Hello STF'ers,   I have had the honor of interviewing StarFleets newest Captain the always lovable Katy "Capybara" Darrah. Just like her namesake, Katy has inspired creativity, spontaneity, and happiness since joining STF on December 19, 2011. She is quick to lend an ear and make you smile when you are feeling down. As the newest Captain in STF, she easily slid from the XO role to the command seat due to her unique talent to not only hit the mark when delivering a comedy punch line but force the reader to hold their breath not knowing what is coming next is a drama. They say art imitates life and Katy's chosen profession has her cooking up threads that make the USS Constellation a ship to keep your eye on.   Positions she has held in STF: Personnel Department Gamesmaster (GMT) XO of the USS Constellation  

Rank	Character	Position	Ship
Ensign	Saatynn	Science	USS Ogawa
Ensign	Michael "Mike" Thompson	Engineer	USS Sentinel
Lieutenant Junior Grade	Arthur Jones, Son of Ruk	Chief Security Officer	USS ArK Angle
Lieutenant Junior Grade	Mirok	Chief Medical Officer	ISS Cerberus
Lieutenant Junior Grade	Jasper Rhodes	Chief Of Security	USS Memorial
Captain	Aaron Michaels	Commanding Officer	USS Constellation
Captain	David Mills	Commanding Officer	Trenton
Civilian	Logan Mills	OED V	Smuggler

Characters she has played:
Ensign Truzu Famo doctor USS Viking
Ensign Zemta Kriv engineer USS Chimera
Tor-Two of Four Civilian OED

Characters she is developing:
Radun Dran as a Bajoran
Kino as a Betazoid
Alex Gaines as a Human
Echo as a Human

Favorite Character:
My favorite character is Ruk on the Ark Angel who is a Klingon adopted by human parents. I love him because he's my first attempt at a sorta-hybrid. He's human biologically but being he was raised by Klingons, he's got that Klingon ferocity.

Before I present the interview, I invite each of you to grab one of her famous double chocolate chip cookies, a glass of milk, and curl up in a big comfy chair.

 

20 Questions with Kate O'Neill

 

1. What is your favorite food and why?
Spaghetti. My grandma used to make it all the time when I was growing up. It’s my signature dish. If anyone wants the recipe, too bad.


2. What is your favorite Star Trek series?
Curse you! This is hard! I’d have to say, Voyager, because it introduces so many new things.


3. If any food could become real from Star Trek, what would you like to try the most?
Hard one! Stop it! I’d have to say Bloodwine. Or maybe Synthehol? TBH I don’t know. Probably wouldn’t be able to taste it if I was on the Connie, it’d be covered in glitter.


4. Which Power Rangers series is your favorite?
3-way tie. Power Rangers Ninja Storm. Power Rangers Time Force. Power Rangers RPM. Ninja Storm and Time Force because the plot was (at the time) rather unique. While it followed the typical “people with incredible arsenals fighting evil person’s army of weird-looking monsters” both of them were different. Time Force was, and is, the only series where time travel was a major component of the plot, with 2/3rds of the final team being from the future. And Ninja Storm was the first to have 3 rangers, the only series (thus far) to have essentially 2 reds and 2 blues full time (while other seasons might have 2 rangers with similar colors like that, they were rarely active at the same time.) and RPM because while it did the stereotypical post-apocalyptic storyline you could see from any number of shows, they didn’t use zombies, but instead used a hyper-intelligent computer virus. That and they took one of the campiest series in Super Sentai (The Japanese franchise that is the source of all the gear and most morphed footage) and made it into the darkest series of Power Rangers yet.


5. If you could have any of the following Megazords, which one would you want? Original Megazord, Dragon Zord, Galaxy Megazord, or Astro Megazord.
Ack! Probably either Original Megazord because it’s the OG. Or Galaxy cause it’s sentient and I can just tell it to do what it wants.


6. If you could write a theme song for one of your characters what would it be?
David Mills. Trenton is a special ship and I would reflect that in his song.


7. If you could own any big cat, what kind would you want to own? Tiger, Lion, Cheetah, Puma.
Tiger. Cause Tigers.


8. If you had to be stuck on any iteration of the USS Enterprise, both real and fictional, what version would you want to be on and why?
Oof! Probably 1701-D cause it’s got more amenities for non-officers.


9. If you could live in the world of one fictional universe, which would it be and why?
Power Rangers. Cause then I could become one, which is a personal dream that will never happen


10. What could you give a 40-minute presentation on with absolutely no preparation?
Making Risotto the right way. Believe it or not, it’s actually very hard to do correctly and without practice, you can screw it up.


11. What is the most impressive thing you know how to do?
Make Risotto. Actually, I’m very proud of my cooking abilities and I can make a gourmet 5-course meal.


12. When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with?
Either for recipes, how long to cook something or dish recommendations.


13. What is something that a ton of people are obsessed with, but you just don’t get the point of?
Getting a new phone every 6-12 months. I’ve had the same phone since…2016. Still works perfectly fine, little beat up, but otherwise it’s fine. It’s a waste of money to switch to the newest phone every time one comes out.


14. Have you ever won first place in a contest? If so what was it for? If you never won one, what do you think you could win one in?
Corydon, Iowa, 2018. I won first place in a pie contest. Used my step grandma’s pecan pie recipe. I still have that ribbon somewhere.


15. If you could make one rule that everyone had to follow, what rule would you make?
To quote one of the best movies of all time: Be Excellent to Each Other. People are too mean and hostile to each other.


16. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
All of them. Rainbow Sherbet if I can get it, otherwise, I’ll take anything else.


17. What hobby would you get into if time and money weren’t an issue?
Probably traveling and looking at historical places. So many places I wanna go but have no money or time to do it.


18. What is your favorite thing about STF that keeps you around?
The people. Ever since I joined STF I’ve been nothing but loved. Everyone is so nice and willing to lend an ear if I have a crazy idea or stupid question.


19. What spurred your love of Trek?
As with my love of all the old shows/movies I’ve come to love, my dad. One day TNG episode “Deja Q” was on, and while a very, very bizarre introduction to Trek, I was hooked. I went on to watch every episode of TNG I could, and even caught the first season of TOS on TV. Once I got the chance to borrow a friend’s Netflix I caught up on the rest of Trek. Barring DSC and Picard.


20. I keep hearing you talk about old movies and TV shows, what’s your favorite and why?
This one is incredibly hard because I don’t have “one” favorite. For TV shows it’s by far Gunsmoke, thought the 1960’s batman is a close second. For movies, I love Smokey and the Bandit, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures, Revenge of the Nerds, Major League 1 and 2 (3 sucked), Blues Brothers (NOT 2000, the original), and of course Blazing Saddles. All of them, while ridiculous at times because of the age, all kind of hold a special place in my heart because you hardly ever see movies like them anymore. When was the last time you saw a current movie about 2 brothers running from the cops on a mission from God?

Thank you so much for all your time Katy! We loved the chance to get to know you even better than we do.