#and we do have textual evidence that they get in trouble for this (bride of the demon) if they get caught

[fancyfade]

Am I the asshole for fighting crime when my father told me to fight crime?

I (10M) never met my father until about 2 days ago. My mother took me to meet him and it was disappointing because he wouldn’t let me demonstrate my skills (for context: I am *very* skilled and have been trained to rule/save the world since birth. You’re welcome). My grandfather never prohibited me from demonstrating my skills, so it was weird. I know I have to demonstrate why I’m the best but my father won’t even let me do that! My father also has this annoying teenager who tags along with him and can even go do stuff on his own, which is a double standard. Father took my weapons and locked them in a safe.

My father told me that eventually I can use the skills I learned for ruling/saving the world to fight crime, so I did. I went out and killed some loser who had taken a bunch of civilians hostage. I took his head home to show my father (to prove I did it, obviously), and the annoying teenager showed up and started screeching about how ‘we don’t kill’ blah blah blah. Which is frankly ridiculous because a) my father asked me to fight crime b) crime lost. I beat up the teenager and kicked him off a dinosaur statue, clearly proving why I’m better and Father doesn’t even need him, and now my father’s really mad at me for that and the aforementioned killing thing. I think it’s not fair because the killing the loser kidnapper thing was only following Father’s orders, and it’s normal to beat people up and maybe kill them if you want to take their place and prove why you’re better; I’ve seen tons of people do it at home and they only get in trouble some of the time.

[riddlecrux]

Miserable together, happy apart: a dive into Elain and Lucien's relationship

This meta is based solely on textual pieces of evidence that can be found through the whole ACTOAR series written by SJM. My observations come from the text and what was given to us, the audience, by the author of the book. Due to the fact that this topic is connected with a raging shipping war, I would like to make an important note at the beginning of this (probably) long comparison post. This meta will be touching subjects such as trauma, forced and unhealthy relationships, being uncomfortable around the other person, and enforced feeling of duty. On that note, it's anti Elain and Lucien relationship.

The starting point of the whole relationship and mating bond begins in ACOMAF, when Lucien contributes to Archeron sisters being kidnapped - leading to them being Made. I'm very concerned with the way how this fandom seems to collectively forget about the trauma that Elain went through when she was pushed inside the Cauldron. After ACOSF we are left with the idea that being Made wasn't pleasant - on the contrary, it was horrible and scary, it left Nesta with psychological scars and mental barriers. So why are people forgetting that, in fact, it was Elain who undergone the same terrifying experience first? SJM had described this whole situation very vividly and painfully detailed. It was there to show us that both Elain and Nesta went through something disturbing and traumatizing. That's why I would like to start with a notion of TRAUMA:

"Elain’s foot hit the water, and she screamed—screamed in terror that hit me so deep I began sobbing."

Feyre is there to witness her sisters being shoved into Cauldron and one can only imagine how terrifying it was to observe such a thing. However, there is no amount of words to describe how utterly frightening it was for Elain to be pushed into the unknown. She was the first one, an experiment for everyone to see.

"More water than seemed possible dumped out in a cascade. Black, smoke-coated water. And Elain, as if she’d been thrown by a wave, washed onto the stones facedown. Her legs were so pale—so delicate. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen them bare."

Elain was a proper lady. She was the one who went along with the prevailing etiquette and rules. Feyre notices Elain's bare skin and how she doesn't even remember when was the last time she saw so much of it in the broad daylight. Elain was modest, she followed the social obligations and we as readers are presented with the fact that all her principles are being violated in front of these strangers and people she knew from before.

"Elain was still shivering on the wet stones, her nightgown shoved up to her thighs, her small breasts fully visible beneath the soaked fabric. Guards snickered."

She was let out in the open after such a traumatizing event. Just after being Made, the first thing she experiences is another form of trauma. She is involuntary stripped bare in front of males, her proper upbringing and modesty ruined as they openly laugh at her nakedness. It's another traumatic event, not even a moment after her whole human life was taken away from her.

"As Lucien took off his jacket, kneeling before Elain. She cringed away from the coat, from him—"

It's not surprising that she acted that way. He is yet another male who appears out of nowhere, comes at her when she is in a very vulnerable position. Not to mention, that he is connected to the fact that she and Nesta were kidnapped and used as hostages. He plays a role in her trauma, a trauma that is still happening around her. Elain is subjected to watch her older sister going through the same thing she went through.

"Lucien’s hands slackened at his sides. His voice broke as he whispered to Elain, “You’re my mate.”"

I would say that it wasn't a good thing to say at that moment. It's yet another brick in the wall of traumas that Elain just went through. She lost her human life, she was Made, she lost her human fiance, was kidnapped and used as an experiment, ridiculed due to her nakedness and vulnerability, watched her sister being shoved into the Cauldron. Now she is presented with the fact that she was stripped off of her free will, and she still doesn't have freedom of choice. The lack of choice is evident, she just doesn't let it fall upon her as the trauma she had just endured was too great to even imagine how that declaration could shake her already broken heart.

“From my sister’s stories. Her friend.” “Yes.” But Elain blinked slowly. “You were in Hybern.” “Yes.” It was all he could say. “You betrayed us.”

Elain is aware of the fact that he was a part of her trauma. He was there when she got kidnapped and watched her being Made. She acknowledges the fact that he is partially responsible for what has happened to her and her sister. Not only Elain but Lucien as well. Lucien is also very much aware of the fact that he had contributed to her pain and hardship. Those feelings are also very prominent in the way he approaches her and behaves around her. The knowledge that she is that way because of his mistake.

FORCED RELATIONSHIP:

Both Elain and Lucien find themselves forced to "be" together. It wasn't a natural thing that happened between them, not a healthy type of bond snapping in its place. They were put together because of the Cauldron's decision.

She was nothing like Jesminda. Jesminda had been all laughter and mischief, too wild and free to be contained by the country life that she’d been born into. She had teased him, taunted him—seduced him so thoroughly that he hadn’t wanted anything but her. She’d seen him not as a High Lord’s seventh son, but as a male. Had loved him without question, without hesitation. She had chosen him. Elain had been … thrown at him.

Even Lucien, who had loved and lost his previous lover acknowledges the fact that it is something that both of them didn't want. Their bond essentially stripped both of them of their free will. They hadn't chosen each other, they were just put together in a fickle decision of The Cauldron. His previous love story signalizes that Lucien also wants to be chosen, wants to be loved by someone who decided that he is the man that the other person wants to love and spend their life with him.

“I am Lucien. Seventh son of the High Lord of the Autumn Court.” And a whole lot of nothing.

Lucien has also his own issues - family feud, the fact that his friend betrayed him and in the end, it was him who did the same. He has troubles on his mind that are concerning. He's self-conscious in front of Elain because as Lucien is a reminder of her trauma - she is a reminder of his biggest mistake and another painful ending on his part. She's a living proof of his betrayal, how he went against his common sense and stabbed his friend, Feyre, in the back by bringing her sister into the scene.

The words were a rasp as he instead said, “I know. I’m sorry.” She did not love him, want him, need him. Another male’s bride. A mortal man’s wife. Or she would have been.

He is aware of the fact that Elain doesn't feel anything for him, that she was promised to another and she had planned her life with that person. Just like him in the past - it was his choice to love, want, and need Jesminda. As he's trying to keep his composure the feelings of the bond swirl around, yet Lucien still understands that both of them ended up with something they didn't want.

“When I sleep,” she murmured, “I can hear your heart beating through the stone.” She angled her head, as if the city view held some answer. “Can you hear mine?” He wasn’t sure if she truly meant to address him, but he said, “No, lady. I cannot.”

Even though they were "blessed" with this bond, the thread of it is weak and very unlike the other ones in SJM universe. As if it wasn't working properly - they both do not complete each other. Few pages before Elain says that she can hear Feyre's and Nesta's heartbeat and yet her mate can't hear hers? How is that possible? Also Lucien doesn't understand Elain - he sees her as someone who is devastated by her ruined human life, which is true, but right we as readers know by now that Elain was suffering because nobody seemed to realize what was wrong with her. Their first meeting doesn't spark hope for their future. It only showcases how wrong they both are for each other, two wounds plastered against each other.

BEING UNCOMFORTABLE AROUND EACH OTHER: Sadly both Elain and Lucien are pushed together by Feyre and her little meddling - which isn't something that they both want to undergo.

It was the most uncomfortable thirty minutes I could recall. (...) Pretending, while Lucien and Elain sat in stilted silence by the dim fireplace, an untouched tea service between them.

Even Feyre admits that a previously arranged get-together was a mistake. Because Lucien and Elain are wary of their presence around each other, they constantly remind each other's traumas and painful memories. Elain can barely stand his presence and Lucien is aware of that fact - the only thing that keeps him trying to break that barrier is their bond.

She rose to her feet, and Lucien shot to his. “I’m sorry,” he blurted. “What—what was that?” Mor put a hand on my knee to keep me from rising, too. “It—it was a tug. On the bond.”

Even their mating bond isn't a thing of comfort. They can't navigate through it, both of them uncomfortable because of their proximity. Lucien feels as if he has to repay his debt towards Elain, however, neither of them wants to close the distance. Their wounds are still fresh, both of them not entirely healed. They are constantly rubbing their hurt on each other, meeting after meeting.

“Nothing,” he said, and again faced his mate. “I’m sorry—if that unsettled you.” Elain sidled toward Nesta, who seemed to be at a near-simmer. “It felt … strange,” Elain breathed. “Like you pulled on a thread tied to a rib.” Lucien exposed his palms to her. “I’m sorry“.

He feels guilty all the time he's around her. He can't navigate through the mating bond as it doesn't work properly. It's uncomfortable, hurtful, and tense. Just like the relationship between them, it is not a good thing. They are basically strangers thrown at each other after seeing the other person at their lowest. It's not a coincidence that the bond between them is a mirror to their rough, strained relation.

Lucien murmured to me, eye still fixed on Elain, “Should we—does she need …?”

Lucien just stared and stared at my sister, as if he’d never seen her before.

Even with the bond, Lucien can't understand what Elain needs. They are basically strangers, yet the bond doesn't do anything to him in regards to helping her. They are constantly uncomfortable around each other, they try to avoid each other throughout the series because of the fact that they both don't want to be in this forced relationship. Lucien feels obliged to keep persuading her due to the bond, whereas Elain wants nothing to do with the said bond. They are in a maze of constant avoidance and unbearable proximity, which is very soundly described in the text and I would like to present some very important passages:

He hadn’t mentioned Elain, or his proximity to her. Elain had not asked him to stay or to go. And whether she cared about the bruises on his face, she certainly hadn’t let on.

Elain, at least, would be too polite to send Lucien away when he wanted to help. She was too polite to send him away on a normal day. She just ignored him or barely spoke to him until he got the hint and left. As far as I knew, he hadn’t come within touching distance since the aftermath of that final battle.

No, as Elain took a step back, hand falling away from the doorknob, she revealed Lucien smiling tightly at us both. “Happy Solstice,” was all he said.

A sidelong glance toward Elain, swift and fleeting. “Both of you.” Elain said nothing, but at least she bowed her head in thanks.

“You’re welcome to stay for the night,” I said, since Elain certainly wasn’t going to. Lucien lowered his hands into his lap and leaned back in the armchair. “Thank you, but I have other plans.” I prayed he didn’t catch the slightly relieved glimmer on Elain’s face.

My sister rose to her feet. “I should get refreshments.” Lucien rose as well. “No need to trouble yourself. I’m—” But she was already out of the room.

I would love to bring attention to the fact that Lucien understands and realizes that their relationships will never work. He acknowledges it in the text, with his own words!

"Give her time to accept it.” “To accept a life shackled to me?”

“Spend time with her.” “I don’t think she’ll tolerate two minutes alone with me, so forget about two weeks.” His jaw worked as he studied the fire.

He shook off my grip and headed for the door. “I can’t stand to be in the same room as her for more than two minutes."

ELAIN'S AGENCY: Throughout ACOWAR, ACOFAS and ACOSF Elain tries to get away from the bond and in conclusion also from Lucien himself. She doesn't acknowledge their bond and time after time she runs away from the fact that they are bound to each other. The thing is, Elain, probably doesn't know how to break their bond - we as readers are reminded in Azriel's POV how important their mating bond is for the Night Court, which makes her a sort of political pawn. It is yet another thing that is taken away from her, which to be honest is a kind of a hypocritical thing coming from Rhys and Feyre. We know that Elain is timid, however after slowly recovering from her trauma she started to voice out her discomfort connected to Lucien and their forced relationship.

I knew I wasn’t truly angry with her, not angry with anyone but myself, but I said, “You couldn’t say a single word to him? A pleasant greeting?” Elain only stared at the steaming kettle as she set it on the stone counter. “He brought you a present.” Those doe-brown eyes turned toward me. Sharper than I’d ever seen them. “And that entitles him to my time, my affections?”

Lucien still makes her uncomfortable, he is a constant reminder of her trauma and lost life. Another thing is that Lucien doesn't even know her, doesn't see her which is something that is very important to her. Everything he does is based on the fact that he is connected to her via mating bond, not by his own free choice. Which, again, is presented to us in her own words in the text:

“No.” I blinked. “But he is a good male.” Despite our harsh words. Despite this Band of Exiles bullshit. “He cares for you.” “He doesn’t know me.” “You don’t give him the chance to even try to do so.” Her mouth tightened, the only sign of anger in her graceful countenance. “I don’t want a mate. I don’t want a male.”

It doesn't help that the one who pushes her forward into this spiral of unbearable proximity with someone she hadn't chosen and don't want to be around, is her own sister. Yet, she stands her ground and sets boundaries. She is her own person and she wants to get to chose. ELAIN AROUND LUCIEN:

I handed Elain the small box with her name on it. Her smile faded as she opened it. “Enchanted gloves,” she read from the card. “That won’t tear or become too sweaty while gardening.” She set aside the box without looking at it for longer than a moment.

I found my sister in the kitchen, watching the kettle scream. “He’s not staying for tea,” I said.

I said to Lucien when we’d settled in the armchairs before the fire, Elain perched silently on the couch nearby.

I handed Elain the small box with her name on it. Her smile faded as she opened it. “Enchanted gloves,” she read from the card. “That won’t tear or become too sweaty while gardening.” She set aside the box without looking at it for longer than a moment.

I found my sister in the kitchen, watching the kettle scream. “He’s not staying for tea,” I said.

I said to Lucien when we’d settled in the armchairs before the fire, Elain perched silently on the couch nearby.

Elain had picked up the teacup, and now sipped from it without so much as looking toward him.

Elain only stared at him for a long moment. And any lucidity faded away as she shook her head, blinking twice (...).

He glanced at Elain, who was again studying her lap.

Elain now watched Lucien warily. Blinking every now and then.

He only glanced at Elain, whose face was again a calm void while she traced a finger over the embroidery on the couch cushions.

Their gazes locked and held. But Elain said nothing. Did not so much as take one step downward.

Elain, the wretch, had taken the seat between Feyre and Varian, about as far from Lucien as she could get.

Elain only shrank further into herself, no trace of that newfound boldness to be seen.

As you can see Elain feels: - uncomfortable - on edge - withdrawn - wary - closed off - silenced (she always loses the will to speak around Lucien, going deeper inside of her) - melancholic (she watches as kettle boil without flinching as if she wandered in the maze of her mind). Elain loses her comfort and courage around Lucien, which is problematic and utterly sad to witness. He is a constant reminder for her of violation against her own free will, but also a living proof of her own trauma. LUCIEN AROUND ELAIN:

Lucien surveyed it all with cool indifference. What he felt about Elain, what he planned to do … I didn’t want to ask.

“I would never hurt her.” A bleak sort of honesty in his words.

He tried to sound casual—comfortable. Even as his heart raced and raced, so swift he thought he might vomit on the very expensive, very old carpet.

He didn’t expect her to answer, and he gave himself all of one more minute before he’d rise from this chair and leave.

Betrayal, queasy and oily, slid through his veins. He’d said the same to Jesminda once.

He wished she’d shoved him out the window behind her.

He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he said nothing, and drained his tea, even as it burned his mouth.

“I think she went through something terrible,” Lucien countered carefully. “And it wouldn’t hurt to have your best healer do a thorough examination.”

Lucien looked to her, then over to me. A muscle feathered in his jaw. “Nothing,” he said, and again faced his mate. “I’m sorry—if that unsettled you.”

Lucien exposed his palms to her. “I’m sorry.”

Lucien murmured to me, eye still fixed on Elain, “Should we—does she need …?”

Lucien silently slid into one of the chairs, before the window, that metal eye whirring as it roved over my sister.

Lucien just stared and stared at my sister, as if he’d never seen her before.

Lucien inclined his head in a bow, the movement hiding the gleam in his eye —the longing and sadness.

“I am not always in this city to see my mate.” The last two words dripped with discomfort.

Lucien feels: - uncomfortable - guilty - uneasy - confused (especially in the moments where Elain is having visions and he doesn't understand what's happening with her) - apologetic (he is constantly saying sorry to her) - tense

The guilt eats him every time he is around Elain, he is constantly apologizing while battling his inner problems such as remembering his true love. He was stripped off of his choice and even if the mating bond is there, he isn't happy. He is in constant pain just like Elain because both of them are each other wounds, each other reminder of trauma. They can't heal together because they are only happy when they are apart - Elain blooms in the Night Court, as we have read in ACOSF she is coming up with terms of Fae life and her own powers, adjusting her life to the notion of immortality. She is content and courageous and yet everything vanishes when Lucien is around. The same thing goes for Lucien. Lucien was struggling with her around him - he didn't know her, he didn't know what was happening to her as well. They were both strangers thrown at each other without their own say in this whole situation. Not to mention that their meetings were always arranged and supervised by others. When he sets on the journey to find Vassa he finds freedom and belonging - which was something he was battling in ACOWAR, after betraying his friends and his court, after being at odds in Night Court, and after being uncomfortable around his mate. He didn't have that sense of belonging in any of those things.

Elain and Lucien aren't compatible nor perfect for each other. They are constant reminders of traumas they experienced. They will never work out because they make each other miserable while being together, and they feel free and content apart. Their happiness lies with free choice, free will both of them were looking for in their lives. They are bound together against their own, and the only key for them being happy in this farce is setting themselves free. A choice of freedom. I strongly believe that after their rejection of the bond both of them could, perhaps, form a friendship. It would have been some sort of catharsis - to dwell upon the fact that they overcame that obstacle. That they chose to be happy apart, and not be shackled by this miserable bond.

[beccaland]

Re: 10 & Martha. How would you say your perception of 10 has changed in light of S3 and his treatment of Martha, in comparison to 12 and Bill?

Hmm, that’s an interesting question! And because this is not my usual mode of fandom meta (I prefer talking about stuff I like more than stuff I don’t like, and I will try to do so, to the degree I can, in the rest of this post too), I’m going to preface my answer by saying that I’m a big fan of the Tenth Doctor, I like most of what RTD has done in Doctor Who, and my feelings about how Martha was handled in series 3 have little to do with Ten/Rose and everything to do with how the writers portrayed Ten (not) coping with the loss of Rose. Also gonna link to this other post, because I��m pretty sure that’s what prompted the ask, and that context is important. And with that upfront disclaimer, here goes:

I haven’t rewatched series 3 since watching series 10, and my perspective really changed the most around the break between series 7 or 8, or else 8 and 9. I decided to do a rewatch, but as I’d seen series 1 and 2 so many times, I decided to skip them this time and go straight to “Smith and Jones.” As a result of not having just gone through the emotional turmoil of seeing the Doctor’s grief at losing Rose in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday, I found myself unable to muster any sympathy at all for him in terms of how he treated Martha. Because like, she does literally everything right *except* have an unfortunate crush on him, which she’s actually super cool about anyway. Martha’s a great companion, and the show wasted their chance with her in a lot of ways (though we did get a lot of really good stuff with her, too).

I’m not sure my opinion of Ten’s treatment of Martha could get any lower, but certainly Twelve’s relationship with Bill can’t put it in a better light, can it? Sarah Dollard treated Bill’s first trip into the past so very much better than Gareth Roberts did Martha’s.

That’s the short answer. The rest of my answer is under the cut, because I’m apparently incapable of giving short answers to anything, and I should really have learned how to use this feature sooner.

Like Martha, Bill asks all the smart questions–in fact she specifically asks about her safety as a POC, asks for the rules, and even brings up the butterfly effect, just like Martha did. But this time the Doctor doesn’t brush these questions aside; he answers them (OK, he does make the joke about “Pete,” but his jesting is calculated to put her at ease, not make her feel dumb for asking). They address race both by pointing out the historical presence of POC in Britain (as Gareth Roberts also did in “The Shakespeare Code”), and by genuinely acknowledging the historical presence–and personal danger to Bill–of slavery and racism. But the Doctor doesn’t just admit to Bill that he’s crap at risk management; he gives her the best defense he can in the circumstances: period-appropriate posh clothes that signify social power despite her “melanin”–and then instead of hearing a tired joke about political correctness, we get to see a racist get punched in the face!

Plus, there was no romantic baggage between them, which was such a huge relief for so many reasons. There could have been baggage, of course. We could have picked up in “The Pilot” straight after Return of Doctor Mysterio, when Twelve was still clearly though quietly mourning River (he’s still not over her by “The Pilot;” her portrait as well as Susan’s is on his desk). Bill could have been not a lesbian, and developed a crush on the Doctor (instead she fell “low-key in love” with the TARDIS, because “she has dresses and likes a bit of trouble”). In a cut scene, in fact, the Doctor does bring up River, but not to throw her in Bill’s face or make her feel inadequate. And I know it’s not fair to the Doctor to draw this comparison, because he’d had, what? A couple of days to process losing Rose, but at least fifty years to process losing River. But that’s kind of the point–both of those facts are choices that RTD and Moffat made, respectively. Moffat deliberately did not saddle Bill with the burden of the Doctor’s grief just to make a point about how important River was to the Doctor (he made that point in other ways, but not at the expense of other characters–if anything, Moffat did it at the expense of River herself).

Now, arguably, Twelve’s much healthier relationship with Bill is made possible in part because Ten did, in the end, realize what a jerk he’d been to Martha (though the textual evidence for that in-universe explanation is rather flimsy), leading to some important character growth that did not begin with Moffat’s takeover. And arguably, highlighting Ten’s tendency to fixate on his own feelings to the exclusion of other people’ agency is an important dimension of his character and the arc that RTD ultimately told about him. Certainly, I would never argue that the Doctor should have no significant character flaws, and Ten is certainly not the first one to display this kind of casual lack of concern for his traveling companions (cf. The Daleks). But Martha’s blackness and the specific nature of his dismissiveness toward her, especially in “The Shakespeare Code,” and in light of the fact that he displays no such behavior toward Donna in “The Runaway Bride,” makes this particular character flaw especially problematic. The companion is co-lead of the show; Martha’s character and the audience’s opportunity to bond with her should not be sacrificed on the altar of the Doctor’s character development.

The Doctor treated Martha like crap because RTD and his writers treated Martha like crap. I don’t know all the reasons; I’m sure it was not due to racism alone. And I don’t claim that Moffat’s treatment of Bill, or indeed his era as a whole, was faultless in terms of representation–far from it. But the more I think about it, the more Bill’s introduction to the past seems like a direct narrative critique of Martha’s, just as Clara’s departure was a critique of Donna’s.

RTD and Moffat are good friends, and huge fans of each other’s work–as well they should be, because they’re both brilliant. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to agree about everything Who. Thank goodness.

By way of postscript, I must say that I eagerly look forward to the day we get a Ten & Martha box set from Big Finish, because I really wanted so much more, and so much better, from that TARDIS team. The folks at BF have proven themselves masters at heaping great stories on undervalued characters. If anyone can rehabilitate the Tenth Doctor’s dynamic with Martha, it’s Big Finish.

[ramrodd]

Who was Pontius Pilate? - Historical Proof and Legends

COMMENTARY:

I see a costume that Miley Cyrus wears at some point in her break-out tour in your Rorschach ink blot. I went to Vietnam to make sure Miley Cyrus could motivate the troops in such a classic fashion. It's like a Round Eye USO show, instead of a Philippine cover band with a lead singer who could emote Linda Ronstadt singing "Willin'" in Atlanta. Miley is a part of that tradition. You can see Miley on stage with Alison Crause and Mary Travers and Pearl, fitting right in, harmonizing with Emmylou Harris. When I got back from Vietnam in 1971, back to the World, she was singing at "The Childe Harold" north of Dupont Circle and she was like a singer in a USO show.

That's a flash-back. You set off a Miley-Cyrus adult entertainment trigger in my libido. I went to Vietnam to make sure the 19th Amendment is fully implemented, globally, as my focus in the Great Commission. Moses corrupted the 9 Laws he was given on Sinai in order to claim property rights on the uterus, universally. The 7th of the 10 Commandments and the 10th Commandment were originally one commandment to the effect "Thou shalt not adulter the law to possess unjustly that which you covet of your neighbor" to "Thou shalt not commit adultry" in order to reduce the status of women to animal husbandry: Woman as Breeding Stock. And the 10th Commandment "Thou Shalt Not Covet" has become a weasle word like "Honor" in the commerce of the world. The world of the 10 Commandments.

If you begin with Melchizadek, the numerology is all wrong. 10 base numerology is the numerology of capitalism and it's historic artifact is the abacus. Narrative is the evidence of the Logos in operation in a human population, but music as an expression of the fushion of the Mythos and the Logos is what separates homo sapien from the Neanderthal.

History is a reconstruction of the human condition as if music didn't exist. History is a room filled with echoes of the past. History is further evidence of the operation of the Logos in the world, but without the Mythos that surrounds us eternally. The mythos surrounded the Neanderthal but it just frightened them. They had no way to transmit moral qualities, culturally, such as "courage" and "endurance" and "future". Song helped launch Logos out of the Mythos. History is cleaning up after the main event.

The "10" of the "10" commandments is what the 19th Amendment fixies in the Human Condition. In the Beginning, was the Word, but before the Word was, Number IS and the Great I AM are one. And the 9 base numerology is what Melchizadek gave Abram. 19 is literally the Alpha and Omega of divine numerology. The "0" symbol, "Zero", is an artifact of the process theology in operation from Melchizadek throughout the Mediterranean Basin that achieved the critical mass in 70 and produced the US Constitution. Along the way, Khadijah opened a divine portal for Mohammad that produced the Meccan Suras in the Quran and, when she died, that portal closed, but Mohammad pretended it didn't happen while he wrapped himself in the silk of his child bride's night gowns, trying to find the key to the portal only Khadijah could open in him. Islam is a Gnostic religion: for all intents and purposes, the Quran is the hymnal for the Gospel of Thomas. Allah is the demi-urge that stalks Moses in the mountain lodge and is the Spirit of the Lord in Genesis 1:2. And the intellectual rigors of Islam, as bent out of shape as they are. produce Zed and the X Commandments becomes understood as the 10 Commandments and there has been a very low volume but persistent subject of inquiry in the Torah regarding why 10 commandments when the lesson of Joseph's accurate interpretation of the dreams of Pharaoh employing Melchizadek's 9 base numerology. The basis for most Kabbalah mystery on the Tree of Life is the 10 base numerology of Moses 2nd version of what he had been given on Sinai.

A question of the sort of speculative theology like Richard Dawson and Richard Carrier. The reason why they are getting any traction at all is because of the post-modern deconstructive forensics dialectic of the Students for a Democratic Society that took over Columbia University because they were scared shitless of going to Vietnam. It's the Oliver Stone version of Vietnam. You are letting assholes like Richard Carrier interfer with the proposition that the Holy Ghost is a capitalist tool in the economics of Jesus as explicated by Adam Smith.

Of course, so is the Pro-Life heresy based on the corruption of the 9 Commandments. The 19th Amendment is absolute, existential, historic proof of the Logos at work in the affairs of America and, by our example, humankind. Robert Jeffress's Pro-Life heresy violates the 19th Amendment as a reflection of the Hand of God.

So, that's what I saw in your Rorschach blot. But, then, I am always Evangelicals to introduce sex into the sermon at some point. It helps to get the juices flowing before you pass around the collection plate. It's like you came on stage in jogging shorts over panty hose and heels and pulled on a garter for gentlemen to stuff bills of various denominations in, except it's a family show, so it has a certain Godspell-era Campus Crusade for Christ schtick to it. Baseball summer camp evangelism.

Cornelius is in the room with Jesus and Pilate. Jesus is in full-Jihadist mode: for all intents and purposes, lit a match when He withered the fig tree and, like the Zippo Monk, is just waiting for the Romans to dump a couple of jerry cans of gasoline over him. The Jewish lynch mob lights the spiritual fuse leading to the destruction of the Temple by demanding Jesus Barabbas instead of Jesus of Nazareth: Revelation is a very radical literary narrative of the spiritual time line from Mark 15:38 to 70.

But Cornelius knows Jesus, personally: he had become aware of Him as part ebb and flow of the religious community in Capernaum. We know this from Acts X. You might ask yourself, as a dedicated historic Jesus sleuth, what is a high-ranking Roman soldier doing, hanging out at a synagogue.

Well, Capernaum is on the trade route coming in from Persia and Asia to cross the land bridge into Africa. As a senior intelligence officer, the Capernaum is a useful listening post of the local situation. Pilate's core mission was to keep these trade routes open and free of the sort of Free Market piracy that operated as a counter-point to Pax Romana.  It made sense for Cornelius to become a common sight on the Sabbath to listen from the Gentiles Court of the synagogue of the war stories of the Torah and Judges and Prophets. Because of Melchizedek, the Roman Republic found it expedient to make God Fearers as ecumenical as possible. Large system governance was right at the end of the transition of the theocracies of the Aesthetic to the secular republics of the Ethic. Melchizedek had set this transition in motion throughout the Mediterranean Basin at the same time. It all came to a head in a cluster of events, the composition of Revelation, which is the bookend of the age of Melchizedek in the Bible, the composition of Hebrews, and the destruction of the Temple as a cultural dead end resulting from Moses corruption of the IX Commandments to the X Commandments. The Emperor Worship that rose to prominence in the 1st Century reflects the last gasp of the pre-historic theocracies of the Aesthetic Age and the dominance of the secular rule of law of the Ethic Age evolving eventually to the US Constitution and Democratic Socialism as the core technology of American-British constitutional capitalism. As a centurion, Cornelius was on the leading edge of the Industrial Age and, consequently, his behavior as a professional soldier is predictable and eternal and being an intelligence agent for Rome while absorbing the spiritual values consistent with his own ethical construct from the local culture reflects my own experience as a republican war fighter in Vietnam. Same mud, same blood.

And Cornelius knew Jesus was big medicine before He was remanded to his custody right at the Vernal Equinox and in the middle of an annual exercise in crowd control and political suppression in Israel and Judah. There are a lot of theories for Pilate's behavior in the 4 Gospels, but a factor is the Sajanus plot. Pilate was largely a very successful regional manager for Rome, but he was a little gun shy from missteps he had made with the Jews that weren't worth the trouble for purely commercial reasons: the Roman empire never recovered from the destruction of Jerusalem as a very potent money pump. Revelation provides an inventory of the luxury items Jerusalem distributed throughout all the world. One way or another, Pilate survived the purge after 31. The unkown factor is, was Jesus crucified before or after Sajanus was discovered? History tells us that the Roman nickname for the Jewish followers of Jesus “Christians” went to Rome before it went to Antioch and to Antioch before it got to Jerusalem, although Roman solders roamed all over the region. We know, historically, that Felix knew all about the local Christians, which the local Christians called The Way in Acts 24:22. Cornelius's presence, and involvement in the Capernaum synagogue was part of the network that informed Felix about The Way, only Cornelius knew about The Word before it became The Way and had created what became the Q source to keep track of it, the Word,  without knowing Jesus would land in front of him and Pilate for disposition as a bit of political expedience. If He had just died and disappeared, the Gospel of Mark would never have had any military urgency it had after the Resurrection. And copies of everything Cornelius collected in the intelligence files of the Q source ended up in the hands of Theophilus in Rome while they tried to reverse engineer Resurrection and the other super powers of Jesus of Nazareth. The result is Hebrews and Acts 10:34 – 43 is the textual origin of the Apostle's Creed.

Pilate's role was to make sure word of The Word went up the chain of command to the Roman-equivalent of the Pentagon and State Department, the Praetorian Guard represented by Theophilus. That's why Pilate is mentioned in the Apostle's creed, to establish the Roman provenance of the Gospel of Mark and the Q source.

Speaking from a patreon.com/tmbh perspective, it would be interesting for you to explore the music you associate with any given pericope. For example, during the initial moments of the flirtation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4, I hear Shania Twain's “That don't impress me much”. She's flirting with Him and He's enjoying her company. She's come to the well in the middle of the day to get pregnant like Tamar with Judah. When He starts talking about “living waters” she assumes He's good to go and begins to press Him to get down to business. The music I hear here is Ace of Bass “All that she wants (is another baby)” and then He makes her pregnant by immaculate conception and the music stops. And then the Disciples return and break the spell and she runs home to announce the Messiah to Natalie Merchant's Kind and Generous.

Try that idea out and see if it doesn't begin to fill in your historical grid of Jesus in a delightful new way.

Merry Boxing Day 2019.