Tootfinder

Just finished "Beasts Made of Night" by Tochi Onyebuchi...
Indirect CW for fantasy police state violence.
So I very much enjoyed Onyebuchi's "Riot Baby," and when I grabbed this at the library, I was certain it would be excellent. But having finished it, I'm not sure I like it that much overall?
The first maybe third is excellent, including the world-building, which is fascinating. I feel like Onyebuchi must have played "Shadow of the Colossus" at some point. Onyebuchi certainly does know how to make me care for his characters.
Some spoilers from here on out...
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I felt like it stumbles towards the middle, with Bo's reactions neither making sense in the immediate context, nor in retrospect by the end when we've learned more. Things are a bit floaty in the middle with an unclear picture of what exactly is going on politics-wise and what the motivations are. Here I think there were some nuances that didn't make it to the page, or perhaps I'm just a bit thick and not getting stuff I should be? More is of course revealed by the end, but I still wasn't satisfied with the explanations of things. For example, (spoilers) I don't feel I understand clearly what kind of power the army of aki was supposed to represent within the city? Perhaps necessary to wield the threat of offensive inisisia use? In that case, a single scene somewhere of Izu's faction deploying that tactic would have been helpful I think.
Then towards the end, for me things really started to jumble, with unclear motivations, revelations that didn't feel well-paced or -structured, and a finale where both the action & collapsing concerns felt stilted and disjointed. Particularly the mechanics/ethics of the most important death that set the finale in motion bothered me, and the unexplained mechanism by which that led to what came next? I can read a couple of possible interesting morals into the whole denouement, but didn't feel that any of them were sufficiently explored. Especially if we're supposed to see some personal failing in the protagonist's actions, I don't think it's made clear enough what that is, since I feel his reasons to reject each faction are pretty solid, and if we're meant to either pity or abjure his indecision, I don't think the message lands clearly enough.
There *is* a sequel, which honestly I wasn't sure of after the last page, and which I now very interested in. Beasts is Onyebuchi's debut, which maybe makes sense of me feeling that Riot Baby didn't have the same plotting issues. It also maybe means that Onyebuchi couldn't be sure a sequel would make it to publication in terms of setting up the ending.
Overall I really enjoyed at least 80% of this, but was expecting even better (especially politically) given Onyebuchi's other work, and I didn't feel like I found it.
#AmReading

They are doing everything they can to make it happen: the endless escalations, the recklessness, the shoddy training, the quotas, the sense of impunity, the masks, the bounty hunters, the right-wing camera crews following them like ducklings, the redoubling of provocations after ICE murdered Good: what does it point to except baiting, a total non-concern for the lives of ICE officers, a wish to get at least one of them shot on camera?

Cowboys playoff chances spiral further as new odds paint harsh reality https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/onsi/news/dallas-cowboys-nfl-playoff-chances-spiral-further-new-odds-paint-harsh-reality

A graduate student at the University of Oklahoma
is the latest in a growing list of college instructors to face disciplinary action
after being targeted by Turning Point USA,
the right-wing campus pressure group founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
Mel Curth, a trans psychology instructor who recently won the Department of Psychology’s Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award,
gave a zero to junior Samantha Fulnecky’s reaction paper for an assignment on “gender typicali…

State Universities Are Scrambling to Appease the Bigoted MAGA Regime
From Oklahoma to Indiana to Alabama, state schools are bending over backward—suspending student magazines and even disciplining instructors—to preemptively satisfy the Trump administration.

Just found this image on Wikipedia[1] and added some arrows to point to the locations where I took the following photos, on two sides/valleys/countries of the same ice field...
#1 Gepatschferner (Austria)
https://mastodon.thi.ng/@toxi/115508735940502202
#2 Langtauferer…

I was photographing a seagull in a flock standing on the beach and then … this happened. I think the camera’s autofocus had a nervous breakdown. Elephant Seal Vista Point, Big Sur, California, USA. October, 2025. OM System OM-1 M.Zuiko 300mm F4 MC14. #raggedpoint #bigsur

They have a great “big” point here about incrementalism but also: fiber, water, and even minimal activity specifically are great first steps towards feeling better.
I suspect that a lot of us 1st-worlders feel lousy in part because we’re each paving our own way to T2D, colon cancer, and heart disease. @…

the other day I was saying cat cafés exist but I wish there was a cat pub
WELL I HAVE INCREDIBLE NEWS
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2023/11/enjoy-a-pint-in-britains-first-ever-cat-pub/

Enjoy a pint in Britain’s first ever cat pub
The Bag of Nails in Bristol has been named Britain’s first cat pub, with resident felines propping up the bar alongside drinkers.

Hi, it’s Al Franken.
I don’t usually send messages like this, so I’m hoping you’ll read to the end for a GREAT story. 
Before that, though, I want to tell you about Peggy Flanagan.
She is unbelievably great and she’s running to keep Minnesota’s Senate seat blue. 
Her end-of-month fundraising deadline is tonight so I’ll get to the point: Please donate now. 

Peggy Flanagan for Minnesota | Democrat for U.S. Senate
Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan's ready to take our Minnesota values to D.C. — to fight to rebuild the middle class, protect our rights, and hold the extremist billionaires trying to run off with our country accountable. If elected, she’ll be the first Native American woman to ever serve in the U.S. Senate. Will you join us in this Minnesotan-powered campaign?

Dangerous Cancel Culture Precedent Following Kirk’s Murder
The Trump administration continues to counter the First Amendment rights that Kirk so often referenced and arguably died defending.
For example, the Pentagon has promised to “address” federal employees who are deemed to mock or celebrate Kirk’s death.
(The Pentagon has also in recent days announced that it will require credentialed journalists to sign a pledge to refrain from reporting information that has not been …

The ‘Right to Offend’ and the Legacy of Charlie Kirk - San Francisco Bay Times
The day before right-wing activist and Turning Point USA Co-Founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, he texted the following to civil rights advocate and CNN host Van Jones: “Hey, Van, I mean it, I’d love to have you on my show to have a respectful conversation about crime and race. I would […]