Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners of awards from our 2024 Awards Ceremony. Our goal is to give you insight into how our fleet’s best simmers write, and imagine their characters as well as their out of character contributions and achievements.
This month we’re interviewing the writer behind Commander Alora DeVeau playing a female Human Science Officer assigned to Denali Station. She has won the Chief’s Citation Award: “Awarded to essential Staff Members whose determined work has benefitted the group In Character, and/or Out Of Character, even while their primary service was not as the Commanding Officer of a simming installation.”
Matthews: Firstly, well done on winning the Chief’s Citation Award! Very well deserved, I’m sure. For those in the Fleet who don’t know, why don’t you tell us a little about the writer behind the character – where in the world do you hail from, do you have any interesting hobbies outside of writing in the Fleet?
DeVeau: Hi there, and thank you! I’m originally from Georgia, and though I’m not military, I’ve moved quite a few places; from Georgia to Illinois, Texas, Maryland, and finally Virginia, which is where my home is now. I am and have been married for 22 years to my best friend and we have four lovely children (one girl, three boys!), the eldest of whom is getting married next March. I home school my other children and have done so for the entirety of their school aged lives.
Although I don’t have time or energy to do all of them right now, I enjoy writing, of course, but also quilting, photography, music (I sing and I play in a handbell choir), board games, video games, movies, television (well, streaming anyway!), and growing gesneriads – basically two types of them. One is called Streptocarpus which most might know by the other name, Cape Primrose. I’m sure most people won’t be surprised to know that the other one is African Violets. If you know, you know. If you don’t know, it probably won’t be long until you do. 😃
You’ve been with SB118 for just over a decade now, give or take, what was your introduction into Star Trek before that? Has being a part of all this, and for so long, changed the way you view Star Trek content?
I started watching Star Trek about the same time I started watching Doctor Who – when I was four years old. My mother was an avid fan of both and when she found me sneaking in to watch Doctor Who (the back of the couch was to the door!) she started letting me stay up to watch that and, of course, Star Trek: The Original Series. That pretty much solidified my love of Science Fiction. As for what it has done for my view of Star Trek, I think SB118 has increased my appreciation for how much creativity was poured into those series and how much we get to express our own creativity here! The other thing it has helped me to do is to really think about the stories and the depth of some of them as well as the long term effects, because sometimes we have to consider what’s come before and how it’s relevant to our characters. Lastly, sometimes what’s come before opens the door for us to go into greater detail in our stories. Because of what we see on the screen is only a tiny fraction of the entire tapestry, which allows us to explore what isn’t seen and leads to our own unique canon here on SB118
How have you seen the community change from your earlier days to where you are now? What has it been like to see those changes?
In some ways, SB118 has become even more organised than it originally was. Back when I started, the three act format wasn’t really a thing, but I think implementing it has really helped me get a feel for how to create a mission in the context of our group. I also feel like the group as a whole is a bit more cohesive and less separated largely due to Discord and the ability to chat in real time outside of sims, which wasn’t a thing when I first joined back in 2013! I find that kind of ironic since SB118 got its start in real time AOL chat rooms before it moved to PBEM format!
Looking back on your experience so far, what advice would you give to anyone who has just joined the Fleet? Especially for those who want to get more involved.
For those just joining the fleet, I would honestly say don’t worry about getting more involved right away. In order to keep a place like this going for as long as it has, we need to have a commitment to a minimum amount of sims per week per person. Wolf and others who have laid down these requirements did so because over the years they saw what worked and what didn’t. As someone who’s been in PBEMs of one kind or another since 1999, I can testify to the fact that these requirements do help keep SB118 alive and healthy. So, before you decide to do more, dedicate yourself to just writing and get comfortable with your character.
That time can also be used to get comfortable with how to write not only the minimum required time, but to do so with high quality sims. Even though I had 14 years of PBEM experience before coming here, I still had to adjust to the style, and that takes time and energy. Don’t rush, and enjoy just playing for a while.
After you get settled and grounded in a routine, I recommend talking to your command staff about getting more involved with your ship or base. Do they need help with the wiki? How about playing a mission specific NPC? Perhaps you could indicate your interest in helping to plan missions! These are all necessary pieces for each ship or base to facilitate the running of the game. After that, then maybe take a look at the taskforces and needs at the community at large.
But most importantly, make sure you’re having fun with the game itself. Yes, we love volunteers, and yes it takes work to keep this place going, but it should always have at least one aspect of fun – after all, that’s why all the volunteers do what they do!
You currently write for two characters. What challenges does that stir up as opposed to just writing for one? Was there anything playing on your mind that you wanted to avoid, or include, with your secondary character?
I think your number is a bit off. I actually write for more than that. I believe Lhandon Nilsen estimated my character count to be 346.
Just kidding. 😉
I write for two PCs (the 344 million others are all NPCs!) one on Denali and one on the USS Octavia E Butler. This is a lot harder than it seems, because not only does that mean I need to write 3 sims a week per character, I have to read all the sims for two different ships. I did actually attempt to do this a few years ago and had to go back down to one. At that time, I was tutoring part time, which meant I had a lot less time. Since then, I’ve stopped tutoring which has left me with more mental energy and allows me to use that for things like reading and writing sims. It still isn’t easy, but it’s one of the ways I can escape, and since I can fit it around my schedule, it allows me to participate. That being said, I still have to know how to manage things, because I can’t take away time from my kids, but I also need to make sure I’m keeping up with both ships. It’s a balancing act to be sure, but I love where I am and enjoy the people.
As far as my secondary (Katsim Peri) goes, when I created her, I wanted to make sure she wasn’t a carbon copy of Alora. She’s a much different personality than I usually play, which has had its own set of challenges, but also because she’s a very introverted person, I’ve had to figure out ways to get her involved with other people.
Another thing I wanted to include was exploring what it was like to be between two worlds. My kids have mixed heritage, and have, unfortunately, have been on the receiving end of racism. It has resulted in many discussions about it, but my daughter in particular has mentioned how she has struggled with her identity because she is (and I’m quoting her here), ‘too white for my black friends and too black for my white friends’. Then there’s the aspect of having these two groups of people who share a very turbulent history and Peri is a child of both. How does that affect the next generation (which is Peri’s generation) even after so many years? And lastly, I thought it would be interesting to see things through the eyes of someone who is devout to her gods. How does that make her different? These aren’t necessarily big things, but little, every day moment types of things. Peri prays to the Prophets, there’s thoughts of how she knows they are in control and so she will trust in them. These are all aspects that make her who she is, and it’s interesting, in my opinion, to explore that concept. Perhaps by exploring these, it allows me some insight, and hopefully empathy, when seeing similar things play out in real life.
Finally, do you have any planned next steps, both in character and of character? Is there anything else OOC that you would like to be involved in? Where might either of your characters end up in future?
I’ve reached my goal of becoming a Commander. It was a hard goal to achieve, partly because there were so many things that caused bumps along the way, but I’m forever grateful for those who supported me through it. Beyond that, I want to remain a contributing member to SB118 and help out the community as best I can. I don’t consider myself talented in any particular way, and I know I constantly make mistakes, but if I can do something to help keep SB118 thriving, I will do so. The idea of becoming a CO has been mentioned, and while it’s not necessarily something I’m completely opposed to (which is something that has changed over the years), I don’t particularly see myself in that position. Rather, I think I’ll be a ‘perpetual helper’; someone who comes alongside those who are gifted in ways that allow them to be a good CO, and help them as they also work toward making the game fun and enjoyable for everyone. And since I’m involved in the Training Team and Newsies right now, plus I occasionally help out with wiki work and other ship level activities, I’m probably going to keep it to that for now.
As far as my characters go, the next steps are simple. For Alora, it’s now navigating a life without her husband, but with a daughter. How does that limit her? How does it not? How does that change her outlook on life now? She’s got a lot more on her plate than she used to since she’s also the matriarch of a Betazoid house thanks to that marriage. That’s cropped up in various ways, and will likely cause more complications in the future. For Peri, I have some plans, but I’m not going to say anything about them just yet, so you’ll just have to wait and see. 😉
Thanks for your time, Commander DeVeau!
You can read more about Commander Alora DeVeau on the Wiki, here.
