#kouassi

[fruitiermetrostation]

Sunsea by Samuel Kouassi

[randomrichards]

IO CAPITANO:

Cousins from Dakar

Gruelling journey to Venice

runs refugee ship

[therealefl]

Blackpool Swoop For League Two Forward

Blackpool are set to complete a move for Sutton United forward Kylian Kouassi, as revealed by Football League World. The Seasiders have reportedly agreed a deal with the League Two outfit as they look to move on without Jerry Yates in League One. Yates completed a move to Championship side Swansea City earlier in the transfer window, with Kyle Joseph joining the squad at Bloomfield Road as part…

[conandaily2022]

Marlène-Kany Kouassi biography: 10 things about Miss Côte d'Ivoire 2022

Marlène-Kany Kouassi is an Ivorian model and beauty queen with a law degree. Here are 10 more things about her:

[lalaposting]

Lala &ce - Control

Produced By Diplomats Director : Vincent Catel Dop : Cesar Decharme Creative Direction : Mohamed Sqalli

Producer : Roman Pichon Herrera Executive Producer : P.E Sigwalt Line Producer : Adrien Chibatte Production Coordinator : Thomas Porchez

Location Manager : Fulgence Dali Unit Manager : Romaric Bah

Assistant Unit Manager: Trinité Gnekonte & Yacouba Cisse

Stylist : Edem Dossou Stylist Assistant : Anne Kouassi Make Up Artist : "N'clo" Claudine Ettien Hair Stylist : Blaise Casting Director : Stephanie Kouakou

Set Designer : Christian Toh 1st Ac : Georges Fromont 2nd Ac : Jean-Louis Behinan Steadycamer : Arthur Dilouya Gaffer : Rafael Bolivar Best Boy : "Tapé", Jean Kipre Gbahi Electrician : Atta Jaurès N’cho Electrician : Codjo Grégoire Amegnido Groupman : Donatien Keygrip: "Lam”Morytoure Leadman : Sedric Kona

Post-Production : Firm Studio Editor : Marco Alvarez Novoa Assistant Editing : Maëlle Henry Assistant Editing : Jérémie Nugues Assistant Editing : Milan Vicet Colorist : Antoine Ravache Flame Artist : Leo Verdier Flame Artist : Guillaume Riboulet Post-Producer : Jérémie Oiry

CASTING Ouattera Bak Ibrahim Appia Alex Assale Lawani Ahi Sadia Ngoran Riselaine Kamari Deni Fabien Soueidan Massiami Bamba Digbeu Kodje Jean Cyrille Sonde Younoussa Irina Diti Pucci Jr

[wheet-thins]

no way arsenal lost kouassi to the spirit 😭😭

[yosoyloqueveo]

Io Capitano | dir. Matteo Garrone, 2023.

Seydou, a teenage boy, together with his cousin Moussa, decides to leave Dakar in Senegal and make his way to Europe. A contemporary Odyssey through the dangers of the desert, the horrors of the detention centers in Libya and the perils of the sea.

I was deeply moved by the immense courage and humanity, the cinematography and costumes. Outstanding.

"Over the last 15 years, 27,000 people have died trying to make the journey that I show in the movie," explains the filmmaker. "We wanted to give a visual form to a part of the journey we don't see."

“...I was honestly very worried about this movie, and it took eight years to decide to make it," Garrone says. "I was worried about the risk of speculating too much and exploiting these poor migrants by making their journey about, and from, my point of view."

- Garrone.

"The first thing apparent to anyone who meets Matteo Garrone is his intrinsic kindness.

When asked if the story is inspired by real events, Garrone answers, “yes of course, have you met Mamadou?” referring to Mamadou Kouassi Pli Adama, who is listed as one of the “collaborating writers” on Io Capitano, and has joined Garrone, actors Sarr and Moustapha Fall in Marrakech. “He’s one of the three guys who inspired the movie with his life and his experience,” Garrone explains, continuing “every frame of the movie is connected with some real story, of someone who really lived that experience.”

“Behind these numbers are human beings,” Garrone continues on the thought above, “human beings who are exactly like us, with the same desires — to move, to look for a better life, to discover the world.” Like looking in a mirror really. Only that mirror holds up the similarity of the power of humanity, not the reflection of our different skin tones. And what that entails, as far as privilege.

- E Nina Rothe

Io Capitano premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival, where Garrone was awarded the Silver Lion for Best Director and Sarr won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor. Now, the film is nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Oscars, which Garrone tells A.frame has made him "incredibly proud." | AFrame Article

Images:

The New Yorker

E NINA ROTHE

Kang diego | kang_junior64

EdisonFilmHub

[cosmicanger]

Valerie Kouassi @ Linda Loudermilk spring 2003

[writeintrees]

SPZ Intro Post

[ID: digital art of a green background with red trees on either side and ferns on the ground. On the left is a pale guy Dr. Meir in an open yellow shirt and grey slacks. Next is Pema with a pink hijab, purple shirt, and black skirt. She is side-hugging Shay who has her blue hair in a bun and is in green overalls with a blue left leg. Bennett is in a purple shirt. Jared is in a coat and has white streaks in his hair. Toi’ya is in a red dress and has many freckles. Ayesha is in a green uniform and has curly bangs. End ID]

Title: Saving Planet Zora

Genre: (new) adult sci fi

Form: Novel, 4th draft

Tropes/themes: protection of nature, found family, no gays get buried, are all laws just?, animal companions

Setting: The planet Zora is covered in lush forests. Atlas trees stretch a hundred meters tall while the understory is populated by trees, vines, and bushes in a variety of burgundys and purples. There are flying lizards, bioluminescent mushrooms, and skittering creatures with six limbs. 

Blurb: Bennett is part of Expedition II, the group of scientists sent by the city of Iona into the forests of Zora to collect samples. Expedition I all died within their first few weeks. All Bennett wants to do is his little nerdy work and studying the alien plants and animals. That is, until he discovers a mortally injured, dangerous, panther-like creature and he has to make a choice between her life and the tenets telling him not to interfere. Even her existence could put everything out of balance. And the council who is supposed to uphold the tenets above all else are on a slippery slope. Cue political intrigue, lying to the people Bennett loves most, and basking in the sun. 

Check out my tag, #saving zora

taglist: ask to be tagged!

Characters: picrews here and here and here

Bennett Warren: protagonist, alien plant and animal expert, anxious enby extraordinaire. Bennett overthinks a lot about choices. He loves his second, chosen family dearly. He grew up practically worshiping the council and the tenets. 

Shay Dominguez: Bennett’s best friend, mechanical engineer, rule breaker, sarcastic and honest. Lesbian with the hots for the expeditionary director and their Ionan Guard escort. Her family comes from Argentina.

Jared Vaea: Bennett and Shay’s other best friend. Proteins and chemicals expert. Has a boyfriend back in Iona. Afro-polynesian/Somoan. ADHD haver

Pema Kouassi: Director of Expedition II. Atmospheric regulation expert. Hijabi sunni muslim with family from the Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tibet.

Dr. Meir Korman: Medical expert with lots of anxiety and a stickler for rules, especially when it comes to the council

Ayesha Fredericks: Ionan Guard member and programmer

Toi’ya Myeong: Head Ionan Guard member for the expedition. Ayesha reports to her.

[oaresearchpaper]

Assessing the Impact of Banana Plantation on Flora in Niagaramadougou, Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

This work relates to the identification and the evaluation of the negative impacts and positive of the creation of banana plantations serves on the flora of the natural landscape near to the river Bandama, a locality of Niakaramadougou in the north of Côte d’Ivoire. It comprises, the analysis of eco-climatic imbalances related on creation, the exploitation and the end of the creation project of banana serves plantation on the flora of the perimeter of exploitation. Based on floristic inventories, the main aim was to characterize the impacts related to the activities of demolition, and maintenance of plantations of Banana trees on the flora of the localities targeted and to put forward measures of attenuation and/or corrective. The results show that the flora of the study is rich approximately 63 species of which 1 is with particular status. This flora is slightly diversified and its characteristics predict the risks of imbalances biological which can occur with short, average and long run in this locality. The flora knows a gradual degradation related to the former activities of exploitation. Many impacts with which the reduction of the diversity of the exploited woody species, the fragmentation of the forests and the rarefaction of some species in particular, the lianas were identified in this locality. The linked activities with the project have been be potential sources of negative impacts on the flora and have contributed to destroy it to a significant degree if the flora of this locality.

Introduction

The current context of sustainable development with its corollaries (fast urbanization, demography increase, land pressure etc.) breaks sometimes the balance within the ecosystems; in particular those which are fragile and which are sometimes the object of overexploitation. Moreover, the natural resources available on planet are born, evolve and become exhausted over the years. In many African countries, in particular in Côte d'Ivoire, the problematic, population growth-availability of the natural resources is deeply posed. Also, the land pressure is felt it in a gradual way. The problem of land rural moreover into frequent, sometimes source of fatal conflicts, is one of the immediate causes of the land pressure. Face to these problems more and more, solutions of durable or integrated spaces and natural resources management are recommended to prevent eco-climatic imbalances. The evaluation of the impacts of the activities undertaken during the creation of the banana serves plantations in the locality of Niakaramadougou is a subsequent phase with the realization of the project in order to put forward palliative measures of the positive impacts and negative on the flora, the environment, fauna and on the whole of the populations living on the perimeter. From the floristic point of view, the perimeters of exploitation belong to the Sudanese field. One meets the dry dense forest there, savanna raised or timbered, the bordering formations of the waterways, marshy formations etc. nowadays, these at one time timbered vegetable formations, are seriously started and are frequently devastated by fire at certain places. One notes also the presence of pieces of food crops (rain rice, corn, yam), and of the pastures and the points of breeding of pets. The problems of the development, with its corollaries (destruction of many components of nature) require the taking into account of the recommendations of many researchers whose activities are directed towards the safeguard of the biodiversity. It is inter alia Kouassi et al. (2013), Baker et al. (2001), etc. These recommendations aim compensating for or at correcting the damage caused by the man with the environment. Actually, they are the human beings and the animals which are mainly exposed with the consequences of much destruction caused within nature. Over the years, the environment and living environment become increasingly invaluable for the survival of the living beings. Its management must thus from now on integrate realities of the medium of kind to support the life in all its forms.

The present study main objective was to contribute to identify and to evaluate the impacts of the creation project of banana serves plantation on the flora of the aforesaid locality ; that in order to put forward measures of attenuation and/or corrective.

Source : Assessing the Impact of Banana Plantation on Flora in Niagaramadougou, Côte d’Ivoire | InformativeBD

[bravecompanynews]

Preview: Blackpool vs. Stockport County - Information Global Web - #GLOBAL https://www.merchant-business.com/preview-blackpool-vs-stockport-county/?feed_id=167197&_unique_id=66bec3107c99f Sports Mole previews Saturday’s League One clash between Blackpool and Stockport County, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.Newly promoted Stockport County will look to begin the League One season with back-to-back wins when they travel to Bloomfield Road for Saturday’s meeting with Blackpool.Meanwhile, the hosts will be keen to claim their first league win of the new campaign after they failed to take anything from their away clash with Crawley Town.Google News Match preview© ImagoAfter falling three points short of the playoffs last term, Blackpool will be targeting a top-six finish as a minimum goal this season.However, their bid to win promotion to the Championship got off to a shaky start as they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat in their away meeting with newly-promoted Crawley Town.The Tangerines produced a positive response in their Tuesday’s League Cup game against 10-man Burton Albion, cruising to a 4-0 win at the Pirelli Stadium thanks to a Matthew Pennington brace and goals from Ryan Finnigan and Lee Evans.After setting up a second-round tie against Blackburn Rovers, the Tangerines will now turn their focus to their first competitive meeting with Stockport since April 2005.Blackpool will be confident of claiming maximum points in their first home game of the season, having avoided defeat in their last 12 league matches at Bloomfield Road since losing to Northampton Town in November.© ImagoMeanwhile, Stockport are competing in the third tier for the first time since 2003-04 after winning the League Two title last term.The Hatters marked their return to the third tier with a 2-0 home win over Cambridge United which came courtesy of goals from Louie Barry and Kyle Wootton.However, they experienced a disappointing result in midweek as a youthful-looking side slumped to a 6-1 defeat in Tuesday’s clash with Championship side Blackburn.After suffering first-round elimination for the second season in a row, Stockport will look to bounce back in their first road trip of the season, and they will be able to take confidence from the fact they finished the 2023-24 campaign with the best away record in League Two.Although they have not faced Blackpool for a considerable period, the Hatters may be able to take some inspiration from the fact they have avoided defeat in each of their previous three away games against the Tangerines.Blackpool League One form:Blackpool form (all competitions):Stockport County League One form:Google News Team News© ImagoBlackpool are expected to be without the services of Dominic Thompson, Kylian Kouassi and Andy Lyons due to injury.Midfielder Albie Morgan is also set to miss Saturday’s home clash after suffering a leg injury just as he appeared to be closing in on a return to fitness.The Tangerines recently confirmed Dominic Ballard‘s arrival on a season-long loan deal from Southampton, and the England Under-19 international is likely to feature in Saturday’s matchday squad.As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon several members of their first-team squad, including Nick Powell, Lewis Fiorini and Isaac Olaofe.Stockport will have to assess club captain Lewis Bate after he picked up a knock in last Saturday’s win over Cambridge.After making wholesale changes in midweek, Dave Challinor is likely to name a similar side to the one that started the opening league game of the season. Blackpool possible starting lineup:Grimshaw; Pennington, Casey, Husband; Hamilton, Norburn, Carey, Evans, Coulson; Fletcher, RhodesStockport County possible starting lineup:Addai; Mingi, Horsfall, Pye, Touray; Onyango, Camps; Diamond, Collar, Barry; WoottonGoogle News We say: Blackpool 1-1 Stockport CountyStockport may have suffered a heavy defeat in midweek, but they opted to name a much-changed side due to their injury situation and with one eye on Saturday’s league clash.

We think the newly promoted side will do enough to take a point off their hosts, who are looking to extend their 12-game unbeaten home league run.For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.ID:550478:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect9788:Google News Previews by emailClick here to get Sports Mole‘s daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!“Sports Mole previews Saturday’s League One clash between Blackpool and Stockport County, including predictions, team news and possible lineups…”Source Link: https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/blackpool/preview/preview-blackpool-vs-stockport-prediction-team-news-lineups_550478.html http://109.70.148.72/~merchant29/6network/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/pexels-photo-6513614.jpeg BLOGGER - #GLOBAL

[cosmicanger]

Valerie Kouassi @ Courrèges fall 2002 Haute Couture

[dipol73]

Washington Spirit Signs Star Ivorian Forward Rosemonde Kouassi - Washington Spirit

Another one, another day for Kang.

[projectourworld]

Authentic. Mamadou Kouassi pictured on the beach of Castel Volturno, Italy. Kouassi inspired and co-wrote the film Io Capitano which is about Mamadou’s terrible journey from the Ivory Coast to Italy and was nominated for the 2024 Academy Awards.

Photograph: Roberto Salomone/The Observer

[lovethewayyoudoso]

Rousseau Family History

A rough outline. Note that this is a very rough draft of their story and there may be inconsistencies with the timeline yet. However, I came up with this several weeks ago and have tried to edit some bits to be more historically/geographically accurate but also lore accurate to my blurbs/characters. (~2600 words/4.5 pages)

-

Back in the halcyon days of the 60s, Kouassi Rousseau took advantage of his country’s (Côte d'Ivoire) new independence and strong alliance with France to start a little business. He and his friends began running errands and carrying loads of goods and parcels for people/businesses and they were good at it. He was good at managing the group, especially, and the little side business grew and grew. Eventually he named the company after himself officially and got an actual business license and everything was looking amazing. He had a son, Moussa, who he ensured from a very young age knew what to do and how to take over the business when he eventually passed.

The family quickly became wealthy and grew a small empire within the Côte d'Ivoire and nearby countries, as much as they could. The real money came from France. When Moussa was a teen in the early 80s, they relocated the business’s headquarters to Bordeaux and brought a small community with them; Ivorians who wanted to immigrate to stay with the business. There was still a location in the C d’I, keeping that branch running and those who didn’t want to leave their home country employed. 

France in the mid-eighties offered Moussa a whole new slice of life. He was young, rich, and very handsome. He was tall and built well, had beautiful dark skin and traditionally handsome, chiseled features that the locals adored. The locals being the men and drag queens, no doubt. By day he was his father’s perfect little protégé, by night he was living it up in the gay discotheques without a care in the world. He was exotic, afterall, and a prize choice for many others.

Once his father caught wind of this the abuse began-- the verbal abuse was beyond words and the physical abuse only ramped up with every passing month. Until his son literally straightened up and got away from that disgusting, heretical lifestyle, the abuse was promised to continue. He was threatened with being cut off, but Moussa was no fool-- he was the only heir, after all. So, he kept going, and kept accepting his fate. He had a favorite drag queen that he was obsessed with, and a ‘friend’ from his university that offered him shelter during the worst of his father’s tirades (assuming he could escape). 

The late 80's approached and something spooked Moussa-- he stopped going to the clubs, he broke things off with his queen and his friend. His own father was getting up there in years and his health wasn’t ideal. Moussa took a wife, another Ivorian immigrant who was meek and naive and thought this handsome man truly loved her. He was a bit of a conman at this point, at least in his personal life; after all those years of deceiving his father he had learned how to lie like the best of them. As planned, she was quickly made pregnant, but their child was not born before Kouassi Rousseau passed away. 

The family hardly mourned; his original employees and business partners were more broken up over the loss than his son was. At first it was because they lost a friend, but then they realize what sort of tyrant Moussa had become. He was everything his father was in terms of business sense and leadership, but so very bitter and cold. 

In September of 1990 Moussa Rosaire Rousseau was born in the most blessed life. He was a very fat baby and was heralded to be so big and strong as to overshadow his own father, truly a king amongst men! By that time the family business had become a small empire, absorbing other business in the same industry and growing into several other related, but niche, corners of the market. He was to be the eldest son and take over the business, but it turned out he would be the only son.

Moussa (Sr.) had little interest in his wife, and they never had another child; partly because he simply did not care for her and could hardly bring himself to be with her. She passed away when her son was nearly 4 after a very short, very intense fight against metastatic breast cancer. She was relatively young and quite healthy; how it took her so quickly was a mystery to those outside the hospital, but Moussa knew, and she learned the sickening truth when she was mere days from death. The man, once so handsome, strong and perfect, had become infected with HIV at some point during his galivanting. What spooked him into marrying was the fear that he would develop AIDS and neglect having an heir of his own. Knowing this, but keeping it secret of course, he married the woman, infected her as they tried for a child, and left her in the dark. Her body was weakened and its own efforts to stave off the earliest stages of her initial cancer were thwarted by the disease as it worsened far faster than her husband’s case.

She was grateful her son was not born with the disease; when she found out that she was positive she demanded he be tested. It was a relief to hear he was healthy, hours before her own passing. 

Rosaire [roʊzaɪir], and he was lovingly called his mother, was the apple of her eye for those four years. They looked alike, acted quite similar (as much as a young child can), and were very much attached at the hip. He had a nanny who aided his mother, a woman who would become his mother figure once his birth mother passed, and the three of them lived an absolutely wonderful life while Moussa was busy with his empire.

As soon as that woman passed, though, it would signal a complete shift in Rosaire’s life. Sharp blue eyes, petite frame and sweet voice: he could have been his mother reincarnate and Moussa loathed that. Where was his kingly son? Where was the young man, born in his image, that would take over his companies and grow their wealth and dominate all around him? Who was this slight waif of a boy that enjoyed his studies and playing dolls with the nanny? The nanny was instructed, in no uncertain terms, to cease all such behaviors-- teach Rosaire to be a man or lose your employment.

The years did not treat the elder Moussa well-- he was growing more and more thin and sick, but kept his verbal whip at the ready whenever his son was around. He never referred to the young boy by his preferred name, never gave any of his interests the time of day. He never laid a hand on his son, but the verbal and emotional abuse was through the roof. 

Due to booming business and the company president's desire for more and more money and power, the Rousseau Corporation branched out and went global. Around the year 2000, Rosaire turning ten years old, a significant amount of market research yielded the advice to open up a second headquarters (as in for a sister company or a major subsidiary) in... Japan. The child did not understand and was completely distraught; he would much, much later learn that there were substantial financial incentives to do so. His father barely spoke passable English and had strong ties to France at this point in his adult life, but it was worth the upheaval. They would make do, of course they would... they were the Rousseau family! 

Afterall, there was an excellent academy in the city they were relocating too; one that catered to businessmen and a local military base and other immigrants to the area. Moussa assured his son-- well, informed him-- that he would do well to keep at his studies at this academy and perfect his English and learn the local language because they were here to stay. 

The stress of the move, the not-so-casual racism the family faced, and adolescence about to hit like a sledgehammer… Rosaire was not happy. He hated this new place; everything about it was wrong. He couldn’t even find peace at home because there he would have abuse hailed down on him for not being exactly what his father had wanted out of an heir. He wasn’t tall, he wasn’t handsome by his father’s standards, and he certainly wasn’t much of a man. He was constantly torn down and disparaged while at the exact same time being told he was an extremely important person and had to be perfect. He was the sole heir and had to act as such, had to be that king amongst men, as his father withered away with his hidden disease.

The fear of his father turned into pure hate and disgust as Rosaire struggled with his once-beloved studies as a teen. He barely passed the entrance exams to get into senior high school, and only did so under a very severe threat of being disowned by his father. (And his father was not the empty-threat type.) All the while he was exploring himself, his budding sexuality and his true personality in secret. He would swear his chauffeur/assistant to secrecy, he would swear his nanny to secrecy, he would swear Fabienne (his absolute closest friend in the whole world, and basically his sister) to secrecy, and he was damned lucky that they were loyal and sympathetic to the young man.

Once his father caught wind and had proof-positive that his son was engaging in such atrocious, filthy behavior, the hammer came down. Rosaire’s life became a nightmare and he was walking on the thinnest of ice, toeing the sharpest of lines, in order to try to find balance between his father’s abuse and what he wanted and needed from life. He couldn’t be himself, couldn’t find love or pursue interests that were outside the boundaries of his family’s estate. He was constantly followed by a ‘security associate’ as well as his chauffeur and while neither would divulge anything they happened to witness to Moussa they wouldn’t encourage it of the boy either. The chauffeur especially knew the full truth -- he had been in the family’s employ for many years and saw first hand how the boy’s father was in his own youth. It was a sickening display of incredibly abusive hypocrisy, but what was he supposed to do about it?

Cut your fucking hair! Keep it short, like a real man! I’ll rip those extensions right out, get over here! I found another blouse in your wardrobe; you’ll find it shredded on your bed. If I catch you with another piece of jewelry, you are done for! Why do you insist on looking like some kind of fag?

Near the end of Rosaire’s first year at a very impressive university, Moussa Rousseau finally died. It was unceremonious and while his staff and his family paid lip service to the man, none were too distraught. His business partners, especially those back in France, were upset and didn’t really know what to do. Afterall, Rosaire was too young to inherit the company (though he inherited everything else), and it seemed that in the wake of his father’s death the young man was too busy celebrating to care.

He was free to do what he wanted with whomever he wanted and lived that life exclusively while just barely keeping afloat in school. He began to fail classes and lose touch with reality as, really, he had little else left to lose. It’s not like he was going to run out of money-- his father’s second-in-command in the country had taken over and was running the empire just fine. There was a stipulation in Moussa’s iron-clad will that his son would have nothing to do with running the business in more than a learning sense until he had acquired specific levels of education and was of a certain age. 

Though she did attend university, Fabienne was always at Rosaire's side. She was his rock emotionally, whether she wanted to be or not, and served as his personal assistant. It allowed her to have a highly paid job with the man who was basically her brother, and plenty of free time to pursue her own interests while Rosaire was either in class or off doing god-knows-what. Being the opposite of him in terms of personality served their relationship well over their lives, but his antics were starting to wear her thin.

And Fabienne was the one who finally talked some sense into Rosaire, making him see the mess that his life was becoming after some big to-do (as-of-yet undetermined in nature!). She was grateful that horrible man, that tormentor, was gone; it was a huge relief for her best friend. However, this was not the way to celebrate, not the path in life to take, and it took a year and a half but she finally got her friend to realize what he was doing. Using his body, however he pleased and however his string of lovers pleased, was not the solution to his problem.

It took a very hard metaphorical slap from Fabienne (and maybe a real one) for Rosaire to realize that he was not the worst person in the history of the world-- the most disappointing person to exist. A failure, both in personality and nature as well as physically, and absolutely out of his mind if he thought that living like that was the right thing to do. That metaphorical slap also cleared him on his father’s obvious manipulations: that Rosaire was meant to be perfect and had to be perfect. The perfect disappointment was sent to oration classes and etiquette lessons, fit into the perfect clothes and fed a diet to try and bulk his muscles; he was sent to the gym, to a personal trainer, and chastised and verbally whipped when results were far from apparent. (Unfortunately, a lot of this was normalized as it was mirrored in how Fabienne was treated, but any progress the girl made was met with praise and applause.)

Rosaire has really only the one one true friend in Fabienne. They are attached at the hip throughout most of their youth, separated only during travel and during the turbulent couple years after Moussa’s death. He has an incredible spread of acquaintances and of networking contacts, and of course business contacts from apprenticing with his father and his associates. He is very charismatic, partly by nature and partly from the endless lessons his father had him take on how to present himself. Despite that charisma and his business sense, he’s quite cold and very, very straightforward with people. He does not tell lies, not even little white ones, as he was too terrified to do so after his upbringing. Besides, what’s the point? Be who you are and you’ll get what you want. Once he regains control of the Rousseau Corporation from the business partner (after an amazingly pointless legal battle fought in three different countries) he grows the business, expands it, and before he’s in his late twenties he’s shooting up the list of the wealthiest in his country. He’s an oddity-- a dark-skinned black man who dresses very femme, rules his company with an iron fist yet has given an insurmountable sum of money to various charitable organizations (starting in his youth, behind his father's back); he’s fair to his household employees and is strict with his directors and upper management teams to be fair to their employees. He firmly believes that fairness and generosity will breed strong bonds and loyalty. Things he never had from a family; he turns his business into his family. He treats the Louissants (Fabienne and her parents) as if they were his family.

Now, would the Rousseau family line ever continue?