Dr. Emily Friedman
@friede.bsky.social
Storyteller about storytellers.
18th century to today & beyond.
J.W.Liles Prof of English
Words: Polygon (RIP), LARB, etc
Next book: THE ACTUAL HISTORY OF ACTUAL PLAY (#TTRPG digital storytelling performance)
ecfriedman.com
(free) patreon.com/ecfriedman
18th century to today & beyond.
J.W.Liles Prof of English
Words: Polygon (RIP), LARB, etc
Next book: THE ACTUAL HISTORY OF ACTUAL PLAY (#TTRPG digital storytelling performance)
ecfriedman.com
(free) patreon.com/ecfriedman
Today admission is free to The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum in Montgomery.
legacysites.eji.org/news/free-ad...
legacysites.eji.org/news/free-ad...
January 19, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Today admission is free to The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum in Montgomery.
legacysites.eji.org/news/free-ad...
legacysites.eji.org/news/free-ad...
A moment of levity: my 2016 self.
January 16, 2026 at 6:14 PM
A moment of levity: my 2016 self.
To give you a sense, here’s what that looks like in DIE: a 3-page “Gameography” (& lists layer of “further culture”), & red marginal notes throughout the game text.
January 15, 2026 at 1:05 PM
To give you a sense, here’s what that looks like in DIE: a 3-page “Gameography” (& lists layer of “further culture”), & red marginal notes throughout the game text.
I love my class.
January 12, 2026 at 7:02 PM
I love my class.
Have you recorded gameplay (publicly or privately) of @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social DIE RPG?
Is it NOT on this list?
Replies are open to send me links if I've missed anything.
Is it NOT on this list?
Replies are open to send me links if I've missed anything.
January 11, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Have you recorded gameplay (publicly or privately) of @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social DIE RPG?
Is it NOT on this list?
Replies are open to send me links if I've missed anything.
Is it NOT on this list?
Replies are open to send me links if I've missed anything.
This week (& much of my life) I’ve been grateful for the strong & brilliant humans I got to live & learn among at a historically-women’s college in the cruel 2000s.
When I TA’d there a frosh said it wasn’t the real world.
Thank God I got to live somewhere that imagined better & carry that with me.
When I TA’d there a frosh said it wasn’t the real world.
Thank God I got to live somewhere that imagined better & carry that with me.
January 10, 2026 at 3:58 PM
This week (& much of my life) I’ve been grateful for the strong & brilliant humans I got to live & learn among at a historically-women’s college in the cruel 2000s.
When I TA’d there a frosh said it wasn’t the real world.
Thank God I got to live somewhere that imagined better & carry that with me.
When I TA’d there a frosh said it wasn’t the real world.
Thank God I got to live somewhere that imagined better & carry that with me.
In some ways this feels like my own "Affleck smoking outside looking hella depressed" meme, but that may just be in my head.
January 10, 2026 at 1:39 AM
In some ways this feels like my own "Affleck smoking outside looking hella depressed" meme, but that may just be in my head.
Small mercies this week: delivered at the very last possible minute (stuck in Chicago at Customs from Christmas Eve to Epiphany), I’m now ready for class Monday.
Hope my students are too.
Hope my students are too.
January 9, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Small mercies this week: delivered at the very last possible minute (stuck in Chicago at Customs from Christmas Eve to Epiphany), I’m now ready for class Monday.
Hope my students are too.
Hope my students are too.
First day of school. Still energizing, nerve-wracking, even here at the end of my twenty-first (?!) year of college teaching.
January 7, 2026 at 2:15 PM
First day of school. Still energizing, nerve-wracking, even here at the end of my twenty-first (?!) year of college teaching.
Home, & my weary eyes are glad to see this land on my doorstep, edited by @maddypelling.bsky.social & Emrys Jones, with an essay by me & @emnk.bsky.social about queer possibilities in games set in the eighteenth-century, from @spiralatlas.itch.io to a weird reading of Dream Daddy’s 18C daddies.
January 4, 2026 at 1:21 AM
Home, & my weary eyes are glad to see this land on my doorstep, edited by @maddypelling.bsky.social & Emrys Jones, with an essay by me & @emnk.bsky.social about queer possibilities in games set in the eighteenth-century, from @spiralatlas.itch.io to a weird reading of Dream Daddy’s 18C daddies.
What a day to wake nauseous, full of anticipatory grief.
Early this morning, my dear friend got up to shape croissant dough, so before he left he could feed us one more time.
We can’t stay focused on the domestic entirely, but also we must eat, must care for others. Bread for the journey.
Early this morning, my dear friend got up to shape croissant dough, so before he left he could feed us one more time.
We can’t stay focused on the domestic entirely, but also we must eat, must care for others. Bread for the journey.
January 3, 2026 at 3:00 PM
What a day to wake nauseous, full of anticipatory grief.
Early this morning, my dear friend got up to shape croissant dough, so before he left he could feed us one more time.
We can’t stay focused on the domestic entirely, but also we must eat, must care for others. Bread for the journey.
Early this morning, my dear friend got up to shape croissant dough, so before he left he could feed us one more time.
We can’t stay focused on the domestic entirely, but also we must eat, must care for others. Bread for the journey.
Wee Wedgewood abolitionist token at Bayou Bend, spotted during the kind tour provided by Jennifer Hammond, Head of Education. (And a cousin of a Winterthur ladies writing desk, @book-historia.bsky.social !)
January 2, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Wee Wedgewood abolitionist token at Bayou Bend, spotted during the kind tour provided by Jennifer Hammond, Head of Education. (And a cousin of a Winterthur ladies writing desk, @book-historia.bsky.social !)
And then we came back, and the pan was dialed down to low, and everything was easier for the break and patience and time and help.
Not a bad morning — nor metaphor, if it comes to it.
Not a bad morning — nor metaphor, if it comes to it.
January 2, 2026 at 2:16 AM
And then we came back, and the pan was dialed down to low, and everything was easier for the break and patience and time and help.
Not a bad morning — nor metaphor, if it comes to it.
Not a bad morning — nor metaphor, if it comes to it.
My sister pressed on towards where she knew there was coffee.
I thought of my Thanksgiving walks down Hermosa Beach with my best friend, also towards coffee, too-fleeting companionable walk away from the chaos of beloved children.
I thought of the half-marathon I ran down this beach lives ago.
I thought of my Thanksgiving walks down Hermosa Beach with my best friend, also towards coffee, too-fleeting companionable walk away from the chaos of beloved children.
I thought of the half-marathon I ran down this beach lives ago.
January 2, 2026 at 2:14 AM
My sister pressed on towards where she knew there was coffee.
I thought of my Thanksgiving walks down Hermosa Beach with my best friend, also towards coffee, too-fleeting companionable walk away from the chaos of beloved children.
I thought of the half-marathon I ran down this beach lives ago.
I thought of my Thanksgiving walks down Hermosa Beach with my best friend, also towards coffee, too-fleeting companionable walk away from the chaos of beloved children.
I thought of the half-marathon I ran down this beach lives ago.
Some of us set off down the beach. The sun shone. The sound of waves was punctuated by drifts of different families’ music, languages of joy. We seriously discussed the different purples of houses, saw Christmas trees stacked to grow the dunes. We found more good shells — “angel wings” — than ever.
January 2, 2026 at 2:11 AM
Some of us set off down the beach. The sun shone. The sound of waves was punctuated by drifts of different families’ music, languages of joy. We seriously discussed the different purples of houses, saw Christmas trees stacked to grow the dunes. We found more good shells — “angel wings” — than ever.
This morning I wanted to begin as I intended to go on: returning to cooking for my loved ones, which the last few years had taken from me.
I hadn’t over-thought it, just remembered to pack the pan. No buttermilk, but there was enough bits & bobs to make do.
At first it was a fitting metaphor.
I hadn’t over-thought it, just remembered to pack the pan. No buttermilk, but there was enough bits & bobs to make do.
At first it was a fitting metaphor.
January 2, 2026 at 2:02 AM
This morning I wanted to begin as I intended to go on: returning to cooking for my loved ones, which the last few years had taken from me.
I hadn’t over-thought it, just remembered to pack the pan. No buttermilk, but there was enough bits & bobs to make do.
At first it was a fitting metaphor.
I hadn’t over-thought it, just remembered to pack the pan. No buttermilk, but there was enough bits & bobs to make do.
At first it was a fitting metaphor.
Taking advantage of rare lull (the children have found a hammock) to noodle a bit with my Christmas present.
I return to recapping my class sessions for my students & those interested in following along in 2026.
See you after class, January 3.
I return to recapping my class sessions for my students & those interested in following along in 2026.
See you after class, January 3.
December 31, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Taking advantage of rare lull (the children have found a hammock) to noodle a bit with my Christmas present.
I return to recapping my class sessions for my students & those interested in following along in 2026.
See you after class, January 3.
I return to recapping my class sessions for my students & those interested in following along in 2026.
See you after class, January 3.
My eldest nephews have gotten into Warhammer, Magic, & brought Wyrmspan to play yesterday.
I am currently useful for one of those things.
I am currently useful for one of those things.
December 31, 2025 at 1:00 AM
My eldest nephews have gotten into Warhammer, Magic, & brought Wyrmspan to play yesterday.
I am currently useful for one of those things.
I am currently useful for one of those things.
Today is Timmymas — each of us got our gifts in MOMA totes matched to our personalities.
Make of this what you will.
Make of this what you will.
December 30, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Today is Timmymas — each of us got our gifts in MOMA totes matched to our personalities.
Make of this what you will.
Make of this what you will.
I’ve been gifting games to my sister, then her growing family for most of our adult lives. My hit rate is pretty high, which I’m proud of.
This is the game group that, at the end of the day, is my first & most enduring audience, showing me all the seasons of play a life contains.
This is the game group that, at the end of the day, is my first & most enduring audience, showing me all the seasons of play a life contains.
December 29, 2025 at 3:02 AM
I’ve been gifting games to my sister, then her growing family for most of our adult lives. My hit rate is pretty high, which I’m proud of.
This is the game group that, at the end of the day, is my first & most enduring audience, showing me all the seasons of play a life contains.
This is the game group that, at the end of the day, is my first & most enduring audience, showing me all the seasons of play a life contains.
It is weirdly warm here, my biceps are sore from ill-advised back-to-back sessions, but the bigger kids are dancing with glee in matching pajamas after our traditional crab cakes & spinach salad. (& their discovery of Clearly Canadian)
I hope tonight is gentle to you, however it finds you.
I hope tonight is gentle to you, however it finds you.
December 25, 2025 at 2:02 AM
It is weirdly warm here, my biceps are sore from ill-advised back-to-back sessions, but the bigger kids are dancing with glee in matching pajamas after our traditional crab cakes & spinach salad. (& their discovery of Clearly Canadian)
I hope tonight is gentle to you, however it finds you.
I hope tonight is gentle to you, however it finds you.
Half off before closing = enough kolaches for our family for at least a few days…
(And one Korean BBQ croissant, because this is the best food city in the country)
(And one Korean BBQ croissant, because this is the best food city in the country)
December 23, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Half off before closing = enough kolaches for our family for at least a few days…
(And one Korean BBQ croissant, because this is the best food city in the country)
(And one Korean BBQ croissant, because this is the best food city in the country)
Yeah I get influenced by the motherfucker too sometimes.
(Though to be fair some of this had been in my to-purchase teaching list)
(Though to be fair some of this had been in my to-purchase teaching list)
December 23, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Yeah I get influenced by the motherfucker too sometimes.
(Though to be fair some of this had been in my to-purchase teaching list)
(Though to be fair some of this had been in my to-purchase teaching list)
I remember when he was just a naked rough little guy!
December 23, 2025 at 6:20 PM
I remember when he was just a naked rough little guy!
The Impossible Wish for Christmas is to find this dress that stopped being made several years ago & the creator closed her shop to move onto other creative projects.
December 23, 2025 at 5:37 PM
The Impossible Wish for Christmas is to find this dress that stopped being made several years ago & the creator closed her shop to move onto other creative projects.