#teen roux revealed!

[silentgrim]

welcome to hs!

[riverssongs13]

People have already spoken about a million other issues they had with Episode 6 of Agatha All Along, Familiar By Thy Side, praised whatever they wished to praise, and theorised and speculated whatever it is they'd like to theorise and speculate. Right, thanks, okay, excellent point, absolutely, no notes, yes that makes sense, of course how could I miss that, thank you.

But, THAT'S IT? WHY? We have now been presented TWO episodes that are essentially just TWO SCENES. What happened to the pacing?? It was going sooo well. The story was laid out nicely, with nice little progressions, the plot was thickening nicely like a beautiful pot of roux.

Everything these witches were doing had purpose. Their interactions were building up their characters nicely, little sprinkle of exposition here and there, small little reveals and easter eggs and background stories, perfect amount of tension, even the fan service of AgathaRio's toxic yuri relationship was imo done quite well. Nice little mixture of storytelling and tension building and comedy and drama that makes one really emotionally invested with this ragtag group of deeply traumatised but fabulously surviving women (and teenager).

And then came the need to reveal Teen's identity.

A huge chunk of Darkest Hour and Familiar By Thy Side could have been woven together to create a more cohesive, more compelling presentation of Teen's motivations. So many parts in the last 2 episodes that didn't really serve a purpose, and that flashback could have been done in 10 minutes, AND still have Bohnerrific69's part fleshed out. A lot of stuff also felt absurd and unnecessary, like an appeal to what, nostalgia? (although honestly I don't find anything nostalgic about explaining how Teen was able to find this random dude on Reddit. Pop culture reference? Easter egg? Booyah moment? Weird.)

Anyway, cheeky little annoyances especially when the mid-season trailer specifically chose to mention there's only 4 episodes left (now down to 3). If this is the pacing and storytelling we're getting for the next three I'm wondering how they'd be able to tie up all the little plotlines they have. Or are we to assume we're no longer getting stories and endings for Jen and gods forbid, Lilia? And what of Lady Death and her quota of bodies? Kinda sad, knowing this show is only meant for one season.

I hope we get resolutions. And, Billy, I love you with all my heart, and you & boyf are cute, but can we please move along?

[onenettvchannel]

FLASH REPORT: Wakfu Season 4 is Now Currently in Production [#OneNETnewsEXCLUSIVE]

PARIS, FRANCE -- A longest running french animated cartoon known as Wakfu, now on it's 4th Season with a new information from a press release as first reported from a news article of Gamosaurus.

Based from a yearly programme line-up of 2021 to 2022, the production company of Ankama Animations secures a broadcast rights to France Télévisions for a contract renewal in a first quarter of 2021, which is a free-TV public broadcasting arm of France 3 & France 4 for Okoo's children and teens programming block.

Subsequently since the online fundraising of Kickstarter was skyrocketed and fully-funded a year ago at the end of June 2020 (during a post-Pandemic of CoViD19 in France), a total of almost 18,000 backers of €UR1.5M (PHP89M) or 72% from the actual animated production price of €UR1.1M for Episode #13 in season finale, as according to our Research Team of OneNETnews.

Show Creator of Wakfu was named by Anthony Roux reveals from a tweet post:

Chers fans de WAKFU, Le spécial de 45 minutes d'OROPO est en cours de storyboard et la production se lancera dans les prochains mois. Nous enchainerons ensuite sur les 13 épisodes de la Saison 4. Jusqu'ici, tout va bien. Des bises

— ToT (@Totankama) 10 février 2021

Ah et puisqu'une bonne nouvelle ne vient jamais seule, nous venons de re-signer avec France Télévisions pour la Saison 4 de Wakfu. Ils nous suivent au maximum sur les 13 épisodes et le spécial d'OROPO. Merci à eux de terminer cette belle aventure à nos côtés.

— ToT (@Totankama) 10 février 2021

In a roughly translated French dialect as the show creator (Roux) told exclusively to OneNETnews, there will be 13 new episodes for this 4th season within 22mins. long each and a 2 new specials for 40mins. long. One is the Oropo special, and the other is a secret one (for the exclusive backers of Kickstarter themselves when given a private direct link when it's fully-funded). Wakfu probably connects the essential events from a history of Krosmoz previously from Season 3 (based from a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game or MMORPG) as Gamosaurus reported.

L’animatique du spécial de 40 minutes est bouclée (et j’adore). Je suis sur l’écriture des premiers épisodes. La pré-production commence en septembre. Jusqu’ici tout va bien.

— ToT (@Totankama) 26 avril 2021

In between to 2 new specials, the Ankama team will conduct a pre-production episodes later this year in September onwards. While the episode writings, storyboards and others are included in the coming several months will commence by early 2022 or more. But, we don't have any information yet for a televised release date for France 3 and/or France 4 as according to Roux.

Here is a final show synopsis and information, direct from the France Télévisions' press release to our news team:

"After the destructive battle with the antagonist suspect named Oropo and their own personal demons, Radyo Patrol #11 reporter (Yugo the Eliatrope) and his friends (Amalia S. Sharm, an Ankama News stringer reporter for OneNETnews; Tristepin de Percedal & Evangelyne Percedal; married and the affiliation of a Brotherhood of the Tofu) find themselves at the gates of Ingloriom, the kingdom of the gods. The Brotherhood of the Tofu (TBT) don't have time to wonder what the Twelve Gods have in store for them in response to the sacrilege, the floating lands have been completely devastated! Is there a connection between their recent victory and the chaos in Ingloriom? Are they responsible for this situation, or are they dealing with something far worse? And how far will our heroes have to go this time?"

If you look at a single promotional photo, there is a possibility either a fight scenes with his magically cross-bladed weapon or the inception of a fast-teleported direction to a locally numerous portals upon heading out probably to Ingloriom or places with a new location personally on the go. The expectations from a french cartoon of Wakfu might get a bit challenging for a kids show in advance, as under the rules from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

Unfortunately from a kids block of Okoo on France Télévisions, there is a catch. France 4 and France Ô will officially having a Final Broadcast probably on Free TV, Digital TV or both starting in late mid-August 2021 as Le Parisien reported in a news article. Françoise Nyssen, a former Minister of Culture was announced in June 2018 says, a televised cost-cutting from a double broadcast closure should allow France Télévisions to save money. Educational and/or Cartoon programming may have a last resort for some time, France 4 and France Ô recalls in extremis the role as a public broadcasting station (which is owned by a French Government).

Okoo will continue to serve in most of a children and teens programming either in a newer shows (Nate is Late, Rabbids Invasion, etc.) or the reruns (like LoliRock and Angelo Rules for example) of France Télévisions themselves, except for France Ô (which is an Overseas French Departments and Collectivities station in real life).

In a meantime for a post-Pandemic of CoViD19 in France, it is best to support the show and the original show creator like Roux for a new episodes straight from a production company of Ankama Animations.

The new season of Wakfu in Season 4 is coming soon -- on-air, online at France.tv, and on the France TV & Okoo APP (only if you live altogether in France).

PHOTO COURTESY: Ankama Animations & France 4

SOURCE: *https://www.gamosaurus.com/jeux/dofus/wakfu-saison-4-entre-en-production [Referenced News Article #1] *https://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/tv/france-4-et-france-o-fermeront-definitivement-le-9-aout-03-01-2020-8228559.php [Referenced News Article #2] *https://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/tv/television-france-4-ne-fermera-pas-avant-2021-03-08-2020-8363055.php [Referenced News Article #3f] and *https://issuu.com/francetelevisions/docs/mifa-dp2021-bat-page [The Exclusive Press Release from France Télévisions on a Programming Line-Up for 2021-2022 + Show Synopsis and Information Reference for Wakfu S4 on page35]

HONEST DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed from a Flash Report, are not necessarily those from the Ankama Animations, Frankas Productions & Pictanovo. Furthermore, the assumptions of this Flash Report will NOT state, intervene or reflect those of our Radyo Patrol reporters. The show, the station, the management, interwebs and the network. Thanks for reading! Stay safe and may the Celestia blesses you. Later!

-- OneNETnews Team

[asimovsideburns]

hunt for dragonshards session summary 10, fast again but not quite as rushed as last time because I’m not literally going into the session as I type (thanks for distracting the DM while I finished, fellow partymates)

we start by splitting the party!

Roux goes off to confront their mom, who it turns out is not their mom but is fully like just some crime boss lady who gave her a job when she arrived in town as a teen after running away to become a bard and realized she needed money that she just started calling “mom” and the lady just rolled with it and we don’t have time to unpack ALL of that but suffice to say that it went. poorly. well, it went poorly from an in-character perspective in that we gained no new information and one new enemy. it went FANTASTICALLY from an above-table perspective because it was an incredible scene holy shit.

Vendetta goes off on his own to try and find some gear, and discovers that there’s some commotion--a House Cannith heir was almost abducted. He’s contacted by Thesda d’Cannith, the almost-abductee, who believes that the rival Alchemists branch of the house tried to have her kidnapped or killed (spoilers: it was really Euclid the evil wizard who wants her to power his warforged colossus). She hires Vendetta to dismantle the Alchemists, and he agrees, on the condition that she understand he will have to do so slowly. She understands, and helpfully points him to a secret vault in a workshop where some magical items might be found. He goes there, doesn’t get to kill anyone because they already went into hiding, and steals their cool magical shit (if you saw the pictures I posted during the session last week, that’s what he got, plus a scroll that allows the artificer’s steel defender some find familiar upgrades)

After returning and having the items identified and doled out, they do some battle planning, and go to sleep. Smidge and Dia spoon (Dia is the big spoon) (the dragon tries to make fun of him when we wake up and we mercilessly mock the dragon in return, and also don’t let him have any of our Heroes’ Feast)

Oh also after Roux got back from dealing with their mom before we went to sleep we all had an emotional bonding moment that Vendetta only begrudgingly and awkwardly participated in, prompting us to declare that we had just vanquished the REAL big bad evil guy (almost not making a found family along the way)

Dia reveals that their real research was in how to sever a kalashtar from their quori spirit for selfish and self-destructive reasons, and that they’ve moved past the desire to do that, allowing us to read their research first and then destroy it (I don’t remember if this was before or after the long rest)

Finally, the professor shapeshifts from human form back into big fuckoff dragon form (get fucked, conservation of matter!) and we all fly off with the sun at our backs to go kill this Euclid motherfucker dead

Unfortunately, Vendetta has a negative strength modifier and rolls poorly to hold on, so he falls off and the dragon has to catch him

This leads to us being derailed into talking about roller coasters, jet skis, and the general belief that going really, really fast will fix us (it will)

Also I teach the group what an Alfy’s is

[graphicpolicy]

Dejah Thoris (2018) #8

writer: Amy Chu artist: Pasquale Qualano covers: Diego Galindo (A), Stephane Roux (B), Pasquale Qualano (C) Diego Galindo (RI-B/W), Stephane Roux (RI-Virgin), Pasquale Qualano (RI-B/W) FC | 32 pages | $3.99 | Teen+

Lies, lies, lies – as the relationship between Helium and Zodanga deteriorate, Dejah Thoris learns a harsh lesson in diplomacy. Keel Kors professes his love for the Princess, but can she trust him? Meanwhile, Dekana reveals her true colors.

Dejah Thoris (2018) #8 preview. Lies, lies, lies - as the relationship between Helium and Zodanga deteriorate, Dejah Thoris learns a harsh lesson in diplomacy #comics Dejah Thoris (2018) #8 writer: Amy Chu artist: Pasquale Qualano covers: Diego Galindo (A), Stephane Roux (B), Pasquale Qualano (C)

[spuffyverseonthecomics]

BtVS S11 - Giles #1: Girl Blue

So, we have teen Giles back to High School; I've been pleased with kid Giles since S10, but I really didn't need to see him as a student – even if undercover. I don't know why this HS obsession; in this very first issue, we are already dealing with bullies importuning a (apparently) shy girl, students being caught in the hallway by the security guard and taken to the Principal's office, the boy (Giles!) crushing on the pretty girl, teachers... missing teachers anyway.  Why not choose another scenario? The streets? A theater? A hospital, Disneyland, pretty much anything else would work better for me. And the dialogue seems an effort to show some... cleverness? Affectation? Pretentiousness? Said that, the story seems to have potential. 

Giles – or rather, Ralph Columbo – arrives at Living Legend and Charter High School to investigate vampire killings; he's 16 (according to himself). Not soon enough, he meets a black girl called Roux, thinks she's hot, and ends up with her at the Principal's office, where they bond. Later, she saves his ass (from the bullies), revealing herself to him as a vampire. Giles stills thinks she's hot. They agree to work together; when things get sorted out, he may kill her. I like Roux, and her being a vampire makes things interesting. She's evil (or is supposed to be) but runs around the school protecting a girl in a blue dress. Why is she “looking after” Blue Girl? Is the girl her descendant? And if she is, why does her vampire great great grandmother give a shit about her? And why Roux hasn't been sent to the internment camp, since all vampires should? (As soon as Giles arrived, he noticed that there were a “hoodie fever” at the school: vampires protecting themselves from the direct sun light?) Roux is a French name (and it's written in the ceiling at the school), she speaks French and she has a tattoo in her wrist, AIX: what does it all mean? So many questions! There's is a monster that is kidnapping and killing people, and it knows Giles: calls him “mother”. And coincidentally, an old British acquaintance of Giles, Lloyd Addison, is the Math and Science teacher – although when Rupert finds him he is in no way able to teach anyone anything. There is also a Mrs. Vega, who thinks “all men are monsters, it's just a matter of degrees”, and is hiding herself in a “lead-lined foreman's office, a vestige of an old bomb factory”; as the place blocks “radiation, gamma rays, x-rays and alpha particles”, it has been preventing the woman to be affected by what others in the cafeteria couldn't be shielded from (“a slow-motion palooza at warp speed”). Her discourse is a little crazy, though, involving bats, hounds and mirrors, which confuses Giles... and me. But, yeah, Giles can still go to interesting places.

I very much liked the art by Jon Lam.

[yasbxxgie]

Where Are Our Black Boys on Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel Covers?

Why are there no boys like me on these covers?

My seventeen-year-old brother who lives in Lagos, Nigeria, raised this question to me recently. Not in these exact words, but sufficiently close. I’d been feeding him a steady drip of young adult (YA) science fiction and fantasy (SFF) novels from as diverse a list as I could, featuring titles like Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti, Martha Wells’ Murderbot series, Roshani Chokshi’s The Star-Touched Queen and Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. The question, at first seemed like a throwaway one, but as my head-scratching went on, I realised I did not have a clear-cut answer for it.

His question wasn’t why there were no black boys like him in the stories, because there definitely were. I guess he wanted to know, like I now do, why those boys were good enough to grace the pages inside but were somehow not good enough for the covers. And because I felt bad about the half-assed response I offered, I decided to see if I could find a better one.

So, I put out a twitter call for recommendations.

Can anyone point me to science fiction & fantasy novels with black teenage boys on the cover? Asking for my teenage brother. I know there's Tristan Strong, & books from Victor LaValle & Colson Whitehead, but I need more. Most YA I see with black boys are contemporary lit.

— Suyi on hiatus. (@IAmSuyiDavies) May 6, 2020

The responses came thick and fast, revealing a lot. I’m not sure I left with a satisfactory answer, but I sure left with a better understanding of the situation. Before I can explain that, though, we must first understand the what of the question, and why we need to be asking it in the first place.

Unpacking the Specifics

My intent is to engage with one question: How come there are few black boys on young adult science fiction and fantasy novel covers? This question has specific parameters:

black: of Black African descent to whatever degree and racially presented as such;

boys: specifically male-presenting (because this is an image afterall), separate from female-presenting folks, and separate from folks presenting as non-binary, all regardless of cisgender or transgender status;

are displayed prominently on covers: not silhouetted, not hinted at, not “they could be black if you turned the book sideways,” but undeniably front-of-cover blackity-black;

YA: books specifically written for young adults (readers aged 12-18), separate from middle-grade (readers 8-12) and adult (readers 18+);

SFF: science fiction and fantasy, but really shorthand for all speculative fiction and everything that falls under it, from horror to fabulism to alternative history;

novels: specifically one-story, book-length, words-only literature, separate from collections/anthologies or illustrated/graphic works (a novella may qualify, for instance)

I’m sure if we altered any of these criteria, we might find some respite. Contemporary YA and literary fiction with teenage protagonists, for instance, are littered with a relatively decent number of black boys on the covers (though many revolve around violence, pain and trauma). Young women across the people-of-colour spectrum are beginning to appear more often on SFF covers too (just take a look at this Goodreads list of Speculative Fiction by Authors of Color). Black boys also pop up on covers of graphic novels here and there (Miles Morales is a good example). But if we insist on these parameters, we discover something: a hole.

It is this gaping black hole (pardon the pun) that I hope to fill with some answers.

The Case for Need

Think about shopping at a bookstore. Your eyes run over a bunch of titles, and something draws you in to pick one–cover design, title, author, blurb. You’d agree that one of the biggest draws, especially for teens to whom YA SFF novels are aimed, is the character representation on the cover (if there’s one). Scholastic’s 7th Edition Kids & Family Reading Report notes that 76% of kids and teens report they’d like characters who are “similar to me,” and 95% of parents agree that these characters can help “foster the qualities they value for their children.” If the cover imagery, which is the first point of contact for this deduction, is not representative of the self, there’s an argument to be made that reader confidence in the characters’ ability to represent their interests would be significantly reduced.

The why of the question is therefore simple: when a group already underrepresented in literature and readership (read: black boys, since it’s still believed that black boys don’t read) are also visually underrepresented within their age group and preferred genre (read: YA SFF), it inadvertently sends a message to any black boy who loves to read SFF: you don’t fit here.

This is not to say that YA is not making strides to increase representation within its ranks. Publisher’s Weekly’s most recent study of the YA market notes various progressive strides, touching base with senior publishing professionals at teen imprints in major houses, who say today’s YA books “reflect a more realistic range of experiences.” Many of them credit the work of We Need Diverse Books, #DVPit, #OwnVoices and other organizations and movements as pacesetters for this growing trend.

In the same breath, though, these soundbites are cautiously optimistic, noting that the industry must look inward for underlying reasons why easy defaults remain commonplace. Lee&Low’s recent Diversity in Publishing 2019 study’s answer to why unquestioned go-tos still reign supreme is that the industry remains, sadly, 76% Caucasian. For a genre-readership with such exponential success, that makes the hole a massive one. Of the Top 10 Best Selling Books of the 21st Century, four are YA SFF franchises by Rowling, Collins, Meyer, and Roth, the most among all listed genres. In 2018’s first half, YA SFF vastly outsold every other genre, amassing over a quarter of an $80-million sales total. This doesn’t even include TV and film rights.

I once was a black boy (in some ways, I still am). If such a ubiquitous, desired, popular (and don’t forget, profitable) genre-readership somehow concluded a face like mine on its covers was a no-go, I’d want to know why too.

Navigating the Labyrinth

Most of the responses I received fell into three categories: hits & misses, rationale, and outlook. Hits & misses were those who attempted to recommend books that met the criteria. If I had to put a number to it, I’d say there were around 10+ misses to one hit. I received many recommendations that didn’t fit: middle-grade novels, graphic novels, covers where the blackness of the boy was up for debate, novels featuring black boys who were not present on the cover, etc.

The hits were really great to see, though. Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds was the crowd favourite of the recent recommended titles. The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust was the oldest recommended title (2004). One non-English title on offer was Babel Corp, Tome 01: Genesis 11 by Scott Reintgen (translated to French by Guillaume Fournier, published in the US as Nyxia). Non-print titles also showed up, like Wally Roux, Quantum Mechanic by Nick Carr (audio only). Lastly, some crossover titles like Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds (MG/YA) and Temper by Nicky Drayden (YA/Adult) were present. You’ll find a full list of all recommendations at the end of this article.

Many of the hits were worrisome for other reasons, though. For instance, a good number are published under smaller presses, or self-published. Most are of limited availability. Put simply: a high percentage of all books recommended have severely limited wider industry coverage, which twanged a sour note in this orchestra.

The rationale group attempted to approach the matter from a factual angle. Points were made, for instance, that fewer men and nonbinary folks are published in YA SFF than women, and fewer black men even so, therefore representing black boys on covers may increase with more black male authors of YA SFF. While a noble thought, I do argue that various YA authors, regardless of race or gender, have written black boys as protagonists, yet those didn’t make the covers anyway. Would more black male authors suddenly change that?

Another rationale pointed toward YA marketing, which many stated mostly targets teenage girls because they are the biggest audience. I’m not sure how accurate this is, but I know sales often tell a different story from marketing (case in point: 2018 market estimates show that nearly 70% of all YA titles are purchased by adults aged 18-64, not teenage girls). If the sales tell a different story, yet marketing strategies insist upon a one-note approach, then it’s not really about the sales, is it?

Lastly, the outlook responses came mostly from readers, authors and publishing professionals who are long-time advocates of increased inclusion in publishing. The overwhelming consensus was that, while there is no complete absence of black boys on YA SFF covers, the real problem is the difficulty in pointing them out. It was agreed that it speaks volumes that we have to do this deep-dive just to find an okay amount of recommendations. Many left with a feel-good note, though, since more authors and professionals dedicated to inclusion and visibility are finally getting their feet into the doors at Big Publishing. Thanks to advocates like People of Color in Publishing and We Need Diverse Books, the future looks exciting.

So, I’ll end this on another feel-good note by offering an ongoing list of recommendations that fit the bill. You’ll find that most are absolutely worth a look-see. This list is also open for public updates, so feel free to add your own recommendations. And here’s looking to the decision-makers at Big Publishing to make this list even bigger.

+Black Boys on YA SFF Novel Covers: A List of Recommendations

[silentgrim]

forgot i had roux teen reveal in my drafts