2025-08-20: Lento
- Log: 2025-08-20
- Cast: So-young Park, Ririka Kawase
- Where: Bunkamura Halls, Shibuya
- OOC Date: August 19, 2025
- IC Date: June 28, 2012
- Summary: Even So-young has to slow down sometimes, especially when a Palace's fatigue hits in the middle of morning practice.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
The practice sessions that So-young runs for her concerts are as unorthodox as everything else about her. She's familiar enough now with the core orchestral members that she can trust them to look after themselves and put in the practice without being overwhelmed by her rather bombastic personal brand of conducting, so afternoon practice is rare, and even during morning practice she tends to focus on the soloists she picks out for each concert, ensuring that she has enough time and space to weave their part into the rest of the ensemble.
But one thing they _do_ tend to be is doggedly consistent. You can't accuse So-Young Park of not having energy even on the worst of days, which makes it all the more odd that she's almost zombied her way through today's practice. She's waved off talk of being ill, just citing a very bad night's sleep and having enough energy to at least snipe back and forth with one of the trombonists when he jokes about her being out drinking. Now she's taking a moment in the performer's lounge to look quite unusually out of place, almost curled up on one of the chairs as she sips an energy drink.
You can't just explain 'oh I was crawling around inside a mafia boss' head last night which was presented as a giant flying bank filled with people who were ATMs and I manifested my desire for artistic freedom so that it could explode things and the cathartic backlash and muscle fatigue have combined to leave me dead on my feet today', but the throbbing headache she's trying to work through is certainly making it a tempting option.
"Thank you, Noguchi-san," she offers a sympathetic smile to a younger female flutist who's been fussing over her, "I'll be alright. Just give me a few minutes." Of course, So-young immediately dramatically flops to one side once she's left and makes a noise like 'guehhhh'.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Yes, any serious and established performer will, of course, practice whatever required material on their own. A practice like this isn't for learning the material, but for learning how to work with the other performers, and to learn how the conductor wants the piece to be played...
Ririka's not part of the main ensemble, of course--she still has schooling and other things happening, of course. (Including her recent Sumaru TV appearance with her rock band.) But a guest performer is something she's more than happy to do, even if if it's one more thing on her busy schedule, but she hates to disappoint anyone...
And she noticed how off So-young seemed today, of course, but... even beyond that she kept sneaking glances her way. Something seemed off, but she couldn't be sure... but either way she was concerned. So when So-young went to go sit in the longue, after a bit Ririka quietly stuck her head in. "Park-san? Are you okay?"
She's a pretty tall girl, 5'10" in all, with long brown-black hair and red eyes. And she's dressed nice, but still casual, black t-shirt and skirt, and sneakers.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young has gone full dramatic wilting goth at the moment. She tends to show up to the orchestral practices in rather rich dark dresses that wouldn't look out of place in Harajuku street fashion, and between that and the way she's laid out with a hand draped across her forehead she really looks like she's going for a full-on vogue session. Her hair - white with long black streaks running through it to emulate the keys of a piano - practically falls over her face, and her face is hidden behind her jacket to block out the light.
"Gueh," she repeats again out loud - but at least she's polite enough to immediately lift up and offer a bright smile, positively hauling herself up to vertical with a will of effort more than anything else. "Ah, Kawase-san! Good work today." She's definitely just kind of saying that automatically given how out of it she's been, but at least the smile is genuine enough. "I hope the selection isn't too eclectic this time around, but I couldn't just pass up the theme, you know?"
... that's... the other part of So-young's programmes that requires some adjustment. Sometimes you never really know what you're going to get, and whatever 'theme' the conductor has planned includes a traditional concerto grosso for strings as its opening piece before mixing - mixing! - into a lively piece taken from a recent videogame and adapted heavily for the orchestra by So-young herself.
"Oh, don't worry about me," she adds with a wave and another smile. "This is Shibuya! You have to take the good nights with the bad. Sometimes Tokyo can't help but be loud, I'm finding, and I've been spending a little time in Sumaru lately. I suppose I just got used to the quiet."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka has to admit--piano hair is kind of awesome.
She'll take the complment. She puts in the work, after all... and where others might call the themes ecclectic, Ririka finds them exciting. Mixing a classical piece into a video game arrangement is exactly the kind of thing she loves, and while she would never disparage the classical, she loves seeing all of the ways music can be remixed or given a fresh context.
"Not at all, Park-san!" gushes Ririka as she steps more fully in. "I think it's brilliant! The way you took that synthesizer backbeat and translated it to a string arrangement was inspired! It's the kind of thing that makes your concerts amazing to listen to."
"Oh, I see," Ririka says as So-young speaks of it being loud in Tokyo. "I guess it can, huh...?" She might be tapping her fingers rhtyhmically on her thigh a little as she talks--the keen-eyed might notice it's in time with the melody line of her piano solo. "Oh, okay, if you're sure. I just..." She pauses a moment, glancing off to the side. "... well, I thought something might have happened, but maybe I was wrong." She looks back to So-young with a slightly awkward smile. "I'm sure you'll get used to Tokyo again in no time."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young tends to sort of self-select her team to be people who are willing to push the boundaries of classical music, mostly by annoying anyone who isn't enough that they don't want to work with her in the first place. There have been rumours of occasional shouting matches between her and some of the more crusty members of the orchestral suite... but on a more positive note, that has given her a lot of opportunity to change around the team and include many guest musicians.
She gets to preen over Ririka's gushing, which does seem to help lift her spirits a lot - not that they seem to need much lifting, though. While she might be clearly tired, she simultaneously seems remarkably energized, bursts of excitement and plans rolling around in her head. She blasted in through the doors this morning, even if that burst of energy only lasted a short time. Watch out for her in the coming days. "Oh! Well, I can't take full credit for it myself, of course. I'm simply building on some ideas someone online had - with permission, of course."
She reaches to one side for her own instrument case - she's not good enough to play in an orchestra, but she does occasionally improvize with the violin or use it to illustrate the sort of style she's going for when words and gestures won't quite get the point across. "That reminds me, I have a few student tickets prepaid for you to pass out to whoever you think would like them. I'm making it a point to try to spread some more of these around, but they wouldn't let me get my hands on the adult tickets. Here," she passes over a small sheaf of about a half-dozen of them with a smile.
"Oh, something did definitely happen, yes. My days of bouncing between Sumaru and Tokyo are not about to let us any time soon," her smile is a little crooked, and there are teeth in her smile all of a sudden. "My dearest mother decided to let me know that I have family I never knew about, and to drop an address in my lap. It has been an _exciting_ adjustment trying to figure out what to do with that information. Nothing bad, certainly, but an adjustment nonetheless."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka definitely likes pushing the boundaries and experimenting. Her band, Polychord, has the same ethos too, with all of them contributing different influences and styles.
She's honestly just happy to work with someone who's so energetic about music. Even if the idea is borrowed. "Well, collaboration is still really fun," she points out. That violin... improvisng can be fun, too, even if it doesn't make it into he performance proper. But Ririka blinks a little as the tickets come out. "Oh--thank you very much!" She grins and makes sure to keep track of them. "I'll ask around and see who'd like the concert and who can make it."
But something did happen... Ririka takes a seat to listen. "Oh! That must be quite an adjustment..." She considers for a moment. They saw each other at that Gas Chamber show... After a moment she offers, "I'm in Sumaru a lot, too. My sister goes to school there, but I'm in Tatsumi, so..." A lot of back and forth for her, too. "I hope you getting to know your family is going well."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"I am hardly a family sort of person, but I would like to think that I am trying. The same goes for them, so at least I can say we are on equal footing. Honestly, the biggest part is figuring out the best line of attack I can use on my mother when I next talk to her to ask 'what the hell were you thinking'," So-young replies as she rests her forehead on her arm on her knee, looking owlish for a moment. "Ah, well. It has given me a chance to properly check Sumaru out, at the very least."
Lifting her head back up, she's lighting up again. "Aoba Park! You know, I've said many times that I should just say 'screw it' and take the actual performance outside so that everyone can listen to it without having to pay exorbitant prices. Now I have a target on where to actually do that, that won't-- well, cost as much as it would in Shibuya, for a start." She rubs her hands together, rolling the empty can of energy drink between them. "I've been putting in some enquiries and feelers. Not to mention I have a friend at Sumaru TV who may be able to help me when it comes time to promotion."
"I have a few ideas for what to do there, but honestly I suspect I'll simply be taking the same approach as I would here. Pick some local candidates, some local artists." That's something she's started incorporating into her show here at the Bunkamura - she's managed to get some space in the entrance hall set aside for a little gallery area, where she's also showcasing young artists works that match her themes. "You've heard of Madarame, yes? I'm attempting to snap up some of his pupils along the way, or at least make contact with them."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Hardly a family sort of person... Ririka, by contrast, was very close to... well, at least one sibling in particular. "Oh, I see..." But asking her mother 'what the heck.' "I guess you'd really want some explanations in that case, huh..." She doesn't think her own mother is hiding anything major like that, at least.
"Oh! Aoba Park is a nice area... I was shopping there last week, at a place nearby. An outdoor performance would be really cool, though!" She muses to herself. "It'd really change the acoustics..." Promotion is good.
But the approch... "That'd be really good. If I hear about any local artists, I'll let you know." Maybe she can ask her sister... "Oh..." Ririka nods slowly. "Yeah, I've heard of him..." It's kind of a disgrace what happened, but for his pupils...
Well, one of them goes to Gekkoukan, but she doesn't know him that well. Would he want to be involved in something like this? She's not sure. "I bet they'd like getting the recognition for their work."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"Do I? Hm." So-young pauses for a moment, her eyes rolling up towards the ceiling as she taps at her chin. "I wonder. I don't think I want an explanation so much as I want to blow off steam. Maybe I'll just do something gloriously destructive instead," she adds with a glint of mischief in her eyes and a bright grin. That's... probably meant as a throwaway joke at herself, but you never really know. She went to a show in Sumaru and ended up getting taken to a gun store by a beanie-hatted maybe-student. It's just how she rolls.
"I've taken a look at it myself," she reports as she folds her arms. "It's more suited for theatre, if you ask me, but at least you're not going to get an echo when there are no walls to bounce off. If the sound is a little hollow, we'll just have to make up for it with volume. That's another reason why I'm going down there so often - to look around for whoever might be suitable to rope into the project, given that I'll be running it on my own initiative. I don't intend to move off of classical, but there's no harm in looking for accompaniments."
"Mm. I wonder about that," So-young frowns slightly to herself. "They have apparently been unofficially blacklisted for their teacher's actions. Which is nonsense, of course, in and of itself. But it's made many of them rethink their plans for the future, which I simply can't forgive. I did manage to collar one of them in Iwatodai, I think, but he was too cagey to simply say 'yes' so quickly."
She blithely glosses over the fact she apparently 'collared' a complete stranger.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
No answers, just... glorious destruction. Ririka blinks and frowns, suddenly looking concerned. "Ah...? Does... that help?" She might've missed the joke.
She remembers watching So-young and Saika leave with Shinjiro that night. She's still a tiny bit jealous.
"I guess that's true," she says of no echoes. "And think of how far the sound will carry, it's sure to draw a lot of attention, right?"
Blacklisted. "That's awful... it wasn't their fault, was it? That'd be a shame if they gave up something they loved..." She'd hate to give up her music, that's for sure.
Collar?? Ririka smiles a bit awkwardly. "Eh heh... well... hopefully he'll come around? Maybe they're just shy to work with someone again so quickly, considering what happened..."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
The smile on So-young's face is completely radiant. "Oh, you'll understand in time," she says with an angelic lilt, but also a shit-eating grin. "When adults get too stressed at their idiot family members, sometimes the only course of action is to annihilate something. Whether it's a plate of the finest steak, that beloved instrument you promised you'd learn someday, your leg muscles as you blast around half of Tokyo, or just that little asshole who keeps ever so slightly topping your score at the arcade. This all goes double if you're a musician, it's the whole 'tortured' aesthetic."
These are all suspiciously specific examples, though something in her gaze suggests they shouldn't be taken seriously. Possibly.
"The prosecution would no doubt claim that, even if Madarame pressured them into it, they still accepted it in the end. Nonsense, of course," she shrugs her shoulders with a sigh. "But I'm not interested in trying to argue the point. All I can do is provide them a venue on which to display their work. I'm not the sort of person who can provide a rousing speech to entice them back to the world of art or be the sort of kind, gentle persuasion they'd need."
She hums for a moment, letting that hang in the air. "--though on that front, what about yourself? I've heard about a band. Do you think you would go that route, rather than classical, in the end? 'Both' is a valid answer, of course, but I'm curious which side you fall on."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
They are suspiciously specific... and Ririka may or may not be picking up that tone. It's hard to tell sometimes. "I... see. I'll try to keep that in mind?" She gets along okay with most of her family members, though, so maybe she won't need to follow any of that...
... is it advice, even?
But that framing... Ririka lets out a swift, frustrated huff, her mood suddenly dampening. "... Yeah, that sounds right," she says with far too much dourness for a teenage girl to have. Something must've touched a nerve.
But she does smile at the mention of her band. "You mean Polychord?" She shrugs a little. "I don't see why it can't be both. We blend different styles all the time, even... I use my classical piano training for some of our songs sometimes, so..." She sits back a little, giving it some more thought. "They're both fun in their own ways, you know?"
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
The conductor is still smiling with a glint in her eye following her questionable lessons in adult life, but she laughs and waves a hand. "In any case. From what I know of Madarame's pupils, some of them have come a very long way to pursue their passion. That at least is a good sign, and I'm sure they won't need much coaxing, if any at all. I shall simply have to see what I can do."
She leans back a little in her seat, folding her arms. She's still got her bolero jacket kind of wrapped around her the wrong way, because napping on a couch is a good way to feel a little oold and it was as good a cover for her shoulders and arms as any, like a small blanket. "Well, at least bear in mind that it may be worth choosing one to be your focus. I am the _last_ person who should ever tell anyone this, but it is fair to note that if you truly want to dig down into something, it can be of use."
"On the other hand, music is one of those fields that lets you be a jack-of-all-trades remarkably well. They just give it a fancy name and call you a virtuoso, which means you can get either a reliable pay check or a nice little burst of infamy. Don't do conducting," she adds, and lets that hang in the air. "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get started without a little nepotism."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Well, good luck... they deserve to have some of their own success after going through all taht."
"Chosing a focus, huh...?" She gives that a thought. "Well, if I only had to choose one... I'd probably choose Polychord. At least, if everyone else wanted to make it their focus, too. It's kind of fun getting to collaborate with my friends, you know? Buuuuut I don't think I'd give up piano, even if I did that." A beat. "I could do a classical piano piece during a show. There's no rule saying I can't, right?"
"Eh heh... I mean, people have been applying different titles to me for a while, but... I just find it fun, you know? No matter what form it tkaes. There's always something new and different to discover about it." She blnks a little. "... really? Is that so..." She considers that for a moment. "Well, I do like song writing, but I think I'd rather play than conduct..."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"Don't read too much into it, or consider it too seriously. It's just a thought to bear in mind. See, I can be a mentor some of the time," So-young sniggers to herself. "It is also one of those questions whose answers can change from day to day, month to month. So long as you find it fulfilling, I suppose that's enough." ... she pauses, and slowly makes a face. "... no, I'm really not cut out for mentoring after all."
She dissolves into a solid yawn, and then hangs her head to one side. "Urgh. I apologize, but assuming nothing is about to burst into flames on-stage, maybe I will simply walk past home and eat some truly awful junk food on the way. Technically, I have a train I wish to catch in--" she checks an silver watch on the back of her wrist. "--two hours or so. Maybe I can set aside the familial obligation for a day."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
So-young decides to get into mentoring and leave it in quick succession, but Ririka smiles. "It's actually something useful to think about. I should think about what I want to do after I graduate next year... I'll probably go keep studying music, but... maybe some of the band members want to do different things. That's something we should talk about."
She gets up and stretches. "I think as long as we don't put any fireworks in trash cans, we should be okay." She's referencing the Gast Chamber show, of course. "Well, either way, I hope you have a good day, Park-san."