Sailing out on May 19th, 2026 âď¸ A fan creation event celebrating the voyages of the Franklin Expeditionâ from Greenhithe to Baffin Bay (and back!)
Weigh anchor and hoist the sailsâ The Sail-Out Summer Flash Fest casts off today! âď¸
Here are your prompts for month one of the event! Posting day is June 20, but feel free to share WIPs with us before then using the #SailOutSummer26 tagâ we can't wait to see what you create!
Week 1: May 19 â 25
"When I was on Old England Shore
I like the young C more and more"
â Henry âHarryâ Peglar, the Peglar Papers, 21 April 1847
Compass / Dockside
Week 2: May 26 â June 1
"I think the love of a child is a thing not to be thrown away lightly." â James Fitzjames to Elizabeth Coningham, 10 May 1845
Summer / Service
Week 3: June 2 â 8
âDrinking âSweet hearts & wivesââ â James Fitzjames to Elizabeth Coningham, 14 June 1845
England / Muster
Week 4: June 9 â 15
"It seems a long time." â John Irving to Catherine Irving, 28 February 1845
For the third week of our voyage, we've got another quote from James Fitzjames, to his sister-in-law Elizabeth on 14 June 1845! As always, tag your WIPs with #sailoutsummer26 â we can't wait to see your work!
It's time for our first WIP roundup of this year's Sail-Out! If you've got work to share, tag us with @sailoutsummerfest or #SailOutSummer26 and we'll boost it on our socials âď¸ As always, happy sailing!
Weigh anchor and hoist the sailsâ The Sail-Out Summer Flash Fest casts off today! âď¸
Here are your prompts for month one of the event! Posting day is June 20, but feel free to share WIPs with us before then using the #SailOutSummer26 tagâ we can't wait to see what you create!
Week 1: May 19 â 25
"When I was on Old England Shore
I like the young C more and more"
â Henry âHarryâ Peglar, the Peglar Papers, 21 April 1847
Compass / Dockside
Week 2: May 26 â June 1
"I think the love of a child is a thing not to be thrown away lightly." â James Fitzjames to Elizabeth Coningham, 10 May 1845
Summer / Service
Week 3: June 2 â 8
âDrinking âSweet hearts & wivesââ â James Fitzjames to Elizabeth Coningham, 14 June 1845
England / Muster
Week 4: June 9 â 15
"It seems a long time." â John Irving to Catherine Irving, 28 February 1845
We hope you've had a fun first week of Sail-Out so far âď¸ Our second prompt comes to you from James Fitzjames, in a letter to his sister-in-law Elizabeth Coningham. We've also got two alternative prompts: Summer and Service!
Hii, sorry I'm a little stupid but I have never participated before so I'm asking: am I allowed to take one prompt every week and turn the into a zine? đđ And the deadline for zines is by the end of July if I understand correctly? đĽš
Ahoy! No such thing as a stupid question, don't worry 𤊠Event participation takes place on AO3 as well as twitter/tumblr, so on posting day (June 20/July 22), just post your art/fic/etc as normal on your platform of choice and tag us!
After the event, we'll be opening a google form for optional participation in our post-event zine, where you can pick and submit any pieces you've made for the event and we'll include them in both a digital and physical charity zine that will be released in early fall.
If you'd like to see last year's zine, check it out here!
Only one more day until the Sail-Out! We've been a bit behind on the mod intros, so there's a triple header for you all today â starting with our second lead admin, MrBoatman1845 (on Twitter)!
Next up, we've got our lovely editor and resident Edward Sabine defender, Ko!
And last but certainly not least, our dear zine consultant, @brainyraccoons!
We can't wait to kick off the event tomorrowâ see you all for the Sail-Out! âď¸
It's only ONE WEEK until the Sail-Out kicks off! Our schedule is the same as last year: a one month creation period followed by a day to post your work, then rinse and repeat for the journey home âď¸ We'll see you all at the docks on May 19th!
EVENT SCHEDULE:
19 May - Sail-Out creation period starts
20 June - Sail-Out posting day
21 June - Journey Home creation period starts
22 July - Journey Home posting day
31 July - Zine submissions due
HOW TO POST:
Twitter/Tumblr â Post your work and tag us with #SailOutSummer26 or @sailoutsummerfest!
AO3 â Add your work to our SailOutSummer26 AO3 collection!
Can you believe it? Only two weeks until we cast off! If this is your first year sailing with us (or if you'd just like a refresher), check out our event rules and FAQ below.
See you all on May 19thâ and happy sailing! âď¸
FAQ
What is a Flash Fest? This is a low-pressure fan creation event thatâs open to any and all participantsâ no need for signups, just pick a prompt and get creating!
How do I participate? Simply post your creation on one of the scheduled posting days and tag it with #SailOutSummer26 so we can share it to our socials, or add your fic to our SailOutSummer25 AO3 collection!
What is allowed? Fics, fanart, edits, poetry, gifsets, etc â we welcome any and all forms of creative media! Is there a required word count? We accept works with a minimum of 350 words. There is no max word count limit â we want to encourage creative freedom, so write to your heartâs content!
Is NSFW ok? Yes! Just make sure that all works are tagged appropriately!
RULES
Ditch the canon timeline! This event is designed to celebrate the parts of the expedition we donât get to see on screen, so anything before the ships enter the Passage is fair game, as is anything after they disappear (or return homeâ Ross Ex Machina and other fix-it AUs are encouraged!)
Prompts are inspiration, not restraints! Every week of the event, we will be posting a quote from one of the Franklin Expedition letters along with two additional single-phrase prompts to help get your creativity flowing. While we do encourage tying one or more of these prompts into your work, itâs by no means a requirement. Prompts are not time-limited, eitherâ feel free to mix and match to your heartâs content!
Get historical with it! While this is technically a Terror fan event, we encourage historical RPF as wellâ just make sure that all works are tagged appropriately!
Tag us! Use the #SailOutSummer26 tag on any of our social media platforms when you post your work so that we can find and share it! Posting days for the event are June 20 and July 22, but feel free to share WIPs during the creation period to your heartâs content!
Have fun! This is meant to be a low-stakes, enjoyable eventâ if you canât write something for every week, no worries at all, weâre just happy to have you here!
It's almost time to ship out for our SECOND Sail-Out Summer, and we want YOU aboard! Like last year, we're bringing you two full months of flash fest fics, fanart, and fun, topped off with an event zine to see you all the way to Baffin Bay! Follow us for more, prompts will be dropping soon â
I hope it's not too early to ask, but will Sail-Out be running again this year? :D
Not too early at all, don't worry!! We absolutely do plan to run the event this year, expect more updates coming around mid-April 𤊠and with the mod team a little less busy this summer, we hope to have the event-to-zine timeline go by a lot quicker this time around, too!
