#oooooh spooky winter tale

[gypsi-kat01]

Ooooohhh, this is so good and spooky! Currently a WIP on AO3 (link above). Highly recommended! 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

The Keeper of Hell’s Gate

A Good Omens spooky winter tale

Rated E, human AU, 1890s, the Great Lakes region, supernatural happenings

Aziraphale’s solitary life as the lighthouse keeper of Hell’s Gate is upended by an eerie séance and the arrival of a mysterious, handsome stranger with a snake tattoo. As he struggles to hold on to reason, Aziraphale is drawn deeper into a tangled web of passion, fate, and the inexplicable.

“Stay a while longer,” Aziraphale urges softly.

Crowley meets his eyes again. “You’re very kind.” He slides his fingers past Aziraphale’s palm to stroke the base of his wrist. “But I’m not a nice man.”

Read it on AO3

@goodomensafterdark

[wingsofachampion]

Hey Tropius, what's your favorite story from your world?

One of my favorites from this world is a pretty spooky one about a young girl who has to fight against her "other mother" to save the people she cares about. (This one has a really pretty stop-motion movie that's a lot less spooky)

But one I'd recommend to you is a this old tale about a girl who's off on this big adventure to try and rescue her best friend from the snow queen who steals him away on a cold winter morning. It's generally more palatable and is a lot less likely to spook you if you look into it.

Oooooh, those sound super cool!

I have a bunch of favorite stories from my world, but I'll talk about the story of the very first adventure squad!

The story goes that, a very long time ago, around when the first mystery dungeons formed, a village was facing a famine. They were running out of food, and the villagers were fighting with each other over scraps.

A wise Slowking elder decided to venture into one of the recently-formed mystery dungeons, in search of some answer to the famine. To their surprise, the mystery dungeon was filled with food! Apples, berries, even cookies!

The Slowking wanted to gather the food for the village, but they were unable to withstand the dangers of the mystery dungeon, and had to retreat back to the village. They asked three adventurous young Pokemon to help gather the food, a Pikachu, an Eevee, and a Riolu, and they brought back a bountiful harvest from the mystery dungeon!

The Slowking elder was very impressed, and bestowed upon them the title of "Adventure Squad"! And they went on many more adventures, many more Pokemon were inspired to start their own adventure squads, and that's why we have adventuring teams in my world!

[improbablecarny]

The Best Good Parts of The Mystery of Time

As according to me

Knock knock, 2013! Who’s there? It’s Tobias Sammet with a fresh delivery of Avantasia, this time in the form of the spooky gothic tale that begins here. We’ve got old faces, we’ve got new faces, and we’ve got clock faces, so let’s get ready to face what lays at the heart of The Mystery of Time!

Storyline: On a cold winter night in a sleepy little village, a young scientist named Aaron Blackwell happens upon a nightmarish scene: spectral figures and the poor old victim at their center. After rescuing the Antiquarian, Aaron is gifted with a broken old mantlepiece clock, and becomes the center of a mysterious Nobleman’s plan to re-align the world’s seemingly fractured timeline.

Quick Notes:

This album utilizes a real orchestra in numerous songs.

The special edition came with a purely instrumental version of the album, which was pretty cool.

The storyline in this one hit the happy medium between The Metal Opera and The Wicked Trilogy: there still aren’t interludes or spoken parts, and the songs all stand on their own out of context, but there is a more obvious degree of dialogue between the characters. There’s a couple characters who aren’t real people but most of them are. The special edition also came with Aaron’s journal entries, which makes it much easier to follow the plot.

Relistening to TMOT and its sequel, I have to say these albums do some CRAZY cool sound design shit. Listen closely... can you find all the time/machinery motifs?

Come unravel the mystery... by listening to the album for free, officially, on Youtube! (Or Spotify)

Spectres

We all know how I feel about The Seven Angels, but I have to say that in terms of introducing the story, building the setting and setting the mood, Spectres may just be my favourite introductory song.

The dramatic 3/4 intro... it BEGS for choreography

Very strong first verse!

VERY strong second verse - again, where are the dancers at? There’s this languid, macabre sense to the pace of this song that makes it SO easy to visualize

“DANCE IN THE GLOOM / DANCE IN THE GLOOM! EVERY MOVE’S A STEP TO YOUR TOMB!” Chills! Chills! Chills!

Bring in the dancing ghosts!

The bassline before...

HARPSICHORD SOLO!

“Wiiiide open MIIIIIIIiiiiiiiii-iiinds”

The drum strikes at the end of the chorus but especially at the end of the song sound like fireworks and it does things to me.

The Watchmaker’s Dream

That time signature... of course I love it

The bright and forward-marching pace in the intro... *dreamy sighs*

The chugging of the guitars as you dip into the first verse? Divine.

“oooooh NOOOOOoooooo”

THE WATCHMAKER’S DREAM!

(The Watchmaker himself doesn’t show up until Ghostlights but Boy Howdy it’s worth the wait)

“SIMPLIFY SIMPLICITY” GOOD entrance

Arjen Lucassen guitar solo immediately followed by an insane Ferdy Doernberg organ solo... thank you for my life

Biff Byford outro lines... “for ALL the world TO see...” 

Black Orchid

The intro... is sexy. That orchestration tho

The piano backing the first verse

“NO TIME FOR DREEAMIIIING”

Joe Lynn Turner’s entrance... “As above / so below!”

THE FINAL HOUR... WHEN NEVER AND NOW.. BECOME.. ONE!

“Everybody’s craving”... that beat

The unforgettable “bllLAAACK OOOOoooRCHIIIiiiiiIID... strAAAANGE and bEEEAUTIFUUUuuul”

Where Clock Hands Freeze

The orchestration takes the intro again but in a much more lighthearted, rousing melody

Which quickly becomes...

the MICHAEL KISKE POWER METAL NUMBER YEAH

The prechorus rolling back the beat with the strings and piano... ahh

“There’s no time to lose... no chance to refuse....”

“....aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

The only disappointment here is still that Tobi doesn’t also go “aaaaaaaaaaaaaa” at the end of his verse

“Through your dark swamp / I walk on deductive conclusion” oh Aaron... you’ve got a big storm coming

 (literally... we’ll get there)

Sleepwalking

This one was used in the promo for an airing of The Titanic on a German tv station so that’s fun

Cloudy is cool I miss her

It’s the heavier-pop duet of the album and it’s extremely good

The second verse when the momentum really picks up... mwah

Savior in the Clockwork

This is the first whopper of the album at nearly 11 minutes, and for good reason

The orchestration again gets a chance to shine in the intro - listen to those soundscapes and soak it all in!

NAH NAH NAAAAAAAAH... NAH NAH NAAAAAAAAH

CHOIR!

“I envision how you lie awake and agonize” time to groove

“Oh every MOMENT everyBODY’S gonna THINK ALIKE!”

“Mind by mind / check the pace for all mankind” time to REALLY groove

When Tobi said “Am I half-asleep or half-unconscious... half a-dream?” I felt it in my soul

This is another one with a live arrangement that fucking rules if you can find it

“Do I dream?” GROOVE TIME AGAIN

Slow down and tap that cymbal baby

“Journey to the first sun... to the BLACK WOOOMB OF SPAAAAACE”

“FATHER PRIMAL SPAAAAAAAAACE”

“WOHOHH YEAAAAHAAH”

Are you STILL GROOVIN’?

The whole back and forth starting “I’ve seen the ocean swallow the ancient harmony”

Then again at “At crack of dawn...”

“RAISE YOUR MIIIIIIND” hi again Michi

When they switch and he takes the melody and then Tobi does the background choir embellishments 

That last chorus run! The POWER

Invoke the Machine

The sailing guitars in the intro... *chef’s kiss*

Introducing Ronnie Atkins! I’ve gushed about his performance as the Nobleman before and I’ll do it again!

The second verse is a primo example of what I mean with him - “these dreams that you hummed to yourself once / how far will you reach out to make them come true? Will you turn around and shirk from duty... ” A kind benefactor who may be just who you need to find answers...

“Ō̸̡̫̟̗̬̞̯̭̯͙͓̲͇̪̈́͝R̵̛̯͍̲̐ ̷͎̤̹̬̼̉̿̀́̋̕͜͠͠F̵̛͎̫̾̀͒̂͌̇̅̑̐̅̔O̵̱̟͉̾̀Ṛ̴̢̨͍̳̟̼̞̉͆̆͑́̀̅́͊̔͠C̴̢̧͓͖̝͍̭͖̯̻̯̤͈̞̓͊̀̿̓́̍̽̋̽͠Ë̷̡̮͙̒̓̿͑́̕ ̴̡̠̦͕̯̖̺̪̻̺̗̃̌́̽̑ͅͅT̷̛͉̮̲̦̭̜̭̝̝͙̭͖̗̉͋̈́͘͜͜H̶͚̖̩̪͕͌̀͘Ẻ̷̤̯̤̯̒́̑͌͘̚ͅ ̶̧̢͍̣̭͚̰̥̟̉͋̔̋͌̔̓̔̓̕͘P̶̛̮͈͗̍̿̃̎͑̃̀̀̓̾͝Ă̸̗̙͇̯̘͇̹͔̫̫͎̞̾́̒͐̊̅̕͠C̴̢͉̖̳̱͍͚̭̤̖̖̙̫͜͠Ę̴̝̦͇͈̯̬͍̖͗̃̏̃̒̔̿”

Oh haha, ok, so THAT’S definitely the bad guy

“As my glance wanders to... the far off land in the sky”

“Oh, hissing and SCREEAMIN’ - almost ALIII-III-IIIIiiive!”

IN THE NIIIIIGHT - can you hear that in the chorus? It’s happening: Meatloafification. (To transform, over time, into American rock musician Meat Loaf)

The instrumental when they actually invoke the machine... more chefs kisses

The journal entry for this one states that the Nobleman “literally exploded” into a monologue, which still tickles me

What’s Left of Me

It’s Eric Martin, baby! Despite being on a whopping 3 studio songs his involvement in the tour lineup and bluesy, hearty voice have cemented him as an integral part of the Avantasia experience for me.

The string intro... the vocal intro... the duet...

When I first saw the name of this song in the tracklist pre-release I went “oh, this song will end me”

I was right

Dweller in a Dream

“OH OHHHHHHHHHHHWHOAAAAHH”

“Memories / Of good intentions ghosting me“ Time to groove again!

“God if you’re out there / why do you make ME SPIN YOUR WHEEL?”

CHOIR CHORUS

These lyrics are wild

“Are you for real now or just a dweller in my dream?”

DO YOU HEAR ME / DWELLER IN A DREAM!

“Ooooooh.... why would your god-given will come off the track?”

“COME OFF THE TRACK?”

“DWELLER IN A DREAAAAAM”

The Great Mystery

The closer to this album is another great Bob Catley megasong, and I regularly sing the entire thing in the shower.

CARRY THE FLAME TO ACCELERAAAATE THE EVOLUTION OF AN AAAAAGE

The dramatic instrumentals behind “don’t be afraid / just look around!”

DON’T QUESTION WHAT YOUR EYES CAN’T SEEEEE

It’s extremely hard for me to just not quote the entire passage that begins at “I see a cold moon rise above those empty streets”

...AND AS YOU MARVEL AT THE ARTWORK IN YOUR HANDS / RICH IN DETAIL / SO FRAIL AND BEAUTIFUL

AND YOU FORGET THE RULES THE ELDERS ALWAYS MADE UP FOR YOU

TO SAVE YOUR PRECIOUS TIME

OH!

Both passages that begin with “I see tears shed over days...”

... and answers you DID FIND

To dare what YOU WOULD FIND INSIIIIIIDE

THE LAST CHORUS

“OOOOH IS IT REALLY NOT A DREAM?”

“THE GREAT MYSTERY”

“AAAAAAAAH”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH” 

waaaaaah  😭

BONUS TRACK: THE CROSS AND YOU

To my knowledge it has nothing to do with the TMOT story. It sounds a lot like a lost Edguy song more than anything.

It has a hard rock edge that sets it apart significantly from the more symphonic songs on the album

“Allllll... the ways...”

I do dig the theatrical tone at “The cautionary voice that shatters your brain”

It’s the end of the album, but the story doesn’t end there! We’ve got a world of revelations ahead of us in the next leg of the story... and you can make time for that, right?

Cast List:

Tobias Sammet as Aaron Blackwell Michael Kiske as The Antiquarian Ronnie Atkins as The Nobleman Eric Martin as The Beggar Cloudy Yang as She Bob Catley as Epiphany Joe Lynn Turner as Reason Biff Byford as Science