Lisa Imai ♫ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
traceofeffort) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tramitem_log2020-08-27 07:49 pm
traceofeffort) wrote in tramitem_log2020-08-27 07:49 pm
august 25th (backdated) | super extra open;
Who: Lisa and ticketed fans - but she's been handing them out to Different that wanted to come, so that's YOU
What: It's Lisa's birthday and she decided that warranted a concert! This is also kind of a catch-all for related things, as needed.
When: August 25th (backdated); possibly other stuff on other days
Where: A small stage some (not-insignificant) distance off Broadway
Warnings: None
At any point in the week or so leading up to her birthday, Lisa will mention her upcoming show in casual conversation to anyone that'll listen; to Different, she'll offer a ticket if she's heard of them whatsoever, while to civilians she's selling them for... probably less than the venue's worth even if she were charging for the rest of them. Certain specific Different will find tickets forced upon them and themselves ordered in no uncertain terms to be there, or else. The tickets are... hey, wait, this is card stock, colorful and bearing the image of a blue rose and a red rose stacked over each other next to her name, with a tear-off stub on one end and you keeping the big end. Did she have these made? In any event, the show is Tuesday evening, the day of her actual birthday, and as the day grows closer she's more excitable and harder to actually carry a straight conversation with, oops. (If you need her for something in that span, feel free to tag in! But you can handwave that she found you a ticket, or that the ticket found you with a note cordially requesting your presence at Roselia's live show.)
For what the night was, for what she was doing, Lisa didn't really feel the nerves. Both of her had played dozens, hundreds of lives; sure, this was her first time headlining a real show by herself since she'd left Nashville, and "her" first solo live outright, not believing herself capable of standing on stage with only her own four strings. But... if she never tried, if she never let herself move past Music City, if "she" never stepped out of Yukina's shadow, she'd never know. She'd met so many wonderful, supportive people, people that gave her ideas and helped her grow and encouraged her to shine. And she wanted to pay that back tonight, prove that she'd been listening even through all of her gross crying all over most of them. It kept her spirit high and helped her focus, tonight, which was good since she'd actually have an audience; to her utter astonishment, when she'd advertised the show on social media, she'd gotten interest from people that weren't just in her two circles - the school and the network. There were other people that'd heard her music, seen the video that somehow circulated of the beach live. Not many, and they weren't exactly beating down her door for a ticket - let alone in influential positions - but it filled her with a warm, fuzzy feeling beyond having friends in the front row.
She'd come ready to rock, somewhat literally - her acoustic guitar was already set up on the stage, leaning against a stool in case she rocked a little too hard along with her gig bag, and a mic stand was already in place. She'd put some effort into herself this time, too; her other had helped this time, supplying an ornate costume for the occasion. Feathers everywhere, the impression of the night sky trailing as she moved, cute wristband and earrings (Rinko had gone above and beyond on this one, seriously), she looked great, and everything was set. All it needed was her adoring (?) (no, wait, that probably might be true this time!) fans and her. The former trickled in as start time neared, and the latter... once the appointed time came, she took a deep breath and strode onto the stage like she owned the place. Which, for the next hour or so, she did. She had no illusions she could put on a strong enough show to hold their total attention that long, but if she could keep them here... even most of them... that'd be a win. A big win she could absolutely take home to Mama. To that end, there was a video camera set up somewhere to catch the stage.
Instead of introducing herself immediately, she let herself launch into a song as soon as she'd slung her guitar back over her shoulder, something peppy and ear-catching and just technical enough to be a good introduction in itself. Nobody was here that didn't know her. If they somehow were, well, she'd catch them in a minute. She couldn't count on everyone here being Different, and certainly not everyone that watched it later since she was recording this, so she needed to be a little careful with what she talked about, too. That wasn't a horrible burden, though, and as her strings stilled from the first song, she grinned out at the crowd. Small, but to her the crowd was plenty big enough to be happy about. "Right! Lisa Imai of Roselia here, and to celebrate my birthday because I'm a big huge dork, I'm putting on this concert that you're sitting at." Something felt... discordant at that introduction, but she'd push it aside for now and come back to it later. Like in an hour later. Or maybe next month later. "So before anything else, thank you so much for coming out tonight. This means the world to me - it's been a while since I've played somewhere people were coming to see me and not the bottom of a glass." She felt prickling at the corners of her eyes, but it was way too early for that now. "But hey, you're here to listen to me play, and not talk! Let's keep going, yeah!?" Her library was expanding somewhat, even if the Different had heard some of it before: a cover of an EDM track (Surrender), a couple of country tracks, some light rock, but about halfway through she took a deep breath and let her grip on her guitar slacken. "Okay, so. Most of you are probably expecting this, but this is the part where I get into the stuff you haven't heard on the radio. This one in particular is a little heavy right now, but let's see if I can get through it."
[♫ Determination Symphony | song; anime live show @ 17:08 (ads)]
The song she started probably wasn't familiar to anyone in the crowd, which was for the better; she'd only played it in public the once, and that once had ended in a night she'd just as soon forget. She'd tuned it a bit since then, though, giving it a bit more mellow sound, even if she was the only one that thought it sounded like something that'd fit right in as music to wait out a squall. The vocals had gotten a bit harder too, a little deeper, and Lisa could give them the volume they deserved in here. She still wasn't sure what Yukina had been on when she'd come up with the lyrics for this, but she wasn't complaining now, in any event. More importantly, though the pace and the reminder of the last time she'd played it pushed her heart rate up - she thought she felt it skip a beat when she reached the point she put her guitar down the last time - she was still in control. No flashbacks, no resurgence, just the music driving through her. She could work with that. And when the song finished, her fingers stilling the strings as soon as she'd hit the last note, a smile returned to her lips, tension dissipating. "That was Determination Symphony. A dear friend wrote that, and it's... stuck with me. I've got one more like that - it's not LOUDER, if you've seen that video, sorry! This one's brand new, and I hope you like it. She was thinking of me when she wrote it, she says, but she clams up when I ask her for more, so-" She winked out at the crowd, though it was maybe directed out at the front row. "You'll have to draw your own conclusions, just like me. Okay! Sunkissed Rhodonite-!"
[♫ Sunkissed Rhodonite | song]
She'd struggled with this one, even if she'd put a lot of time into it - especially since she'd had to work around not being able to practice for the better part of a week. Her laptop, when it was one and not a sweet, was her new best friend given she could work out the notes she wanted that way, and then it was just a matter of making sure she had everything down when her sherbet had strings again. Her other might have... helped with that a little. She felt a connection to it, even as she had to cannibalize Rinko's keyboard parts, let alone her own bass parts. But the final run, with the acoustics in here, turned out better than she'd hoped. This performance was noticeably slower than the real thing in her memories; part of that was converting her electric instrument track into something else, but most of it was needing to turn the call and response vocals in the choruses into something she could do by herself. She... probably need an effect pedal for that next time, come to think, but for now this was an unplugged show and she'd do without.
Or, well. It was an unplugged show, she mentally reminded herself. As she let the last words of the second chorus leave her lips, she stilled the strings on her guitar and- put it down? Reaching into her gig bag, she draws her bright red bass guitar with Roselia's insignia on the neck, already plugged into the sound system, and slung it over her neck with a huge grin, pulling a fresh pick from the mic stand. The air on the stage changed as she strummed the first note on the bass, going into her (her) solo. In a way it hadn't initially, Lisa's body moved in time with her playing, something about the bass moving her in a new way. The sound was punchier, deeper, and somehow freeing to the young woman in control of it. She didn't switch back coming out of the solo, now adapting the keyboard and guitar to her bass, which... actually wasn't as hard as she'd expected when she'd first set out to do it. Whether that was her other bringing a full understanding of the song or her own skill being more than expected, she couldn't say. The result felt more... soulful than she'd expected, and she liked it a lot. The switching thing only worked once, but maybe her other was on to something with this thing. As she finished the song, she let the last note hang for a while, bent over the bass slightly, before she straightened, breathing hard but smiling wide.
She stayed on her bass for a couple more songs, but before long her time was up, and she swept through a bow, sweat dripping from her bangs and looking like she'd run a marathon, but with a glow to her that she could feel. "Okay, my time's up for tonight, and I don't get encores if I want to play again, so this is where we part for the evening. Thank you so much, you've been amazing!" Before she could stop herself, she added, "The blue rose will bloom again soon! Look forward to it!" She couldn't take it back, but it'd probably be fine, right? With a wave, after she stopped to collect her instruments, she stepped into the wings, headed for the dressing room to clean up and catch her breath for a bit.
[Lisa will be backstage for some time winding down from the show; feel free to bug her there. Or really anywhere; she'll be on cloud nine for the rest of the week and will be totally amenable to doing stuff. Poke me if you want to work something out!]
What: It's Lisa's birthday and she decided that warranted a concert! This is also kind of a catch-all for related things, as needed.
When: August 25th (backdated); possibly other stuff on other days
Where: A small stage some (not-insignificant) distance off Broadway
Warnings: None
At any point in the week or so leading up to her birthday, Lisa will mention her upcoming show in casual conversation to anyone that'll listen; to Different, she'll offer a ticket if she's heard of them whatsoever, while to civilians she's selling them for... probably less than the venue's worth even if she were charging for the rest of them. Certain specific Different will find tickets forced upon them and themselves ordered in no uncertain terms to be there, or else. The tickets are... hey, wait, this is card stock, colorful and bearing the image of a blue rose and a red rose stacked over each other next to her name, with a tear-off stub on one end and you keeping the big end. Did she have these made? In any event, the show is Tuesday evening, the day of her actual birthday, and as the day grows closer she's more excitable and harder to actually carry a straight conversation with, oops. (If you need her for something in that span, feel free to tag in! But you can handwave that she found you a ticket, or that the ticket found you with a note cordially requesting your presence at Roselia's live show.)
For what the night was, for what she was doing, Lisa didn't really feel the nerves. Both of her had played dozens, hundreds of lives; sure, this was her first time headlining a real show by herself since she'd left Nashville, and "her" first solo live outright, not believing herself capable of standing on stage with only her own four strings. But... if she never tried, if she never let herself move past Music City, if "she" never stepped out of Yukina's shadow, she'd never know. She'd met so many wonderful, supportive people, people that gave her ideas and helped her grow and encouraged her to shine. And she wanted to pay that back tonight, prove that she'd been listening even through all of her gross crying all over most of them. It kept her spirit high and helped her focus, tonight, which was good since she'd actually have an audience; to her utter astonishment, when she'd advertised the show on social media, she'd gotten interest from people that weren't just in her two circles - the school and the network. There were other people that'd heard her music, seen the video that somehow circulated of the beach live. Not many, and they weren't exactly beating down her door for a ticket - let alone in influential positions - but it filled her with a warm, fuzzy feeling beyond having friends in the front row.
She'd come ready to rock, somewhat literally - her acoustic guitar was already set up on the stage, leaning against a stool in case she rocked a little too hard along with her gig bag, and a mic stand was already in place. She'd put some effort into herself this time, too; her other had helped this time, supplying an ornate costume for the occasion. Feathers everywhere, the impression of the night sky trailing as she moved, cute wristband and earrings (Rinko had gone above and beyond on this one, seriously), she looked great, and everything was set. All it needed was her adoring (?) (no, wait, that probably might be true this time!) fans and her. The former trickled in as start time neared, and the latter... once the appointed time came, she took a deep breath and strode onto the stage like she owned the place. Which, for the next hour or so, she did. She had no illusions she could put on a strong enough show to hold their total attention that long, but if she could keep them here... even most of them... that'd be a win. A big win she could absolutely take home to Mama. To that end, there was a video camera set up somewhere to catch the stage.
Instead of introducing herself immediately, she let herself launch into a song as soon as she'd slung her guitar back over her shoulder, something peppy and ear-catching and just technical enough to be a good introduction in itself. Nobody was here that didn't know her. If they somehow were, well, she'd catch them in a minute. She couldn't count on everyone here being Different, and certainly not everyone that watched it later since she was recording this, so she needed to be a little careful with what she talked about, too. That wasn't a horrible burden, though, and as her strings stilled from the first song, she grinned out at the crowd. Small, but to her the crowd was plenty big enough to be happy about. "Right! Lisa Imai of Roselia here, and to celebrate my birthday because I'm a big huge dork, I'm putting on this concert that you're sitting at." Something felt... discordant at that introduction, but she'd push it aside for now and come back to it later. Like in an hour later. Or maybe next month later. "So before anything else, thank you so much for coming out tonight. This means the world to me - it's been a while since I've played somewhere people were coming to see me and not the bottom of a glass." She felt prickling at the corners of her eyes, but it was way too early for that now. "But hey, you're here to listen to me play, and not talk! Let's keep going, yeah!?" Her library was expanding somewhat, even if the Different had heard some of it before: a cover of an EDM track (Surrender), a couple of country tracks, some light rock, but about halfway through she took a deep breath and let her grip on her guitar slacken. "Okay, so. Most of you are probably expecting this, but this is the part where I get into the stuff you haven't heard on the radio. This one in particular is a little heavy right now, but let's see if I can get through it."
[♫ Determination Symphony | song; anime live show @ 17:08 (ads)]
The song she started probably wasn't familiar to anyone in the crowd, which was for the better; she'd only played it in public the once, and that once had ended in a night she'd just as soon forget. She'd tuned it a bit since then, though, giving it a bit more mellow sound, even if she was the only one that thought it sounded like something that'd fit right in as music to wait out a squall. The vocals had gotten a bit harder too, a little deeper, and Lisa could give them the volume they deserved in here. She still wasn't sure what Yukina had been on when she'd come up with the lyrics for this, but she wasn't complaining now, in any event. More importantly, though the pace and the reminder of the last time she'd played it pushed her heart rate up - she thought she felt it skip a beat when she reached the point she put her guitar down the last time - she was still in control. No flashbacks, no resurgence, just the music driving through her. She could work with that. And when the song finished, her fingers stilling the strings as soon as she'd hit the last note, a smile returned to her lips, tension dissipating. "That was Determination Symphony. A dear friend wrote that, and it's... stuck with me. I've got one more like that - it's not LOUDER, if you've seen that video, sorry! This one's brand new, and I hope you like it. She was thinking of me when she wrote it, she says, but she clams up when I ask her for more, so-" She winked out at the crowd, though it was maybe directed out at the front row. "You'll have to draw your own conclusions, just like me. Okay! Sunkissed Rhodonite-!"
[♫ Sunkissed Rhodonite | song]
She'd struggled with this one, even if she'd put a lot of time into it - especially since she'd had to work around not being able to practice for the better part of a week. Her laptop, when it was one and not a sweet, was her new best friend given she could work out the notes she wanted that way, and then it was just a matter of making sure she had everything down when her sherbet had strings again. Her other might have... helped with that a little. She felt a connection to it, even as she had to cannibalize Rinko's keyboard parts, let alone her own bass parts. But the final run, with the acoustics in here, turned out better than she'd hoped. This performance was noticeably slower than the real thing in her memories; part of that was converting her electric instrument track into something else, but most of it was needing to turn the call and response vocals in the choruses into something she could do by herself. She... probably need an effect pedal for that next time, come to think, but for now this was an unplugged show and she'd do without.
Or, well. It was an unplugged show, she mentally reminded herself. As she let the last words of the second chorus leave her lips, she stilled the strings on her guitar and- put it down? Reaching into her gig bag, she draws her bright red bass guitar with Roselia's insignia on the neck, already plugged into the sound system, and slung it over her neck with a huge grin, pulling a fresh pick from the mic stand. The air on the stage changed as she strummed the first note on the bass, going into her (her) solo. In a way it hadn't initially, Lisa's body moved in time with her playing, something about the bass moving her in a new way. The sound was punchier, deeper, and somehow freeing to the young woman in control of it. She didn't switch back coming out of the solo, now adapting the keyboard and guitar to her bass, which... actually wasn't as hard as she'd expected when she'd first set out to do it. Whether that was her other bringing a full understanding of the song or her own skill being more than expected, she couldn't say. The result felt more... soulful than she'd expected, and she liked it a lot. The switching thing only worked once, but maybe her other was on to something with this thing. As she finished the song, she let the last note hang for a while, bent over the bass slightly, before she straightened, breathing hard but smiling wide.
She stayed on her bass for a couple more songs, but before long her time was up, and she swept through a bow, sweat dripping from her bangs and looking like she'd run a marathon, but with a glow to her that she could feel. "Okay, my time's up for tonight, and I don't get encores if I want to play again, so this is where we part for the evening. Thank you so much, you've been amazing!" Before she could stop herself, she added, "The blue rose will bloom again soon! Look forward to it!" She couldn't take it back, but it'd probably be fine, right? With a wave, after she stopped to collect her instruments, she stepped into the wings, headed for the dressing room to clean up and catch her breath for a bit.
[Lisa will be backstage for some time winding down from the show; feel free to bug her there. Or really anywhere; she'll be on cloud nine for the rest of the week and will be totally amenable to doing stuff. Poke me if you want to work something out!]
a few days later
He wasn't completely satisfied with the outcome a few days later, but it was the best it was going to be, considering he had to base most of it on recorded material and his own memory. It would have to do. He just hoped she didn't completely hate it.
Clarence shot Lisa a text, asking her to meet up with him at cafe with some open air seating. Cheddar was allowed to be harnessed with him there and having his cat helped to lessen the anxious thrum in his veins at the thought of meeting Lisa face-to-face since the whole dating Elliott situation came to light. Nervous, he tapped his fingers on the wroght iron table top, hoping she would show up and he would somehow manage to speak without making things more awkward for them both.
no subject
She was prompt, arriving just before the requested time, with a smile and a wave. "Clarence! Oh hey, and Cheddar, I haven't seen you in a while." She stepped closer, offering a hug if he wanted one; not that it'd hurt her feelings if he turned her down. "It's been a little bit! How've you been? Oh, and I meant to say something earlier, but I'm glad you made it the other day!"
no subject
The offer of a hug was evident and it was only with a little hesitation that Clarence moved in to accept it, though he didn't squeeze too tight. "It's good to see you, too."
Cheddar moved closer to her to sniff at her hand, begging for a pet. Clarence used that moment of distraction to collect himself and jerkily motion to the table. "Go ahead and sit."
"The show was great, by the way. I... wasn't sure what to expect but you made it work really, really well." Clarence chuckled nervously. "I don't know much about music, so I can't really say more than that I was impressed, I guess."
no subject
"I'm glad! I wasn't sure how here, take a ticket would work with all the different people we've got, but people seemed to enjoy it," she answered honestly. "And hey, it doesn't matter if you know a lot about music - it's about feeling as much as anything else, right? If it sounds good, even if you don't understand why you liked it, you can still have fun listening to it. That's the most important part! If everyone had a good time, it's a successful show!" It followed Roselia's goals, even - to make the best music, uncompromising in reaching for the top. She approached it a little differently, maybe, but she took pride in striving for that goal anyway.
no subject
"I guess you're right." He chuckled, scratching at the nape of his neck. "I mostly listen to music because of how it makes me feel, so... yeah. I get it."
A waiter stopped by to take their order and Clarence ordered a strawberry lemonade. He hoped the sugar would help bolster his mood further. Reaching down into his backpack at his feet, he pulled out a small bowl and a water bottle and poured some out for Cheddar. When he returned the bottle to his bag he hesitated just a moment further before pulling a sturdy folder from his bag and placing it on the table.
"So... yeah, really like your concert. It was on your birthday and I... wanted to get you a present, but I didn't have one ready until today. Hope you don't mind."
no subject
The folder, less so, and she didn't hide her curiosity as he explained. "Hey, you came to my show. That'd be enough for me, especially since you had a good time! But..." Tentatively, she started to reach for it, before she remembered her manners and paused. Softly, she asked, "May I...?"
no subject
Thankfully, she wasn't going to be getting anything sculpted; he was sorely out of practice. Still, he hesitated a moment before slowly relinquishing the folder into her hands.
"... It's not really anything special but I hope you like it," he said, then clamped his mouth shut in an attempt to not ruin her experience.
Inside the folder, within a protective plastic sleeve, was a watercolor painting Clarence had made himself. It... wasn't his best work, in his opinion. He couldn't draw during the concert and had to rely on his own memory and whatever video footage he could find online, but he had done his best notwithstanding. The palette was only shades of pink and black, at times the colors swirling together in what he hoped looked like natural rock formation, but he wasn't sure if it quite had the effect he was going for; at least the colors came out as he wanted it. The sketch underneath had been overlaid with thin black lines, showcasing Lisa on the stage with her bass in hand, smiling bright.
Having taken a day to step back and hide it away from his own sight, Clarence had to admit... he hated it. But not because it was Lisa or the colors or anything. He just could see every flaw and now he wanted to rip it out of her hands and apologize and make something completely different. But he didn't think that would be polite, so instead he turned away and took comfort in reaching for Cheddar flopping on his side at Clarence's feet.
"It's... not great, so... like, I don't blame you if you hate it."
no subject
Carefully, she set it down, putting her bag on top of the closed folder so it wouldn't blow away in a breeze, before she turned back to Clarence with a bright smile. "It's not great, no. It's amazing. I love it, Clarence. Thank you so much!"
no subject
"Really?" he croaked out, then had to take a sip of his lemonade to try and get his voice back to normal.
A deep breath. "Yeah, I was like what's rhodonite so I looked it up and was like, I should make it a study in limited palettes, but then after I finished I worried maybe I interpreted it wrong or something, but I mean..." He stopped and took another breath, this time his speech slowing back down to a normal pace. "... I mean, glad you like it."
no subject
no subject
The lighting on Lisa had been nice, but the audience had been darkened to keep the focus on the stage. Plus, he never felt comfortable sketching when practically shoulder to shoulder with strangers.
He glanced up at her then back down to his lemonade. “.... nah, you’re always cool.”
no subject
She laughed softly at his impression of her, though. "You're giving me way too much credit, Clarence. But hey, maybe hearing it from other people's what I need to start trying to do it, yeah? If there are people counting on me, maybe that'll help me focus."
no subject
He smiled, happy to see how excited that news had made her. She was practically squirming in her seat. Now he kinda wanted to pull some of them up on his phone, but he didn't want to embarrass her if she didn't like the way she looked on someone's crappy phone screen.
The semi-whispered name piqued his interest, but now was not the time to delve into that.
"Of course, you're cool. You're... you're one of the coolest people I know," he admitted, blushing just a bit deeper. "You're actually doing something with your art. You're motivated and successful. Sure, you got a ways to go, but you're already way further than tons of other wannabe artists out there."
no subject
"That makes me feel better about all this, y'know?" she continued. "I've... always had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, from before. Uh, my before, not the other one, for once. So having things go well is a pleasant surprise! I'm so excited about it, you don't even know, seriously." She lets out a soft breath, sipping her tea now that she's been running her mouth. "Things have been going well in general, honestly. I hit the bottom a few months ago, and things have been looking up since then!"