Indie RP blog for muses set in the Umamusume setting!
Please be sure to check out the carrd for Rules and Muse info!
Sideblog to worldscrossroads, will follow from there!
Are you in the need of Umamusume to train, or a trainer to bring out your full potential? Maybe you just enjoy the races, or want to make some friends during your time training?
Then look no further! For both our American and Japanese participants in the Umamusume racing circuits, we have what your looking for! In Japan, look no further than the Tokyo Umamusume Training and Education Center, or Tracen Academy! And in America, find the best of the best in the West at Barton Umamusume Training and Education Center, or Barton Academy! Just look at some of the faces you'll meet at these illustrious training academies!
Oguri Cap
Mejiro McQueen
Omaha
Upset
Explore your future in Umamusume Racing Today!
Indie Umamusume RP blog featuring canon and OC muses
Written by Awoo
Huff... Huff... Huff... No. Not nearly enough. Her time has definitely improved, but with what El showcased at the Kentucky Derby... This wasn't enough to beat her. Maybe Sei. Maybe not. She's undoubtedly putting herself through special training, herself...
She needed to improve faster.
"Jeez, someone's putting the track to work until curfew, huh?"
"Ah, you're... Mejiro Dober-san, yes? Apologies, am I in the way?"
"Nah, I just forgot something and came back to pick it up, and that's when I saw you running down here long after everyone else has packed up for the day. Putting in some solo training?"
"Yes... That's right. The Japanese Derby is soon, and I need to prepare as best as I can."
"To beat Seiun Sky and El Condor Pasa, you mean."
"...Yes. As I am now, I don't think I can - "
"Atutut. That's where you're wrong. You've got speed and power aplenty to beat either of them."
"Huh? I mean, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but what makes you so sure, Dober-san?"
"The fact that you don't have any explicit weaknesses. Sure, Seiun Sky almost looks inexhaustible with how much stamina she has, and in terms of top speed, I can only think of a few who might be able to match El Condor Pasa. But Sei clearly runs Front Runner because acceleration isn't her strong suit; you saw how she made sure to take those corners in the Satsuki Sho. She didn't want to risk slowing down because she knew that would let you catch up. And El Condor Pasa didn't take risks with her energy levels during the Kentucky Derby; she played it safe so she'd have enough stamina and time to accelerate to her top speed near the end."
"And.. you're saying I lack any of those weaknesses?"
"Exactly. As someone who's raced Oguri Cap for three years, I see similar advantages in you. Sure, you specialize in explosive power, but you're hardly lacking for stamina. And your proven ability as a Late Surger means you have the speed and acceleration needed to move from the back of the pack to the front in a short time. The only thing you lack is confidence and knowing how to use that lack of weaknesses."
"I see... I suppose that does explain Trainer Amai's regimen. She's kept my training fairly balanced, which I just presumed was her training style. But if I consider the possibility that she's leaning into my flexibility as a racer, instead..."
"Yup. Don't try and lock yourself into one strategy during your races. Go in ready to adjust at a moment's notice. And use your own lack of weaknesses to prey on your opponents'. Racing is as much a sport of the mind as it is the body; if you can fluster your opponents and make them lose their cool, that's just one more advantage you'll have."
"I see. Thank you for the advice, Dober-san. I'll try that. But if I might ask one final question... You could have just found what you're looking for and been on your way; why stop and help me?"
"Well, truth be told, I wish I could say it's all just to help my junior out of a tight spot, but... Not gonna lie, I've got something of a bone to pick with Team Regulus, and any chance I can get to knock them down a peg, even if indirectly, I'll take. I swear my trainer's rubbing off on me..."
"Ahaha... Well, thank you for being honest, at the very least..."
"Y'know, for the life of me, the one song I can never seem to get right is 'If All Those Endearing Young Charms', no matter the instrument. Piano, xylophone, guitar, what have you."
"But that's fine. Whenever somebody else tries and gets it right, it tends to blow up in their face." Wow, really old pull here from Secretariat.
“ G-Groove, do you have any bandages? My nose still hurts… “
Whoever said that punching bags don’t punch back, they were lying. So much for strength training, today…
(To Air Groove)
"If it still hurts, I don't think bandages would help..." On closer inspection, Suzuka's nose still looks fine, but she's hardly a medical professional.
"I think we should take you to the nurse's office. It's quite possible you've broken or dislocated something. Even if not, they should be able to help."
"All that said, I find some blithe amusement in how everyone chose the same answer for the second question. She's a year ahead of me, so we wouldn't have been able to run the Classics together, but it seems everyone assumes we were in the same generation."
"The Peerless Emperor": A Documentary About Symboli Rudolf's Career
Interview with Masami Katou, Symboli Rudolf's Trainer
"Katou-san, you were Symboli Rudolf's trainer during her four years racing, correct? I apologize if this feels like an obvious question, but it has been a number of years, and the Umamusume tend to have the spotlight more than their trainers, admittedly."
"Yes, that's right. And I completely understand; I believe that our role as trainers isn't to share in the glory, but to help our trainees fulfill their dreams, however minor or grand. I'm fine being forgotten so long as I can manage that much."
"Haha, just what you'd expect to hear from who many consider Tokyo Tracen's most prestigious trainer in years, who some call the 'Architect of Dreams'. But you didn't start that way, of course; Symboli Rudolf's potential was obvious for all to see, and you were new to training at the national level at the time, from what I understand. Just how did you come about making such a big name part of your team as a trainer just fresh from apprenticeship?"
"Well, truth be told, I didn't end up trying all that hard. I mean, I was new to the national scene at the time, so I figured she would have gravitated more towards the more experienced trainers at the time, you know?"
"Yes, I can imagine that's what everyone else expected at the time, as well."
"But, as it turned out, we share a lot of the same ideals when it comes to our views toward Umamusume. And when she recognized those in me, she was the one who decided I should be her trainer, rather than the usual way around."
"Interesting; so it'd be more accurate to say she scouted you, then. Knowing what we do of the Emperor, it's not too surprising when you look at it that way."
"You're not wrong. I did have something of a reputation from my apprenticeship and regional level training days, but if there's one thing we know about Rudolf these days, it's that she puts very little stock into reputation. She's keenly observant, and judges people on their actions first, their words second, and their reputations third. So I imagine, even at that young age, she kept my reputation in mind, but used it more as an indication to watch me even more closely."
"I see, I see. Yes, my interviews with the Symboli family made it clear that the Emperor had shown exceptional leadership qualities from her youth, and it's clear that much extended even into her start here at Tokyo Tracen. Did you have any reservations about training such a prestigious young woman, given your relative inexperience as a national trainer?"
"Oh, of course, though I doubt my inexperience had anything to do with it. With how talented Rudolf was even back then, I'm sure any trainer, no matter how experienced, would've felt inadequate to give her the training she needed to excel. She was leagues ahead of her peers even before her debut, so finding ways to challenge her and keep things fresh without hampering my other trainees was a challenge in and of itself for me."
"That does make sense. After all, training alongside the Emperor would've likely been as demoralizing as racing against her if done poorly. But given just how remarkably your other trainees - Air Groove, Maruzensky, Narita Brian, among others - have done in their respective generations, it seems your efforts paid off dividends. In fact, from what I understand, the original Team Regulus remains close-knit within the Student Council, correct?"
"From what I understand. After they retired, I've tried to avoid sticking my neck into their business very often. Partially because their lives are their own, now, and partially because my current trainees occupy much of my time. But I do keep in contact with them, and they still seem to be quite close."
"I see, yes, you've been quite busy from what I hear. But luckily, this documentary is more about Symboli Rudolf's racing career than its aftermath, so I won't press too much into that. But before we move on, speaking of the aftermath, are there any regrets you have in regards to her training? Perhaps something you wish you'd done differently?"
"Regrets, hm...? That's hard to say. It's certainly hard to avoid regrets, but I try not to dwell on them. You can't change the past, but you can learn from it to change your future, as my father once told me. But if I had one... It'd be that I'd wished I'd had more of a backbone to speak up against her."
"Ah, so even as her trainer, you weren't always necessarily the one in authority?"
"Well, that's not quite what I meant. She was always quite respectful and happy to do as I told her, so long as it was reasonable; but if she objected, I had a habit of... capitulating too easily. Standing up to her could be hard to do if she was particularly stubborn, though she only ever really exercised it once in regards to her training."
"Is that so? Would you be open to discuss that?"
"Perhaps not at length, given it regards a very personal issue of hers, so you'd be better off asking her about it; if she's comfortable enough to discuss it, you can tell her that she has my blessing to speak about my role in it, as well. But long story short, there was a brief disagreement in regards to her feeling as though she wasn't doing enough in her training during her Classics Year summer camp that was just simply... swept under the rug."
"Ahhh, interesting. Well, I'll be certain to ask her about it during her interview. Was there anything you wished to say before we moved on, Katou-san?"
"Hmm... Just one. Rudolf's goals may be grander than most, but remember what I said about us sharing ideals. She may seem like a far-off dream, a legendary figure to be admired from a distance... but that's not what she wants for you. Symboli Rudolf, at her core, does what she does so that others can follow her; she takes the time to smooth the untrodden road so that those who come after her can gaze up at the stars without tripping over themselves."
"Even if you believe she could never understand you, even if you believe she's better than you... It doesn't matter. She and I, we're both of the same mind that we want you to find what gives you meaning, what makes you happy, what makes you dream... and chase it with all your heart. Because even if we can't live the life you've lead, even if we aren't of the same blood, the same height, the same ability... we all live under the same sky, and can share in each other's dreams. In that way... we can all understand one another. And that, I think, is the key to the world of bliss she seeks to create."
===========================
"...Hah. And she says she's not much of a public speaker. Honestly... I think she put that into words far better than I could have. It seems I still have a few things to learn from my former trainer..."
...Really, she's lucky she gets paid a premium due to her results. Even a more typical national-level trainer's salary would never be able to afford both Oguri and Deep...
"Boy, I sure do love getting treats on someone else's yen~" Mostly because you're broke and there's only so much Emilia can feed you before her bar ends up in the red -
