iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

The view from last night. Cape Cod has still got it. Next stop: the Viable Paradise workshop!

A cozy harbor over which Helios is airing out his perineum. What a warm glow from that sunset. Nobody would ever describe that in a weird way.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It's International Lesbian Day! Love sharing a rainbow with y'all.

Bugs Bunny in a tuxedo says, "i wish all LESBIANS a very OTHER LESBIANS."

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Beelzebub has the devil for a cyborg!

The band Queen posing in darkness on the iconic cover of the single for Bohemian Rhapsody.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Reader, my main character is The Horrors.

Shesheshen grins at you, her eyes out of frame.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

It's October 3rd! The second most important day of the year for Full Metal Alchemist fans. The most important? Naturally, Father's Day.

A giant doggy licking precious little girl Nina Tucker, who is giggling because nothing bad will ever happen to her.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

"Upper Middle Class is taking on a negative connotation, so we're rebranding it as..."

Listing for a Broadway seat where the seat's class is called "Mid Premium."

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Oh we're doing Romance novel discourse again?

Fred from Scooby Doo unmasks a ghost in two panels. In the first, the masked ghost is, "HERE'S WHY THIS GENRE I HATE IS BAD." In the second, the ghost is unmasked to turn out to be, "I HAVEN'T READ OF IT BUT"

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

George Saunders on AI: "Why surrender our agency (that amazing ability we have to reach across time and space, with our strange, idiosyncratic phenomenon, and land within the sensibility of another human being) to something that, by its very design, pushes the individual sensibility aside?"

Has your relationship to AI changed since it was first released as a widely accessible consumer product?

No. Very early on, I did that thing where I asked AI to generate some text in my voice, and the result was so dispiriting—so dull and literal—that I lost interest. I don’t have any AI products and don’t want any. I would, in fact, pay not to have them and would pay extra to stop them from sneakily titrating themselves into existing products, like, for example, probably, the likely forthcoming AI fork that assesses your angle of food-entry and tells you how efficiently you’re eating compared to others in your demographic and so on.

How does George Saunders—the person, not the writer—use AI day to day?

He tries to avoid it, although he sometimes screws up by forgetting to add “- ai” in his searches. I don’t consider myself qualified to talk about the use of AI in medicine or science or any of that. But in writing I find it completely unappealing.

Have you spent time trying to write or revise with AI? Is there an experiment that would be interesting enough to try?

I have not. Not for a second. To me, this whole idea of using AI to write is . . . anathema. A thing to be most radically avoided.

Writing is the most precious way one person can communicate their essence to another person. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get better at making myself present in my writing. Why would I want to sacrifice even one iota of that? Not even in an email and certainly not in a short story or novel.

Who are we ceding our authority to, exactly, when we let AI write for us? And why? Why surrender our agency (that amazing ability we have to reach across time and space, with our strange, idiosyncratic phenomenon, and land within the sensibility of another human being) to something that, by its very design, pushes the individual sensibility aside? And in the name of . . . what, exactly? Ease, I guess? Efficiency? The person who chooses to write with AI has also sacrificed, from the start, the opportunity of experiencing difficulty, of struggling to say what he wants to say, of making himself evident in his prose, of trying to find out what he believes. By this, he sacrifices a chance to know himself and his mind better. To me, that’s a shame. And it’s dangerous, because, as we are now finding out, it affects the brain and lessens our capabilities. Thanks, but no thanks, get thee behind me, etc.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just nine months ago we weren't sure if I'd make it. In that sickness, I feared I'd completely lost the writing spark. Well, I lived. And this new thing I'm working on is over 70,000 words. I love these characters and I can't wait for their next mistakes.

The stats for a Scrivener document, including that the document is currently 71,265 words long.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

excuse ME? Onimusha's collectible is saving adorable lion dogs??

Musashi rubbing the belly of a joyous white lion dog pup.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The MNF vibes have never been better.

[–] paultheschmoop, JAGUARS FAN, [+1] 701 points an hour ago

Jalen Hurts just got outdueled by a dude who will be his offensive coordinator next year

[–] RockyNonce, EAGLES FAN, [+1] 194 points an hour ago

I’m upvoting this because it’s true not because it’s funny

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Just finishing watching La Haine (1995) for the first time. I love the gap it holds between performative masculinity and the terror of actual violence. The ending shook me! Also this guy has to be the greatest character to ever only exist for three minutes in a movie.

A very short elderly man with hair that has long since lost its war wit baldness, dressed in a plaid sports coat, v-neck sweater, tie, and plaid buttondown. It's a style choice. But him dressing in so many layers hits different two minutes later when he talks about his exile in Siberia.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

don't worry, a man of culture has arrived

THE 100 BEST TV SHOWS OF THE 21st CENTURY
My Top Shows
Poster for Fleabag
Fleabag
Poster for Kingdom (South Korea)
Kingdom (South Korea)
Poster for Reservation Dogs
Reservation Dogs
Poster for Gravity Falls
Gravity Falls
Poster for Sharp Objects
Sharp Objects
Poster for Archer
Archer
Poster for Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul
Poster for Lost
Lost
Poster for Adventure Time
Adventure Time
Poster for Monster (Japan)
Monster (Japan)

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

how would you describe your social media reach? mine:

A cute anime girl clutches her fists to her chest and stares at you with stars in her eyes. She exclaims, "I've found a weirdo!"

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Shouldn't it be Batman Night? Anyway, happy Batman Day.

A city street at the pinkest part of dusk. A dude in the fanciest coat you've ever seen is hanging out with his boyfriend in leather pants. The sweet coat dude turns to see Batman strolling down the street, cape flapping fabulously in the breeze. The coat dude flirts, "Hiya, Batman. Nice night for a stroll." Batman ain't DTF, though, so he simply walks past, while greeting them with a, "Gentlemen."

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

My historically accurate version of the Odyssey did not dominate the box office as I hoped.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Oh! Well then you forgot one. :D

Black symbiotic goo crawls up Spider-Man's arm.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Brought my mom to the pharmacy and got our vaccinations today! Specifically for flu and COVID. Our arms barely even feel sore, and we've got minimal side effects. It's a nice way to get ready for a busy autumn.

John smiling with his sleeve rolled up to reveal two bandaids on his bicep. One is about to go rogue and fall off.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

How I feel as a professional writer.

Sluggo and Nancy are selling their comics are two tables. Sluggo looks nervous. His sign says "Comics." Nancy looks confident. He sign says "better comics."

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

i have waited nineteen years to post this

A fake CNN screenshot of Optimus Prime at a POTUS podium, gesturing dramatically while giving a speech on TV. The headline reads, "OPTIMUS PRIME WINS ELECTION! VOWS TO END DECEPTICON THREAT. HUNT THEM DOWN WHEREVER THEY HIDE."

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! It was a day of profound contemplation.

John in a black jacket, looking contemplative, with a blue dragon plushie on his shoulders.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Huh! Got tagged by a local indie store, where The Dragon Has Some Complaints hit as a bestseller for August. I'm so proud of all his deranged heads. (Also chuffed to see Once and Future Witches spiking like that--it's my favorite Harrow book!)

August 2026 Best-Sellers: Fiction. 19 books are listed. 4 is Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. 14 is The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

My morning's work. A nice sunny day at the Red Cross!

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

The End of Oak Street understands the real two genders: Melee and Ranged.

Ewan McGregor with a sledgehammer and Anne Hathaway with a shotgun tentatively enter your bedroom like they want to scold you for looking at porn but also they super don't want to see what's on your screen.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Loving the first taste of Mortal Shell 2. Its grim Fantasy world, interweaving linear paths, and nail-biting combat makes it feel like the best heir to Dark Souls 3 we've gotten.

A character screen where the character is an iron skeleton with a zweihander slung over their shoulder. Cracks of light pour in from beyond the cave. The screen lets you change masks, and the user has put a flower crown on the skeleton's head.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

You: I hope this email finds you well. Me:

A guy in a black t-shirt flinching with his entire body like he's just been shot, except somebody just tossed a plastic bladeless knife at his chest. God knows how he'd handle a spork.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I have not laughed this hard in a while. I swear, GenAI spam has gotten *worse*.

The opening of an email, which reads, "Dear John Wiswell, I'm Paulo Coelho, a book marketer and author."

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Possibly the greatest event of my life happened in Albany. An amazing kid brought fan art of all three of my books. GAZE UPON THE GLORY.

A pencil drawing of Garrodigh the dragon from The Dragon Has Some Complaints. Bottommhead is madly yelling "Haha!" The drawing includes the severed neck of the fourth head, Lefty, and a lighter pencil outline suggests Lefty's ghost is here. Lefty's ghost is saying, "Man, I'm dead."

A pencil drawing of Shesheshen from Someone You Can Build A Nest In, with massive googly eyes, a witch's hat, and numerous tentacles.

A pencil drawing of a lion asking, "What about me?" A message at the top reads: "WHO PUT THE GLAD! in gladiator. Hercules."

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

9) Like a lot of viewers, I did not think the climax worked. If you read the poem, you know this was almost tame versus what Homer envisioned. But that’s not my gripe. I'll be vague, but spoiler-ish things ahead.

Vase art of two ladies absolutely getting off watching Odysseus draw his bow and point it off-screen, probably at someone who deserves it.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

7) The underworld scene is fabulous. Both the most visually striking and emotionally moving version of this I can remember seeing adapted. Without spoiling much, I’ll say Elliot Page is particularly great in it. You know what Nolan is setting up in this scene, and you crave it.

Matt Damon's Odysseus leads his armored men ashore in the darkest sliver of twilight, the sky overcast, the fire they carry barely casting any illumination. They have left our world. We are in the place of souls and shades.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

4) Let’s not move on from Circe so fast, though! Samantha Morton brings quiet power to the role, equally compelling when she's whispering or doing wild magic. She gives one of my favorite performances in the entire movie, elevating basically every line she has.

Samantha Morton as Circe, hands folded over her chin, deep in thought. Behind her are Greek soldiers, standing as though ready to march to another war.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

3) Related to that point: the body horror on Circe’s island is up there with An American Werewolf in London. As unsettling as any effects director could ever dream of! The whole theater was squirming.

A painting of Circe hanging out on the front of her abode with oodles of pigs that all want her attention for some reason!

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

2) Nolan is not a Horror director, but he understands cinematic monstrosity on a superlative level. The cyclops scenes felt like something otherworldly really had entered the frame. And that one scene felt directly summoning Francisco de Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son.

The cyclops Polyphemos holding a Greek soldier like a toy, staring into the orange light of the cave's fire, with an animal curiosity. He's about to take a biiiiig bite of his dinner.

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