#Rhythm Journey

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[a-path-by-the-moon]

[nevertheless-moving]

I'm not quite there yet but I KNOW that after wind and truth featuring Szeth and Kaladin's Unwell Adventure, I WILL be adding Kalaszeth to my all encompassing mental cabinet of beloved possible Kaladin ships.

---

Which introduces a new funniest time travel companion for a new funniest post book 5 time travel scenario.

Stormlight au 31:

Szeth, having jump scared the bridge crew by appearing lightly glowing in the dark while they were having stew, been hastily ushered by the captain into the bridge four barrack, only to sit on the floor and stare dead eyed at nothing: Kaladin, standing between the crew and the man on the floor:

---

Lopen looked around. As usual, he could tell that the men were silently crying out for him, the Lopen, to take charge and speak.

"So!" he said cheerfully. "Gotta say gancho, very excited to meet an old friend of yours! Nice to take some mystery out of that mysterious past of yours, eh?"

Kaladin shifted from foot to foot, face twisting a bit. He had been acting strange since that terrifying glowy high storm vision of his a few days back. Even more broody than usual, which was storming saying something.

"It must be difficult," Rock said slowly. "Being Shin man with great powers and shardblade."

A shardblade which he had summoned unceremoniously, causing all of bridge four to scramble for weapons, only for the crazy man to hand it to Kaladin with a mumble, then sit on the floor.

Kaladin had sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, before placing it, very, very carefully, under his bed.

A storming shardblade. Under the Captain's bed.

"A Shin with a shardblade who wears white," Moash added sarcastically, eyes flickering to the Captain's bed even more than usual.

(White may have been a stretch, what with all the mud and possibly dried blood. Still. Lopen could perhaps see Moash's point.)

"Yes," Rock said. "Why, were I more suspicious man, I would say Captain, this man on the floor, he can not be Assassin in White? Surely most wanted, most dangerous man in all Roshar is not here, in the place we sleep, asking for aid. Surely it would have been mentioned if this man who caused the war we even now are a part of, was old friend of yours?"

"I..." Kaladin trailed off. "I promised to try and protect..."

The whole bridge crew groaned, Skar even throwing his spear at the ground. Bad form, that.

"Storm's sake lad!" Teft growled, arms in the air. "You can't befriend and save every wanted criminal you meet!"

"If it is of help -"

The men started at the unnerving dead voice coming from the so far quiet assassin.

"We are not truly friends. Merely -"

He said a word, presumably in his language, then frowned, the first recognizably human emotion that had crossed his face.

"I do not know this word in Alethi. In Azish it is I think -"

He said something that made Sigzil choke on air, jaw dropping. "Uh," the Worldsinger stammered out. "I. Ah. I think. That might be the wrong term."

The Captain seemed to pale slightly. "Szeth, we can talk about that later," he said quickly. "We should probably figure out a plan for you to surrender to Dalinar - or Elokhar - without you getting immediately executed - Yes, Dalinar is probably-"

"Perhaps," Sigzil interrupted, voice higher than usual. "You could define the meaning of the word you used before."

"Sigzil!" The captain hissed.

"Captain?" Sigzil challenged, voice still slightly too high.

"I was emotionally and mentally unwell," the assassin in white said in his monotone. He paused. "Even more so than currently."

A few of the men took a step back.

"Stormblessed..." he looked up at Kaladin, and his voice seemed to soften, just the slightest bit. "He felt pity for me. Then he helped me feel. Helped me think that perhaps, someday I would feel the desire for life. He did this despite no great love for my being."

Many of the men nodded at that. Sigzil's shoulders slumped in relief.

"He accomplished this primarily by fucking me in a cave."

The nods froze. Sigzil closed his eyes.

The Captain slapped a hand to his face.

"The translation for this from my language would be 'pity fuck', but there is more cultural nuance..." The Assassin shrugged. "In any case it is not a bond such as that of friendship. My soul is still far too damaged for that."

"Szeth..." The Captain said, looking down at him with obvious concern. He glanced at the room, blanched at the men's expressions, then slowly pressed his head back into his hand.

Moash made an indecipherable noise and stomped towards the door, before making another noise and stomping back.

The Captain kept his palm pressed to his face.

A sudden wave of epiphany hit Lopen. "Hold on. Now hold on just a storming minute!"

The room turned slowly from staring at their Stormblessed leader to staring at Lopen.

He pointed accusingly at the Captain. When the man failed to pull his massive hand from his beautiful face, Lopen faced the others, glaring.

"I know that I joined bridge four late! But are you telling me that before I got here, the whole famous 'pulling everyone out of bridge crew misery' was actually the captain...I mean did storming all of you..."

He made a deliberate gesture, pointer finger moving extra emphatically to make up for the missing hand with which to form a hole, meeting each man's eyes with a challenge.

Drehy let out a wheeze. He and Skar looked at each other before dissolving into quiet, helpless laughter. Drehy sank to his hands and knees, wheezing more, and Skar bent over, tears streaming down his face as he gasped around his laughing.

"That ain't an answer!" he said indignantly.

He looked at Teft, but the older man had put both hands over his face. His shoulders seem to shake occasionally. Lopen's eyes narrowed as he turned to Rock.

The horneater had a hand over his mouth, but he brought it down, coughing once as he stroked his beard.

"What," Rock said mildly. "You thought it my stew that bring back men's will to live? You honor me, the Lopen."

Lopen gaped at that, and he wasn't the only one. The handful of other 'late' additions, men who had been rescued on the field from other crews, started in shock.

The rest of the crew completely lost it at that point.

Skar and Drehy collapsed further, banging their fists on the floor. Bissig started laughing as well, falling onto Natam, who had made a strange grunting whine at Lopen's question, a whine which grew louder at Rock's reply.

Moash's lips turned up reluctantly before a snort escaped against his will. He fell back against a wall, knees seeming to grow weak. Another snort. "Imagine!" he gasped out. "If he just started punching people in the stomach, ran around like a madman, and expected people to follow him!"

Leyten went from chuckling to a booming laugh at that, clutching at Pete and Yake to stay upright. He looked at Lopen, who made another questioning gesture. That was enough to send all three toppling over, Leyten loud enough to be heard the next barrack over.

Renarin squeaked from the corner as Natam hit the wall beside him in mirth, howling. Talek's breath, he had forgotten the lad was there, light eyes wide in shock.

Shen was next to him. Was it Lopen's imagination, or did even his eyes seemed to be sparkling with mirth? No storming way...not the parshman...the Captain wouldn't...

"Crazy!" Torfin agreed, cackling. "What kind of idiots would start pooling all their pay to buy storming bandages for doomed men, start laughing during chasm duty, swear to stand by their storming bridge, if they didn't have at least one, um - uh -"

"Stormblessing!" Leyten offered with a gasp from the ground.

Torfin pointed at him, "Stormblessing!" he repeated with a yell. "To remind them that life was worth living!"

Lopen narrowed his eyes, finally coming to a conclusion. "You fellows are taking the piss out on me," he accused.

"You know Captain," Drehy said, whole body heaving, tears still streaming down his face as he lay helplessly on the floor. "I still get nightmares."

This inspired a new wave of laughter mixed with jeers about their own issues, and suggestions for how the captain could help. Lopen shook his head, grinning widely at the room full of uproarious men. Some of his best work. And mostly achieved on accident, which was the best kind of accomplishment!

The Captain finally pulled his hand from his face. There was color high in his cheeks, and he was frowning, but the corners of his eyes were creased with suppressed laughter.

"Sorry Drehy, one time offer," he said dryly, to hoots.

And Lopen," he said, faux apologetic. "I am sorry for the oversight. I... didn't realize you were interested."

The crew edged well into hysteria, most men only able to breathe in strangled gasps and wheeze out an occasional ''Stormblessing!'

Bridge four's captain was good at playing straight man, when the mood struck him.

The Lopen huffed, but decided magnanimously to move past the slight to his honor. Even if it turned out they weren't joking.

"It's still nice to be included," he sniffed. "Ain't that right, Renarin."

The Brightlord seemed to shrink as attention was drawn towards him, face a brilliant red as he pressed into the corner. Some of the laughter trailed off as the crew remembered he was there. More of it got louder, even less uncontrolled.

The Captain's eyes widened and the flush on his cheeks spread to his ears.

"Renarin! Oh - Jezrianssake, the men are full of chullshit, alright? I didn't - that wasn't -"

The Captain gestured helplessly. "The thing with Szeth was - we were - the world was going to -"

He threw up his arms as Renarin's eyes just got wider.

"It was the stew!" He said desperately, turning to look at Eth, who looked bemused back at him. "It really was the stew!" He pleaded.

"I know Captain," Eth said soothingly. "I know I came in a bit later, but I know. That's not exactly something these idiots would be able to keep secret."

"Things might have gone faster, though..." Skar said leadingly, which set off another round of helpless groans and gasps for air.

The Captain rolled his eyes, scoffing, still the perfect comedic straight man.

...He did get the whole joke though, right? The bit of truth in the jeers? The Lopen was not generally interested in the more manly sex but Storms. It was sometimes hard to tell if the Captain realized just how pretty he was, just how much people reacted to his general...Stormblessedness. Not to mention the glowing! Everyone loves a man who can glow and run up walls.

Hm. Maybe that helped explain the Captain and the Assassin.

Moash stumbled, still snorting, over to the Man in White - to Szeth - looking down at him, appraising.

Kaladin grew tense.

Gancho had been especially strange around Moash for the last few days.

"Assassin," he said thoughtfully. "Are you sure it was just pity?"

The wide eyed man, who had remained utterly impassive as the room fell apart around him, cocked his head as Moash leaned down.

"There's a certain kind of person who finds killing light eyes, especially powerful lighteyes, a rather..."

Kaladin cleared his throat, interrupting. "We're not killing the king."

Moash turned sharply, glaring at Kaladin.

"I do not wish to kill anymore," Szeth whispered. He paused, then spoke again.

"I will kill if the Blackthorn orders, or if you ask, Kaladin Stormblessed, son son Tanavast."

Kaladin winced. "Maybe let's not mention...that whole last part when we go to the King. We...we should definitely practice exactly how we're going to explain all this."

He starting towing the still blank faced - no there was a bit of confusion there, if you were looking - infamous Assassin to his office, the men letting out the best jeers they could (considering their incoherent state) as they went.

"You should for sure mention the 'pity fuck' thing though," Lopen called helpfully. "The King will definitely be interested in that."

Continued Here

[little-water-bears]

*gives him a forehead kiss*

[siblingshuffle]

Sibling Shuffle: The LaLinde Family!

Here’s the LaLinde family! I looked at the concept art a lot with these guys lol

(I have no one to look over all my stuff IRL & I accept constructive criticism) (my ref. for Tempo’s armor had some weird shadows & I don’t think it looks right but at this point it’s fine)

This honestly took less time than I expected. Really surprised at how well I managed to copy Dr. LaLinde’s pose from her first appearance… anyway

Since there wasn’t much we were shown of Vesper Woman, I had to fill in a couple of gaps (and by that I mean a lot of them). We know she is supposed to annoy Tempo into experiencing emotions, and we know her job… but not much else. She didn’t even have a civilian name / design, and I don’t know if she was supposed to get one later on… so yeah this is what I’ve got for her! I’m really happy with her hair. I think it looks fun :)

As with Piano before her, Dr. LaLinde’s purple hair stood out too much from the rest of the cast. I felt a little guilty because it’s a pretty unique character feature & I already made Piano’s hair change, so she gets to keep a streak of purple.

Tempo gets a dress the same length as her original pencil skirt, but it more closely resembles the concept art for her civilian design. I don’t really have a reason other than I like her concept art outfit & because I can

WARNING: this is a VERY long post. I ramble a LOT.

Lore under the cut!

Around the time that Blues attempted to run away, Dr. LaLinde began work on her own robot child, Tempo. Tempo was created as a “child” more than a “tool” (much like the Light kids). Tempo was, like many kids, cheerful and full of energy.

Assuming the ARTS Convention is a yearly event, I’m going to say Tempo met Blues at one of those. Blues isn’t very comfortable in a crowded area, so he was already a bit thrown off when Tempo ran up to him all excited to meet another robot like her. It took a little bit for him to adjust to her enthusiasm, but they were pretty fast friends :)

Unfortunately, then Tempo was caught in a cave-in later that year, which basically destroyed her. Dr. LaLinde rebuilt her, but when it came time to restore her IC chip, she hesitated. She had lost her daughter once; was she willing to risk going through that again? And she had built Tempo with human-level emotions, who’s to say she wouldn’t end up traumatized? So, she set the IC Chip in a drawer in her desk, where Tempo’s personality and emotions sat until after the next ARTS Convention.

There are a few minor changes to how their reconciliation storyline goes from there. Tempo doesn’t forgive Dr. LaLinde immediately - she’s a little hurt that her mother let her stay dead for longer than was necessary. But she’s a very forgiving person, and makes an effort to trust and forgive Dr. LaLinde again, especially once they actually have an actual conversation about it.

Vesper Woman - who I’m giving the Civilian Name of "Rhythm" (because why would one sibling just. not have a personal name?) - was still created around MM4, (partially) to help Tempo restore her personality & emotions fully. I didn’t really change anything about her, more expanded on what there was already, which was not a lot but. she was literally introduced in the second-to-last issue so what can ya do.

She met Rock while he was trying to come to terms with the fact that he had been working for the bad guy. She tried to get him to cheer up a little, then brought him back to Geoworks HQ when he mentioned needing some help. And the other LaLinde’s recognized him (because they had been alive for longer than a week lol)

[848ellie]

Riding Free 🐎 Release your worries and let go of all tension. Feel the wind blow through your hair, reminding you that you are free. Riding with nothing but open skies ahead, you embrace the moment, each breath in sync with the rhythm of your horse. This is where you belong—free, wild, alive.

[satanicgingermom]

This au is overtaking me. Anyway here’s some extra lore bits that’s didn’t fit in the character sheets:

1. So Smile Precure’s insane growth spurt happens the years that Akane is in the hospital. As Akane is kinda in and out of consciousness that first year, it leads to her having grown like three inches whilst asleep, so her coordination is fucked. When she first starts physical therapy she trips over her own two feet so much that she almost injuries herself again. It was a rough year for the Smile Team. ( poor girls has insane growing pains and a bestie in the hospital. tragic)

2. Honoka and Nozomi actually study together! They’re not as close as Nagisa and Rin, but they are good friends now! Honoka is great at helping Nozomi study, because she’s been helping Nagisa study for years and Nozomi may get distracted easily but at least she actually wants to study.

3. So otona was kinda a mixed bag, but the idea of Saki wanting to study abroad to study baking is kinda everything to me? I’ve also lived in the city she wants to study in, it’s actually the place I watched splash star for the first time. It felt right. That said, fuck her marrying a random man, she and Mai have been together for years and have the healthiest dynamic out of everyone here. Saki’s the only one who will actually tell Mai what goes on in the damn theater.

4. It’s been a hot minute since I watched suite, but in my memory they were all dramatic bitches with crazy pressure on their shoulders and then Kanade. From Kanade’s pov it looks like they’re being shitty, but this is actually just because of some crazy misunderstandings. Hibiki in particular has a lot on her plate, and it’s not her fault Kanade didn’t make any new friends! Kanade smh you’re such an idiot <3

5. Mana still has no idea Rikka has a crush on her. It’s actually becoming painful to witness. Alice is very thankful that Rikka has a new project to keep her distracted.

6. Is the theatre haunted? Yes. Why doesn’t Akane think it’s haunted? The ghosts like her. They’re leaving her to her own devices because this is the most comedy they’ve had in years. The Sunbeam itself is on a magical fault line, so that’s why it’s such a creature hotspot, but there are ghosts sitting in the wings watching all these girls fuck up

7. Anna is a whole mess into herself, but, uh, let’s just say she has a lot of growth to do before she’s actually a good person. Oh she likes Rin a whole lot, but boy howdy does she have some ulterior motives.

[tsunagite]

Rotaeno doodles

[7grandmel]

Rip of the week: 19/08/2024

Ascension to Apotheosis

Season 8 Featured on: The Joke-Explainer 7000™'s Highest Quality Rips: Sunrise

Ripped by Neofall

Requested by eg_9371! (Request Form)

Tentative rip name: Apotheosis to Heaven

A big part of why I opened up the Request Form, and why I continue to use it for ideas for the blog, is to give me inspiration in areas of SiIvaGunner to which I'm less well versed. There are some games and some rips by extension where I feel completely unable to write anything of substance, because I just lack the needed context for the rip to hit for me - but other times, the form opens my eyes to rabbitholes which I'm all too happy to delve into, through rips like Plantasia 2, mlp racism anthem (comix zone arrange), guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​? and more. I've learned to trust eg_9371's judgement on quality as a requestee, and many parts of his massive catalogue of contributions have shown me quality in areas I'd never thought to look, through rips like kris gaming and Plasmaseeker. And so, I said, you know what? Let's give his endorsement one more shake, and approach a rip I'd initially looked past as not being for me. With that, I hit play on Ascension to Apotheosis - and was met with one of the biggest surprise hits I'd yet heard in the season.

Journey is a game that hits home for a lot of people, yet it was just outside of my periphery when it originally released back in 2012 - I was an 11-year old without a PS3. But even without attachment to Journey, Apotheosis as an ending theme to the game hits home to a degree I wasn't expecting, a swelling orchestral piece going through feelings of anticipation, sorrow, bittersweetness, acceptance, all throughout the span of a 7-minute long composition. The overall word to describe it, of course, would be grand. Yet much the same can be said, on the complete opposite end method, for the song with which Ascension to Apotheosis is being mashed up with, Ascension to Heaven by independant artist Xi. Like with the aforementioned Plasmaseeker, this is a song I know damn near nothing about, most prominently being featured in various Japanese rhythm games but seemingly also having a presence within the Geometry Dash community. Yet despite holding even less of an emotional connection to me than Journey did, it cannot be denied just how impressive of a piece Ascension to Heaven truly is, pairing a pounding electronic percussion with mellow strings and absolutely off-the-rails piano rolls - what feels like three entirely different forms of music and speed, mesh together for a piece with a sound I can only describe with the imagery of a lone bird flying toward the sun.

Loneliness, bittersweetness, strife, failure, perseverance - the emotions distilled into me through these two tracks are ones that were no doubt eons stronger for someone with attachment to either of the works from beforehand, and most definitely strong within ripper Neofall upon creating Ascension to Apotheosis. These are two songs that are both pulsing with emotion, yet accomplish it through very sonically different methods, one through swelling orchestral resonance, and the other through a pounding piano-driven rhythm. Yet that emotional core remains, and through some miracle and no doubt tons of love for the pieces featured, Neofall found a way to blend the two pieces into one grand feature - leveraging Apotheosis' atmosphere and grandure in order to use it as background scoring to Ascension to Heaven's insane melody. Even with one piece falling to the background and another to the foreground, however, it never feels as if one is overpowering the other - the two leverage one another's strengths seamlessly for a listen that manages to hit harder than just the sum of both's parts.

Without a thorough understanding of music creation or of either track's true sonic makeup, part of me does still feel uneducated, in a sense, to be writing about a rip of this quality in sound and scale - it's a mashup like many others, yes, yet every part of it feels ironed out and sandpapered to sheer seamless perfection between two tracks that would otherwise feel borderline incompatible. Yet...seeing such quality persist within areas of the channel that I remain uneducated on, feels like part of the magic of the SiIvaGunner channel. We are currently on SiIvaGunner's 8th year in the running, with its rippers having grown all the more able to express their passions and interests than ever before - and Season 7 and Season 8 have, in turn, given us some of the most ambitious, personal rips we've yet seen on the channel. Be it Luna, mi Amor, edge of a balcony, The Paragoomba and the Wiggler, or so many more, we've had an onslaught of rips still only made by one to three people that feel creatively driven and magical enough to be justifiably mistaken for months-in-the-making passion projects. And even without a direct tie to its source material, Ascension to Apotheosis gives me that very same vibe: Of one ripper seeing what can be done through utilization of two tracks close to their heart, and going absolutely hog-wild in ensuring the execution be up to the standards raised by so many other parts of the SiIvaGunner team.

It is a blessing that we can be eight years into this channel's life, and still have rips of this caliber slip entirely through the cracks as if they're nothing but everyday, average rips. Today, the hearts of the SiIvaGunner team is on full display at just about every day of its operation - and I am eternally grateful that such seemingly niche pursuits like Ascension to Apotheosis remain part of that.

[curehanni]

Let's take ibuprofen together!!

[chris-ostkreuz]

Beats & Ballots: How Berlin’s Techno Scene Shapes Politics

In the heart of Europe lies Berlin, a city that pulsates with the beat of techno music and the rhythm of political engagement. Once a divided metropolis, it has transformed into a haven for electronic music enthusiasts and progressive thinkers alike. Here, where bass drops echo through abandoned warehouses and the scent of liberation lingers in the air, the lines between the dance floor and the…

[minotaurmerkaba]

[mrfixerai]

Title: Infinite Rhythm (קצב אינסופי)

[freshjjindahouse]

Vienna by Billy Joel is the song of all time for young creatives so I'm posting the lyrics here (although you should really just go listen to the song)

Slow down, you crazy child you're so ambitious for a juvenile But then if you're so smart, tell me Why are you still so afraid?

Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? You'd better cool it off before you burn it out You've got so much to do and Only so many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told.. That you can get what you want or you can just get old You're gonna kick off before you even Get halfway through When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

Slow down, you're doing fine You can't be everything you want to be Before your time Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight Tonight... Too bad but it's the life you lead you're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need Though you can see when you're wrong, you know You can't always see when you're right. You're right

You've got your passion, you've got your pride but don't you know that only fools are satisfied? Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

Slow down, you crazy child and take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while it's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

And you know that when the truth is told that you can get what you want or you can just get old You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through Why don't you realize, Vienna waits for you When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

This is what Billy Joel said about the song:

"You don’t have to squeeze your whole life into your 20s and 30s trying to make it, trying to achieve that American dream, getting in the rat race and killing yourself. You have a whole life to live."

[wickedzeevyln]

The Song I Live In

A song can hold me togetherwhen I’ve been torn apart,when I’m at the vergewhere jagged edges jut outpopping bloated brightmany a things of life. Lost notes coming togetherand stitching my seamswith threads of sound. Music doesn’t ask for permission—it breaks in, a trespasserwho knows all the rooms of my head,who rewires the walls with chordsuntil they buzz and climb on air’s back.On the top of…

[siblingshuffle]

Sibling Shuffle: Maintenance Day

Sorry for the wait!

LORE:

This takes place between Game 4 and Game 5. Probably inspired by Rock tentatively trying to form a relationship with his family, Tempo just barely builds up enough confidence to share with Dr. LaLinde that she’s a bit uncomfortable with her messing with her systems unsupervised. They reach the agreement that Rhythm will stay in the room (which I forgot to clarify via dialogue, but Rhythm was going to be sent out to work on her job right after).

Rhythm has no idea how to contribute other than to try to add some levity to the moment lol

—————

The Clipboard notes: the official concept art sketches for Tempo are on the side, alongside Tempo’s Sibling Shuffle concept art (but in black & white)

Tempo and Dr. LaLinde? Having conversations to gradually rebuild the lost trust between them? Yeah that’s the aim 👍

—————

Next Up: Roll With The Punches