#lucas is a.d.

[evita-shelby]

When in Rome

Our Second Destination thanks to @justrainandcoffee Time Machine

It is 54 A.D

Nero has become Emperor of Rome, Tiberius has become a general of great strength and Felix, a silkroad orphan, has made his name as a warrior.

And yet the disparity in class has both men fighting to the death for the hand of Heva, a seer native to Hispania.

Brilliant Chang: Felix, Luca Changretta: General Tiberius and Eva Smith: Heva the Seer

@mischievouslittlecreature @zablife @call-sign-shark @peakyswritings @hoodeddreams13 @thegreatdragonfruta

[ettawritesnstudies]

Since I couldn't accept all the applications for interviews, I wanted to shout out a couple of the titles that didn't make the cut! These don't quite fit my target audience but that being said, I think the indie community should have solidarity regardless of age category and genre, so I still want to help y'all with promotion however I can!

If you want to support some cool authors, you can check out their books here, and if you want to support me, you can watch through my playlist backlog of interviews. My channel isn't monetized yet but the watch hours certainly wouldn't hurt lol

If you want to see the lineup for the rest of the year, you can sign up for my newsletter! I'll be sharing the list at the end of the month!

Oak King Holly King by Sebastian Nothwell @nothwell

queer romantasy; historical fantasy; adult

Shrike, the Butcher of Blackthorn, is a legendary warrior of the fae realms. When he wins a tournament in the Court of the Silver Wheel, its queen names him her Oak King - a figurehead destined to die in a ritual duel to invoke the change of seasons. Shrike is determined to survive. Even if it means he must put his heart as well as his life into a mere mortal’s hands. Wren Lofthouse, a London clerk, has long ago resigned himself to a life of tedium and given up his fanciful dreams. When a medieval-looking brute arrives at his office to murmur of destiny, he’s inclined to think his old enemies are playing an elaborate prank. Still, he can’t help feeling intrigued by the bizarre-yet-handsome stranger and his fantastical ramblings, whose presence stirs up emotions Wren has tried to lock away in the withered husk of his heart. As Shrike whisks Wren away to a world of Wild Hunts and arcane rites, Wren is freed from the repression of Victorian society. But both the fae and mortal realms prove treacherous to their growing bond. Wren and Shrike must fight side-by-side to see who will claim victory - Oak King or Holly King.

Spirits and Sunflowers by A.D. Armistead @adarmisteadwrites

MM adult contemporary fantasy romance

Devastated by the recent death of his husband, Adrian has been relying upon his necromantic gifts to try and bridge the gap between the living and the dead, feeling more and more like a ghost himself with each failure. After a young girl named Tula with an uncanny ability approaches Adrian on a visit to the cemetery, he begins to hope that the husband he lost may still be within reach. Over time, he falls into an easy friendship with Tula’s father, Lucas Halpern. As Adrian is drawn into the orbit of the handsome, mysterious single father, Adrian begins to emerge from his grief, wondering whether it’s possible to find love again. Together, in a contemporary world laced with magic, Adrian embarks on a journey in recovering from loss, building trust, and finding love and family where they are least expected. Spirits & Sunflowers is the first book in the Maligned Magic series, a group of cozy queer romances set in an alternate version of our world. There, magic is tightly regulated by a distant and inflexible organization. All stories can be read as standalone novels, but benefit from reading the previous books in the series in order.

Hills of Heather and Bone by K.E. Andrews (@/k.e.andrews on IG)

Fantasy, adventure, cozy dark fantasy

Hills of Heather and Bone The bones of the dead hold stories.

On the fringes of Errigal, Morana longs to exchange a life of hiding for a peaceful one with her husband, Percy. While Percy's bloodgift lets him grow plants and heal broken bodies, Morana's a boneweaver, despised and feared because she can hear bones and raise the dead. Morana doesn't want to be seen as a villain from the old stories and instead spends her time gardening, writing the stories of the dead, and fending off a spiteful chicken.

Morana and Percy's lives are shattered when a group of Failinis tasked with capturing boneweavers and rogue bloodgifted find them. On the run and battling the elements, ancient creatures, and the loss of all they called home, Morana and Percy search for any sanctuary left in Errigal. Morana must choose between the call in her blood or the family she holds so close to her heart if she and Percy are to survive.

Please be aware that this book contains some scenes of violence, death, depression, mentions of miscarriage, birthing scenes, suicidal thoughts, suicide, and cannibalism

Keep Me Breathing by U.R. Holm

Soft Sci-Fi/Subterrainean/Adult

Keep Me Breathing

Fubuki has no reason to leave the comfort of her home. No desire to see the cave system outside.

Sakura has no desire to stay put. Even as a single mom, she brings her son with her on her travels. But when her son goes missing, Fubuki joins her across the cave system to find him.

The pair is joined by Alexandr, the alternative drummer, and Casey, the fraud who insists he wants to help.

In the search for the boy they all have to face their own personal struggles and insecurities. And while they travel to find the boy, the boy is fighting his own battles against his captors and in a world between adults and children.

While Keep Me Breathing is a novel with fantastical elements, it's even more a novel about friendship, love and familiar bonds.

[blueiscoool]

The Pantheon: The Ancient Building Still Being Used After 2,000-Years

When visitors walk into the Pantheon in Rome and encounter its colossal dome, they may experience the same theatricality as its guests nearly 2,000 years ago.

"Anyone who steps inside the Pantheon immediately feels the crushing weight of human history, but also the incredible lightness of human creativity," said John Ochsendorf, professor of architecture at MIT and former director of the American Academy in Rome.

"You come into this grand space and you look up and you see the sky or a passing cloud. And you think: 'How could they have done this nearly two millennia ago?'"

The Pantheon is the oldest building in the world that's still in use today. Since the 7th century, it has been a Roman Catholic church.

Built around 125 A.D. by the Roman emperor Publius Aelius Hadrianus, it was actually the third iteration of the structure. The first Pantheon caught fire around 80 A.D. and was rebuilt shortly after, but it was struck by lightning and burned down again around 110 A.D. The buildings' ill fate led to rumors that the Pantheon was cursed.

The facade of the completed structure riffed on ancient Greek motifs, with a portico entrance featuring a pediment -- a triangular top -- and two rows of Corinthian columns. The interior was sweeping and airy, capped by a dome that to this day -- is still the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world.

What was it used for?

Pantheon means "all gods," and though it's commonly thought the structure was a site of worship dedicated to Roman deities, its original purpose is actually unknown.

With scant mentions of it in Ancient texts, historians have been left somewhat in the dark. Though it could be a temple, Roman buildings were typically multi-purpose structures, said Lynne Lancaster, an architectural historian and humanities educator. "And so what actually went on in the Pantheon is hard to say."

Legends say it's the very site where Rome's founder, Romulus, ascended to heaven. Others believe the Pantheon was where the Roman emperor could communicate with the gods. Whatever the case, like many Roman architectural feats, the imposing structure was a show of might, an "important symbol of imperial power," said Luca Mercuri, the Pantheon's current director.

Indeed, Roman architecture of the time embodied wealth, strength and dignity. Centuries later, Neoclassical architects would reference the Pantheon's portico and dome combination to imbue their buildings with those same values, from the US Capitol in Washington, DC., to the Somerset House in London.

How was it built?

The Pantheon was an architectural marvel of the Roman Empire.

The oculus -- Latin for "eye" -- stretches 30 feet across, opening the structure to the heavens. The sun beams through the oculus, and when it storms, the rain comes down like a waterfall into the interior.

Legends say it's the very site where Rome's founder, Romulus, ascended to heaven. Others believe the Pantheon was where the Roman emperor could communicate with the gods. Whatever the case, like many Roman architectural feats, the imposing structure was a show of might, an "important symbol of imperial power," said Luca Mercuri, the Pantheon's current director.

Indeed, Roman architecture of the time embodied wealth, strength and dignity. Centuries later, Neoclassical architects would reference the Pantheon's portico and dome combination to imbue their buildings with those same values, from the US Capitol in Washington, DC., to the Somerset House in London.

How was it built?

The Pantheon was an architectural marvel of the Roman Empire.

The oculus -- Latin for "eye" -- stretches 30 feet across, opening the structure to the heavens. The sun beams through the oculus, and when it storms, the rain comes down like a waterfall into the interior.

"The oculus at the center seemed to tempt fate and leave (the Pantheon) open to the sky," said Ochsendorf. "But it also showed a mastery of geometry and construction -- that they could build domes on that scale and leave an oculus open at the center, in a way (that was) almost showing off."

One trick to make a large dome stable was to use progressively lighter stone in the concrete mix as it reached the top. Heavy brick could be used at the base, with spongy, light volcanic rock around the oculus.

Though the Pantheon has revealed some of its design secrets, Lancaster said she still finds magic in the details. As the day progresses, the sun flickers around the dome's interior, casting light over its sunken grid like a giant sundial.

"It's one of the few places in the world (where) you can actually watch the Earth turn."

By Jacqui Palumbo.

[bebethsas]

damn, I had no idea that the 1870s hairstyles (and kinda the 1700s hair too--minus the bouffant) made a brief comeback in the 1990s (but simplified; no complex coils and layers and padding).

Look:

but with the flower crowns/ arches that were all the rage in the 1840s-50s (but worn on top of the head, not:

and

(above) hair crescent

...ok, Beth’s memory apparently SUCKS at remembering this stuff, because she remembered it wrong! Because lol, it looks like we’ve always been into weaving and wearing flower crowns: 

St. Cecelia at the Organ (Onofrio Marinari, c.1686), below:

(Maude Fealy, Victorian/ Edwardian portraits): above

Portrait of a Girl in a Yellow Dress Holding a Bouquet of Flowers, Santi di Tito

The Crowning of Mirtillo, 1650, above

portrait of The Duchess of Abrantes, Goya, 1816 (above)

Rembrandt’s portrait of Flora, Goddess of Spring (above)

Maenad and Cupid, Fresco in Italy, c. 1st Century A.D. (above)

Palaistra scene on a Plate, ~520 - 510 BCE

Young Girl with Flower Garland (Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky) Regional Art musuem, Gorlovka (above)

The Flower Garland, Waldemar Friedrich

Okay, apparently there’s a LOT of paintings about the Goddess Flora:

Flora, Girolamo Batoni, 1775

Flora, Luca Giordano, 1697

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema painted a few picture of ladies in flower crowns, here’s one:

(Summer Offering, 1894)

this pair of portraits by Fragonard (the 1st one is really what I was reminded of by the magazine)

Young Lady with a Garland of Roses Around her Neck

Young Woman with a Garland of Roses (and if anyone asks, that faint pink spot on the left side of her chest is just a discoloration of the painting due to age)

of course, BAMF Artemisia Gentileschi (let me tell you, the only thing ‘gentle’ about her was her name) painted a pic of this too:

almost anything that Botticelli painted, as well as those Victorian portraits where people were obsessed with painting Ancient Greeks, naiads, Romans, etc.

and, of course, cultural Icon Ophelia:

Ophelia, John William Waterhouse, 1894:

John William Waterhouse, Ophelia, 1910 (above)

Alexandre Cabanel, 1883 (above)

And, lest we forget, flower crowns have never solely been a western thing:

The Lei Maker, 1901, Theodore Wores

Hawaiian Lei venders, c.1901

(from Hawai’i State Archive, c.1930s based on other photos)

titled: Cantonese Mandarin and his Wife, c. 1861 - 1864

Hanging Scroll, Ming Dynasty, c.1500s

Two Beauties in a Garden, Gai Qi, Qing Dynasy, Daoguang Period, 1821 - 1850 (side-note, Gai Qi painted literally HUNDREDS of the lovliest paintings of Chinese ladies that I’ve ever *seen*)

Frida Kahlo, self-portrait, 1940

Women with Flowers and Lotus, 18th Dynasty (ok, fine, it looks more like a cord or ribbon with minimal greenery on it, but apparently they did wear flower garlands of lotuses on their heads)

and

Painted Plaster Mummy Mask, Roman Period c. 60 - 70 A.D.

A Lady Holding Two Flower Garlands Attracts Two Peacocks, Mughal Empire (listen, I’m sure there’s artwork out there *somewhere* of folks from India wearing flower garlands on their heads, but I couldn’t find any examples, and I’m tired b/c it took ~3 hours to research what was supposed to be a short little reblog, so I’m settling for this painting.)

In short, if Humans live near large amounts of flowers (that are non-toxic and pretty and easy to harvest), we will learn how to link them on a chain of some kind, and we will wear them around our neck, or on our head.

March 1994. ‘Add a crown of curls and a wreath of fresh flowers for a soft, feminine look that will really turn heads.’

[notiziariofinanziario]

Fuori dal cda di Tod's finiranno Chiara Ferragni, Luca di Montezemolo e Luigi Abete.

Diego Della Valle ha presentato la lista di maggioranza per il rinnovo del consiglio di amministrazione di Tod's. La lista è guidata dallo stesso presidente e a.d. Diego Della Valle e vede Maria D’Agata (general counsel di Intercos) al secondo posto. Il terzo nome in lista è quello di Andrea Della Valle, attuale vicepresidente. Chiara Ferragni è stata consigliera di amministrazione di Tod’s con il record di assenze. Secondo i documenti dell’azienda guidata da Diego Della Valle, nei primi due anni da quando è in carica Ferragni ha partecipato solo a tre riunioni del cda su 17 totali. Un tasso di assenteismo dell’82,4 per cento. Read the full article

[m2024a]

Tod’s, Chiara Ferragni non riconfermata nel board. Esce anche Montezemolo MILANO – Chiara Ferragni esce dal cda di Tod’s. L’imprenditrice – secondo quanto riferito da Radiocor – non è stata riconfermata come membro del consiglio di amministrazione, dove era entrata nel 2021. Niente riconferma anche Luca di Montezemolo e Luigi Abete. Di.Vi. Finanziaria, veicolo controllato da Diego della valle che detiene il 50,291% del capitale di Tod's, ha presentato la lista di maggioranza per il rinnovo del board della società marchigiana di abbigliamento nell'assemblea di aprile: tra i nove candidati non compare quello dell'influencer che era entrata in cda nella primavera del 2021 ma non compaiono anche quello dell'ex presidente di ferrari e dell'ex presidente di bnl. La lista è guidata dallo stesso presidente e a.D. Diego Della Valle e vede Maria d'Agata (general counsel di intercos) al secondo posto. Il terzo nome in lista è quello di Andrea Della Valle, attuale vicepresidente.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

R.I.P. SEPTEMBER 2023 -- NOW, FOR THIS LAST TUMBLR POST TO TOP IT ALL OFF.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on the last set of Tumblr cover photos for the month of September 2023, as well as the final Tumblr post of September in general.

Featuring such online finds as: Sleeve art to the 1983 MISFITS "Earth A.D./Wolf's Blood" album, cover art to "Born Under a Mad Sign," the seventh studio full-length by Japanese DOOM metal band CHURCH OF MISERY, Marvel characters Ulik, Wolverine, & War Machine from the 1994 Marvel Masterpieces trading card series, a rare live shot of '80s hardcore/proto-blastcore band SIEGE, a film still from the 1973 Disney animated classic "Robin Hood," a movie still from George Lucas' 1971 dystopian/science-fiction film "THX 1138," Margaret Thatcher on a UKHC flyer from the mid '80s, and the Squadron Supreme by Alex Ross. PHEW! Now, that's what I call a mouthful!

Sources: The Guardian, Taint the Meat (wordpress), Games Radar, Medium, Film Star Postcards, Rise Above Records, CVLT Nation, various, etc..

[rausule]

Biographia Iesu

exemplum Prodeo-christianae matricis infanti Gesi dicatum, cui addendum iam visum est Matth. 1-2, sed originalis hatto. Pro his duobus "Infantia Evangeliorum Cri. Pero, c contententiame di unes pamamico essentiale, in pur obbedemás ad exemplar biographicum classicarum scientiarum biblicarum et planorum heroum (cf. Gale 13, e.g. , 17), tegi proto-evangelium, quod allusive sumit in principio capitis de fils Geni vitae nodosae omnia, in quibus gaudium et dolor plectuntur.

Nato Salvatoris, gaudium salutis in terris diffunditur (1.14.28.48 2.1-11.20.38), laudatio exprimitur, quae per quattuor cantica praeclara, ineunte versio primi versiculi latinae notae, exprimitur; Mag at edictus, Gloria in excuba, Nume dita. In ei heilla etiam « plenitudinem » Scriptoris biblici de qua supra memoravimus idem anon- Maria, Zacharias Abetta, Glimeppe, Samenn, Anna XIIII annorum, pastores — pauperes Domini incarnati, in Vetere Testamento Hebraeo. nam, qui puram fidem et ardentem spem fidelium Aracie significat, cosidationem exspectans (2.25) "redemptionis Hierosolymorum" 2.383

Dolens autem notatio quae in oraculo emergit , quod porta Simeone pronuntiat , cum habet

piccos Jesus ductus per gratiam suam in templum redimendi secundum legem biblicam primogeniti (Ex. 13:1-

16) "Gh hic in ruinam et resurrectionem montes in Israel, contradictionis signum et tibi etiam Mariana"

gladius Tanima transibit" (2.34-35) Haec prima pagisa bacana dinis similis est, duae tabulae, quarum scenae etiam per infinitas artis christianae repetitiones claruerunt. Ambae annuntiatione occupatae sunt et angelus Gabriel angelus nuntiat. Zacharias in templo vespertino incenen nativitatem Ioannis Baptistae, quae tunc completur: idem angulus nuntiat Mariae, in domo sua in Galilaea villa Nazareth, natum Iesum, qui factus est. pirata in Romano imperio census

Vinculum quod duas tabulas simul tenet, est sic dicta "visio, id est congressio inter duas matres cognatos inter Elisabetham et Mariam (1.39-56). Textus ante omnia dilatatur in parte Iesu reservata, quae est. secutus usque ad decimum annum, cum ad aetatem pervenisset (similiter ritibus galaiciis hodiernae suae mandatae, "higlie precationis, signum officialis introitus ragaran in comuna, in templo iam resipiscat. unchained ut majestas per excellentiam scribarum sapient

Loquebantur etiam de secunda praeludio quod considerare possumus ut specimen secundae paginae Evangelii Lacae (oc. 3-4). It opens with a singular introductory note " Quintodecimo imperii Tiberii Caesaris anno 128-29 27-28 A.D.), dum Gludeus praefuit, Pontius Pilat of Wales Herodis [Antipas, filius Herodis Magni), tetrarcha. de Hurra et Trachonitidis Philippo fratri suo, et tetrarcha Abilinae Lysaniae, sub Annae summo sacerdote (6 ad 15) Calphas (18 ad 361, verbum Dei descendit Ioannem Baptistam (31-2). SCENA Ioannis et Iesu intra coordinatas politicas superpotentium et parvarum localium potestatum persona Gesi non mo vel symbolum ideam quae coetus hominum binorum peritorum movebat.

Revera, ghee et temporis quod hit vertit in praeteritum dahil promassa in praesenti secundo trina samine tempus arale usque ad 12), praecipuum tempus Gesi (cann. 3-24), tempus Ecclesiae (cann. 3-24), tempus Ecclesiae (cann. Am degli Apomol Narratio iterum interpretata est in key. Paulo post, evangelista construet genesingicam alberam "promunturium Iesum, a praesenti recedens a Christo non solum usque ad Duvidem et Abrahamum, sicut Matthaeus fecerat apud Matth. "descendere" genealogiam (11 -17), sed usque ad Adami 1323-381, racinghendo, con: wilfase de Iesu tota historia.

Secunda haec praefatio, ut diximus, triptychum Baptistae, hattesis Gesis al Gordani et tentationum satanicarum innititur, quae, ut iam ex Matten legere novimus, etiam triptychum, Lucas vero adversa. ordo duarum ultimarum scaenarum post tentationes in eremo et in monte (qui pro Matteo Tape) est, Geo a Satana in pinna templi, meridiem in Tangulo sacrae edificationis mapanatae, imminens Cedron vallis. Iesus Ierosolymis adimplet electionem messianismi non socialismi (lapides in pane), non politio regni della terra, magicam (pepeting e muro pro domibus eventum thaumaturgicum, sed statim illustratur in sua re in pagina illa. sequetur tertia de quinque, in quibus nostram lectionem Laca enuntiat, post duos priores modos descriptos

A NAZARETE HIERUSALEM

Synagoga Nata?

Fecoct ergo ad specimen tertiae paginae vel melius, tertiae Evangelii Lucae sectio, quae cap. 4, erecta 16, et sic etiam cap. 9, vers. quod Sevangelista, caput est. In modica synagoga solis pagi pronunciata, Nazareth et ex parte "strate po", locum obtinet in "Sermone Montano" (inter alia, ut iam memoravimus, portio ultimi retractata. et a Luca in fontes Togo patriae planae anno 617-49), G .

[tremolux]

Darkness Rising

Over the past two years, many of you have asked if I would ever write a followup to my original Lucas theory, Uber A: What’s in a Name?

Well my friends, the wait is over.

The end is near.

The darkness is upon us.

Darkside/Lightside

Grunwald: I've never considered the content of dreams to be important; it's the impressions they leave that affect me... In this case, the dream left me quite unsettled. The sense was strong enough that I felt compelled to come here.

Hanna: The sense of what?

Grunwald: A darkness, around you and Caleb.

Those of you who have already ventured down the rabbit hole of my original Lucas theory will remember a very literal interpretation of one of Mrs. Grunwald’s impressions that singled out Lucas as “the one Alison fears the most.”

My interpretation of that scene has not changed since it was written. Not only was Grunwald speaking in reference to Lucas back then, but she still is now.

In 7x08, Mrs. Grunwald returns to Rosewood with an ominous message about "a darkness" around Hanna and Caleb. Several factors make that statement particularly interesting. Not only are they standing in Lucas’ apartment when she says it, but the idea that “the darkness” lingers specifically around Hanna and Caleb as opposed to the others seems to point towards Lucas. After all, Hanna and Caleb seem to be Lucas' only friends in Rosewood, as far as we can tell. 

Aria: It’s no coincidence that he turned dark after the masquerade ball.

Spencer: Well, Jenna has that effect on people.

Aria: Yeah, but she’s been gone all summer, and he’s still ‘Boo Radley.’

Have a look at 3x01, the episode that Marlene King called "the return of Uber A" when it initially aired, and watch for when the liars observe Lucas in the cafeteria. Aria calls Lucas "dark," point blank, and then says that he's been that way since the masquerade ball, which is when he started hanging around with Jenna. The Boo Radley reference is also a play on words, foreshadowing Lucas’ suspiciously skulking about at Radley later in the third season. 

Lucas is "dark" + Hanna & Caleb his only friends = "darkness" around Hanna & Caleb 

Hanna lives in Lucas’ loft. Caleb is there all the time. Caleb is an investor in Lucas’ business. Hanna is doing business with Lucas.

Lucas is the "darkness," just as much as he is "the one Alison fears the most!"

The Grunwald strikes again! Just like in the previous theory, the profile fits Lucas like a custom tailored suit. 

Having studied Latin, I'm well aware that the name Lucas is rooted on the Latin word lux (lucis), meaning light. "Bringer of light" is the meaning typically attached to the name Lucas. What a perfect synchronicity for a character described as one who “turned dark!”

Interestingly enough, the "bringer of light” meaning is equally applicable to Lucifer, a fallen angel commonly associated with Satan. 

Stunningly, this recent message seems to allude to a fallen condition: 

Embrace your darkness, Em. I’ve had to. That’s how you win the game. A.D.

What’s fascinating is how A.D. seems to offer a glimpse of something personal here, as if speaking from experience as someone who “had to” embrace their own darkness. 

Why did they have to, I wonder? 

Perhaps in order to win a game in which A.D. was an actual participant. A player, as opposed to the conductor. 

Or maybe the oppressed, rather than the oppressor. Sound familiar? 

Lucas is someone who took a dark turn, just like Aria pointed out. Maybe he felt that going dark was the only way to win the game he had been dragged into, as in Mona’s original A-game. 

It’d be kind of a Batman move to do so, wouldn’t it? Kind of a Dark Knight feel to it? 

For Love of the Game

When Lucas returns to Rosewood (post time jump), he’s shady from the get go. He’s barely been in town five minutes before he bumps into Hanna, which comes across as planned. Heavy stalker vibes. He immediately makes it known that he’s extremely rich, as if he’s been patiently waiting for the moment to impress Hanna with the fact that he drives a Jaguar and owns houses all around the world.

Later on, Hanna asks him to be her alibi for the night that Charlotte was murdered, and Lucas has no qualms about lying to the police, even though he’s terrible at it (or purposely flubbing the story.) That’s shady enough as it is, but it’s not long after that when the first message arrives, stating “you know who did it and I’m going to make you talk.” 

Of course Lucas should have suspected their involvement from the moment Hanna approached him for a fake alibi. But he questioned nothing and carried on with a foolish looking white knight act. Of course, you have to consider that he’d really have no need to press Hanna for answers if he could do it more effectively (and anonymously) as Uber ‘A’. 

But by far the most important thing to take away from Lucas’ arrival is that he mentions he’s a highly successful game app developer. Not just software, but specifically games; which is exactly the skill set one would require to create such a monstrosity that combines aspects of a traditional board game with modern technology and real life consequences. The centerpiece is of course an iPhone running a custom designed app. 

It simply can’t get any more on target for clues that Lucas is Uber A. Considering this game has to be his greatest creation to date, his masterpiece, then the very execution of the game becomes a motive in itself. 

There was a brief time (before the messages were signed as ‘A.D.’) when they referred to the sender as “the techie.” Uber A’s work space has been shown full of stray PC boards, disk drives, wire, soldering gear, and electronic test equipment. Definitely “techie” stuff, but the only legit “techies” we know are Lucas and Caleb.  

There’s literally no wiggle room here, folks: it’s either Lucas behind this game, or some new techno-wiz character we haven’t been introduced to yet. It’s getting to the point where it’s impossible to deny that Lucas is involved. Caleb might have the technical skills, but he certainly lacks the specialized game design experience that Lucas has. 

Furthermore, the level of personal detail involved in this game means that the creator has to know everything about the players, the rules, how it’s all supposed to work together, and the game’s ultimate purpose. So there's no chance of pleading ignorance or passing the buck when the nerd finally gets caught. 

Revenge of the Nerd

Please excuse the brief rant, but this needs to be said:

Good luck to Marlene King if she thinks she can pass off this dude as Alison’s twin, or Spencer’s twin, or some other physically impossible, equally nonsensical garbage. It just doesn’t work in any way, shape, or form. And the devil’s advocate argument that “A has all kinds of helpers” gets tiresome and annoying, because it’s pointless and anticlimactic to have an uber villain who never actually gets their hands dirty. 

On the other hand, Lucas has about the right height and build, and the capacity for explosive anger. The sadism and latent misogyny inherent in the cattle prodding of Hanna comes across when this guy beats the pulp out of Ali. I would wager that once Lucas found out Alison covered up the death of her own husband, it enraged him. He saw the perfect opportunity to terrorize her, and he seized it. 

Lucas was low-key happy when he heard Alison was in the hospital after her fall, and I’m sure he’d be thrilled to send her back to the emergency room for a second visit. 

From the very beginning, A’s style and attitude has been an intentional mimicry and mockery of Alison DiLaurentis. Now we have ‘A.D.’ as a new incarnation of the same old patterns. Could it be that Uber A’s endgame strategy is the ultimate set up: to pit Alison’s friends completely against one another, turn them to the “dark side,” and then pin the blame for everything on Alison “A.D.” DiLaurentis? Is that not a brilliant method of destroying Alison once and for all?

“It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame.” -Oscar Wilde

Back in high school, Lucas swore that one day Alison would one day “get what’s coming to her.” An old saying goes that living well is the best revenge, and Lucas certainly lives well, but there’s always the chance that maybe that’s not enough for him. As another saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold. And seven years after high school is certainly a cold dish.

Never underestimate a patient nerd who harbors a long term grudge.

Uber ‘A’, Ubergeek

Since the time jump, the Lucas clues have been dropping so frequently that it's hard to even keep track of them all. Lots of people have noted how comic references like The Wrath of Kahn (Star Trek) and The DArkest Knight (DC Comics, Batman) could be a nod towards Lucas and Uber A’s ubergeek status. His bedroom during high school contained several Batman figurines on display. 

Most recently, Emily mentioned the exam that A.D. passed for her; a situation that serves as a reminder how Lucas was known for selling test answers in high school.

And then there are more subtle hints, like Jenna saying "we have an Uber waiting for us," which seems a cheeky double meaning of an Uber driver and Uber 'A', and recalls the season six prom when the Liars saw Lucas and Jenna together, and Spencer remarked that "she probably thinks he Uber'd her there."

That’s all cute, but the important point is: 

Nobody doubts that Jenna and Uber ‘A’ are connected. 

Everyone associated with Jenna turns out to be bad news. 

Lucas has been connected to Jenna since the masquerade ball, yet he's managed to dodge suspicion thus far. How? Why? Just because he seems nice and friendly? Because he let them use his apartment? It doesn’t matter how secure their phones are if they’re always hanging out in an apartment that’s wired with secret microphones and cameras. 

The fact that Lucas has consistently been involved in sketchy situations since the very first season, but somehow stayed off the radar, makes me confident that he’s not simply a red herring. 

Noel Kahn was the latest of Jenna’s long time co-conspirators to be exposed and brought down. And although the narrative hinted towards him being the one who tortured Hanna in the barn, he died before we could get proper resolution on that.

However, this leaves the door open for a hideous and shocking betrayal when the curtain is finally pulled back on Lucas, and reveals that he was the one who stripped Hanna down to her underwear, hosed her down with cold water, and sadistically tortured her with a cattle prod. 

Now that’s what I call dark.

The very idea that this superficially nice and friendly guy would do this to his friend, business partner, and long time crush will send shock waves throughout the fandom, and blow the minds of those who never saw it coming.

Lucas will be exposed as the one behind the masks, and the one behind the game. And then like a broken dam, the truth will come rushing forth, concerning everything he’s done since day one of playing the game with Mona. 

Lucas is the darkness.

Lucas is “the one Alison fears the most.”

Lucas is the genius behind the game.

Lucas is Uber ‘A’.

[chaossmagic]

Also...I am totally on the ‘Lucas is/is working with A.D.’ theory now. I know that A.D. couldn’t possibly have foreseen that Caleb would try and crack into the game and end up getting poisoned, but Hanna missing the meeting and therefore not playing her turn would have been a huge win for Lucas. it just means that there’s something even more evil up his sleeve waiting for her now. 

[sumikosaulson]

Horror Addicts Guide to Life 2 is Here!

Do you love the horror genre? Do you look at horror as a lifestyle? Do the "norms" not understand your love of the macabre? Despair no longer, my friend, for within your grasp is a book written by those who look at horror as a way of life, just like you.

Calling All Horror Fans! HorrorAddicts.net Press Presents:   Do you love the horror genre? Do you look at horror as a lifestyle? Do the “norms” not understand your love of the macabre? Despair no longer, my friend, for within your grasp is a book written by those who look at horror as a way of life, just like you. This is your guide to living a horror addict’s life.   Our month-by-month almanac…

[gothamcitysighren]

i dont remember this season very much but im pretty positive lucas is AD hes the only one they know rich enough and he has the ability

[onsunnyside]

𝐉𝐔𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑 ❍。·:*:·ﾟ,。·:*:·ﾟ

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.

✩ 𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・

❍°࿐by other amazing authors: reblogged masterlists

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bucky barnes | steve kemp

stucky x reader

❍°࿐PSA: all psa | dark fics | misc.

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all asks | advice | ask games - answers

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c.evans | s.rogers | a.barber | r.drysdale | j.storm | j.jensen | j.wyler | m.weiss | j.mace | n.gant | c.shea | playing it cool | h.hottie | p.diskant | l.lee | d.baker | f.alder | a.levinson | n.vaughan | b.langely | d.peters | mr. freezy | l.hansen | syd. | kyle. | r.ackerman

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❍°࿐ Special Days !!

New Years 2022 | Sweet Day 2022 | Lunar Eclipse May 2022

Special day posts

[teamendgame-blog]

Random, unexplored thought: if Lucas truly knew Charlotte this whole time, then the “hermie” (hermaphrodite/intersex pejorative) joke may have been pressing more buttons than we even realized...

[didanawisgi]

Saint Mauriceca. 1520–25

Lucas Cranach the Elder and Workshop, German

“A commander of the Roman legion, Maurice was martyred near Agaunum (in present-day Switzerland) in A.D. 280 or 300 for refusing to slaughter Christians. He was from North Africa, and in the thirteenth century in Germany he began to be shown as Black, influenced by the reign of the Emperor Friedrich II (1194–1250). Friedrich's vast territories comprised a diverse community of individuals, and his court in Sicily included Black advisors, soldiers, and musicians.”

Source

About St. Maurice “St. Maurice is believed to have been an officer in a legion of Christian soldiers from Upper Egypt during the reign of Emperor Maximian Herculius, circa 287. His legion, Legio Thebiae (Theban Legion), is believed to have been composed of as many as 6,600 Egyptian Christian Copts who had been originally recruited from and stationed in Thebias in Upper Egypt. Maximian transferred the Theban Legion, among other imperial units, to Gaul in an effort to crush a Gaulish revolt. The entire Theban legion was massacred en masse by their own side when they refused to participate in pagan sacrifices at Aaunum, an area of modern Switzerland. The earliest surviving evidence for St. Maurice consists of a letter written during the early 5th century. It names a late 4th century bishop, Theodore of Octodurum, as the discoverer of the relics of St. Maurice and his companions. The fact that St. Maurice is said to have belonged to a legion called the Thebiae, which was stationed in northern Italy in the early 5th century at the latest, suggests that Theodore invented the story of St. Maurice in order to appeal to this legion for political reasons. One possibility is that he had been trying to persuade the legion not to accept the usurper Eugenius as their new emperor in 392. Saint Maurice is one of the most popular saints in western Europe. There are over 650 sacred places bearing his name in France alone and over seventy towns bear his name. In the Middle Ages, Saint Maurice was the patron saint of a number of the dynasties of Europe and of the Holy Roman emperors, many of whom were anointed before the Altar of Saint Maurice at Saint Peter's Cathedral in Rome. King Sigismund of Burgundy donated land for a monastery in his honor in 515. Henry I (919-936) ceded the Swiss province of Aargua in exchange for the Lance of the Saints; and another sacred relic, the Sword of Saint Maurice (Vienna), which served as the coronation sword of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany and Austria, sometimes with parts of Italy) for over 700 years. The Vienna sword was last used in the coronation of Emperor Karl of Austria as king of Hungary in 1916 and is now is kept in the Weltliche Schatzkammer, Vienna . Saint Maurice's feast day is September 22.”

Source 

[clarkgriffon]

If you had to choose who was A after the Mona reveal, who would it be? I say we should have went for Aria with Ezra as her sidekick to destroy the whole predatory ship after all that glorification. But I think A.D should have been Allison. I think to end the show with Ally being the big bad, or at least her with the upperhand when it comes to having a chokehold on rosewood and its citizens would have been SO iconic.

In a way, I wish the disapearance of Ally made things worse for Rosewood and getting her back was the worst of all evils type of scenario. This 16 years old terrorized a whole town, but its like she's a deity that you need to keep your crops healthy every year ahaha. Thats what i wanted ngl.

I also wished Mona and Ally dated. The enemies to murderous lovers excellence we could have had? ROBBED. Imagine if Mona and Ally rose while Ezria fell, all 4 of those people being A at some point??? Pll would have gone down in history as one of the most iconic shows and it didnt T_T.

Spencer having a twin sister and her being A was even worst then Cece Drake. A needed to be someone there since day 1 or it didnt make sense at all. It was so bad, I forbade my mom from watching the finale online and refused to show her how. She was so mad, but I was sparing her XD

Okay, so I'm gonna contextualize this a bit with the fact that for me and the 3 As, only two were ever a mystery to me: the original A, and A.D. This is because I started watching PLL for the first time at kind of a peculiar time, August 2015. Which if you're a PLL stan, you'll know that's when the 6A Finale aka the Cece reveal happens. There was this gif going around Tumblr at the time of Cece in a brown wig and sunglasses at the airport and it was HUGE during that reveal. The prevalence on Tumblr convinced me to watch the show and I ended up loving it, but because of how I got into it, I knew Cece was A (let's call her Big A for the sake of differentiation b/w A #1 and A #2) from the start of my watch.

That said, I can tell you having watched the show many, many times, despite knowing that from the beginning- it doesn't make it make ANY more sense. In fact, it calls a lot of things into suspect. Part of what makes the Mona reveal so great is that the liars never suspect her, but she was constantly doing things that were suspect. She was always around the liars, existing and pulling the strings, but never directly accused of anything. There's a reason A couldn't be Melissa or Jenna or Lucas or Noel- and it's because those are the characters the liars are CONSTANTLY accusing of being A! It would pack no punch if the Liars were right all along. And that's what ruined the Cece reveal. Because while the reasons why Cece were doing what she was doing were new, Cece as a suspect was not. In fact, I'm watching Season 4 right now and Cece is the prime suspect of the season. This tells me plainly, which shouldn't be a surprise to any fan, Marlene & Co. did NOT have Cece planned as Big A from her introduction in Season 2, nor in Season 3, Season 4- possibly not until Season 6 itself.

On my thoughts for Ali as either Big A or A.D., I'm kind of of two minds. Because Ali was suspected multiple times throughout, and it's also implied before the Ali is dead reveal that the girls THINK it's Ali when the texts first come. But I can't decide if it would be a gag or not if the show told us from the very first episode that Ali was A or if that's just bad. I really can't make up my mind. I do think that it could've been pulled off if done right because Ali for the first four seasons is truly so horrible, but instead they go for an Ali redemption arc.

This is getting unbearably long, so the rest is under the cut.

As I knew Cece was Big A from the beginning, I couldn't get on board with any of the Aria as Big A theories as they came out, but I did partake in the Aria is A.D. theories and BY GOD, did I love them. I would have been so down for Aria as Big A or A.D. As with the Mona reveal, one of the (non-Alison) liars being A would have been the biggest and most interesting twist. Because again, it's no one the liars saw coming, but of course one of the liars WOULD know a ton of secrets about the liars. A could always be one step ahead of the Liars if she WAS a liar. As for which of the liars it could be, the only real option IS Aria. Hanna is too ditzy, Emily too sweet, and Spencer is the biggest perpetrator in finding A (aka though she has the hyperintelligence, she works too actively against A, though I'd say of the Liars = A theories, Spencer was my #2 behind Aria).

There was a lot about Aria = A that just... worked. I mean obviously... Aria. With an A. Aria was also the Zoom in in the title sequence doing the "Shh" for the first 6 seasons, which is peculiar as she is almost certainly not the most important or narratively relevant of the Liars, that honor goes to Spencer. We also got a couple fun gags from Mona- Mona calling Aria "Big A" in S1 or S2, Mona's little "Miss Aria, you're a Killer, not Ezra's wife." [I could go into more details like the Montgomery family's mental illness history + Eddie Lamb's "recognition" of Aria at Radley, but honestly I think there's a lot of tiny details that you could basically convince yourself any Liar was A, just that Aria had the most "proof." If you like the show, watching old fan theories for Aria = A on YouTube is fun just to see all the evidence people used to stack up about it.] She also got hit the least by a lot of the A shenanigans. Other than the constant threat to her relationship with Ezra, she really got off a LOT easier than the other liars. In different respective seasons (Season 3 for Emily/Spencer, Season 4 for Hanna, Season 5 for Ali/Hanna), the liars go through it. And Aria just never gets a season with that. She repeatedly gets off the easiest of the girls. Then with the Ezra = Board Shorts reveal, we really could have had it all. I mean, while Ezria was never gonna be okay, Ezra still deserved jail regardless, but IF Aria was A, she would've known Ezra was Board Shorts the whole time, and that means that the whole time Ezra was playing Aria from the beginning... it was really Aria playing Ezra from the beginning! And maybe, with their "love" she could've convinced Ezra to join her A team.

The Alex Drake A.D. reveal was just... bad. We all know it. And that's mainly because it was a continuation of a series that didn't need to be continued. Seasons 6B-7B could be entirely differentiated from the events of the series before. There was hardly any interconnecting tissue and truly Alex Drake did not matter. She was no one to the girls, so her reveal had no payoff. That said, I've kind of grown to love it ironically in retrospect. I remember Troian having interviews post PLL about how she practiced her accent for months and yet we still got the iconic, "ELLO SISTUH" and furthermore, my favorite detail of the entire fkn series: WREN GETS TURNED INTO A DIAMOND.

So, why did this happen? (Well, firstly, because the show was not planned out similar to something like LOST. Past Mona, which was a pre-written mystery solved in the book series, the show was flying by the seat of its pants. But even without a "solved" mystery from Season 1/2/3, I think the show still could've redeemed itself with a good A, so why didn't it?) I think because PLL was, ultimately, a teen drama more than a murder mystery. The fandom is an interesting disparity in that many people did love it for the murder mystery intrigue aspects, but others cared more about relationships. I think it's impressive how much of the fandom WAS interested in the mystery- as opposed to a show like Riverdale, where in an arguably similar niche, I don't think much of anyone cares about the mysteries the show creates (though, also arguably, those mysteries never make any sense so it's hard to care). But from the show writers perspective, the ships/character side of fandom won out over the mystery aspect.

This meant a couple things. First, that a Liar could not be A in any form. The fandom had invested too much time in the Liars. They were the main four characters. It didn't matter how much Aria = A or Spencer = A might've worked. Each liar had a camp in fandom saying "This is my favorite character, if you reveal them to have been a psychopathic maniac this whole time- I will be upset." But Ali had more wiggle room as the fifth liar, she did not have anywhere near as much screentime and was openly shown to be a really bad person in flashbacks over and over, she could work, right? But that too, was veto-ed by the character/relationship side of fandom. Because not only could the Liars themselves not be A to preserve happiness with the fans, but neither could their love interests. By way of the Emison fans, and Emily's canon romance or at the time of Season 5, at least romantic interest in Alison, Alison could no longer be a candidate for A either. As love interests, neither could Caleb, Toby, or Ezra. A lot of really fanservice-y stuff happens in Season 7 that corroborates all this for me (some of which I enjoyed, some of which I did not), the writers chose to try to appease fans rather than solve a good mystery and I can't say it was the wrong choice, only that it was the choice they made.

But what I will say is I think that the writers knew even as they wrote Alex Drake into the story, that one of the Liars should've been either Big A or A.D. Because if having a Liar be A wasn't a good ending, why would the writers try so hard to substitute this ending with an evil twin? It was like the writers were saying- this is BASICALLY Spencer. Just kind of not.

Also, just if you made it to the end of this read, I'd like you to know I wrote this while listening to Adam Lambert's Trespassing. A classic we all can remember. Pretty Little Liars brainrot will come for us all.