*eats seal guts* im doing hot girl shit

So many shots have compositions that look like they could be paintings in a museum exhibit on 19th Century Realism. Obsessed with the purposeful use of blocking to portray the class divide and the mundane but backbreaking labor of sailing.

Also, I love how, as a historical drama, it leans heavily into the camera language of sci-fi and horror to create this otherworldly and ominous feeling without having to be so on the nose. It's all about the light and framing--everything is stark or slightly offkilter like the glacial landscape slowly killing the characters.

this blog (christine demerchant) and its many lists of terms and informative pages, for example: sails & rigs & sailing, hull & construction terms, anchors & anchorage, types of boats & ships, points of sail - at the bottom of every page there is a list of books on the topic as well!! this blog is INVALUABLE and has basically everything, and if it doesn't have something it certainly has a link to another blog or a book that has what you need. there's also lot of interesting articles about the author's adventures in making her own sails and building boats and experimenting with sailing. the site is a little difficult to navigate but the information on it is incredible and all very experience-based!!

there's also this blog (roland's model ship building) which is SUCH a delight - it is mostly model ships as the name would suggest but it is an incredibly close look at the little complicated parts of ships and a great resource for the more "how does this look" aspect if a little less "how does this work". my favorite page is the process of building model HMS surprise - it's SO fascinating and even just a quick look through makes visualizing and understanding the physics of it all easier. this in particular is a very good drawing resource for tall ships!

the ever-famous shipindex.org is a completely invaluable resource as well. pretty much anything you want to know about a specific ship can be found here, or at least it makes a spectacular jumping-off point!

another famous resource is falconer's marine dictionary, or: "A New Universal Dictionary of the Marine; Being a Copious Explanation of the Technical Terms and Phrases Usually Employed in the Construction, Equipment, Machinery, Movements, and Military, as Well as Naval, Operations of Ships: with Such Parts of Astronomy, and Navigation, as Will be Found Useful to Practical Navigators" by william falconer and expanded by william burney - the whole text is here online but it can be a little hard to read and understand so i would supplement with the other resources here!

there is also the oxford companion to ships and the sea which i do not have a copy of nor do i have online access to the full text, BUT you can search and find keywords and it will show you excerpts which is surprisingly helpful!! especially good if you don't have time to read the whole dictionary trying to find one specific term.

in the same vein is the oxford encyclopedia of maritime history - same deal as the above and i do not have access to the full text but this is SO useful for looking up specific people and places and ships and battles and such!!! there's TONS of information in this one.

also, a super interesting primary source: digital collections of midshipmen's letters and journals in the united states naval academy!! these are hefty, each link contains a ton of stuff:

Richard Mueller Nixon Letters (1926-1930)

Henry Mylin Keiffer Scrapbook (1907-1911) (one of my favorites of all time, absolutely worth at least a cursory glance)

John Porter Merrell Johnston Letters (1932-1937)

William Frederick Durand U.S.S. Mayflower journal of practice cruise (1879)

Roscoe C. Bulmer Journal (1894-1896)

Josiah G. Beckwith Letters (1853-1855)

my bestie @napsterofficial had this idea a couple months ago lol

It’s that time again! We’re amazed and delighted to be kicking off the FIFTH(!) annual Terror Camp polar conference, with information about our programming, key dates, our fancy new branding, and more.

When?

Terror Camp V will take place online from December 5th–7th, 2025. We can’t wait to set sail on a three day voyage with you all once again!

What?

Based on previous years and your feedback, our fabulous Programming team have put together a brand new structure for the three days. As always, we’re looking for presentations, workshops and posters — but this year we’re changing things up a little. Here’s what to expect:

- Presentations. This year, we’re looking for presentations in three formats: 30 minutes, 15 minutes, or 5 minutes.

- Workshops. Same as last year, we’re looking for presenters to teach us a skill, craft, recipe, or other hands-on activity!

- Posters. To improve the accessibility of our posters, we’ve got a new set of guidelines for how to present your ideas.

The deadline to submit your abstract is September 1, 2025.

How?

Our 2025 Call For Abstracts contains all the information you need on how to pitch your piece, plus the submission link for when you’re ready to apply!

❄️ Read our Call For Abstracts

We can’t wait to hear your ideas!

About the event

The Sail-Out Summer Flash Fest is a fan creation event dedicated to the voyages of the Franklin Expedition— both the sail out from Greenhithe and the searches sent to bring the expedition home.

We welcome any and all fan creation centered around the sail out from Greenhithe to Baffin Bay, as well as the journey home (anything but the expedition itself)! This is a Terror fan event, but feel free to add historical flavor— each week, we’ll provide a quote from one of the Franklin Expedition letters as a prompt. Don’t feel pressured to fit them all in or adhere to a weekly timeline, just pick a prompt that speaks to you and get creating! Then, post your work on one of our two release days— June 20 for sail-out, or July 22 for the journey home. Happy Sail-Out Summer!

THE TERROR ▸ 1.10 we are gone