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Reposted by Prof Emily

Samantha Breaux

@woodenvelt.bsky.social

Fenholt doesn't have a standing army, but they do issue licenses to mercenary troops. As part of the licensing agreement, the troops are contractually obligated to serve as an army under the command of the minister's council in the event of attack or invasion.

#Wrencer #WritingPrompt

Ian Haramaki 🏳️‍⚧️✨ @cometkins.bsky.social · 3h

Is there a military or other fighting force in your book's setting? How do they function? How do they fight? #WritingPrompt

November 28, 2025 at 7:05 PM

Prof Emily

@professoremily.bsky.social

Ah, Quillbert is a cephalopod of culture I see! Hell yeah, libraries are so amazing and deserve all the support we can give them! 🥰❤️

Wonder where Quillbert's journey will take him next...?
#writesky #writingcommunity #writers #quillbert4ever

Hook & Quill Press @hookandquillpress.com · 1h

Quillbert's getting close to finishing his book-quest: he found himself at a library! Of course we celebrate all libraries and librarians along with Quillbert. Still, this doesn't seem to be quite what he's looking for. What else could be out there??
#writesky #writingcommunity #quillbert4ever

A plush octopus sits on a table in a library with several octopus-themed books in front of him.

November 28, 2025 at 6:17 PM

Prof Emily

@professoremily.bsky.social

Quote reposting so as not to leech off of @khonri.com's lovely art feed 😊❤️

Digital drawing by me of Mireia & Kena, the MCs of my Atlantis trilogy, sharing a romantic kiss by the railing of a boat on a blue river. Behind them is a lush forest, mountains, and a yellow sunrise.

November 28, 2025 at 6:04 PM

Prof Emily

@professoremily.bsky.social

This week I FINALLY played #Riven (2024), the remake of my absolute favorite game ever! It was amazing, like playing it again for the first time.

I do miss the real actors from the 1997 version though. Nothing will ever top the catharsis of finally setting Catherine free.
youtu.be/HavKswNS8rI?...

Riven: The Sequel to Myst - Catherine's Freedom

YouTube video by Ages of Myst

youtu.be

November 28, 2025 at 3:16 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Ange

@gunsmile.bsky.social

I’m currently at 27k/30k words written. I don’t know if I’ll be able to write the last 3000 words by the end of the month, but it’d be nice if I could. #pretendpanel

Hiria Dunning @hiriadunning.com · 11h

#pretendpanel, it's time to check in!

November 28th: It's almost the end of November! How did you go this month? (whether you set a goal, or took part in a challenge, or not!)

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts

#pretendpanel
a daily prompt tag hosted by @hiriadunning.bsky.social
November 28th: It's almost the end of November! How did you go this month? (whether you set a goal, or took part in a challenge, or not!)
Please support your fellow #pretentpanel posters with replies, likes and reposts
New #pretendpanel questions every Friday and Saturday. Hop in any time!

November 28, 2025 at 2:43 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Alyssa Lauseng 🐉🩸🔪

@5feetofredfury.bsky.social

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #writingprompt

Duels of Blood (this was the best I could do, sorry 😂 At least it's short today!)

Daisuke’s lungs burned, but he kept running, weaving from left to right on soundless feet over the roof tiles as he dodged each oncoming ball of blackness. He was almost to safety.

November 28, 2025 at 2:52 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Lizzie Blackwood

@lizzieblackwood.bsky.social

Hello, #PretendPanel! Been a while.

November (and honestly September and October also) was consumed with MOVING, so very little writing has been accomplished. But, I'm getting settled now, and though I missed some great community challenges, I'm looking forward to lots of writing to come!

Hiria Dunning @hiriadunning.com · 11h

#pretendpanel, it's time to check in!

November 28th: It's almost the end of November! How did you go this month? (whether you set a goal, or took part in a challenge, or not!)

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts

November 28, 2025 at 2:53 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#WIPSnps 28: zigzag

Only one instance, in a snip I've posted before. The MC surveys a city in a divergent timeline.

#SciFi #ScienceFiction

Some buildings clustered around the skyscrapers, “only” maybe half as tall. Outside those central areas, buildings were more of the height I was used to. But way more colorful. And some of the colors were moving?

I had no idea which were businesses, government, apartments. Many of them had holes or gaps; one or two were in a zig-zag shape. I was about sixty percent sure that the round domed one was a stadium or concert hall. But maybe it was a megachurch?

November 28, 2025 at 2:54 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Hiria Dunning

@hiriadunning.com

I exceeded the arbitrary 50K goal, #pretendpanel, so I am happy. I don't think I'm going to be finished with the first draft by 11.59pm 30th November, but I won't be far off, maybe a day or two more.
1/2

Hiria Dunning @hiriadunning.com · 11h

#pretendpanel, it's time to check in!

November 28th: It's almost the end of November! How did you go this month? (whether you set a goal, or took part in a challenge, or not!)

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts

November 28, 2025 at 8:02 AM

Prof Emily

@professoremily.bsky.social

#PretendPanel Nov 28

Welp. I started off strong & got a big chunk of Act 1 of #Charagma written! My goal was to write 60K words & I only ended up writing about 1/3 of that, but still happy I started the book!

I also wrote 11K words for #Tenement, which was why I didn't get farther on Charagma 😅

Hiria Dunning @hiriadunning.com · 11h

#pretendpanel, it's time to check in!

November 28th: It's almost the end of November! How did you go this month? (whether you set a goal, or took part in a challenge, or not!)

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts

November 28, 2025 at 2:58 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Samantha Breaux

@woodenvelt.bsky.social

Spencer and Reggie help a ghost move on to the afterlife.

From my romantasy wip about a priest of the dead and a thief with a heart of gold.

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #WritingCommunity #Wrencer

The girl stretched out her slender arm to touch Reggie’s smooth pate. The skull dodged and the girl grinned, trying again. Reggie jigged sideways, staying just out of reach as the girl attempted to tag him. As the game unfolded between the two ghosts, a sense of correctness settled in Spencer’s chest. Like a stone dropped in a still pond, certainty sank all the way through him until it rested firmly against the bedrock of his heart.

Thank you, Gray Lady, for always showing me the way.

Out of habit, Spencer reached for his holy symbol then felt like a fool when he remembered the twisted silver loop was still in the rectory, safe around his unconscious neck. Reggie’s eyes flickered, a question tickling at the back of Spencer’s mind. They shared a look and understanding arced like lightning between them.

Had he been in his body, Spencer would have stooped over with his hands on his knees to look the girl in her eyes without looming. As it was, he attempted to hover a little lower.

Are you ready, little one? The girl nodded again, solemnly this time. Follow, Reggie. Play chase with him and think of that feeling lasting forever, the fun and the joy of it never-ending.

Reggie whizzed around her, a green streak, before zipping low between the tombstones. Smiling, the girl gave chase, drifting after the skull as he zigged and zagged wildly through the cemetery. On the third lap around the graveyard, a tinkle of laughter filled the stagnant air. Like tiny silver bells chiming in your very soul, the sound echoed sharply, accompanied by the sweet scent of cookies and cakes. Spencer saw a flash of white ruffles passing behind a tombstone, and then the girl was gone, off to an eternity of fun and games, he hoped.

November 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

MechaniChris

@chrisakins.bsky.social

Hey book lovers! Wish you could get a deal without supporting a major corporation?

WELL YOU CAN!!

Go to ChristianAkins.com/grimportents and enter code GRIMTHANKS when you order your ebook copy to $2 off till midnight 12/1!

That’s $3 total!!!

#indiebooks #blackfriday #writingcommunity #booksky

Grim Portents — Christian Akins

ChristianAkins.com

November 28, 2025 at 1:37 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

L.M. du Plessis 🇳🇦 🇺🇦📚💙 ‪✨Drafting TLC✨

@smoking-gnu.bsky.social

G'morning #WIPSnips. I actually wrote this word into TLC in one of the newer sections, but just found this earlier bit and thought it would fit much better.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

“Miss Jennifer?” someone asks from my right, and I spin my head around to see a very unexpected sight.
A large caterpillar, coloured yellow and green in a dazzling zigzag pattern, stood in the hallway there. Half its body is upright and regarding me with an intense gaze from two large and dark compound eyes, while the other half stretches behind it. I can see that the other occupants in the hallway are avoiding going anywhere near this… person, or even looking at them. Must be someone important.
“Yes?” I say in confirmation.
“Good. I am Dame Voliannas, your legal council in this lawsuit against the Kowellian Entity. I will be handling your case today and for the rest of the trail,” the caterpillar, Voliannas, declares in a crisp, no-nonsense tone that reminds me of the second grade. If Miss Teller had been an insect, this is what she would have looked and sounded like.
I resist the urge to shudder at the memory, and stand up to meet Voliannas eye to eye, and extend my hand.

November 28, 2025 at 9:06 AM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Jan Karlsson

@jangoeswriting.bsky.social

‘Wavy’ instead of ‘zigzag’ today.

From ‘Reign, Dear’.

#WiPSnips

“Look! Stop! Stop this at once! I just want to go to the butcher’s and talk to Merida. That’s it.” Boulder pointed and all the soldiers on the other side flinched. “It’s just there!”

“And here …” The first soldier straightened up, dug the heel of his boot into the dirt and awkwardly stepped back several paces, dragging the heel of the boot into the packed soil and scoring a wavy, but distinct line. “… is the border. It’s the borderline. No-one in or out without Her Majesty Calcifa’s say so.”

“This is ridiculous!” He threw up his arms in despair and the opposing soldiers moved their pointy things closer, but not over the ‘border’. “I just … all I need … this is …”

November 28, 2025 at 9:10 AM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Finn McLellan

@saranadosfiction.com

#WIPSnips | zigzag

Again, not a word I have, so we're doing vibes/mood - this time, back in Blood on the Snow and Sabbat musing on the thieves' roads and rat-runs of Old Town

( saranadosfiction.com/2020/06/15/b... )

The night’d started off bitter, even at street level, and by the time Sabbat had made it back to Old Town the temperature on the rooftops had plummeted to the kind of raw, vicious cold that stopped breath, stole feeling from fingers, and made any attempt at full-speed roof-running suicidal at best.

Lucky, then, that that wasn’t what he was planning.

*There’s a difference between hunting and chasing. No sense wasting time and energy racing over the rooftops when all I need to do is wait for prey to come to me.*

It wasn’t going to be that easy, mind. Old Town was big – bigger than most people gave it credit for, given half of them only ever saw it from the bridges in the other Quarters – and the rooftops were a maze of rat-runs and hidden passages, constantly changing as people added storeys or knocked down half-rotten extensions. Add in the summer fires and the deliberate traps and deadfalls the gangs built along the borders of their territories, and you had a labyrinth easily as deadly as anything the old Adakari mage-kings had been able to dream up and a hundred times more vicious for being home-grown (say what you liked about Sacaan, its reputation for bloodthirstiness was sodding well deserved).

Course, that all meant a good deal less if you knew it – and, for all he’d spent a fair amount of his life so far at sea, Sabbat was more at home on the rooftops of Old Town than half its residents were on the streets.

*Which means this bastard, whoever he is, is in my territory. Which means I get to make the rules.*

November 28, 2025 at 8:47 AM

Prof Emily

@professoremily.bsky.social

#AwesomeCharacters

Once they learn to use them, Mireia & Kena always carry their kaana crystals with them on cords around their neck. Super useful! Kena also usually carries his riina pipe (instrument, not smoking lol) with him, tied to his belt.

Noah often carries the Nwissy (his compass) in 🧵2/2

Charlie Delta 🦊🐐 @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 20h

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters

What is something your character always carries with them?

In a purse, a bag, a secret pouch, a pocket?

Is there something they never travel without? Why?

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

November 28, 2025 at 1:56 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Eliwood S. Gheist

@eliwoodsgheist.com

Happy #AwesomeCharacters!

As Bludeye Beach is quasi-contemporary, the characters usually have their cell phones with them. There's a few text exchanges, but most of the time they're used as flashlights 😂

Charlie Delta 🦊🐐 @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 20h

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters

What is something your character always carries with them?

In a purse, a bag, a secret pouch, a pocket?

Is there something they never travel without? Why?

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

November 28, 2025 at 11:18 AM

Prof Emily

@professoremily.bsky.social

#Bookvember 28

I've done all of the above, but I still love physical books the most. Ebooks are convenient for traveling, but otherwise I want that book-book in my hands.

I used to never do audiobooks, but I like them a lot now! I listen to them often while drawing, walking or doing chores.

Samantha Breaux @woodenvelt.bsky.social · 12h

Welcome to #Bookvember Day 28!

Follow the directions on the prompt card and discuss your reading habits.

#BookSky #WriteSky #Books #Authors #WritingCommunity

Bookvember, a book share prompt game for writers and readers by @woodenvelt.bsky.social

Day 28: How do you do your reading? Paperback, E-reader, audiobook? All of the above? What appeals to you about your favorite format? #Bookvember. Use alt text for images. Have fun and interact with others!

November 28, 2025 at 1:48 PM

Prof Emily

@professoremily.bsky.social

#Novmember 28

I actually shared a whole playlist for #Tenement not long ago. Most of it is instrumental/ambience type music because I can't write with something that'll distract my brain too much.
bsky.app/profile/prof...

But not all of them are! Here's one for Noah 😁
youtu.be/lmc21V-zBq0?...

November 28, 2025 at 1:38 PM

Prof Emily

@professoremily.bsky.social

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writingcommunity #writers #writesky

More of Noah's first meeting with Mr Gellar, when he asks the Librarian to help him solve some of the little mysteries around this place...

From #Tenement, my dystopian mystery about people living in an infinite building.

“Anything else I could help you with?” he asked.
“Ye-e-eah,” I said slowly. “There’s a word here, Lazarus. Really small, right below the center. See? Do you know what that means?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Lazarus? I’m not sure. Could be a family name.”
“I’ve never met anyone named Lazarus.”
“Well, we could find out.” He gestured for me to follow him. “Here, come with me.”
I followed him, zigzagging through aisle after aisle, toward a section of the Library I’d never seen before. At last, we came to a clearing amid the shelves, where sitting atop a sturdy wooden pedestal was a strange off-white boxy device with wires trailing out of it.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“A computer,” said Mr. Gellar. As I followed him around to the front of the device, I saw that its face was like a glossy black mirror. “Think of it as a sort of knowledge machine. It has the whole Library catalogue stored in its memory.”
I was in awe. “Memory? So is it... alive?”
He grinned. “No, no. Not any more alive than the books are. But we can use it to search through the collection for anything we want. Saves a lot of time.”

November 28, 2025 at 1:22 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Nicole "Ashrah" Hidalgo

@sayaashrah.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 28. "Zigzag"

From Eternal Flame, the moments before an encounter that will change not only the lives of these two beings, but also of all the realms.

#ChroniclesOfTheRealms #SayaAshrah #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

A grimy form, like a misshapen cocoon, floated in the back of the cave. Frayed strings sprouted from it in a zigzag pattern, weaving an impenetrable mesh. But these filaments were not webs. It was darkness. Solid, decaying darkness. Black splotches sullied the ground, and though it was faint, Ashrah detected residues of spiritual energy in them. Of those who had attempted to break through this forest of shadows and failed.

She stretched out a hand, and before she even touched the dark matter, her skin sizzled. She removed it, inspecting the wisps of smoke exhaling off her palm. Not demonic shadows, either, but one coated in Tarhmun.

“Trapped here for so long, I nearly lost hope. No one had the mettle required to release me. No one proved worthy of my blessing. But we do not surrender, do we, Ashrah?”

November 28, 2025 at 12:01 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Sage like the Pumpkin Spice

@sagecollins.bsky.social

Just Nico being Nico

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity
From The Magic in Our Bones 🦴🕺

Nico is giving me "What's up?" face when I drag him across the school parking lot. He points to Mel's name on his phone.

"Nope. Mel's getting rest, and we're going on a field trip."

This piques his interest. He dances around a bit at the thought, and I have to keep my hand in his to keep him from ZIGZAGGING in front of oncoming traffic. "Come on, Spooky Scary Skeleton," I say with a laugh, pulling him onto the sidewalk with me. “If you're going to dance all silly, at least do it out of people's way."

He points at the parking lot we just left, about to where my car is. "No, we're close enough to walk. We're just waiting for..."

"Here!" Azura bounds up behind us. "Sorry I'm late. Miss Bliss had a question about my English outline."

November 28, 2025 at 9:08 AM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Charlie Delta 🦊🐐

@charliedeltawrites.bsky.social

November 28th – zigzag

#AnthropomorphicNovel, today!

Ray sometimes makes suspect spur of the moment decisions.

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

“We take the fire stairs down the side of the building, when we reach the ground, head for the shopping mall across the street. Get inside, lose yourselves in the crowd. Whatever happens, do not stop, just run. If we get separated, we’ll meet in the coffee shop on the north side, then get a car from there. Understood?”
They both nodded mutely.
“Great.” I handed the gun back to Liz. “You might need this. Just…be careful where you aim it, alright? Now, let’s go. And hurry, before they figure out this is where we went.”
We scrambled down the rusty ladder that led to the stairs, which zigzagged down the side of the building. The alley was quiet, and for a moment, I thought we might get away clean. But, when we were about one story from the ground, I saw a gunman round the corner underneath the stairs. I cursed under my breath.
We were too exposed up here; it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. So, as he raised his weapon, I figured I only had one viable option.
“Remember, don’t stop!” I shouted over my shoulder, then I vaulted the railing and dropped.

November 28, 2025 at 11:49 AM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Nicole "Ashrah" Hidalgo

@sayaashrah.bsky.social

#LesficFri "Thank"

Melting the cryomancer's heart 💕

#ChroniclesOfTheRealms #BattlemageAskaly #Lesfic #WriteSky #QueerWriters

“Do you… not like it?” she asked when the silence stretched on.

“I do. I just never…” Xiuying sighed. Shook her head.

“Do you… want to talk about it?”

She stood. Walked to the curtained window. “I’m tired.”

“Right.” Getting the message, Askaly absorbed the blood back into her veins, put on her gloves, and slipped her feet into her sandals without bothering to lace them.

“Askaly?” Already outside the door, she looked back. Xiuying still had her back to her and her arms crossed, but she half-turned her head to the door. “Thank you. For the tattoo.”

Askaly couldn’t avoid a smile, no matter how inappropriate it felt. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

November 28, 2025 at 12:08 PM

Reposted by Prof Emily

Charlie Delta 🦊🐐

@charliedeltawrites.bsky.social

#Novmemeber 28

Honestly, "If you wanna start a fight, you better throw the first punch, make it a good one" is advice most of my characters should take.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu55...

November 28, 2025 at 6:37 AM

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