Nikka Valken (they/them)
@kikivalken.bsky.social
Woodshop goblin, rural fantasy writer, and shameful libertine
If you genuinely believe that LLMs are thinking, you have to stop using them as free labor machines, and start treating them like people. If a robots thinks, that robot is a person. If we keep making them more complicated, and they start thinking, they start having rights.
November 18, 2025 at 12:37 AM
If you genuinely believe that LLMs are thinking, you have to stop using them as free labor machines, and start treating them like people. If a robots thinks, that robot is a person. If we keep making them more complicated, and they start thinking, they start having rights.
When I got SNAP benefits after I left my ex and went back to school, it was $99 a month. I also had kind friends who helped me along, and a job that included free and discounted food. I don't know how people without that kind of support survive, even with benefits.
November 1, 2025 at 7:34 PM
When I got SNAP benefits after I left my ex and went back to school, it was $99 a month. I also had kind friends who helped me along, and a job that included free and discounted food. I don't know how people without that kind of support survive, even with benefits.
Medical offices: why do you interrupt the hold music to have it sound like someone picked up, then have a recorded voice tell me I'm still on hold? I knew I was on hold. That's what the music is for. Now you’re just keeping me on edge during what should be an extremely boring experience.
October 27, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Medical offices: why do you interrupt the hold music to have it sound like someone picked up, then have a recorded voice tell me I'm still on hold? I knew I was on hold. That's what the music is for. Now you’re just keeping me on edge during what should be an extremely boring experience.
Richie's first art show, the pre zine-fest art show in Tempe
October 25, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Richie's first art show, the pre zine-fest art show in Tempe
This sign is doing important, dangerous work, and isn't scared of anything anymore.
October 20, 2025 at 4:54 AM
This sign is doing important, dangerous work, and isn't scared of anything anymore.
I'm really enjoying the "I am Spartacus" energy that all these inflatable frogs are bringing to the protests.
October 18, 2025 at 11:12 PM
I'm really enjoying the "I am Spartacus" energy that all these inflatable frogs are bringing to the protests.
If you feel a need to let out a powerful, cathartic scream from your balcony at 11pm on a weekday, you might as well also shout an explanation. Everyone's already awake, after all. It sounded like the kind of scream to release stress, but your neighbors are concerned for your well-being, stranger.
October 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
If you feel a need to let out a powerful, cathartic scream from your balcony at 11pm on a weekday, you might as well also shout an explanation. Everyone's already awake, after all. It sounded like the kind of scream to release stress, but your neighbors are concerned for your well-being, stranger.
Before surgery, I was like, "Oh, I can probably go back to work earlier than I planned," but after surgery I looked at all the drugs I have to take for a week and I'm like "Oh, it's not just about strength, it's about drugs."
I can go back to work a bit weakened, but I can't go to work on drugs.
I can go back to work a bit weakened, but I can't go to work on drugs.
October 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Before surgery, I was like, "Oh, I can probably go back to work earlier than I planned," but after surgery I looked at all the drugs I have to take for a week and I'm like "Oh, it's not just about strength, it's about drugs."
I can go back to work a bit weakened, but I can't go to work on drugs.
I can go back to work a bit weakened, but I can't go to work on drugs.
Spoiler: The special event is the sidewalk ending, and a massive puddle.
September 27, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Spoiler: The special event is the sidewalk ending, and a massive puddle.
I'm back to being strong enough to lift those damn scooters out of the middle of the sidewalk and put them somewhere more sensible again
September 25, 2025 at 2:34 AM
I'm back to being strong enough to lift those damn scooters out of the middle of the sidewalk and put them somewhere more sensible again
Today I saw a my first goth of the season, indicating the end of the terrible Arizona summer.
September 25, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Today I saw a my first goth of the season, indicating the end of the terrible Arizona summer.
Richie went up a mountain and brought flowers down for me.
September 12, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Richie went up a mountain and brought flowers down for me.
I have done lawn yoga three days in a row without busting this post-surgery body, so I guess I can do whatever I want now (except apparently sit up unassisted from a prone position. That problem will be the next to get solved.)
September 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I have done lawn yoga three days in a row without busting this post-surgery body, so I guess I can do whatever I want now (except apparently sit up unassisted from a prone position. That problem will be the next to get solved.)
Vevey has a lot of Charlie Chaplin themed public art
September 6, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Vevey has a lot of Charlie Chaplin themed public art
Someone stuck a fork in Lake Geneva.
September 6, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Someone stuck a fork in Lake Geneva.
Why does the Montreal airport beep so much? Never have I experienced quite so much beeping.
September 4, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Why does the Montreal airport beep so much? Never have I experienced quite so much beeping.
This sign is a liar, and it's blocking the curb cut.
September 4, 2025 at 3:46 AM
This sign is a liar, and it's blocking the curb cut.
PSA: The name Richie doesn't have a t in it, in most cases, because the name Richard doesn't have a t anywhere in it, and neither does Ricardo. Assume no t, unless the person in question specifies the eccentric spelling that adds a t.
August 25, 2025 at 3:57 AM
PSA: The name Richie doesn't have a t in it, in most cases, because the name Richard doesn't have a t anywhere in it, and neither does Ricardo. Assume no t, unless the person in question specifies the eccentric spelling that adds a t.
Tiny lovebirds live in the Phoenix area, and I love them. They're not from here originally; they're the descendants of African lovebirds imported to be pets. Those birds escaped, thrived, and spread. I'll be biking through the park and a dozen tiny parrots will fly out of a tree, and I love them.
August 24, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Tiny lovebirds live in the Phoenix area, and I love them. They're not from here originally; they're the descendants of African lovebirds imported to be pets. Those birds escaped, thrived, and spread. I'll be biking through the park and a dozen tiny parrots will fly out of a tree, and I love them.
My internet rabbit holes for today are traditional glass making through history, and the relationship between Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keefe. Anyway, they were making art and making out during troubling times, when the world was scary and their health betrayed them, so we all can do the same.
August 23, 2025 at 4:23 AM
My internet rabbit holes for today are traditional glass making through history, and the relationship between Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keefe. Anyway, they were making art and making out during troubling times, when the world was scary and their health betrayed them, so we all can do the same.
They were gone for a while, then I was gone for a while, but now we're all back on our bullshit: me and the knocked over street signs on 3rd Ave and Adams
August 19, 2025 at 12:19 AM
They were gone for a while, then I was gone for a while, but now we're all back on our bullshit: me and the knocked over street signs on 3rd Ave and Adams
Sometimes I think, "Oh hey, why am I so much more anxious about absolutely everything lately? I mean, I was already really anxious, but this is perhaps excessive." and then I remind myself that everything is terrible and hypervigilance is a normal response
August 8, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Sometimes I think, "Oh hey, why am I so much more anxious about absolutely everything lately? I mean, I was already really anxious, but this is perhaps excessive." and then I remind myself that everything is terrible and hypervigilance is a normal response
The surgeons probably thought they were putting this giant belly incision below my belt line when they cut me up, but they did not realize just how low this middle aged non-binary rides their pants. If I ever stop hating my body, I'm getting some crop tops and showing off this scar all the time.
August 7, 2025 at 6:49 PM
The surgeons probably thought they were putting this giant belly incision below my belt line when they cut me up, but they did not realize just how low this middle aged non-binary rides their pants. If I ever stop hating my body, I'm getting some crop tops and showing off this scar all the time.