4 Apr 2020, 02:26
To Create a Harmony
March 1, 2020
5:00 PM
@Bridget Collins
For a long time, Saskia didn’t think she had much potential in the music department of things. Sure, she might have sang a few times, but that was when she was sure no one was looking. It was only recently that she decided to join the Frog Choir because, well, screw it. It sounded interesting and maybe people could overlook her limited singing ability when there were other people who could drown out her voice. Except that also involved an audition. An audition where she had to show off her voice in front of everyone else. Yeah, she clearly didn’t think that through. She got through it when the initial embarrassment died down, and it wasn’t as bad as she thought, but it still caught her off guard.
Then there was her recent stumble in the rehearsal room. It all started with the second year being lured in by someone playing the piano and meeting up with a few other people who had also overheard the music. Since then, she had been visiting the rehearsal room a lot more than before. What used to be a room she would normally pass by in the hallways became another interesting observation among all the other things in Hogwarts. But this was different. Instead of busying herself with physical activities such as Quidditch practice, or occupying her mind with studying or reading a book, or otherwise exploring the room itself, she found an opportunity to fiddle around with the instruments.
She would have never guessed that she would have any talent in music. The sounds she made when she played the piano was disastrous. It was nowhere near as melodic as the music Dale had produced months ago. It wasn’t so much of a train wreck as it was soulless. There was simply no substance to it. Any note that she produced never stood on its own. The music never carried itself. She didn’t know how her sister did it. Playing the piano was one of those talents that she envied about her. It was like she somehow commanded the music. She remembered the few occasions when she played the piano back home.
The piano obviously wasn’t for her. So she tried other options. A lot of them had too many keys to memorize. It was a pain to have to remember which ones she had to press on for each note she had to make, and it was even harder when she had to deal with faster paced songs. Surely with enough determination and patience, she would have gotten the handle of those soon. But while she had determination, she also happened to have very little faith in her ability to play instruments. It was interesting and even fun sometimes, but that was all it could be. Right now, all she could do was pluck the strings of a guitar, or blow into a trumpet while pressing all the wrong keys. Fortunately, nobody seemed to have noticed the commotion she had mostly made in the room. She made sure to keep the door closed at all times, no matter what.
But there was one thing she didn’t give up on quite yet. It was the drums. It was a simple instrument, really. All it took was beating a surface with a stick to make a sound. It wasn’t as melodic as the other instruments, but what was there to expect? There weren’t any notes it could really follow. It only provided a beat for the other instruments. It didn’t usually stand on its own. It was funny, really. Maybe that was why Saskia could relate to the drums so much. It was hard for her to make her own melody. Or at least something that would be worth listening to. But it was fun to play nevertheless. With enough playing around, she had gotten quite used to playing it and learning about its techniques.
Back when she became Quidditch Captain, she wasn’t sure if she was doing her job right. In the very first game she played, her nerves were practically frayed. She had made sure to give commands to her team, but she always felt that she might have been missing something. Her third year teammates always seemed to have a better idea of what to do, and they even managed to outperform her. They might have won, but it was all thanks to their Seeker. The second game was slightly better, although what were previously nerves was replaced by unmoving steel. She only had something to focus on and that was winning. Damn anything else that stood in the way. She would have played fair, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t go down without a fight. And of course, they still won that one thanks to their Seeker once again. Yet they haven’t scored a goal yet. It was humiliating. It wasn’t something that she would have faulted her team members for, but it still stung knowing that all it really boiled down to was the Golden Snitch having a gravitational pull towards their Seeker.
And with the third game coming up, she wasn’t sure what would happen next. Would their winning streak keep going? Or would it finally break? She was optimistic. Or at least she tried to be. If they could win in the previous games, they could handle the next one as well. Even if they did lose, at least they’d be able to give a good performance that was worthy of representing their house. It was already tiring having to see Hufflepuff be depicted as something so mediocre by the other houses as it was. Quidditch was practically one of its redeeming factors by now.
She had already practiced the weeks before. She planned to practice again, but she wanted to do something else that wasn’t just Quidditch practice. She would have headed towards the rehearsal room once more, sitting by the drums. Flipping through one of the pages in the sheet music, she decided to start off with something that was relatively fast-paced. The door was closed, and soon enough, all she focused on was the sounds coming from the drums. Her hands were constantly moving, the drumsticks slamming on the pads of the drums and occasionally moving towards the cymbals.
In the end, there was something beautiful about the drums as well. Something that not everyone noticed. And she appreciated that.
Last edited by Ruthie Greer on 4 Apr 2020, 02:47, edited 1 time in total.
"Honestas ante honores."
Stam: 9 | Eva: 6 | Str: 7 | Wis: 7 | Arc: 6 | Acc: 8
Abilities: Fearless
13 Apr 2020, 18:08
To Create a Harmony
@Saskia Nicholson
If there was one word to describe Bridget's second year of Hogwarts, it was busy. All year long, she'd worked day in and day out to keep up with the truckload of homework and long hours of Quidditch practice. She'd never really minded much; after all, she'd didn't have many friends to speak of, so extensive free time would probably bore her to death. The grueling pace was exhausting, sure, but Bridget had always managed.
Not anymore, though. Where she was swimming before, now she was flailing, drowning. Ever since the spider attack, her ever-present motivation and tenacity to get things done, to excel, had vanished. Homework was turned in only half-finished. She was distracted at practice. And even though she'd already been miserable at social interaction before, now she was straight-up avoiding people. It wasn't that she was okay with her failure. Her fire had been put out, and she couldn't find a spark to reignite it.
So when doing homework was impossible, Bridget found herself gravitating to the rehearsal room. It wasn't a place that had previously been foreign to the Slytherin; in fact, she visited the room at least biweekly if only to not let her skills atrophy. Music had always been a part of the Collins household, and while not a major part, her and her siblings all had an instrument they could play. In Bridget's case, she was competent with both the piano and the flute. She rarely played the flute anymore, as her talent with the instrument was mediocre at best. No, her true talent rested with the piano. It was a common instrument and, while perhaps not at all unusual, the one she enjoyed playing.
Mind you, her playing had been solely for practice and the music she produced was flat. Devoid of heart. The brunette preferred her sketchbook over instruments, finding it an outlet in which she better used her creativity. That, like pretty much everything else, had changed the moment the spider venom entered her veins. She hadn't drawn anything since that night. The inspiration was simply... gone. And so she decided passionless music beat staring at a black sheet of paper.
As she neared the rehearsal room, the sound of music filled her ears. Normally, this would have had her turning heel and finding something else to do; she was avoiding people, after all, and didn't want an audience. Today, though, the music caught her attention. Cymbals crashing, drums beating. And something her music often lacked. Passion. It was too good to walk away from.
Tentatively, Bridget pushed the door open, stepped inside, and let the doors swish shut once more. Being at the school without technology had made her forget what good music was, and for the first time in weeks, she had it. A spark. Inspiration.
Excited by her idea, the Slytherin practically flew to the piano, still careful to not disrupt the drummer. Once seated, she simply listened to the melody for awhile, tapping to the rhythm with her foot. Once she had the beat, she just started playing. Thin, nimble fingers pressed on keys, adding her music to the sound ringing in her ears. It wasn't perfect, but it still sounded good. A harmony. After all her shortcomings lately, she could finally say with confidence she'd helped make something good.
Phyllis Stanwood (iNPC) • Aislin Darragh (2nd gen) • Alejandros Espinosa (2nd gen iNPC)
11 Aug 2020, 23:19
To Create a Harmony
@Bridget Collins
The longer Saskia stayed, the harder it was to stop. To any outsider, music tended to be the one of the things that managed to completely entrance someone, and that was speaking from experience. But for the player, it wasn't all about the music. The sound of the drums boomed across the room, enough to drown out every other noise. She barely had the time to think about anything else.
In a way, it was similar to playing Quidditch. At a first glance, it must have been odd to compare the two together. One was focused on maneuvering around the field while the other was on staying in one place, letting one's hands do the rest. But what she felt now was something similar to Quidditch. Her hands swiftly moved across the drum pads, and as she did so, she could feel her heart pounding. Nothing held her back. The music sheets in front of her were only a guide, but everything else was pure intuition. There was no point in hesitating. Hesitating was what made people falter. It was what made people lose. The only way she could stop was if she reached the end of the song. But thinking about when the song would end was another distraction. She would reach that part when she was there.
Her head shot up as she listened to the melody of a piano ringing out from another part of the room. Curiosity was what made the girl almost stop entirely, but then she heard the harmony of sounds that played together. It was fascinating. She hadn't heard of a piano and a drum being combined together, but it was actually pretty good. She still didn't know who this mysterious pianist was, nor did she know why they were there in the first place. It certainly was unexpected for someone to join in on a solo completely unprompted, but she could definitely appreciate their confidence, whoever it was.
The music continued to blend together, the piano notes complementing with the drums. With the fast pace of the rhythm and the lack of planning beforehand, some parts were understandably jumbled, but that wouldn't discourage her, and hopefully it wouldn't discourage the pianist either. If anything, it was an exciting aspect of their duet. It was a challenge she was willing to take.
As the song came to an end, Saskia could feel herself smiling for the first time since she entered the room. She didn't think she'd be pulling off something like this, but she was proud of what she accomplished with this mystery pianist. They made quite a good team with what they were given, and she did have to admit that they were pretty good at what they were doing.
"Hey, that was pretty good," she called out to the stranger, breaking out a grin.
"Honestas ante honores."
Stam: 9 | Eva: 6 | Str: 7 | Wis: 7 | Arc: 6 | Acc: 8
Abilities: Fearless
20 Aug 2020, 21:48
To Create a Harmony
@Saskia Nicholson
The drummer didn't stop when Bridget joined in, which was definitely a good thing. She felt a little bad for interrupting the other musician, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She'd never be able to keep up with the music if she got distracted. To make music with the drums so spontaneously, she had to be focused on her playing and nothing else, and, honestly, it was the most free she'd felt in ages. The challenge forced her to not think about anything else, and slowly she forgot about the spider attack and the nightmares and everything else that had been bothering her. It was only temporary, but she'd take what escape she could get.
Naturally, the music wasn't perfect, but that was to be expected from an impromptu duet. And they both pushed through the hiccups, knowing they couldn't stop, and they didn't. Not until the song ended and the messy parts had been made up for by patches of near-perfect harmony. Sliding off the piano bench, she held her breath, wondering what the drummer's reaction would be. She figured if the other person was mad they would've stopped already, but she still couldn't be sure how they would react.
All her worries dissipated as the drummer said it had sounded pretty good, no trace of sarcasm or annoyance detectable. Turning towards the voice, Bridget was curious to see who she'd joined. The drummer, as it turned out, was someone she knew: Saskia Nicholson, Hufflepuff's Quidditch Captain and rival Beater. A few months ago she might've been irked that Slytherin had lost to Saskia's team, but now that just seemed silly. Pointless. Things were so much worse than losing a game.
Returning the girl's smile, she nodded. "Yeah, it did. Um, sorry for jumping in on your playing like that. Just... when I heard your playing, I had to join." She shrugged as if it had been no big deal, but it had been. Saskia had given her a spark of hope she hadn't had in a while.
"I'm Bridget, by the way." She added it on like it was an afterthought, which it technically was. She was getting better at talking to people, but her social skills were still in need of a little work. "Saskia, right?"
Phyllis Stanwood (iNPC) • Aislin Darragh (2nd gen) • Alejandros Espinosa (2nd gen iNPC)