Prof Emily
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professoremily.bsky.social
Prof Emily
@professoremily.bsky.social
5.4K followers 2.6K following 11K posts
English teacher, writer, lover of cats & dogs. Recovering conservative, now Agnostic Christian Democratic Socialist. Unfortunately stuck in Texas. 🥲

A feed of my writing samples: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:br2rslmo7elrd3hp5dfsx3ye/feed/aaaksewrcngo4
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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
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
professoremily.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #writingcommunity #writers #writesky

A nice little party turns suddenly uhh, not nice 😰

Hope everyone who's doing Thanksgiving today has a lovely day & no sudden crystal bomb attacks! 😁

From Book 1 of my #Atlantis trilogy.
“What’s happening?” someone called. Beneath the sounds of distant screaming, a new sound began to take shape: an angry chant, though the words were indistinguishable. Then, down a nearby lane, there was a blinding flash of light. Without a sound, but with a vibration that shook the earth even where they stood, one of the stacked slave-dwellings lost an enormous chunk of itself, as if some invisible giant had taken a bite out of it. “Crystal bomb!” a man shouted. The crowd erupted into panicked shrieks. The sea of people now became a chaotic stampede, as everyone rushed to escape. Kena still hadn’t managed to fully grasp what was happening. But he saw Mireia run forward, against the flow of the crowd. He took off after her, heart racing.
November 27, 2025 at 2:09 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #amwriting #writingcommunity #writers #writesky

Fun fact: in the original Wizard of Oz, the Emerald City wasn't actually emerald. The Wizard just made everyone wear green spectacles so it looked like it 😎

From #Tenement, my dystopian mystery about people living in an infinite building.
Some of the comments, however, had been written by my mother. My heart did a little dance the first time I recognized her loose, looping cursive. I’d had no idea that I would find her own words here in these pages. It was almost like being able to hear her voice again after all these years. Her comments were different from the ones left by the Librarians. She was always trying to draw the story back to our world—looking for a meaning beyond simple definitions. “The people are unable to see their true reality. Is it the same for us?” She had tried to tell me years ago. We were all wearing green spectacles. We were all looking through lenses that limited our view, blocked out all other colors, all other possibilities. There could be different ways. There could be other worlds. Had my mother finally made it to her own Oz? Why hadn’t she taken me with her?
November 26, 2025 at 1:51 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
It's about a family who buys a house that's bigger on the inside... at first a little, then A LOT 👀

But it's framed as a documentary (which doesn't exist) described by a dead guy in notes discovered by a drug addict who thinks he's being stalked by a minotaur 😵‍💫

Also some of the pages are like...
Picture of a page from HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Danielewski, featuring text arranged in bizarre block patterns facing different directions Picture of a page from HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Danielewski, featuring mostly white space with diagonal text in the upper left and lower right corners Picture of a page from HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Danielewski, featuring text thrown onto the page in all kinds of haphazard directions. The left page is mostly white space with a few repeated lines scattered randomly across it. The right page starts with a block of normal aligned text but devolves into wildly repeating the word "FORGIVE" before crashing into a pile of text blocks all piled on each other so it almost just becomes a big black smudge
November 25, 2025 at 8:46 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
#Bookvember 24

Late but I can't pass up a chance to finally mention one of my faves of all time, FRANKENSTEIN!

The Creature's development from an innocent childlike being who just wants to be loved, to a bitter vengeful *deliberate* murderer of innocent bystanders, is so horribly gripping & sad 😭❤️
Cover of FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley, showing a black & white photo of a lab with lightning shooting out of a machine
November 25, 2025 at 5:20 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
Picture of Regé-Jean Page in a black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up over his forearms, sitting in a chair and looking sexy
November 25, 2025 at 4:49 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #writingcommunity #writers #writesky

The absolute gall of this guy.

FYI: "sah" in this culture is the address for children & subordinates. As the gods, Mireia & Kena are expected to address everyone as "sah," but Mimi gives it some extra oomph here.

From Book 2 of my #Atlantis trilogy.
“I’ve heard rumors that you intend to, ah... free the slaves?” This question, spoken in a vaguely mocking tone, was directly at Mireia—only at Mireia. She opened her mouth to reply, but Kena spoke first, not hiding the annoyance in his voice. “We intend to, yes.” The lord’s eyes begrudgingly turned to Kena, and his thin mouth twitched, the trace of a smile becoming first a frown, and then a different kind of smile—polite but stony. “I see,” said the Obsidian man, in a more serious tone. “I must admit, I was hoping you might reassure me that these rumors were untrue. Are you certain that—?” “We are certain, sah,” Mireia said sharply, with emphasis on the sah. “I only wonder if you’ve thought about—” “We know it will be difficult,” Kena cut him off. “But we feel it must be done.” The man’s smile somehow became stonier. “You are both still so young, and the young are always full of idealism. That’s one of the beauties of this system of ours, ona? Every generation gets a new pair of gods with fresh eyes and hopeful dreams, who haven’t yet been jaded by the world. Without Mu’u and Raa, relics like myself would never be forced to change, and our society would stagnate. I appreciate that—honestly, I do. But idealism must ever be tempered with realism, young gods. And, while the idea of freeing the slaves is a noble goal, I don’t feel that it’s very realistic.” He took a sip of wine, then glanced at Mireia. “Sea Mother, you especially ought to consider how this will look. There are already many out there who believe that your mixed blood makes you too partial to the barbarians. What will they say if you do this?” “They can say whatever they like about me,” Mireia said. “It doesn’t change what’s right.”
November 25, 2025 at 11:59 AM
professoremily.bsky.social
Thanks Jimothy! Unfortunately it's a result of my brain not being able to stay focused on one story long enough to actually finish it 😅
Distracted Boyfriend Meme where the ogling boyfriend is labeled "ME", the girl in the red dress he's checking out is labeled "NEW STORY IDEA" and the offended girlfriend is labeled "THE MULTIPLE OTHER STORIES I ALREADY STARTED"
November 25, 2025 at 12:32 AM
professoremily.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #writingcommunity #writers #writesky

Vibes today! It's Mireia & Kena's ordination as the new gods, but unfortunately things aren't going great between the two of them at first... 😢

From Book 1 of my #Atlantis trilogy.
“I just think it would be best for both of us to keep to ourselves from now on, and only deal with each other when it’s absolutely necessary.” She gave him a stern look. “Yaiaku?” Any semblance of lightheartedness had completely abandoned Kena at this point. He glowered straight ahead, radiating quiet anger, his mouth pressed into a hard line. “You know,” he remarked, “there’s this amazing thing they’ve invented called tact. You ought to try it sometime.” “I don’t need tact. I say things as they are.” “Even if it means telling someone to their face that you want nothing to do with them?” “Would you prefer I lied to you to make you feel better?” Kena scowled. “So you’re not even going to give me a chance? You don’t know anything about me!” “No,” she replied. “And you don’t know anything about me.” “I feel I’m beginning to,” he muttered. “Young gods.” Sister Zu’uvit gestured at them. “It’s time.” Through the doorway, they could hear Xa’aba’s speech building up to the climactic moment when the two of them would step through that door and face the Na’aqal people for the first time. Kena lifted up his hand stiffly, and she took it as limply as possible. Both of them stared straight ahead, bitter and fuming, as they walked forward together. The cheer that went up from the crowd was loud enough to be heard in all Eleven Worlds.
November 24, 2025 at 11:56 AM
professoremily.bsky.social
Ok I dug deep into my photos and this was the best I could come up with 😅 I told y'all I don't do anything exciting with my hair lol
Old picture of me in a room with a bookshelf behind me and my hair looks pretty nice I guess Old picture of me in a room with a different bookshelf and a doorway behind me and my hair is doing that kind of fall-over-one-eye thing and this is the best y'all gonna get from me
November 24, 2025 at 4:00 AM
professoremily.bsky.social
#Charagma: Mem & Clara have long, straight blonde hair. They often wear it braided, though Clara wears hers down more. They also sometimes cover it with a scarf or cap.

Light has thick wavy brown hair cut semi-short.

Serena has short black hair with her head partially shaved (no pic yet, sorry! 😢)
Uncolored digital pencil drawing by me of Clara & Mem, twin sisters with blonde hair. Both are wearing sort of Puritan-steampunk style clothes. Clara has a cap over her hair, which is worn down, a cloak that wraps around her shoulders, a jacket with lots of buttons that flare at the waist & covers an undershirt with poofy sleeves, and a skirt partially bunched up in front over leggings and knee-high boots; she carries a crossbow on her belt. Mem's hair is tied back in a neat braided bun & covered with a kerchief, and she also wears an intricate jacket over a poofy-sleeved undershirt, with skirt bundled at the left side of her waist and boots underneath; she's touching a string of beads around her neck. Digital monochromatic pencil drawing by me of Light, Mem's love interest from CHARAGMA, a handsome 20-something man with medium dark wavy-ish hair clipped to his ears and neck, unshaven facial scruff, and a dark high-color coat and wide brimmed hat. His face and collar are splattered with blood from someone who probably deserved it.
November 24, 2025 at 12:12 AM
professoremily.bsky.social
#Tenement: Noah's black hair is kept shaved very close to his head. Kazuo's hair is also black & short, but longer than Noah's & messy. Jon has ~RED~ hair that's slightly longer than Kazuo's. Nat's hair is long & highly textured; she usually keeps it in braids but it is BOLD when she unleashes it.
Digital drawings by me of four different colored busts of the MCs of TENEMENT: Noah, a teenage black boy with light-ish brown skin, closely shaved dark brown hair, brown eyes and freckles, looking suspicious; Kazuo, a teenage Asian biy with fair skin, spiky short black hair, black eyes and a devious smirk; Jon, a teenage white boy with bright red hair, fair skin, green eyes & freckles, looking nervous; and Nat, a teenage black girl with dark skin, dark brown hair in several small braids over her right shoulder, brown eyes and a beige head wrap, smiling cutely.
November 24, 2025 at 12:12 AM
professoremily.bsky.social
#AwesomeCharacters

#Atlantis: Mireia has long black hair that's slightly wavy, though in Book 3 it gets cut to shoulder length. She likes to wear it loose, even though the style in her culture is for women to braid their hair.

Kena's hair is dark brown with loose curls, short but not TOO short.
A collection of colored digital sketches by me of Mireia & Kena, the MCs of my Atlantis trilogy, at various times (mostly when they're younger, 13-15). Mireia is a young woman with light brown skin and long dark brown wavy hair, gray eyes, and usually wears a blue wraparound top that clasps at her left shoulder and a darker blue layered skirt with a gold chain and a purple cloth belt. Kena is a young man with light brown skin, dark brown curly hair, amber eyes, freckles, and a red phoenix tattoo across his left shoulder and chest; he is usually topless and wears an orange/red skirt like a shendyt with a red cloth belt and a gold necklace with rays like the sun. Left-right, top-bottom: 1) Mireia and Kena are holding each other & looking a bit freaked out 2) Kena gives Mireia a sweet forehead kiss 3) Mireia & Kena are bickering over probably something stupid while their mentor Icozoue, an older woman in black robes, holds them apart and contemplates murder, 4) Mireia is about to squish a spider saying "SPIDER! KILL IT!!!" while Kena is on the ground sheltering it saying "This is a beautiful precious creature!" 5) Mireia & Kena grin mischievously at each other like they're sharing an inside joke, 6) Mireia & Kena practice with the magic crystals: Mireia is easily levitating a rock, surrounded by sparkles and the label "natural prodigy," while Kena is yelling censored curses at his non-levitating rock and surrounded by the words "crystal hates him," 7) Mireia & Kena lie side by side on the ground conspiring like little cuties
November 24, 2025 at 12:12 AM
professoremily.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #writingcommunity #writers #writesky

When you're just a regular teenage girl who also becomes the savior figure of a racist doomsday cult 🤷‍♀️

From Book 1 of my #Atlantis trilogy.
“Stand up, my children!” she told them. “I would not have you bow to your own mother, not after the great bravery you’ve shown.” She walked among the people as she spoke. They stretched out their hands to her, and she brushed their fingers. “I am Mu’u Jasana,” she said. “I am the True Sea Mother, the one you heard prophesied of. I know how many of you have suffered in the dark, but you are free now. I have set you free. The false Sea Mother Mireia imprisons her children, and that is how you know she is false. But I am the bringer of freedom and hope. That is how you know I am true. “For far too long, the corrupt elites of this land have convinced you to follow weak impostors. They’ve told you that Atalantis must remain isolated, that our power is something to be hidden away and ashamed of. But the truth is the opposite: your power is a gift! You are my children, the firstborn of the Sun and Sea, and you were never meant to stay hidden away on this lonely island. You were meant to claim dominion over the whole world and all its lesser creatures. This is the great destiny that was always intended for you, but it has been thwarted by small people who want to hoard power for themselves.” Murmurs of righteous anger swelled through the rebels at these words. Jasana, reaching the far end of the room, climbed up onto a table and turned to her people. Though she was small, she towered, a figure of natural power and charisma. It was impossible to look away from her. “Swear your loyalty to me,” she told them. “Promise to follow me to the end of your days, and I will lead you to your destiny!”
November 23, 2025 at 1:24 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
I've also talked about it elsewhere but my big book crushes as a kid were Prince Char from Ella Enchanted and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables. Both maaayyyyy have more than a little influenced my Sunshine Boy 😁🥰

These are their film actors but tbh both these boys were perfectly cast ❤️
Image of Prince Char from the film version of ELLA ENCHANTED, played by young Hugh Dancy Image of Gilbert Blythe from Netflix's ANNE WITH AN E, played by Lucas Jade Zumann
November 23, 2025 at 4:15 AM
professoremily.bsky.social
#SaturdaySnippet #writingcommunity #writesky

I did A LOT of writing for #Tenement last week! It does need improvement because it's the first vomited out draft, but I'm still quite happy with it.

Should I share? I shouldn't. It's ALL spoilers. But maybe...?

(I'm gonna regret this 😅)
It was true. With immense relief, I searched inside me and found I was still Noah. But now I was Noah, Awake. For the first time in my life. “We have to get out of here,” I said.
November 22, 2025 at 10:10 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
Thank you, Charlie!

Lmao because the other snip I almost went with today was this one 😂
Taking a deep breath, Kena raised up his crystal toward the block. He closed his eyes, concentrating, and recited the incantation perfectly. Nothing happened. He tried it again. Still nothing. And a third time, nothing. He cursed. “That’s alright,” Icozoue told him. “Most people can’t do it on their first try. But you will in time. Now Sea Mother, you try it.” Confidently, Mireia raised her crystal. She too closed her eyes, diving deep into the flow of energy, deep into her own focused will. She formed a clear mental picture of the stone block dissolving, just as she’d done in the test chamber, and commanded it to be so. “Eianahate munefejune, beletena onarune,” she said. The block rippled like water for a moment, then shattered into a million particles, which shattered into a million more and dissolved away. It wasn’t a perfect execution—chunks of the stone block still remained—but most of it was gone. Mireia beamed with pride. “Excellent, Sea Mother,” said Icozoue. “Hold on,” Kena protested. “She didn’t say the words right!” “Yes, I did,” Mireia argued. “No, you didn’t!” “What does it matter? I made it work.” “But it doesn’t make sense,” he complained. “Why would it work for her and not me?”
November 22, 2025 at 6:10 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
Oh gosh from the lake? You mean Lake Taaloue?? 🤣 I think that would be like a 4-5hr road trip if we were going by car, lol

We'll also need to kidnap Mireia so she can unlock it for us with her kaana crystal 😂❤️
Partial map of ATALANTIS showing the distance between Lake Taaloue in the west to about where I imagine the Labyrinth to be, somewhere north of the Great Citadel.
November 22, 2025 at 4:49 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
Here they were back in June 🥹😭❤️
Picture of 3 tiny kittens sitting on a garden kneeler in front of a green box: Pip, Pirate and Panda. They are three floofy stripey little big eyed potatoes.
November 22, 2025 at 3:48 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
Happy #Caturday and happy approximate 6-month birthday to these babies! 🥹❤️

(I can't believe it's already been 6 months! They are real cats! 😭😭😭)

Panda, Pip & Pirate ❤️
Picture of 3 cute kitties sitting on a windowsill with a rainy backyard behind them. LEFT TO RIGHT: Panda, a little orange & white girlie; Pip, a black & white stripey boy with a dot on his nose; Pirate, another black & white BIG stripey boy
November 22, 2025 at 3:41 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
#Writevember Nov 22

Well I started out this month intending to work on #Charagma, & wrote about 25K words!

... Then my muse decided we needed to write #Tenement instead - 11K words! 😅

Unfortunately all the Tenement bits are SPOILERS, so here's the last bit I wrote from Charagma instead:
“Blake,” he repeated, then gave an odd humorless chuckle. “Sorry—I know it must be a common name, so this is probably silly. But... you’re not...?” He cleared his throat. “You wouldn’t happen to be related to the Shepherd Elisgood Blake? The one they called Twoholder?” Ah, so that was it. Mem should have guessed. Of course he’d already heard of her father. Everyone had heard of her father. It must have been quite a shock to realize the girl you’d been getting to know all night was the daughter of a celebrity. “He’s... my father, actually,” she said reluctantly. When she saw the shadow in Light’s expression grow darker, she started to panic. “But it really isn’t anything to make a fuss about. He’s a completely normal person, I swear. And I’m sure he’d like you very much.” Light didn’t say anything for a few moments, which only made her panic worse. He stared at the ground, his thoughts completely unreadable. She waited anxiously for him to speak—to tell her it was fine, to smile again. When he didn’t, she asked in a burst, “You still want to meet later today, don’t you?” The question shook Light out of wherever his mind had gone. He looked up at her again. Smiled, just like she’d hoped he would. But there was a trace of falseness in it now that she didn’t understand. “Of course,” he said. “I’ll see you there later.” “You didn’t tell me your last name either,” she pointed out as he began to turn away. He glanced back. “Bradstreet. Light Bradstreet. Good night, Mem.” Then he strode off down the street at a brisk pace, vanishing into the other shadows. Mem lingered on the threshold, watching even long after he was gone from her sight, a faint quake of dark premonition shaking the foundation of her soul.
November 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
#Novmemeber 22

Noah can be like this comic at times 😅 He too easily assumes nobody else has ever questioned things like he does, not realizing people HAVE, but they got slapped down.

He also can be a bit selfish & willing to make moral concessions for the sake of his goals... Though he has a line!
XKCD comic of five stick people riding on a subway, all thinking the same thought bubble: "Look at these people. Glassy-eyed automatons going about their daily lives, never stopping to look around and THINK! I'm the only conscious human in a world of sheep."
November 22, 2025 at 2:47 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #writingcommunity #writers #writesky

Well I have been kinda taking a break from Mireia snips lately, but considering the main source of magic power in Atalantis is crystals... here we are 😅

Mireia's first time using a kaana crystal, from Book 1 of my #Atlantis trilogy.
Still holding the crystal aloft, Mireia closed her eyes, digging deep inside herself. She stoked the fire of her anger, of her determination to escape, of her will to see this room destroyed. She dove deep into that desire as though she were diving into the sea. She let go of herself and became a droplet in the ocean of her own focused will. In her mind she conjured a clear image of the wall before her dissolving—breaking apart into a million particles, which would break into a million more, which would shatter into nothing. The wall itself, she suddenly thought, was like the sea: not a single object, but a mass of infinitely small droplets that could be scattered and evaporated like water. That was all the whole world was, she saw. Every tree and rock and wave and building and person. Just uncountable clusters of droplets bumping against droplets, that could all be broken down and reshaped however she pleased. And beyond this world—beyond the walls of reality—there were other worlds, all made of droplets, all only droplets themselves in a vast sea of universes. And through it all, there was a current that flowed—a bloodstream. It was the same current now running between her body and that crystal. It was a snaking river that threaded the worlds together like beads on a string. It wove and sang and gusted through all the spaces between the droplets, and Mireia was the sail that could catch it. The energy was pulsing through her body, circulating through her veins. “There is no wall,” she declared, and her voice sounded low and strange, as if it belonged to someone else. “It’s only droplets. There is no wall! It’s only droplets!” A small light sparked to life inside the crystal.
November 22, 2025 at 1:59 PM
professoremily.bsky.social
Buddy, sweet baby boy, there ain't no more kolaches in there......
Picture of a silly old man black cat with the entire front half of his body buried in a paper kolache bag Picture of a silly old man black cat sitting on a bed with a paper kolache bag on his head
November 21, 2025 at 5:40 PM