Allison Wyss (But the abyss... It's still in my heart.)
@allisonwyss.bsky.social
I don’t think I’ve been lost. she/her
And a book(!): SPLENDID ANATOMIES (Shirley Jackson Award Finalist, 2022)
https://www.allisonwyss.com
And a book(!): SPLENDID ANATOMIES (Shirley Jackson Award Finalist, 2022)
https://www.allisonwyss.com
Pinned
Power and Vulnerability: A Review of Splendid Anatomies by Allison Wyss
There used to be a horror movie critic in the pink section of the San Francisco Chronicle, Joe Bob Briggs, who would end his reviews with a tally of boobs, bodies, and pints of blood spilled — more be...
bit.ly
I want to post something that I can pin, so I guess I'll share this review of my book (Splendid Anatomies) that I can only read if I want joy to fill my heart such that it overwhelms me and I fall down in intense but exquisite pain.
(But that probably won't happen to you! It's just a good read.)
(But that probably won't happen to you! It's just a good read.)
We’ve actually got the filming part covered. What we want from you is the not abducting and murdering part.
The insult of body cameras as a potential solution.
February 12, 2026 at 3:16 PM
We’ve actually got the filming part covered. What we want from you is the not abducting and murdering part.
The insult of body cameras as a potential solution.
February 12, 2026 at 3:10 PM
The insult of body cameras as a potential solution.
It's not back to normal; it's this new horrifying normal. It's horror that we're forced to normalize to survive it. Such that I do think of light funny things to post sometimes, instead of only about the horrors. And some day, despite the horror, I will. But so far, I can't. I just can't.
I guess folks are sick of hearing about the invasion of my city, especially as some tiny symbolic concessions have been made and the lawmakers might kind of talk about giving the invaders slightly less money. But it's still happening. We are still invaded. They are still abducting my neighbors.
February 10, 2026 at 7:03 PM
It's not back to normal; it's this new horrifying normal. It's horror that we're forced to normalize to survive it. Such that I do think of light funny things to post sometimes, instead of only about the horrors. And some day, despite the horror, I will. But so far, I can't. I just can't.
I guess folks are sick of hearing about the invasion of my city, especially as some tiny symbolic concessions have been made and the lawmakers might kind of talk about giving the invaders slightly less money. But it's still happening. We are still invaded. They are still abducting my neighbors.
February 10, 2026 at 7:00 PM
I guess folks are sick of hearing about the invasion of my city, especially as some tiny symbolic concessions have been made and the lawmakers might kind of talk about giving the invaders slightly less money. But it's still happening. We are still invaded. They are still abducting my neighbors.
I do feel guilty about how bad I want ICE the fuck out of minneapolis, because I don't want them to be anywhere else either. But selfishly, as a start, I really want them the fuck out of minneapolis.
February 9, 2026 at 9:12 PM
I do feel guilty about how bad I want ICE the fuck out of minneapolis, because I don't want them to be anywhere else either. But selfishly, as a start, I really want them the fuck out of minneapolis.
I could use a single day without extra bullshit.
February 5, 2026 at 4:37 PM
I could use a single day without extra bullshit.
Folks say “wait until they get to [city that has tough reputation]—love your enthusiasm, hope you hand them their asses. But it’s not the attitude that’s worked here. It’s not showboating, but thousands of ordinary people at quiet, tedious, grueling, dangerous tasks that no one will ever know about.
February 5, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Folks say “wait until they get to [city that has tough reputation]—love your enthusiasm, hope you hand them their asses. But it’s not the attitude that’s worked here. It’s not showboating, but thousands of ordinary people at quiet, tedious, grueling, dangerous tasks that no one will ever know about.
Block strategy going forward: stagger our complete and total fucking breakdowns.
February 4, 2026 at 3:32 AM
Block strategy going forward: stagger our complete and total fucking breakdowns.
"Fairy Tales and Subversion" is going to run despite my never being in the mood to promote it. It may be an angrier version of my usual fairy tale class, a sadder version, a bit more scattered. But fairy tales ARE great for fighting fascism, if you're interested.
loft.org/classes/fair...
loft.org/classes/fair...
Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion
In both form and content, the fairy tale is an affront to "workshop craft." We can find subversive elements in the old stories we read, and we can subvert oppressive tropes in the new tales we write. ...
loft.org
February 3, 2026 at 5:53 PM
"Fairy Tales and Subversion" is going to run despite my never being in the mood to promote it. It may be an angrier version of my usual fairy tale class, a sadder version, a bit more scattered. But fairy tales ARE great for fighting fascism, if you're interested.
loft.org/classes/fair...
loft.org/classes/fair...
It's fine. I pull my head up to gasp "but my art! but my career!" and I post/whine about that here. But then head back down and do the work. Which is right.
February 2, 2026 at 5:06 PM
It's fine. I pull my head up to gasp "but my art! but my career!" and I post/whine about that here. But then head back down and do the work. Which is right.
Heh. Just occurred to me there must be markets that opened and closed in January and a vanishingly small number of us fighting this round of fascism will be published in them. Then again, short submission windows are always less accessible.
February 2, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Heh. Just occurred to me there must be markets that opened and closed in January and a vanishingly small number of us fighting this round of fascism will be published in them. Then again, short submission windows are always less accessible.
I see these people still writing and I wonder how it's possible. I'll write again if we get through this. Is that enough?
February 1, 2026 at 11:19 PM
I see these people still writing and I wonder how it's possible. I'll write again if we get through this. Is that enough?
I wonder if I’ll ever shitpost again.
January 31, 2026 at 1:17 AM
I wonder if I’ll ever shitpost again.
So if I respond fuck you to a fundraising text right before I text stop does that get through?
January 29, 2026 at 9:26 PM
So if I respond fuck you to a fundraising text right before I text stop does that get through?
It seems like maybe people elsewhere don’t know _that we know_ that this has everything to do with abolition. Some folks know it more deeply than others. But we know.
January 29, 2026 at 4:20 PM
It seems like maybe people elsewhere don’t know _that we know_ that this has everything to do with abolition. Some folks know it more deeply than others. But we know.
Reposted by Allison Wyss (But the abyss... It's still in my heart.)
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
January 26, 2026 at 11:35 PM
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
Not all of the people on corners and in cars with whistles are deeply versed in the struggle for liberation (yet!) or know how to shape the narrative about it, some just woke up today.
January 26, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Not all of the people on corners and in cars with whistles are deeply versed in the struggle for liberation (yet!) or know how to shape the narrative about it, some just woke up today.
It’s like you think you know that no one is coming to save us, but then you have to really know it.
January 24, 2026 at 9:31 PM
It’s like you think you know that no one is coming to save us, but then you have to really know it.
Just to say that so many people are not in those march pictures because even today they’re at every corner with their whistles and their frozen fingers.
January 23, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Just to say that so many people are not in those march pictures because even today they’re at every corner with their whistles and their frozen fingers.
At least they can pay for the war they’re losing to a brigade of glorified crossing guards (complimentary).
January 22, 2026 at 10:08 PM
At least they can pay for the war they’re losing to a brigade of glorified crossing guards (complimentary).
Aren't you supposed to get numb eventually I want to be numb why does every horror have to hurt so much.
January 22, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Aren't you supposed to get numb eventually I want to be numb why does every horror have to hurt so much.
I pretended life was normal when I taught a class today.
January 22, 2026 at 2:34 AM
I pretended life was normal when I taught a class today.
Reposted by Allison Wyss (But the abyss... It's still in my heart.)
The least of my worries is some dork overseas hating me man my neighbors are kidnapping & killing my other neighbors
January 21, 2026 at 3:33 PM
The least of my worries is some dork overseas hating me man my neighbors are kidnapping & killing my other neighbors
I don’t say this because they’ll see you doing it or even because it will work, but because deep in your bones, you will know who you are.
Look folks, you’ll care a lot less if people in other countries think you, the in-your-body individual, are a fascist if you are physically doing the work—the gritty tedious with-your-body work—of making your world less fascist.
January 21, 2026 at 3:45 PM
I don’t say this because they’ll see you doing it or even because it will work, but because deep in your bones, you will know who you are.
Look folks, you’ll care a lot less if people in other countries think you, the in-your-body individual, are a fascist if you are physically doing the work—the gritty tedious with-your-body work—of making your world less fascist.
January 21, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Look folks, you’ll care a lot less if people in other countries think you, the in-your-body individual, are a fascist if you are physically doing the work—the gritty tedious with-your-body work—of making your world less fascist.