WHAT IS QUARTERDECK?
About Quarterdeck
So, let’s take a look at Quarterdeck now. (If you accidentally landed here, you may want to take the door down to the left where the Grand Tour of the ship begins.)
Every pirate ship worth its salt has a chain of command, and the Resilience is no exception. As I’m the Captain, the chain begins and ends here on Quarterdeck with me. This is the main command and control centre and we plan and lead all our operations, both at sea and on land, from here.
The Quartermaster and I have our living quarters here, and we spend almost all our time onboard. The Ship’s Belle and Ship’s Sea Witch have their own quarters here too, but they spend most of their time dealing with business ashore.
We have an office space here with shared resources and archives, and the four of us hold daily and weekly meetings here. Quarterdeck is also the reception area where we meet and greet people like you and other distinguished guests. Last, but certainly not least, this is where we keep the Ship’s Log and Colours.
As far as organisational structures go, the chain of command onboard is more linear, and we do not engage in cap doffing or any either forms of hierarchical nonsense. There are, however, roles and rules and responsibilities in place, as you can see here below.
Have a look, and take the door down to the right when you are done. We are going to take a look at As We Write next.
CHAIN OF COMMAND
Quarterdeck functions as the deliberative assembly where Captain, Quartermaster, Ship’s Belle and Ship’s Sea Witch meet to discuss and determine common action and policy. The assembly also handles complaints, concerns and appeals procedures.
Linnea owns the Resilience and commands her when we’re at sea. Although she’s technically the one the proverbial buck stops with, the running of this ship is not a solo gig.
The Captain’s main areas of responsibility are strategy, planning and the smooth running of operations. This includes compliance with local and international law. All persons on board are under her authority and are therefore her ultimate responsibility.
Wanna butter her up? Try tea. She really likes tea.
The QM is the Master of Quarterdeck and steers the ship at sea. He ensures that she is well stocked and keeps her afloat. QM has the authority to mete out punishments if rules have been broken, or if he’s caught you pilfering from the larders. (Never trust a pirate where food and drinks are involved!)
Except for in matters pertaining to battle, or the pursuit of spoils and/or treasure, the QM alone has the power to veto Captain’s decisions, and command the ship in her place. He is a watchkeping officer and may also act as an admin and/or moderator.
The grizzly looks aside, he’s a gentle care bear as long as you don’t poke him. He has laid claims to the galley and, although he will share it, he will keep a close eye on you if you use it.
Has a particular penchant for carnal pleasures and feather boas.
As a licensed member of Quarterdeck, the Ship’s Belle’s main responsibility is to keep the ship on course. She also controls certain operations, crew, cargo and errant commas.
Our Belle juggles a number of functions and duties. She deals with external communication, runs competitions, and writes newsletters, blurbs and copy. Technically speaking, Belle is a watch-keeping officer who may act as admin or moderator. In reality, she’s a self-professed luddite with silk gloves, so we rarely ask her to perform such mundane duties.
Although she’s known as the Queen of Creepy, the Ship’s Belle lifts everybody’s spirits with her quirky shiny object syndrome and signature brand of drive-by positivity.
If you want to treat her, write her a poem, spot her ko-fi or give her some choccies.
The Ship’s Sea Witch is the Master of Dice, Cards and Spreadsheets. She’s our monthly roll caller and the director of the best sock puppet book promo theatre you will ever see.
Marie is a licensed member of Quarterdeck, one of three watchkeeping officers, and she’s an admin, moderator and sprint mate. She’s also one of the first members of #teamsuperfly.
You don’t want to take any risks with a Sea Witch, so we aim to keep her happy at all cost.
Runs on coffee and has a thing for pretty D’n’D dice tarot card decks, and chocolate.
These are the people who run the technical side of things in our New Paris camp, in Hotel de Ville, on our websites and social media.
Admin can assign roles, manage rules, create new categories, set up new tents, control permissions etc. They can also post to our web sites and social media accounts. Administrators may also act as moderators.
Our moderators keep the discussions and our common areas clean. They can delete, merge, move, and split posts and threads.
Moderators have the power to enforce our DON’T-BE-A-DICK rules and even warn or suspend campers if need be. So far, this need has not arisen and we aim to keep it that way.
For anything that is not related to a writing sprint, the mods are normally the first port of call if the nearest messmate doesn’t have the answer you’re looking for.
Our sprint mates organise writing sprints, manage the sprint tent and handle Sprinto, our resident sprint bot.
Regardless of where we are in the chain of command, we are all messmates. Our roles fill certain functions and help us run a tight ship, but no camper is above another. We’re all family.
As a messmate, you are expected to offer companionship and general support. We all chip in to keep both ship and camp lively and safe.
This site is supported by our readers, and our content may contain affiliate links. If you choose to buy something through one of these links, we may earn a small commission to help keep the ship afloat and the kettle boiling.
WHAT IS THE RESILIENCE?
WHAT IS AS WE WRITE?
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