#raven simone

[animusrox]

The Eric Andre Show S06E07

[reusedtvseriescostumes]

This Pink sweater with colors with orange rose on is worn on Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay in Friends: The One With the Secret Closet (2002) and later worn on Raven Simone as Raven Baxter in That's So Raven: Escape Claus (2003) tv

[xbabygirll]

disney channel throwbacks

[calissarowan]

Serena, Part Two

And we’re back, with more on Serena Ahlström! (That’s her and Gantlos’s last name, by the way.)

So, resuming where my last post left off, Serena headed for Magix with Griffin, and promptly freaked out upon seeing cars, cellphones and electricity (she’d just come from medieval Earth, cut the girl some slack).

Serena showed up at Cloud Tower and quickly met her roommate, a Lynphean witch named Raven Simone, Witch of Life. (Raven is also my OC, and possibly one of my favourites. I’ll do a post about her sometime.) Raven was a little more than Serena had perhaps been expecting, instantly asking a million questions, culminating in ‘What are you wearing?’, a sorta valid question, since Serena was wearing medieval clothing, which was a tad unusual for college. Serena struggled to answer just about anything, but Raven apparently liked her nonetheless, promptly taking the shy, half-terrified girl under her wing (and shopping. Shopping before all else.) She also nicknamed her Riri, which Serena actually liked.

Raven quickly grew on Serena as she discovered that, beyond being loud, kinda pushy and having basically no boundaries (or filter), Raven was also fierce, loyal, kind and confident (so confident. It’s basically impossible to embarrass the girl), and the two of them made their way through the beginning of college, Serena discovering a love for school and an aptitude for potionology, Raven discovering the best ways to get out of assignments.

Things were great, up until they, and every other freshman witch at Cloud Tower, were meant to go to Alfea for a training exercise. Despite not hating fairies the way Gantlos had come to, Serena was terrified of going to a school full of them, and practically had a panic-attack at the thought. Eventually, she explained to Raven that a fairy had killed her parents, and Raven promptly hugged her (by this point, the two of them were best friends) and promised that if any fairy at Alfea even thought about hurting her, she would personally blast them through the freakin’ planet (well, she said a little more than that, but let’s keep this clean).

After some serious convincing, Serena agreed to go to Alfea, and made it through without completely freaking out, realising that fairies in the Magic Dimension weren’t really the same as back home. At Alfea, she and Raven met a girl named Faye Tourmaline, a slightly unusual Alfea student: she’s a dark fairy. Pretty unusual. The fact that she’s a princess from Eraklyon didn’t make things any more normal. (She’s not related to Sky, but she is related to someone else we know). Serena actually got along great with Faye (Raven was slightly less enamoured, but whatever makes Riri happy), and the girls became friends. (I’ll talk more about Faye another time.)

Serena eventually became so close with Raven and Faye that she came to see them as like her sisters, and, halfway through their second year, she trusted them enough to tell them…everything. Vampire powers, ability to see the future, semi-supervillain brother, the whole shebang. Faye kinda stared for a minute, and Raven just totally rolled with it.

After graduating top of her class, Serena applied to university to study potionology (and got accepted immediately - the girl had some of the best grades they’d seen in a long, long time). Faye went to law school and Raven…Raven became a dimensionally famous popstar and went to a lot of parties. Like, a lot of parties.

Serena later returned to her Alma mater, Cloud Tower, and became the potions teacher. Griffin was thrilled to have her back, having come to care a great deal for Serena (Griffin by then also knew about Serena’s vampire side, Serena trusting her completely).

And that’s Serena’s story pretty much up until present day! I’ll do more posts about her, exploring some of the other stuff she’s up to, plus just random facts about her, and Raven and Faye will get some attention as well.

[soochristina]

Raven Baxter Played by Raven Simone.

[popculturebuffet]

The Proud Family: Seven Days of Kwanzaa Review (Commission For Weirdkev27)

Happy Kwanzaa all you happy people! Yeah the holiday celebrations aren't done JUST yet as we have one more for you, as it's Kwanza time. Now some of you may be asking…

And i'ts simple: it's an african american holiday created by Maulana Karenga as a way to give the black community an alternative to christmas that wasn't as entrenched in white tradition, though eventually he relaxed things to allow one to celebrate both, the spirit of it, celebrating black culture and history, has remained.

Like Hannukah Kwanzaa hasn't gottne nearly as many specials as Christmas, but it makes what's there stand out all the more. It also makes this episode a bit of a disapointment. See it does show off the holiday well, so even white dumbasses like me can undrestand it. The problem is the rest of the story well….

Yeah while the special does seem to represent Kwanzaa well, as far as I can tell, like with Festival of LIghts i'm an outsider looking in and I know it and am trying my best to be respectful and not act like I thoughly know a holiday that I don't participate in and is very important to a community I don't know all that well, everything else.. isn't very good. It also has one of the most out of nowhere batshit endings i've seen in a long time. Like ti's somehwat set up but man oh man does this one take a weird swerve. So let's look at all this shall we.

The episode follows the Prouds on a typical Christmas where they do the tried and true plot device of shopping on Christmas Eve when hardly anyone does that.. they all do it the days before. What changes though is our proud family runs into a homeless family: Joseph< Margaret and Stephanie. And the show pulled out all the stops as despite being only 11 episodes in, they got Samuel L. Jackson, Vivica A Fox and Raven-Simone, all big names at the time and now, with Raven in paticualr being heavily pushed by the network. I fondly remember her cover of grazing in the grass from the LIon King 1 and 1/2 which I somehow didn't get around to mentoning during my review of that trainwreck earlier this year.

All talented people who naturally do wonderfully. Trudy tries to give to them, while Oscar is a dick about it, assuming jospeh trying to help him with a dropped package is just the man trying to get at ip, making a crack about how we'll be homeless after all these gift, and generally trying to be unpleasant as possible.

I get what the episode is trying to do: They built oscar into a strawman , but one you see all the time: the kind of dickhead who assumes being homeless is a choice, that the homeless are lazy, and that homeless are a plauge to be gotten rid of instead of people who may of lost jobs, not be able to afford housing, or were thrown out by their families for being LBGTQ+, having a mental illness or any number of understandable reasons. It's why I can't fault the episode for wanting to tackle the subject nor using Oscar as the bad guy as with his knee jerk reactions to most things, quick temper and generally douchsiness, it's not a stretch to say this character dosen't respect the homeless. It's why having him be bigoted towards homosexuals in Louder and Prouder also wasn't a huge shock, as Oscar easily strikes me as the kind of guy who while he can be convinced to not be a dickhead about something that really shodun't be that hard to put yoru head around like Gay people have a right ot exist or homeless people need love and empathy not to be shamed for something that's not remotely their fault, and given both things are STILL stuff people need convincing on in 2022, it works. I admire the team for creating an everyman who can be an unlikeable dick one minute and entirely sympathetic the next, and thus is fairly maliable for stories.. while still being a very distinct and hilarious character. You woudln't mistake oscar proud for anyone else but he has many traits both good and bad of a man of his time… and sadly often of a man now.

The problem is they lean on it a bit too hard as they have a scene of him PUTTING A DOLLAR ON A STRING AND YANKING IT FORM CHARITIES. I'm all for cartoony shenanigans, it's one of the things this show really does best, but this stretches it a bit too far. Having Oscar just.. glefully not give to charity is too low even for him. Him being homophobic is defintely lower than this, but at least he gets called out on it by more than one person and got constantly humaited for it till his eventgual ephinay. Here he just gets mildly called out by penny and.. gives to charity later. it dosen't change the fact he was this bad. Oh and he gets a bit muddy and mistaken for homeless. BECAUSE IT'S SO BAD TO GET MISTKAEN FOR HOMELESS WHEN YOUR NOT HOMELESS AND SUCH AH IGH CRIME A YUK YUK YUK.

While this episode TRIES to be empathetic to the homeless it stumbles pretty bad in how it treats them. See there ar epeople who choose not to have a home, who live inc ampers or what have you and want to live the van or rv life. And tha'ts fine: if i't sfinacially sound for you or just th eoption you have, nothing worng with that. The film Nomadland outlines this wohle life style lovingly while not skimping on it's hardships or what would make people choose this. I highly recommend it, true masterpiece.

The problem is the episode comes off really confused as a result as it conflates the kind of people you see on the street begging just to survivie.. with someone who for their own reasons choose. The episode conflates being homeless with some higher calling, as if it's better than having possesions or being chained to the corprations that love our lives. And i'mnot saying living in an rv by choice or what have you isn't. I'm throughly aware captalisim is throughly broken. Wanting to break from it for something diffrent isn't a shame.

The shame.. is assuming all people living on the streets are doing so voluntarily. I dont' think that was the writers intent, but it's the way the episode comes off. The Angel Adults come off very preachy, with Joseph's response to getting christmas gifts, a well meaning gesture by trudy to make sure they too can celebrate by saying he isn't part of the corprations "end of the year selling scheme". or something to that effect. Basically

See it's one thing to me to critcize the captatlist nature of america: the system is often broken, we do often fill our needs with stuff, and we do often put too much importance on having stuff. I agree with it that far. But shaming someone for trying to give you a gift or invite you into their home comes off gross. Am I saying the Prouds are on some higher plane devoid of critcisim of their lifestyles because they were nice enough (or rather everyone but oscar were nice enough), to invite some people needing a warm meal into their home? Fuck no. While what Trudy and Penny are doing is noble, and Oscar is a butt for not going along with it, they can still be flawed> Trudy herself is pretty awful this episode: She gets oscar a nice watch, which itself isn't bad, she said they weren't doing gifts but does something nice fo rhim anyway.. but her expecting a gift RIGHT AFTER both telling oscar they didn't have to and having himn bring that up is shitty. Now granted him trying to cover with a fruit cake the Angels just gave him IN FRONT OF HER was bad and her trying to give his watch to joseph was fair enough as a result, but it's still shitty to give a gift just to expect someone to give it to you in return. That's .. not what christmas is about. I gave kev a gift soley beacuse he's a good friend, and he gave me one back soley to be nice and in the spirit of things. I got Digimon Cookie Cutters because Kev was being enerous and decided to return the sentiment, not because I was expecting him to give me anything. That's how Christmas should work. It's in the good spirit to return a gift with a gift, but it's not why you do it.

The problem is Joesph criticizes their whole middle class life style and won't shut up about it for a chunk of the episode: he outright says the corprate scheme thign while his wife and daughter understandably feel a tad akward not celebrating the holiday, but are polite about it. It's fine to crticize the worse aspects of christmas, MANY a work has crictized how commerical it is all the way back to charlie brown over 40 years ago. But to do so to someone whose welcomed you into their home for the nobelest of reasons, made sure you got a nice gift, and has been NOTHIGN but kind to you isn't right. He coudl've just said "i'm sorry we don't celebrate christmas, but we aprpicate the gesture" There, done. He also does needle oscar later about his materliasim.. but at least there he has what SEEMS to be the high ground and the poitn he makes is a very good one for any holiday: that the family you have is yoru true home, not the stuff.

It also helsp that only oscar.. acts matierlizstic. When Martha does the same to trudy, saying they got tired of captalistic society in so many words, Trudy has again DONE nothing. When Jospeh talks abotu the proceeses turkey goes through, NO ONE had done anything. I get ther'es a lot to critcisie, and i'm not of the shut up and take it school of thought myself.. but when no one is actively being a dick about these topics, maybe just.. let it go. I get not backing down with politics, as some issues like trans rights, gay rights, and black lives mattering.. are all things that shouldn't be talked down and if someone says somnething stupid about them, I get fighting for it. Because it's not a two sided issue at all. Here though.. I coudl see the prouds getting a modified turkey because it's what they coudl find or afford or doing christmas because they enjoy the spirit of giving and family instead of JUST for the shit they get. Someone can be wrong and it be more complicated than that… having the Angels protrayed as entirely right just feels.. off. They feel smug. The end reveal, that in a way they AREN'T homeless, doesn't help that but we'll get to it. It feels like a very tonedeaf privlaged way to write a homeless person: not as a person but some crticising morallly righteous pillar.

The next part does work better, as they come back the next day to celebrate Kwanzaa.. by just.. manefesting into the house.

SO we get a nice education on Kwanzaa, how i'ts more abotu the spirit of family and community, how it's celebrated, and going over the 7 nights, mostly through montage. And this is where the episode honestly shines: Kwanzaa is underrepsrented and not knowing it well myself it was nice to learn what each nigh twas about. it's only real flaw.. is that it's too little of the episode. The setup for this could've been done much faster. I do say a scene with Penny's friends being standoffish with her new friend for being homeless, and her admitting she's fine with it and that her parents are so close their her best friends and she likes reading, is nice: ther'es no stigma for her nor is she a lesson for them to learn, as NONE of those entitled shits learn it. She's just how she is and if they dont' accept it it's on them.

But otherwise.. it w oudl've been nicer to have more of the 7 nights and to show oscar's character growth more convincingly as by the end he likes them. This special.. really needed to be an hour or at least be more about this. Instead they tack on christmas just to get both holidays out of the way and tack on oscar being a douche so he can learn a lesson I guess> the only bit they coudln't of cut out is bobby. Seeing him come down the chimeny was a late christmas present as I had no idea he was in this one. Any episode with Bobby is a good time, and the fact he knows Kwanzaa the best out of the prouds made me smile.

But the spirit of family and community, of them singing songs, giving to charity, just basking in each others togetherness.. that really moved me and made me want to learn more about the holiday. It's a well constructed beautiful holiday not based on getting, but on simply togetherness and ones roots and I admire it for that. I just wish the episode was more about celebrating that and less about a half assed homelesness aseop that woudl've been better served not being shoved into this episode.

The episode also would've worked better.. if the ending wasn't so baffling. Felix returns early needing a forman and since Joesph worked in construction Oscar goes lookign for him.. only for the shelter lady to have no recelction of them visting. The prouds are happy for what the Angels brought them.. only to return home to find their fruitcake has turned into a cool tehcncolor tree.. and the angels are above it, apparenlty being spirits or something having come to teach them about kwanzaa before returning to I guess.. heaven?

This is easily the most baffling ending to a work i've reviewed.. and keep in mind i've reviewed "Scrooge buys an island and pays actors just to teach louie a lesson". The threshold is pretty vast but "Kwanzaa angels" kinda tops it. Not only does it DEMOLISH the homelessness aseop, as they arne't homeless and don't seem to be the ghosts of a homeless family, but it makes all the "their world is better " posteruting that was already packed with unforunate impilcations even worse. Their just beign condescnding.. for no reason. Joesph is a dick because he's an angel. He dosen't have to actually life without food or running water and thus really can't back up his claims. It's heaven. They've got all you can eat and free every media you can imagine and rideable giant pigs. You can't critcize someone for living in a captalist society when you live in heaven, where captalism is dead and you can have whatever you want and party with Leslie Jordan , Prince, David BOwie, Ed Asner , Betty White, Jesus himself…

This episode meant well.. but sometimes meaning well only gets you so far in my good graces. This episode woudl've been better off as one episode about homelessness and another about Kwanzaa angels, which is a sentence I was indeed paid to write but really wish hadn't happened. I really wish this was a better episode, this holiday deserves better and so does the proud family. Maybe they can try again in a future season of Louder and Prouder. one.. can certainly hope.

[discountreactionimagewarehouse]

Raven Simone, it's called being sarcastic.

[gomzdrawfr]

Please tell me Ghost gets to pat a cat. He looks like he really wants to pat one, even if it's not Raven. 🥺

[context]

anon don't worry he'll get those pat, just...careful for what you wish for though

[squash1]

:’-)

[greywaren / young royals]

[wwprice1]

A few more awesome DC covers for January.

[soochristina]

Raven Baxter played by Raven Simone pt2

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Characters, book, and author names under the cut

Tyrannus Basilton (“Baz”) Grimm-Pitch/Simon Snow - Carry On Series by Rainbow Rowell

Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard - All For The Game by Nora Sakavic

[forestshadow-wolf]

Soap with a pet raven. Just straight (gay hehe) up.

Nobody knows how he got his raven friend, but it's honestly the size of a small eldritch horror

Also it has beef with Ghost

[gomzreblogfr]

Happy Birthday to Raven too

[goshushin]

They went out for drinks (simonskk) *ocskk/Eric, alt ver. + extra under cut