Award Winning Interviews

Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners of Duty Post awards from our recent 2019 Awards Ceremony. Our goal is to give you insight into how our fleet’s best simmers write, and imagine their characters.

This month we’re interviewing the writer behind Lt. Commander Alexander Brodie playing a Human male chief counselor assigned to the Embassy of Duronis II. He  won the Order of the Valiant Heart: “This award is given to those ship’s Counselor who have shown great skill in protecting the mental health of their crewmates, clearly demonstrating superior ability to care, assist, and comfort those in need. They have gone above and beyond the call of duty in assisting their crewmates with their problems, and in preventing future problems from occurring.”

GALVEN: Tell us a little about the writer behind the character — where in the world do you hail from?

BRODIE: Well, I hail from the United Kingdom and stay up in Scotland currently. To be fair, I consider myself Scottish having lived here pretty much my whole adult life. Always been a fan of Star Trek from watching TOS reruns on the BBC after school.

Rear Admiral Toni Turner said in her presentation that Brodie counsels by not counseling and this is powers of observation is excellent. Could you provide us an example of what she means by that? 

I’ve always tried to have Brodie be a very alert character, sees a lot but doesn’t always act on it. He’s definitely a watcher and listener. That allows him to work with his crewmates ‘out of the office’ as it were, spending time talking to them and being there when he’s needed – or when he feels he will be.

I suppose a recent example would be the reported death of Irina Pavlova. Brodie had met Irinia briefly when he arrived at the Embassy so knew how it may affect her former crewmates. This allowed him to come at the situation as a concerned friend rather than as a medical professional. It helps to talk but sometimes people find it easier to just ‘talk about old times with a friend’ than ‘go and see ‘the shrink’.

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Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners of Duty Post awards from our recent 2019 Awards Ceremony. Our goal is to give you insight into how our fleet’s best simmers write, and imagine their characters.

This month we’re interviewing the writer behind Lieutenant Esa Kiax playing a Trill female assigned to the USS Atlantis as the Operations/Communications. She won the Voyager Medallion which is presented to those Operations officers who have shown great skill in keeping a starship in working order despite near-impossible circumstances. The officers receiving this award have advanced the field of Operations, making sure duty rosters, provisions, gear, and even recreation time are available… no matter what.

GALVEN: Thank you for agreeing to have an interview with me! Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?

KIAX: Hey there, always a pleasure! My name is Matt Ide, a 24-year-old part-time music student from London, UK. When I’m not studying, I work as a sound engineer in a local theatre. I’ve been simming for about eight or so years now, and have been a member of our happy little family here at 118 for fifteen months. Besides music, I’m an avid climber and video gamer!

Winning such a unique duty post award such as the Voyager Medallion award must be really exciting! Is there any kind of inspiration from anything in Star Trek or elsewhere when you write a scene?

Exciting? Heck yes. I recall audibly screaming at my computer screen when I read the awards post, to the point where my housemates asked if I was okay! I was genuinely not expecting it. Of course, there is a lot of inspiration from Trek. Where would we be without it? Harry Kim was my favourite character in Voyager, which was the first series I ever watched as a kid. Beyond that, the rest of my inspiration comes from the 2004 Battlestar Galactica Re-Imagining. The way that they portray the day-to-day inner workings of a starship is fascinating to me.

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Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners of Duty Post awards from our recent 2018 Awards Ceremony. Our goal is to give you insight into how our fleet’s best simmers write, and imagine their characters.

This month we’re interviewing the writer behind Major Gogigobo Fairhug playing a Bardeezan male Marine assigned to Starbase 118 Ops. He won the Semper Fidelis award: “For those Starfleet Marines who have shown great skill in protecting their crew, accomplishing their mission, avoiding tragic loss of life in the line of duty, and upholding the values of the UFoP in times of crisis.”

ORREY: Tell us a little about the writer behind the character — where in the world do you hail from?

FAIRHUG: I hail from London, England and despite travelling fairly extensively around our globe for many years, I seem to have found myself back exactly where I started!

What’s been your favorite part about simming a Marine officer so far?

Gogi never had any aspirations of being a Marine, having started off as a Security Officer. But due to some unforeseen circumstances, he found himself taking up the role of CO for the Iron Jaegers – Starbase 118 Ops’ Marine contingent. Therefore, my favourite part about simming a Marine has definitely been Gogi’s internal (and external) struggle of trying to fit into this culture that he knew little to nothing about previously, while also attempting to keep the Marines onside, since he is effectively an outsider who has been given a position of command over them.

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