Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners from our recent 2021 Awards Ceremony. Our goal is to give you insight into how our fleet’s best simmers write and imagine their characters as well as how they take part in our fleet out of character.
This month we’re interviewing the writer behind Senior Commander Nugra (now Chief Petty Officer Shedet), a male Gorn Intelligence Officer assigned to the USS Constitution-B. In 2021, he won the Xalor Clan Xifilis Award, given to any simmer who overcomes any sort of disadvantage while simming.
DeVeau: It’s been a while since we’ve had an interview with you! Tell us a little about the writer behind the character — where in the world do you hail from? Anything you’d like to share!
Nugra: Hello! It’s great to get to write with you again, even if it is only here.
How did you originally get involved with SB118?
Long ago in a galaxy far, far away… It was actually when I was eighteen and I was looking for something Star Trek. I just typed in Star Trek game into Yahoo (yeah, that old) and saw UFOP: Starbase 118 RPG and was like: “I need to try this out.” I was obsessed with Star Trek and the idea of starting out a cadet and actually earning your way up the chain was a huge thing to me! So, I signed up, did the tutorial and got put on the USS Victory and was hooked.
Although you’ve recently switched to a new character, Shedet, you’ve played Nugra since at least 2005. What inspired you to write for a Gorn Intelligence officer?
My character always liked to try new things and there are very few positions that he hasn’t held before (well… he’s never been medical. He wouldn’t be able to hack it there). What inspired me was friends of mine who were in the US Military who were actually in Intelligence and taught me how it actually worked and trust me, it was nothing like the movies and it was just paperwork, something I enjoyed showing with him.
How did Nugra change over the course of his career?
Nugra went from being a very rule-heavy, “Duty must come before all” officer, who would not budge from the rulebook to an older Gorn who mellowed a lot. Some officers in the fleet still talk about being worried the Gorn would eat them or facing the wrath of the Gorn Captain when someone deviated. He’s not like that anymore, looking at the causality of the situation and making more sage, experienced decisions.
Why did you decide to play a new character, one who seems to be almost the opposite of Nugra?
I needed something fresh. Playing Nugra for pretty much twenty years, he’s done every major arc. He lived long enough to see himself become the villain, suffered through many sorrows, and even died once before mysteriously coming back to life. I felt it was time for him to take a back seat and for another character to shine. I didn’t want another “Nugra” clone and so I tried to make Shedet the exact opposite and boooyyy, is she.
It sounds like you’ve had a lot of struggles over the course of the last year or so. How have you stayed involved, and how do you keep such a positive outlook?
Honestly? My best friend here never failed to reach out and talk with me and help me take part. Commodore Jalana Rajel is really the reason I hadn’t collapsed a long time ago, and she has been an amazing CO and one of my closest best friends for most of the years I’ve been here. I call her my big sister and I know I probably would have failed if it wasn’t for her bringing me back from my two year LOA and being the kindest heart through my RL struggles.
Shedet/Nugra is here because of her.
Thanks for your time, Senior Commander Nugra… or should I say, Chief Petty Officer Shedet!
Anytime, DeVeau! Fight for Duty and Honor!
You can read more about Senior Commander Nugra as well as his newer character, Chief Petty Officer Shedet on the wiki.
