Rika⁷
@commanderrika.blacksky.app
Writer+Illustrator. She/Her.
💜 Blackness 💜 Books 💜 BTS 💜
Stories in Lightspeed, FIYAH, Strange Horizons, Fantasy, and Apparitions
Portfolio: commanderrika.com
Commissions OPEN: marikawrites589@gmail.com
💜 Blackness 💜 Books 💜 BTS 💜
Stories in Lightspeed, FIYAH, Strange Horizons, Fantasy, and Apparitions
Portfolio: commanderrika.com
Commissions OPEN: marikawrites589@gmail.com
Pinned
Rika⁷
@commanderrika.blacksky.app
· Sep 1
What takes you out of time? And what is sweet enough to bring you back into it again? Read Marika Bailey's "Gifted and Talented" today and consider what moves you so that you could move others:
Gifted and Talented - Small Wonders
Being beyond time is a revolution against creation most bodies aren’t built to bear. It’ll kill you, that dark matter time.
smallwondersmag.com
Hi! I have a story out in Small Wonders today! This is a little horny gremlin of a tale and I hope you take a chance on it, if you're into words and whatnot.
Reposted by Rika⁷
No literary agent who is going to get you a deal is going to charge you upfront. They make a percentage. That is how it works.
If someone says otherwise or tries to "upsell" you, they are scammers.
If someone says otherwise or tries to "upsell" you, they are scammers.
Ok, since this has come up four times in the last three days:
REPUTABLE LITERARY AGENTS WILL NOT CHARGE YOU MONEY.
IF A LITERARY AGENT WANTS TO CHARGE YOU FOR AN "EXPEDITED ACCESS PACKAGE" THIS IS A SCAM.
REPUTABLE LITERARY AGENTS WILL NOT CHARGE YOU MONEY.
IF A LITERARY AGENT WANTS TO CHARGE YOU FOR AN "EXPEDITED ACCESS PACKAGE" THIS IS A SCAM.
December 26, 2025 at 5:06 PM
No literary agent who is going to get you a deal is going to charge you upfront. They make a percentage. That is how it works.
If someone says otherwise or tries to "upsell" you, they are scammers.
If someone says otherwise or tries to "upsell" you, they are scammers.
Reposted by Rika⁷
This is related to the idea that if white people don't have 100% of high-prestige jobs, awards, recognition etc it's evidence of discrimination against whiteness. It's where "great replacement" logic leads you. bsky.app/profile/donm...
I see this on the right - the idea that the existence of foreign academic staff and faculty are evidence of discrimination against natives. It's not discrimination, its selection: academia is a global marketplace, the US is the biggest center of that market. So yes, some foreign talent will win.
Striking nativist editorializing by the federal judge who just upheld the $100,000 tax on high-skill immigrants.
She opines that it’s “troubling” that universities hire talent from abroad at all, instead of only native grads.
Then admits (!) that opinion is irrelevant (So why write it? Venting?)
She opines that it’s “troubling” that universities hire talent from abroad at all, instead of only native grads.
Then admits (!) that opinion is irrelevant (So why write it? Venting?)
December 26, 2025 at 6:00 PM
This is related to the idea that if white people don't have 100% of high-prestige jobs, awards, recognition etc it's evidence of discrimination against whiteness. It's where "great replacement" logic leads you. bsky.app/profile/donm...
Reposted by Rika⁷
Back in June, I tagged along with the legendary Mira Nair for an afternoon canvass in Richmond Hill. Production delays (by yours truly) kept this from coming out during the election, but we wanted to share this one with you for the holidays. I hope you enjoy it - this is one of my favorites.
In less than a week, I will be sworn in as the next mayor of New York City. It was only possible because of the more than 100,000 people who volunteered on our campaign. Here’s a story about one of them, my mother.
December 26, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Back in June, I tagged along with the legendary Mira Nair for an afternoon canvass in Richmond Hill. Production delays (by yours truly) kept this from coming out during the election, but we wanted to share this one with you for the holidays. I hope you enjoy it - this is one of my favorites.
Reposted by Rika⁷
BYOF is bring your own fisticuffs if they try to pull this.
Y’all. I just saw a video on IG of a sista talking about a brotha who asked her on a date. He had planned a picnic for them. Which she thought was a cute idea until she got a text from him that told her to BYOF- bring your own food.
Man. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Man. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
December 26, 2025 at 7:08 PM
BYOF is bring your own fisticuffs if they try to pull this.
Reposted by Rika⁷
every time i try to explain how omnipresent the sirens were in april 2020 i start to doubt my own memory
This is also why I think New Yorkers have a different view on the pandemic than other people. We remember what March and April 2020 was like, we were the part of the country that got to witness how bad it could be. I remember the field hospital and the trucks full of bodies. I remember the sirens.
December 26, 2025 at 7:40 PM
every time i try to explain how omnipresent the sirens were in april 2020 i start to doubt my own memory
Reposted by Rika⁷
Holding his hand while I say “If you have nothing interesting to say about your own work, regardless of demographics, your work will not interest anyone else.”
This shit is made up, actually
December 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Holding his hand while I say “If you have nothing interesting to say about your own work, regardless of demographics, your work will not interest anyone else.”
Reposted by Rika⁷
kills me when white men aren't very popular and they're like "wow?? discrimination??" buddy i'm so sorry but you just have a bad personality :( we all thought you knew :(
This shit is made up, actually
December 26, 2025 at 8:19 PM
kills me when white men aren't very popular and they're like "wow?? discrimination??" buddy i'm so sorry but you just have a bad personality :( we all thought you knew :(
Reposted by Rika⁷
There is nothing more pathetic than a white person, especially a straight white man, especially in America, who genuinely believes he is having a harder time doing literally anything because he is a white dude. That should be an unfunny reoccurring character on SNL, not an actual person who exists.
December 26, 2025 at 5:46 PM
There is nothing more pathetic than a white person, especially a straight white man, especially in America, who genuinely believes he is having a harder time doing literally anything because he is a white dude. That should be an unfunny reoccurring character on SNL, not an actual person who exists.
Reposted by Rika⁷
this is exactly how erika kirk showed up at that man's funeral
Could this be the last time Travis Kelce is introduced at Arrowhead Stadium?
December 26, 2025 at 7:36 PM
this is exactly how erika kirk showed up at that man's funeral
Reposted by Rika⁷
December 26, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Reposted by Rika⁷
finally finalized the inks at least haha
December 26, 2025 at 4:33 AM
finally finalized the inks at least haha
Reposted by Rika⁷
TL;DR AI shills don’t know or care why people connect with art. Their experience of art is as little posts scrolling by with numbers affixed to them, and they think that’s all there is. Sad, clueless dilettantes at life.
There’s lot to be said about how little AI shills know about art, but not enough is said about how little they think of fandom, of community, of all the people who bring the art to each other. That’s why it’s never gonna happen like they want. They’ll never have the adulation they crave.
December 25, 2025 at 10:51 PM
TL;DR AI shills don’t know or care why people connect with art. Their experience of art is as little posts scrolling by with numbers affixed to them, and they think that’s all there is. Sad, clueless dilettantes at life.
Reposted by Rika⁷
"Ambitious white men in their thirties have not seen much, if any, decline over this period. Their overall employment is up...Educational attainment is up. There may be 1-2% of white men who dipped out of top 10% of personal earnings, though white men continue to be vastly over-represented there."
Incredible what you find when you start looking for data on the "white men can't get jobs anymore" phenomenon
www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2025/12/17/w...
www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2025/12/17/w...
What Does the Census Data Say About “The Lost Generation”
Savage appears wrong, but the reality is potentially bleaker.
www.peoplespolicyproject.org
December 26, 2025 at 12:32 AM
"Ambitious white men in their thirties have not seen much, if any, decline over this period. Their overall employment is up...Educational attainment is up. There may be 1-2% of white men who dipped out of top 10% of personal earnings, though white men continue to be vastly over-represented there."
Reposted by Rika⁷
"Alberto" has been harvesting mushrooms at Monterey Mushrooms for almost a decade under a UFW contract. He says the union contracts guarantees workers many important things including paid vacation days and holidays like Christmas and New Years. #WeFeedYou
December 25, 2025 at 9:00 PM
"Alberto" has been harvesting mushrooms at Monterey Mushrooms for almost a decade under a UFW contract. He says the union contracts guarantees workers many important things including paid vacation days and holidays like Christmas and New Years. #WeFeedYou
Reposted by Rika⁷
be careful who you invite to your holiday party!!!
December 25, 2025 at 9:36 PM
be careful who you invite to your holiday party!!!
Reposted by Rika⁷
"I fought for equality" says the person who all of a sudden gets leery when the time comes to actually take material steps to rectify the injustices that they claim to have been combatting.
These people have never been as slick as they believe themselves to be.
These people have never been as slick as they believe themselves to be.
December 25, 2025 at 5:35 PM
"I fought for equality" says the person who all of a sudden gets leery when the time comes to actually take material steps to rectify the injustices that they claim to have been combatting.
These people have never been as slick as they believe themselves to be.
These people have never been as slick as they believe themselves to be.
Reposted by Rika⁷
The reason I have a particular kind of venom for those folks is that - unlike brazen reactionaries - they love to pat themselves on the back for their purported commitments to egalitarian causes. But that egalitarianism somehow becomes a touch more complicated when it involves Black communities.
1.
Theda Skocpol: "Universities ... went overboard with trying to boost some groups ... I'm a big believer in equality. I fought for equality ... But I believe in actual equality, applying the same standards to everyone, not using special quotas or excuses for particular groups."
Discuss.
Discuss.
December 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
The reason I have a particular kind of venom for those folks is that - unlike brazen reactionaries - they love to pat themselves on the back for their purported commitments to egalitarian causes. But that egalitarianism somehow becomes a touch more complicated when it involves Black communities.
Reposted by Rika⁷
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
🎶 I don’t want a lot for Christmas
I just want one thing from you.
For that A.I. bubble to burst,
And all the tech bros get sued. 🎶
🎄
I just want one thing from you.
For that A.I. bubble to burst,
And all the tech bros get sued. 🎶
🎄
December 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Reposted by Rika⁷
oh boy an influx of new followers?! 🤩 hello hiii ❤️
December 25, 2025 at 12:47 AM
oh boy an influx of new followers?! 🤩 hello hiii ❤️
Reposted by Rika⁷
Only on the darkest arctic nights can you encounter this Primordial Pokémon. It manifests as aurora and ice, gently towering over the pole's frigid denizens...
✨❄️🧊
(There are 12 kinds of Pokémon in this #art! Can you find 'em all? Some are well hidden. Have fun & don't give away answers! 💕)
✨❄️🧊
(There are 12 kinds of Pokémon in this #art! Can you find 'em all? Some are well hidden. Have fun & don't give away answers! 💕)
June 26, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Only on the darkest arctic nights can you encounter this Primordial Pokémon. It manifests as aurora and ice, gently towering over the pole's frigid denizens...
✨❄️🧊
(There are 12 kinds of Pokémon in this #art! Can you find 'em all? Some are well hidden. Have fun & don't give away answers! 💕)
✨❄️🧊
(There are 12 kinds of Pokémon in this #art! Can you find 'em all? Some are well hidden. Have fun & don't give away answers! 💕)
Reposted by Rika⁷
And also, please help @thexylom.com, which I founded to report on global health and environmental disparities, meet its $30,000 year-end fundraising target!
bsky.app/profile/thex...
bsky.app/profile/thex...
In 2025, we reported from places that rarely make headlines — South Sudan, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and more.
We’re still $9,000 short of our fundraising goal. If we don’t raise this by the end of the year, we’ll have to scale back our reporting. Click the link to donate.
We’re still $9,000 short of our fundraising goal. If we don’t raise this by the end of the year, we’ll have to scale back our reporting. Click the link to donate.
Sustain The Xylom!
Support The Xylom's independent reporting by making a monthly recurring donation!
fnd.us
December 25, 2025 at 1:14 AM
And also, please help @thexylom.com, which I founded to report on global health and environmental disparities, meet its $30,000 year-end fundraising target!
bsky.app/profile/thex...
bsky.app/profile/thex...
Reposted by Rika⁷
Interrupting my hateposting for a moment to plug my starter of verified news outlets that avoid Generative AI!
bsky.app/profile/alex...
bsky.app/profile/alex...
Behold: the first-ever list of news outlets that have banned generative AI in their reporting. As of today, this is literally information that you cannot find on Google.
My goal is to fill the starter pack, so please send over suggestions with supporting evidence!
go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT
My goal is to fill the starter pack, so please send over suggestions with supporting evidence!
go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT
December 25, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Interrupting my hateposting for a moment to plug my starter of verified news outlets that avoid Generative AI!
bsky.app/profile/alex...
bsky.app/profile/alex...
Reposted by Rika⁷
Celebrating the season with the movie that has everything.
December 25, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Celebrating the season with the movie that has everything.
One of my favorite warnings to people is, "I am still VERY EARLY in my walk with Jesus. We just stepped out the house."
And My favorite phrase is “He ain’t through with me yet” 🤣🤣
before you press post, think about the LORD
December 25, 2025 at 4:33 AM
One of my favorite warnings to people is, "I am still VERY EARLY in my walk with Jesus. We just stepped out the house."