Sara Norja
@saranorja.bsky.social
Tietokirja: Alkemian historia ☆ PhD in English ☆ Speculative fiction & poetry ☆ Historical linguistics ☆ History of alchemy ☆ Manuscript studies ☆ English/suomi ☆ Queer ☆ She/her ☆
Pinned
Sara Norja
@saranorja.bsky.social
· Nov 21
Hi hello new people! Time for a new intro I think. I'm Sara, a queer, bilingual writer and researcher! I write SFF stories and poetry in Fin & Eng as well as nonfiction in Fin, and I study the history of English (mainly through alchemical manuscript texts).
Reposted by Sara Norja
Thread on how to detect ai in that viral dog video
Yeah, I mean, I'm critical of any video nowadays that is trying to elicit an emotional response, especially when it's asking for subs at the end. It's weird that all the people seem to end up with the dog they want. And shelters are overflowing, where are the rooms full of people wanting to adopt?
December 7, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Thread on how to detect ai in that viral dog video
Reposted by Sara Norja
It is an absolutely delightful irony that the richest man in the world is universally acknowledged to be a huge fucking loser who not a single living person envies in any way at all
Remember folks: if you have any small amount of artistic talent, any sex appeal, or can make your friends laugh, the richest man on earth is crying screaming throwing up because he can’t be you.
December 7, 2025 at 12:23 AM
It is an absolutely delightful irony that the richest man in the world is universally acknowledged to be a huge fucking loser who not a single living person envies in any way at all
Reposted by Sara Norja
After much research and development I have made an offline version of ChatGPT.
Now you can save water and electricity while navel-gazing, and carry one of the world's most powerfully annoying AI chatbots in your pocket.
Now you can save water and electricity while navel-gazing, and carry one of the world's most powerfully annoying AI chatbots in your pocket.
December 5, 2025 at 4:03 PM
After much research and development I have made an offline version of ChatGPT.
Now you can save water and electricity while navel-gazing, and carry one of the world's most powerfully annoying AI chatbots in your pocket.
Now you can save water and electricity while navel-gazing, and carry one of the world's most powerfully annoying AI chatbots in your pocket.
Reposted by Sara Norja
My org @fightforthefuture.org has been “de-googling” for the last year.
We’re totally off Google suite, Google docs, Drive, Calendar.
We’re using Signal and Element for chat, Nextcloud for docs, etc
Planning to publish a “how to” guide for other nonprofits and activist groups soonish.
We’re totally off Google suite, Google docs, Drive, Calendar.
We’re using Signal and Element for chat, Nextcloud for docs, etc
Planning to publish a “how to” guide for other nonprofits and activist groups soonish.
December 6, 2025 at 7:53 PM
My org @fightforthefuture.org has been “de-googling” for the last year.
We’re totally off Google suite, Google docs, Drive, Calendar.
We’re using Signal and Element for chat, Nextcloud for docs, etc
Planning to publish a “how to” guide for other nonprofits and activist groups soonish.
We’re totally off Google suite, Google docs, Drive, Calendar.
We’re using Signal and Element for chat, Nextcloud for docs, etc
Planning to publish a “how to” guide for other nonprofits and activist groups soonish.
Reposted by Sara Norja
Co-signed
I'm so serious that we should all go invade dreamwidth and make accounts and communities and start live journaling again
December 6, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Co-signed
Reposted by Sara Norja
read gormenghast
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Complete Gormenghast Novels
Check out The Complete Gormenghast Novels - <b>"A gorgeous, volcanic eruption . . . a work of extraordinary imagination" (<i>The New Yorker</i>), <i>The Gormenghast Novels</i> collects Mervyn Peake's ...
bookshop.org
December 6, 2025 at 7:33 PM
read gormenghast
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Reposted by Sara Norja
In poking around 17th century paintings I discovered that the pop culture image of Pilgrims is inaccurate.
Shocking, I know.
🧵
Shocking, I know.
🧵
December 6, 2025 at 7:13 PM
In poking around 17th century paintings I discovered that the pop culture image of Pilgrims is inaccurate.
Shocking, I know.
🧵
Shocking, I know.
🧵
Reposted by Sara Norja
Oh damn, Pantone can paint a room but can’t read one
December 4, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Oh damn, Pantone can paint a room but can’t read one
Reposted by Sara Norja
This is going to sound conspiratorial, but it is serves the LLM techbros for the 'em-dash = AI' lay-belief to persist.
While em-dashes are diagnostically unreliable, it undermines the legitimacy of real writing/scholarship. And when real can't be discriminated from false, the false can thrive.
While em-dashes are diagnostically unreliable, it undermines the legitimacy of real writing/scholarship. And when real can't be discriminated from false, the false can thrive.
I don't doubt this—but it does bug me that em-dashes are used as a heuristic to spot LLM-generated text.
Fortunately I can point to my 2020 doctoral thesis and show that I was overusing and abusing ems well before el el ems.
Fortunately I can point to my 2020 doctoral thesis and show that I was overusing and abusing ems well before el el ems.
The US National Security Strategy seems to be—at least in part—written/edited by AI.
There are hallmark AI em dashes in nearly every other paragraph — shocking but unsurprising.
There are hallmark AI em dashes in nearly every other paragraph — shocking but unsurprising.
December 5, 2025 at 8:48 AM
This is going to sound conspiratorial, but it is serves the LLM techbros for the 'em-dash = AI' lay-belief to persist.
While em-dashes are diagnostically unreliable, it undermines the legitimacy of real writing/scholarship. And when real can't be discriminated from false, the false can thrive.
While em-dashes are diagnostically unreliable, it undermines the legitimacy of real writing/scholarship. And when real can't be discriminated from false, the false can thrive.
Reposted by Sara Norja
ICYMI! Two of the greats chatting about empires etc in their novels.
I am SO EXCITED to share this Fifth Saturday extra: @annleckie.com and @byzantienne.bsky.social in conversation about questions of empire and imperialism in their respective novels.
Read it now: www.speculativeinsight.com/extras/leckie-and-martine
Read it now: www.speculativeinsight.com/extras/leckie-and-martine
Ann Leckie and Arkady Martine: in conversation — Speculative Insight
Ann Leckie and Arkady Martine have both written novels that focus on empires, imperialism, and colonialism, and how people react to and work within those structures. I asked them to chat with me, a...
www.speculativeinsight.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:52 AM
ICYMI! Two of the greats chatting about empires etc in their novels.
Reposted by Sara Norja
My new Genre Grapevine is an update on both the Anthropic AI settlement and other genAI class action lawsuits filed by authors. While I'm not happy with the Anthropic settlement, I've come to see it as merely the first battle in a much larger war.
www.patreon.com/posts/144817...
www.patreon.com/posts/144817...
Genre Grapevine Update on AI Class Action Lawsuits | Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine
Get more from Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
My new Genre Grapevine is an update on both the Anthropic AI settlement and other genAI class action lawsuits filed by authors. While I'm not happy with the Anthropic settlement, I've come to see it as merely the first battle in a much larger war.
www.patreon.com/posts/144817...
www.patreon.com/posts/144817...
Reposted by Sara Norja
Today Psychopomp & Circumstance hits UK shelves!
A Southern Gothic with family secrets, Gullah funeral traditions, a beautifully strange house & a sprinkling of magic. In hardcover, eBook, & audio.
Thank you to the phenomenal @csecooney.bsky.social for these lovely words.
#booksky #Blackbooksky
A Southern Gothic with family secrets, Gullah funeral traditions, a beautifully strange house & a sprinkling of magic. In hardcover, eBook, & audio.
Thank you to the phenomenal @csecooney.bsky.social for these lovely words.
#booksky #Blackbooksky
November 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Today Psychopomp & Circumstance hits UK shelves!
A Southern Gothic with family secrets, Gullah funeral traditions, a beautifully strange house & a sprinkling of magic. In hardcover, eBook, & audio.
Thank you to the phenomenal @csecooney.bsky.social for these lovely words.
#booksky #Blackbooksky
A Southern Gothic with family secrets, Gullah funeral traditions, a beautifully strange house & a sprinkling of magic. In hardcover, eBook, & audio.
Thank you to the phenomenal @csecooney.bsky.social for these lovely words.
#booksky #Blackbooksky
Reposted by Sara Norja
Thrilled to post that PSYCHOPOMP & CIRCUMSTANCE has made NPR's list of Books We Love!
It's one of over 300 books handpicked by NPR staffers and trusted critics. See the full list here:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
It's one of over 300 books handpicked by NPR staffers and trusted critics. See the full list here:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
Books We Love
Here are 380+ great reads from 2025 handpicked just for you by NPR staffers and trusted critics.
apps.npr.org
November 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Thrilled to post that PSYCHOPOMP & CIRCUMSTANCE has made NPR's list of Books We Love!
It's one of over 300 books handpicked by NPR staffers and trusted critics. See the full list here:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
It's one of over 300 books handpicked by NPR staffers and trusted critics. See the full list here:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
Reposted by Sara Norja
This has brought me great joy.
Netsuke of a Rat Grasping a Soybean Pod, 19th century Japan
November 26, 2025 at 6:56 PM
This has brought me great joy.
Reposted by Sara Norja
TELL ME YOUR 🏳️🌈QUEER SHORT SFF🏳️🌈 OUT IN OCTOBER 2025!!! Originals only pls, up to novella in length, indie okay. Just reply with the author, title, and a link to read and/or buy and I'll get them on the list. Here's September's list for context & more info: www.patreon.com/posts/some-q...
Some Queer Short SFF - September 2025 | Charles Payseur
Get more from Charles Payseur on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:43 PM
TELL ME YOUR 🏳️🌈QUEER SHORT SFF🏳️🌈 OUT IN OCTOBER 2025!!! Originals only pls, up to novella in length, indie okay. Just reply with the author, title, and a link to read and/or buy and I'll get them on the list. Here's September's list for context & more info: www.patreon.com/posts/some-q...
Reposted by Sara Norja
This. I've been working with "machine learning" since before the current AI-fever and it's an invaluable tool in science and engineering.
LLMs and GenAI are being misused in a criminally negligent way and using misplaced legitimacy to do it, and that misdirect cannot be allowed to continue.
LLMs and GenAI are being misused in a criminally negligent way and using misplaced legitimacy to do it, and that misdirect cannot be allowed to continue.
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 23, 2025 at 1:47 PM
This. I've been working with "machine learning" since before the current AI-fever and it's an invaluable tool in science and engineering.
LLMs and GenAI are being misused in a criminally negligent way and using misplaced legitimacy to do it, and that misdirect cannot be allowed to continue.
LLMs and GenAI are being misused in a criminally negligent way and using misplaced legitimacy to do it, and that misdirect cannot be allowed to continue.
I just read this. Utterly stunning as a work of prose, and heartbreaking.
Today's Love Letter is a stunning meditation on birdwatching and the loss of a friendship, from the one and only @amalelmohtar.com
stone-soup.ghost.io/love-letter-...
stone-soup.ghost.io/love-letter-...
Why I Need the Birds
A Love Letters Feature by Amal El-Mohtar - November 2025
stone-soup.ghost.io
November 26, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I just read this. Utterly stunning as a work of prose, and heartbreaking.
Reposted by Sara Norja
Please help @lpkindred.bsky.social stay in school in these difficult times. He's a great person who's had a rough go and deserves all the good things.
www.gofundme.com/f/keep-lp-in...
www.gofundme.com/f/keep-lp-in...
Donate to Keep LP in School Spring 2026, organized by LP Kindred
Hey y'all,
I'm LP Kindred, a Chicagoan-Angeleno writer/editor/teaching artist/culture work… LP Kindred needs your support for Keep LP in School Spring 2026
www.gofundme.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Please help @lpkindred.bsky.social stay in school in these difficult times. He's a great person who's had a rough go and deserves all the good things.
www.gofundme.com/f/keep-lp-in...
www.gofundme.com/f/keep-lp-in...
Reposted by Sara Norja
Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, but @saranorja.bsky.social and I just ordered a million nematodes
November 25, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, but @saranorja.bsky.social and I just ordered a million nematodes
Reposted by Sara Norja
You might not think you needed to see Kate Bush dressed as a bat today, but you were wrong.
November 22, 2025 at 6:46 PM
You might not think you needed to see Kate Bush dressed as a bat today, but you were wrong.
Reposted by Sara Norja
The reality for speculative fiction zines and publishers is pretty damn terrible right now. I know many of us are struggling to keep it together, and they are too.
Read this, mourn what we lost, and, as much as you can, support the zines and publishers you love.
Read this, mourn what we lost, and, as much as you can, support the zines and publishers you love.
a post about Psychopomp in 2026
please read and share
thank you very much
please read and share
thank you very much
what's next for Psychopomp - PSYCHOPOMP.COM
what to expect from Psychopomp (and The Deadlands and Fantasy Magazine) in 2026.
psychopomp.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:56 PM
The reality for speculative fiction zines and publishers is pretty damn terrible right now. I know many of us are struggling to keep it together, and they are too.
Read this, mourn what we lost, and, as much as you can, support the zines and publishers you love.
Read this, mourn what we lost, and, as much as you can, support the zines and publishers you love.
Reposted by Sara Norja
Airstrikes don’t “test” a ceasefire. They break a ceasefire. Language isn’t that hard, media. Neither is professionalism and bravery.
BREAKING: At least 24 people are dead and 54 wounded after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, testing the ceasefire that began in October, officials say.
Israel launches strikes in Gaza ceasefire's latest test as hospitals say 20 killed
Israel's military says it has launched new airstrikes against Hamas militants in Gaza, testing the ceasefire that began on October 10.
bit.ly
November 22, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Airstrikes don’t “test” a ceasefire. They break a ceasefire. Language isn’t that hard, media. Neither is professionalism and bravery.
Reposted by Sara Norja
With the disappointing progress at Cop30, evergreen reminder it isn't "we" or "humanity" failing to address the climate crisis — oil-producing nations and fossil fuel interests are actively obstructing action, despite heroic efforts by developing nations, Indigenous peoples, and many, many others.
End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff
Wealthy countries should triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final deal
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:45 PM
With the disappointing progress at Cop30, evergreen reminder it isn't "we" or "humanity" failing to address the climate crisis — oil-producing nations and fossil fuel interests are actively obstructing action, despite heroic efforts by developing nations, Indigenous peoples, and many, many others.
Reposted by Sara Norja
Polycules? Is that some obscure hero from Greek mythology?
October 24, 2023 at 3:20 PM
Polycules? Is that some obscure hero from Greek mythology?
Reposted by Sara Norja
After two weeks of #COP30 negotiations, countries agreed to BEGIN DISCUSSIONS on fossil fuel phase out. And as the article says, "they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries."
THIS is the problem with requiring unanimous decisions.
THIS is the problem with requiring unanimous decisions.
End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff
Wealthy countries agree to triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final deal
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:52 PM
After two weeks of #COP30 negotiations, countries agreed to BEGIN DISCUSSIONS on fossil fuel phase out. And as the article says, "they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries."
THIS is the problem with requiring unanimous decisions.
THIS is the problem with requiring unanimous decisions.