Temeraire Summer

The Temeraire Summer Exchange is back for another year! We're excited to celebrate our small but mighty fandom. This exchange is run on AO3, view the collection profile for all the details and an FAQ, and check out the highlights below:

Schedule:

Sign-Ups Open: May 23 (5pm UTC) Sign-Ups Close: June 4 (5pm UTC) Assignments Sent: by June 9 (5pm UTC) Posting Deadline: August 5 (5pm UTC) Works Revealed: August 8 (5pm UTC) Creators Revealed: August 15 (5pm UTC)

How does this work? The first step is signing up. Sign-ups begin May 23. Once they’re open, use the sign-up form in the collection before June 4!

You are required to request and offer a minimum of one character or one pairing. You must also select whether you would like to receive or offer art, fanfic, a photomanip, or any combination.

After sign-ups, the participants will be hand-matched to each other based on what they offered and requested and assignments will go out.

Gifts must be posted to the Temeraire Summer 2026 AO3 collection by August 5. They will appear as anonymous gifts for the recipient. Works will be made available to read on August 8, with creator names still hidden. On August 15, all creators will be revealed.

A note on the tagset and nominations: We are using the same tagset as previous years. As this tagset has grown quite robust, we are foregoing a nominations period. If there is a tag you’d like added, please nominate it in the tagset page or message the mods any time before sign-ups close. Sign-ups do not need to have opened for tag nomination.

What are the minimum requirements for participation? For writers, a fic with a minimum of 500 words. For artists, a nice/cleaned sketch on unlined paper. A photomanip/moodboard should be substantially original. Please use your discretion – and reach out to the mod team if you have questions!

If you have any further questions which aren’t answered here or on the AO3 collection’s FAQ page, please don’t hesitate to reach out! You can send us an ask here, or email [email protected].

Additionally, the Temeraire fandom has an active Discord! Announcements will be posted to Tumblr and Discord concurrently. If you’d like to join, leave a comment or send us an ask or an email and we’ll get you a link.

Hello, Temeraire fans, and welcome to the introductory post for a new Temeraire fanzine! I'm your host Mod Manda (also known as @revolutionarygold) and I'll be answering some questions to bring us all up to speed. 

"What is a fanzine?"

A fanzine is a form of collaborative fanwork that combines art, the written word, graphic design, and more to create a unified collection around a central theme. Some fanzines are intimate and made on printer paper, while some are professionally printed and are indistinguishable from official art books! It all depends on what the contributors of the zine are intending to do!

"Oh, what kind of zine will this be?"

A not-for-profit one, that's for sure! Other than that- that's where you come in! The scope of the zine depends on the scope that contributors are willing to commit to. 

"You said it was centered on a theme? What's this one's theme?"

I'm so glad you asked; we're really excited about this. Picture this: John Granby and Tenzing Tharkay compile their notes on the dragons and environs and people they've come in contact with over the course of their many adventures and campaigns, with an emphasis on the dragons of the world. 

"Well, I love the idea of this, but I'm a writer, I don't know if I..."

Let me stop you right there- you didn't think we would leave out all the beautiful writers of the Temeraire fandom, would you? How could I betray my own people like that?! Writers will be more than welcome to apply and join the project as a scene writer to accompany dragon illustrations, as a prop writer to accompany in-universe items and equipment, as an epistolary writer to highlight diegetic pieces of writing (think Laurence's inexplicable captain's logs or Jane Roland's many exasperated letters) or even as a science writer to accompany the dragon designs themselves! While this zine will err more on the side of gen-fic rather than ship-fic, there is plenty of space for writers of all stripes to apply if you're interested!

"Okay, well, what about fan dragon designs?"

The world of Temeraire is as vast and complex as the one we live in right now. While we love the dragons that the series highlights, we also love to imagine the dragons which may exist juuust off screen from Temeraire and company. While we aren't sure exactly what role noncanonical dragon designs have in this zine yet, far be it from us to keep them away from a project that is obviously interested in the worldbuilding!

"So you keep saying we..."

Oh, where are my manners! I could hardly do this alone, could I? I'm referring, of course, to my co-moderator @skywardsylphina, Mod Skyward! Skyward (they/them) is a ceramicist, illustrator, and artist of every stripe. While neither of us have run a zine before, Skyward has plenty of zine contributor experience under their belt. You can find them in the Scarland Art Book, the HermitPost Zine, and Memory of Family. Skyward is also the artist behind the logo and banner art on this blog! 

"What kind of timeline are we looking at?"

With the understanding that this schedule is dependent on what the final scope ends up being, we're intending on delivering on the finished zine by Fall 2026. This zine will be freely available for digital download through either Gumroad or KoFi, and have a print-on-demand edition available for the cost of printing through Magcloud. 

"Yeah, okay, you've got me. I'm interested in knowing more."

Fantastic. Tell us so in our Interest check form! Whether it's as an artist, a writer, a layout designer, or as an audience member (hey, we need those, too!) we'd love to hear from you to make sure that this is something the fandom is interested in supporting and contributing to. The interest check will be open for the first week of March (March 1 to March 7), so make sure to let us know by then!

"Wait, I had another question!"

It's a good thing the ask box is open, then, isn't it? ;) 

All lies well, aviators, so until next time, I've been

MOD MANDA,

ANNOUNCING TEMERAIRE TRACKS 2025!

Welcome to the inaugural Temeraire Tracks Fanmix event, designed to share, create, and collect playlists, mixtapes, and fanmixes inspired by our very own beloved dragons (and the humans who hang around them)! This event will run for seven days during the week of September 21st, and each day has an optional theme to inspire any new playlists you may not realize you want. I'm not in charge of you though- listen to the song in your heart, and make whatever playlists speak to you! Post your playlists to the #temerairetracks2025 tag to share during the week and enjoy some new music with your fellow aviators!

FAQs:

"What's a fanmix?" I'm so glad you asked. A fanmix is a playlist inspired by the media (in our case, the book series) that a fandom is centered on! Fanmixes are a tragically dying art in the post-8tracks era, and even if they weren't, there can always be more music to listen to.

"Where do the playlists live?" Whatever streaming service you use for music will work perfectly for your fanmix, though you can also just write a list of songs in text post form.

"Okay, but I have a lot to say about this particular song-" Lyrical analysis of why you chose what song you chose is not required but more than encouraged.

"How will I find other fanmixes?" Anything posted to the #temerairetracks2025 tag will be reblogged here, though the tag will also be an excellent place for viewing.

"What kind of music should I use?" Whatever music you listen to. Historically accurate sea shanties? God speed, soldier! 90s grunge? Absolutely! 70s glam rock? I think Iskierka would like it, and I know that I would! Lofi instrumentals? Original Soundtrack is a prompt for a reason! Playlist made of exclusively Hozier songs? He's the reigning king of fanfiction titles, after all! Genre, form, style is no barrier- make your playlists as you will!

SIGN-UPS OPEN!

Sign-ups for the Temeraire Summer Exchange are now open!

Sign up here!

As a reminder, sign-ups will close Thursday, May 22 @ 5pm UTC. Our AO3 page has some guidance on what should go into a sign-up form. You are required to request and offer a minimum of one character or one pairing. You must also select whether you would like to receive or offer fanart, fanfiction, photomanip, or any combination.

Here’s the rest of this year’s schedule again:

Sign-Ups Close: May 22 (5pm UTC) Assignments Sent: May 26 (5pm UTC) Posting Deadline: July 23 (5pm UTC) Works Reveals: July 26 (5pm UTC) Creator Reveals: August 2 (5pm UTC)

(Check what time 5pm UTC is for you)

A reminder on the tagset and nominations: We are using the same tagset as previous years. As this tagset has grown quite robust, we are foregoing a nominations period. If there is a tag you’d like added, please nominate it in the tagset page or message the mods any time before sign-ups close.

Need an invite to AO3? DM this account or email us at [email protected]!