Lower Decks Interview: Ensign Pholin Duyzer, USS Columbia

[StarBase 118 Staff]

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 Pholin Duyzer playing a Denobulan Male Science Officer assigned to the USS Columbia.

GALVEN: First off, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions. Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?

DUYZER: Thank you for inviting me! I am Quinten; I come from the Netherlands and was born and raised in the Hague. I love watching and reading science-fiction, which all started with Star Trek. I have a Goldendoodle named Silke and taking long walks with her is another hobby of mine.

How did you find out about Starbase 118 and what made you ultimately choose our community and stay with us?

Lately I’ve become what some would say obsessed with Star Trek, and I really wanted to be part of it. After realising I had to wait until 2063 for First Contact, I opted for the next best thing. I browsed around multiple different groups. Most websites looked like they were last updated in the zero’s. I chose SB118 for the great looking website and the extensive wiki. Of course, I stayed for the active community in the group and forums, and the quality of writing in all the sims.

There’s quite a few species here. Not that I’m complaining, but why did you choose Denobulan? Smart choice by the way!

One of the first things I decided when developing Pholin (although he was yet to be named) was that he would be from a relatively minor species. I browsed the ILI and quickly found the Denobulans to be allowed. I really liked Phlox in Enterprise. I binge-readed all the Memory Alpha pages about the species and decided very quickly. I liked the smile and the pufferfish, and stayed for the interesting culture.

Do you take any inspiration from films, television, or books when writing your character?

I liked Phlox and Neelix (I know: controversial) in their shows and take some but not many aspects from them. I like how Phlox is a bit socially awkward but still very friendly, and the fact that Neelix is so open and warm. I imagine Pholin to be a socially awkward extravert, and I try to embrace that in my writing.

Most of all, however, it is inspired by me and my experiences. I first think of how I would respond, and then morph it into Pholin and the Trek universe before writing it down. I am trying to balance between alien and relatable when I’m writing.

On your wiki, your family tree is linked to quite an extensive family history. How did you come up with that and is there room for more character development?

When I do something, I like to do it … extensively. I was thinking about Pholin’s backstory during the training class, and I just got in the flow. I started with his age, and I wanted to make him more “seasoned”; so I figured he would at least be married once.

I believe there is certainly more room for development. Pholin is married twice, and as we know Denobulans marry three times. So for all those lovely aliens in the fleet, please do come. Seriously though, I have some things in my head for his family that will impact Pholin whether he likes it or not.

And lastly, do you personally have aspirations in the fleet? Are there any OOC activities you’re associated with, or any you’d like to join?

Lots of things. I’m looking forward to developing Pholin most of all, and I hope to see him progress through the ranks over the next years. I definitely want Pholin to become captain eventually, since as we all know scientists make the best captains.

Out of character, I have recently joined the Advanced Starship Design Bureau, and look forward to helping out with all the geeky ship statistics. I hope to join the Academy Training team once I can. I loved my experience in the training class and want to help the awesome people who already do it. If I’ll ever get more time on my hands than I have now, I’d love to write for the FNS since I enjoy reading their articles.

Thanks for your time, Ensign Pholin Duyzer!

You can read more about Ensign Pholin Duyzer on the wiki.

The post Lower Decks Interview: Ensign Pholin Duyzer, USS Columbia appeared first on UFOP: StarBase 118 Star Trek RPG.

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[Jona ch'Ranni]

I can say that the writer behind @Pholin Duyzer is a pleasure to sim with. They puts equal parts heart and brains into their stories and I expect even greater things from them in the future. In fact, Ensign Duyzer is already a Lieutenant JG now. Working their way up the chain of command ...

[+ Ferier]

Pholin is always a pleasure to chat with on the discord channel too