❝ The horde crash-landed in my family’s kingdom. We let them stay. My family gave Hordak the Black Garnet. I thought everyone knew! It was covered in Force Captain orientation.❞
adora: catra it’s 3:00 am what do you want now …. i don’t want to fight you anymore im sick of this
catra: [perched on adora’s windowsill] actually um this is a little embarrassing lol but i was doing some soul searching while i was cutting up old photos of us together and burning them like i do every thursday and long story short it seems that im in love with you and have been my entire life. was just hoping to like i don’t know get your thoughts or something
when i see those posts about like “what division of starfleet would you be” i’m like…. if the star trek universe was real i would just fuckin live on earth in a little house and chill out in post-scarcity utopia i’m not gonna go to space and DIE
If you are running a game with pirates in it, then you should know
what the job entails. It’s not all boarding ships, counting booty, and
drinking rum like you might think. A great deal of hard work is required
to run a sailing ship with a law-abiding crew, let alone one populated
by pirates. In this essay we are going to examine the five principle
officers on board a pirate ship, their duties, and their
responsibilities. This is part one of a three part lesson. In the next
lesson we will examine the duties and responsibilities of other officers
and crew members with special duties. In the final lesson, we will look
at one very special group of crew members that are almost always
overlooked. Read on to learn what pirates expected of their primary
officers.
The principal officers of a pirate ship were the captain, the
quartermaster, the pilot, the boatswain, and the master gunner. On some
ships these positions were all elected by an equal vote of the crew and
on others the captain picked the crew members he wanted to serve in the
positions. The captain on a pirate vessel was almost always elected by
an equal vote of the crew. On a privateer vessel this was not very often
the case. Privateer captains were often the owners of the ship or were
given commission by their monarch to take a vessel to sea. So it follows
with the other officers. If the captain was elected, then generally all
of the officers were elected. If the captain was appointed or held his
position by means of ownership, then generally he picked the officers.
In either case, an officer on a pirate ship served at the whim of the
crew. Even a man picked by the captain would be booted down to a simple
crewman if he could not do his job. For the most part though, a person
elevated to serve as one of the principle officers did so for life. The
title of this article refers to the fact that most often the authorities
that captured, tried, and hung pirates concentrated on the five
principle officers of the ship. These officers were generally the most
intelligent and skilled crewmen on board the pirate vessel. They were
people that everyone else on board the ship admired for their ability to
do their job. Diligent action is the mother of respect on board a ship.
Captain
The captain, however he came to his position, was chosen for his
leadership, bravery, and cunning. The captain was responsible for the
ship and everything aboard her; every item and every man. He was
responsible for the overall decisions affecting the ship and her crew.
The captain decided where to sail and what to attack. He was the voice
of his crew to all beyond the ship. He often led his crew in battle. In
terms of daily duties, the captain kept a log of the voyage, managed the
affairs of the ship through the officers, and generally served a four
to six hour shift at the helm. The captain stayed in power by being
successful. As long as there are prizes to plunder, rum to drink, and
food to eat, the captain will not be voted out or mutinied against. It
is when things get lean that the captain must worry about crew voting
him unfit for command.
Quartermaster
The quartermaster (or first mate on a privateer vessel) was the
number two man on the ship. He was responsible for enforcing the ship’s
articles and administering punishment when necessary. The quartermaster
was the trustee of the ship and her crew. He directly represented the
crew to the captain. It was his responsibility to serve as a
counterbalance to the captain in decisions that might be hazardous to
the ship or the crew. A wise captain made no decisions that his first
mate didn’t support. The quartermaster took responsibility for prize
vessels and picked the treasure that the crew would take from a prize.
He was also responsible for counting the booty and splitting the shares.
Each day would find him working with his subordinate officers the
boatswain, the master gunner, and the master at arms to effectively run
the ship. The first mate also served a turn at the helm, generally a
four to six hour shift.
Pilot
The pilot was the number three man on the ship and often the most
educated. He served as the ship’s navigator and was generally the best
all around sailor aboard the ship. He was responsible for plotting the
ship’s course and maintaining that course. The pilot maintained all of
the ship’s charts and maps as well as the tools of navigation. He was
charged with keeping a daily log of every event relating to the sailing
of the ship. He recorded the depth, the currents, the wind patterns, the
ship’s location, the locations of reefs and sandbars, and the state of
the rigging. He reported directly to the captain. The pilot oversaw the
work of the sail-master and almost always had at least one assistant (a
pilot’s mate) to help him with his duties. The pilot and his mate both
served separate shifts at the helm in addition to taking readings from
the moon and stars to plot and maintain the course.
Boatswain
The boatswain was the number four man on the ship and often the most
feared by the crew. He was in charge of the provisions for the ship. He
maintained the stores of food, water, rum, gunpowder, shot, sails, rope,
wood, and tar required to keep the ship and crew fit for action. The
boatswain also directed the loading of cargo into the hold to maintain
the proper ballast to ensure level sailing. He was in charge of keeping
the watches on the ship and maintaining discipline among the deck crew.
He was responsible for the ship’s longboats and for picking a crew to
man the sweeps when the longboats were used. The boatswain was charged
with maintaining the ship’s seaworthy status. He oversaw the duties of
both the carpenter and the cook. The boatswain generally had a mate to
help him with his responsibilities. In general, his duties were to make
certain that all the work of running the ship was done. He reported to
the quartermaster. The Boatswain was often the most feared man on the
ship because his obligations often made him uncompromising. It was his
responsibility to keep everything “ship-shape”. Leniency was something
the quartermaster might give to the crew, but it was not something the
boatswain was in the position to give. Day and night, the boatswain
would drive the crew to do whatever work was required. He maintained the
watch log and reported any problems to the quartermaster.
Master Gunner
The master gunner was the number five man on the ship. He was
responsible for the care and cleaning of all firearms, culverin (deck
guns), and cannons on board the ship. He was also responsible for
training the crew in the use of both firearms and ship’s weaponry. The
master gunner picked and ran the gunnery crew. He reported to the
quartermaster, but was responsible to the entire ship to make certain
that the cannons hit the declared target. He was also responsible for
maintaining the inventory of powder and shot for all of the guns on the
ship. The master gunner was the only crew member besides the captain and
the quartermaster entrusted to carry a key to the ship’s powder
magazine. Additionally, the master gunner often led or picked hunting
parties when they were called for. His day to day duties mainly
consisted of drilling the gunnery crew and maintaining the guns.
The Next in Line to Hang – More Roles on a Pirate Ship
In this second part of a three part lesson dealing with the crew
positions aboard a pirate vessel, we are going to look at the
responsibilities of the Sail-master, the Carpenter, the Cook, the
Surgeon, and the Master at Arms. These were all lower officer positions
and were either voted upon or assigned by the captain as discussed in
the first part of this lesson. The sailors who served in these positions
were skilled laborers and, as such, their skills were always very much
in demand on a ship. They were almost always offered a greater share of
the treasure because of their skills. These were definitely crew members
that a pirate ship could not function without.
Sail-master
The Sail-master was the most experienced crewman in the rigging and
usually one of the best sailors on the ship. He was responsible for
maintaining the sails and the rigging. The Sail-master knew every knot,
line, rope, block and tackle in the rigging as well as how to repair
them all. He was also responsible for training and running the sail crew
as well as overseeing the making and patching of sails. The Sail-master
took orders from and reported to the pilot.
Carpenter
The Carpenter was a skilled wood worker, often with some shipwright
experience, who did all of the woodworking required by the crew. He was
primarily responsible for repairing damage to the wooden portions of the
ship and for plugging leaks that got too bad. (Ye should understand
right now, before ye go to sea, that all ships leak, mates. It’s just
when they really leak badly that you have to worry about it.) The
Carpenter was also responsible for the construction of barrels and
crates, as needed, to store cargo, as well as maintaining the tools of
his trade. He took orders from and reported to the Boatswain.
Cook
The Cook was one of the most important of the lower officers. He was
in charge of all matters relating to food on the ship. He made certain
there was enough food, water, and rum on board for the planned cruise.
He cooked the meals and suggested rationing when it was necessary. The
Cook butchered the meat brought back by hunting parties and was the only
man trusted to light a fire below decks. He maintained the necessary
tools for both cooking and butchering. The Cook took orders from and
reported to the Boatswain.
Surgeon
The Surgeon was likely one of the toughest men on the ship. He served
as the barber/doctor/emergency surgeon for the entire crew. He was
equally capable of shaving your beard and cutting off your damaged leg.
The Surgeon dealt with not only the sick and the wounded, but also the
dead. He, like the other lower officers, was responsible for maintaining
the necessary tools of his trade. The Surgeon took his orders from and
reported to the Quartermaster. It was rare for a ship to have a real
doctor and it was common for the carpenter or the cook to fill this role
as needed.
Master at Arms
The Master at Arms was often the most skilled warrior on the crew. He
was responsible for training the crew in hand to hand combat. He also
led the ship’s boarding parties and hunting parties when they were
necessary. The Master at Arms position was not a separate position on
every vessel and often these responsibilities fell to the Quartermaster.
When the Master at Arms position was filled on a ship, he took orders
from and reported to the Quartermaster.
These 5 core positions represent the Non-Commissioned Officers of a
pirate or privateer ship. These men all commanded other men on work
details and so their words carried great sway with the crew. It was
often from among these men that the next captain was chosen when a
captain lost his position through a vote of no confidence. Thus, these
were the men that the captain had to keep loyal to him to stay in
command of the ship.
And Hang the Musikers, Too – Even More Roles on a Pirate Ship
In this article, we will be looking at the makeup of the crew itself.
Remember that the only rule with pirates is that there are no rules; no
two crews of any two pirate ships were exactly the same. Even so, we
can narrow down some roles common to pirate/privateer crews based upon
the jobs that must be done aboard ship. Most simply put, pirate crews
are a mixture of brutes, gunners, swabbies, and musikers. Let’s examine
each category in turn.
Brutes
A great deal of hard work and heavy hauling is involved in just
sailing a tall-masted ship. In strong winds the canvas sails must be
man-handled by a deck crew that is stronger. Loading and unloading
supplies, most especially cannons or chests of gold, requires a number
of strong backs. This is why every ship has its share of brutes – big,
strong men capable of handling themselves no matter the work or the
fight. In addition to the tasks already mentioned, brutes would be key
men in hunting parties, ship boarding, and raiding groups as well. Keep
in mind that not all brutes need to be hulking bruisers. A wiry-tough
and dexterous hunter, skilled with both blades and long rifle, could be a
brute as well. Brutes, no matter their size, do not shrink from a hard
task. Men of this sort make up perhaps as much as ½ of a pirate crew,
but they will be mixed among the gunners and swabbies, not a stand alone
corp. Most of the men on a pirate or privateer ship were probably
gunners.
Gunners
Depending upon the size of their shot, each cannon required a crew of
either 3 or 4 men to load and fire it. So a sloop carrying 4 small guns
per side would require a minimum of 24 men to fully maintain them and
that does not include the officers directing the cannon fire. On a large
ship, like Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge, a full
gun crew would be 160 men dedicated only to firing the cannons. (It is
important to note here that Blackbeard had a total crew compliment of
125 on board the Queen Anne’s Revenge.) These crewmen would
have to be available 24/7 to do their job whenever required, but
otherwise might have no duties on the ship. There was double-duty in
most crews though. Most pirate ships didn’t keep a full compliment of
gunners like warships of the time did because fewer crew members meant
fewer shares and that meant more money for everyone when the treasure
was split. Gunners could make up between 1/3 to 2/3 of a crew.
Swabbies
Swabbies, or actual trained sailors, are the crew members responsible
for handling the rigging and the sails to keep the ship moving. These
are the guys and gals who climb the ratlines into the rigging and walk
the spars that jut from the masts. Swabbies sometimes fight from the
highest position that they can get to on their own ship and then leap
into the rigging of the enemy vessel when boarding. Often dexterous
fighters, swabbies are known for leaping into the fray, but sometimes
they hide in the rigging as deadly snipers. It might be surprising to
discover that skilled sailors usually comprised less than 1/3 of the
total crew compliment of the ship.
Musikers
It is difficult to prove that “musikers”, or musicians as we call
them, were ever a stand-alone part of a pirate crew. However, two
excellent examples from the pirate period demonstrate that they have
been a common part of most ships of war, pirate and privateer ships
included. The first example is from the early Seventeenth century. In
Captain John Smith’s advice concerning how to conduct a one-on-one naval
engagement he remarks when preparing to board one should, “… sound
Drums and Trumpets, and Saint George for England.” The second example
comes from the early Eighteenth century. In the articles of Captain
Bartholomew Roberts it is stated: “The Musikers to have Rest on the
Sabbath Day, but the other six Days and Nights, none without special
Favour.” When thinking about the musicians on board a ship in the 16th
to 18th centuries, one must not think of a band. That would be far too
organized a concept. There is no way to know how many crew members may
have been musicians, but one assumes that the number is not large.
It is likely that ships of this period had crew members who owned
musical instruments as varied as brass horns, mouth harps, fiddles, bag
pipes and accordions. Furthermore, sailors could gather numerous
instruments from the various ports of call their ship made. Examples
here are numerous: cowhide and goatskin drums from Africa, dried gourd
maracas from Cuba, bamboo drums and flutes from Hispaniola, and even
tambourines from Morocco. Pause a moment and consider the combined
sounds of all of the instruments mentioned here. Now you know why a band
is not the idea you want to have. The musicians were popular with the
crew, as they were entertainment as well as a valuable battle element.
The musicians played during meal times and during work breaks allowing
the crew some entertainment to break the monotony of long hours of
tiring work. This boost in moral was welcome at anytime, but was perhaps
the most effective when used in battle.
From stories of Bartholomew Roberts crew and others, we know that
when a ship with musicians approached another ship with the intention to
fight, the effects of the music could be terrifying to the enemy. The
musicians would play marches and other martial music. There were drum
rolls, trumpet and bugle calls, and perhaps even a piper given the
nationality of the crew. Add to this the noise of the ship’s cook
beating upon his pots and pans and the crew stamping their feet or
beating their weapons against the ship. Finally top this off with the
sounds of shouting, screaming, and shooting, both pistols and rifles as
well as cannons and deck guns. Your imagination can supply you with the
details of the scene. The intended result is achieved: the morale aboard
the pirate vessel is raised to a fevered pitch while the morale of
their intended prize is shaken. So do not forget that pirates and
privateers know the value of bardic inspiration when you run those
encounters.
I had a surprisingly coherent dream during that accident-nap, that contained an interesting idea for a campaign.
I say interesting because I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or a bad one, honestly. It would definitely require some careful handling and at least one player who’s 300% on the same page narratively as the DM, but it was definitely interesting.
There was a D&D campaign in this dream where one of the players knew their schedule would make them miss a lot of sessions. So instead of playing one of the main party, they played a recurring villain.
When the
villain
player was free they’d show up to taunt or bother or try to win over the main party. If the session ended with them still involved in the action, the DM just narrated them slipping away at the start of the next one. The DM would talk with the villain player between sessions about what their character was doing, and brief them on things they might know.
This particular villain was the “gain ultimate power and become a god” type. The climax of the campaign involved them seeking out some artifact of ultimate power. When it was clear the party would fail to stop them from acquiring it, the DM and the villain player gave each other a look. Both of them seemed to get really excited.
The DM narrated the villain reaching for the artifact, up to the point where their fingers actually touched it, then went suddenly quiet. The villain player grinned and said, “you sense a great and terrible shift in the structure of the universe. Someone new is in charge. Roll initiative.”
Soup.io - well-known alternative to Tumblr. Reblogging, post types, themes, collab blogs, dashboard, artsy, great community already there. Soup can auto-import everything you’ve posted on Tumblr.
TypePad - Includes reblogging. Dashboard and post types similar to Tumblr.
Reblogging cause one day it just may be neccessary.
It became necessary
Have not checked these out yet, but thought I’d post it in case. Will be checking them out later.
We have learned that .io domains cannot host explicit material, which kills both soup.io and pillowfort as viable options. I can’t seem to find Jux anymore, and Typepad is behind a minimum $9/mo paywall.
So, it looks like probably retreating to Dreamwidth again, like we did during Strikethrough, is going to be our best option at the moment, for fandom survival. They’re already aware we’re looking to evacuate Tumblr, and are preparing for it, and they’ve already sent a letter out to Dreamwidth folks welcoming us and saying that they don’t answer to big corporations, don’t have ads, and want to have our backs. They did once before, so I’m willing to trust their word in good faith.
Keep safe and keep looking. I will post if I hear anything better pop up!
Domain names in .io may not be used, “for any purpose that is sexual or pornographic or that is against the statutory laws of any nation.” Breaching this requirement, “NIC.IO reserves the right to immediately deactivate the offending registration.”
It feels peak Tumblr to hold someone’s actions from a decade ago against them when they’ve spent the intervening years actively working to ensure that That Thing That Happened never happens again, at great personal and professional cost.
Basically, because I know Mobile is bad with links, the article points out hat the broad, “sfw only, no titties allowed” wave on the internet in recent years is largely due to Apple’s absolute stranglehold on the App Store. Apple has strict guidelines about NSFW content that choke creators right out of mainstream social media, even on sites like Reddit, for users of their products:
But there are fewer and fewer mainstream sites and services that support porn and adult content, and much of that attitude has grown out of Apple’s strict controls over the App Store and the iOS ecosystem. Steve Jobs famously suggested that “folks who want porn can buy an Android phone,” and Apple has repeatedly leveraged its unprecedented power over millions of smartphones to sanitize the apps that are available on iPhones. Apple does not allow apps “that contain user generated content that is frequently pornographic.” In 2016, Apple famously deleted all third-party Reddit apps that allowed users to toggle NSFW posts on and off; even now, it is impossible to access porn on an iOS Reddit app unless you jump through various hoops.
remember though that this anger isn’t about Being Horny On Main, it’s about sex workers, their platforms and followers, NSFW creators and their art, and adult content communities that are continually being shoved out of spaces they created in recent years:
Tumblr’s leadership seems to believe that the community using Tumblr for adult content is the same as any other porn site—showing a serious disconnect with how its users actually interact and connect on its own platform. “We will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community,” he wrote.
The value of Tumblr for NSFW creators and fans was in the autonomy to curate something original, and the freedom to express and share what they’re into—something that can’t be replaced by algorithmically-suggested porn on the rest of the internet.
it was mentioned before somewhere else, but 20% of Tumblr’s traffic is brought in by content they’re now flagging as “adult”
This is yet another example of a platform ignoring adult content when it helps the platform flourish, and then leaving those users out to dry when it’s time to crack down for some monetary gain or face-saving. In addition to being a terrible way to treat your user base, banning adult content on Tumblr will stifle a lot of creativity.
The communities that will feel this change the most will be the already-marginalized. “Tumblr banning adult content is a huge loss for the LGBTQ community, especially those with overlapping marginalized identities,” Kitty Stryker, a queer porn performer and consent activist, told Motherboard in an email. “For many, that’s the one place we could find porn that represents us, made by indie performers who created their own content outside of an often racist, transmisogynist, fatphobic industry. Tumblr was where our content could exist without pushing us into the restrictions of a misogynist, male dominated workplace.”
Ah yes, blame someone for doing their job, and then, when they realized that doing that job compromised their ethics, continue to hold that against them even after they quit that job, and founded a new company that is specifically set up so that it WON’T violate said ethics, and send people to a platform that’s not currently open for registration and which hasn’t effectively answered “okay but what about NSFW?”
There’s a lot to criticize DW about (their lack of mobile-friendly layouts, their stodgey Web 2.0 feel, the horrific image uploading interface), but their commitment to free expression even in the face of concrete economic threats –like when when PayPal dropped them because they wouldn’t censor NSFW content–isn’t in question.
Pillowfort may absolutely be the place fandom lands, and I’m perfectly fine with that, but it shouldn’t be because people are flat-out lying about fandom history.
I’m sure by now, some of you may have heard of the site Dreamwidth when some
people talk about Livejournal and old sites they wish they had. Maybe you’ve
become a bit curious about how this place works or why people are so interested
in it anyway. To answer that, I’m going to give you a little primer on
Dreamwidth and what you need to know when converting from Tumblr!
So what is Dreamwidth?
Dreamwidth is a Livejournal code fork and like Livejournal it is an old
social networking blog. How is that different from Tumblr? Well to clarify,
Tumblr is a content aggregation site, not a content creation site. This means
that Tumblr’s purpose is to spread things for other people to see, and these
things do not even have to be something you made. It is not intended for
feedback and communication, it is only intended to be looked at. That’s why any
comment and communication features are so lackluster, the creators genuinely did
not want it to work like a blog, and they continue to fight that.
Dreamwidth is a blog with features centered around content and comment
management. How you use it is up to you, but it is a more or less static site
with each post self contained, no reblogs or sharing apart from manually linking
to the post themselves and the only things you see on your feed are the blogs
and communities you’ve personally added to your watch. The format is best suited
for medium to long-posts and posts to start a dialog among people, but that’s
not to say it can’t be used for microposts (and there are communities dedicated
to that kind of use). Comments are threaded which makes them easy to keep up
with, and easy to read.
Dreamwidth is, above all else, a site dedicated to freedom of expression and
is one of the few places left that genuinely cares about that.
Dreamwidth Terms You Should Know
Cutting You’ll see this term used a lot, and it’s a really huge important feature of
the blog. Cutting is like the ‘read more’ feature you can find on tumblr. The
difference is that you can choose exactly which portion of the entry is behind a
cut and which one isn’t. You can also have more than one cut if you like! This
is especially useful for long, informative posts to help people jump to the
exact spot they want.
Cuts can also have their own titles, so you can inform people briefly of
what’s behind the cut in the link itself. Good knowledge of how cuts work is
super important and super helpful! https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=88
Access Filters A term you’ll see show up when composing
an entry is what access filter is applied to the post you’re about to make,
(sometimes this is referred to as ‘locking’ the post). When you create a post
you are given the choice to either make the entry public, make it available to
only those who have general access to your blog or choose a specific access
filter which you have a pre-determined group of people on a list that are the
only ones permitted to see those posts. You can set up as many access filters as
you want and change them at any time, and none of the members are notified of
these changes so you don’t need to worry about that when making changes. You can
even make a post entirely private so that only you can see it, and you can
modify the access settings on any entry at any time. https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=21 https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=22
Paid Accounts Unlike tumblr, Dreamwidth does have paid accounts.
The entire site is ad-free and they support themselves entirely on those people
that purchase paid accounts. The free accounts give you more than you need to
enjoy and interact with the site, but paid accounts give you extra features such
as the ability to add custom mood icons, journal customization options and more
user pics. https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=4
Tags You will find that on Dreamwidth no one ‘talks in tags’. This
is because each journal keeps a record of every single tag used on a page both
yourself and everyone else can see and has a limit to the total amount of tags
you can use. Tags in Dreamwidth are seen as a means of organization, not as a
means of subtext, you’ll have to add the subtext in text formatting separately.
You can of course, edit and delete any of the tags in the list at any time so
you’re never stuck with the tags you’ve used if you ever change your mind.
Images While this is a holdover from the old days when bandwidth
was not as accessible as it is now, generally speaking, images posted are kept
around 800px in width if posted without a cut. This is to prevent stretching and
just general friends page tidy-ness. Similarly, when posting several images,
they are either done by way of small thumbnails, or they are posted behind a
cut.
Cutting It is seen common etiquette to cut overly-long entries or
entries that contain a large number of images, or entries that could contain
sensitive information. This was both to keep the friend reading list trim and
tidy, as well as warn people before they read potentially triggering material or something just generally distressing (especially in the case of images). Of course it may be worth it to set up an access group if you find yourself talking about a subject some of your audience has conflict with but cuts are always a good choice when you’re not quite sure.
Response Speed As a note, Dreamwidth and other blogging systems are
naturally slower than Tumblr. This is not a bad thing! But don’t be surprised if
some people don’t comment on an entry till a week later. People on Dreamwidth
are far more likely to pay attention to entries and read all their backlog so
there isn’t a need to constantly remind or repost the same thing. Dreamwidth
generally slower pace can be jarring to some people, but you’ll find it has it’s
own benefits even if it doesn’t offer instant gratification.
Comment Subjects You’ll notice when replying to an entry there will be an option to add a subject to your comment, this is not a requirement, only an option. In general, this is rarely used and can sometimes be considered disruptive if it is filled out without serving any specific purpose. Ways it is more often used are for specific community activities, specific content warnings, meta data or something otherwise specific to the format. Be aware that comment subjects work similarly to email subjects in such that replying to any comment with content in the subject line will copy the subject line into your own comment with “re:” prefacing it.
Userpics Many of you have not grown up with the ability to change the icon you can use at any time but it’s something that’s been an essential part of communication with DW and other lj-likes. All accounts get 15 userpics that you can use on your account, they’re 100x100 images and you can choose between any of them when you make a post or comment. They can be used to display mood, expressions, fandoms, events, in-jokes, all sorts of things and can be used to help convey tone or mood in the post/comment you’re trying to make. It’s not perfect by any means, but thoughtful userpic choices can help a lot in trying to convey what you want when text alone can be difficult to interpret.
Q&A
Can I make multiple journals on the same account? No. While this is
a feature many RPers would like, and it has been talked about, there is no
system that creates Parent/Child journal accounts. If you want a second journal,
you would have to make a whole new account, and log in and log out whenever you
want to change.
Can I reblog other people’s entries? No. Everyone’s blog and posts
are static, there is no way to share another’s post on your own blog other than
manually linking their post.
How can I meet people if I can’t reblog? Meeting people on
Dreamwidth does take more work, it’s not as easy to stumble across new blogs
casually in the day without putting effort into it. Communities are a large
social component of Dreamwidth and there are communities for just about any
fandom, hobby, craft type and even small niches, and you can start your own
communities at any time. There is also an ‘interest’ section in every user
profile, which can be used to help find people of similar interests. And then
there’s always meeting people through friends of friends in the comments of
one’s entires. This post in particular has a much more through break down on
socialization and how to find people https://bisexualbaker.tumblr.com/post/147873750806/how-the-heck-do-i-find-cool-stuff-and-people-on
Where can I host my images? This is of course, the
biggest pitfall in Dreamwidth. As it stands right now, there is a small image
hosting option however it only can store up to 500MB in size. For anything
significant you would have to use a service like Imgur, Flickr, Sta.sh, or other
storage option. https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=248
Hopefully this has provided the base amount of information you may need to start a Dreamwidth account. It’s very different from Tumblr in the way it’s used but it’s not completely different, but it’s not intended to be a
'replacement’, it’s just another service you can use if it fits your needs.
Personally, I’m of the opinion that everyone needs at least one quite, static
place they can hash out their thoughts on without fear of making a mistake, and
Dreamwidth is very good for that kind of thing.
Apparently DW is making a comeback since tumblr is back on its bullshit. If you’ve never been there, this is a nice primer. tl;dr: it’s free, it’s old, but its stable and does have image hosting (though not as extensive or easy to use as tumblr). And yes, it sucks on mobile.
Kari, aka meinterrupted. 30-something feminist fangirl, reader & writer of fanfic, and novice seamstress and cosplayer. Mostly I cry about comic book characters (TELL THEM THE TRUTH MATTHEW), Star Wars, pretty celebrities, and post cute bee pictures.
