Focusing on the IDIC and basic Vulcan philosophy, which celebrates the vast array of variables within the Star Trek universe, join us for a series of interviews to highlight the unique alien species found within our Fleet. Our goal is to give you an insight into the different species within the Starbase 118 community; including the reasons behind choosing a certain species and what challenges, and rewards, playing as a member of that species can bring.
For the second installment in this series, we are giving you a classic two for the price of one and have two interviewees for your reading pleasure. We will be hearing from the writers behind Fleet Captain Mei’konda Delano, currently the ranking Officer on the USS Astraeus, and Lieutenant Commander Luxa Lorana, who currently serves on board the USS Ronin as acting Chief Science Officer. They write the only two Caitian characters in the Fleet.
Matthews: Thank you both so much for joining us for this interview. Why don’t you tell us a little about the writer behind the character — where in the world do you hail from and what drew you to SB118? Rank does have its privileges so, Captain Mei’konda, we’ll start with you first.
Mei’konda: Thank you for the invite! My real name is Aaron, and I’ve been with 118 since 2013. It’s a little tough to remember everything that drew me to 118 back then, but I definitely recall a few.
First, there was the number of ships, the obvious well thought out organization of the group, and the number of members in each group caught my eye. In some other groups, you’d see that they had only two or three people aboard a ship, whereas the 118 rosters were well filled out.
Another thing that really grabbed my attention was the requirements for promotion. It was obvious from the beginning that you had to really work your way upward, and that ‘hero’s journey’ appealed to more than starting off as a senior officer or Captain and not really having to work for it.
Lorana: It’s a pleasure to represent Caitians in the fleet so thank you so much! I’m Liv and I joined 118 not really sure what to expect. I was eager to find a Star Trek Adventures game to join and stumbled, almost by accident, on the 118 website. After looking around and seeing the details on the wiki, I was like ‘what the heck!’.
Almost two years later I’m still here, which seems like no time at all compared to Aaron!
Matthews: So, your characters are the only members of the Caitian species within the Fleet; they’re a species that first appeared way back in The Animated Series in 1973, have featured in the background in a handful of the feature films and are still alive and kicking in recent shows like Lower Decks and Prodigy. What was it that attracted you to such a species? We’ll start with Luxa first for this one.
Mei’konda: My reasons are twofold, primarily. First, I enjoy playing a race with limited lore that can be developed through play, as well as a race which appears very unusual and perhaps somewhat fearsome at first glance.
Second, I’m a furry, and have been since it became my very first online social group when I was in my mid-teens. It’s nice to have a connection both to that and Star Trek in a single character.
Lorana: Initially I was going to play a Trill but when I saw how prevalent the species is within the SB118 community, I thought it might be more fun to play a species that was more unique and less explored within Star Trek. So I swapped during the academy and have been writing Luxa ever since!
Matthews: Were there any other potential species that Delano and Lorana could have been or were they always going to be Caitian?
Mei’konda: My very first outing with 118 was actually prior to my joining this time around in 2013. I originally joined the group in around 1999, and I played a Human security officer named Jason Brandt, who eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Playing Humans is comfortable and easy.
Mei was always going to be a Caitian. I decided on his race first, and then built his background around that.
Lorana: As I said in the academy, Luxa was a Trill. I’m very happy that I switched because it’s been such a pleasure writing a Caitian!
Matthews: You both approach writing members of the same species in quite a different way. Obviously, from firsthand experience I have seen how you’ve written how the Captain communicates, Captain Delanao; what was it that made you come to that decision, with the elongation of certain words? Concurrently, Commander, what made you steer away from a decision like that?
Mei’konda: Mei’konda’s accent used to be stronger; when I was new to the group, I would double a number of letters in words in any given sentence. Now, partly for simplicity’s sake and partly because Mei has been in Starfleet for a long time now and is very used to speaking Federation standard, the accent has diminished. But I still enjoy writing in an immediately noticeable way that his speech sounds different than other people’s due to the shape of his muzzle.
Lorana: I decided quite early on, and I believe this could be applied to any species, that my approach to Luxa could be a little different from others due to regional or cultural variances within a species. I chose to keep her voice less of the animated series type and make it more accessible to those who don’t like that depiction as I really wanted to portray a Caitian in a fun but nuanced way. But I also love that everyone has a unique approach to the species and brings their own spin on it!
Matthews: The Caitian species of course share striking resemblances to most, if not all, feline species on planet Earth. Does that ever impact how you write your characters or how other crew members perceive them? Does how a cat acts on our planet ever find a way into your writing?
Mei’konda: Though I try not to get into it too much since I know that our players write it with humor, Mei doesn’t particularly like being compared to a feline. He’s aware that Caitians bear a resemblance to Earth felines, though he doesn’t think of himself as being related to them (since he isn’t, obviously). I believe that once or twice when it came up in roleplay, I’ve had Mei comment to more traditional races who made the comparison that it would be like him comparing them to other types of primates.
Out of character, I have fun with the feline comparisons myself, from time to time. In character, I don’t think Mei’konda has too many behaviors that people would associate with felines. He has a tail, and the sort of balance movements one would associate with any creature with a tail, but he’s not about to start grooming the back of his hand with his tongue, or lounging in sun beams (at least, not where anyone can see him). And don’t get him started on catnip and laser pointers…
Lorana: I approach this very much in the same way as Aaron. Out of character I play around with it a lot more than in character. I used the physicality of being a felinoid a lot in my Sims, I like to imagine that body language, eye contact and demeanor is crucial to the species’ communication styles. Other than that I do sway away from comparisons to animals and Luxa really doesn’t like to be compared to an animal, which has led to some fun encounters with crew mates!
Matthews: The pool of information available for the Caitian species isn’t as vast as those of the Borg, Klingons and Romulans; have there ever been instances when that has been a hindrance when writing for your characters?
Mei’konda: Not really. The only time it was a particular hindrance was that there used to be something in our wiki about white furred Caitians being a myth, one that was genetically possible but unheard of. This was recently removed due to it having no canon source. Other than that, most of what I’ve written over the years about Caitian culture has been extrapolated from things we do know about them.
Their homeworld is humid, warm, and covered in rainforests, so I’ve mentioned in sims in the past that many Caitians live in modern, stylish tree houses integrated seamlessly with the trees they’re attached to. Mei loves climbing, as I figured a feline species that evolved in that environment would. And Caitians are often portrayed as warm, welcoming, fond of physical contact and lacking the modesty that Humans have, all of which has occasionally made themselves into my sims.
Lorana: Again, just like Aaron I’ve used the small snippets as well and Luxa comes from a heavily lush, rainforest type area on Cait. Other than that it leaves a lot of flexibility in terms of what we can do.
Interestingly enough my original concept or idea of Luxa was white with tawny brown hair but the White Caitian thing on the wiki stopped me from doing that, something myself and Aaron have joked about already!
Matthews: Do you have any advice for anyone who is considering creating an alien character in the future? What are the upsides and downsides that someone should keep in mind?
Mei’konda: More than anything, I believe it’s important to portray them as alien, rather than simply as Humans with bumps on their foreheads. Cultural norms that may be unfamiliar to us as Humans, traditions and biology that differ from ours, language and customs, all of those are the things that make playing an alien so interesting.
Lorana: If you chose to write an alien, and this goes for ANY alien, spend some time thinking about what makes them different from humans and really explore that.
The upsides are that it’s a lot of fun if you lean into the alienness of it! You can play around with traditions, cultural norms and even language. It’s a whole load of fun!
The downsides would be that it does take a little extra thought to truly capture what an alien is within a sim. I have to consider how Luxa interprets a situation and bring that to life.
Matthews: With respect to yourself, Captain Mei’konda, you are at a much different stage to the majority of writers within the Fleet, but is there anywhere you see yourself going with the character? Or anything that you’d be interested in doing out of character? And with yourself, Lt. Cmdr Lorana — is there anything you have planned for Luxa in the future or would you be interested in joining and supporting any of the OOC groups?
Mei’konda: Mei’konda loves Captaining a starship, is confident in his ability to do so, and feels he can make a real difference in that role. I don’t necessarily see him as the ‘forever Captain’ that Kirk was portrayed to be. I could see Mei deciding at some point later in life that he’s had enough of being on the frontier and putting people in danger directly due to his orders, and he might accept an Admiralty position in a more stationary location. Not anytime soon, though.
Out of character, I really do love this group. It’s enormously good for my mental health to have a social group that I interact with regularly and a creative outlet that requires that I put time into it multiple times per week. The people I know the best are probably those who have also been in the group a long while, which includes many members of the Executive and Captain’s councils, and I’m always interested in taking on different challenges and helping the group evolve over time.
Lorana: Luxa’s journey is always evolving and I’m enjoying seeing where she may go next!
In the wider fleet I’m currently a member of the training team, Image Collective, and more of an observer of wiki ops. Within the Ronin itself I am one of the ships staff and enjoy mentoring a few fellow officers. All of this tends to keep me busy but I’m always happy to help out when time allows.
Thanks for your time, Captain Mei’konda and Lieutenant Commander Lorana!
You can read more about Fleet Captain Mei’konda Delano and Lieutenant Commander Luxa Lorana on the Wiki. Further information on the Caitian species can be found using the link at the top of this page.
