A.J. Demas
@ajdemas.bsky.social
Romance novelist, bringing you imaginary history and queer joy. Also known as Alice Degan. (She/her) AI hater.
Buy my books at sextonscottage.com for the cozy yet spicy treat you have been craving! 😉
Buy my books at sextonscottage.com for the cozy yet spicy treat you have been craving! 😉
Reposted by A.J. Demas
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
Reposted by A.J. Demas
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by A.J. Demas
The German holidaye pastryes disappeared mysteriouslye --
Authorityes are prettye sure thei were
stollen
Authorityes are prettye sure thei were
stollen
November 26, 2025 at 2:22 AM
The German holidaye pastryes disappeared mysteriouslye --
Authorityes are prettye sure thei were
stollen
Authorityes are prettye sure thei were
stollen
Reposted by A.J. Demas
TIL, unsplash and istock images forbid any and all AI on their sites as well as letting AI train on them, ahhhh
sometimes it's nice to just scroll those sites and revel in not fucking worrying about getting duped
sometimes it's nice to just scroll those sites and revel in not fucking worrying about getting duped
November 25, 2025 at 1:24 AM
TIL, unsplash and istock images forbid any and all AI on their sites as well as letting AI train on them, ahhhh
sometimes it's nice to just scroll those sites and revel in not fucking worrying about getting duped
sometimes it's nice to just scroll those sites and revel in not fucking worrying about getting duped
Reposted by A.J. Demas
I 100% agree and would add that if you are hosting a holiday event and you do NOT have something festive, creative and delicious for your guests to drink without alcohol in it, you are actually an asshole
don't make them drink tap water while everyone else has bespoke cocktails!
don't make them drink tap water while everyone else has bespoke cocktails!
Just a friendly reminder as we go into the holidays:
Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.
If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.
Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.
If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.
Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
November 24, 2025 at 3:34 AM
I 100% agree and would add that if you are hosting a holiday event and you do NOT have something festive, creative and delicious for your guests to drink without alcohol in it, you are actually an asshole
don't make them drink tap water while everyone else has bespoke cocktails!
don't make them drink tap water while everyone else has bespoke cocktails!
Reposted by A.J. Demas
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
November 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
Reposted by A.J. Demas
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
November 23, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
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DAMN
Part 138 of 200 in historically interesting things to inspire your ttrpg
A cherub carved in malachite, with inset diamond eyes, mounted over a gold ring. United States, late 19th century (damn this looks so evil and cursed lol)
A cherub carved in malachite, with inset diamond eyes, mounted over a gold ring. United States, late 19th century (damn this looks so evil and cursed lol)
November 17, 2025 at 2:22 AM
DAMN
Reposted by A.J. Demas
THREAD. In her exclusive interview in today's Daily Telegraph Magazine, the actor, influencer and designer Philippa Islington-Smythe (pictured) discusses the price of fame, her controversial new perfume, working with Margot Robbie and how becoming a parent changed her perspective on the world...
November 14, 2025 at 12:51 PM
THREAD. In her exclusive interview in today's Daily Telegraph Magazine, the actor, influencer and designer Philippa Islington-Smythe (pictured) discusses the price of fame, her controversial new perfume, working with Margot Robbie and how becoming a parent changed her perspective on the world...
In fact it’s not so much a random stranger as a known sociopath.
If you wouldn’t want a random stranger in the street chatting intimately with your child, don’t give your child an AI toy
November 14, 2025 at 1:10 PM
In fact it’s not so much a random stranger as a known sociopath.
😭
November 14, 2025 at 12:59 PM
😭
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It's Trans Awareness Week, and uh, I'm trans, please perceive my books
There are trans side characters also in this book, and in the next post, there's a trans MC (Kinship and Kindness)
There are trans side characters also in this book, and in the next post, there's a trans MC (Kinship and Kindness)
THE REANIMATOR MYSTERIES series is perfect for lovers of Gothic coziness. There are 4 books with
💀Pushing Daisies x Sleepy Hollow vibes
🫀An autistic necromancer
⚰️His reanimated lover
🪦 Solving mysteries in 1890s NYC
🏳️🌈MM paranormal historical romance
🔗⬇️Available wide!
#romancelandia #booksky 🌈📚
💀Pushing Daisies x Sleepy Hollow vibes
🫀An autistic necromancer
⚰️His reanimated lover
🪦 Solving mysteries in 1890s NYC
🏳️🌈MM paranormal historical romance
🔗⬇️Available wide!
#romancelandia #booksky 🌈📚
November 13, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It's Trans Awareness Week, and uh, I'm trans, please perceive my books
There are trans side characters also in this book, and in the next post, there's a trans MC (Kinship and Kindness)
There are trans side characters also in this book, and in the next post, there's a trans MC (Kinship and Kindness)
Reposted by A.J. Demas
“So you’re saying we should bully companies that use AI?”
“Yes absolutely.”
“Yes absolutely.”
October 20, 2025 at 8:08 PM
“So you’re saying we should bully companies that use AI?”
“Yes absolutely.”
“Yes absolutely.”
PSA for writers: This emoji is described (accurately imo) as “smirking.” Is this what your romance hero is doing? IS it???
November 10, 2025 at 5:36 PM
PSA for writers: This emoji is described (accurately imo) as “smirking.” Is this what your romance hero is doing? IS it???
Lion & Snake resumes tomorrow! Get ready, everyone!
I'm excited to start subjecting my merry band of readers to the continuing adventures of Lill and Vanu, starting next Monday, November 10! You can sign up now to get in on the fun: reamstories.com/ajdemas
November 10, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Lion & Snake resumes tomorrow! Get ready, everyone!
Oooh, I’ve been waiting for this one!
Ursula did super well but she's going to get soft in trad publishing where the editors are nice to her.
Anyway! DAGGERBOUND by T Kingfisher! A delightful romp with mild to moderate Ursula-standard horrors and plenty of old friends I have sorely missed. Out next August, pre-order now!
Anyway! DAGGERBOUND by T Kingfisher! A delightful romp with mild to moderate Ursula-standard horrors and plenty of old friends I have sorely missed. Out next August, pre-order now!
November 9, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Oooh, I’ve been waiting for this one!
Reposted by A.J. Demas
I am once more in that overwhelmed and tender state of “have just finished a book by @ajdemas.bsky.social and i don’t know what to do with myself until the next one is released”. My heart is bursting at the seams yet again, her romances feel like crafted in a lab for me, like a designer drug.
Chapters of Lion & Snake Book 2, The Summer Pass, will go live on Ream, Monday mornings starting November 10! Need to reread Book 1? Follow along in the forum on Ream, where I’ll be posting new notes and extras daily. reamstories.com/ajdemas
November 8, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I am once more in that overwhelmed and tender state of “have just finished a book by @ajdemas.bsky.social and i don’t know what to do with myself until the next one is released”. My heart is bursting at the seams yet again, her romances feel like crafted in a lab for me, like a designer drug.
Reposted by A.J. Demas
Some brave souls choose to face the feare of failure and the terror of a blanke page. Thrugh harde worke and luck thei come back wyth storyes that bringe us mirthe, or horror, or thrilles, or beautye, or wisdom, or delighteful surreal confusioun. Gen A.I. ys nothinge lyke that. Long live artists.
November 8, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Some brave souls choose to face the feare of failure and the terror of a blanke page. Thrugh harde worke and luck thei come back wyth storyes that bringe us mirthe, or horror, or thrilles, or beautye, or wisdom, or delighteful surreal confusioun. Gen A.I. ys nothinge lyke that. Long live artists.
OTOH, if you have a SHOPKEEPER say, “I could sell a lot of these,” that might be worth listening to.
Remember, artists: when people say, “I’d buy a print of this,” they don’t mean it. That sentence itself is just a weird compliment that rarely converts to an actual print sale. It’s like if someone ate a very good hot dog and then said, “I could eat 10,000 of these right now.”
November 6, 2025 at 3:04 PM
OTOH, if you have a SHOPKEEPER say, “I could sell a lot of these,” that might be worth listening to.
Reposted by A.J. Demas
Chapters of Lion & Snake Book 2, The Summer Pass, will go live on Ream, Monday mornings starting November 10! Need to reread Book 1? Follow along in the forum on Ream, where I’ll be posting new notes and extras daily. reamstories.com/ajdemas
November 4, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Chapters of Lion & Snake Book 2, The Summer Pass, will go live on Ream, Monday mornings starting November 10! Need to reread Book 1? Follow along in the forum on Ream, where I’ll be posting new notes and extras daily. reamstories.com/ajdemas
Reposted by A.J. Demas
B216
Knowledge
of animal languages.
Knowledge
of animal languages.
November 5, 2025 at 2:44 PM
B216
Knowledge
of animal languages.
Knowledge
of animal languages.
Congratulations, New York!
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC
November 5, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Congratulations, New York!
Sometimes I see something on here and I’m just filled with love for humanity. 😊
Click through all the quote reposts; it’s so worth it.
Click through all the quote reposts; it’s so worth it.
There are strange things done in the desert sun
By the men who chisel stone;
A mocking hand, a sneer of cold command
Lying separate and alone;
Near the wreck’s decay, sands stretch away
But a traveller still can see
‘Pon this cenotaph an epigraph
“My name is Ozy-man-dee”
By the men who chisel stone;
A mocking hand, a sneer of cold command
Lying separate and alone;
Near the wreck’s decay, sands stretch away
But a traveller still can see
‘Pon this cenotaph an epigraph
“My name is Ozy-man-dee”
On a dark desert highway
Cold command in the sneer
Vast and trunkless legs of stone
Rising from the sand ne-e-ear..
Up ahead in the distance
Saw a pedestal grey
Words graven 'round the base
Thought I saw them say
Welcome to the Hotel Ozymandias
Such a lovely place, such a shattered face...
Cold command in the sneer
Vast and trunkless legs of stone
Rising from the sand ne-e-ear..
Up ahead in the distance
Saw a pedestal grey
Words graven 'round the base
Thought I saw them say
Welcome to the Hotel Ozymandias
Such a lovely place, such a shattered face...
November 4, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Sometimes I see something on here and I’m just filled with love for humanity. 😊
Click through all the quote reposts; it’s so worth it.
Click through all the quote reposts; it’s so worth it.
Reposted by A.J. Demas
I spotted this on Mastodon and I find it horrible, not least for the speed with which this has happened.
November 4, 2025 at 9:56 AM
I spotted this on Mastodon and I find it horrible, not least for the speed with which this has happened.
You don’t put the jinni back in the bottle, you trick it into getting back into the bottle itself to show off. Sheesh.
Coca-Cola's annual Christmas commercial is AI-generated again
The company used even fewer people to make it this year
“We need to keep moving forward and pushing the envelope … The genie is out of the bottle, and you’re not going to put it back in"
(via THR)
The company used even fewer people to make it this year
“We need to keep moving forward and pushing the envelope … The genie is out of the bottle, and you’re not going to put it back in"
(via THR)
November 4, 2025 at 4:07 PM
You don’t put the jinni back in the bottle, you trick it into getting back into the bottle itself to show off. Sheesh.