The Podcast Team has been hard at work putting together another stellar edition of news and entertainment from around the fleet:
Edited by Ensign Lazarus Davis with voice talent from Lt. Commander Geoffrey Teller and others!
Timestamps:
Lower Decks Interview: Lieutenant Lorian Lovar, USS Embassy
We’re here with another interview with a newer member of our community. The title of this column is “Lower Decks,” hearkening back to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode titled “Lower Decks,” in which junior officers aboard the Enterprise-D speculate on the reasons for recent unusual actions taken by the command crew near the Cardassian border.
This month’s interview is with the writer behind Lieutenant Lorian Lovar playing a Vulcan male Science Officer assigned to the USS Embassy.
GALVEN: Thank you for allowing me to interview you! Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?
LOVAR: (Writer) Thanks for having me! I’m definitely a huge trekkie, which I’m sure is a surprise to everyone here. I love all kinds of sci-fi stuff just in general actually. I’m also an avid gamer, coder, and dnd player.
(Lovar) I’m happy to be here! As you mentioned I’m a Vulcan science officer, but I don’t practice emotional suppression. Not too much anyway. I love cracking jokes with my crewmembers and gardening. I’m a botanist you see, plants are my passion. I’m lucky that I was able to be assigned to the Embassy after my leave, they have such a nice garden. Let’s see, what else… Oh! I have a cat named Captain Patches and I love him.
What has been your favorite moment writing with UFOP: StarBase 118?
My favourite moment has to be when Lorian found out about his brother’s disappearance. Simming the raw emotion behind his actions, the complete grief he faced. I think it was some of the best writing ever I’ve done.
Lower Decks Interview: Lieutenant Junior Grade Ghant Xerix, USS Gorkon
We’re here with another interview with a newer member of our community. The title of this column is “Lower Decks,” hearkening back to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode titled “Lower Decks,” in which junior officers aboard the Enterprise-D speculate on the reasons for recent unusual actions taken by the command crew near the Cardassian border.
This month’s interview is with the writer behind Lieutenant Junior Grade Ghant Xerix playing a Betazoid/Risian male Helms Officer assigned to the USS Gorkon.
GALVEN: Thank you for allowing me to interview you! Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?
Xerix: My name is Johnny and I write for Ghant Xerix, a young officer from a noble house of Betazed. I’m also an entrepreneur, husband and father of two children.
What has been your favorite moment writing for UFOP: StarBase 118?
Probably a joint post between myself, Ukinix and Rahman involving some dancing with a Betazoid noblewoman. They are great writers and it was a lot of fun.
I’m a Doctor, not a video editor… check out the “Ask a Doctor” Podcast!
This month’s podcast goes into Sickbay with questions for our medical officers:
Voiceover and editorial contributions were provided by Lieutenant Junior Grade Groznin Smith, Lt Commanders Genkos Adea, Geoffrey Teller, Solok, and German Galven. Video edited by Lt. Commander German Galven.
Have you listened to our most recent podcast?
In this months show, we’ve got a Lt. Maddi Hyden and Lt. Kayla Drex reading a sim from our appreciations forum, LtCmdr. Toryn Raga has reactions from the winners of our recent Fleetwide Award Ceremony, and Toryn Raga also brings us recent headlines from the FNS:
- Written by: Lieutenant Junior Grade Groznin Smith, Lieutenant Commander Riley Delar, and Commander Kelrod
- Edited by: Lieutenant Commander German Galven
Lower Decks Interview: Ensign James Colquhoun, USS Columbia
We’re here with another interview with a newer member of our community. The title of this column is “Lower Decks,” hearkening back to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode titled “Lower Decks,” in which junior officers aboard the Enterprise-D speculate on the reasons for recent unusual actions taken by the command crew near the Cardassian border.
This month’s interview is with the writer behind Ensign James Colquhoun playing a Human male Tactical Officer assigned to the USS Columbia.
GALVEN: Thank you for allowing me to interview you! Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?
COLQUHOUN: Sure. I’m a Charlotte, NC native but moved to Bloomington, IN about a decade ago for school. I finished my undergrad recently in philosophy and started a masters program in cybersecurity. I work in IT for Indiana University. One thing I will for Bloomington, we embrace the claim to fame of Jameway being born here. There’s a group of people working right now to install a Captain Janeway statue in town.
Having joined in November, what has been your favorite moment writing aboard the USS Columbia?
Probably our shore leave rotation on the planet Losaria. I think the whole crew enjoyed that, getting to create a whole world and culture as we went. Losaria still comes up in sims as fond memories for everyone.
Lower Decks Interview: Lieutenant Jona ch’Ranni, USS Columbia
We’re here with another interview with a newer member of our community. The title of this column is “Lower Decks,” hearkening back to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode titled “Lower Decks,” in which junior officers aboard the Enterprise-D speculate on the reasons for recent unusual actions taken by the command crew near the Cardassian border.
This month’s interview is with the writer behind Ensign Jona ch’Ranni playing an Andorian male Helm/Ops Officer assigned to the USS Columbia.
GALVEN: Thank you for allowing me to interview you! Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?
CH’RANNI: Hello! My name IRL is Josh and I love everything about Star Trek and have since I was a child. I work in IT in the education industry in the midwest US and I am married with twin 3 year old boys.
Having joined in October of 2395, what has been your favorite moment writing aboard the USS Columbia?
I loved our visit to the homeworld of a newly discovered alien race – the Losarians – on a recent shore leave. I was able to sim visiting a shipworks facility, a culinary institute, and a seedy bar on one of the moons. It was an open world in which to play and I loved every minute of it.
Lower Decks Interview: Lieutenant Junior Grade Ben Garcia, Embassy of Duronis II
We’re here with another interview with a newer member of our community. The title of this column is “Lower Decks,” hearkening back to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode titled “Lower Decks,” in which junior officers aboard the Enterprise-D speculate on the reasons for recent unusual actions taken by the command crew near the Cardassian border.
This month’s interview is with the writer behind Lieutenant JG Ben Garcia playing a Human male HCO officer assigned to the Embassy of Duronis II.
GALVEN: Thank you for accepting this interview! Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?
GARCIA: Hi! I’m Wes, and I write for Ben. I post from the U.K and always get caught out with post counts and time differences! I enjoy Trek, especially those episodes that make you think … I guess that’s what got me into Trek: I have great memories of watching TNG after dinner with my mum (many, many years ago!), and I’d marvel at how the characters grappled with high ideals and moral dilemmas. I was fascinated with Picard. Great stuff!
You joined the community in February. How did you find StarBase 118 and what made you ultimately choose to stay with us?
I re-joined in February; I found StarBase 118 a few years ago – maybe four or five? I’d done table top RPG when I was a kid, and wanted to find an online group. I cannot remember how I stumbled across StarBase 118, but I’m thankful you were there among those search results! When I first joined I was at University, and for one reason and another couldn’t keep up posting, so I took a LOA … or two.
Fast forward to this February, and I’d made the decision to carve out time for things that I enjoy. That meant figuring out what I enjoyed! That’s when all those really positive memories about how friendly and organised the StarBase 118 community are came to the fore. So, I decided to get back involved. I’m grateful to the Embassy for finding a place for me to sim (thanks guys!), and really enjoy the freedom we have on the installation to sim planet side or on one of the Embassy’s ships.
This is my longest stint as an active member, and I’d put it down to two things: the community ethos of StarBase 118 and my mind set about why I sim.
First Officer in Focus – Lael Rosek, USS Montreal
Each month we interview a First Officer or Commanding Officer of the fleet as part of our “First Officer in Focus” and “Captain’s Corner” columns to get to know them better, and learn more about what their positions entail.
This month, we’re interviewing the First Officer of the starship USS Montreal, Lieutenant Commander Lael Rosek, a female Al-Leyan.
GALVEN: Thank you so much for accepting to do an interview with me out of your busy schedule! Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?
ROSEK: I’m always happy to help. I’ve been writing with the fleet on and off for 14 years and love the sense of community here. In real life, I work as an instructional aide in an elementary special education classroom and believe with all my heart that a good education can change a person’s life. I’m the mother of two amazing young boys who are the light of my life.
What ships have you served on and what duty posts have you played so far in your Starfleet career?
I’ve served on any number of ships over the years. My very first assignment with the fleet was the Independence at the time under the command of Jessa Anassasi. At that time, I was writing for a Human woman named Rebecca Hollendale, a security/tactical officer. She also served aboard the Ronin under the command of Idril Mar. A bit later on, I switched characters to a Human woman named Elina Kincade. She was an interesting character because I started writing her as an Engineer who eventually became a trained nurse. While writing for her, I served aboard the Eagle and the Challenger-A.
My most recent, and perhaps my favorite, PC, Lael, started her career as an Engineer before switching to Helm and later back to Engineering. She served aboard the Victory, the Gorkon, the Za, the Veritas, and the Montreal.
I also have a menagerie of PNPCs and secondary characters in a variety of duty posts. I’ve played in the fair majority of available duty posts over my time with the fleet.
New Flag Officer Interview: Fleet Captain Jalana Rajel, USS Consititution-B
Just recently there were some pretty big promotions within our fleet. One of those community members – who, with great determination and pride, was just promoted to Fleet Captain was the commanding officer of the USS Constitution-B: Jalana Rajel.
We’re here today to talk more with her about her time in UFOP: SB118, what experience she brought to the game, and how she rose through the ranks. Let’s dive in.
GALVEN: It’s an honor and a privilege that you accepted to do an interview with me. Before we get started, could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?
Rajel: It’s a pleasure and honor to be asked to be honest. There isn’t too much to tell about me really. I’m Jessica, a month away from being 40 years old even though I feel more like I’m still 18 in many ways. I live in Germany with my boyfriend of 17 years and if I don’t write in SB118, I write on my own stories and novels, play computer games and, as of recently, dig into my studies of the Korean language. I’ve been a roleplayer since I was 9 years old and bombed my uncle’s D&D group with my annoyance and am still loving it.
Congratulations on being promoted to Fleet Captain, which must’ve been exciting for you! What do Fleet Captains do – are there more responsibilities IC and OOC wise?
Thank you very much! It really is exciting, I assumed that I’ll be at the rank of Captain forever, since I am not taking on more OOC responsibilities than I can shoulder, which isn’t too much. I don’t think that I have been doing anything differently than I have before, so I hope nobody realizes that they want the rank back. 😉
I serve on the Constitution with my secondary character, and you do an extremely job well done as captain! Can you give the readers some insight into what it’s like commanding a ship in UFOP: SB118?
Thank you, that’s very kind of you. I’m thrilled to have you on the Conny. What is it like… every CO might answer this differently, so here is my own view of it: Basically, you are having all the fun, but have to put in the work for it. I see my crew as a family and hope that they feel like that, but that doesn’t just happen. Consistent writing, putting out fires, planning behind the scene, making sure everyone is involved, has fun and feels at home is pretty much what I do, but not alone. My staff helps me tremendously and they are a fantastic bunch of people without whom I’d be lost. Another important part to me is that you want others to shine, so I try to give them opportunities to tell their stories, to have their moments and balance it with having my own fun in many ways.
You give so much of your time and are available to those when they need you the most which is quite praiseworthy! What has been the greatest challenge, in character and out of character, with the command experience?
I think the biggest challenge is to make everyone happy and to keep everyone involved at all times. I am not always successful with that. Sometimes we have missions that, while liked by the majority, have been disliked by a minority. So trying to find ways to make the minority enjoy the mission as well is a challenge. Also, even if a mission is the best mission in the world, sometimes they don’t kick off or our crew members have real life things going on that will come in the way of writing. So we, as staff, deal with the challenge to keep things interesting and engage everyone. That can be a balance act and sometimes – no matter how hard we try – we drop into the safety net, while other times we soar into the skies.
Now, I was reading your profile and saw that you joined only seven years ago. Is that right? Where do you get your much talented inspiration from?
It’s been seven years already? Oh my. It doesn’t feel that long! Indeed, it’ll be eight years in June, amazing! My inspiration comes from everywhere, to be honest. It comes from looking around with open eyes, watching people, reading books, watching TV… I don’t believe that there is anything in this world that can’t be inspiring.
Out of all the OOC activities 118 has to offer, there’s The (Image) Collective which you’re the co-facilitator of. How did you get so talented in creating graphics, and what’s the best kind of advice you can give someone who is hesitant in exploring their image skills?
I got where I am through practice. As everyone else I want to pick up a hobby and be immediately awesome at it, sadly that doesn’t work. My first image manipulations were horrendous but I was so proud of them and didn’t know how bad they are! So I’ll tell you what I did in the beginning: I watched video tutorials on YouTube, followed them for months and months. I got Photoshop and played around with all the options to figure out what is doing what, and even now – after 10+ years – I still find new tools and ways to do things, so never stop learning. We also have a tutorial section in the wiki, some video tutorials and the like so check those out too. (http://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=The_(Image)_Collective:_Tutorials) Keep practicing and if you are curious what you can do better, you can ask anyone in the Image Team and they will gladly help you. We are not only here to provide images for the members, we also aim to grow and improve together by helping each other out. More than anything, enjoy yourself, don’t be afraid of mistakes, there is an undo button! 😉
And lastly, Looking back on your experience so far, what would be one piece of advice you’d give to anyone who’s just joined?
Have fun! Seriously, I know that especially in the beginning it can be intimidating. All these strangers to write with, stories that have been going on for such a long time, friends have been made already and then you come in as the new person and have to find your footing. We’ve all been there. But one thing that always helped me was to just jump in, join the fun, make up your stories and don’t be afraid to tag others. And most importantly if you are stuck, have no ideas, RL hits you hard… communicate with your mentor. You are never alone and we are all here to make sure you are having as much fun as we do so you as well can form these friendships, write these stories and be part of this amazing community.
Thank you for your time, Fleet Captain Jalana Rajel!
You can read more about Fleet Captain Jalana Rajel on the wiki.
