Dekas

Stats

• Name: Ace.
• Joined Starbase 118: February 2021
• Gender: Gender-fluid (They/them, She/her. Both are interchangeable.)
• Age: 26
• Occupation: I work in a group home for people with disabilities.
• Location: America
• OOC Rank: Lieutenant
• Hobbies/interests: Writing, reading (I tend to enjoy Urban fantasy, psychological thrillers, sci-fi, and books that sit in a genre I don't know the exact term for but are somewhere between a mystery and just kinda abstract, borderline magical realism but not quite? I'll read anything so long as the story is fun, or the topic intrigues me.) I also like roleplaying/simming, Star Trek, TTRPGs, Cats, and most other animals.
• Favorite Trek series/movie: DS9, Enterprise, and Lower Decks. Runner up: TNG because I love Data with my entire soul.
• Writer ID: J239802D12

How I came to SB118

I started roleplaying through various mediums and fandoms around the age of 15. But my exposure to the Star Trek fandom was extremely limited for the majority of my roleplay experiences. Because until I gave the 2009 JJ Abrams Star Trek a chance around age 13, I was stubborn about really disliking it as an attempt to say I was different than the other people in my house who already really liked it. And even when I could admit it was alright, I still wasn't into it yet. But friends did eventually start writing in the fandom where I could see it over the years, and that's when I decided to give it some chances. It still took a number of years to get anywhere near attached, and up until 2020 to binge a good number of the series one after the other.

Even as it was becoming a special interest, I still wasn't writing in the fandom, though. I wasn't quite ready to shift out of the fandom community that I'd been part of for many years at that point. I had friends and attachments to it all. Even though it had long since started to go from something that made me happy, to something that I almost dreaded. But I was enjoying Star Trek in my own time, and enjoying the many conversations with my dad about it about which ones we liked and why. It was nice to be able to comfortably talk about it.

Then at the end of 2020, my dad died very suddenly. I was grieving. Understandably unhappy. And I knew pretty quickly that I could not stay in the community I was in if it made me unhappy to be there when I was already sad enough. But I also really didn't want to give up writing or roleplaying. Despite the community issues, it was still a comfort to me. So I looked into Star Trek writing groups as a comfort for the grief and the community. There were a few others I was considering, but 118 stood out as well-established, welcoming, and possibly the least confusing setup of the ones I was looking into. I also love a wiki deep dive. So I gave it a try, and here I am!

History

• Where were you first placed? What was it like starting to sim on your vessel?: My first ship was The USS Juneau under Captain Oddas Aria. (Which transferred over to Denali Station in May of 2022/2399) I came in at the end of a mission called Visitors in the Night, where the Juneau was investigating a black hole circling Quasar with a pair of long-dead vessels. Honestly coming in at the end of a mission was a little disorienting because I didn't have all the character context yet, and I was nervous about all the new people because I wasn't used to the setup yet. I struggled very much to keep up. The number of people was overwhelming and I was also grieving a really recent death and dealing with severe mental health problems and impostor syndrome. It had me needing an LOA for a few months. That wasn't the fault of anyone except myself. I took the time to focus more on myself and therapy because I needed that during that time for far more than all this. And even if I'd chosen not to come back, I would have continued with that. But in truth if not for the support and encouragement of my mentor and the Captain, I don't think I would have come back from my LOA.
• What have been your greatest challenges in this group?: The severity of the imposter syndrome in conjunction with all my other mental health issues. You never truly get used to the sheer awfulness of feeling like you won't add up. Comparison really is the thief of joy and it is an ongoing process full of ups and downs and therapy to stop myself from stealing my own joy away from myself.
• What have been your greatest achievements in this group?: During the mission right after my LOA, I was put in an away team where both of the other original team members (including the away team leader herself) suddenly took an LOA for one reason or another right at the start. I was the only original team member present on that away team. I really thought I was going to have to figure that out on my own somehow. But The Captain and My Mentor/XO were quick to get people to write with me (including themselves with PNPCs). They could have recalled that away team and effectively retconned that part of things. They could have waited more and made me deal with it alone longer. But they didn't. Effectively, I got to "lead" that away team and make a decision that made an opening for a meaningful character arc after the fact. And in the process, it allowed me to feel more confident with my place in this group. And I'm proud of myself for not giving up. Secondarily, I'm pretty proud of myself for how often I post appreciations on the forums for fellow crewmates. I really do feel like they deserve it.
• What do you ultimately hope to accomplish?: I'd like to do all that I can to be an excellent supporting player on Denali Station and any ship or base I might be on in the future. I want to be able to help new players feel as secure and appreciated as I've felt with the command staff of the Juneau, and I want to help people find those moments where they can have their character or their writing style really shine and be awesome. I think I'd feel really good if I could just manage to do that much. So perhaps the goal is to eventually be able to be a mentor on Denali Station once I'm ready to do so.

Unofficial tips

If you're reading this, hi! You've reached the Unofficial Tips portion of this page. Because even if it's not super likely to be read, on the off chance you do, these are good things to know if you don't already do them yourself! Obviously, there are a number of rules, tips, and tricks all over the wiki about how best to write, and you obviously get tips from mentors and Captains. You should definitely be following those as well. But these are things I've realized how to put into words that I never really saw put into direct words this way because I think there's a level where it's assumed you already understand these things. But as someone with neuro-divergencies and troubles remembering when things aren't directly laid out, here are some direct things that are implied but not always stated!

• Don't be afraid to use the whole ship/base as an environment! (When applicable): Pretty self-explanatory. There will be times when there are a lot of people in one scene, and that can lead to the oversaturation of that scene. Those moments can get a bit stressful to interact with as much as you'd like, or in the way that you'd like. Sometimes, there's not much you can do to fix that upfront. Sometimes the scene is in a spot where "splitting the party" is not necessarily attainable, or you are where it makes the most sense for you already. But in a lot of cases, there will eventually be an opening that could make sense for a party split. If it makes sense, doesn't break the game, and you have an idea, it's usually okay to just go for it. Doing that can desaturate and spice up a mission, and make you feel pretty good about your creative place on a crew. To be clear, don't go off to be alone for too long. It's good in moderation, and a useful tool sometimes, but always be sure to reconnect with others in the end. People want to play with you, too, and the point is to communicate creatively in some way, not to isolate yourself in a scene forever. Combadges and com-stations are good for reconnects when available, as is bringing someone with you outright. Some missions allow for extra creative methods based on settings. If you're not sure about something, ask your mentor or your Captain. They'll be able to tell you if something is or isn't appropriate to run with when you're really not sure.
• Short time skips can be your friend: Of course, always be sure it's the right place for it. It's usually obvious when it's not the time. (Mission briefings, mid-conversation with the mission antagonist, super dramatic moment in motion, etc.) But if something is dragging a scene, everyone's character has had a few chances to submit input to the situation at hand, and now everything is feeling a little cyclical; unless otherwise stated, and it makes sense to time skip the scene in question, do it. It helps get into the jucier bits of a mission a little faster. Again, if you're not sure, ask your mentor or the captain.
• Not everyone leads from the Captain's Chair: This one has taken me a lot of mental reminders to process. Sometimes I even still struggle with it. But your goals here don't have to include becoming the Captain of an installation. Sometimes I worry that I'm not doing enough just because my ambitions don't currently include being the ring leader. I see people get promoted and I wonder if I should try to do that. But I'm slowly learning that there is nothing that I "should" be aiming for other than having fun and trying to tell a good story with friends. My goal is to do that and to help others have fun, but that does not need to mean I play Captain. Because not everyone leads from the Captain's chair. Remember that when you feel anxious. It's okay to lead from the sidelines and help out in other ways. Not everyone has the time, energy, or personality to want that. And you don't have to want that. Because your main goal should ALWAYS be to have a good time and help others have a good time with you. Take your time to reach the Captain's chair and really consider if that's even a chair you want to sit in. And if you find that it is, know that you don't have to do so at lightning speed. Cherish the time you have as a lower-decker.

Player Characters

• Dekas

Ships

• Denali Station
• USS Juneau (Previous Ship)

PNPCs

• Nieda Zivon

OOC activites

• Mission Archivist (A role I share with ya boi John Kendrick <3 )
• Not currently anything else, but I plan on it... eventually.