iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Imagine being June Carter, and falling into very complicated love with this other singer, writing Ring of Fire about it, and then making that guy sing the song so hard it becomes one of his most famous songs. Wild, June. Get 'im.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

It is now! Zine fest is this weekend and you can get t-shirts (or whatever) that you bring, printed on site. Like this fine thrift store table runner, for example.

An old fashioned pale linen table runner is printed with a zine fest print that is styled kind of like a comics page made of postage stamps. The ink is sparkly purple.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Game of Thrones being #6 is so wild, because not only was it the visual embodiment of a content warning, but it ended so badly that it tore apart online communities and stores stopped selling the merch.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

In the 90's, my mom would come through Memphis on her way to the Netherlands. She chose that connection to see me. I'd go to the airport, meet her at her gate, and we'd chat for a few hours before she got on the second plane. It helped build our current mother/adult-child relationship. I miss that.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Whenever anyone starts talking fondly about a public figure around here, I feel compelled to check if that person just died. Is there a Not Dead tag we can add to our posts, or something?

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Reposted by Kiki Valken (they/them)

weeder @weeder.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

So funny watching the media try to write 2000's era Grand Theft Auto Outrage articles now that the whole country is a casino run by murderers.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Went to Coyote vs Acme hoping for a spiritual successor to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and was not disappointed.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

If that guy must rename everything, he could at least not be boring about it. He could go wild and rename bodies of water things like "Lake Landy Land" or "The Sea of Oops" or "Restless Waters of Spite" but noooo, it's America every time. Tired.

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Reposted by Kiki Valken (they/them)

mondayzc @mondayzc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

digital painting study from like ~15 seconds of the RHPC movie i did last year RIP Tim Curry what a guy

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It's just a really hard time to be middle aged and muppet-coded right now.

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Reposted by Kiki Valken (they/them)

Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 31/01/2026

It always feels like all the wrong people die, but I think it’s because there are far more beloved people than there are bastards.

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Reposted by Kiki Valken (they/them)

Jill Lightner @jilllightner.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Street art in her honor from SE Seattle

A glittery tinsel-fringed illustrated portrait of Dolly Parton on a telephone pole. There's a cartoon voice bubble with a quote from her that says "find out who you are and do it on purpose."

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

On hold with the doctor's office: 8 seconds of soothing music Unskippable cutscene explaining that you're on hold 5 seconds of soothing music Unskippable cutscene explaining that you can do this on the website instead Repeat as often as needed

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Sometimes I worry about getting details wrong in my writing, but then I watched Wake Up Dead Man, a good and highly praised movie that gets almost everything about Catholicism wrong, so whatever I guess.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

He needed a detective, but he already looked guilty. He had the look of a man who would eat your plums and then write a poem about it. As he entered my office, the wind blew in, so cold, so sweet.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I would like an artist residency in a haunted lighthouse, but only if I get to bring my husband with me. It's important that he and I remain equally haunted... And also for normal reasons.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Once again, this poor guy. His job appears to be slightly slowing down cars as they galumph over this speed bump that serves as a bike lane divider.

A sign indicates the lanes for cars and the lanes for bikes. It has been sheared off at the base and lies flat on the concrete speed bump that serves as a lane divider. A large part of the sign image has been scraped off. A square of bright reflectors is also attached to the sign, midway where headlights would have really lit it up if it were still standing.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

This sign is ten feet above the ground. A giant punched it, I guess

A Speed Limit 40 sign is bent around its post, only on the left side. It is a beautiful summer day

A Speed Limit 40 sign is bent around its post, only on the left side. This is a close up shot

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

There was a time when evil tech overlords understood that if you give some weird little folks a nice place to live close to work, a workspace with no loud noises, and an endless supply of their caffeinated beverages of choice, your code would never fail. We've lost even that, it seems.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I haven't taken too many pictures of fallen over or damaged signs lately, because Phoenix is a furnace, but it was nice and cloudy the other day, so I took a long route home.

A movable sign with a flat, heavy base and a severely bent post is collapsed upon a gravel area near what looks like asphalt parking spaces. The sign depicts a crossed out left turn arrow. The post is so bent that the top of the sign touches the ground even as the base sits flat on the ground

A movable sign with a flat, heavy base is resting on its side in the gravel verge of an asphalt street. The sign faces away from the street, and has a picture of an arrow turning to the right. Underneath the arrow, it says ONLY. An orange reflective light it attached to the top of the sign.

Two bollards are leaning heavily toward each other on the grassy edge of a gravel road, in front of a metal wall. Reverse silhouettes of hearts have been spray painted onto the bollards, two on the left one, and three on the right one

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

This here is what he's poisoning Memphis TN for. Man makes a little toy and then poisons a city to play with it.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Me going online in the morning, before I've even had a decent thought of my own first.

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Reposted by Kiki Valken (they/them)

Movies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

I just want "no added sugar" to mean "not sweet" Not aspartame, not the ragweed juice known as stevia, not monkfruit or whatever ridiculous fake sweetener is in style this week.

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Reposted by Kiki Valken (they/them)

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

The news should be covering ICE like a serial killer on the loose

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Whenever I tell people I make toys for a living, they make me feel like an absolute rock star. Top notch mood boost going to the doctor and she's so excited about my job.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Stephen Colbert is smart, but also... everything I've ever heard about his life is absurdly wholesome. Like, Hallmark romance small town baker wholesome. It would be the funniest thing if he ran for senate, but also if MAGA tried to dig up dirt on him, I suspect they would just look like damn fools.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

US Medical system: Oh, you need this medicine to keep being alive? For that, go to see a doctor every three months to make sure you're being alive for good reasons, not recreationally. It'll be hella expensive. Also, have some legal recreational drugs. Eat as much as you want. They're real cheap.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Abolish ICE is the bare minimum I expect from any democratic candidate. It's a centrist position, and should be stated as an obvious need, not a radical statement.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

I went to a potluck and ended the night with empty tupperware and people encouraging me to start a bakery, so I think it went well.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Cape Verde v Argentina is going to be remembered longer than whoever plays the final game of this world cup.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Shoutout to train car graffiti artists. I'm here on my bike, waiting and watching a whole art gallery roll by.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Once a month, my apartment complex sends out an email thanking all the residents for living there and then listing all the rules for which we can be punished with fines and/or eviction. Also, don't ask the office to accept your packages. Have a nice day.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

American cities will place a big painted line, a low median, or a row of plastic bollards, and call it a protected bikepath, but what I want is such separate infrastructure that people can make mistakes without dying or killing anyone on the bike path.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I was very poor for a while, but I had gotten myself a treat of chicken alfredo from a restaurant. I saved the leftovers and reheated them the next day. Double treat, right? I dropped the hot bowl, and it shattered all over the clean floor. I cried, then ate it with a fork off the floor.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Okay, the trans flag hair was by accident, but the bisexual flag hair is gonna be 100% on purpose.

A person in a tank top with hair that is wet with dye. The gradient of hair color goes from pink at the scalp, through purple, to blue at the ends.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Okay, people who organize conventions: Y'all need to have an event where people bring their various mystery boxes that they've bought, and everyone trades like it's Halloween candy. Weirdos will make so many friends, and everyone goes home happy.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

It is my favorite coworker's last day, so I'm going to be cranky and weird about it and I refuse to feel bad about that.

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Reposted by Kiki Valken (they/them)

Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

So many people who can reasonably be described as “that little shit” are in charge of so much of society.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

That crushed Do Not Enter sign has made some friends.

A concrete median in between empty streets holds a violently knocked over sign, face down but bent enough to be identifiable as a Do Not Enter sign. A portable sign with a crossed out left turn arrow lies sideways near it, and a striped road market stands next to both. These signs were presumably placed to indicate the proper use of the end of the median, which is not designed to in any way match the roads coming off the median street. A mildly brutalist medical building is visible on the other side of the street, behind this scene of metal and plastic carnage.

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Reposted by Kiki Valken (they/them)

John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 22/05/2026

As a science fiction writer I really fucking resent tech bros for ruining the phrase "artificial intelligence." 80 years of it being all about cool androids and interesting computers destroyed by five years of "Spicy autocorrect making everything shittier for money." NEVER FORGIVE.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

This one flag to the other, "Bro, are you okay?" but bro isn't okay.

Pictured here are two orange flags with short wooden handles - the kind held out by workers in construction sites to direct traffic. A more faded flag lies on the ground, while a brighter one has been set into a low stand designed to hold a full size portable sign. As a result, the brighter flag leans over the faded sign, as though in concern.

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

This whole thread is a really smart analysis of fantasy weapon technology

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I just want a button I can press that will let me know if anyone is mad at me at any given moment, and if so, why they are mad at me. Is everyone mad at me? My brain says yes, but what does the button say?

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Can Democratic super pacs stop sending texts that treat potential voters like neglectful children? They're all like"I'm not mad you haven't given us money yet, but I am disappointed. Here's a thing I'm calling a petition, but it's really just a request for money and contact information."

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Kiki Valken (they/them) @kikivalken.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

It's a hard time out there for road signs in my neighborhood

A sign has been knocked, bent over from the base and sheered from its base. It lies bent on a concrete median. The sign itself turns upwards just enough that one can see it says "Do Not Enter"

A road marker indicating a pedestrian crossing has been hit so hard that it's come free from its base and lies next to it instead. The orange light that should be atop it is shattered and the pieces are lying nearby. The edge of a crosswalk is visible to the right of the damaged marker

A sign has been uprooted and apparently moved to a brick paced area. The sign depicts a crossed out left turn. The post is somewhat bent, and so is the sign.

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