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My first time ever on a TV set, I was nervous, intimated & worried about making foolish mistakes.
My union crew encouraged, mentored, & celebrated having having a real-life scientist working on their show. They’re why I was far more confident my first time on set for my next show!
#ThrowbackThursday to my first days on set overlooking the Stargate: Atlantis gateroom vs revelling in Destiny’s gateroom my first day on set for Stargate: Universe.
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My first time ever on a TV set, I was nervous, intimated & worried about making foolish mistakes.
My union crew encouraged, mentored, & celebrated having having a real-life scientist working on their show. They’re why I was far more confident my first time on set for my next show!
#ThrowbackThursday to my first days on set overlooking the Stargate: Atlantis gateroom vs revelling in Destiny’s gateroom my first day on set for Stargate: Universe.
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Memorizing wonderfully 61 – 1 Corinthians 6:9 Unrighteous shall not inherit
## I CORINTHIANS 6:9
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
BE NOT DECEIVED:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit
THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
*
To remember
Le 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Le 20:13 And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
De 22:5 A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.
De 23:17 There shall be no {1 } prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a {2 } sodomite of the sons of Israel. {1) Heb kedeshah; See Ge 38:21. 2) Heb kadesh }
Jud 19:22 As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at the door; and they spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him.
Mr 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, {1 } evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, {1) Gr thoughts that are evil }
Ro 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto {1 } vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: {1) Gr passions of dishonor }
Ro 1:27 and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.Col 3:5 Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
1Co 5:11 but {1 } as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat. {1) Or now I write }
1Co 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
2Co 12:21 lest again when I come my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented not of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed.
Ga 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Ga 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, {1 } parties, {1) Gr heresies }
Ga 5:21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I {1 } forewarn you, even as I did {1 } forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. {1) Or tell you plainly }Eph 4:19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, {1 } to work all uncleanness with {2 } greediness. {1) Or to make a trade of 2) Or covetousness; Compare Eph 5:3 Col 3:5 }
Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph 5:5 “ For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
1Ti 1:10 for fornicators, for abusers of themselves with men, for menstealers, for liars, for false swearers, and if there be any other thing contrary to the {1 } sound {2 } doctrine; {1) Gr healthful; 2) Or teaching }
Heb 12:16 {1 } lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright. {1) Or whether }
Heb 13:4 Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Re 21:8 But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.
Re 22:15 Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and {1 } maketh a lie. {1) Or doeth; Compare Re 21:27 }
+
Ro 2:7 to them that by {1 } patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: {1) Or stedfastness }
Ro 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as {1 } servants unto obedience, his {1 } servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? {1) Gr bondservants }
Ac 20:32 And now I commend you to {1 } God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified. {1) Some ancient authorities read the Lord }
Ro 8:13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the {1 } deeds of the body, ye shall live. {1) Gr doings }
Ro 13:13 Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy.
Col 2:11 in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
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Preceding
Memorizing wonderfully 60 Written for learning to have hope
Rate this:
#1Corinthians610 #1Corinthians69 #1Corinthians6910 #Adulterers #Adultery #BibleMemorization #Corruption #Covetousness #Division #Divisions #Drunkard #Drunkenness #Enmity #EntranceToGodSKingdom #EvilDesire #Extortioner #Faction #FalseSwearers #Fornication #Greediness #Homosexuality #Idolaters #Idolatry #Incorruption #Jealousy #Lasciviousness #MemorizingBibleVerses #Menstealers #Murder #Murderer #Passion #Revellings #Sodomite #Strife #Theft #Thieves #Travesty #Uncleanness #UnnaturalBehaviour #Unrighteous #UnrighteousMan #VilePassions #WorksOfTheFlesh
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Memorizing wonderfully 61 – 1 Corinthians 6:9 Unrighteous shall not inherit
## I CORINTHIANS 6:9
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
BE NOT DECEIVED:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit
THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
*
To remember
Le 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Le 20:13 And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
De 22:5 A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.
De 23:17 There shall be no {1 } prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a {2 } sodomite of the sons of Israel. {1) Heb kedeshah; See Ge 38:21. 2) Heb kadesh }
Jud 19:22 As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at the door; and they spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him.
Mr 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, {1 } evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, {1) Gr thoughts that are evil }
Ro 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto {1 } vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: {1) Gr passions of dishonor }
Ro 1:27 and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.Col 3:5 Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
1Co 5:11 but {1 } as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat. {1) Or now I write }
1Co 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
2Co 12:21 lest again when I come my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented not of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed.
Ga 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Ga 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, {1 } parties, {1) Gr heresies }
Ga 5:21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I {1 } forewarn you, even as I did {1 } forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. {1) Or tell you plainly }Eph 4:19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, {1 } to work all uncleanness with {2 } greediness. {1) Or to make a trade of 2) Or covetousness; Compare Eph 5:3 Col 3:5 }
Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph 5:5 “ For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
1Ti 1:10 for fornicators, for abusers of themselves with men, for menstealers, for liars, for false swearers, and if there be any other thing contrary to the {1 } sound {2 } doctrine; {1) Gr healthful; 2) Or teaching }
Heb 12:16 {1 } lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright. {1) Or whether }
Heb 13:4 Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Re 21:8 But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.
Re 22:15 Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and {1 } maketh a lie. {1) Or doeth; Compare Re 21:27 }
+
Ro 2:7 to them that by {1 } patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: {1) Or stedfastness }
Ro 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as {1 } servants unto obedience, his {1 } servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? {1) Gr bondservants }
Ac 20:32 And now I commend you to {1 } God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified. {1) Some ancient authorities read the Lord }
Ro 8:13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the {1 } deeds of the body, ye shall live. {1) Gr doings }
Ro 13:13 Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy.
Col 2:11 in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
+
Preceding
Memorizing wonderfully 60 Written for learning to have hope
Rate this:
#1Corinthians610 #1Corinthians69 #1Corinthians6910 #Adulterers #Adultery #BibleMemorization #Corruption #Covetousness #Division #Divisions #Drunkard #Drunkenness #Enmity #EntranceToGodSKingdom #EvilDesire #Extortioner #Faction #FalseSwearers #Fornication #Greediness #Homosexuality #Idolaters #Idolatry #Incorruption #Jealousy #Lasciviousness #MemorizingBibleVerses #Menstealers #Murder #Murderer #Passion #Revellings #Sodomite #Strife #Theft #Thieves #Travesty #Uncleanness #UnnaturalBehaviour #Unrighteous #UnrighteousMan #VilePassions #WorksOfTheFlesh
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Memorizing wonderfully 61 – 1 Corinthians 6:9 Unrighteous shall not inherit
## I CORINTHIANS 6:9
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
BE NOT DECEIVED:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit
THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
*
To remember
Le 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Le 20:13 And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
De 22:5 A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.
De 23:17 There shall be no {1 } prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a {2 } sodomite of the sons of Israel. {1) Heb kedeshah; See Ge 38:21. 2) Heb kadesh }
Jud 19:22 As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at the door; and they spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him.
Mr 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, {1 } evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, {1) Gr thoughts that are evil }
Ro 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto {1 } vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: {1) Gr passions of dishonor }
Ro 1:27 and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.Col 3:5 Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
1Co 5:11 but {1 } as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat. {1) Or now I write }
1Co 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
2Co 12:21 lest again when I come my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented not of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed.
Ga 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Ga 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, {1 } parties, {1) Gr heresies }
Ga 5:21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I {1 } forewarn you, even as I did {1 } forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. {1) Or tell you plainly }Eph 4:19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, {1 } to work all uncleanness with {2 } greediness. {1) Or to make a trade of 2) Or covetousness; Compare Eph 5:3 Col 3:5 }
Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph 5:5 “ For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
1Ti 1:10 for fornicators, for abusers of themselves with men, for menstealers, for liars, for false swearers, and if there be any other thing contrary to the {1 } sound {2 } doctrine; {1) Gr healthful; 2) Or teaching }
Heb 12:16 {1 } lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright. {1) Or whether }
Heb 13:4 Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Re 21:8 But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.
Re 22:15 Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and {1 } maketh a lie. {1) Or doeth; Compare Re 21:27 }
+
Ro 2:7 to them that by {1 } patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: {1) Or stedfastness }
Ro 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as {1 } servants unto obedience, his {1 } servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? {1) Gr bondservants }
Ac 20:32 And now I commend you to {1 } God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified. {1) Some ancient authorities read the Lord }
Ro 8:13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the {1 } deeds of the body, ye shall live. {1) Gr doings }
Ro 13:13 Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy.
Col 2:11 in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
+
Preceding
Memorizing wonderfully 60 Written for learning to have hope
Rate this:
#1Corinthians610 #1Corinthians69 #1Corinthians6910 #Adulterers #Adultery #BibleMemorization #Corruption #Covetousness #Division #Divisions #Drunkard #Drunkenness #Enmity #EntranceToGodSKingdom #EvilDesire #Extortioner #Faction #FalseSwearers #Fornication #Greediness #Homosexuality #Idolaters #Idolatry #Incorruption #Jealousy #Lasciviousness #MemorizingBibleVerses #Menstealers #Murder #Murderer #Passion #Revellings #Sodomite #Strife #Theft #Thieves #Travesty #Uncleanness #UnnaturalBehaviour #Unrighteous #UnrighteousMan #VilePassions #WorksOfTheFlesh
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Memorizing wonderfully 61 – 1 Corinthians 6:9 Unrighteous shall not inherit
## I CORINTHIANS 6:9
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
BE NOT DECEIVED:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit
THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
*
To remember
Le 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Le 20:13 And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
De 22:5 A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.
De 23:17 There shall be no {1 } prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a {2 } sodomite of the sons of Israel. {1) Heb kedeshah; See Ge 38:21. 2) Heb kadesh }
Jud 19:22 As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at the door; and they spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him.
Mr 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, {1 } evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, {1) Gr thoughts that are evil }
Ro 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto {1 } vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: {1) Gr passions of dishonor }
Ro 1:27 and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.Col 3:5 Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
1Co 5:11 but {1 } as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat. {1) Or now I write }
1Co 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
2Co 12:21 lest again when I come my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented not of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed.
Ga 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Ga 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, {1 } parties, {1) Gr heresies }
Ga 5:21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I {1 } forewarn you, even as I did {1 } forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. {1) Or tell you plainly }Eph 4:19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, {1 } to work all uncleanness with {2 } greediness. {1) Or to make a trade of 2) Or covetousness; Compare Eph 5:3 Col 3:5 }
Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph 5:5 “ For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
1Ti 1:10 for fornicators, for abusers of themselves with men, for menstealers, for liars, for false swearers, and if there be any other thing contrary to the {1 } sound {2 } doctrine; {1) Gr healthful; 2) Or teaching }
Heb 12:16 {1 } lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright. {1) Or whether }
Heb 13:4 Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Re 21:8 But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.
Re 22:15 Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and {1 } maketh a lie. {1) Or doeth; Compare Re 21:27 }
+
Ro 2:7 to them that by {1 } patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: {1) Or stedfastness }
Ro 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as {1 } servants unto obedience, his {1 } servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? {1) Gr bondservants }
Ac 20:32 And now I commend you to {1 } God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified. {1) Some ancient authorities read the Lord }
Ro 8:13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the {1 } deeds of the body, ye shall live. {1) Gr doings }
Ro 13:13 Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy.
Col 2:11 in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
+
Preceding
Memorizing wonderfully 60 Written for learning to have hope
Rate this:
#1Corinthians610 #1Corinthians69 #1Corinthians6910 #Adulterers #Adultery #BibleMemorization #Corruption #Covetousness #Division #Divisions #Drunkard #Drunkenness #Enmity #EntranceToGodSKingdom #EvilDesire #Extortioner #Faction #FalseSwearers #Fornication #Greediness #Homosexuality #Idolaters #Idolatry #Incorruption #Jealousy #Lasciviousness #MemorizingBibleVerses #Menstealers #Murder #Murderer #Passion #Revellings #Sodomite #Strife #Theft #Thieves #Travesty #Uncleanness #UnnaturalBehaviour #Unrighteous #UnrighteousMan #VilePassions #WorksOfTheFlesh
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Melting Rot – Infatuation with Premeditation Review By SaundersWhen in skilled hands, death and grind go together like all the finest combinations, whether it’s peanut butter and chocolate, beer and pretzels, or good old mac and cheese. The tasty combo applies to the musical inclinations of Illinois wrecking crew Melting Rot, as they unleash their second LP and follow-up to 2021’s Blood Delusions debut. Admittedly unfamiliar before dredging this one up from the promo sump, the trio feature combined underground experience with various lesser-known acts, forming way back in 2017. Citing the likes of Regurgitate and Excruciating Terror as comparisons, and featuring a guest spot from Exhumed legend Matt Harvey, can these unheralded deathgrind loonies make a sizable impact in the ever-crowded realms of the underground?
Following a short sample, right off the bat, Melting Rot lay their gnarled cards on the table, unleashing a rugged, relentless frenzy of old school grind values and groovy, gnashing brutal death, complete with incomprehensible, uber low vox and occasional deeper variations or grindy highs. It’s a tight, violent, take-no-prisoners approach, done and dusted in a mere eighteen minutes. Melting Rot flip between d-beaten bursts and blasts of crusty grind, to thuggish brutal death depravity with raucous energy and tight musical chops. Revelling in the relative uncomplicated nature of their sound, Melting Rot draw influence from the likes of Exhumed, Carcass, and a more straightforward Benighted.
Sporting a robust, extra beefy production job, Infatuation with Premeditation boasts a killer guitar tone, cutting a nasty swathe of distortion and welcome oomph to the ample supply of meaty riffs and piledriving grooves littering the album. At their most potent, Melting Rot dish out gnarly examples of their bruising deathgrind attack. Barnstorming cuts like the viciously grinding, punkish throes and infectious riffs of “Human Pavement Splatter,” crunching grooves and ripping powerplays of “The Surgeon was Comatose,” and thrashing melodicism cutting through the otherwise blunt force savagery of “Aiming for Construction Workers” highlight Infatuation with Premeditation’s stronger writing. Not to be discounted, “Open Casket Vomit Spew” injects Necroticism-esque flair and crunch, while “Morbid Infatuation” adds buzzsawing Swedeath riffs into its punky grind skirmishes. It’s nasty, unsanitized stuff, refreshingly free from modern polish, ensuring the material retains its dirty, rusty edge.
There are no glaring weak links, just a handful of moments where the writing bleeds together slightly, leading to fleeting moments of faceless brutality. Meanwhile, the vocals are a mixed bag. The multi-pronged attack largely defaults to the predominant gurgling lows, while serviceable, they lack variation and are fairly one-dimensional and monotonous in delivery. When occasionally cut with the shattering highs and other lower growl variations, the vocal impact is more effective. Shifting the balance would have worked wonders. Otherwise, Infatuation with Premeditation ticks all the boxes for a rollicking good time for deathgrind fiends. The brevity leaves you wanting more, and while long-term mileage is debatable, overall, Melting Rot swing hard and largely nail the impact. The subtle dynamic shifts between their higher gears are well executed, while the album is fueled by relentless energy and filthy, bludgeoning riffs, packing a mean, headbanging punch.
Melting Rot delivered a punchy, efficient blast of deathgrind goodness on Infatuation with Premeditation, featuring a short, sharp collection of nuggety brawlers falling in the solid to very good bracket and hinting at potential greatness to come if Melting Rot continue to sharpen and hone their songwriting skills. As it stands, Infatuation with Premeditation is a strong 3.0, an entertaining platter and recommended listen for deathgrind enthusiasts who like their deathgrind extra riffy and their grooves bloody and beaten.
Rating:3.0/5.0
#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #Benighted #Carcass #DeathMetal #Deathgrind #ExcruciatingTerror #Exhumed #Grind #HellsHeadbangersRecords #InfatuationWithPremeditation #MeltingRot #Regurgitate #Review #Reviews
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026 -
Melting Rot – Infatuation with Premeditation Review By SaundersWhen in skilled hands, death and grind go together like all the finest combinations, whether it’s peanut butter and chocolate, beer and pretzels, or good old mac and cheese. The tasty combo applies to the musical inclinations of Illinois wrecking crew Melting Rot, as they unleash their second LP and follow-up to 2021’s Blood Delusions debut. Admittedly unfamiliar before dredging this one up from the promo sump, the trio feature combined underground experience with various lesser-known acts, forming way back in 2017. Citing the likes of Regurgitate and Excruciating Terror as comparisons, and featuring a guest spot from Exhumed legend Matt Harvey, can these unheralded deathgrind loonies make a sizable impact in the ever-crowded realms of the underground?
Following a short sample, right off the bat, Melting Rot lay their gnarled cards on the table, unleashing a rugged, relentless frenzy of old school grind values and groovy, gnashing brutal death, complete with incomprehensible, uber low vox and occasional deeper variations or grindy highs. It’s a tight, violent, take-no-prisoners approach, done and dusted in a mere eighteen minutes. Melting Rot flip between d-beaten bursts and blasts of crusty grind, to thuggish brutal death depravity with raucous energy and tight musical chops. Revelling in the relative uncomplicated nature of their sound, Melting Rot draw influence from the likes of Exhumed, Carcass, and a more straightforward Benighted.
Sporting a robust, extra beefy production job, Infatuation with Premeditation boasts a killer guitar tone, cutting a nasty swathe of distortion and welcome oomph to the ample supply of meaty riffs and piledriving grooves littering the album. At their most potent, Melting Rot dish out gnarly examples of their bruising deathgrind attack. Barnstorming cuts like the viciously grinding, punkish throes and infectious riffs of “Human Pavement Splatter,” crunching grooves and ripping powerplays of “The Surgeon was Comatose,” and thrashing melodicism cutting through the otherwise blunt force savagery of “Aiming for Construction Workers” highlight Infatuation with Premeditation’s stronger writing. Not to be discounted, “Open Casket Vomit Spew” injects Necroticism-esque flair and crunch, while “Morbid Infatuation” adds buzzsawing Swedeath riffs into its punky grind skirmishes. It’s nasty, unsanitized stuff, refreshingly free from modern polish, ensuring the material retains its dirty, rusty edge.
There are no glaring weak links, just a handful of moments where the writing bleeds together slightly, leading to fleeting moments of faceless brutality. Meanwhile, the vocals are a mixed bag. The multi-pronged attack largely defaults to the predominant gurgling lows, while serviceable, they lack variation and are fairly one-dimensional and monotonous in delivery. When occasionally cut with the shattering highs and other lower growl variations, the vocal impact is more effective. Shifting the balance would have worked wonders. Otherwise, Infatuation with Premeditation ticks all the boxes for a rollicking good time for deathgrind fiends. The brevity leaves you wanting more, and while long-term mileage is debatable, overall, Melting Rot swing hard and largely nail the impact. The subtle dynamic shifts between their higher gears are well executed, while the album is fueled by relentless energy and filthy, bludgeoning riffs, packing a mean, headbanging punch.
Melting Rot delivered a punchy, efficient blast of deathgrind goodness on Infatuation with Premeditation, featuring a short, sharp collection of nuggety brawlers falling in the solid to very good bracket and hinting at potential greatness to come if Melting Rot continue to sharpen and hone their songwriting skills. As it stands, Infatuation with Premeditation is a strong 3.0, an entertaining platter and recommended listen for deathgrind enthusiasts who like their deathgrind extra riffy and their grooves bloody and beaten.
Rating:3.0/5.0
#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #Benighted #Carcass #DeathMetal #Deathgrind #ExcruciatingTerror #Exhumed #Grind #HellsHeadbangersRecords #InfatuationWithPremeditation #MeltingRot #Regurgitate #Review #Reviews
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026 -
Melting Rot – Infatuation with Premeditation Review By SaundersWhen in skilled hands, death and grind go together like all the finest combinations, whether it’s peanut butter and chocolate, beer and pretzels, or good old mac and cheese. The tasty combo applies to the musical inclinations of Illinois wrecking crew Melting Rot, as they unleash their second LP and follow-up to 2021’s Blood Delusions debut. Admittedly unfamiliar before dredging this one up from the promo sump, the trio feature combined underground experience with various lesser-known acts, forming way back in 2017. Citing the likes of Regurgitate and Excruciating Terror as comparisons, and featuring a guest spot from Exhumed legend Matt Harvey, can these unheralded deathgrind loonies make a sizable impact in the ever-crowded realms of the underground?
Following a short sample, right off the bat, Melting Rot lay their gnarled cards on the table, unleashing a rugged, relentless frenzy of old school grind values and groovy, gnashing brutal death, complete with incomprehensible, uber low vox and occasional deeper variations or grindy highs. It’s a tight, violent, take-no-prisoners approach, done and dusted in a mere eighteen minutes. Melting Rot flip between d-beaten bursts and blasts of crusty grind, to thuggish brutal death depravity with raucous energy and tight musical chops. Revelling in the relative uncomplicated nature of their sound, Melting Rot draw influence from the likes of Exhumed, Carcass, and a more straightforward Benighted.
Sporting a robust, extra beefy production job, Infatuation with Premeditation boasts a killer guitar tone, cutting a nasty swathe of distortion and welcome oomph to the ample supply of meaty riffs and piledriving grooves littering the album. At their most potent, Melting Rot dish out gnarly examples of their bruising deathgrind attack. Barnstorming cuts like the viciously grinding, punkish throes and infectious riffs of “Human Pavement Splatter,” crunching grooves and ripping powerplays of “The Surgeon was Comatose,” and thrashing melodicism cutting through the otherwise blunt force savagery of “Aiming for Construction Workers” highlight Infatuation with Premeditation’s stronger writing. Not to be discounted, “Open Casket Vomit Spew” injects Necroticism-esque flair and crunch, while “Morbid Infatuation” adds buzzsawing Swedeath riffs into its punky grind skirmishes. It’s nasty, unsanitized stuff, refreshingly free from modern polish, ensuring the material retains its dirty, rusty edge.
There are no glaring weak links, just a handful of moments where the writing bleeds together slightly, leading to fleeting moments of faceless brutality. Meanwhile, the vocals are a mixed bag. The multi-pronged attack largely defaults to the predominant gurgling lows, while serviceable, they lack variation and are fairly one-dimensional and monotonous in delivery. When occasionally cut with the shattering highs and other lower growl variations, the vocal impact is more effective. Shifting the balance would have worked wonders. Otherwise, Infatuation with Premeditation ticks all the boxes for a rollicking good time for deathgrind fiends. The brevity leaves you wanting more, and while long-term mileage is debatable, overall, Melting Rot swing hard and largely nail the impact. The subtle dynamic shifts between their higher gears are well executed, while the album is fueled by relentless energy and filthy, bludgeoning riffs, packing a mean, headbanging punch.
Melting Rot delivered a punchy, efficient blast of deathgrind goodness on Infatuation with Premeditation, featuring a short, sharp collection of nuggety brawlers falling in the solid to very good bracket and hinting at potential greatness to come if Melting Rot continue to sharpen and hone their songwriting skills. As it stands, Infatuation with Premeditation is a strong 3.0, an entertaining platter and recommended listen for deathgrind enthusiasts who like their deathgrind extra riffy and their grooves bloody and beaten.
Rating:3.0/5.0
#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #Benighted #Carcass #DeathMetal #Deathgrind #ExcruciatingTerror #Exhumed #Grind #HellsHeadbangersRecords #InfatuationWithPremeditation #MeltingRot #Regurgitate #Review #Reviews
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026 -
Melting Rot – Infatuation with Premeditation Review By SaundersWhen in skilled hands, death and grind go together like all the finest combinations, whether it’s peanut butter and chocolate, beer and pretzels, or good old mac and cheese. The tasty combo applies to the musical inclinations of Illinois wrecking crew Melting Rot, as they unleash their second LP and follow-up to 2021’s Blood Delusions debut. Admittedly unfamiliar before dredging this one up from the promo sump, the trio feature combined underground experience with various lesser-known acts, forming way back in 2017. Citing the likes of Regurgitate and Excruciating Terror as comparisons, and featuring a guest spot from Exhumed legend Matt Harvey, can these unheralded deathgrind loonies make a sizable impact in the ever-crowded realms of the underground?
Following a short sample, right off the bat, Melting Rot lay their gnarled cards on the table, unleashing a rugged, relentless frenzy of old school grind values and groovy, gnashing brutal death, complete with incomprehensible, uber low vox and occasional deeper variations or grindy highs. It’s a tight, violent, take-no-prisoners approach, done and dusted in a mere eighteen minutes. Melting Rot flip between d-beaten bursts and blasts of crusty grind, to thuggish brutal death depravity with raucous energy and tight musical chops. Revelling in the relative uncomplicated nature of their sound, Melting Rot draw influence from the likes of Exhumed, Carcass, and a more straightforward Benighted.
Sporting a robust, extra beefy production job, Infatuation with Premeditation boasts a killer guitar tone, cutting a nasty swathe of distortion and welcome oomph to the ample supply of meaty riffs and piledriving grooves littering the album. At their most potent, Melting Rot dish out gnarly examples of their bruising deathgrind attack. Barnstorming cuts like the viciously grinding, punkish throes and infectious riffs of “Human Pavement Splatter,” crunching grooves and ripping powerplays of “The Surgeon was Comatose,” and thrashing melodicism cutting through the otherwise blunt force savagery of “Aiming for Construction Workers” highlight Infatuation with Premeditation’s stronger writing. Not to be discounted, “Open Casket Vomit Spew” injects Necroticism-esque flair and crunch, while “Morbid Infatuation” adds buzzsawing Swedeath riffs into its punky grind skirmishes. It’s nasty, unsanitized stuff, refreshingly free from modern polish, ensuring the material retains its dirty, rusty edge.
There are no glaring weak links, just a handful of moments where the writing bleeds together slightly, leading to fleeting moments of faceless brutality. Meanwhile, the vocals are a mixed bag. The multi-pronged attack largely defaults to the predominant gurgling lows, while serviceable, they lack variation and are fairly one-dimensional and monotonous in delivery. When occasionally cut with the shattering highs and other lower growl variations, the vocal impact is more effective. Shifting the balance would have worked wonders. Otherwise, Infatuation with Premeditation ticks all the boxes for a rollicking good time for deathgrind fiends. The brevity leaves you wanting more, and while long-term mileage is debatable, overall, Melting Rot swing hard and largely nail the impact. The subtle dynamic shifts between their higher gears are well executed, while the album is fueled by relentless energy and filthy, bludgeoning riffs, packing a mean, headbanging punch.
Melting Rot delivered a punchy, efficient blast of deathgrind goodness on Infatuation with Premeditation, featuring a short, sharp collection of nuggety brawlers falling in the solid to very good bracket and hinting at potential greatness to come if Melting Rot continue to sharpen and hone their songwriting skills. As it stands, Infatuation with Premeditation is a strong 3.0, an entertaining platter and recommended listen for deathgrind enthusiasts who like their deathgrind extra riffy and their grooves bloody and beaten.
Rating:3.0/5.0
#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #Benighted #Carcass #DeathMetal #Deathgrind #ExcruciatingTerror #Exhumed #Grind #HellsHeadbangersRecords #InfatuationWithPremeditation #MeltingRot #Regurgitate #Review #Reviews
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026 -
Melting Rot – Infatuation with Premeditation Review By SaundersWhen in skilled hands, death and grind go together like all the finest combinations, whether it’s peanut butter and chocolate, beer and pretzels, or good old mac and cheese. The tasty combo applies to the musical inclinations of Illinois wrecking crew Melting Rot, as they unleash their second LP and follow-up to 2021’s Blood Delusions debut. Admittedly unfamiliar before dredging this one up from the promo sump, the trio feature combined underground experience with various lesser-known acts, forming way back in 2017. Citing the likes of Regurgitate and Excruciating Terror as comparisons, and featuring a guest spot from Exhumed legend Matt Harvey, can these unheralded deathgrind loonies make a sizable impact in the ever-crowded realms of the underground?
Following a short sample, right off the bat, Melting Rot lay their gnarled cards on the table, unleashing a rugged, relentless frenzy of old school grind values and groovy, gnashing brutal death, complete with incomprehensible, uber low vox and occasional deeper variations or grindy highs. It’s a tight, violent, take-no-prisoners approach, done and dusted in a mere eighteen minutes. Melting Rot flip between d-beaten bursts and blasts of crusty grind, to thuggish brutal death depravity with raucous energy and tight musical chops. Revelling in the relative uncomplicated nature of their sound, Melting Rot draw influence from the likes of Exhumed, Carcass, and a more straightforward Benighted.
Sporting a robust, extra beefy production job, Infatuation with Premeditation boasts a killer guitar tone, cutting a nasty swathe of distortion and welcome oomph to the ample supply of meaty riffs and piledriving grooves littering the album. At their most potent, Melting Rot dish out gnarly examples of their bruising deathgrind attack. Barnstorming cuts like the viciously grinding, punkish throes and infectious riffs of “Human Pavement Splatter,” crunching grooves and ripping powerplays of “The Surgeon was Comatose,” and thrashing melodicism cutting through the otherwise blunt force savagery of “Aiming for Construction Workers” highlight Infatuation with Premeditation’s stronger writing. Not to be discounted, “Open Casket Vomit Spew” injects Necroticism-esque flair and crunch, while “Morbid Infatuation” adds buzzsawing Swedeath riffs into its punky grind skirmishes. It’s nasty, unsanitized stuff, refreshingly free from modern polish, ensuring the material retains its dirty, rusty edge.
There are no glaring weak links, just a handful of moments where the writing bleeds together slightly, leading to fleeting moments of faceless brutality. Meanwhile, the vocals are a mixed bag. The multi-pronged attack largely defaults to the predominant gurgling lows, while serviceable, they lack variation and are fairly one-dimensional and monotonous in delivery. When occasionally cut with the shattering highs and other lower growl variations, the vocal impact is more effective. Shifting the balance would have worked wonders. Otherwise, Infatuation with Premeditation ticks all the boxes for a rollicking good time for deathgrind fiends. The brevity leaves you wanting more, and while long-term mileage is debatable, overall, Melting Rot swing hard and largely nail the impact. The subtle dynamic shifts between their higher gears are well executed, while the album is fueled by relentless energy and filthy, bludgeoning riffs, packing a mean, headbanging punch.
Melting Rot delivered a punchy, efficient blast of deathgrind goodness on Infatuation with Premeditation, featuring a short, sharp collection of nuggety brawlers falling in the solid to very good bracket and hinting at potential greatness to come if Melting Rot continue to sharpen and hone their songwriting skills. As it stands, Infatuation with Premeditation is a strong 3.0, an entertaining platter and recommended listen for deathgrind enthusiasts who like their deathgrind extra riffy and their grooves bloody and beaten.
Rating:3.0/5.0
#2026 #30 #AmericanMetal #Benighted #Carcass #DeathMetal #Deathgrind #ExcruciatingTerror #Exhumed #Grind #HellsHeadbangersRecords #InfatuationWithPremeditation #MeltingRot #Regurgitate #Review #Reviews
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026 -
Most of the time I can avoid insects. I even plan for them when I can. I have fly screens to keep the flying ones out of the house and sticky stuff to catch them if they sneak in. I regularly clean floors and bedding, and I use extendable dusters to clear corners and ledges of spider webs.
Today, though, I encountered two unfamiliar bugs. The first revealed itself when I was on my patio. I noticed that one of my potted plants was housing lots of small white bugs, or nests, or cocoons on the underside of lots of leaves. I didn’t know what they were, so I took a couple of pictures.
A Google search suggested mealybugs, but I wasn’t convinced. The mealybug pictures weren’t quite the same as the thing I was looking at, but they were pretty close. Given my doubts and lack of insect-awareness, I decided the bugs had to go. I donned some of the latex disposable gloves that I had bought during the pandemic and went out to strip that plant of infested leaves. Once I started turning branches upside down, though, I realized the problem was bigger than I had thought. Stripping leaves would not be sufficient. I had to prune whole branches.
I clipped away at that plant (which I inherited from the previous owner and still cannot identify) and I removed most of the lower branches. Once I had filled a large Ziplog bag with bugs and branches, I thought my work was done.
What I had not anticipated, however, was the hour-long cringing spine-chilling that comes with bug-association. The shivers stayed with me much longer than I would have thought. Then, just as I thought I was over it, I looked out of the living room window and realized I had missed some bugs. As the sun shone on that darned plant, I saw that I had missed a few.
By this time, though, I was mad. Bug-shivers be damned. I was going to annihilate those beasts. I took up my garden hose, turned the dial to an insect-defying jet, and sprayed it on the undersides of those renegade leaves. I had to hold my ungloved fingers under the leaves to reach my goal, but ultimately all the white bugs were gone.
https://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithobius_forficatusThen, as I sat in my recliner revelling in my glory, I saw a centipede crawl out from under the couch. How dare it! I am ready for you, centipede! No creepy-crawly shivers going on now. I am getting you out of here!
I pulled a file folder off my shelf and scooped that creepy thing up faster than a centipede can crawl. It actually paused in shock for a moment, but then I flung it out of my living room onto my patio so fast it thought it had entered a new dimension.
It hasn’t experienced Back to the Future, exactly, but that bug has now joined the same universe as the remains of those insects I ejected from my patio plant. I hope they find a bug DeLorean to take them away from here. Otherwise I may have to take more drastic measures. I’m working on the flux capacitor as we speak.
https://snowbirdofparadise.com/2024/07/12/dont-bug-me/
#blog #bugs #centipede #cocoons #DeLorean #disposableGloves #fluxCapacitor #insects #leaves #mealybugs #nature #patio #Photography #shivers
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⇅ 📜 Some history-changing events or trends were easy to see as they started unfolding. Just consider the various actors and their real motives and objectives. 🤯
Democracies, imperfect as they are, had opportunities to react and either prevent or mitigate nefarious developments, or they could just choose to not care.
I saw through #putin when the assassinations of critics first started. (NB. he already had neoimperialist track record!)
I've watched #CCP's *actions* through the eyes of its victims while listening its manipulative win-win BS. (never in doubt)
I knew America's 'Iraq adventure' would, besides a few other things, destroy #USA's standing in *most* of the world... (the wild exhilaration of Chinese nationalists was the icing on that cake)
#trump? One of the easiest characters ever to see through... (which makes all that followed all the more shocking...!)
As a natural 'liberal democratic' friend of tolerant and secular Indian republic — always an ideal — I've watched the rise and rise of the intolerant hindu nationalist populism with concern and sadness.
💥 I didn't foresee the Gov't of #India assassinating a political (religious) opponent — a citizen of #Canada —on Canadian soil and then revelling in its ability to execute the deed and to taunt the elected leader of the 'target country'. With apparently most of India 80% Hindu population — including the opposition — celebrating this new-found audaciously extraterritorial muscularity. 🙋️ (me=fail)
June 18, 2023 — the day Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh gurdwara in Canada — may well mark brave new #Hindustan's coming-out party.
Now, I get the "why" without accepting the act's necessity. It's the "how", "where" and what followed that mark a new era. A hindu-nationalist India is *not* even interested in being full buddies with liberal democracies on a 'fundamental' level.
This actually exhaustively explains #Modi's solid attachment to the #CRIBS#BRICS alternative formula and Modi taking India into the "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation" (SCO) in 2015.
But just how far down the rabbit hole is the dominant Hindu electorate willing to follow, with "the greatest democracy's" closest allies consisting of a motley crew #AxisOfDespots whose sole unifying drive is "liberal democracy delenda est"?
-
⇅ 📜 Some history-changing events or trends were easy to see as they started unfolding. Just consider the various actors and their real motives and objectives. 🤯
Democracies, imperfect as they are, had opportunities to react and either prevent or mitigate nefarious developments, or they could just choose to not care.
I saw through #putin when the assassinations of critics first started. (NB. he already had neoimperialist track record!)
I've watched #CCP's *actions* through the eyes of its victims while listening its manipulative win-win BS. (never in doubt)
I knew America's 'Iraq adventure' would, besides a few other things, destroy #USA's standing in *most* of the world... (the wild exhilaration of Chinese nationalists was the icing on that cake)
#trump? One of the easiest characters ever to see through... (which makes all that followed all the more shocking...!)
As a natural 'liberal democratic' friend of tolerant and secular Indian republic — always an ideal — I've watched the rise and rise of the intolerant hindu nationalist populism with concern and sadness.
💥 I didn't foresee the Gov't of #India assassinating a political (religious) opponent — a citizen of #Canada —on Canadian soil and then revelling in its ability to execute the deed and to taunt the elected leader of the 'target country'. With apparently most of India 80% Hindu population — including the opposition — celebrating this new-found audaciously extraterritorial muscularity. 🙋️ (me=fail)
June 18, 2023 — the day Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh gurdwara in Canada — may well mark brave new #Hindustan's coming-out party.
Now, I get the "why" without accepting the act's necessity. It's the "how", "where" and what followed that mark a new era. A hindu-nationalist India is *not* even interested in being full buddies with liberal democracies on a 'fundamental' level.
This actually exhaustively explains #Modi's solid attachment to the #CRIBS#BRICS alternative formula and Modi taking India into the "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation" (SCO) in 2015.
But just how far down the rabbit hole is the dominant Hindu electorate willing to follow, with "the greatest democracy's" closest allies consisting of a motley crew #AxisOfDespots whose sole unifying drive is "liberal democracy delenda est"?
-
⇅ 📜 Some history-changing events or trends were easy to see as they started unfolding. Just consider the various actors and their real motives and objectives. 🤯
Democracies, imperfect as they are, had opportunities to react and either prevent or mitigate nefarious developments, or they could just choose to not care.
I saw through #putin when the assassinations of critics first started. (NB. he already had neoimperialist track record!)
I've watched #CCP's *actions* through the eyes of its victims while listening its manipulative win-win BS. (never in doubt)
I knew America's 'Iraq adventure' would, besides a few other things, destroy #USA's standing in *most* of the world... (the wild exhilaration of Chinese nationalists was the icing on that cake)
#trump? One of the easiest characters ever to see through... (which makes all that followed all the more shocking...!)
As a natural 'liberal democratic' friend of tolerant and secular Indian republic — always an ideal — I've watched the rise and rise of the intolerant hindu nationalist populism with concern and sadness.
💥 I didn't foresee the Gov't of #India assassinating a political (religious) opponent — a citizen of #Canada —on Canadian soil and then revelling in its ability to execute the deed and to taunt the elected leader of the 'target country'. With apparently most of India 80% Hindu population — including the opposition — celebrating this new-found audaciously extraterritorial muscularity. 🙋️ (me=fail)
June 18, 2023 — the day Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh gurdwara in Canada — may well mark brave new #Hindustan's coming-out party.
Now, I get the "why" without accepting the act's necessity. It's the "how", "where" and what followed that mark a new era. A hindu-nationalist India is *not* even interested in being full buddies with liberal democracies on a 'fundamental' level.
This actually exhaustively explains #Modi's solid attachment to the #CRIBS#BRICS alternative formula and Modi taking India into the "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation" (SCO) in 2015.
But just how far down the rabbit hole is the dominant Hindu electorate willing to follow, with "the greatest democracy's" closest allies consisting of a motley crew #AxisOfDespots whose sole unifying drive is "liberal democracy delenda est"?
-
⇅ 📜 Some history-changing events or trends were easy to see as they started unfolding. Just consider the various actors and their real motives and objectives. 🤯
Democracies, imperfect as they are, had opportunities to react and either prevent or mitigate nefarious developments, or they could just choose to not care.
I saw through #putin when the assassinations of critics first started. (NB. he already had neoimperialist track record!)
I've watched #CCP's *actions* through the eyes of its victims while listening its manipulative win-win BS. (never in doubt)
I knew America's 'Iraq adventure' would, besides a few other things, destroy #USA's standing in *most* of the world... (the wild exhilaration of Chinese nationalists was the icing on that cake)
#trump? One of the easiest characters ever to see through... (which makes all that followed all the more shocking...!)
As a natural 'liberal democratic' friend of tolerant and secular Indian republic — always an ideal — I've watched the rise and rise of the intolerant hindu nationalist populism with concern and sadness.
💥 I didn't foresee the Gov't of #India assassinating a political (religious) opponent — a citizen of #Canada —on Canadian soil and then revelling in its ability to execute the deed and to taunt the elected leader of the 'target country'. With apparently most of India 80% Hindu population — including the opposition — celebrating this new-found audaciously extraterritorial muscularity. 🙋️ (me=fail)
June 18, 2023 — the day Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh gurdwara in Canada — may well mark brave new #Hindustan's coming-out party.
Now, I get the "why" without accepting the act's necessity. It's the "how", "where" and what followed that mark a new era. A hindu-nationalist India is *not* even interested in being full buddies with liberal democracies on a 'fundamental' level.
This actually exhaustively explains #Modi's solid attachment to the #CRIBS#BRICS alternative formula and Modi taking India into the "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation" (SCO) in 2015.
But just how far down the rabbit hole is the dominant Hindu electorate willing to follow, with "the greatest democracy's" closest allies consisting of a motley crew #AxisOfDespots whose sole unifying drive is "liberal democracy delenda est"?
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⇅ 📜 Some history-changing events or trends were easy to see as they started unfolding. Just consider the various actors and their real motives and objectives. 🤯
Democracies, imperfect as they are, had opportunities to react and either prevent or mitigate nefarious developments, or they could just choose to not care.
I saw through #putin when the assassinations of critics first started. (NB. he already had neoimperialist track record!)
I've watched #CCP's *actions* through the eyes of its victims while listening its manipulative win-win BS. (never in doubt)
I knew America's 'Iraq adventure' would, besides a few other things, destroy #USA's standing in *most* of the world... (the wild exhilaration of Chinese nationalists was the icing on that cake)
#trump? One of the easiest characters ever to see through... (which makes all that followed all the more shocking...!)
As a natural 'liberal democratic' friend of tolerant and secular Indian republic — always an ideal — I've watched the rise and rise of the intolerant hindu nationalist populism with concern and sadness.
💥 I didn't foresee the Gov't of #India assassinating a political (religious) opponent — a citizen of #Canada —on Canadian soil and then revelling in its ability to execute the deed and to taunt the elected leader of the 'target country'. With apparently most of India 80% Hindu population — including the opposition — celebrating this new-found audaciously extraterritorial muscularity. 🙋️ (me=fail)
June 18, 2023 — the day Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh gurdwara in Canada — may well mark brave new #Hindustan's coming-out party.
Now, I get the "why" without accepting the act's necessity. It's the "how", "where" and what followed that mark a new era. A hindu-nationalist India is *not* even interested in being full buddies with liberal democracies on a 'fundamental' level.
This actually exhaustively explains #Modi's solid attachment to the #CRIBS#BRICS alternative formula and Modi taking India into the "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation" (SCO) in 2015.
But just how far down the rabbit hole is the dominant Hindu electorate willing to follow, with "the greatest democracy's" closest allies consisting of a motley crew #AxisOfDespots whose sole unifying drive is "liberal democracy delenda est"?
-
MUSSOLINI: SON OF THE CENTURY (2025)
This TV Mini Series from Italy, based on Antonio Scurati’s 2018 book of the same name, has been strangely overlooked by online reviewers for reasons I can’t quite determine. The instant appeal of this work for me was the dynamism in the cinematography and the deployment of an eclectic range of imagery and styles to express both the volatile period and the shifting mood swings of Mussolini (played by Luca Marinelli). In this way it partly echoes the style of Scurati’s book which used a mix of fictional and documentary methods to depict fascism from the inside. This style, which the author termed ‘fictual’, shifts between archive documents, omniscient narration, and the first person perspective of Mussolini and others. In this TV adaptation however, while there is only the perspective of Mussolini, there is an analogous shifting between traditional acoustic and modern electric and digital instrumentation in the soundtrack, created by Tom Rowlands, one half of the The Chemical Brothers duo. This combination drives home the fact that fascism consciously played on a romanticised past while also evoking a kind of hypnotic fascination with the future. It should feel anachronistic to hear a techno soundtrack over montages of archival footage but it’s a common edit technique used by amateurs on X and YouTube with great success.
https://youtu.be/laEem5wiOSY?si=_R4VmiRg-uhTCTrj
It’s also very refreshing to watch a TV series and not to be browbeaten by a script in which every second character explicitly warns of the threat to democracy posed by the extreme right as if the viewer is a drooling halfwit. Antonio Scurati has been described in the publicity for the series as
democratic, libertarian and progressive, and sees his novel as his greatest contribution to the re-foundation of anti-fascism, an anti-fascism that can stand up to new times.
As if not to be outdone in this display of liberal credentials, the director Joe Wright has even talked about Mussolini’s toxic masculinity:
What I find really fascinating about Mussolini is that he represents, in my mind, the worst of masculinity… Mussolini… dug into the worst in himself and used it to gain power.
All this is to be expected in the current climate and doesn’t detract from the work which unapologetically immerses the viewer in the fascist worldview and deploys the same method common to left-wing/liberal biopics of people like Che Guevara (The Motorcycle Diaries 2004) or the American communist John Reed (Reds 1981).
What is interesting here is the application of this immersive method to a party on the right of the political spectrum. The usual demonization of the leaders and followers of right wing movements which makes every depiction a static, po-faced denunciation of a strawman caricature is thankfully absent from this work, even though it depicts brutal acts of violence committed by the fascists. The same film industry which waxes lyrical about Che Guevara and his peasant followers and romanticises the lower classes when they are mobilised for leftist causes, will usually turn around and condemn them as losers and reprehensible social misfits when they are attracted to right-wing movements. Perhaps even the liberals have grown tired of this hypocrisy or perhaps we have entered a more cynical age and perhaps this cynicism can be seen in the depiction of politics as theatre within this series. For example: the mocking asides from Mussolini as if this was a Shakespeare play and he is Richard the Third: the Brechtian breaking of the fourth wall to explain the background context: or his remarks announcing the role he has to play as necessity dictates:
Enter the magician…Enter the trainer…Enter the quick-change artist.
Add to this the comedy of many scenes and the constant mockery and contempt he displays toward Parliament and ‘this putrid liberal democracy‘ and it’s possible to see a reflection of the current mood evident among the electorate of many European countries and the skittishness of the ruling classes at the smouldering discontent and contempt just awaiting a genuine alternative.
There is a moment when Mussolini remarks to the camera, in English, Make Italy great again! which is an explicit, comical nod to this seismic shift in the current political landscape. With the hysterical accusations of fascism directed at Donald Trump and ICE being compared to a fascist militia, there is the implicit recognition of the failure of liberal democracy to deliver on its promises and the growing desire for radical change or rather a radical reversal/return. As an aside it was noticeable in Donald Trump’s initial campaign rallies of 2016 that he consciously mimicked Mussolini’s jutting chin and oratorical style but the press preferred to go with the comparisons to Hitler as Italian fascism has always been rather ill-defined and inadequate for stirring up Pavlovian reactions.The marginal role Mussolini and Franco played in the media’s morality tale of World War Two actually allows a certain freedom to explore the topic without those mind-numbing, thought-killing accusations of reviving a deadly ideology, which still hampers any attempt to put this period into perspective in regards to Germany and the Weimar regime. Scurati himself has talked about how anti-fascist prejudice blocks the ability to analyse fascism, producing a form of ideological blindness. For that reason there is a lot of space for an in-depth exploration of the psychological and emotional make-up of Mussolini which is clearly influenced in this version by the fictional character of Tony Soprano and the real-world figure of Silvio Berlusconi. There’s also a fascinating mixture of exhilaration and nihilism in the character of Mussolini: one minute enraptured with utopian visions of a united Italy, the next wracked with self-doubt and disgust at humanity. The abrupt shifts, from revelling in excess and violence with his ‘fighting bands’ (Fasci Italiani Combattimento), to adopting an air of respectability when attempting to gain parliamentary power, are a reflection of his own internal contradictions. Taking his cue from Marinetti’s Futurism and D’Annunzio’s self-proclaimed Superman image he struggles to find a coherent identity. His initial socialist ideals transformed into what has been termed ‘revolutionary nationalism’ by A James Gregor:
Mussolini’s revolutionary nationalism, while it distinguished itself from the traditional patriotism and nationalism of the bourgeoisie, displayed many of those features we today identify with the nationalism of underdeveloped peoples. It was an anticonservative nationalism that anticipated vast social changes; it was directed against both foreign and domestic oppressors; it conjured up an image of a renewed and regenerated nation that would perform a historical mission; it invoked a moral ideal of selfless sacrifice and commitment in the service of collective goals; and it recalled ancient glories and anticipated a shared and greater glory
The visual and audio styles in the series reflect this confusing mix of political categories, a political syncretism which is fluid and shifting, combining elements from the left and right of the spectrum. This dynamic and unstable environment inhabited by the volatile character of Mussolini is part of the fascination of this series. Right from the start we are hurled into the wreckage of WW1 and the broken, disenchanted veterans feeling discarded by the political class. The same discontented masses that the socialists wished to utilise for their revolution are also the object of his overtures:
History is made with outcasts, people at the bottom of the barrel. Inflame their anger, arm them with bombs and guns. I will make the revolution with them!
There’s even an attractive quality in the inept Machiavellianism of Mussolini as depicted here. His bluntness and his mood swings really disqualify him from the smooth-talking, cool-headed role of a master manipulator, despite his self-presentation as such. It’s made clear that much of his success relies upon the shrewdness of those around him such as Cesare Rossi and his mistress Margherita Sarfatti and that he resents this dependency.
The brief inclusion of the character of Marinetti, the founder of Futurism, does situate fascism in the confluence of artistic currents such as Cubism, Vorticism, Surrealism and Expressionism. These are also the sources for the dominant aesthetic of the series which deploys spectacle in its examination of the political movement to a greater degree than usual. The scenes of violence borrow much from Peaky Blinders and have the same sensationalist excess but with an enhanced unreality, a kind of magic realism which makes for a less exploitative appeal to the baser instincts.
This extract from the Futurist Manifesto of 1909 is reflected in the dynamic aesthetics of the series:
We will sing of great crowds excited by work, by pleasure, and by riot; we will sing of the multicolored, polyphonic tides of revolution in the modern capitals; we will sing of the vibrant nightly fervour of arsenals and shipyards blazing with violent electric moons; greedy railway stations that devour smoke-plumed serpents; factories hung on clouds by the crooked lines of their smoke; bridges that stride the rivers like giant gymnasts, flashing in the sun with a glitter of knives; adventurous steamers that sniff the horizon; deep-chested locomotives whose wheels paw the tracks like the hooves of enormous steel horses bridled by tubing; and the sleek flight of planes whose propellers chatter in the wind like banners and seem to cheer like an enthusiastic crowd.It’s no coincidence that the year Mussolini took office was the same year as the publication of The Wasteland by T.S.Eliot and Ulysses by James Joyce. These modernist landmarks both deal with the confrontation between the traditional worlds and the encroachment of radical modern developments. Eliot would wrestle with this issue even as late as Notes Toward the Definition of Culture (1948) and in his plays which attempted to revive blank verse. Joyce would solve the conflict by seeing in the modern world of Dublin a parallel of the ancient world depicted in Homer’s Odyssey. Also we have the figure of Ezra Pound, a leading modernist poet who produced radio broadcasts from Italy denouncing the allies from 1941 to 1945 and was later arrested for treason. Pound’s Cantos are very much concerned with this dialogue between the ancient and the modern. The same struggle between acknowledging the past and pushing into the future without a radical negation of values which underpin a society is evident in the trajectory of fascism and other ‘third position’ parties. Even Futurism is a response to this pressure of the modern world albeit in a different manner.
We are also shown Mussolini rejecting the bohemian, artistic milieu around Marinetti as ultimately unserious, in the same manner in which Julius Evola abandoned his early dalliance with Dadaism in favour of esoteric philosophy and traditionalism. Mussolini’s admiration for D’Annunzio is tinged with envy in regard to the latter’s charisma but also a kind of mockery toward his immersion in the realm of fantasy and heroic idealism exemplified by his invasion of Fiume: a clump of houses nobody would ever give a fuck about, if it hadn’t become a symbol. D’Annunzio himself would be worthy of a similar series, just as the whole era in Italy is largely unknown to the average viewer and rewards investigation. This article about Fiume is especially eye-opening:
Dionysiac Left-Nietzscheanism in Power: In Defence of the Fiume Commune — MEON
It’s interesting to see the influential political role played by figures like D’Annunzio, the warrior poet and heroic fighter. Such people no longer influence our political system which has been reduced to performative statements in parliament and stage-managed PR stunts. Any figure who might faintly correspond to leaders such as those thrown up by that chaotic period are immediately denounced as ‘strong-man authoritarians’ who threaten democracy. In reality they threaten the marionette show of party politics which masks corporate and technocratic dominance.
The insert of a puppet show, as in this example, is part of the eclectic visual style which also mirrors Mussolini’s mercurial temperament. The scene here is depicting his ‘nightmare’ of social peace, a socialist utopia, which he fears will render his movement redundant and irrelevant. This is the viewpoint of Scurati which recurs frequently within his book and it echoes the kind of blinkered, dismissive view often heard from establishment figures for whom any suggestion of an alternative form of government is cynically capitalising on minor problems which can be solved through the parliamentary process. To be fair to Scurati he does emphasise that the politicians, apart from Matteotti, are quite willing to forgo their principles if it means retaining their positions. In contrast to that corrupt, ossified system, is the vision of fascism which Mussolini himself evokes:
Fascism, a beautiful creature, made up of passion, ideals, courage and change, that will conquer millions and millions of hearts.It’s hard to ignore the contrast between the passions generated by the polarized politics of this period and our own cynical and apathetic attitude towards the bland centrists offered up for election. At one point when asked to define fascism Mussolini calls it an ‘anti-party’ which is, in the context, simply an expression of disdain for the charade of left and right opposition. This is also closely bound up with the nihilist and anarchist roots of fascism and futurism, a desire to break out from the suffocating orthodoxy of political and artistic forms.
His mistress, Margherita Sarfatti, ran a salon and was influential in the promotion of the Novecento style of art which informs some of the cinematography in the series. The same dynamic and energetic impulses of this artistic movement are transmitted through the editing and camera angles chosen by the director. A sort of feverish surrealism frames the historical events which mirrors the manner in which Scurati’s book immerses the reader’s senses in the atmosphere of Milan or Rome.
Fortunato Depero, Nitrito in Velocità, 1932.
Unique Forms Of Continuity In Space, 1913 By Umberto Boccioni
This image of Mussolini torching his socialist ideals is a perfect example of the visual elements deployed by the director. There seems to be a willingness to experiment with different narrative modes which challenge the viewers and break the work out of the formulaic strait-jacket which so many TV series now inhabit. There are some parallels with Hans Jürgen Syberberg’s 1977 work Hitler: A Film from Germany which also deployed a range of styles in the service of representing historical events and personages. It’s not just the use of puppets and Brechtian theatrical techniques that evokes a similarity but also the implicit attempt to come to terms with Italy’s fascist history without resorting to the post-war propaganda narratives. In Syberberg’s work there is an explicit reckoning with the past and a far more ambitious and complex artistic aim but it’s hard not to see echoes of it in this series.
Susan Sontag, the author of Fascinating Fascism, a study of German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, also wrote about Syberberg’s film with considerable insight.
Susan Sontag: Syberberg’s Hitler
It’s possible that the post-war liberal consensus is reacting to the tremors of a new era where their well-worn slogans no longer have the power to persuade and pacify the populace. The main thesis in Scurati’s book and repeated in the series is that the principles of liberal democracy were not upheld and that the left was too riven by factions and infighting to resist the rise of an authoritarian regime. This view ignores the pre-war context where the idea of nations and peoples had not yet been reduced to a sphere of economic zones/resources to be effectively managed but was instead seen as enmeshed with a spiritual destiny and an historical mission. A view which seems eccentric to our crude materialistic age but was strong enough to enlist the forces of millions of people in its service. It is the sense of our own impoverished political landscape that makes the period of fascism so compelling.
That a work such as this can still emerge in the midst of remakes and formulaic dramas is very encouraging. It has something akin to the 1986 TV series The Singing Detective by Dennis Potter, with the same verve and bold stylistic choices, proving what can be achieved with the medium. As to why it has not been given the attention it deserves, it’s possible that the depiction of Mussolini as a very human character with relatable fears and guilt alongside his arrogance and charm threatened the ready-made image of a vain, strutting buffoon who was eventually overthrown by his own people. Perhaps it’s necessary for a liberal democracy that he remain only a propaganda symbol of the threat of dictatorship and the cult of personality and not a vivid representation of human nature. Whatever the reason may be, the fact remains that the current system in Europe is very fragile and defensive, even reactionary and censorious, in contradiction to its ‘liberal’ and ‘democratic’ claims. The desire for political change is as strong as it was in Mussolini’s time and surely it is better to have a political system that recognises the inherent flaws in human nature than this intransigent egalitarianism that is at war with reality and a political ruling class that is at war with its own people.
It’s worth listening to this discussion which throws light on some of the work behind the cinematography.
Mussolini: Son of the Century Q&A with Seamus McGarvey ASC BSC ISC
Jonathan Bowden is always worth the time to read or listen to. Here he is on Syberberg.
#Democracy #donaldTrump #Fascism #history #JonathanBowden #Mussolini #politics #trump -
Bigfoot remains a moneymaking hoaxOnce again, someone has rather uncreatively posed a hairy man prop as an amazing find and put it on display for all the rubes to pay to see.
See UPDATE below the story.
This time, it’s at the New York State Fair.
Dack
Self-titled Bigfoot expert Charles “Snake” Stuart claims to have found a dead Bigfoot specimen in the Adirondack Mountains in October 2024. A hastily cobbled together website at BigfootRemains.com shows the body. The site also contains a Press Release which details a trail of nonsense that describes the 8ft creature as Neanderthal-human hybrid coined “Dack”. There is sciencey fluff about his technique and the DNA results. He pretends to do a news interview. He wants money for more research. It’s all laughably bad.
There are many reports of Bigfoot in the New York mountains, so the basis for the claim was not extreme (as cryptid claims go). This is very much a pop cryptid example as the story is more about making bank than making history with a scientific find. There is nothing about this that is remotely believable; it’s designed for entertainment.
While I haven’t sought out the Bigfoot community response, I suspect it is overwhelmingly negative. They are pretty serious folk. Oh wait… this just floated in from infamous legit serious Bigfoot guy Matt Moneymaker with the BRFO:
Oh, he’s pissed, poor thing.
It’s likely there will be a few who are so gullible that they think this is real. Nevertheless, it’s getting some publicity so I bet it will be popular. For my own little side show, I hastily cobbled together a history of related cryptid gaffs.
Hank
Before there was Dack, there was Hank. In fact, Dack looks a lot like Hank. Maybe they are related. Hank was a hoaxed body created by Rick Dyer in 2014 made of of latex, foam and camel hair that Dyer and a partner toured around the US charging people $10 a head. According to the San Antonio Express News, they pocketed $60,000 before the jig was up. Dyer had claimed that he had shot the creature in Texas. This was a classic story of “fool me twice” because Dyer was already an established Bigfoot con artist so you were kind of daft if you fell for this a second time.
Rick Dyer and HankGeorgia Bigfoot Body
Dyer and Matthew Whitton claimed to have encountered several Bigfoots in the Georgia woods in 2008. They dragged one huge dead body out and put it in a freezer, releasing a photo to the press. Partnering with well established Bigfoot huckster Tom Biscardi, they held a press conference revealing more photos. Many Bigfoot believers wanted this to be “the real deal” as Biscardi called it. But the hoax was short-lived. When the time came to examine the real body, the fakers bolted and the jig was up. It was a suit with added animal guts. This is the episode Moneymaker cites in his Facebook rant screenshotted above. I think these chuckleheads were trying to pull off another Minnesota Iceman caper, but they were too witless.
Minnesota Iceman
These hoaxes followed a pretty successful gaff that is still discussed today: the Minnesota Iceman. Originally known as the Siberskoye Creature, Frank D. Hansen’s specimen of a hairy ape man encased in ice, made the rounds in the US and Canada in 1968. Hansen’s tale of how he came to have the creature changed repeatedly. It had been found floating as a block of ice off the coast of Siberia (if this sounds like a Scooby Doo episode, that’s because it was), or it shot in Vietnam and transferred to the US, or Hansen shot it himself in Minnesota. The Iceman garnered attention from the founders of cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan Sanderson who visited Hansen’s specimen (still encased in ice) and came away believing it was a real hominid carcass. Heuvelmans even wrote about it as real. The story of the Iceman is wild. Hit the TetZoo site for more. The conclusion is, you guessed it, it was a hoax – a latex prop made to appear like it had been shot in the eye. Creative! The ice did the job of obscuring the details. Clever! However, when government officials came sniffing around, Hansen stated the real body had been retrieved by the owner and he was using a replica prop instead. Convenient.
Step Right Up
There are many other examples of cryptid hoaxes – constructed, dead, or alive – that have been displayed in public for a fee. P.T. Barnum was great at this. He gave us the Cardiff Giant (actually a replica of a fake), and the Feejee mermaid in the mid 1800s. The “real” fake Cardiff Giant was supposedly a lithified giant man whose appearance was a sensation in New York in 1869. Created by George Hull, who spend a large amount of cash to have it constructed, he cleared a tidy profit by the end. Funny enough, a Facebook comment on “Dack” called it the Cardiff Giant 2.0. Eh, that commenter forgot a few examples in between.
The infamous Hodag of the late 1890s was a constructed beast from the Wisconsin woods that was so popular that it became the mascot for the town of Rhinelander. Gene Shepard was a noted storyteller and jokester, it’s unlikely many people believed this mash-up monster was real. Today, the Hodag has his own store and traveling shop that appears at cryptid town festivals.
The Jersey Devil, known in 1785 as the Leeds Devil, was advertised as being live on exhibit at Philadelphia’s Arch Street Museum for 10-cents admission. The “devil” was a cruelly concocted hoax where a kangaroo was painted with fake wings and prodded to jump around. The stunt didn’t save the sad excuse for a museum, which closed.
I’m sure I’m missing some examples. What we are seeing here is the art of the hoax. The audience always forgets that real discoveries aren’t made this way. They want to hope, and get a glimpse of something fascinating. Instead, they either get a rude awakening or they laugh at the joke that they willingly fell for. Maybe that’s worth a dime. But not much more.
Update #1
Bigfoot research personality Steve Kulls has discovered that the Charles Snake Stuart is really Brian Andrew Whiteley, a rather awful visual artist. So, as suspected, this is a stunt. It’s unclear if Whiteley will show up with the display at the fair, which starts tomorrow. Currently tickets are still selling via Eventbrite.
Cryptid fans continue to complain that this is bad for the reputation of the field. But hoaxes have been an integral and common part of cryptozoology since its beginning. In fact, the most successful hoaxes have built the foundation of several cryptids, including Bigfoot and Nessie, to the point that the way we think about the creatures today is inextricably tied to the hoax portrayal.
Update #2
Seems like the stunt was a success. He did show up at the fair and continues his schtick. People seem to like it. There is a sliver of my being that finds this outright hilarious. Other than the 13% or so that may take Bigfoot seriously, the rest of society sees it as a harmless tall tale, or as nonsense. I’m guessing that most of the visitors here are playing into the fun. But, there may be a spark, a feeling that this is what Bigfoot would really look like. Because we have no body, we build the description of cryptids based on media and art. The template of Bigfoot was from the Patterson Gimlin film. “Dack” is built from that template from nearly 60 years ago. Nessie’s image was built on the hoaxed Surgeon’s photo. Media depictions play a massive role in how we envision our most beloved cryptids.
I don’t know if Whiteley will make much net profit on this event, but he has succeeded in establishing himself as a B-grade jackass. He’s likely revelling in all this attention, succeeding where Rick Dyer failed.
See more on HOAXES.
For the Patterson Gimlin Film hoax, see here.
#1 #2 #Adirondacks #Bigfoot #BigfootHoax #cryptidHoax #fakeBigfoot #GeorgiaBigfootHoax #hoax #MinnesotaIceman #NewYorkStateFair #RickDyer #TravelingHoaxes https://sharonahill.com/?p=10164 -
Bigfoot remains a moneymaking hoaxOnce again, someone has rather uncreatively posed a hairy man prop as an amazing find and put it on display for all the rubes to pay to see.
See UPDATE below the story.
This time, it’s at the New York State Fair.
Dack
Self-titled Bigfoot expert Charles “Snake” Stuart claims to have found a dead Bigfoot specimen in the Adirondack Mountains in October 2024. A hastily cobbled together website at BigfootRemains.com shows the body. The site also contains a Press Release which details a trail of nonsense that describes the 8ft creature as Neanderthal-human hybrid coined “Dack”. There is sciencey fluff about his technique and the DNA results. He pretends to do a news interview. He wants money for more research. It’s all laughably bad.
There are many reports of Bigfoot in the New York mountains, so the basis for the claim was not extreme (as cryptid claims go). This is very much a pop cryptid example as the story is more about making bank than making history with a scientific find. There is nothing about this that is remotely believable; it’s designed for entertainment.
While I haven’t sought out the Bigfoot community response, I suspect it is overwhelmingly negative. They are pretty serious folk. Oh wait… this just floated in from infamous legit serious Bigfoot guy Matt Moneymaker with the BRFO:
Oh, he’s pissed, poor thing.
It’s likely there will be a few who are so gullible that they think this is real. Nevertheless, it’s getting some publicity so I bet it will be popular. For my own little side show, I hastily cobbled together a history of related cryptid gaffs.
Hank
Before there was Dack, there was Hank. In fact, Dack looks a lot like Hank. Maybe they are related. Hank was a hoaxed body created by Rick Dyer in 2014 made of of latex, foam and camel hair that Dyer and a partner toured around the US charging people $10 a head. According to the San Antonio Express News, they pocketed $60,000 before the jig was up. Dyer had claimed that he had shot the creature in Texas. This was a classic story of “fool me twice” because Dyer was already an established Bigfoot con artist so you were kind of daft if you fell for this a second time.
Rick Dyer and HankGeorgia Bigfoot Body
Dyer and Matthew Whitton claimed to have encountered several Bigfoots in the Georgia woods in 2008. They dragged one huge dead body out and put it in a freezer, releasing a photo to the press. Partnering with well established Bigfoot huckster Tom Biscardi, they held a press conference revealing more photos. Many Bigfoot believers wanted this to be “the real deal” as Biscardi called it. But the hoax was short-lived. When the time came to examine the real body, the fakers bolted and the jig was up. It was a suit with added animal guts. This is the episode Moneymaker cites in his Facebook rant screenshotted above. I think these chuckleheads were trying to pull off another Minnesota Iceman caper, but they were too witless.
Minnesota Iceman
These hoaxes followed a pretty successful gaff that is still discussed today: the Minnesota Iceman. Originally known as the Siberskoye Creature, Frank D. Hansen’s specimen of a hairy ape man encased in ice, made the rounds in the US and Canada in 1968. Hansen’s tale of how he came to have the creature changed repeatedly. It had been found floating as a block of ice off the coast of Siberia (if this sounds like a Scooby Doo episode, that’s because it was), or it shot in Vietnam and transferred to the US, or Hansen shot it himself in Minnesota. The Iceman garnered attention from the founders of cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan Sanderson who visited Hansen’s specimen (still encased in ice) and came away believing it was a real hominid carcass. Heuvelmans even wrote about it as real. The story of the Iceman is wild. Hit the TetZoo site for more. The conclusion is, you guessed it, it was a hoax – a latex prop made to appear like it had been shot in the eye. Creative! The ice did the job of obscuring the details. Clever! However, when government officials came sniffing around, Hansen stated the real body had been retrieved by the owner and he was using a replica prop instead. Convenient.
Step Right Up
There are many other examples of cryptid hoaxes – constructed, dead, or alive – that have been displayed in public for a fee. P.T. Barnum was great at this. He gave us the Cardiff Giant (actually a replica of a fake), and the Feejee mermaid in the mid 1800s. The “real” fake Cardiff Giant was supposedly a lithified giant man whose appearance was a sensation in New York in 1869. Created by George Hull, who spend a large amount of cash to have it constructed, he cleared a tidy profit by the end. Funny enough, a Facebook comment on “Dack” called it the Cardiff Giant 2.0. Eh, that commenter forgot a few examples in between.
The infamous Hodag of the late 1890s was a constructed beast from the Wisconsin woods that was so popular that it became the mascot for the town of Rhinelander. Gene Shepard was a noted storyteller and jokester, it’s unlikely many people believed this mash-up monster was real. Today, the Hodag has his own store and traveling shop that appears at cryptid town festivals.
The Jersey Devil, known in 1785 as the Leeds Devil, was advertised as being live on exhibit at Philadelphia’s Arch Street Museum for 10-cents admission. The “devil” was a cruelly concocted hoax where a kangaroo was painted with fake wings and prodded to jump around. The stunt didn’t save the sad excuse for a museum, which closed.
I’m sure I’m missing some examples. What we are seeing here is the art of the hoax. The audience always forgets that real discoveries aren’t made this way. They want to hope, and get a glimpse of something fascinating. Instead, they either get a rude awakening or they laugh at the joke that they willingly fell for. Maybe that’s worth a dime. But not much more.
Update #1
Bigfoot research personality Steve Kulls has discovered that the Charles Snake Stuart is really Brian Andrew Whiteley, a rather awful visual artist. So, as suspected, this is a stunt. It’s unclear if Whiteley will show up with the display at the fair, which starts tomorrow. Currently tickets are still selling via Eventbrite.
Cryptid fans continue to complain that this is bad for the reputation of the field. But hoaxes have been an integral and common part of cryptozoology since its beginning. In fact, the most successful hoaxes have built the foundation of several cryptids, including Bigfoot and Nessie, to the point that the way we think about the creatures today is inextricably tied to the hoax portrayal.
Update #2
Seems like the stunt was a success. He did show up at the fair and continues his schtick. People seem to like it. There is a sliver of my being that finds this outright hilarious. Other than the 13% or so that may take Bigfoot seriously, the rest of society sees it as a harmless tall tale, or as nonsense. I’m guessing that most of the visitors here are playing into the fun. But, there may be a spark, a feeling that this is what Bigfoot would really look like. Because we have no body, we build the description of cryptids based on media and art. The template of Bigfoot was from the Patterson Gimlin film. “Dack” is built from that template from nearly 60 years ago. Nessie’s image was built on the hoaxed Surgeon’s photo. Media depictions play a massive role in how we envision our most beloved cryptids.
I don’t know if Whiteley will make much net profit on this event, but he has succeeded in establishing himself as a B-grade jackass. He’s likely revelling in all this attention, succeeding where Rick Dyer failed.
See more on HOAXES.
For the Patterson Gimlin Film hoax, see here.
#1 #2 #Adirondacks #Bigfoot #BigfootHoax #cryptidHoax #fakeBigfoot #GeorgiaBigfootHoax #hoax #MinnesotaIceman #NewYorkStateFair #RickDyer #TravelingHoaxes https://sharonahill.com/?p=10164 -
Bigfoot remains a moneymaking hoaxOnce again, someone has rather uncreatively posed a hairy man prop as an amazing find and put it on display for all the rubes to pay to see.
See UPDATE below the story.
This time, it’s at the New York State Fair.
Dack
Self-titled Bigfoot expert Charles “Snake” Stuart claims to have found a dead Bigfoot specimen in the Adirondack Mountains in October 2024. A hastily cobbled together website at BigfootRemains.com shows the body. The site also contains a Press Release which details a trail of nonsense that describes the 8ft creature as Neanderthal-human hybrid coined “Dack”. There is sciencey fluff about his technique and the DNA results. He pretends to do a news interview. He wants money for more research. It’s all laughably bad.
There are many reports of Bigfoot in the New York mountains, so the basis for the claim was not extreme (as cryptid claims go). This is very much a pop cryptid example as the story is more about making bank than making history with a scientific find. There is nothing about this that is remotely believable; it’s designed for entertainment.
While I haven’t sought out the Bigfoot community response, I suspect it is overwhelmingly negative. They are pretty serious folk. Oh wait… this just floated in from infamous legit serious Bigfoot guy Matt Moneymaker with the BRFO:
Oh, he’s pissed, poor thing.
It’s likely there will be a few who are so gullible that they think this is real. Nevertheless, it’s getting some publicity so I bet it will be popular. For my own little side show, I hastily cobbled together a history of related cryptid gaffs.
Hank
Before there was Dack, there was Hank. In fact, Dack looks a lot like Hank. Maybe they are related. Hank was a hoaxed body created by Rick Dyer in 2014 made of of latex, foam and camel hair that Dyer and a partner toured around the US charging people $10 a head. According to the San Antonio Express News, they pocketed $60,000 before the jig was up. Dyer had claimed that he had shot the creature in Texas. This was a classic story of “fool me twice” because Dyer was already an established Bigfoot con artist so you were kind of daft if you fell for this a second time.
Rick Dyer and HankGeorgia Bigfoot Body
Dyer and Matthew Whitton claimed to have encountered several Bigfoots in the Georgia woods in 2008. They dragged one huge dead body out and put it in a freezer, releasing a photo to the press. Partnering with well established Bigfoot huckster Tom Biscardi, they held a press conference revealing more photos. Many Bigfoot believers wanted this to be “the real deal” as Biscardi called it. But the hoax was short-lived. When the time came to examine the real body, the fakers bolted and the jig was up. It was a suit with added animal guts. This is the episode Moneymaker cites in his Facebook rant screenshotted above. I think these chuckleheads were trying to pull off another Minnesota Iceman caper, but they were too witless.
Minnesota Iceman
These hoaxes followed a pretty successful gaff that is still discussed today: the Minnesota Iceman. Originally known as the Siberskoye Creature, Frank D. Hansen’s specimen of a hairy ape man encased in ice, made the rounds in the US and Canada in 1968. Hansen’s tale of how he came to have the creature changed repeatedly. It had been found floating as a block of ice off the coast of Siberia (if this sounds like a Scooby Doo episode, that’s because it was), or it shot in Vietnam and transferred to the US, or Hansen shot it himself in Minnesota. The Iceman garnered attention from the founders of cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan Sanderson who visited Hansen’s specimen (still encased in ice) and came away believing it was a real hominid carcass. Heuvelmans even wrote about it as real. The story of the Iceman is wild. Hit the TetZoo site for more. The conclusion is, you guessed it, it was a hoax – a latex prop made to appear like it had been shot in the eye. Creative! The ice did the job of obscuring the details. Clever! However, when government officials came sniffing around, Hansen stated the real body had been retrieved by the owner and he was using a replica prop instead. Convenient.
Step Right Up
There are many other examples of cryptid hoaxes – constructed, dead, or alive – that have been displayed in public for a fee. P.T. Barnum was great at this. He gave us the Cardiff Giant (actually a replica of a fake), and the Feejee mermaid in the mid 1800s. The “real” fake Cardiff Giant was supposedly a lithified giant man whose appearance was a sensation in New York in 1869. Created by George Hull, who spend a large amount of cash to have it constructed, he cleared a tidy profit by the end. Funny enough, a Facebook comment on “Dack” called it the Cardiff Giant 2.0. Eh, that commenter forgot a few examples in between.
The infamous Hodag of the late 1890s was a constructed beast from the Wisconsin woods that was so popular that it became the mascot for the town of Rhinelander. Gene Shepard was a noted storyteller and jokester, it’s unlikely many people believed this mash-up monster was real. Today, the Hodag has his own store and traveling shop that appears at cryptid town festivals.
The Jersey Devil, known in 1785 as the Leeds Devil, was advertised as being live on exhibit at Philadelphia’s Arch Street Museum for 10-cents admission. The “devil” was a cruelly concocted hoax where a kangaroo was painted with fake wings and prodded to jump around. The stunt didn’t save the sad excuse for a museum, which closed.
I’m sure I’m missing some examples. What we are seeing here is the art of the hoax. The audience always forgets that real discoveries aren’t made this way. They want to hope, and get a glimpse of something fascinating. Instead, they either get a rude awakening or they laugh at the joke that they willingly fell for. Maybe that’s worth a dime. But not much more.
Update #1
Bigfoot research personality Steve Kulls has discovered that the Charles Snake Stuart is really Brian Andrew Whiteley, a rather awful visual artist. So, as suspected, this is a stunt. It’s unclear if Whiteley will show up with the display at the fair, which starts tomorrow. Currently tickets are still selling via Eventbrite.
Cryptid fans continue to complain that this is bad for the reputation of the field. But hoaxes have been an integral and common part of cryptozoology since its beginning. In fact, the most successful hoaxes have built the foundation of several cryptids, including Bigfoot and Nessie, to the point that the way we think about the creatures today is inextricably tied to the hoax portrayal.
Update #2
Seems like the stunt was a success. He did show up at the fair and continues his schtick. People seem to like it. There is a sliver of my being that finds this outright hilarious. Other than the 13% or so that may take Bigfoot seriously, the rest of society sees it as a harmless tall tale, or as nonsense. I’m guessing that most of the visitors here are playing into the fun. But, there may be a spark, a feeling that this is what Bigfoot would really look like. Because we have no body, we build the description of cryptids based on media and art. The template of Bigfoot was from the Patterson Gimlin film. “Dack” is built from that template from nearly 60 years ago. Nessie’s image was built on the hoaxed Surgeon’s photo. Media depictions play a massive role in how we envision our most beloved cryptids.
I don’t know if Whiteley will make much net profit on this event, but he has succeeded in establishing himself as a B-grade jackass. He’s likely revelling in all this attention, succeeding where Rick Dyer failed.
See more on HOAXES.
For the Patterson Gimlin Film hoax, see here.
#1 #2 #Adirondacks #Bigfoot #BigfootHoax #cryptidHoax #fakeBigfoot #GeorgiaBigfootHoax #hoax #MinnesotaIceman #NewYorkStateFair #RickDyer #TravelingHoaxes https://sharonahill.com/?p=10164 -
Bigfoot remains a moneymaking hoaxOnce again, someone has rather uncreatively posed a hairy man prop as an amazing find and put it on display for all the rubes to pay to see.
See UPDATE below the story.
This time, it’s at the New York State Fair.
Dack
Self-titled Bigfoot expert Charles “Snake” Stuart claims to have found a dead Bigfoot specimen in the Adirondack Mountains in October 2024. A hastily cobbled together website at BigfootRemains.com shows the body. The site also contains a Press Release which details a trail of nonsense that describes the 8ft creature as Neanderthal-human hybrid coined “Dack”. There is sciencey fluff about his technique and the DNA results. He pretends to do a news interview. He wants money for more research. It’s all laughably bad.
There are many reports of Bigfoot in the New York mountains, so the basis for the claim was not extreme (as cryptid claims go). This is very much a pop cryptid example as the story is more about making bank than making history with a scientific find. There is nothing about this that is remotely believable; it’s designed for entertainment.
While I haven’t sought out the Bigfoot community response, I suspect it is overwhelmingly negative. They are pretty serious folk. Oh wait… this just floated in from infamous legit serious Bigfoot guy Matt Moneymaker with the BRFO:
Oh, he’s pissed, poor thing.
It’s likely there will be a few who are so gullible that they think this is real. Nevertheless, it’s getting some publicity so I bet it will be popular. For my own little side show, I hastily cobbled together a history of related cryptid gaffs.
Hank
Before there was Dack, there was Hank. In fact, Dack looks a lot like Hank. Maybe they are related. Hank was a hoaxed body created by Rick Dyer in 2014 made of of latex, foam and camel hair that Dyer and a partner toured around the US charging people $10 a head. According to the San Antonio Express News, they pocketed $60,000 before the jig was up. Dyer had claimed that he had shot the creature in Texas. This was a classic story of “fool me twice” because Dyer was already an established Bigfoot con artist so you were kind of daft if you fell for this a second time.
Rick Dyer and HankGeorgia Bigfoot Body
Dyer and Matthew Whitton claimed to have encountered several Bigfoots in the Georgia woods in 2008. They dragged one huge dead body out and put it in a freezer, releasing a photo to the press. Partnering with well established Bigfoot huckster Tom Biscardi, they held a press conference revealing more photos. Many Bigfoot believers wanted this to be “the real deal” as Biscardi called it. But the hoax was short-lived. When the time came to examine the real body, the fakers bolted and the jig was up. It was a suit with added animal guts. This is the episode Moneymaker cites in his Facebook rant screenshotted above. I think these chuckleheads were trying to pull off another Minnesota Iceman caper, but they were too witless.
Minnesota Iceman
These hoaxes followed a pretty successful gaff that is still discussed today: the Minnesota Iceman. Originally known as the Siberskoye Creature, Frank D. Hansen’s specimen of a hairy ape man encased in ice, made the rounds in the US and Canada in 1968. Hansen’s tale of how he came to have the creature changed repeatedly. It had been found floating as a block of ice off the coast of Siberia (if this sounds like a Scooby Doo episode, that’s because it was), or it shot in Vietnam and transferred to the US, or Hansen shot it himself in Minnesota. The Iceman garnered attention from the founders of cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan Sanderson who visited Hansen’s specimen (still encased in ice) and came away believing it was a real hominid carcass. Heuvelmans even wrote about it as real. The story of the Iceman is wild. Hit the TetZoo site for more. The conclusion is, you guessed it, it was a hoax – a latex prop made to appear like it had been shot in the eye. Creative! The ice did the job of obscuring the details. Clever! However, when government officials came sniffing around, Hansen stated the real body had been retrieved by the owner and he was using a replica prop instead. Convenient.
Step Right Up
There are many other examples of cryptid hoaxes – constructed, dead, or alive – that have been displayed in public for a fee. P.T. Barnum was great at this. He gave us the Cardiff Giant (actually a replica of a fake), and the Feejee mermaid in the mid 1800s. The “real” fake Cardiff Giant was supposedly a lithified giant man whose appearance was a sensation in New York in 1869. Created by George Hull, who spend a large amount of cash to have it constructed, he cleared a tidy profit by the end. Funny enough, a Facebook comment on “Dack” called it the Cardiff Giant 2.0. Eh, that commenter forgot a few examples in between.
The infamous Hodag of the late 1890s was a constructed beast from the Wisconsin woods that was so popular that it became the mascot for the town of Rhinelander. Gene Shepard was a noted storyteller and jokester, it’s unlikely many people believed this mash-up monster was real. Today, the Hodag has his own store and traveling shop that appears at cryptid town festivals.
The Jersey Devil, known in 1785 as the Leeds Devil, was advertised as being live on exhibit at Philadelphia’s Arch Street Museum for 10-cents admission. The “devil” was a cruelly concocted hoax where a kangaroo was painted with fake wings and prodded to jump around. The stunt didn’t save the sad excuse for a museum, which closed.
I’m sure I’m missing some examples. What we are seeing here is the art of the hoax. The audience always forgets that real discoveries aren’t made this way. They want to hope, and get a glimpse of something fascinating. Instead, they either get a rude awakening or they laugh at the joke that they willingly fell for. Maybe that’s worth a dime. But not much more.
Update #1
Bigfoot research personality Steve Kulls has discovered that the Charles Snake Stuart is really Brian Andrew Whiteley, a rather awful visual artist. So, as suspected, this is a stunt. It’s unclear if Whiteley will show up with the display at the fair, which starts tomorrow. Currently tickets are still selling via Eventbrite.
Cryptid fans continue to complain that this is bad for the reputation of the field. But hoaxes have been an integral and common part of cryptozoology since its beginning. In fact, the most successful hoaxes have built the foundation of several cryptids, including Bigfoot and Nessie, to the point that the way we think about the creatures today is inextricably tied to the hoax portrayal.
Update #2
Seems like the stunt was a success. He did show up at the fair and continues his schtick. People seem to like it. There is a sliver of my being that finds this outright hilarious. Other than the 13% or so that may take Bigfoot seriously, the rest of society sees it as a harmless tall tale, or as nonsense. I’m guessing that most of the visitors here are playing into the fun. But, there may be a spark, a feeling that this is what Bigfoot would really look like. Because we have no body, we build the description of cryptids based on media and art. The template of Bigfoot was from the Patterson Gimlin film. “Dack” is built from that template from nearly 60 years ago. Nessie’s image was built on the hoaxed Surgeon’s photo. Media depictions play a massive role in how we envision our most beloved cryptids.
I don’t know if Whiteley will make much net profit on this event, but he has succeeded in establishing himself as a B-grade jackass. He’s likely revelling in all this attention, succeeding where Rick Dyer failed.
See more on HOAXES.
For the Patterson Gimlin Film hoax, see here.
#1 #2 #Adirondacks #Bigfoot #BigfootHoax #cryptidHoax #fakeBigfoot #GeorgiaBigfootHoax #hoax #MinnesotaIceman #NewYorkStateFair #RickDyer #TravelingHoaxes https://sharonahill.com/?p=10164 -
Endless protection recap and analysis (currently watching)
Prosecutor Lin Zhi Tao and assistant prosecutor Bai En Yu are members of a special juvenile prosecution team that focuses on the judicial protection of minors. They come across crimes that test their emotional strength, but despite the horrifying cases, they have to fight for justice of one of society’s most vulnerable: The children.
ℹ️ This post is currently being updated as I watch the show. Do return to the page as I will be updating it.
- Episodes 1-3: Bullies
- Episodes 4-5: Thieves
- Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
- Episodes 10-14: The past
- Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
Episodes 1-3: Bullies
The crime
A young student is bullied so much that he jumps off a building to escape his tormentors.
We meet our justice warriors
In these episodes, we get to meet our main protagonists, Lin Zhi Tao, a no-nonsense prosecutor, and Bai En Yu, a corrections officer at a juvenile corrections facility.
Originally, I watched this without subs, and since my Chinese reading is shit, I couldn’t quite get most of Vengo’s dialogue. (I love ya, Vengo, but please remove those marbles from your mouth lol).
The crimes are so… difficult to watch (sobs).But anyway, I really, really hurt when I see young people suffer in any way, even on TV, which is why after the ferocious bullying in the first few minutes of episode 1, I wondered if I could continue. It was heartbreaking, and I was actually quite surprised at how graphic the bullying was.
But I believe it served a purpose. The head bully was hardly remorseful, and when Lin passed a relatively light sentence, I was also as incensed as the mom.
However, the drama shifted to Bai’s perspective, where we see that while he’s tough on his young charges, he is also caring in his own way. He wants the head bully to be reformed—we can see that—but he’s proving to be a tough nut to crack.
Hilariously, Lin and Bai butt heads in episode 3, and since we know they’ll end up in that special Juvenile Crime division that Lin has been transferred to, this is going to be SO FUN.
I can understand Bai’s perspective. In his mind, Lin is just a pencil pusher who doesn’t get to see the young criminals daily. She only knows how to execute the law. While Lin can execute the law according to rigid parameters, Bai doesn’t have that luxury. Kids are already hard to deal with—delinquent kids?? It’ll be interesting to see both of them exasperate each other.
The limits of the law
I wonder if Lin regrets executing the law so rigidly in the bullying case. I can’t decide if what she did was right or wrong because I’m with the mom—8 years is a slap on the wrist for someone who caused another child to jump off a building in desperation to get away.
Lin’s childhood was not a cakewalk
While the cases are so tough to watch, at the start of episode 3, we see siblings who live under the tyranny of their abusive father. I believe that’s Lin, as we later see the child talk to Lin’s superior.
But I wonder if her actions were the reason why she was ostracized by her community—because she dared to sue her dad, and somehow… her mom still defended her dad despite it all… and chose to oust her daughter instead? Oof.
I really love the characters so far, and I especially like the gregarious Bai, who adores his wife. What a refreshing character to take on, and I’m glad Vengo Gao got a chance to play him. I’m so used to seeing him in idol dramas; I hope that he truly makes the leap to the “Uncle Circle” soon, though I’d miss his white-haired Emperors ;D. He’s so far from the usual suave characters he plays that I’m delighting in the chance.
I also like how multi-faceted the drama is. They don’t portray the juvenile delinquents as irredeemable but show that they’re probably the result of their environment. I find myself unexpectedly rooting for them. 🙂
Yes, even the head bully!
Episodes 4-5: Thieves
The crime
Children are being used to rob people. I definitely cried a little (inside, anyway) when I saw how they were “trained” and “punished.” And if that isn’t bad enough, they’re later stuffed in suitcases and sold. I really am wincing at the fact that these are based on real cases. The poor kids :((
Bai’s human touch
Poor Bai—his favourite charge, Lu Sheng, is back in detention. It appears that he’s been forced back into the criminal ring that uses children to steal, and he’s probably not telling the truth because he wants to protect his siblings, family, and the kids in that ring.
Bai has his heart in the right place: he not only cares for the kids but also knows how to read them and get them to reform. However, his hot-headed ways and rough, in-your-face interrogation methods do not work outside the detention centre, methinks. Still, he has street smarts and instincts that the prosecution team doesn’t have.
Like the director said later, she hopes Bai will give the team the “human touch.”
Lin’s methodical way of prying the truth out of criminals can really complement Bai’s out-of-the-box ways.
(I LOLed at Bai’s method to get into Lu Sheng’s family flat after Lin failed. He pretends to be on Lu Sheng’s dad’s side and drinks with him, which incenses Lin’s assistant, who thinks that he’s breaking the law and “drinking on the job.”)
Notes
- Don’t you think the opening sequence is creepy? The crimes that we’ll see in this drama are hinted at in a series of ‘playful’ dioramas. Cute on the surface, but upon closer look, they hint at darker stories.
- I love how Bai dotes on his wife! We all want a hubby like Bai.
- Lin’s request to revoke Lu Sheng’s father’s guardianship—is this another clue that the kid who wanted to sue her father was Lin? I wonder if she’ll succeed.
- Not gonna lie, I thought Lu Sheng would get a harsh sentence. Thank goodness he didn’t, or else I’d wonder what the hell is wrong with the prosecutors (like I wondered in the first ep).
- What in the world was Bai doing on that roof with the drum? Was he beating the drums to give Lu Sheng a soundtrack while he’s testifying before the prosecutors?? ;D
I noticed not only were they using cash but also those old “boring” hand phones! I wonder why I never noticed before, but this drama must’ve been set before 2010.
Looks like Lin’s troubles with the first case aren’t over??
Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
The crime
A family boat trip ends in tragedy as a child is killed. The culprit appears to be a young girl, but our prosecutors are not that sure.
I kinda like the office
Our heroes have a rough start to the latest arc. First, Lin had to save the mother of the dead bullied kid from swan diving off the same ledge her son did. Then Bai realised his dream job is a dream – the kind you can only appreciate when you are asleep! He’s flabbergasted that the prestigious job he had fought so hard for has an office in a janitor’s store room. But at least it’s roomy and has an ensuite toilet!
The criminal isn’t as obvious as I thought
This arc got me thinking that some people just shouldn’t be allowed to procreate. Honestly, I really disliked the little girl bully so much that I was convinced the arc was all about how to convict a child psychopath and the ethics of doing so.
But it turned out that the true psychopath was the father of the kids, who made my skin crawl with his selfishness.
His mistress wasn’t any better, her having colluded and even pressured the father to kill the kids. Her begging to be let off from the death penalty towards the end made me shudder a little at her selfishness.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the little girl bully is going to grow up normal. Pretty sure she’s going to be a full-blown narcissist when she grows up and do something criminal.
And thus I go on a philosophical bent thinking how society’s ills often stem from shitty parents, and if only we had an AI for that to anticipate or predict bad/evil parenting …
Some other notable stuff
- I have to say this is such a creative way to interrogate kids.
- We get a clue what the diorama opening scenes are for! As the psychologist explains, it gives children a safe way to talk about the harrowing things they’ve gone through. As I mentioned in the last recap, each toy in the opening scene signifies a crime, and this time, it’s a boat and two empty life vests. (oof)
- We get confirmation that Lin is indeed that girl who sued her father and sent him to prison.
- We also find out that her family ain’t that grateful for her actions.
- So, in that sense, this case is really meaningful to Lin. That scene where she flinched at the sight of the wire coat hanger. Phew.
- Bai continues to demonstrate that his bad temper is not an asset in the interrogation room (I wonder if he’ll be dinged for that in future episodes). However, his out-of-the-box detective work, instincts and deft ability to handle young juvenile kids is definitely an asset to his more by-the-book teammates.
- Narcissists are often paired with Enablers and the father’s mother is an Enabler with a capital E. Lin and Bai got extremely frustrated by her not doing anything to prevent her grandkids from being abused. I got wanted to throw something at her when she said her son was a “good man, it’s just that he loses his temper”. Eurgh (screams into pillow). I think Lin is especially upset about this because, and I’m guessing, it reminds her too much of her mother who begged the police to release her husband.
Who is the mysterious kid in the hoodie?
By the way, there is this mysterious kid who spoke to the bullied kid’s mum, and I wondered if she somehow goaded her to jump off the building?
Even Lin remarked that the woman was probably being manipulated into doing so.
Are we dealing with a genius kid psychopath or something?
Episodes 10-14: The past
The crimes:
A teenager is about to be prosecuted … for running a porn distribution ring.
Teen biker gangs are causing havoc and Bai Enyu wants to solve this problem without the law stepping in.
Don’t do porn, ‘mkay?
These episodes are relatively placid and less intense than the earlie episodes. (You know what this means—intense, heart-wrenching cases are coming soon!)
I have to say, my main reaction to the porn ring story was, wait, omg you can go to jail for this in China? Half the world would be in prison if this was a law in their countries!
But the distinction to be made here is that prosecution only happens if you profit from it, and this teenager has been earning money from his chat porn distribution ring.
Meanwhile, we’re introduced to his rather unstable tiger mum who screams at him the moment he shows interest in a friend who happens to be a girl? Geez, no wonder he’s turning to porn, mum.
Anyway, our prosecutors are pleading for leniency from the government as he seems to be a good and smart kid. Prosecution could mean that his life is ruined forever, after all.
Our second case is a little more serious but not intense either. Instead the case offers an insight on Bai. Well, our cheerful detective/prosecutor was a delinquent himself!
However, he turned into a new leaf when, during one of his fights, a friend was killed and another was maimed. And it was kinda sweet that his wife was a part of the gang, which meant that she was his childhood sweetheart.
On the whole, I found the biker arc predictable, but it’s nice to see Bai talking to a modern, younger version of his teen self, and being able to stop him from ending up hurting someone (and possibly derail his life).
Bai tries to play therapist to Lin (spoiler alert: not working well)
Lin meets her enstranged brother. Not a happy moment for all.We also find out that Prosecutor Lin has a problem with her brain. Like, a physical one, in case you’re wondering.
Bai also finds out that the shop he’s been patronising and where Lu Sheng, his reformed delinquent progete works – the owner is Prosecutor Lin’s brother.
This becomes a rather awkward moment for Prosecutor Lin when she comes face to face with a brother she’s been estranged from for 16 years. Little brother has a big heap of resentment against his sister for leaving the family.
Bai, Lin and her brother need therapy. You are not a therapist.These episodes were slow, and it took me a while to get through them. But I did like the character moments in episode 14, especially with Lin and her brother. Bai in his bull-headed way tries to force a reconciliation which goes as well as you can imagine.
I suspect that Lin feels immensely guilty for what happened after reporting her father and putting him in jail. It didn’t help, from what I can see, that the family didn’t support her decision but turned against her instead. It was the right thing, but it resulted in ostracisation from the community and the very people she tried to protect. After a betrayal like that, can you blame her for staying away?
Oh gawd, someone please hand me a shovel so I can do some violenceMy thoughts so far
This arc was rather boring, to be honest, but maybe it’s due to my short-attention span brain being distracted by prettier fare like Feud and The Princess’ Gambit.Still, it’s again, delightful to watch Vengo Gao in such a good role. I’ve only seen him as an aloof heavily emperor, an aloof kinda-vampire and aloof swordsman – you get the idea. So, to see him just let loose as the brash, hot-tempered but good-hearted corrections officer is such a delight.
I’m also liking how each case isn’t predictable. I always think that I have pinned down the culprit, only to be surprised each time.
And after watching the chaos that is The Princess’ Gambit and other idol dramas, I really appreciate the plain ol, logical and good scriptwriting. You do wonder why idol dramas just can’t do this while dramas like these can?
Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
The crime
Prosecutor Lin is lured to the KTV lounge where she had caught the business hired under-aged girls. There, she ends up being trapped in a burning building.No guesses who the culprit is: Hoodie girl, Ning Kaitong (Li Xi Yuan).
She’s young, not even of legal age, but frighteningly smart.
So smart, in fact, that her psychopathic, serial-killer-like behaviour is deeply concerning.
We’ve seen her from the very beginning of the series, appearing near people connected to Prosecutor Lin’s cases. She goads the victims into doing terrible things, even attempting to convince a woman to commit suicide. These actions are undeniably scary.
Yet, what I love about this show is that they could still make me care for a character like Kaitong.
She’s not acting this way purely because she’s psychotic, but because she’s extremely bitter.
Prosecutor Lin sent her mother to prison, and she blames Lin for destroying her family.
This resentment comes to a head in these episodes when she lures Prosecutor Lin to a KTV building and sets it on fire.
Lin nearly dies but is saved by his brother. The only silver lining is that this incident finally forces Lin and her brother to reconcile. (I found it hilarious that Bai’s earnest efforts through food and meet-ups failed but a burning building succeeded.)
Meanwhile, Kaitong’s malicious ability to frame others for murder and manipulate people into deadly situations is something our prosecutors cannot ignore.
I’ll admit it now, I’ve never hated a minor character so much. Kaitong shows no remorse, fully believing that Prosecutor Lin deserved it and smugly smiling when the rest interrogate her, revelling in the fact that her youth protects her from tougher actions.
She smirked when they were forced to let her go. And, honestly, I thought this was the route the drama would take – we would see her going through counselling and “education”, and by the end of her arc she’ll be remorseful and sorry. Urgh.
(Fortunately, the prosecutors were as hard-assed as I was and tried to find a way to rein her in. I mean, seriously, having a kid who nearly killed someone grow up to adulthood and become god knows what is a scary thought.)
At that moment, I thought, “This girl belongs behind bars. She’s a danger to society. And this whole arc is about tossing her in jail. Bring it on!”
But Show surprised me again by giving me a twist that made me feel sad for psycho hoodie girl.
Throughout the series, we get hints that Prosecutor Lin is keeping a secret for the girl’s mother—one that the girl probably should know.
However, the prosecutors eventually find a way to hold her accountable. They discover she’s not the biological child of her parents—she was adopted and is actually older than she appears. This means she can be prosecuted.
When she’s brought in, she’s still smug, believing that she’s already accomplished her primary goal of hurting Prosecutor Lin.
But then, the secret comes out: her mother had assisted her father in committing suicide to secure insurance money for her education. Her mother went to jail for this, and before dying, she urged her daughter to live a good life and asked Lin to keep her true intentions a secret.
The tragedy hits hard when the girl realizes she has wasted her parents’ sacrifice.
As she stood in the dock, hearing her sentence, she broke down, understanding that everything she did was for the wrong reasons.
Not so smug now, huh?Worse, her mother’s sacrifices and suffering were in vain. All her mother and father wanted was for her to have a good university education so that her smart brain could be used to build a better life. Instead, Kaitong used her intelligence to destroy the lives of others, and ultimately, her own. She wasted not just her life but her parents’ lives.
For Kaitong, there’s no worse punishment than realising that her actions rendered her mother’s suffering useless.
Will she get to be a productive member of society once she’s released? The stain of “attempted murder” isn’t something you can rub off easily, especially in a strict society like China’s. I doubt she can be a leader in the government, or even in corporations … what a waste of talent.
This storytelling is what I love about Endless Protection – it’s never straightforward. There are red herrings, surprises, and layers to every mystery.
This arc wasn’t violent, fortunately, nor was it action-packed, but the final scene at the courtroom delivered such a punch: Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your intelligence on revenge and evil.
And can I say that I’m amazed by the young actress’ performance? In fact, all the young actors in this show were absolutely brilliant. If there’s one reason to watch Endless Protection (among many) it’ll be this.
#bookReview #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #ChineseDramas #Crime #entertainment #ModernCdrama #novel #Recaps #review #romance #VengoGao
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Endless protection recap and analysis (currently watching)
Prosecutor Lin Zhi Tao and assistant prosecutor Bai En Yu are members of a special juvenile prosecution team that focuses on the judicial protection of minors. They come across crimes that test their emotional strength, but despite the horrifying cases, they have to fight for justice of one of society’s most vulnerable: The children.
ℹ️ This post is currently being updated as I watch the show. Do return to the page as I will be updating it.
- Episodes 1-3: Bullies
- Episodes 4-5: Thieves
- Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
- Episodes 10-14: The past
- Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
Episodes 1-3: Bullies
The crime
A young student is bullied so much that he jumps off a building to escape his tormentors.
We meet our justice warriors
In these episodes, we get to meet our main protagonists, Lin Zhi Tao, a no-nonsense prosecutor, and Bai En Yu, a corrections officer at a juvenile corrections facility.
Originally, I watched this without subs, and since my Chinese reading is shit, I couldn’t quite get most of Vengo’s dialogue. (I love ya, Vengo, but please remove those marbles from your mouth lol).
The crimes are so… difficult to watch (sobs).But anyway, I really, really hurt when I see young people suffer in any way, even on TV, which is why after the ferocious bullying in the first few minutes of episode 1, I wondered if I could continue. It was heartbreaking, and I was actually quite surprised at how graphic the bullying was.
But I believe it served a purpose. The head bully was hardly remorseful, and when Lin passed a relatively light sentence, I was also as incensed as the mom.
However, the drama shifted to Bai’s perspective, where we see that while he’s tough on his young charges, he is also caring in his own way. He wants the head bully to be reformed—we can see that—but he’s proving to be a tough nut to crack.
Hilariously, Lin and Bai butt heads in episode 3, and since we know they’ll end up in that special Juvenile Crime division that Lin has been transferred to, this is going to be SO FUN.
I can understand Bai’s perspective. In his mind, Lin is just a pencil pusher who doesn’t get to see the young criminals daily. She only knows how to execute the law. While Lin can execute the law according to rigid parameters, Bai doesn’t have that luxury. Kids are already hard to deal with—delinquent kids?? It’ll be interesting to see both of them exasperate each other.
The limits of the law
I wonder if Lin regrets executing the law so rigidly in the bullying case. I can’t decide if what she did was right or wrong because I’m with the mom—8 years is a slap on the wrist for someone who caused another child to jump off a building in desperation to get away.
Lin’s childhood was not a cakewalk
While the cases are so tough to watch, at the start of episode 3, we see siblings who live under the tyranny of their abusive father. I believe that’s Lin, as we later see the child talk to Lin’s superior.
But I wonder if her actions were the reason why she was ostracized by her community—because she dared to sue her dad, and somehow… her mom still defended her dad despite it all… and chose to oust her daughter instead? Oof.
I really love the characters so far, and I especially like the gregarious Bai, who adores his wife. What a refreshing character to take on, and I’m glad Vengo Gao got a chance to play him. I’m so used to seeing him in idol dramas; I hope that he truly makes the leap to the “Uncle Circle” soon, though I’d miss his white-haired Emperors ;D. He’s so far from the usual suave characters he plays that I’m delighting in the chance.
I also like how multi-faceted the drama is. They don’t portray the juvenile delinquents as irredeemable but show that they’re probably the result of their environment. I find myself unexpectedly rooting for them. 🙂
Yes, even the head bully!
Episodes 4-5: Thieves
The crime
Children are being used to rob people. I definitely cried a little (inside, anyway) when I saw how they were “trained” and “punished.” And if that isn’t bad enough, they’re later stuffed in suitcases and sold. I really am wincing at the fact that these are based on real cases. The poor kids :((
Bai’s human touch
Poor Bai—his favourite charge, Lu Sheng, is back in detention. It appears that he’s been forced back into the criminal ring that uses children to steal, and he’s probably not telling the truth because he wants to protect his siblings, family, and the kids in that ring.
Bai has his heart in the right place: he not only cares for the kids but also knows how to read them and get them to reform. However, his hot-headed ways and rough, in-your-face interrogation methods do not work outside the detention centre, methinks. Still, he has street smarts and instincts that the prosecution team doesn’t have.
Like the director said later, she hopes Bai will give the team the “human touch.”
Lin’s methodical way of prying the truth out of criminals can really complement Bai’s out-of-the-box ways.
(I LOLed at Bai’s method to get into Lu Sheng’s family flat after Lin failed. He pretends to be on Lu Sheng’s dad’s side and drinks with him, which incenses Lin’s assistant, who thinks that he’s breaking the law and “drinking on the job.”)
Notes
- Don’t you think the opening sequence is creepy? The crimes that we’ll see in this drama are hinted at in a series of ‘playful’ dioramas. Cute on the surface, but upon closer look, they hint at darker stories.
- I love how Bai dotes on his wife! We all want a hubby like Bai.
- Lin’s request to revoke Lu Sheng’s father’s guardianship—is this another clue that the kid who wanted to sue her father was Lin? I wonder if she’ll succeed.
- Not gonna lie, I thought Lu Sheng would get a harsh sentence. Thank goodness he didn’t, or else I’d wonder what the hell is wrong with the prosecutors (like I wondered in the first ep).
- What in the world was Bai doing on that roof with the drum? Was he beating the drums to give Lu Sheng a soundtrack while he’s testifying before the prosecutors?? ;D
I noticed not only were they using cash but also those old “boring” hand phones! I wonder why I never noticed before, but this drama must’ve been set before 2010.
Looks like Lin’s troubles with the first case aren’t over??
Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
The crime
A family boat trip ends in tragedy as a child is killed. The culprit appears to be a young girl, but our prosecutors are not that sure.
I kinda like the office
Our heroes have a rough start to the latest arc. First, Lin had to save the mother of the dead bullied kid from swan diving off the same ledge her son did. Then Bai realised his dream job is a dream – the kind you can only appreciate when you are asleep! He’s flabbergasted that the prestigious job he had fought so hard for has an office in a janitor’s store room. But at least it’s roomy and has an ensuite toilet!
The criminal isn’t as obvious as I thought
This arc got me thinking that some people just shouldn’t be allowed to procreate. Honestly, I really disliked the little girl bully so much that I was convinced the arc was all about how to convict a child psychopath and the ethics of doing so.
But it turned out that the true psychopath was the father of the kids, who made my skin crawl with his selfishness.
His mistress wasn’t any better, her having colluded and even pressured the father to kill the kids. Her begging to be let off from the death penalty towards the end made me shudder a little at her selfishness.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the little girl bully is going to grow up normal. Pretty sure she’s going to be a full-blown narcissist when she grows up and do something criminal.
And thus I go on a philosophical bent thinking how society’s ills often stem from shitty parents, and if only we had an AI for that to anticipate or predict bad/evil parenting …
Some other notable stuff
- I have to say this is such a creative way to interrogate kids.
- We get a clue what the diorama opening scenes are for! As the psychologist explains, it gives children a safe way to talk about the harrowing things they’ve gone through. As I mentioned in the last recap, each toy in the opening scene signifies a crime, and this time, it’s a boat and two empty life vests. (oof)
- We get confirmation that Lin is indeed that girl who sued her father and sent him to prison.
- We also find out that her family ain’t that grateful for her actions.
- So, in that sense, this case is really meaningful to Lin. That scene where she flinched at the sight of the wire coat hanger. Phew.
- Bai continues to demonstrate that his bad temper is not an asset in the interrogation room (I wonder if he’ll be dinged for that in future episodes). However, his out-of-the-box detective work, instincts and deft ability to handle young juvenile kids is definitely an asset to his more by-the-book teammates.
- Narcissists are often paired with Enablers and the father’s mother is an Enabler with a capital E. Lin and Bai got extremely frustrated by her not doing anything to prevent her grandkids from being abused. I got wanted to throw something at her when she said her son was a “good man, it’s just that he loses his temper”. Eurgh (screams into pillow). I think Lin is especially upset about this because, and I’m guessing, it reminds her too much of her mother who begged the police to release her husband.
Who is the mysterious kid in the hoodie?
By the way, there is this mysterious kid who spoke to the bullied kid’s mum, and I wondered if she somehow goaded her to jump off the building?
Even Lin remarked that the woman was probably being manipulated into doing so.
Are we dealing with a genius kid psychopath or something?
Episodes 10-14: The past
The crimes:
A teenager is about to be prosecuted … for running a porn distribution ring.
Teen biker gangs are causing havoc and Bai Enyu wants to solve this problem without the law stepping in.
Don’t do porn, ‘mkay?
These episodes are relatively placid and less intense than the earlie episodes. (You know what this means—intense, heart-wrenching cases are coming soon!)
I have to say, my main reaction to the porn ring story was, wait, omg you can go to jail for this in China? Half the world would be in prison if this was a law in their countries!
But the distinction to be made here is that prosecution only happens if you profit from it, and this teenager has been earning money from his chat porn distribution ring.
Meanwhile, we’re introduced to his rather unstable tiger mum who screams at him the moment he shows interest in a friend who happens to be a girl? Geez, no wonder he’s turning to porn, mum.
Anyway, our prosecutors are pleading for leniency from the government as he seems to be a good and smart kid. Prosecution could mean that his life is ruined forever, after all.
Our second case is a little more serious but not intense either. Instead the case offers an insight on Bai. Well, our cheerful detective/prosecutor was a delinquent himself!
However, he turned into a new leaf when, during one of his fights, a friend was killed and another was maimed. And it was kinda sweet that his wife was a part of the gang, which meant that she was his childhood sweetheart.
On the whole, I found the biker arc predictable, but it’s nice to see Bai talking to a modern, younger version of his teen self, and being able to stop him from ending up hurting someone (and possibly derail his life).
Bai tries to play therapist to Lin (spoiler alert: not working well)
Lin meets her enstranged brother. Not a happy moment for all.We also find out that Prosecutor Lin has a problem with her brain. Like, a physical one, in case you’re wondering.
Bai also finds out that the shop he’s been patronising and where Lu Sheng, his reformed delinquent progete works – the owner is Prosecutor Lin’s brother.
This becomes a rather awkward moment for Prosecutor Lin when she comes face to face with a brother she’s been estranged from for 16 years. Little brother has a big heap of resentment against his sister for leaving the family.
Bai, Lin and her brother need therapy. You are not a therapist.These episodes were slow, and it took me a while to get through them. But I did like the character moments in episode 14, especially with Lin and her brother. Bai in his bull-headed way tries to force a reconciliation which goes as well as you can imagine.
I suspect that Lin feels immensely guilty for what happened after reporting her father and putting him in jail. It didn’t help, from what I can see, that the family didn’t support her decision but turned against her instead. It was the right thing, but it resulted in ostracisation from the community and the very people she tried to protect. After a betrayal like that, can you blame her for staying away?
Oh gawd, someone please hand me a shovel so I can do some violenceMy thoughts so far
This arc was rather boring, to be honest, but maybe it’s due to my short-attention span brain being distracted by prettier fare like Feud and The Princess’ Gambit.Still, it’s again, delightful to watch Vengo Gao in such a good role. I’ve only seen him as an aloof heavily emperor, an aloof kinda-vampire and aloof swordsman – you get the idea. So, to see him just let loose as the brash, hot-tempered but good-hearted corrections officer is such a delight.
I’m also liking how each case isn’t predictable. I always think that I have pinned down the culprit, only to be surprised each time.
And after watching the chaos that is The Princess’ Gambit and other idol dramas, I really appreciate the plain ol, logical and good scriptwriting. You do wonder why idol dramas just can’t do this while dramas like these can?
Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
The crime
Prosecutor Lin is lured to the KTV lounge where she had caught the business hired under-aged girls. There, she ends up being trapped in a burning building.No guesses who the culprit is: Hoodie girl, Ning Kaitong (Li Xi Yuan).
She’s young, not even of legal age, but frighteningly smart.
So smart, in fact, that her psychopathic, serial-killer-like behaviour is deeply concerning.
We’ve seen her from the very beginning of the series, appearing near people connected to Prosecutor Lin’s cases. She goads the victims into doing terrible things, even attempting to convince a woman to commit suicide. These actions are undeniably scary.
Yet, what I love about this show is that they could still make me care for a character like Kaitong.
She’s not acting this way purely because she’s psychotic, but because she’s extremely bitter.
Prosecutor Lin sent her mother to prison, and she blames Lin for destroying her family.
This resentment comes to a head in these episodes when she lures Prosecutor Lin to a KTV building and sets it on fire.
Lin nearly dies but is saved by his brother. The only silver lining is that this incident finally forces Lin and her brother to reconcile. (I found it hilarious that Bai’s earnest efforts through food and meet-ups failed but a burning building succeeded.)
Meanwhile, Kaitong’s malicious ability to frame others for murder and manipulate people into deadly situations is something our prosecutors cannot ignore.
I’ll admit it now, I’ve never hated a minor character so much. Kaitong shows no remorse, fully believing that Prosecutor Lin deserved it and smugly smiling when the rest interrogate her, revelling in the fact that her youth protects her from tougher actions.
She smirked when they were forced to let her go. And, honestly, I thought this was the route the drama would take – we would see her going through counselling and “education”, and by the end of her arc she’ll be remorseful and sorry. Urgh.
(Fortunately, the prosecutors were as hard-assed as I was and tried to find a way to rein her in. I mean, seriously, having a kid who nearly killed someone grow up to adulthood and become god knows what is a scary thought.)
At that moment, I thought, “This girl belongs behind bars. She’s a danger to society. And this whole arc is about tossing her in jail. Bring it on!”
But Show surprised me again by giving me a twist that made me feel sad for psycho hoodie girl.
Throughout the series, we get hints that Prosecutor Lin is keeping a secret for the girl’s mother—one that the girl probably should know.
However, the prosecutors eventually find a way to hold her accountable. They discover she’s not the biological child of her parents—she was adopted and is actually older than she appears. This means she can be prosecuted.
When she’s brought in, she’s still smug, believing that she’s already accomplished her primary goal of hurting Prosecutor Lin.
But then, the secret comes out: her mother had assisted her father in committing suicide to secure insurance money for her education. Her mother went to jail for this, and before dying, she urged her daughter to live a good life and asked Lin to keep her true intentions a secret.
The tragedy hits hard when the girl realizes she has wasted her parents’ sacrifice.
As she stood in the dock, hearing her sentence, she broke down, understanding that everything she did was for the wrong reasons.
Not so smug now, huh?Worse, her mother’s sacrifices and suffering were in vain. All her mother and father wanted was for her to have a good university education so that her smart brain could be used to build a better life. Instead, Kaitong used her intelligence to destroy the lives of others, and ultimately, her own. She wasted not just her life but her parents’ lives.
For Kaitong, there’s no worse punishment than realising that her actions rendered her mother’s suffering useless.
Will she get to be a productive member of society once she’s released? The stain of “attempted murder” isn’t something you can rub off easily, especially in a strict society like China’s. I doubt she can be a leader in the government, or even in corporations … what a waste of talent.
This storytelling is what I love about Endless Protection – it’s never straightforward. There are red herrings, surprises, and layers to every mystery.
This arc wasn’t violent, fortunately, nor was it action-packed, but the final scene at the courtroom delivered such a punch: Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your intelligence on revenge and evil.
And can I say that I’m amazed by the young actress’ performance? In fact, all the young actors in this show were absolutely brilliant. If there’s one reason to watch Endless Protection (among many) it’ll be this.
#bookReview #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #ChineseDramas #Crime #entertainment #ModernCdrama #novel #Recaps #review #romance #VengoGao
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Endless protection recap and analysis (currently watching)
Prosecutor Lin Zhi Tao and assistant prosecutor Bai En Yu are members of a special juvenile prosecution team that focuses on the judicial protection of minors. They come across crimes that test their emotional strength, but despite the horrifying cases, they have to fight for justice of one of society’s most vulnerable: The children.
ℹ️ This post is currently being updated as I watch the show. Do return to the page as I will be updating it.
- Episodes 1-3: Bullies
- Episodes 4-5: Thieves
- Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
- Episodes 10-14: The past
- Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
Episodes 1-3: Bullies
The crime
A young student is bullied so much that he jumps off a building to escape his tormentors.
We meet our justice warriors
In these episodes, we get to meet our main protagonists, Lin Zhi Tao, a no-nonsense prosecutor, and Bai En Yu, a corrections officer at a juvenile corrections facility.
Originally, I watched this without subs, and since my Chinese reading is shit, I couldn’t quite get most of Vengo’s dialogue. (I love ya, Vengo, but please remove those marbles from your mouth lol).
The crimes are so… difficult to watch (sobs).But anyway, I really, really hurt when I see young people suffer in any way, even on TV, which is why after the ferocious bullying in the first few minutes of episode 1, I wondered if I could continue. It was heartbreaking, and I was actually quite surprised at how graphic the bullying was.
But I believe it served a purpose. The head bully was hardly remorseful, and when Lin passed a relatively light sentence, I was also as incensed as the mom.
However, the drama shifted to Bai’s perspective, where we see that while he’s tough on his young charges, he is also caring in his own way. He wants the head bully to be reformed—we can see that—but he’s proving to be a tough nut to crack.
Hilariously, Lin and Bai butt heads in episode 3, and since we know they’ll end up in that special Juvenile Crime division that Lin has been transferred to, this is going to be SO FUN.
I can understand Bai’s perspective. In his mind, Lin is just a pencil pusher who doesn’t get to see the young criminals daily. She only knows how to execute the law. While Lin can execute the law according to rigid parameters, Bai doesn’t have that luxury. Kids are already hard to deal with—delinquent kids?? It’ll be interesting to see both of them exasperate each other.
The limits of the law
I wonder if Lin regrets executing the law so rigidly in the bullying case. I can’t decide if what she did was right or wrong because I’m with the mom—8 years is a slap on the wrist for someone who caused another child to jump off a building in desperation to get away.
Lin’s childhood was not a cakewalk
While the cases are so tough to watch, at the start of episode 3, we see siblings who live under the tyranny of their abusive father. I believe that’s Lin, as we later see the child talk to Lin’s superior.
But I wonder if her actions were the reason why she was ostracized by her community—because she dared to sue her dad, and somehow… her mom still defended her dad despite it all… and chose to oust her daughter instead? Oof.
I really love the characters so far, and I especially like the gregarious Bai, who adores his wife. What a refreshing character to take on, and I’m glad Vengo Gao got a chance to play him. I’m so used to seeing him in idol dramas; I hope that he truly makes the leap to the “Uncle Circle” soon, though I’d miss his white-haired Emperors ;D. He’s so far from the usual suave characters he plays that I’m delighting in the chance.
I also like how multi-faceted the drama is. They don’t portray the juvenile delinquents as irredeemable but show that they’re probably the result of their environment. I find myself unexpectedly rooting for them. 🙂
Yes, even the head bully!
Episodes 4-5: Thieves
The crime
Children are being used to rob people. I definitely cried a little (inside, anyway) when I saw how they were “trained” and “punished.” And if that isn’t bad enough, they’re later stuffed in suitcases and sold. I really am wincing at the fact that these are based on real cases. The poor kids :((
Bai’s human touch
Poor Bai—his favourite charge, Lu Sheng, is back in detention. It appears that he’s been forced back into the criminal ring that uses children to steal, and he’s probably not telling the truth because he wants to protect his siblings, family, and the kids in that ring.
Bai has his heart in the right place: he not only cares for the kids but also knows how to read them and get them to reform. However, his hot-headed ways and rough, in-your-face interrogation methods do not work outside the detention centre, methinks. Still, he has street smarts and instincts that the prosecution team doesn’t have.
Like the director said later, she hopes Bai will give the team the “human touch.”
Lin’s methodical way of prying the truth out of criminals can really complement Bai’s out-of-the-box ways.
(I LOLed at Bai’s method to get into Lu Sheng’s family flat after Lin failed. He pretends to be on Lu Sheng’s dad’s side and drinks with him, which incenses Lin’s assistant, who thinks that he’s breaking the law and “drinking on the job.”)
Notes
- Don’t you think the opening sequence is creepy? The crimes that we’ll see in this drama are hinted at in a series of ‘playful’ dioramas. Cute on the surface, but upon closer look, they hint at darker stories.
- I love how Bai dotes on his wife! We all want a hubby like Bai.
- Lin’s request to revoke Lu Sheng’s father’s guardianship—is this another clue that the kid who wanted to sue her father was Lin? I wonder if she’ll succeed.
- Not gonna lie, I thought Lu Sheng would get a harsh sentence. Thank goodness he didn’t, or else I’d wonder what the hell is wrong with the prosecutors (like I wondered in the first ep).
- What in the world was Bai doing on that roof with the drum? Was he beating the drums to give Lu Sheng a soundtrack while he’s testifying before the prosecutors?? ;D
I noticed not only were they using cash but also those old “boring” hand phones! I wonder why I never noticed before, but this drama must’ve been set before 2010.
Looks like Lin’s troubles with the first case aren’t over??
Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
The crime
A family boat trip ends in tragedy as a child is killed. The culprit appears to be a young girl, but our prosecutors are not that sure.
I kinda like the office
Our heroes have a rough start to the latest arc. First, Lin had to save the mother of the dead bullied kid from swan diving off the same ledge her son did. Then Bai realised his dream job is a dream – the kind you can only appreciate when you are asleep! He’s flabbergasted that the prestigious job he had fought so hard for has an office in a janitor’s store room. But at least it’s roomy and has an ensuite toilet!
The criminal isn’t as obvious as I thought
This arc got me thinking that some people just shouldn’t be allowed to procreate. Honestly, I really disliked the little girl bully so much that I was convinced the arc was all about how to convict a child psychopath and the ethics of doing so.
But it turned out that the true psychopath was the father of the kids, who made my skin crawl with his selfishness.
His mistress wasn’t any better, her having colluded and even pressured the father to kill the kids. Her begging to be let off from the death penalty towards the end made me shudder a little at her selfishness.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the little girl bully is going to grow up normal. Pretty sure she’s going to be a full-blown narcissist when she grows up and do something criminal.
And thus I go on a philosophical bent thinking how society’s ills often stem from shitty parents, and if only we had an AI for that to anticipate or predict bad/evil parenting …
Some other notable stuff
- I have to say this is such a creative way to interrogate kids.
- We get a clue what the diorama opening scenes are for! As the psychologist explains, it gives children a safe way to talk about the harrowing things they’ve gone through. As I mentioned in the last recap, each toy in the opening scene signifies a crime, and this time, it’s a boat and two empty life vests. (oof)
- We get confirmation that Lin is indeed that girl who sued her father and sent him to prison.
- We also find out that her family ain’t that grateful for her actions.
- So, in that sense, this case is really meaningful to Lin. That scene where she flinched at the sight of the wire coat hanger. Phew.
- Bai continues to demonstrate that his bad temper is not an asset in the interrogation room (I wonder if he’ll be dinged for that in future episodes). However, his out-of-the-box detective work, instincts and deft ability to handle young juvenile kids is definitely an asset to his more by-the-book teammates.
- Narcissists are often paired with Enablers and the father’s mother is an Enabler with a capital E. Lin and Bai got extremely frustrated by her not doing anything to prevent her grandkids from being abused. I got wanted to throw something at her when she said her son was a “good man, it’s just that he loses his temper”. Eurgh (screams into pillow). I think Lin is especially upset about this because, and I’m guessing, it reminds her too much of her mother who begged the police to release her husband.
Who is the mysterious kid in the hoodie?
By the way, there is this mysterious kid who spoke to the bullied kid’s mum, and I wondered if she somehow goaded her to jump off the building?
Even Lin remarked that the woman was probably being manipulated into doing so.
Are we dealing with a genius kid psychopath or something?
Episodes 10-14: The past
The crimes:
A teenager is about to be prosecuted … for running a porn distribution ring.
Teen biker gangs are causing havoc and Bai Enyu wants to solve this problem without the law stepping in.
Don’t do porn, ‘mkay?
These episodes are relatively placid and less intense than the earlie episodes. (You know what this means—intense, heart-wrenching cases are coming soon!)
I have to say, my main reaction to the porn ring story was, wait, omg you can go to jail for this in China? Half the world would be in prison if this was a law in their countries!
But the distinction to be made here is that prosecution only happens if you profit from it, and this teenager has been earning money from his chat porn distribution ring.
Meanwhile, we’re introduced to his rather unstable tiger mum who screams at him the moment he shows interest in a friend who happens to be a girl? Geez, no wonder he’s turning to porn, mum.
Anyway, our prosecutors are pleading for leniency from the government as he seems to be a good and smart kid. Prosecution could mean that his life is ruined forever, after all.
Our second case is a little more serious but not intense either. Instead the case offers an insight on Bai. Well, our cheerful detective/prosecutor was a delinquent himself!
However, he turned into a new leaf when, during one of his fights, a friend was killed and another was maimed. And it was kinda sweet that his wife was a part of the gang, which meant that she was his childhood sweetheart.
On the whole, I found the biker arc predictable, but it’s nice to see Bai talking to a modern, younger version of his teen self, and being able to stop him from ending up hurting someone (and possibly derail his life).
Bai tries to play therapist to Lin (spoiler alert: not working well)
Lin meets her enstranged brother. Not a happy moment for all.We also find out that Prosecutor Lin has a problem with her brain. Like, a physical one, in case you’re wondering.
Bai also finds out that the shop he’s been patronising and where Lu Sheng, his reformed delinquent progete works – the owner is Prosecutor Lin’s brother.
This becomes a rather awkward moment for Prosecutor Lin when she comes face to face with a brother she’s been estranged from for 16 years. Little brother has a big heap of resentment against his sister for leaving the family.
Bai, Lin and her brother need therapy. You are not a therapist.These episodes were slow, and it took me a while to get through them. But I did like the character moments in episode 14, especially with Lin and her brother. Bai in his bull-headed way tries to force a reconciliation which goes as well as you can imagine.
I suspect that Lin feels immensely guilty for what happened after reporting her father and putting him in jail. It didn’t help, from what I can see, that the family didn’t support her decision but turned against her instead. It was the right thing, but it resulted in ostracisation from the community and the very people she tried to protect. After a betrayal like that, can you blame her for staying away?
Oh gawd, someone please hand me a shovel so I can do some violenceMy thoughts so far
This arc was rather boring, to be honest, but maybe it’s due to my short-attention span brain being distracted by prettier fare like Feud and The Princess’ Gambit.Still, it’s again, delightful to watch Vengo Gao in such a good role. I’ve only seen him as an aloof heavily emperor, an aloof kinda-vampire and aloof swordsman – you get the idea. So, to see him just let loose as the brash, hot-tempered but good-hearted corrections officer is such a delight.
I’m also liking how each case isn’t predictable. I always think that I have pinned down the culprit, only to be surprised each time.
And after watching the chaos that is The Princess’ Gambit and other idol dramas, I really appreciate the plain ol, logical and good scriptwriting. You do wonder why idol dramas just can’t do this while dramas like these can?
Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
The crime
Prosecutor Lin is lured to the KTV lounge where she had caught the business hired under-aged girls. There, she ends up being trapped in a burning building.No guesses who the culprit is: Hoodie girl, Ning Kaitong (Li Xi Yuan).
She’s young, not even of legal age, but frighteningly smart.
So smart, in fact, that her psychopathic, serial-killer-like behaviour is deeply concerning.
We’ve seen her from the very beginning of the series, appearing near people connected to Prosecutor Lin’s cases. She goads the victims into doing terrible things, even attempting to convince a woman to commit suicide. These actions are undeniably scary.
Yet, what I love about this show is that they could still make me care for a character like Kaitong.
She’s not acting this way purely because she’s psychotic, but because she’s extremely bitter.
Prosecutor Lin sent her mother to prison, and she blames Lin for destroying her family.
This resentment comes to a head in these episodes when she lures Prosecutor Lin to a KTV building and sets it on fire.
Lin nearly dies but is saved by his brother. The only silver lining is that this incident finally forces Lin and her brother to reconcile. (I found it hilarious that Bai’s earnest efforts through food and meet-ups failed but a burning building succeeded.)
Meanwhile, Kaitong’s malicious ability to frame others for murder and manipulate people into deadly situations is something our prosecutors cannot ignore.
I’ll admit it now, I’ve never hated a minor character so much. Kaitong shows no remorse, fully believing that Prosecutor Lin deserved it and smugly smiling when the rest interrogate her, revelling in the fact that her youth protects her from tougher actions.
She smirked when they were forced to let her go. And, honestly, I thought this was the route the drama would take – we would see her going through counselling and “education”, and by the end of her arc she’ll be remorseful and sorry. Urgh.
(Fortunately, the prosecutors were as hard-assed as I was and tried to find a way to rein her in. I mean, seriously, having a kid who nearly killed someone grow up to adulthood and become god knows what is a scary thought.)
At that moment, I thought, “This girl belongs behind bars. She’s a danger to society. And this whole arc is about tossing her in jail. Bring it on!”
But Show surprised me again by giving me a twist that made me feel sad for psycho hoodie girl.
Throughout the series, we get hints that Prosecutor Lin is keeping a secret for the girl’s mother—one that the girl probably should know.
However, the prosecutors eventually find a way to hold her accountable. They discover she’s not the biological child of her parents—she was adopted and is actually older than she appears. This means she can be prosecuted.
When she’s brought in, she’s still smug, believing that she’s already accomplished her primary goal of hurting Prosecutor Lin.
But then, the secret comes out: her mother had assisted her father in committing suicide to secure insurance money for her education. Her mother went to jail for this, and before dying, she urged her daughter to live a good life and asked Lin to keep her true intentions a secret.
The tragedy hits hard when the girl realizes she has wasted her parents’ sacrifice.
As she stood in the dock, hearing her sentence, she broke down, understanding that everything she did was for the wrong reasons.
Not so smug now, huh?Worse, her mother’s sacrifices and suffering were in vain. All her mother and father wanted was for her to have a good university education so that her smart brain could be used to build a better life. Instead, Kaitong used her intelligence to destroy the lives of others, and ultimately, her own. She wasted not just her life but her parents’ lives.
For Kaitong, there’s no worse punishment than realising that her actions rendered her mother’s suffering useless.
Will she get to be a productive member of society once she’s released? The stain of “attempted murder” isn’t something you can rub off easily, especially in a strict society like China’s. I doubt she can be a leader in the government, or even in corporations … what a waste of talent.
This storytelling is what I love about Endless Protection – it’s never straightforward. There are red herrings, surprises, and layers to every mystery.
This arc wasn’t violent, fortunately, nor was it action-packed, but the final scene at the courtroom delivered such a punch: Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your intelligence on revenge and evil.
And can I say that I’m amazed by the young actress’ performance? In fact, all the young actors in this show were absolutely brilliant. If there’s one reason to watch Endless Protection (among many) it’ll be this.
#bookReview #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #ChineseDramas #Crime #entertainment #ModernCdrama #novel #Recaps #review #romance #VengoGao
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Endless protection recap and analysis (currently watching)
Prosecutor Lin Zhi Tao and assistant prosecutor Bai En Yu are members of a special juvenile prosecution team that focuses on the judicial protection of minors. They come across crimes that test their emotional strength, but despite the horrifying cases, they have to fight for justice of one of society’s most vulnerable: The children.
ℹ️ This post is currently being updated as I watch the show. Do return to the page as I will be updating it.
- Episodes 1-3: Bullies
- Episodes 4-5: Thieves
- Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
- Episodes 10-14: The past
- Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
Episodes 1-3: Bullies
The crime
A young student is bullied so much that he jumps off a building to escape his tormentors.
We meet our justice warriors
In these episodes, we get to meet our main protagonists, Lin Zhi Tao, a no-nonsense prosecutor, and Bai En Yu, a corrections officer at a juvenile corrections facility.
Originally, I watched this without subs, and since my Chinese reading is shit, I couldn’t quite get most of Vengo’s dialogue. (I love ya, Vengo, but please remove those marbles from your mouth lol).
The crimes are so… difficult to watch (sobs).But anyway, I really, really hurt when I see young people suffer in any way, even on TV, which is why after the ferocious bullying in the first few minutes of episode 1, I wondered if I could continue. It was heartbreaking, and I was actually quite surprised at how graphic the bullying was.
But I believe it served a purpose. The head bully was hardly remorseful, and when Lin passed a relatively light sentence, I was also as incensed as the mom.
However, the drama shifted to Bai’s perspective, where we see that while he’s tough on his young charges, he is also caring in his own way. He wants the head bully to be reformed—we can see that—but he’s proving to be a tough nut to crack.
Hilariously, Lin and Bai butt heads in episode 3, and since we know they’ll end up in that special Juvenile Crime division that Lin has been transferred to, this is going to be SO FUN.
I can understand Bai’s perspective. In his mind, Lin is just a pencil pusher who doesn’t get to see the young criminals daily. She only knows how to execute the law. While Lin can execute the law according to rigid parameters, Bai doesn’t have that luxury. Kids are already hard to deal with—delinquent kids?? It’ll be interesting to see both of them exasperate each other.
The limits of the law
I wonder if Lin regrets executing the law so rigidly in the bullying case. I can’t decide if what she did was right or wrong because I’m with the mom—8 years is a slap on the wrist for someone who caused another child to jump off a building in desperation to get away.
Lin’s childhood was not a cakewalk
While the cases are so tough to watch, at the start of episode 3, we see siblings who live under the tyranny of their abusive father. I believe that’s Lin, as we later see the child talk to Lin’s superior.
But I wonder if her actions were the reason why she was ostracized by her community—because she dared to sue her dad, and somehow… her mom still defended her dad despite it all… and chose to oust her daughter instead? Oof.
I really love the characters so far, and I especially like the gregarious Bai, who adores his wife. What a refreshing character to take on, and I’m glad Vengo Gao got a chance to play him. I’m so used to seeing him in idol dramas; I hope that he truly makes the leap to the “Uncle Circle” soon, though I’d miss his white-haired Emperors ;D. He’s so far from the usual suave characters he plays that I’m delighting in the chance.
I also like how multi-faceted the drama is. They don’t portray the juvenile delinquents as irredeemable but show that they’re probably the result of their environment. I find myself unexpectedly rooting for them. 🙂
Yes, even the head bully!
Episodes 4-5: Thieves
The crime
Children are being used to rob people. I definitely cried a little (inside, anyway) when I saw how they were “trained” and “punished.” And if that isn’t bad enough, they’re later stuffed in suitcases and sold. I really am wincing at the fact that these are based on real cases. The poor kids :((
Bai’s human touch
Poor Bai—his favourite charge, Lu Sheng, is back in detention. It appears that he’s been forced back into the criminal ring that uses children to steal, and he’s probably not telling the truth because he wants to protect his siblings, family, and the kids in that ring.
Bai has his heart in the right place: he not only cares for the kids but also knows how to read them and get them to reform. However, his hot-headed ways and rough, in-your-face interrogation methods do not work outside the detention centre, methinks. Still, he has street smarts and instincts that the prosecution team doesn’t have.
Like the director said later, she hopes Bai will give the team the “human touch.”
Lin’s methodical way of prying the truth out of criminals can really complement Bai’s out-of-the-box ways.
(I LOLed at Bai’s method to get into Lu Sheng’s family flat after Lin failed. He pretends to be on Lu Sheng’s dad’s side and drinks with him, which incenses Lin’s assistant, who thinks that he’s breaking the law and “drinking on the job.”)
Notes
- Don’t you think the opening sequence is creepy? The crimes that we’ll see in this drama are hinted at in a series of ‘playful’ dioramas. Cute on the surface, but upon closer look, they hint at darker stories.
- I love how Bai dotes on his wife! We all want a hubby like Bai.
- Lin’s request to revoke Lu Sheng’s father’s guardianship—is this another clue that the kid who wanted to sue her father was Lin? I wonder if she’ll succeed.
- Not gonna lie, I thought Lu Sheng would get a harsh sentence. Thank goodness he didn’t, or else I’d wonder what the hell is wrong with the prosecutors (like I wondered in the first ep).
- What in the world was Bai doing on that roof with the drum? Was he beating the drums to give Lu Sheng a soundtrack while he’s testifying before the prosecutors?? ;D
I noticed not only were they using cash but also those old “boring” hand phones! I wonder why I never noticed before, but this drama must’ve been set before 2010.
Looks like Lin’s troubles with the first case aren’t over??
Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
The crime
A family boat trip ends in tragedy as a child is killed. The culprit appears to be a young girl, but our prosecutors are not that sure.
I kinda like the office
Our heroes have a rough start to the latest arc. First, Lin had to save the mother of the dead bullied kid from swan diving off the same ledge her son did. Then Bai realised his dream job is a dream – the kind you can only appreciate when you are asleep! He’s flabbergasted that the prestigious job he had fought so hard for has an office in a janitor’s store room. But at least it’s roomy and has an ensuite toilet!
The criminal isn’t as obvious as I thought
This arc got me thinking that some people just shouldn’t be allowed to procreate. Honestly, I really disliked the little girl bully so much that I was convinced the arc was all about how to convict a child psychopath and the ethics of doing so.
But it turned out that the true psychopath was the father of the kids, who made my skin crawl with his selfishness.
His mistress wasn’t any better, her having colluded and even pressured the father to kill the kids. Her begging to be let off from the death penalty towards the end made me shudder a little at her selfishness.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the little girl bully is going to grow up normal. Pretty sure she’s going to be a full-blown narcissist when she grows up and do something criminal.
And thus I go on a philosophical bent thinking how society’s ills often stem from shitty parents, and if only we had an AI for that to anticipate or predict bad/evil parenting …
Some other notable stuff
- I have to say this is such a creative way to interrogate kids.
- We get a clue what the diorama opening scenes are for! As the psychologist explains, it gives children a safe way to talk about the harrowing things they’ve gone through. As I mentioned in the last recap, each toy in the opening scene signifies a crime, and this time, it’s a boat and two empty life vests. (oof)
- We get confirmation that Lin is indeed that girl who sued her father and sent him to prison.
- We also find out that her family ain’t that grateful for her actions.
- So, in that sense, this case is really meaningful to Lin. That scene where she flinched at the sight of the wire coat hanger. Phew.
- Bai continues to demonstrate that his bad temper is not an asset in the interrogation room (I wonder if he’ll be dinged for that in future episodes). However, his out-of-the-box detective work, instincts and deft ability to handle young juvenile kids is definitely an asset to his more by-the-book teammates.
- Narcissists are often paired with Enablers and the father’s mother is an Enabler with a capital E. Lin and Bai got extremely frustrated by her not doing anything to prevent her grandkids from being abused. I got wanted to throw something at her when she said her son was a “good man, it’s just that he loses his temper”. Eurgh (screams into pillow). I think Lin is especially upset about this because, and I’m guessing, it reminds her too much of her mother who begged the police to release her husband.
Who is the mysterious kid in the hoodie?
By the way, there is this mysterious kid who spoke to the bullied kid’s mum, and I wondered if she somehow goaded her to jump off the building?
Even Lin remarked that the woman was probably being manipulated into doing so.
Are we dealing with a genius kid psychopath or something?
Episodes 10-14: The past
The crimes:
A teenager is about to be prosecuted … for running a porn distribution ring.
Teen biker gangs are causing havoc and Bai Enyu wants to solve this problem without the law stepping in.
Don’t do porn, ‘mkay?
These episodes are relatively placid and less intense than the earlie episodes. (You know what this means—intense, heart-wrenching cases are coming soon!)
I have to say, my main reaction to the porn ring story was, wait, omg you can go to jail for this in China? Half the world would be in prison if this was a law in their countries!
But the distinction to be made here is that prosecution only happens if you profit from it, and this teenager has been earning money from his chat porn distribution ring.
Meanwhile, we’re introduced to his rather unstable tiger mum who screams at him the moment he shows interest in a friend who happens to be a girl? Geez, no wonder he’s turning to porn, mum.
Anyway, our prosecutors are pleading for leniency from the government as he seems to be a good and smart kid. Prosecution could mean that his life is ruined forever, after all.
Our second case is a little more serious but not intense either. Instead the case offers an insight on Bai. Well, our cheerful detective/prosecutor was a delinquent himself!
However, he turned into a new leaf when, during one of his fights, a friend was killed and another was maimed. And it was kinda sweet that his wife was a part of the gang, which meant that she was his childhood sweetheart.
On the whole, I found the biker arc predictable, but it’s nice to see Bai talking to a modern, younger version of his teen self, and being able to stop him from ending up hurting someone (and possibly derail his life).
Bai tries to play therapist to Lin (spoiler alert: not working well)
Lin meets her enstranged brother. Not a happy moment for all.We also find out that Prosecutor Lin has a problem with her brain. Like, a physical one, in case you’re wondering.
Bai also finds out that the shop he’s been patronising and where Lu Sheng, his reformed delinquent progete works – the owner is Prosecutor Lin’s brother.
This becomes a rather awkward moment for Prosecutor Lin when she comes face to face with a brother she’s been estranged from for 16 years. Little brother has a big heap of resentment against his sister for leaving the family.
Bai, Lin and her brother need therapy. You are not a therapist.These episodes were slow, and it took me a while to get through them. But I did like the character moments in episode 14, especially with Lin and her brother. Bai in his bull-headed way tries to force a reconciliation which goes as well as you can imagine.
I suspect that Lin feels immensely guilty for what happened after reporting her father and putting him in jail. It didn’t help, from what I can see, that the family didn’t support her decision but turned against her instead. It was the right thing, but it resulted in ostracisation from the community and the very people she tried to protect. After a betrayal like that, can you blame her for staying away?
Oh gawd, someone please hand me a shovel so I can do some violenceMy thoughts so far
This arc was rather boring, to be honest, but maybe it’s due to my short-attention span brain being distracted by prettier fare like Feud and The Princess’ Gambit.Still, it’s again, delightful to watch Vengo Gao in such a good role. I’ve only seen him as an aloof heavily emperor, an aloof kinda-vampire and aloof swordsman – you get the idea. So, to see him just let loose as the brash, hot-tempered but good-hearted corrections officer is such a delight.
I’m also liking how each case isn’t predictable. I always think that I have pinned down the culprit, only to be surprised each time.
And after watching the chaos that is The Princess’ Gambit and other idol dramas, I really appreciate the plain ol, logical and good scriptwriting. You do wonder why idol dramas just can’t do this while dramas like these can?
Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
The crime
Prosecutor Lin is lured to the KTV lounge where she had caught the business hired under-aged girls. There, she ends up being trapped in a burning building.No guesses who the culprit is: Hoodie girl, Ning Kaitong (Li Xi Yuan).
She’s young, not even of legal age, but frighteningly smart.
So smart, in fact, that her psychopathic, serial-killer-like behaviour is deeply concerning.
We’ve seen her from the very beginning of the series, appearing near people connected to Prosecutor Lin’s cases. She goads the victims into doing terrible things, even attempting to convince a woman to commit suicide. These actions are undeniably scary.
Yet, what I love about this show is that they could still make me care for a character like Kaitong.
She’s not acting this way purely because she’s psychotic, but because she’s extremely bitter.
Prosecutor Lin sent her mother to prison, and she blames Lin for destroying her family.
This resentment comes to a head in these episodes when she lures Prosecutor Lin to a KTV building and sets it on fire.
Lin nearly dies but is saved by his brother. The only silver lining is that this incident finally forces Lin and her brother to reconcile. (I found it hilarious that Bai’s earnest efforts through food and meet-ups failed but a burning building succeeded.)
Meanwhile, Kaitong’s malicious ability to frame others for murder and manipulate people into deadly situations is something our prosecutors cannot ignore.
I’ll admit it now, I’ve never hated a minor character so much. Kaitong shows no remorse, fully believing that Prosecutor Lin deserved it and smugly smiling when the rest interrogate her, revelling in the fact that her youth protects her from tougher actions.
She smirked when they were forced to let her go. And, honestly, I thought this was the route the drama would take – we would see her going through counselling and “education”, and by the end of her arc she’ll be remorseful and sorry. Urgh.
(Fortunately, the prosecutors were as hard-assed as I was and tried to find a way to rein her in. I mean, seriously, having a kid who nearly killed someone grow up to adulthood and become god knows what is a scary thought.)
At that moment, I thought, “This girl belongs behind bars. She’s a danger to society. And this whole arc is about tossing her in jail. Bring it on!”
But Show surprised me again by giving me a twist that made me feel sad for psycho hoodie girl.
Throughout the series, we get hints that Prosecutor Lin is keeping a secret for the girl’s mother—one that the girl probably should know.
However, the prosecutors eventually find a way to hold her accountable. They discover she’s not the biological child of her parents—she was adopted and is actually older than she appears. This means she can be prosecuted.
When she’s brought in, she’s still smug, believing that she’s already accomplished her primary goal of hurting Prosecutor Lin.
But then, the secret comes out: her mother had assisted her father in committing suicide to secure insurance money for her education. Her mother went to jail for this, and before dying, she urged her daughter to live a good life and asked Lin to keep her true intentions a secret.
The tragedy hits hard when the girl realizes she has wasted her parents’ sacrifice.
As she stood in the dock, hearing her sentence, she broke down, understanding that everything she did was for the wrong reasons.
Not so smug now, huh?Worse, her mother’s sacrifices and suffering were in vain. All her mother and father wanted was for her to have a good university education so that her smart brain could be used to build a better life. Instead, Kaitong used her intelligence to destroy the lives of others, and ultimately, her own. She wasted not just her life but her parents’ lives.
For Kaitong, there’s no worse punishment than realising that her actions rendered her mother’s suffering useless.
Will she get to be a productive member of society once she’s released? The stain of “attempted murder” isn’t something you can rub off easily, especially in a strict society like China’s. I doubt she can be a leader in the government, or even in corporations … what a waste of talent.
This storytelling is what I love about Endless Protection – it’s never straightforward. There are red herrings, surprises, and layers to every mystery.
This arc wasn’t violent, fortunately, nor was it action-packed, but the final scene at the courtroom delivered such a punch: Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your intelligence on revenge and evil.
And can I say that I’m amazed by the young actress’ performance? In fact, all the young actors in this show were absolutely brilliant. If there’s one reason to watch Endless Protection (among many) it’ll be this.
#bookReview #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #ChineseDramas #Crime #entertainment #ModernCdrama #novel #Recaps #review #romance #VengoGao
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Endless protection recap and analysis (currently watching)
Prosecutor Lin Zhi Tao and assistant prosecutor Bai En Yu are members of a special juvenile prosecution team that focuses on the judicial protection of minors. They come across crimes that test their emotional strength, but despite the horrifying cases, they have to fight for justice of one of society’s most vulnerable: The children.
ℹ️ This post is currently being updated as I watch the show. Do return to the page as I will be updating it.
- Episodes 1-3: Bullies
- Episodes 4-5: Thieves
- Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
- Episodes 10-14: The past
- Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
Episodes 1-3: Bullies
The crime
A young student is bullied so much that he jumps off a building to escape his tormentors.
We meet our justice warriors
In these episodes, we get to meet our main protagonists, Lin Zhi Tao, a no-nonsense prosecutor, and Bai En Yu, a corrections officer at a juvenile corrections facility.
Originally, I watched this without subs, and since my Chinese reading is shit, I couldn’t quite get most of Vengo’s dialogue. (I love ya, Vengo, but please remove those marbles from your mouth lol).
The crimes are so… difficult to watch (sobs).But anyway, I really, really hurt when I see young people suffer in any way, even on TV, which is why after the ferocious bullying in the first few minutes of episode 1, I wondered if I could continue. It was heartbreaking, and I was actually quite surprised at how graphic the bullying was.
But I believe it served a purpose. The head bully was hardly remorseful, and when Lin passed a relatively light sentence, I was also as incensed as the mom.
However, the drama shifted to Bai’s perspective, where we see that while he’s tough on his young charges, he is also caring in his own way. He wants the head bully to be reformed—we can see that—but he’s proving to be a tough nut to crack.
Hilariously, Lin and Bai butt heads in episode 3, and since we know they’ll end up in that special Juvenile Crime division that Lin has been transferred to, this is going to be SO FUN.
I can understand Bai’s perspective. In his mind, Lin is just a pencil pusher who doesn’t get to see the young criminals daily. She only knows how to execute the law. While Lin can execute the law according to rigid parameters, Bai doesn’t have that luxury. Kids are already hard to deal with—delinquent kids?? It’ll be interesting to see both of them exasperate each other.
The limits of the law
I wonder if Lin regrets executing the law so rigidly in the bullying case. I can’t decide if what she did was right or wrong because I’m with the mom—8 years is a slap on the wrist for someone who caused another child to jump off a building in desperation to get away.
Lin’s childhood was not a cakewalk
While the cases are so tough to watch, at the start of episode 3, we see siblings who live under the tyranny of their abusive father. I believe that’s Lin, as we later see the child talk to Lin’s superior.
But I wonder if her actions were the reason why she was ostracized by her community—because she dared to sue her dad, and somehow… her mom still defended her dad despite it all… and chose to oust her daughter instead? Oof.
I really love the characters so far, and I especially like the gregarious Bai, who adores his wife. What a refreshing character to take on, and I’m glad Vengo Gao got a chance to play him. I’m so used to seeing him in idol dramas; I hope that he truly makes the leap to the “Uncle Circle” soon, though I’d miss his white-haired Emperors ;D. He’s so far from the usual suave characters he plays that I’m delighting in the chance.
I also like how multi-faceted the drama is. They don’t portray the juvenile delinquents as irredeemable but show that they’re probably the result of their environment. I find myself unexpectedly rooting for them. 🙂
Yes, even the head bully!
Episodes 4-5: Thieves
The crime
Children are being used to rob people. I definitely cried a little (inside, anyway) when I saw how they were “trained” and “punished.” And if that isn’t bad enough, they’re later stuffed in suitcases and sold. I really am wincing at the fact that these are based on real cases. The poor kids :((
Bai’s human touch
Poor Bai—his favourite charge, Lu Sheng, is back in detention. It appears that he’s been forced back into the criminal ring that uses children to steal, and he’s probably not telling the truth because he wants to protect his siblings, family, and the kids in that ring.
Bai has his heart in the right place: he not only cares for the kids but also knows how to read them and get them to reform. However, his hot-headed ways and rough, in-your-face interrogation methods do not work outside the detention centre, methinks. Still, he has street smarts and instincts that the prosecution team doesn’t have.
Like the director said later, she hopes Bai will give the team the “human touch.”
Lin’s methodical way of prying the truth out of criminals can really complement Bai’s out-of-the-box ways.
(I LOLed at Bai’s method to get into Lu Sheng’s family flat after Lin failed. He pretends to be on Lu Sheng’s dad’s side and drinks with him, which incenses Lin’s assistant, who thinks that he’s breaking the law and “drinking on the job.”)
Notes
- Don’t you think the opening sequence is creepy? The crimes that we’ll see in this drama are hinted at in a series of ‘playful’ dioramas. Cute on the surface, but upon closer look, they hint at darker stories.
- I love how Bai dotes on his wife! We all want a hubby like Bai.
- Lin’s request to revoke Lu Sheng’s father’s guardianship—is this another clue that the kid who wanted to sue her father was Lin? I wonder if she’ll succeed.
- Not gonna lie, I thought Lu Sheng would get a harsh sentence. Thank goodness he didn’t, or else I’d wonder what the hell is wrong with the prosecutors (like I wondered in the first ep).
- What in the world was Bai doing on that roof with the drum? Was he beating the drums to give Lu Sheng a soundtrack while he’s testifying before the prosecutors?? ;D
I noticed not only were they using cash but also those old “boring” hand phones! I wonder why I never noticed before, but this drama must’ve been set before 2010.
Looks like Lin’s troubles with the first case aren’t over??
Episodes 6-9: Boat Trip
The crime
A family boat trip ends in tragedy as a child is killed. The culprit appears to be a young girl, but our prosecutors are not that sure.
I kinda like the office
Our heroes have a rough start to the latest arc. First, Lin had to save the mother of the dead bullied kid from swan diving off the same ledge her son did. Then Bai realised his dream job is a dream – the kind you can only appreciate when you are asleep! He’s flabbergasted that the prestigious job he had fought so hard for has an office in a janitor’s store room. But at least it’s roomy and has an ensuite toilet!
The criminal isn’t as obvious as I thought
This arc got me thinking that some people just shouldn’t be allowed to procreate. Honestly, I really disliked the little girl bully so much that I was convinced the arc was all about how to convict a child psychopath and the ethics of doing so.
But it turned out that the true psychopath was the father of the kids, who made my skin crawl with his selfishness.
His mistress wasn’t any better, her having colluded and even pressured the father to kill the kids. Her begging to be let off from the death penalty towards the end made me shudder a little at her selfishness.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the little girl bully is going to grow up normal. Pretty sure she’s going to be a full-blown narcissist when she grows up and do something criminal.
And thus I go on a philosophical bent thinking how society’s ills often stem from shitty parents, and if only we had an AI for that to anticipate or predict bad/evil parenting …
Some other notable stuff
- I have to say this is such a creative way to interrogate kids.
- We get a clue what the diorama opening scenes are for! As the psychologist explains, it gives children a safe way to talk about the harrowing things they’ve gone through. As I mentioned in the last recap, each toy in the opening scene signifies a crime, and this time, it’s a boat and two empty life vests. (oof)
- We get confirmation that Lin is indeed that girl who sued her father and sent him to prison.
- We also find out that her family ain’t that grateful for her actions.
- So, in that sense, this case is really meaningful to Lin. That scene where she flinched at the sight of the wire coat hanger. Phew.
- Bai continues to demonstrate that his bad temper is not an asset in the interrogation room (I wonder if he’ll be dinged for that in future episodes). However, his out-of-the-box detective work, instincts and deft ability to handle young juvenile kids is definitely an asset to his more by-the-book teammates.
- Narcissists are often paired with Enablers and the father’s mother is an Enabler with a capital E. Lin and Bai got extremely frustrated by her not doing anything to prevent her grandkids from being abused. I got wanted to throw something at her when she said her son was a “good man, it’s just that he loses his temper”. Eurgh (screams into pillow). I think Lin is especially upset about this because, and I’m guessing, it reminds her too much of her mother who begged the police to release her husband.
Who is the mysterious kid in the hoodie?
By the way, there is this mysterious kid who spoke to the bullied kid’s mum, and I wondered if she somehow goaded her to jump off the building?
Even Lin remarked that the woman was probably being manipulated into doing so.
Are we dealing with a genius kid psychopath or something?
Episodes 10-14: The past
The crimes:
A teenager is about to be prosecuted … for running a porn distribution ring.
Teen biker gangs are causing havoc and Bai Enyu wants to solve this problem without the law stepping in.
Don’t do porn, ‘mkay?
These episodes are relatively placid and less intense than the earlie episodes. (You know what this means—intense, heart-wrenching cases are coming soon!)
I have to say, my main reaction to the porn ring story was, wait, omg you can go to jail for this in China? Half the world would be in prison if this was a law in their countries!
But the distinction to be made here is that prosecution only happens if you profit from it, and this teenager has been earning money from his chat porn distribution ring.
Meanwhile, we’re introduced to his rather unstable tiger mum who screams at him the moment he shows interest in a friend who happens to be a girl? Geez, no wonder he’s turning to porn, mum.
Anyway, our prosecutors are pleading for leniency from the government as he seems to be a good and smart kid. Prosecution could mean that his life is ruined forever, after all.
Our second case is a little more serious but not intense either. Instead the case offers an insight on Bai. Well, our cheerful detective/prosecutor was a delinquent himself!
However, he turned into a new leaf when, during one of his fights, a friend was killed and another was maimed. And it was kinda sweet that his wife was a part of the gang, which meant that she was his childhood sweetheart.
On the whole, I found the biker arc predictable, but it’s nice to see Bai talking to a modern, younger version of his teen self, and being able to stop him from ending up hurting someone (and possibly derail his life).
Bai tries to play therapist to Lin (spoiler alert: not working well)
Lin meets her enstranged brother. Not a happy moment for all.We also find out that Prosecutor Lin has a problem with her brain. Like, a physical one, in case you’re wondering.
Bai also finds out that the shop he’s been patronising and where Lu Sheng, his reformed delinquent progete works – the owner is Prosecutor Lin’s brother.
This becomes a rather awkward moment for Prosecutor Lin when she comes face to face with a brother she’s been estranged from for 16 years. Little brother has a big heap of resentment against his sister for leaving the family.
Bai, Lin and her brother need therapy. You are not a therapist.These episodes were slow, and it took me a while to get through them. But I did like the character moments in episode 14, especially with Lin and her brother. Bai in his bull-headed way tries to force a reconciliation which goes as well as you can imagine.
I suspect that Lin feels immensely guilty for what happened after reporting her father and putting him in jail. It didn’t help, from what I can see, that the family didn’t support her decision but turned against her instead. It was the right thing, but it resulted in ostracisation from the community and the very people she tried to protect. After a betrayal like that, can you blame her for staying away?
Oh gawd, someone please hand me a shovel so I can do some violenceMy thoughts so far
This arc was rather boring, to be honest, but maybe it’s due to my short-attention span brain being distracted by prettier fare like Feud and The Princess’ Gambit.Still, it’s again, delightful to watch Vengo Gao in such a good role. I’ve only seen him as an aloof heavily emperor, an aloof kinda-vampire and aloof swordsman – you get the idea. So, to see him just let loose as the brash, hot-tempered but good-hearted corrections officer is such a delight.
I’m also liking how each case isn’t predictable. I always think that I have pinned down the culprit, only to be surprised each time.
And after watching the chaos that is The Princess’ Gambit and other idol dramas, I really appreciate the plain ol, logical and good scriptwriting. You do wonder why idol dramas just can’t do this while dramas like these can?
Episodes 15-16: Hoodie girl
The crime
Prosecutor Lin is lured to the KTV lounge where she had caught the business hired under-aged girls. There, she ends up being trapped in a burning building.No guesses who the culprit is: Hoodie girl, Ning Kaitong (Li Xi Yuan).
She’s young, not even of legal age, but frighteningly smart.
So smart, in fact, that her psychopathic, serial-killer-like behaviour is deeply concerning.
We’ve seen her from the very beginning of the series, appearing near people connected to Prosecutor Lin’s cases. She goads the victims into doing terrible things, even attempting to convince a woman to commit suicide. These actions are undeniably scary.
Yet, what I love about this show is that they could still make me care for a character like Kaitong.
She’s not acting this way purely because she’s psychotic, but because she’s extremely bitter.
Prosecutor Lin sent her mother to prison, and she blames Lin for destroying her family.
This resentment comes to a head in these episodes when she lures Prosecutor Lin to a KTV building and sets it on fire.
Lin nearly dies but is saved by his brother. The only silver lining is that this incident finally forces Lin and her brother to reconcile. (I found it hilarious that Bai’s earnest efforts through food and meet-ups failed but a burning building succeeded.)
Meanwhile, Kaitong’s malicious ability to frame others for murder and manipulate people into deadly situations is something our prosecutors cannot ignore.
I’ll admit it now, I’ve never hated a minor character so much. Kaitong shows no remorse, fully believing that Prosecutor Lin deserved it and smugly smiling when the rest interrogate her, revelling in the fact that her youth protects her from tougher actions.
She smirked when they were forced to let her go. And, honestly, I thought this was the route the drama would take – we would see her going through counselling and “education”, and by the end of her arc she’ll be remorseful and sorry. Urgh.
(Fortunately, the prosecutors were as hard-assed as I was and tried to find a way to rein her in. I mean, seriously, having a kid who nearly killed someone grow up to adulthood and become god knows what is a scary thought.)
At that moment, I thought, “This girl belongs behind bars. She’s a danger to society. And this whole arc is about tossing her in jail. Bring it on!”
But Show surprised me again by giving me a twist that made me feel sad for psycho hoodie girl.
Throughout the series, we get hints that Prosecutor Lin is keeping a secret for the girl’s mother—one that the girl probably should know.
However, the prosecutors eventually find a way to hold her accountable. They discover she’s not the biological child of her parents—she was adopted and is actually older than she appears. This means she can be prosecuted.
When she’s brought in, she’s still smug, believing that she’s already accomplished her primary goal of hurting Prosecutor Lin.
But then, the secret comes out: her mother had assisted her father in committing suicide to secure insurance money for her education. Her mother went to jail for this, and before dying, she urged her daughter to live a good life and asked Lin to keep her true intentions a secret.
The tragedy hits hard when the girl realizes she has wasted her parents’ sacrifice.
As she stood in the dock, hearing her sentence, she broke down, understanding that everything she did was for the wrong reasons.
Not so smug now, huh?Worse, her mother’s sacrifices and suffering were in vain. All her mother and father wanted was for her to have a good university education so that her smart brain could be used to build a better life. Instead, Kaitong used her intelligence to destroy the lives of others, and ultimately, her own. She wasted not just her life but her parents’ lives.
For Kaitong, there’s no worse punishment than realising that her actions rendered her mother’s suffering useless.
Will she get to be a productive member of society once she’s released? The stain of “attempted murder” isn’t something you can rub off easily, especially in a strict society like China’s. I doubt she can be a leader in the government, or even in corporations … what a waste of talent.
This storytelling is what I love about Endless Protection – it’s never straightforward. There are red herrings, surprises, and layers to every mystery.
This arc wasn’t violent, fortunately, nor was it action-packed, but the final scene at the courtroom delivered such a punch: Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your intelligence on revenge and evil.
And can I say that I’m amazed by the young actress’ performance? In fact, all the young actors in this show were absolutely brilliant. If there’s one reason to watch Endless Protection (among many) it’ll be this.
#bookReview #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #ChineseDramas #Crime #entertainment #ModernCdrama #novel #Recaps #review #romance #VengoGao
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Kenstrosity’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024
By Kenstrosity
When I think back on this year, a year of unprecedented stress and struggle for this sponge, one predominant emotion rises above the rest. Gratitude. I went through hardships I couldn’t possibly have anticipated; watched as harrowing events, both global and domestic, rocked our world; and trudged through time-dilating frights that I only previously experienced in some of my worst nightmares. And yet, I persist! I found myself asking, once again, why I was spared a worse fate where others weren’t? What have I done in life to deserve the good fortune I’ve received? In time I’ve come to believe that understanding the why of it all isn’t always the most important part. In some ways, the pursuit of an answer to “why” even blinds us to more enriching lessons we can learn from the experiences we share, both mundane and extraordinary. These things teach us how to be human, how to grow, how to thrive, and how to come together as a community. So, for what must be the first time of my life, I stopped asking why anything happened, as tempting as that spiral always looked from outside. Instead, I spent all of my energy prioritizing the moment, experiencing it, allowing it to change me and mold me, and to be present in it not just for me, but for my friends, my family, and my neighbors.
Back to gratitude. More so this year than any other, I must express my deepest, most heartfelt gratitude for damn near everyone. When my roommate and I lost everything overnight, I felt completely and utterly overwhelmed by the response. Hands of friends, family, and community reached towards us, open to do whatever they could to help us up. AMG Himself, Steel Druhm, Sentynel, GardensTale, Twelve, Dolphin Whisperer, Maddog, Holdeneye, Cherd of Doom, Grymm, El Cuervo, Dr. Wvrm, Ferrous Beuller, Saunders, Eldritch Elitist, Doom_et_Al, Dear Hollow, Carcharodon, Felgund, Ferox, Thus Spoke, Iceberg, Mystikus Hugebeard, Itchy, the n00bs, a shit ton of Discord frens, all of my meatspace friends, Mom, Dad, my sister, some of my extended family, my work colleagues and acquaintances, random kind strangers, even Dr. A. N. Grier went above and beyond to help directly with our recovery. Every single member of staff here did whatever they could to give some relief, far beyond what I could’ve ever asked for, and it overwhelms my little heart to know they cared that deeply. My owlpal and great friend Rolderathis, writer and editor at Toilet ov Hell, unexpectedly swooped in via Discord to jump start our financial recovery by creating a crowdsourcing page for us—even as the admin for AMG planned to do the same. Instrumental to its dissemination and subsequent explosion,1 both AMG Himself and Steel Druhm made sure to aggressively spread the word via an official post on this very site, and in their own circles public and private. Friends and family did the same, to great effect. Toilet ov Hell even posted their own article, too, and I don’t even fucking write there. Incredible. My aunt and her husband helped us replace two full rooms worth of furniture without hesitation, and another close friend of mine provided yet another room’s worth on top of that. Our friends reached far and wide to find opportunities to get us shelter, food, essential items, and vital emotional support. FEMA did more than their part for us as well, and they continue to help us as we navigate the next stages of long-term recovery. My therapist stuck with me through the storm, helped carry me through some concerning emotional blockages shortly after, and continues to guide me now. The continuous waves of support and outreach blew me away, and motivated me to pay it forward in whatever way I was capable for those who were going through hell with us. I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.
As if a hurricane wasn’t enough to bear, Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer just ten days after the storm hit. Still, there shined small silver linings that kept me going. It was caught very early, and she has already returned home after a resoundingly successful surgery, where they removed the tumor in block.2 As scary as the thought of losing my Mom right after everything else that’s happened was, I choose to emphasize the excellent treatment and attention to detail that allowed Mom to come home quickly and in decent health, all things considered. I choose to be with my family, to live in this moment through the pain, the fear, the uncertainty, so I can be there when the sun inevitably shines again, too. I want to extend a very special thanks to Dad, who remained constantly by Mom’s side and supported her through every stage of this development when I wasn’t able.
All of this merely scratches the surface of everything we’ve gone through in 2024. But we are still here!3 We are living the best we can, helping each other to survive, and perhaps soon to also thrive again. The sense of community I feel not just for my deeply wounded city, but also the people in my life, deepened significantly just in the last few months. These experiences have changed me, changed my outlook on life and on relationships. The fragility of life and the sheer power of the love that comes from the people in it sharpen my understanding of what’s really important. Life is about the people you have, the way you treat them, and how you conduct yourself in this world to try to improve it with your unique light, little by little. It’s about supporting your loved ones as they go through good times just as fiercely as when they go through hardship and change. It’s about growing every day into the very best version of yourself, and being there to witness and celebrate the same journey in those close to you. I understand that more today than ever before, and I am thankful that this lesson, above all else, is my takeaway from 2024.
It’s going to be a while before we can return home to AVL, but I’ve already returned full force to my home away from home, Angry Metal Guy! I’d like to thank Steel Druhm and AMG Himself again for keeping my spot warm for me and for being excellent taskmasters and blogrunners, to Sentynel for keeping things running smoothly on the back end and for being awesome in general at his job, to all the writers for continuously providing the internet with the best worst opinions on metal extant, and to Dr. A. N. Grier for deleting everything I’ve ever written so that nobody has to suffer my silly goofy ramblings.
With that said, everybody should probably snapshot this little Top Ten(ish) of mine before Grier deletes that, too. It looks mighty different to how it would’ve had the storm not happened, both because I couldn’t listen to any new music for a while and because the event itself ushered a sharp shift in my listening preferences. Regardless, I’m happy with my selections, and I fully expect the rest of you to rabble at my confounding omissions.4 Let it commence!
#ish. Elvellon // Ascending in Synergy – Elvellon holds a special place in my heart, and thanks to masterful songsmithing, Ascending in Synergy holds a well-deserved placement on my list. I simply haven’t been able to stop jamming it all year. Ascending in Synergy is everything I loved about metal when I first got into it, and it embodies much of what I love about metal today. It never hurts that the first eight songs are all megaton bangers. This record would have placed nearer the top if it weren’t for the monologue in the penultimate epic. Nonetheless, I love Ascending in Synergy.
#10. Madder Mortem // Old Eyes, New Heart – Ever since Marrow, Madder Mortem successfully won me over where every other album in their back catalog failed to resonate. I can’t explain what exactly it was that captured my adoration all of a sudden, but Old Eyes, New Heart has my heart just as Marrow did before it. Smart compositions, earnest delivery, crystalline lyrics, lush sound, this record has it all. I’d be a fool not to award it placement on this list.
#9. Oceans of Slumber // Where Gods Fear to Speak – Oceans of Slumber carved out an ever-evolving, fearlessly creative, and unique sound for themselves since their inception, but always seemed somewhat inconsistent with the quality of their songwriting. Not so on their magnum opus Where Gods Fear to Speak. Immense, cohesive, and richly layered with detail and compelling songwriting, Where Gods Fear to Speak feels like the culmination of their entire career, fully matured and refined to peak form.
#8. Sunburst // Manifesto – There was a point in time that I was confident Manifesto would top this list. That was largely due to sheer excitement that a new Sunburst album, which I never thought I would see in the first place, actually turned out to be great. Rich compositions, sharp hooks, and a masterful performance from everyone involved, Manifesto solidifies Sunburst as one of the best bands out of the Greek power metal scene. I just hope that I don’t have to wait another eight years for the next one!
#7. Scumbag // Homicide Cult – This record is simply unfair. I had my Top 10 all sorted out, and then some bottle-nosed bastard with a dorsal fin and a propensity for beating up smaller mammals on the wrong side of the sea had me check this out, with the promise of killer riffs by the main Noxis guitarist. That bastard was right, this record absolutely rips. There are so many unbelievably filthy, stank-face inducing riffs on Homicide Cult that I had to get plastic surgery to look like myself again. Otherwise, I’d look more like my rotted-out friend on the cover.
#6. Noxis // Violence Inherent in the System – Death metal this good hits me in a special place. While embodying all of the skullcrushing ways of olde, Violence Inherent in the System represents one of the most creative, smart, and well-produced records in modern death metal currently. And while my review helped spike the hype, it still feels a bit like Noxis are running further under the radar than they deserve. Coming out of absolute nowhere and dropping the best straight-up death metal of the year? Unreal.
#5. Feind // Ambulante Hirnamputation – Grind, and all of its hybrids, never once made it on my proper Top 10. I’ve written here for six years. That’s how powerful Feind’s Ambulante Hirnamputation truly is. Immense fun, more quality riffs stuffed into less than twenty minutes than some of the best records can fit into an hour, and cheeky to boot, Ambulante Hirnamputation proves that Feind mastered the grindset. Let’s hope this isn’t the last I get to hear of Feind.
#4. Brodequin // Harbinger of Woe – In contrast to grind, I almost always have a brutal death metal record on my Top 10. It’s a style that resonates with me very easily, and there’s never a shortage of it for my personal enjoyment. Brodequin won the day in a year chock full of great options, with the immensely accessible Harbinger of Woe. The sheer level of groove brimming from this torture chamber sends my booty into overdrive, and the thick, nasty production only serves to enhance the entire experience. There’s very little else I could ask for to sate my brutal death cravings.
#3. Iotunn // Kinship – It’s been a banner year for our friend Jon Aldará. Where Iotunn’s Access All Worlds interested, but did not woo, me, follow-up Kinship absolutely rocked my socks. Every single track is a celebration of epic, melodic, and deeply immersive extreme metal. Gorgeous compositions, ascendant guitar work, ridiculous replay value, and stellar vocals propelled Kinship way up on my list of favorite records at a blistering pace, leaving me revelling in an idyllic honeymoon period. Even after investing more time marinating in its wondrous environs, I’ve only fallen deeper and deeper in love with it. I just can’t imagine how Iotunn are going to top this.
#2. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – This is the year for records that floored me where their predecessors didn’t. Replicant’s Malignant Reality was enjoyable, but couldn’t touch my Top 10 in its year. Infinite Mortality, on the other hand, made a valiant bid for Album o’ the Year from the very first riff kicking “Acid Mirror” into the stratosphere. Hardcore-tinged technical death metal for fans of the discordant and the unorthodox, Infinite Mortality is supremely memorable not just for its sound, but for its infallible, hook-laden construction. Infinite Mortality may not be the only record of its kind released this year, but it’s without a doubt the greatest.
#1. Myrath // Karma – Hurricane Helene took my home. It changed the ecology, geology, and pedology of the entire Asheville region, likely for all time. But one thing it couldn’t take from me is my spirit, my drive to survive, and my determination to thrive. Even during a long period where access to music was a rare luxury, Karma remained at the forefront of my mind. It held me from giving up and reminded me of the strength that burgeoned not just in myself, but also in my friends, family, and greater community as we rebuilt our lives together. If there was ever a record released this year that embodies that spirit of triumph over adversity, it’s Myrath’s incredible Karma. It was always going to be high on this list, thanks to its insanely memorable songwriting and passionate performances of univerally great songs. However, it wasn’t until I personally resonated with its empowering message in the context of a devastating natural disaster that I knew this would be, unquestionably, my Album o’ the Year.
Honorable Mentions
- Amiensus // Reclamation Pt. II – Thoughtful, dynamic, and immersive, Reclamation Pt. II represents the pinnacle of what I like in progressive black metal.
- The Flaying // Ni dieu ni maître – Unsung melodic death metal heroes The Flaying offer up nonstop hooks and a crazy bass performance delivered at a feral pace.
- Hamferð // Men Guds hond er sterk – Empotionally compelling and monstrously heavy, Men Guds hond er sterk is death doom at its peak form.
- Khirki // Κυκεώνας – Massively dynamic hard rock that comes from the heart and the head, not the butt.
- Saidan // Visual Kill: The Blossoming of Psychotic Depravity – Fun, fast, ferocious, Visual Kill is an unqualified blast of killer hyper-melodic black metal.
- Unhallowed Deliverance // Of Spectres and Strife – Deathcore rarely offers this level of dynamics and quality in songwriting, and it hits like a runaway train full of unstable nuclear warheads.
Non-Metal Album o’ the Year
- Kali Uchis // Orquídeas – Simply put, this album is pure sex. Period.
EP o’ the Year
- Glassbone // Deaf to Suffering – Far and away the slimiest, crustiest, and bestest slam of the year. Absolute filth.
Song o’ the Year
- Elvellon – “A Vagabond’s Heart” – Easily my most listened to song of the year, “A Vagabond’s Heart” strikes a special chord in my spirit that embodies everything I used to love and everything I love today. Furthermore, it leaves me hopeful and excited for what the future holds. As a delightful bonus, it’s catchy as all get-out. I couldn’t ask for a better song to fit this slot.
Surprise o’ the Year:
- Nightwish // Yesterwynde – My original intent was to place this somewhere on my list proper, but the storm foiled that aspiration, as I rarely got to listen to any new music that came out in late September and pretty much all of October until it was way too late. But when I did get to spend time with Yesterwynde, it continually impressed me. Songs that felt novel and exciting, performances that brimmed with new life, and wonderful pacing from start to finish, Nightwish’s latest record feels like a return to form. I’m excited to follow them on this latest arc in their career.5
Disappointment o’ the Year:
- Vredehammer // God Slayer – The riffs are there, that’s for sure. But the album just doesn’t come together in a way that scratches my brain at all. Therefore, I had the most difficult time sitting through God Slayer. Shame, especially considering how much of a banger each of the previous two records were…
#2024 #Amiensus #Brodequin #Elvellon #Feind #Glassbone #Hamferð #Iotunn #KaliUchis #KenstrositySTopTenIshOf2024 #Khirki #MadderMortem #Myrath #Nightwish #Noxis #OceansOfSlumber #Replicant #Saidan #Scumbag #Sunburst #TheFlaying #UnhallowedDeliverance #Vredehammerð
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Kenstrosity’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024
By Kenstrosity
When I think back on this year, a year of unprecedented stress and struggle for this sponge, one predominant emotion rises above the rest. Gratitude. I went through hardships I couldn’t possibly have anticipated; watched as harrowing events, both global and domestic, rocked our world; and trudged through time-dilating frights that I only previously experienced in some of my worst nightmares. And yet, I persist! I found myself asking, once again, why I was spared a worse fate where others weren’t? What have I done in life to deserve the good fortune I’ve received? In time I’ve come to believe that understanding the why of it all isn’t always the most important part. In some ways, the pursuit of an answer to “why” even blinds us to more enriching lessons we can learn from the experiences we share, both mundane and extraordinary. These things teach us how to be human, how to grow, how to thrive, and how to come together as a community. So, for what must be the first time of my life, I stopped asking why anything happened, as tempting as that spiral always looked from outside. Instead, I spent all of my energy prioritizing the moment, experiencing it, allowing it to change me and mold me, and to be present in it not just for me, but for my friends, my family, and my neighbors.
Back to gratitude. More so this year than any other, I must express my deepest, most heartfelt gratitude for damn near everyone. When my roommate and I lost everything overnight, I felt completely and utterly overwhelmed by the response. Hands of friends, family, and community reached towards us, open to do whatever they could to help us up. AMG Himself, Steel Druhm, Sentynel, GardensTale, Twelve, Dolphin Whisperer, Maddog, Holdeneye, Cherd of Doom, Grymm, El Cuervo, Dr. Wvrm, Ferrous Beuller, Saunders, Eldritch Elitist, Doom_et_Al, Dear Hollow, Carcharodon, Felgund, Ferox, Thus Spoke, Iceberg, Mystikus Hugebeard, Itchy, the n00bs, a shit ton of Discord frens, all of my meatspace friends, Mom, Dad, my sister, some of my extended family, my work colleagues and acquaintances, random kind strangers, even Dr. A. N. Grier went above and beyond to help directly with our recovery. Every single member of staff here did whatever they could to give some relief, far beyond what I could’ve ever asked for, and it overwhelms my little heart to know they cared that deeply. My owlpal and great friend Rolderathis, writer and editor at Toilet ov Hell, unexpectedly swooped in via Discord to jump start our financial recovery by creating a crowdsourcing page for us—even as the admin for AMG planned to do the same. Instrumental to its dissemination and subsequent explosion,1 both AMG Himself and Steel Druhm made sure to aggressively spread the word via an official post on this very site, and in their own circles public and private. Friends and family did the same, to great effect. Toilet ov Hell even posted their own article, too, and I don’t even fucking write there. Incredible. My aunt and her husband helped us replace two full rooms worth of furniture without hesitation, and another close friend of mine provided yet another room’s worth on top of that. Our friends reached far and wide to find opportunities to get us shelter, food, essential items, and vital emotional support. FEMA did more than their part for us as well, and they continue to help us as we navigate the next stages of long-term recovery. My therapist stuck with me through the storm, helped carry me through some concerning emotional blockages shortly after, and continues to guide me now. The continuous waves of support and outreach blew me away, and motivated me to pay it forward in whatever way I was capable for those who were going through hell with us. I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.
As if a hurricane wasn’t enough to bear, Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer just ten days after the storm hit. Still, there shined small silver linings that kept me going. It was caught very early, and she has already returned home after a resoundingly successful surgery, where they removed the tumor in block.2 As scary as the thought of losing my Mom right after everything else that’s happened was, I choose to emphasize the excellent treatment and attention to detail that allowed Mom to come home quickly and in decent health, all things considered. I choose to be with my family, to live in this moment through the pain, the fear, the uncertainty, so I can be there when the sun inevitably shines again, too. I want to extend a very special thanks to Dad, who remained constantly by Mom’s side and supported her through every stage of this development when I wasn’t able.
All of this merely scratches the surface of everything we’ve gone through in 2024. But we are still here!3 We are living the best we can, helping each other to survive, and perhaps soon to also thrive again. The sense of community I feel not just for my deeply wounded city, but also the people in my life, deepened significantly just in the last few months. These experiences have changed me, changed my outlook on life and on relationships. The fragility of life and the sheer power of the love that comes from the people in it sharpen my understanding of what’s really important. Life is about the people you have, the way you treat them, and how you conduct yourself in this world to try to improve it with your unique light, little by little. It’s about supporting your loved ones as they go through good times just as fiercely as when they go through hardship and change. It’s about growing every day into the very best version of yourself, and being there to witness and celebrate the same journey in those close to you. I understand that more today than ever before, and I am thankful that this lesson, above all else, is my takeaway from 2024.
It’s going to be a while before we can return home to AVL, but I’ve already returned full force to my home away from home, Angry Metal Guy! I’d like to thank Steel Druhm and AMG Himself again for keeping my spot warm for me and for being excellent taskmasters and blogrunners, to Sentynel for keeping things running smoothly on the back end and for being awesome in general at his job, to all the writers for continuously providing the internet with the best worst opinions on metal extant, and to Dr. A. N. Grier for deleting everything I’ve ever written so that nobody has to suffer my silly goofy ramblings.
With that said, everybody should probably snapshot this little Top Ten(ish) of mine before Grier deletes that, too. It looks mighty different to how it would’ve had the storm not happened, both because I couldn’t listen to any new music for a while and because the event itself ushered a sharp shift in my listening preferences. Regardless, I’m happy with my selections, and I fully expect the rest of you to rabble at my confounding omissions.4 Let it commence!
#ish. Elvellon // Ascending in Synergy – Elvellon holds a special place in my heart, and thanks to masterful songsmithing, Ascending in Synergy holds a well-deserved placement on my list. I simply haven’t been able to stop jamming it all year. Ascending in Synergy is everything I loved about metal when I first got into it, and it embodies much of what I love about metal today. It never hurts that the first eight songs are all megaton bangers. This record would have placed nearer the top if it weren’t for the monologue in the penultimate epic. Nonetheless, I love Ascending in Synergy.
#10. Madder Mortem // Old Eyes, New Heart – Ever since Marrow, Madder Mortem successfully won me over where every other album in their back catalog failed to resonate. I can’t explain what exactly it was that captured my adoration all of a sudden, but Old Eyes, New Heart has my heart just as Marrow did before it. Smart compositions, earnest delivery, crystalline lyrics, lush sound, this record has it all. I’d be a fool not to award it placement on this list.
#9. Oceans of Slumber // Where Gods Fear to Speak – Oceans of Slumber carved out an ever-evolving, fearlessly creative, and unique sound for themselves since their inception, but always seemed somewhat inconsistent with the quality of their songwriting. Not so on their magnum opus Where Gods Fear to Speak. Immense, cohesive, and richly layered with detail and compelling songwriting, Where Gods Fear to Speak feels like the culmination of their entire career, fully matured and refined to peak form.
#8. Sunburst // Manifesto – There was a point in time that I was confident Manifesto would top this list. That was largely due to sheer excitement that a new Sunburst album, which I never thought I would see in the first place, actually turned out to be great. Rich compositions, sharp hooks, and a masterful performance from everyone involved, Manifesto solidifies Sunburst as one of the best bands out of the Greek power metal scene. I just hope that I don’t have to wait another eight years for the next one!
#7. Scumbag // Homicide Cult – This record is simply unfair. I had my Top 10 all sorted out, and then some bottle-nosed bastard with a dorsal fin and a propensity for beating up smaller mammals on the wrong side of the sea had me check this out, with the promise of killer riffs by the main Noxis guitarist. That bastard was right, this record absolutely rips. There are so many unbelievably filthy, stank-face inducing riffs on Homicide Cult that I had to get plastic surgery to look like myself again. Otherwise, I’d look more like my rotted-out friend on the cover.
#6. Noxis // Violence Inherent in the System – Death metal this good hits me in a special place. While embodying all of the skullcrushing ways of olde, Violence Inherent in the System represents one of the most creative, smart, and well-produced records in modern death metal currently. And while my review helped spike the hype, it still feels a bit like Noxis are running further under the radar than they deserve. Coming out of absolute nowhere and dropping the best straight-up death metal of the year? Unreal.
#5. Feind // Ambulante Hirnamputation – Grind, and all of its hybrids, never once made it on my proper Top 10. I’ve written here for six years. That’s how powerful Feind’s Ambulante Hirnamputation truly is. Immense fun, more quality riffs stuffed into less than twenty minutes than some of the best records can fit into an hour, and cheeky to boot, Ambulante Hirnamputation proves that Feind mastered the grindset. Let’s hope this isn’t the last I get to hear of Feind.
#4. Brodequin // Harbinger of Woe – In contrast to grind, I almost always have a brutal death metal record on my Top 10. It’s a style that resonates with me very easily, and there’s never a shortage of it for my personal enjoyment. Brodequin won the day in a year chock full of great options, with the immensely accessible Harbinger of Woe. The sheer level of groove brimming from this torture chamber sends my booty into overdrive, and the thick, nasty production only serves to enhance the entire experience. There’s very little else I could ask for to sate my brutal death cravings.
#3. Iotunn // Kinship – It’s been a banner year for our friend Jon Aldará. Where Iotunn’s Access All Worlds interested, but did not woo, me, follow-up Kinship absolutely rocked my socks. Every single track is a celebration of epic, melodic, and deeply immersive extreme metal. Gorgeous compositions, ascendant guitar work, ridiculous replay value, and stellar vocals propelled Kinship way up on my list of favorite records at a blistering pace, leaving me revelling in an idyllic honeymoon period. Even after investing more time marinating in its wondrous environs, I’ve only fallen deeper and deeper in love with it. I just can’t imagine how Iotunn are going to top this.
#2. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – This is the year for records that floored me where their predecessors didn’t. Replicant’s Malignant Reality was enjoyable, but couldn’t touch my Top 10 in its year. Infinite Mortality, on the other hand, made a valiant bid for Album o’ the Year from the very first riff kicking “Acid Mirror” into the stratosphere. Hardcore-tinged technical death metal for fans of the discordant and the unorthodox, Infinite Mortality is supremely memorable not just for its sound, but for its infallible, hook-laden construction. Infinite Mortality may not be the only record of its kind released this year, but it’s without a doubt the greatest.
#1. Myrath // Karma – Hurricane Helene took my home. It changed the ecology, geology, and pedology of the entire Asheville region, likely for all time. But one thing it couldn’t take from me is my spirit, my drive to survive, and my determination to thrive. Even during a long period where access to music was a rare luxury, Karma remained at the forefront of my mind. It held me from giving up and reminded me of the strength that burgeoned not just in myself, but also in my friends, family, and greater community as we rebuilt our lives together. If there was ever a record released this year that embodies that spirit of triumph over adversity, it’s Myrath’s incredible Karma. It was always going to be high on this list, thanks to its insanely memorable songwriting and passionate performances of univerally great songs. However, it wasn’t until I personally resonated with its empowering message in the context of a devastating natural disaster that I knew this would be, unquestionably, my Album o’ the Year.
Honorable Mentions
- Amiensus // Reclamation Pt. II – Thoughtful, dynamic, and immersive, Reclamation Pt. II represents the pinnacle of what I like in progressive black metal.
- The Flaying // Ni dieu ni maître – Unsung melodic death metal heroes The Flaying offer up nonstop hooks and a crazy bass performance delivered at a feral pace.
- Hamferð // Men Guds hond er sterk – Empotionally compelling and monstrously heavy, Men Guds hond er sterk is death doom at its peak form.
- Khirki // Κυκεώνας – Massively dynamic hard rock that comes from the heart and the head, not the butt.
- Saidan // Visual Kill: The Blossoming of Psychotic Depravity – Fun, fast, ferocious, Visual Kill is an unqualified blast of killer hyper-melodic black metal.
- Unhallowed Deliverance // Of Spectres and Strife – Deathcore rarely offers this level of dynamics and quality in songwriting, and it hits like a runaway train full of unstable nuclear warheads.
Non-Metal Album o’ the Year
- Kali Uchis // Orquídeas – Simply put, this album is pure sex. Period.
EP o’ the Year
- Glassbone // Deaf to Suffering – Far and away the slimiest, crustiest, and bestest slam of the year. Absolute filth.
Song o’ the Year
- Elvellon – “A Vagabond’s Heart” – Easily my most listened to song of the year, “A Vagabond’s Heart” strikes a special chord in my spirit that embodies everything I used to love and everything I love today. Furthermore, it leaves me hopeful and excited for what the future holds. As a delightful bonus, it’s catchy as all get-out. I couldn’t ask for a better song to fit this slot.
Surprise o’ the Year:
- Nightwish // Yesterwynde – My original intent was to place this somewhere on my list proper, but the storm foiled that aspiration, as I rarely got to listen to any new music that came out in late September and pretty much all of October until it was way too late. But when I did get to spend time with Yesterwynde, it continually impressed me. Songs that felt novel and exciting, performances that brimmed with new life, and wonderful pacing from start to finish, Nightwish’s latest record feels like a return to form. I’m excited to follow them on this latest arc in their career.5
Disappointment o’ the Year:
- Vredehammer // God Slayer – The riffs are there, that’s for sure. But the album just doesn’t come together in a way that scratches my brain at all. Therefore, I had the most difficult time sitting through God Slayer. Shame, especially considering how much of a banger each of the previous two records were…
#2024 #Amiensus #Brodequin #Elvellon #Feind #Glassbone #Hamferð #Iotunn #KaliUchis #KenstrositySTopTenIshOf2024 #Khirki #MadderMortem #Myrath #Nightwish #Noxis #OceansOfSlumber #Replicant #Saidan #Scumbag #Sunburst #TheFlaying #UnhallowedDeliverance #Vredehammerð
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Kenstrosity’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024
By Kenstrosity
When I think back on this year, a year of unprecedented stress and struggle for this sponge, one predominant emotion rises above the rest. Gratitude. I went through hardships I couldn’t possibly have anticipated; watched as harrowing events, both global and domestic, rocked our world; and trudged through time-dilating frights that I only previously experienced in some of my worst nightmares. And yet, I persist! I found myself asking, once again, why I was spared a worse fate where others weren’t? What have I done in life to deserve the good fortune I’ve received? In time I’ve come to believe that understanding the why of it all isn’t always the most important part. In some ways, the pursuit of an answer to “why” even blinds us to more enriching lessons we can learn from the experiences we share, both mundane and extraordinary. These things teach us how to be human, how to grow, how to thrive, and how to come together as a community. So, for what must be the first time of my life, I stopped asking why anything happened, as tempting as that spiral always looked from outside. Instead, I spent all of my energy prioritizing the moment, experiencing it, allowing it to change me and mold me, and to be present in it not just for me, but for my friends, my family, and my neighbors.
Back to gratitude. More so this year than any other, I must express my deepest, most heartfelt gratitude for damn near everyone. When my roommate and I lost everything overnight, I felt completely and utterly overwhelmed by the response. Hands of friends, family, and community reached towards us, open to do whatever they could to help us up. AMG Himself, Steel Druhm, Sentynel, GardensTale, Twelve, Dolphin Whisperer, Maddog, Holdeneye, Cherd of Doom, Grymm, El Cuervo, Dr. Wvrm, Ferrous Beuller, Saunders, Eldritch Elitist, Doom_et_Al, Dear Hollow, Carcharodon, Felgund, Ferox, Thus Spoke, Iceberg, Mystikus Hugebeard, Itchy, the n00bs, a shit ton of Discord frens, all of my meatspace friends, Mom, Dad, my sister, some of my extended family, my work colleagues and acquaintances, random kind strangers, even Dr. A. N. Grier went above and beyond to help directly with our recovery. Every single member of staff here did whatever they could to give some relief, far beyond what I could’ve ever asked for, and it overwhelms my little heart to know they cared that deeply. My owlpal and great friend Rolderathis, writer and editor at Toilet ov Hell, unexpectedly swooped in via Discord to jump start our financial recovery by creating a crowdsourcing page for us—even as the admin for AMG planned to do the same. Instrumental to its dissemination and subsequent explosion,1 both AMG Himself and Steel Druhm made sure to aggressively spread the word via an official post on this very site, and in their own circles public and private. Friends and family did the same, to great effect. Toilet ov Hell even posted their own article, too, and I don’t even fucking write there. Incredible. My aunt and her husband helped us replace two full rooms worth of furniture without hesitation, and another close friend of mine provided yet another room’s worth on top of that. Our friends reached far and wide to find opportunities to get us shelter, food, essential items, and vital emotional support. FEMA did more than their part for us as well, and they continue to help us as we navigate the next stages of long-term recovery. My therapist stuck with me through the storm, helped carry me through some concerning emotional blockages shortly after, and continues to guide me now. The continuous waves of support and outreach blew me away, and motivated me to pay it forward in whatever way I was capable for those who were going through hell with us. I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.
As if a hurricane wasn’t enough to bear, Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer just ten days after the storm hit. Still, there shined small silver linings that kept me going. It was caught very early, and she has already returned home after a resoundingly successful surgery, where they removed the tumor in block.2 As scary as the thought of losing my Mom right after everything else that’s happened was, I choose to emphasize the excellent treatment and attention to detail that allowed Mom to come home quickly and in decent health, all things considered. I choose to be with my family, to live in this moment through the pain, the fear, the uncertainty, so I can be there when the sun inevitably shines again, too. I want to extend a very special thanks to Dad, who remained constantly by Mom’s side and supported her through every stage of this development when I wasn’t able.
All of this merely scratches the surface of everything we’ve gone through in 2024. But we are still here!3 We are living the best we can, helping each other to survive, and perhaps soon to also thrive again. The sense of community I feel not just for my deeply wounded city, but also the people in my life, deepened significantly just in the last few months. These experiences have changed me, changed my outlook on life and on relationships. The fragility of life and the sheer power of the love that comes from the people in it sharpen my understanding of what’s really important. Life is about the people you have, the way you treat them, and how you conduct yourself in this world to try to improve it with your unique light, little by little. It’s about supporting your loved ones as they go through good times just as fiercely as when they go through hardship and change. It’s about growing every day into the very best version of yourself, and being there to witness and celebrate the same journey in those close to you. I understand that more today than ever before, and I am thankful that this lesson, above all else, is my takeaway from 2024.
It’s going to be a while before we can return home to AVL, but I’ve already returned full force to my home away from home, Angry Metal Guy! I’d like to thank Steel Druhm and AMG Himself again for keeping my spot warm for me and for being excellent taskmasters and blogrunners, to Sentynel for keeping things running smoothly on the back end and for being awesome in general at his job, to all the writers for continuously providing the internet with the best worst opinions on metal extant, and to Dr. A. N. Grier for deleting everything I’ve ever written so that nobody has to suffer my silly goofy ramblings.
With that said, everybody should probably snapshot this little Top Ten(ish) of mine before Grier deletes that, too. It looks mighty different to how it would’ve had the storm not happened, both because I couldn’t listen to any new music for a while and because the event itself ushered a sharp shift in my listening preferences. Regardless, I’m happy with my selections, and I fully expect the rest of you to rabble at my confounding omissions.4 Let it commence!
#ish. Elvellon // Ascending in Synergy – Elvellon holds a special place in my heart, and thanks to masterful songsmithing, Ascending in Synergy holds a well-deserved placement on my list. I simply haven’t been able to stop jamming it all year. Ascending in Synergy is everything I loved about metal when I first got into it, and it embodies much of what I love about metal today. It never hurts that the first eight songs are all megaton bangers. This record would have placed nearer the top if it weren’t for the monologue in the penultimate epic. Nonetheless, I love Ascending in Synergy.
#10. Madder Mortem // Old Eyes, New Heart – Ever since Marrow, Madder Mortem successfully won me over where every other album in their back catalog failed to resonate. I can’t explain what exactly it was that captured my adoration all of a sudden, but Old Eyes, New Heart has my heart just as Marrow did before it. Smart compositions, earnest delivery, crystalline lyrics, lush sound, this record has it all. I’d be a fool not to award it placement on this list.
#9. Oceans of Slumber // Where Gods Fear to Speak – Oceans of Slumber carved out an ever-evolving, fearlessly creative, and unique sound for themselves since their inception, but always seemed somewhat inconsistent with the quality of their songwriting. Not so on their magnum opus Where Gods Fear to Speak. Immense, cohesive, and richly layered with detail and compelling songwriting, Where Gods Fear to Speak feels like the culmination of their entire career, fully matured and refined to peak form.
#8. Sunburst // Manifesto – There was a point in time that I was confident Manifesto would top this list. That was largely due to sheer excitement that a new Sunburst album, which I never thought I would see in the first place, actually turned out to be great. Rich compositions, sharp hooks, and a masterful performance from everyone involved, Manifesto solidifies Sunburst as one of the best bands out of the Greek power metal scene. I just hope that I don’t have to wait another eight years for the next one!
#7. Scumbag // Homicide Cult – This record is simply unfair. I had my Top 10 all sorted out, and then some bottle-nosed bastard with a dorsal fin and a propensity for beating up smaller mammals on the wrong side of the sea had me check this out, with the promise of killer riffs by the main Noxis guitarist. That bastard was right, this record absolutely rips. There are so many unbelievably filthy, stank-face inducing riffs on Homicide Cult that I had to get plastic surgery to look like myself again. Otherwise, I’d look more like my rotted-out friend on the cover.
#6. Noxis // Violence Inherent in the System – Death metal this good hits me in a special place. While embodying all of the skullcrushing ways of olde, Violence Inherent in the System represents one of the most creative, smart, and well-produced records in modern death metal currently. And while my review helped spike the hype, it still feels a bit like Noxis are running further under the radar than they deserve. Coming out of absolute nowhere and dropping the best straight-up death metal of the year? Unreal.
#5. Feind // Ambulante Hirnamputation – Grind, and all of its hybrids, never once made it on my proper Top 10. I’ve written here for six years. That’s how powerful Feind’s Ambulante Hirnamputation truly is. Immense fun, more quality riffs stuffed into less than twenty minutes than some of the best records can fit into an hour, and cheeky to boot, Ambulante Hirnamputation proves that Feind mastered the grindset. Let’s hope this isn’t the last I get to hear of Feind.
#4. Brodequin // Harbinger of Woe – In contrast to grind, I almost always have a brutal death metal record on my Top 10. It’s a style that resonates with me very easily, and there’s never a shortage of it for my personal enjoyment. Brodequin won the day in a year chock full of great options, with the immensely accessible Harbinger of Woe. The sheer level of groove brimming from this torture chamber sends my booty into overdrive, and the thick, nasty production only serves to enhance the entire experience. There’s very little else I could ask for to sate my brutal death cravings.
#3. Iotunn // Kinship – It’s been a banner year for our friend Jon Aldará. Where Iotunn’s Access All Worlds interested, but did not woo, me, follow-up Kinship absolutely rocked my socks. Every single track is a celebration of epic, melodic, and deeply immersive extreme metal. Gorgeous compositions, ascendant guitar work, ridiculous replay value, and stellar vocals propelled Kinship way up on my list of favorite records at a blistering pace, leaving me revelling in an idyllic honeymoon period. Even after investing more time marinating in its wondrous environs, I’ve only fallen deeper and deeper in love with it. I just can’t imagine how Iotunn are going to top this.
#2. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – This is the year for records that floored me where their predecessors didn’t. Replicant’s Malignant Reality was enjoyable, but couldn’t touch my Top 10 in its year. Infinite Mortality, on the other hand, made a valiant bid for Album o’ the Year from the very first riff kicking “Acid Mirror” into the stratosphere. Hardcore-tinged technical death metal for fans of the discordant and the unorthodox, Infinite Mortality is supremely memorable not just for its sound, but for its infallible, hook-laden construction. Infinite Mortality may not be the only record of its kind released this year, but it’s without a doubt the greatest.
#1. Myrath // Karma – Hurricane Helene took my home. It changed the ecology, geology, and pedology of the entire Asheville region, likely for all time. But one thing it couldn’t take from me is my spirit, my drive to survive, and my determination to thrive. Even during a long period where access to music was a rare luxury, Karma remained at the forefront of my mind. It held me from giving up and reminded me of the strength that burgeoned not just in myself, but also in my friends, family, and greater community as we rebuilt our lives together. If there was ever a record released this year that embodies that spirit of triumph over adversity, it’s Myrath’s incredible Karma. It was always going to be high on this list, thanks to its insanely memorable songwriting and passionate performances of univerally great songs. However, it wasn’t until I personally resonated with its empowering message in the context of a devastating natural disaster that I knew this would be, unquestionably, my Album o’ the Year.
Honorable Mentions
- Amiensus // Reclamation Pt. II – Thoughtful, dynamic, and immersive, Reclamation Pt. II represents the pinnacle of what I like in progressive black metal.
- The Flaying // Ni dieu ni maître – Unsung melodic death metal heroes The Flaying offer up nonstop hooks and a crazy bass performance delivered at a feral pace.
- Hamferð // Men Guds hond er sterk – Empotionally compelling and monstrously heavy, Men Guds hond er sterk is death doom at its peak form.
- Khirki // Κυκεώνας – Massively dynamic hard rock that comes from the heart and the head, not the butt.
- Saidan // Visual Kill: The Blossoming of Psychotic Depravity – Fun, fast, ferocious, Visual Kill is an unqualified blast of killer hyper-melodic black metal.
- Unhallowed Deliverance // Of Spectres and Strife – Deathcore rarely offers this level of dynamics and quality in songwriting, and it hits like a runaway train full of unstable nuclear warheads.
Non-Metal Album o’ the Year
- Kali Uchis // Orquídeas – Simply put, this album is pure sex. Period.
EP o’ the Year
- Glassbone // Deaf to Suffering – Far and away the slimiest, crustiest, and bestest slam of the year. Absolute filth.
Song o’ the Year
- Elvellon – “A Vagabond’s Heart” – Easily my most listened to song of the year, “A Vagabond’s Heart” strikes a special chord in my spirit that embodies everything I used to love and everything I love today. Furthermore, it leaves me hopeful and excited for what the future holds. As a delightful bonus, it’s catchy as all get-out. I couldn’t ask for a better song to fit this slot.
Surprise o’ the Year:
- Nightwish // Yesterwynde – My original intent was to place this somewhere on my list proper, but the storm foiled that aspiration, as I rarely got to listen to any new music that came out in late September and pretty much all of October until it was way too late. But when I did get to spend time with Yesterwynde, it continually impressed me. Songs that felt novel and exciting, performances that brimmed with new life, and wonderful pacing from start to finish, Nightwish’s latest record feels like a return to form. I’m excited to follow them on this latest arc in their career.5
Disappointment o’ the Year:
- Vredehammer // God Slayer – The riffs are there, that’s for sure. But the album just doesn’t come together in a way that scratches my brain at all. Therefore, I had the most difficult time sitting through God Slayer. Shame, especially considering how much of a banger each of the previous two records were…
#2024 #Amiensus #Brodequin #Elvellon #Feind #Glassbone #Hamferð #Iotunn #KaliUchis #KenstrositySTopTenIshOf2024 #Khirki #MadderMortem #Myrath #Nightwish #Noxis #OceansOfSlumber #Replicant #Saidan #Scumbag #Sunburst #TheFlaying #UnhallowedDeliverance #Vredehammerð