And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted-nevermore
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Quote the Raven, a duo comprised of Jordan Coaker and Kirsten Rodden-Clarke, has been performing together for more than 10 years. In that time they’ve released a memorable series of folk pop with an endearing “Americana meets east coast” vibe.
The duo has just released a brand new holiday track called ‘This Year.’ It’s everything you might expect from the band, which is to say, it has thoughtful lyrics, beautiful vocals and a chorus you’ll find yourself humming.
The track’s a bit different from their previous holiday offering Lonely Christmas Eve. It is, they explain, “a non-depressing follow-up.”
Back in 2020 I described ‘Lonely Christmas Eve’ as a “laid-back lament.” I’m going to stick with that. It is a sad, but beautiful, song that captures the ‘other side’ of Christmas; the reality that Christmas can be a dark and especially lonely season sometimes.
‘This Year’ takes a different view of the season. According to QTR, it’s inspired by “the struggles of trying to make everything perfect during the holidays but the joy of being surrounded by the ones you love!”
It’s a great track — check it out above, or wherever you get your music.
If you get the chance, see the band live. Their tour schedule is on their website.
More Christmas and Holiday Music from Newfoundland & Labrador
Stay tuned for more great Christmas songs from Newfoundland and Labrador.
I'm a big fan of traditional Christmas music, I love to hear a modern rendition of a 300 year old carol but, occasionally, a brand new song comes to my attention and dominates my Christmas listening. Newfoundland and Labrador's musicians have been holding their own in both regards. I’ll be sharing local songs —both old and new— from now until Christmas in my 2023 NL Music Advent Calendar.
Follow along on Instagram stories and get playlists here.
Hey guys, sorry it’s been so long since my last post but there’s a few reasons for that. Mainly irl problems getting in the way of everything, one of which is that I screwed up my artwork folders somehow and have been working on reorganizing them for the past several days. But, that said some of it has been a blessing in disguise since it let me separate my current artwork from the older pieces and get rid of some duplicate files to free up space on my laptop...
Anyways, I was also working on a few fanfic-related things on the side but I just couldn’t really seem to get invested in them all that much since those stories are mainly about different versions of Danny. I know Daniel from my “Ghost in the Machine” is technically an oc/clone, however, the feeling is the same as far as it getting a little repetitive at this point. I mentioned this in an earlier post about how I want to rewrite Owen’s story from the ground up and I feel like doing that might just be the change of pace I need right now. Basically, I don’t really want to work on any completely new oc-centered stories and at the same I also don’t want to keep getting stuck on the Danny-focused ones either whenever I try wrapping those up.
Owen is the very first fully-fledged Danny Phantom oc I ever created and all my early fanart of the series in general from back in high school was purely visual with a loose concept of Blood Blossoms that I eventually ended up merging together with his character. After that, I tried to think of some things we don’t see much of in the phandom and for me it came down to Necromancers. So that’s what Owen became, a necromancer born with the same power as Blood Blossoms to harm and repel ghosts which Vlad didn’t even know existed until he came across him purely by coincidence, or so he believed.
Later, Vlad learns there’s a lot more to Owen then that though and that unlike Danny, Owen is a truly troubled boy who has no one in his life that truly understand or can help him understand these strange powers. The only one who technically could help Owen was a ghost that, sadly, had an agenda of his own that went against Owen’s wishes and even got his parents brutally murdered by something much scarier than a ghost...
A demon, also known as a wraith that are darkness personified that steal the souls of both the living and the dead to create more of themselves and send those captured souls to their mistress Lilith, the Mother of Demons. I’ve talked about most of these concepts before but, the point I’m trying to make is that Owen’s story is really complex and it also means a lot to me. Creating him is what brought me into the phandom and I think it’s about time I give his story some fine tuning like I have with a lot of his artwork. I’m also considering bringing back some older or unused concepts too to give him a little more depth as a character instead of being the troubled orphan kid with powers that Vlad ends up choosing to adopt.
Oh, and before I forget!
From now on, Owen’s first story is going to be known as “Nevermore” instead of “The Grimoire” both as a pun since I love “The Raven” poem by Edgar Allen Poe, and because that’s what I’ll be renaming the “Unworld” concept from one of Butch’s videos I also borrowed since it seemed like the perfect prison for Lilith and her dark children. On the opposite end of that, I’m also renaming the “Elsewhereness” concept the “Evermore” too since it’s basically like a paradise or the closest equivalent of heaven in the Danny Phantom universe where there’s no sorrow, fear, or pain so it’s the ultimate goal for most ghosts who want to pass on for good and find eternal peace.
And that’s it for now! I’ve already taken a few notes on what else I’d like to change in this rewrite, but the overall plot of the story will stay the same which is about Owen learning more about his powers, his past and its secrets, and about Vlad realizing that he actually cares about this boy and might just be the ONLY person who can help save Owen from such a terrible threat. And in exchange, Vlad might just find the love and acceptance he’s been craving from Danny all along.
At A Staff Meeting...
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Divus Crewel: I was voted “friendliest classmate” in high school.
Mozus Trein: I was voted “most likely to become a clown”…
Dire Crowley: You think that’s bad? HA! I was voted “most likely to get rabies”!
When Grim Goes To The ADeuce Duo For Help...
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Grim: Yuu's mad at me, and I'm not sure why.
Deuce Spade: Okay, did you talk before they got upset?
Grim: …yes?
Ace Trappola: That's probably it.
This Is What Happens When You Marry the Cater Diamond...
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Cater Diamond: Hey, babe, remember how I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up my ADHD meds?
Y/N - Reader: Yes?
Cater Diamond: Well, it turns out they're all out for the next five days.
Y/N - Reader: ...
Cater Diamond: It's gonna be a fun week!
Y/N - Reader: I'm going to Trey's house.
Cater Diamond: Nuh-uh. Through sickness and health, motherfucker.