Back in my day we had to walk 15 miles, in the snow, both ways… We’ve all heard stories like this at some point in our lives, and the Fleet at Starbase 118 is no exception. Spend a little time reading your Ship Chat, the Officer’s Club, or chatting in the Brew Continuum and you’re bound to hear tales from some of the veteran writers about the way back times of their Lower Deck Days.
Some of these stories sparked the idea of interviewing members who have been writing with the Fleet for long enough to see trends come and go and share with us their perspective on how the times have changed. Maybe we will even get some juicy stories along the way.
We’ve tracked down Lieutenant Commander Talia Ohnari who writes for the Chief Medical Officer on the USS Khitomer.
S. Richards: It hasn’t been too long since the last time we saw you, regardless, tell us what you have been up to since the last time!
OHNARI: Weeelll…..I’ve replaced a bunch of missing limbs and two eyes, but not the same person, how weird is it that two different officers lost an eye super recently….? People are dramatic. Oh well, it keeps me in business I guess.
How long have you been a member of Starbase 118 and during those years, what has been the biggest change you’ve seen? How has that change impacted the community?
I originally joined back in 2015, I took a break for a bit and came back a little over two years ago with a new character. So, a lot has changed in the last 10 years, even the break. One of the biggest changes was discord. Way back in my day…we had a web-based chat, and it wasn’t as user friendly or as popular. With Discord, I feel like this opens up more ship to ship collaborations and getting to know writers outside of our own little bubbles.
Now Talia hasn’t been your only character in the time that you’ve been writing with the Fleet. How many different main characters have you had? Out of all of your previous characters, who would want to bring back, even if just for a day? What made you pick them?
I’ve only written for two main characters, when I originally joined I wrote for a Betazoid named Mirra Ezo. I loved writing for her, but by the time I came back, I decided I had tortured her enough and it was time for a re-roll. I have brought her back exclusively in joint posts! Her legacy lives on even though she’s married with kids, settled on a vineyard on Betazed. I like the idea of her settled and enjoying post Starfleet life, so I have no plans of bringing her back as a main. She can live in PNPC life (look Isaac! I got it right the first time!!!) Mirra was the sarcastic intrusive thoughts given life, and it served me well. Talia, I feel is my more whimsical intrusive thoughts come to life.
Writing as long as you have, and for such a diverse cast of characters, you’ve got plenty of experience. How has your writing style changed through the years and what do you know now that you wish you had known back at the very beginning?
Not to get into your own head so much. I spent a lot of time comparing myself to other writers, and not realizing that styles could be different, but both could be good. I get rambly, and I still struggle sometimes reigning it in. I wish I knew back then I could get a “vibe check” with my fellow writers. (Thank you Brian) Sometimes the words in the brain don’t go on the page like I want them to, so talking it out with another person they often help a change of phrase that makes it flow better. Don’t be afraid to ask your other writers for advice or be weirded out if someone comes to you!
Alright, now to get down to the reason we are all here. Tell us your favorite story from back in the day.
Ok so my first official mission, we were going to explore a weird jungle like planet. And weird things were happening, anything with tech was suddenly attacked by weird bio-medical creatures. And something in the atmosphere was making our Gorn go bananas. It was also messing with the telepathically inclined, so Mirra was getting weird primal flash urges because she was picking up on Nugra losing the battle with his baser instincts.
The longer we stayed on the planet the worse it became. Nugra eventually went full feral and Mirra jumped in front of him to try and protect another officer…she got a nice set of claws to the ribs. And yet this wasn’t the weirdest thing on the mission: It was the Bolian Pirate queen Chennel, written by the fabulous Mikey. She was a recurring villainess and had a weird obsessive attraction to Mirra.
(Check her out here: https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Chennel )
Thank you so much for your time!
You can read more about Lieutenant Commander Talia Ohnari on the wiki.
