Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners of awards from our 2023 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 Lt. Commander Azura Ada playing a Human female Chief Science Officer assigned to the USS Constitution-B. She won the Xalor Clan Xifilis Award: “Awarded to simmers who overcome a disadvantage throughout simming.”
Fairhug: As a long-term member of our community, you’ve taken part in a few interviews over the years, but please indulge us and refresh our memories — where in the world do you hail from?
Ada: I live in the US, in southern-central Indiana! But I grew up outside of Philadelphia, and lived in Tennessee for a while too.
In one of your previous interviews, you gave us some insight into some of your interests outside of SB118. Is there anything in particular that is your main focus at the moment? Or have you perhaps picked up any new hobbies or skills since?
Ada: I’ve gotten much deeper into film photography since then–I now shoot, develop, scan and process all at home. I enjoy fiddling with it, and trying different practices and tools to see how it shapes the image. Besides that, I’ve been picking up more and more sports.
You’re currently serving as the Chief Science Officer of the USS Constitution-B, a post you have held for four years! What are some of the challenges of writing for a specific duty post for a prolonged period of time and how have you overcome them?
Ada: I’m a recovering academic and scientist myself, and this lets me write what I know. And, as I learn and grow, my relationship with these things continues to shift. And my character goes through phases with it too. Her relationship to science and being a science officer shifts. At first she was an earnest, proud ensign that believed that science can solve anything. As her responsibilities grew and she got more experience on the Conny, she began to feel the burden of command in both her department and for the whole ship when she served as Second and First Officer while also feeling her domain over the sciences wane, despite still carrying the responsibilities of Chief Science Officer. I guess what I’m saying, in so many words, is that because Azura’s relationship to the duty post keeps shifting, it’s never the same duty post.
At the 2023 Awards Ceremony, you won the Xalor Clan Xifilis Award, which is presented to those who “overcome a disadvantage throughout simming.” Do you have some advice for any of our members who may be struggling to keep up with simming due to RL issues at the moment?
Ada: Oh gosh. There can be so many different reasons for short term or long term challenges with simming. To the extent that it’s possible and desirable, insert the challenging thing into your character’s life. And do it as literally, representationally, or metaphorically as you like. This follows in the rich tradition of therapeutic applications of RPGs. By letting my characters work through the things I’m working through IRL, it kind of aligns my needs and goals with the goals of simming regularly. As soon as simming feels like a responsibility, it’s easy to set aside. When it feels like it’s helpful, even just a little, then I am thoroughly motivated to write!
Doing a dimensional swap between Lazarus and Azura so that they’re effectively the same person, only she recognized her gender and transitioned, meant that I have a character that I can empathize with and put her through things that are relevant to me. Azura is years ahead of me in her transition, but she is a new-but-the-same-but-different person on the Conny, trying to figure out how she fits into things in this strange yet familiar world. And her peers are trying to figure out how she is both the same person and a different person than Lazarus. These are all themes that I can deeply relate to in my real life, and they’re things that I’m actively navigating IRL.
In her presentation speech, Commodore Jalana Rajel said: “I have known Azura, Lazuli, for years ever since she joined the fleet and we have been writing side by side through that time. But we also have formed a friendship beyond that which allowed me to be part of a special phase in her life.” Just how important would you say the OOC side of this community is in making it stand out among the other options out there?
Ada: There are other options? I honestly have never been inclined to look. These people are my friends and comrades, and Jess chiefly among them. I’ve never been one to have online friendships before Starbase 118, and now there are people across the globe that I will go out of my way to see if I’m ever remotely near them. That’s a beautiful thing.
You seem to have used SB118 and your character’s story to help you on your personal journey, which is something I have also done at times. Have you found doing so to be cathartic and helpful IRL?
Ada: I find that RPGs, broadly, can be deeply therapeutic. I spoke a bit earlier about how my ability to relate to Azura, as well as putting her through things that connect to IRL things, helps me immensely. It’s a safe environment for Azura to exist, and for me to see what it could be like coming out to people, and re/connecting with people from before I was Lazuli. The same goes for my stable of PNPCs: Ollo, my awkward Bolian, is presently in his own personal hell: stuck hiding 11 other copies of himself. It’s forcing him to spend time with himself–kind of like an aggressive form of meditation. Imas, my Cardassian exchange officer, is trying to figure out how to be a good person despite her upbringing in the fascistic Cardassian Union. She wants to figure out how to take the ideals of the Federation to Cardassian society, and save her people from their own tyrannical rule. And poor Byron Trench, he’s going to a dark place. He’s sort of my cautionary tale about someone who habitually alienates himself, and where that could lead. (To my shipmates reading this: disregard all comments about Byron. He’s definitely a regular, polite, chipper guy!!)
Finally, is there anything particularly exciting in Azura’s present or future that you’re willing to share?
Ada: I’m deeply curious to see if she’ll ever work her way up to First Officer again. I think right now, she’s learning that ambition is a kind of suffering. But she is a good fit for the role, if she can get past her fears around the burdens of command!
Thanks for your time, Lt. Commander Ada!
