessary and justified and the few of us who did fall in love with past hosts' lovers will survive not being able to be with them. im not trying to understate the importance of that episode as a piece of queer representation at a time when good rep was even rarer than it is now, but im begging the fandom to approach it from a watsonian perspective too, and consider that maybe this is just a facet of an alien society that they can't understand, but is justified in the context of our society.
- dax (star trek: deep space nine)
#💙🐦
