#the puzzle that is Antoine

[aheathen-conceivably]

Because I’ve been cooking on the backstory between Antoine and the woman he was having an affair with (who I’ve named Suzanne), let’s talk about….

What do we already know and what do we think happened?

Well the very first time we saw her (and the other women behind her in this scene) is here…

In particular, she’s the one looking down at Antoine, singling him out with her gaze while the others dance around him. As they do so Antoine hears their voices in his head, most likely coming from his own memories:

Such a pretty boy, Delphine. I mean really, must he hide behind that screen? Oh look at him. Even more beautiful than his sister, if you ask me. Come on, Antoine, just play us one more song. One song and then we’ll let you dance with us. We’ll even go upstairs with you Antoine, come on. Just play for us.

Only even their voices and sensory memories grow more specific as his hallucinations go on, signifying that there’s something else at play too.

Their jasmine perfume permeated the club, cutting through the cigarette smoke. The tinkling of the beadwork on their dresses mingled with their laughs, overtaking the sound of lace gloves as they brushed against skin or the heavy silk of a dress as it fell to the floor. Still they came closer and closer, pulling him in deeper, taunting him. One more drink, Antoine. One more song. Then you can come upstairs with us, come on, just play for us.

This tells us that at the very least, Antoine had a flirtatious relationship with these women who he shared a home and a life with, women who worked for his mother and who his mother disapproved of flirting with him:

Each of them the shadow of a woman who once roamed these halls, now nothing but phantoms around him. He brushed them away angrily, their disappointed sighs dissipating into the silence. Then he heard a nearly silent tsk, the one that his mother made when someone had offended her.

Well what we now know is that in addition to whatever teasing flirtation was going on between Antoine and the four women he saw, he was also certainly having an affair with one of them. A woman named Suzanne…

Now, judging from their body language this was certainly a mutual love affair, and not one that Antoine was dragged into. But bearing in mind how he’s described it (“it’s been the ruin of me a poor boy”) and his own ideas surrounding sex, marriage, and women, we can at the very least assume that he doesn’t view it fondly. Rather, he sees it quite guilty, as something he shouldn’t have done, and even goes so far as to compare himself to the man who bought his sister’s virginity (however misguided and guilt driven such a feeling may be).

There’s certainly a few factors at play here, and I think some of the biggest can be seen in extras we’ve been given in ask games:

1. Antoine never met or spoke to his father and was raised almost exclusively by woman. This was primarily his mother Delphine and his aunt Marguerite (who we have seen a few times in the story) but also various women in Storyville who knew his mother and his family. This led to a sort of warped, old-fashioned view of masculinity that primarily centers around projecting a hardened exterior and protecting women, often to a volatile extent.

Likewise...

2. Antoine definitely sees sex as something of great emotional weight. I think this is partially due to his loyal trait (one of his 4 in-game traits) and his upbringing. Sex incurs a certain type of loyalty and connection for Antoine...Antoine and Josephine spent much of their time growing up in New Orleans Storyville District, where sex would have constantly been on display and treated very casually. This influenced both Jo and Antoine’s approaches to the subject, but in opposite ways. For Antoine, this made him view casual sex as a lonely and empty experience, and thus he tends to seek it out only when he feels emotionally connected someone.

So let’s look at these in light of what we know. He was not only sleeping with a woman he feels like he shouldn’t have been (because of her profession, connection to his mother, and the casual nature of their relationship), he was most likely doing so with some kind of idea of emotional intimacy and “protection” toward her. Meaning, the sex itself would have made going about his daily life and job even harder. Every night he worked in the brothel with her, playing piano from behind a screen where he couldn’t see but could imagine what was happening.

This also in turn explains some of his intense reaction to when his sister went to work there and some of the ways in which he treated Zelda when she arrived. Like walking away from her, insisting on her full knowledge and loyalty before they slept together, his ongoing guilt over not being able to marry her, etc etc.

Which all begs the question….

How did Antoine’s affair with Suzanne end?

Well what we do know is that it ended badly enough to at least contribute to him enlisting in World War I and kickstart much of his anger/drinking issues that he struggles with in the 1920s.

In addition, we have two small lines of text from miscellaneous posts, which are:

“Word to the wise my dear, never fall in love with a woman who sells herself. It always ends…badly”

and

“Just so long as no one knows…we’ll be fine.”

Now who could these both be coming from? Or, potentially, who could they be talking about? Well I think we can see our answer in these two shots…

What this tells me is at that some point, Antoine’s mother became aware of what was going on between him and Suzanne. This explains the line be “just so long as no one knows…we’ll be fine” which could have been said by either Antoine or Suzanne about Delphine; and “Word to the wise my dear, never fall in love with a woman who sells herself. It always ends…badly” which would have been said by Delphine to Antoine when she finally confronted him about it, further entrenching those feelings of guilt and regret that he already had.

Now how do I think the end actually played out? Well, like Delphine promised…badly. Badly enough that when Antoine returns from the war he reacts to his mother like this…

Of course, on the surface, Antoine is angry because he finds out what she’s done to Josephine. But is there something else going on? Something more personal? A reason why Suzanne isn’t in the club in the scene when Jo turns 17?

I would say yes. My guess? Delphine fired Suzanne. On the surface, she did it to protect her “baby boy” but more ostentatiously, because both of them had betrayed her, and as her employee, Delphine viewed the entire affair as a breach of the professional trust/protection established between them.

You already know that Antoine wouldn’t have taken this lying down, only he wouldn’t have stood up to his mother just yet either (which is what makes his eventual confrontation over Josephine so much more charged) and the guilt that his lust caused a woman to lose not only her job but also her home would have been enough to break him. So what do I think Antoine did? I think he offered to marry her, not out of love or even practicality, but out of some sense of guilt and duty that we ALSO see dominate his early attitudes surrounding marriage with Zelda.

Of course, we know that didn’t happen. So I think Suzanne turned him down, whether because she sensed that he was only doing it out of guilt or because she knew that marrying the disowned son of a brother owner in segregated New Orleans was not a viable option. Or maybe she cared for him. Maybe Delphine even threatened her to stay away from Antoine, so she spurned him in the harshest way possible to ensure that their affair ended for good, and she would have no trouble with one of the most powerful madams in the city. But one thing is for sure, it ended the way Delphine promised…badly, and Antoine enlisted in war shortly after only to come home to mother ill, his home on the verge of bankruptcy, and his sister fresh from trauma inflicted on her by that very mother.

This is the Antoine we walk in on in 1920. Guarded, guilt ridden, reclusive, and protective of his home, his sister, and his heart. Recently returned home from war, only for all of his mother’s pain and corruption to surface. Then in a torrent of emotions, to realize she had been sick all along, and therefore to lose her before he could process whether, knowing that she was dying, she had indeed done it all for them and their home after all.

Thus leaving this enormous burden that it was now up to him to look after his sister and make sure the house she had fought so hard for stayed standing. Because to make his guilt even worse, when he came home from war, he had no idea where Suzanne had gone. He could only hope he didn’t make her life worse, and try to make sure he never made the same mistakes again. But somewhere, deep down when he found someone he loved, was grateful that he avoided a marriage based on guilt and duty and rather, eventually, found one built on love.

[tenojan-in-tevinter]

"Je t'aimerai toujours." IM NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

[stranger15]

The film is great (the best hacker film I've seen so far). And I actually enjoyed deciphering hidden messages... (The clue is in the name.)

Who Am I (2014)  Kein System ist sicher

[jean-dieu]

Dragon age the Veilguard: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Don't expect too much there, I'm just writing my own subjective, non-organized, badly written critic of the game. Spoilers ahead, so be warned!

The Good is the good stuff, The Bad is the bad stuff that aren't too jarring or that don't threaten the whole setting so much so it's okay to just ignore them, and The Ugly is the bad stuff that DO make me want to fucking die and explode.

The Good:

-It's beautiful. Not a fan of a lot of design choices but it's obviously well made. The landscapes are very pretty.

-The character creator. It's always funny to me when I see some dudebros complaining about it as if they're not purposefully making ugly characters. It has quite a lot of option, nice skin details, scars, tattoos and all.

-I really like the combat. I still think DAO is the superior system but I'm much more happy with a true action rpg than whatever Inquisition was trying to do.

-I'm going to be more objective there and say the maps are better than Inquisition. THAT BEING SAID I love the Hinterlands so I still prefer Inquisiton's bloated open world lmao.

-There's a lot of nice details all around! Neve's metallic prothesis walking sound, the decorations all around, tears in character's eyes, ect.

-Solas. Can't believe I'm saying it as I didn't like him much in DAI and I don't like Solavellan but DATV made me like him very much. He's much more morally grey and less uwu wet cat and I'm here for that. Excellent voice acting of course.

-Mythal. Again, I love whatever Solas and Mythal have going on. It's toxic, it's passionate, it's one sided, and Mythal is a very interesting character IMO.

-Felassan. Again, such a cool and compelling character.

-A lot of NPCs were very cool. Antoine who's singlehandly saving the French's reputation, Evka, The Viper, Strife, Viago, Teia, etc. They're cool and rather compelling.

-I did enjoy a lot of the companion's personal quests. Davrin and Bellara especially as they felt more in line with Dragon Age in general.

-For a game where the Bad Guys are Comically Evil... Johanna Hezenkoss fits the bill and yet she's a delight.

-There's really cool codex entries. Irelin's letter about mourning Arlathan for example. Antoine's letter to Evka should he ever be Called.

-Ghilahn'ain's design.

-I liked the living Blight! OK the darkspawns were ugly af but I still really enjoyed the idea.

-I actually liked the puzzles lmao? I'm sorry but I usually find puzzles fucking annoying in that type of game so I'd rather have something easy and fun than scratching my head in a rpg.

-I was glad to see Valta again!

The Bad: (vaguely in order of importance)

-Unpopular opinion but Assan and Manfred felt forced af. Yeah I got it, they're cute... Now can we go back on uh, the apocalypse.

-The music is boring. Fuck man Inquisition and Origins musics make me cry, but Veilguard's main them... Exists.

-I would prefer the companion to be stationary and being able to talk to them whenever want. They tried something but it didn't deliver.

-The fuck is Inky wearing.

-The fuck is Isabela wearing, but racist edition. Oh well. At least it's an easy fix with a mod.

-The companions have potential but they often lack something. I wish we got more than Lucanis liking coffee. Also, some characters concept from the art book felt so much more interesting. The only character I REALLY was interested in was Davrin because he feels very dragon age-y. A Dalish Grey Warden! That's interesting!

-The Lore seems alright and coherent with the serie so far, but it was just lore drops after lore drops, with no time for reactions, and your companions being sometimes waaaaay too chill about it.

-The overall sanitazing of the world while the grim stuff still somehow being there regarding Tevinter. It's very close to be in the Ugly category but because it's supposed to be there, I'm encline to believe it's still canon and not a retcon, and just a poor presentation. Where are the slaves? We see some of course, and some stuff were legitimately jarring... But because we're confined in docktowns, we don't get to see the ruling magisters and slavers. Docktowns almost seem... Nice. But it doesnt stop there. The Lords of Fortune not stealing artifacts because they respect cultures. The Crows being patriotic vigilantes. Lucanis being a mage killer but only for evil tevene magisters.

-I understand the impossibility to be Evil as you're recruited by Varric and he wouldn't have recruited the local serial killer that drowns kitties for fun. But... You should be able to be aggressive, stern, serious and all. You should be able to play a no-nonsense character who is authoritative and assertive while still following the plot.

-Again, I understand the companions being healthier than whatever DA2 crew had going on (love them tho) but it should have been more like Inquisition. People working together and forcing themselves to make it work for the sake of the world YET fighting and disagreeing on plenty of subjects. And Rook should be able to tell the companion to stfu sometimes. To tell Taash that they're an ass. To tell Emmerich you don't give a shit about his magic and that Manfred is fucking weird and shouldn't exist. To tell Bellara to stop whining.

-On the same note, the companions are all WAY too nice. One their own they're alright, but none of them have some true flaws/secrets/dark past/opposing convictions or whatever. Davrin and Lucanis are almost the only one who are arguing and fighting a bit but it's very tame. We never hear them arguing over politics, religion, or even ways of doing things (except for food lol. why is this game so much about food). If you take Inquisition for example, the companions are ALL working together in the face of a Ancient Evil threatening Thedas. Yet, they still argue about plenty of things. Solas and Iron Bull about the Qun. Vivienne and Solas about the existence of Circles. Varric and Cassandra's fighting is ruthless even when it's about nothing important. Try to show your pride as a Dalish to Sera and she won't take it well. Tell Cassandra that you don't give a shit about the Chantry and she'll disapprove. And still, these persons managed to work together. The excuse of "They put their differences aside because of the current threat" doesn't hold. The companions don't necessarily need DA2's level of animosity between them, but they don't need to all be best friends forever second one. Bellara could be suspicious of Neve for the sole reason of her being a Tevinter Mage. Lucanis too ("Mage Killer"!!!), but because he doesn't trust magic at all. Davrin and Bellara could argue about what it means to be Dalish to them, or argue about their faith!! EVERYONE Should be more worried about Lucanis being an abomination, damn it!

-I understand the Crows we see are not the one experiencing the worst of the organisation since they're highranking members but c'mon... It should be acknowledged at least.

-Some of the dialogues are fucking awful especially at the begining. They repeat themselves so much. The scene with "Nooo Rook you need to help us resolve our problems otherwise we will be too weak to fight the gods!! Rook, do my personal quests or I'll be too sad to fight!!". Harding's "Awkwaaaard". Bellara's quirky uwu manic pixie girl vibes at the begining.

The Ugly:

-Anything related to the elves. For a game centered on elven gods... We get so much yet nothing. Why are they all more or less cool about their "Gods" being real and evil? No one freaking out about having Elgarnan's vallaslin on their face? No crisis of faith? No elves joining them, really? Not a single one? No dalish celebrating their return before realizing the awful truth? No city elves or elven slaves fleeing to them because they have nothing to lose anyway? That's unrealistic. I can understand the Veil Jumpers already knowing the truth, it's more or less explained in the books anyway, but there's no way it's commonly accepted among all dalish clans. Speaking of dalish clans, were are they? And Briala ? Didn't she also control the Eluvian? What about city elves in general? And elven slaves? There's just nothing. The elven pantheon wasn't some myths for the Dalish. It was a religion. Their religion. Damn, imagine Christians learning Jesus is coming back BUT he's in fact very evil and is launching nuclear weapons everywhere? And their only reaction is "Oh no, we have to stop Jesus :(" ? I'm taking the christian example but you could say that about pretty much every religion.

-Where are Fen'harel agents? A few lines and one or two NPC mentioning Solas parting ways with them or even making the Veil Jumpers the ex-agents left behind would have been SO much more interesting than whatever they justified in the AMA. I can't believe they didn't even put A CODEX ENTRY explaining their absence in game. That's lazy af.

-No repercussion on the elves AT ALL? Seriously, realistically speaking, what is the future for the elves at the end of DATV? "Their" Gods almost destroyed the world, "Their" Gods killed countless, "Their" Gods created the Blight, "Their" Gods that many dalish still worshipped only a few years ago. What do you mean humans aren't going to declare open season on them? Like OF COURSE I don't want that to happen, and I'm hoping that idk, they'll found their own country in a reclaimed Arlathan, or that the instability in the south allows some of them to grab positions of power but don't tell me the humans aren't going to feel so fucking justify in their hatred, especially towards the Dalish who never converted to the Chantry. The fact that the endgame doesn't mention ANYTHING about it is jarring. Bioware ffs drop a book or whatever soon I need answers. I need hope. The game is treating the racism against Elves as... Some prejudices humans soooometimes have against them and not... centuries of systematic oppression, genocide, cultural erasure. The City Elf origins, Chevaliers killing Alienage elves for funsies, Celene burning down a whole Alienage, the genocide of dalish clans anyone? All of this is stuff that happened like... Between 8 and 20 years ago. It's not ancient history.

-Blighting Ferelden Beyond Repair, the Venatori Coup in Orlais and Kirkwall's evacuation was mean. Of cours the South is dealing with the blight and a shitload of problem but the "we lost Denerim. And Redcliff. And anything really. Idk if there's survivors. But if there is they'll starve anyway. xoxo the Inky." was just mean spirited I'm sorry. Same as above, Bioware. I fucking need hope for the South. Anything really. They could have stopped as "Yo there's a big Blight in the south and it sucks, Denerim is struggling and we lost villages and all" and that would have been FINE. No need to go scorched earth damnit.

-The lack of worldstate choices. C'mon. I understand not having a lot of them but a list of 6-10 easy questions would have been nice. Who's Divine? Who's ruling in the South? Who drank from the Well of Sorrow? It wouldn't have asked much work to just personalize a few sentences to adjust that. Also, saying they only kept 3 choices so they could really mean something... Liar. The only thing that really has an impact is did u date solas or not. Which fine, of course it matters! But all the other romances, the inquisition disbanded or not, stopping solas or not had NO IMPACT whatsoever.

-Where the fuck is Fenris. Idgaf Inquisition had Leliana when she could die in DAO, so bring Fenris in the Shadow Dragon. He needs to be there.

-The Antaam is such a fucking racist trope I can't believe they did it. Yeah, let make them growl like damn animals.

-Speaking of Qunari, even Taash is... Urgh. Why do you mean they sniff people. Also, their whole storyline on their gender identity was badly written. That scene with Isabela... No. That's not how you apologize. You misgender someone by mistake? Say sorry, correct yourself, move on. That's it.

-Dwarves had cool moments in the game but dang, we really, REALLY needed more of it. So many revelation about them, and while some of them were very well written, it doesn't have enough impact.

-The absence of reactions and dialogues related to your race is jarring. Can't believe I'm begging the game for racial slurs but here we are. EVERYONE in Origins commented on you playing an Elf. A non-human Inquisitor faced struggles as the Herald. Why is Qunari Rook able to roam freely in Minrathous without a SINGLE comment on their race? Same for the elves, to a lesser degree since at least they are not a rare occurence in Tevinter. Can't believe dwarves get so little reaction for all the big reveals. Can't believe elves barely get to react to ELVEN GODS destroying the world or Bellara's guilt about it.

-WHERE'S THE CHANTRY. WHERE. DAMN IT. Even if it's not the focus of the game, I'd expect to still see its influence. Man I'm almost wishing Harding was more of a Chantry Girl.

-Morrigan's whole storyline is an insult to her character.

[mllenugget]

Hello I mcyt fandom-ified la Team du Lundi members and wrote a shit ton of text about it

After exhausting myself on trying to catch up on the current QSMP lore I got a sudden craving for a more familiar and fast paced kind of minecraft content and ended up rewatching all the Team du Lundi's SMP best of's I could find

And while doing so with my brain still hazed in fandom brainrot, I started picking up on minor details or info the players casually dropped, and drew parallels to the French speakers' QSMP counterparts This is going to be a long wordy post I don't even know what I am rambling about and for. Three things you need to be aware of about la Team du Lundi before reading :

Baghera, Antoine and Etoiles are the only QSMP players that are part of la Team du Lundi

As far as I remember the only two elements that suggest that la Team du Lundi's SMP could be canon to QSMP are Antoine being pressured into building another Tower of Shit, and Baghera's infamous fountain being mentioned when she was asked if her character remembers anything from her past before the island

La Team du Lundi's SMP was NOT a roleplaying server, it was just a private survival server for a small circle of friends casually playing together. So whenever I quote someone in this specific post, it is the streamer : there is no character other than the persona the streamer is usually showing on stream, but I just thought it would be fun to interpret certain situations while keeping in mind the QSMP lore. And here goes :

Baghera claims that when she was a kid she strongly believed that she could breathe underwater. The others joke about her having fins

Antoine jokingly tells Baghera he doesn’t need oxygen at all

Antoine claims he will still be alive thousands of years forwards

Antoine’s voice shifts when he wants to appear creepy

Baghera built an aquarium at her place, then helped Antoine build one at his tower, then built a giant swimming pool, then a fountain, then a waterslide- do you see a theme ?

Baghera knows that her skin is actually that of a chick and not a duckling, and calls it so here

Chat said that Baghera has a middle child syndrome, justifying that she bullies Angle Droit because Etoiles bullies her in the first place (Etoiles has also called her « little sister » in a derogatory way)

Etoiles has repeatedly asked people to play Valorant with him at least once

Here's a clip of Etoiles getting languaged in french and owing "a gifted sub in the swear jar"

Unrelated random clip of Etoiles because it creates happy hormones in me brain

Etoiles is regularly refered to as "the warrior"

Etoiles guided the whole group during an expedition to the End and he was literally glowing doing so (enchanted arrows effect) Everyone called him "the guide"

Baghera was the one who gave the final blow to the Enderdragon (and died from magic right after)

Etoiles spent most of his time adventuring in order to bring stuff and gear back to everyone for their builds

Etoiles asked Aypierre for help in order to design a redstone door for his cave which could only open upon solving a puzzle (which was egg & arrow related) (Aypierre was not a member of the server)

Etoiles built a nightclub with the walls and ceiling covered in wardenblocks making it look like a starry sky. He also rehomed Allays holding golden apples inside claiming them to be the souls working for him and that they lived there peacefuly

Etoiles jokingly talks about Antoine acting jealous and violent towards him because Etoiles told him he wanted to go and visit Kameto (who also was not a member of the server)

Baghera (along with Horty) had a rivalry with Joueur du Grenier (host of the server with admin powers) after he decided to build a massive parking lot right next to their house. They countered by covering the whole thing with dirt, followed by JDG building a factory and the two parties went back and forth. Baghera argued that it was stupid because they didnt even have cars to begin with (which is a sentence she reused when talking about Forever's roads) Also she tells JDG that he could've built a seaport instead, which makes JDG contemplate the thought of building an airport (and though he ended up never building it, I am side eyeing the French's plane crash)

At some point JDG wonders about what a roleplaying minecraft server would look like (RPZ 2), to which Baghera replies that she has a hard time picturing the thing "We'd all just build things you see ? I don't think we'd create stories, we would all just be like "I'm a builder, ah you too ? Well awesome, builders, cool"" and I find this to be hilariously ironic (fun fact : Baghera had no idea that QSMP was a roleplaying server when she first joined and often claims she would've taken a different approach with her character had she known right off the gate)

As I was finishing to write this down, these fuckers (/lh) decided to host a closure night for the server as they've never really officially did it, everyone just sort of deserted the server after a while. Baghera, Etoiles and Antoine kept referring to QSMP throughout the night, mostly talking about how weird it felt without mods. Among other meta commentary things

They mentionned Cellbit and Bad multiple times as the group was trying to solve enigmas. Antoine talked about "the cultural sharing" between communities as he taught insults to each others with Mike, Roier and Maximus in their respective languages Multiple more players were namedropped (including eggs) while Antoine was talking about how the server functions

Yes, Baghera and Etoiles kept their QSMP skins. Etoiles with his code corrupted purgatory one, and Baghera with her fading pink disheveled hair (with the addition of her cubito wearing Horty's merch)

Baghera admits that going back to this small familiar vanilla server feels like coming back home to your family during the holidays

Team du Lundi's cameos in QSMP :

Though Pomme has never canonically met JDG (even though most of her parents have talked about him to her at least once), she occasionaly breaks the 4th wall to refer to him. She once compared one of BBH's "vacation" flower shirts with his, and when Foolish and Bad asked her to elaborate (obviously not getting the reference) she proceeded to play JDG's music theme with the flute instead (Also I really feel the need to once more point out how mindblowing it is for your average french speaking viewer to have JDG's intro theme being added to the mod they use in the QSMP because of how anchored it is within french internet pop culture. Like this shit has been existing for 14 fucking years, it's part of the childhood of a lot of us, so to find a clip of British hardcore player Philza peacefuly listening to Mexican egg admin Tallulah play this theme on her flute feels like a multiverse fever dream)

Horty has been on Quesadilla Island through cc!Baghera's account, but neither of them really wanted to justify it RP wise. Baghera just wanted to give her best friend a tour of the island. Horty only got to meet Richarlyson who gave her a tour of Cellbit's castle and made her pick a room (she chose Chaos). She also chatted with Etoiles who tagged along for a bit and (this is obviously justified by it being a one-shot out of roleplay filler episode kind of night) they both already knew each other and were on friendly enough terms to bicker with one another Also she was part of the French speakers Quackity reached out to to invite on the server, but she had to decline because she was very busy at that time (and also not interested) Also also she was Baghera's teammate for that Formula 4 event, and Baghera has discussed it and showed pictures to a couple of islanders, including Richas who was very hyped about it

Another player the viewers were hoping to see on Quackity's server is Mynthos. He exists within the server with the picture of him that hangs in Pomme's art gallery, the cursed animation video that used to play in La France, as well as with Aypierre's health potion factory that bears his name

Angle Droit and Zerator are sometimes namedropped when the French speakers talk with their chat. Angle Droit frequently raids Baghera's and Antoine's streams, and though it has never been confirmed, a lot of viewers theorized that she was the +1 player Baghera and Etoiles wanted to invite on the server had they won the elections.

As for Zera, Etoiles went AFK on QSMP a couple of times in order to test some of Zerator's TrackMania maps (which he later discussed with Pac). I also remember a very trivial conversation Etoiles had with Mouse and Aypierre where he laughed about hurting his back very badly after carrying a fellow streamer during a caritative event, said event was hosted by Zerator (he's also the one judging them with concern from his desk)

I'm done.

Bonus alternative design for Angle Droit because at first I thought she was a fox then it turned out she was a corgi but then she changed it again to a fox and woop

[grimrevolution]

Part-Time Soulmate, Full-Time Problem - Part Six

Words: 8,771

Characters: Neve Gallus x Rook — Nahia Laidir

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Curiosity was a horrible, terrible burden. Neve Gallus, investigator, had never found a puzzle she couldn't solve. This one just happened to be a bit more complicated than the rest.

---

The world hadn’t ended, and Elgar’nan was dead. A day passed. Even more followed. Minrathous was still choked by the tendrils of the blight. Gray Wardens led scrapped together parties full of Lords of Fortune, Veil Jumpers, Mourn Watchers, and Antivan Crows through the streets until they realized that the blight was dead.  

Lorelei turned the pawn shop into a makeshift soup kitchen, running it like a drill sergeant every time Neve passed. Beside her, Ashur and Tarquin put together teams of Shadow Dragons to raid the Divine’s Manor and any other hidden cache the Venatori tried to keep to themselves.

Rana was at Neve’s side most days. The two of them working through grime-stained clothing and blood splattered streets to find the missing, dig people out of their collapsed homes, and keep civilians back when Isabela introduced Antoine to Gaatlok powder.

A week after Solas had bound himself to the veil, Bellara (saved, healing, but with dark shadows in her eyes) managed to activate the Eluvians. Harding stepped through a day later, still wounded, still sore, but willing to put her own mind to the rescue efforts.

Three gods had fallen. Three.

The sound of Rook’s furious snarl as she sliced Elgar’nan’s throat echoed in Neve’s head every time she stopped to breathe.

There was so much to get done, and Neve couldn’t stop. She was alive. She was breathing. Her people, her home, could recover and she—she couldn’t—

Rook passed through each faction like a doppelgänger. Fitting among the Wardens and their well-crafted plans, the Veil Jumpers and their dexterous movements across the rooftops, the Crows and their bloodshed, and the careful observations of the Mourn Watchers. Lords of Fortune greeted her with cheers whenever they caught sight of her, saluting her with blade and drink alike.

‘Maybe one day.’ Rook’s voice haunted Neve’s heels. ‘I’ll be able to retire with a little sailing boat, a large straw hat, and spend the rest of my days with a line in the water.’

AO3 Link (Chapter one) AO3 Link (Chapter Six)

[this-is-a-name-dont-worry]

[Start ID: the two muscular arms clasped together in solidarity meme, the text on the dark skinned arm reads: antoine, while the text on the light skinned arm reads: tubbo, there is text on the part where the hands are clasped together with reads: trying to solve a puzzle without knowing it's gravity falls and in protugese /End ID.]

what im getting from the liveblogs

[sweet-potato-42]

I want the admins to do more lores treams where they drag some group of people into it. Like the first maze one where we had the random but very fun xyz trio. So i have a list of dynamics id like to see (Do mind I watch tubbo and other morning time people so):

i need aypierre and tubbo to be forced to do a lore stream. Even better if its like create puzzles. It would be so funny with the amount of bickering we would see. Maybe add bbh as well for some extra spice

Morning crew obviously, anything with them would be fun

Foolish, Ironmouse and bbh would be such a fun trio to observe and they could cook up some cool lore

Antoine, Ironmouse and tubbo would also be fun. A very silly trio. Also an intersting one since we dont see these interact as much

Roier and tina seem like they could be a fun duo but i dont think theyve ever interacted much

Bagi, cellbit and tubbo would be SUCH a cool trio for a lore stream. It would be so fun to see them decypher shit and also have rp and drama.

Pac, Mike, Tubbo, Aypierre and Fit for the ultimate CRIME team. These five do not know what barriers are, they don't comprehend the concept of private property and belongings and they have the power to simple get into any place they want to.

BBH, Forever and Philza so maybe the gays get their shit together for once. Or they devolve into more gay chaos. both are fun

Etoiles could be put with anyone and it would be fun

Maybe some more that are just with people that speak one language. I feel like the french would be a fun gang to watch. They would get through everything with ease.

idk who else but tis fun to think abut

[royalarchivist]

Aypierre: Ok ok– we need someone to crack the code.

Pac: Ok, who is smart enough to crack the code? I ain't! [Nervous laugh]

Fit: Yeah, same here, I'm not. Let's get Twitter to do it! Let's get Twitter to do it.

Antoine: I am- I am really good–

Aypierre: Ok ok. "We are dumb, please help us."

Pac: Maybe it's Felps, you know? Maybe Felps is joining QSMP.

Fit: Maybe.

Antoine: I am really good at solving puzzles, but– [Leans into his mic] this is way out of my league.

[livefromthedas]

(Full Chapter Here on AO3)

“We… are going to run out of chess pieces,” Rook mused.

“I swear I saw another set in Emmrich’s study,” Harding stood, leaning to leave her teacup on the table, “I’ll go ask him.”

“Thanks, Lace,” Evka smiled.

It had become a very long, very full day. By late evening, the Lighthouse had fielded a visit from a trio of Mourn Watchers (Another haunting reported in Antiva), while Neve and Taash had left for Docktown, chasing a lead about Venatori movements from the Threads. Rook had nearly gone with them, in fact, when a bottleneck at the Vi’Revas had resulted in Davrin, Antoine and Evka arriving just as Neve had been ready to depart. With word that the blight ruptures were, despite all efforts, only worsening in the Hossberg Wetlands, Rook made the call to stay behind and help problem-solve.

Now, well past a dinner of leftover stew, with Bellara’s big brain energy for added assistance, Rook and her fellow Veil Jumper, Davrin, Antoine and Evka huddled at the center of the Library, upon chairs pulled close to the table between them. That table was strewn with coffee, tea, and more importantly, a series of exhaustively detailed, interconnected maps. Details had been scrawled by hand on parchments and maps alike, and after hours of comparing notes on successfully eradicated blight boils in the area, the group had created an intricate pattern of chess pieces across the mapped landscape, tracking its spread.

It was not unusual for the Lighthouse to play host to the Grey Wardens, particularly in recent weeks. The Hossberg Wetlands were, physically speaking, cold, wet, and miserably blighted. And, Rook had reasoned, there was nothing about planning their next move there that couldn’t be done far more comfortably from “home.”

As such, it had become commonplace to host Antoine and Evka as guests over hot drinks, warm food, and a massive pile of Grey Warden missives. Evka had noted to Rook in confidence, since, that she’d come to look forward to those visits. The time away from the eerie chatter from the Blight that her husband was especially sensitive to had been doing Antoine quite a bit of good.

“Oh, oh no,” Bellara said, shuffling through papers, “There’s three more. We missed the well near the east gate, and look, just like we said when we found it,” she moved a book aside that had found use as a paperweight, and traced a finger down the course of their maps to the west, “That eruption from the north river is still infecting the farm to the south, even though we helped clear out the source.”

Rook sighed, suddenly fumbling with a few of the various pockets in her vest - she had to have something she could use.

“Ah!” She grinned, “Here.”

Slim hands freed various weird looking nuts and bolts of old Elven tech she’d picked up as a Veil Jumper and simply never discarded in the off chance they’d find some use. She placed three on the spots Bellara had noted.

“And as I suspected,” Antoine grinned with that thick Orlesian accent of his, “The blight may be chaotic at a glance, but it is still organic. And anything organic,” he stood, tall and lanky, rounding the table amid his study of the map, “Works in patterns.”

“If that’s the case, we’re clearly missing some pieces to the puzzle,” Davrin leaned forward, “Here, here, and two more to the south. Likely in caves we just haven’t managed to scout yet, this far into the foothills.”

“And maybe a well or basement we haven’t managed to pinpoint yet in the fields,” Rook agreed.

“Well, that certainly narrows our search,” Evka grinned.

Davrin agreed, looking relieved, sparing a chin-scratch to the Griffon napping at his feet, “By a lot, actually.”

“We can have wardens scout these areas by morning,” Said Evka.

Antoine grinned, “We may get ahead of this yet, my love.”

“Oooh.”

Rook glanced up suddenly at Bellara’s conspiratorial whisper and nudge. After hours of problem solving and concessions with houses Cantori and De Riva, Lucanis had come jogging up the stairs from the Eluvian room below.

“I say we got this, right?” Bel grinned, gathering the missives from Rook’s lap.

“Right,” Rook laughed. She was quick to apologize to their guests, but happy to at least leave them with more answers than questions, “Excuse me, everyone.”

“That went long - did you at least eat?”

Lucanis chuckled at the immediate fussing, fully lifting the elf from her feet in a hug, and already pacing for the door before he’d set her down again, “Well, in fact. Viago insisted on Atardecer Roja.”

Rook was familiar with the bistro, at least in passing. She’d heard Teia insist the place was the “only decent Antivan food in Minrathos” more than once.

“Something is stirring at Villa Dellamorte, though we are not yet sure what for,” Lucanis said as they made their way across the courtyard, “Valentin arrived around dinner, mentioned much of the help getting roped into preparations. And Illario has requested security assistance from Viago and Teia both, on standby.”

“Illario moves fast,” Rook said.

“When he can be bothered.”

Lucanis was clearly ready to pack it in after such a long day. He had himself free of a number of belts and daggers, an elegant burgundy half-cape and gloves by the time they strode into the Dining Hall.

“Mierda, the quiet,” he muttered gratefully to the otherwise unoccupied space. He then glanced back over his shoulder bemusedly - Rook was already pulling at the ties of the corset beneath his coat.

While the man’s rigorous daily fitness routine assured there was nothing for the corset to keep contained in a traditional sense… It was fantastic for posture. Or, so he had explained.

“There,” she gave him an affectionate pat as lacings came loose, “Go, get comfortable. I’ll put on a kettle.”

It was always funny to Rook, Lucanis’s idea of “Comfortable.” It usually just meant “Less Knives.”

Within five minutes the assassin came wading back out of the pantry looking immaculately dressed as ever, expensive looking vest, shirt and slacks tailored perfectly and worn even better, and adorned with intricate silver crow skulls for buttons.

Ever the busy-body, Rook already had beans ground and coffee cups at the ready, and was fishing around shelves for Lucanis’s stash of chocolate.

“It is late,” he mused, pausing to watch her work with a lazy, endeared smile, “Have you considered maybe taking it easy?”

“Hey, you know taking it easy would be better with chocolate,” Rook joked amongst her search.

She heard him sigh, but ignored it. Rook only paused when Lucanis strode up behind her and reached over her shoulder to pull the right tin from its place. She nearly went to take it from him, too, but he set it on the counter instead, wrapping both arms around her middle in a warm, protective hug, his beard tickling a bit of bare shoulder as he pressed a lingering kiss there. Rook grinned, eyelids growing heavy on comfort - this was new. This was nice.

The kettle began to whistle. Lucanis broke to fetch it before she could.

“I knew a Veil Jumper for a while,” she said, breaking into the tin, “Who absolutely insisted that the best cup of coffee he ever had came mixed with a bit of chocolate and cream. And since Bellara and I were able to swing by the market on the way home this morning— What?”

Lucanis guided her to face him, his dark eyes full of mischief. She realized the kettle had been left beside the stove.

“In a bit,” he purred quietly, and something about his tone made the butterflies wake in her belly, “I think I have an even better idea.”

Rook laughed daftly, “Better than coffee and chocolate?”

“Rumor has it.”

She squint at him slyly as he ushered her off toward the pantry, teasing, “Ok, fella - who are you, and what have you done with Lucanis Dellam—“

She had barely turned to greet him past the pantry’s threshold when a gasp was stolen from her lips. Without a breath’s thought, Lucanis had stepped into her space, hands rising reverently to her jaw, guiding her into a kiss.

A tiny, genuinely startled murmur escaped her with the heated blush that swept her face to the tips of her ears. Rook forgot how to breathe.

Tender. Warm. Incredibly gentle. Rook melted into that kiss, in defiance of a swimming head and a quickening pulse, reveling in the taste and feel of him, and the endearing way his thumbs brushed lovingly at her cheeks. Only once he pulled back, ever slightly, to look at her did she manage a breath. Her glassy gaze caught his, and she found herself searching dark eyes that were both adoring and heated at once.

“Hey,” she barely managed, voice cracking. Her eyes had already wandered back to his lips, which teased a smile from the assassin.

“Hey,” he chuckled back.

Her heart rate did not slow, and their composure did not last. Rook pulled him right back in for the kiss she had been craving for months. The rumble of a groan he breathed into that contact - headier than she expected - only egged them on further.

Lucanis deepened that kiss deliciously. Her lips parted to greet him as he tasted her, one hand lacing possessively into her hair, the other to her hip, pulling her into him, holding her close.

Coffee and whatever expensive wine he’d shared over his talks with the Talons stole Rook’s senses, mingling exquisitely with cologne and a scent that was deeply, intrinsically him. In little time at all, Rook was flustered beyond reason. But Maker, she craved him in whatever fashion he’d allow.

“Rook…”

Minutes later, with his hair in disarray from the gorgeous elf’s wandering hands and with a gaze that had dipped from warm brown to black, Lucanis pulled back, shuttering to catch his breath. He’s become so warm to the touch, Rook mused, every sinew in the man tensed in a manner that felt barely restrained. His hands caressed warmly down the length of her back.

His brow had furrowed, and he pressed his forehead to her own. Lucanis’s eyes searched hers, trying to read her, and she suspected, trying to find the right words.

“You don’t have to stop, vehnan,” she whispered between them, heartbeat a ruckus in her ears. A mischievous smile teased her lips, only to broaden at the breath that escaped him as she baited, “I’d actually rather you didn’t.”

For a brief moment, Lucanis wavered between a curious, wicked flirt, and thoughts that struck him both painfully and enticingly at once.

Grief. Confusion. Anguish. Fear. He had walled up so many barriers against her for so many months, only to have them rendered refuse at their feet, a paltry ash, again and again.

Time and time again Rook had proven - She was safe. She was safety.

She was his.

Realization refused to be denied further - it was safe to believe her. To cave into the want - the need of her. Fuck, did he need her. And now, best of all; he had permission.

Lucanis pulled her to him once again, more heated than ever.

(Read the Rest on AO3)

[mikenlos]

puzzle time with antoine and pomme !!

[aheathen-conceivably]

Antoine now found his days consumed by music coming from the depths of his mind. Nearly every minute he could see piano compositions in front of his eyes, assemblages of notes that he had been suppressing without anywhere to play them. He could feel his fingers move to their arrangements even as he tried to work, knowing as if by muscle memory the keys he would need to bring them to life.

Only he didn't have his beloved piano, the one he could have sat before and effortlessly opened his mind so that the notes flowed through his arms down into soundwaves to fill a room. He only had a guitar, which had set his mind ablaze but still seemed like a familiar puzzle he didn't quite have a map for. So without any teachers or instructional books, he spent every second he could with what was now his guitar, wordlessly transforming the notes he knew as piano compositions onto a new instrument by ear.

Zelda’s moments of rest were even fewer than Antoine’s. There was no differentiation between work and home as she tried to balance the endless array of chores with Josephine and poured her hours into the soil with Giorgio. Even still, in between her moments of work she would stop to watch him play.

She knew that he would stop if she only asked, but her presence was never enough to take his attention away from the instrument that was now his constant companion. The only thing that truly seemed to draw him from its orbit was the approaching sound of Violette’s footsteps as she returned from the schoolhouse and recklessly hopped the fence to get to her father faster.

There was nothing she loved more than returning home to find her father already there after a day at Hines ranch. She would draw him to his feet with the promise of teaching her new dance steps or playing the latest notes he had learned. Only Zelda’s reminder that there was homework to be done or chores to be completed would bring either of them back to reality and draw a half-hearted admonishment from Antoine that Violette must always listen to her mother.

Still her olive eyes flickered back and forth between them, trying to find the weakest link to focus her attention on so that she wouldn’t have to do as she was told. Only the promise that if she completed her chores fast enough she could come back outside seemed to work, and then she would scurry off inside the house with the sound of the guitar still echoing in her ears.

Usually the sun was still up when she emerged back outside to find her father; but it had begun to sink lower, coloring the sky with atmosphere that seemed painted just for them. Then he would play as she danced, the notes more whimsical and upbeat than they had been all day, until Zelda’s never ending list of tasks had been completed.

By then, the sinking sun had begun to shine directly on their faces as Violette seemed to finally grow tired, fighting lidded eyes so that she could watch her father’s hands on the strings of the guitar as she committed them to memory. Little by little she learned to play as he did, matching notes to hand position and listening to the subsequent pitch changes in her mother’s voice as she often sang along; until finally, the afternoon would overwhelm her and she couldn’t fight her sleep any longer.

Then, Antoine would carry her up the stairs to the little room at the corner of the farmhouse that captured the last vestiges of desert light. She would always remember it filtering through the lace curtains of the windows as she weightlessly moved through the house, trusting his every step and wondering if her mother was still singing downstairs, or if she could merely hear her voice echoing in the halls of her dreams before her head even hit the pillow.

So day after day they got ever so slightly older, ending each night much the same as the one before and knowing that in the morning, the sun would invariably rise in the clear desert sky just as it had that day. It wasn’t as though life was perfect, far from it. Age and hardship had made their proclivities toward ignoring the struggles around them all the more difficult to maintain, but at least when there was music and one another, none of it seemed quite so important.

Previous / Next

[backfromtwitterforw]

Antoine and Tubbo playing TrickyTowers

Pomme and Antoine being equally excited and happy to see each other

Q!Antoine calling Pomme cute names

Q!aypierre and q!bbh bug testing and chilling at spawn

Q!Antoine being so curious ans happy about q!bbh puzzles and button rooms

Q!bbh enjoying the recognition of his work

Q!bbh always being soooo proud of his son whenever someone does his part of the button room, and bragging about him finding the button in only 2 min

Yep, another great day on the qsmp 🥰🥰

[beelzebubsis]

the last three streams have honestly been so good recently

im always a sucker for bbh and eggs cause the interactions are always so sweet but bbh has also had like really positive interactions with the other streamers too. like forever, aypierre and antoine were all so nice and excited about his puzzle rooms. the whole night he spent with dapper and richas was just so cozy and good and tonight's stream with pomme and pepito was just so cute. im really enjoy pomme and pepito's dynamic cause i think pomme likes being a protector and is enjoying being an older sister.

im just saying let bbh hang out with more eggs he deserves it

[born-in-hell]

This ending felt kind of frustrating. Dont get me wrong, really liked watching it. But it just felt... too much? And too little at the same time. There were just so many plot points that went unexplained and brushed over, while new mysteries were introduced. It felt like a cliffhanger for a cliffhanger's sake. There was no satisfying ending to Purgatory bc there was no ending. Literally, it didnt end. They announced pt.2 with other people.

And Purgatory was a plot that interrupted MANY other ones. Just so u guys get the picture im listing some of them:

rebellion (etoiles and fit),

soul vultures & grim reaper (bbh),

presidency & nether comeback (forever),

cell's comeback (cellbit, bagi, pac and mike),

fed infiltration (foolish),

past lives (cellbit & bagi/bagh/pierre/fit)

Here's also a list of all the unanswered questions and lost plot points i could think of, regarding all of the qsmp:

Who was the cursed team? The eye didn't mention it once during the ending.

Who is the Eye?

What the organization behind Purgatory is? Was it only 1 entity?

Still no answers abt what is the federation besides the worker hierarchy and that there is something stronger than it.

Still no answers abt Arin or the computers

What did qforever achieve by going to the nether? Was it all for nothing?

What was the Judas book? Was it related to Purgatory?

How did qPac get out of the Nether to go to Purgatory??

What were and what was the purpose of the Mini-mes?

Elquackity. Just Elquackity.

Antoine????????????

What does comic bbh recieved mean?

What does the egg story the islanders got on the maze mean??

What are the eggs?

Why were the islanders and eggs kidnapped by the Eye?

Why are they cracking? What are those cracks?

Why was the fed conducting hybrid child experiments?

What was the eye's intention? Why did they want to prove the islanders were bad people so much?

What does that radio convo they listened to on the maze mean? Who were the ppl talking?

Black cucurucho/evil cucurucho/baribal. How does he fit in the purgatory arc? What is it?

Why did the fed send qWilbur away to do shows?

What is the black substance?

What did they do to quackity? Why quackity?

Why was qmax told to build a nuke, how did he carry it into purgatory and why did he set it off on egg island?

What was the island b4 the current events? Where did the people that lived there go?

Why did qbagi's and qcell's parents live on quesadilla island? What were they doing there?

What did qCellbit discover that made the feds send him away?

What happened to Sofia?

Why did that guy tell qMax to build Sofia?

How did dan and spreen die?

What is Project AB?

Why was Dappers hat on the puzzle b4 the dice game?

Why was the first game directed to qBBH? Why was everyone else just tp'd?

What did the "Humans believe in god because they dont have answers. You are inteligent" line Cucurucho said to qBBH mean?

What did they do to qFelps when he was kidnapped??

What did the Fed do to qCellbit while he was infiltrated?

Is the rollback implied by qForever's insanity cutscenes canon? Or were they dreams/hallucinations?

Who is the rebellion and what are their goals and motives??

Why were they targeting the eggs?

What are the codes?

What is Codeflippa, who is she affiliated to?

Who is the Special Guest and why did the Fed buy muffins by their request?

Who is the Duck?

Who is the Host?

What did the egg's Purgatory messages mean?

Why were they first kidnapped?

Why did Elq kidnap Dapper?

The Angelic Cucurucho??

There's certainly more, but these were the ones i remembered. Also, yes, there are theories, implications and semi-confirmations for a lot of these. But no clear direct answer. Just fan work.

There's so much going on. While the regret arc was happening, the mysteries were simpler and the stakes were a lot smaller. We had the fed, the eggs, the island and the codes. That was it. The main goal was to get off the island but now. It ended in a satisfing way bc it was a linear tale that followed naturally and wasnt too long.

Happy pills was also a satisfying arc bc it ended clearly. We got the payoff we needed from it.

With the eggs disappearence arc, we've been suffering for too long. Theres always a new clue. We are always so close but too far. When we think we'll get an answer and a conclusion, we just don't. For the story to have felt complete we needed answers. What we didn't need was a cliffhanger. Another one.

[mindblowingscience]

Scientists at the University of Bristol have discovered why fulminating gold—the world's first known high explosive—produces a purple smoke when it detonates, solving a 400-year-old alchemy puzzle. Fulminating gold was first discovered by alchemists in the 16th century. It is a mixture of a number of different compounds, with ammonia providing the majority of the material's explosive power. German alchemist Sebald Schwaertzer noted the unusual purple smoke given off when fulminating gold was detonated in 1585, and the material was later studied by leading figures of chemistry in the 17th and 18th centuries, including Robert Hooke and Antoine Lavoisier. But while the chemistry of the fulminating gold recipe has been understood for centuries, one question remained unanswered—why does its detonation produce purple smoke?

Continue Reading.