Violinist for Seoul Philharmonic Symphony.
Pansexual/Aromantic.
Single.
01/27/1998.
26.
Ox (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Remi Young on Feb 21, 2016 8:57:42 GMT -8
Remi nodded, pulling the music sheet closer towards him and going over the music without the bow first, trying to get a feel for the notes. He sighed, relieved even the thought of music was calming him at least a little. He figured it'd be that kind of day, where nothing really "sat right" with him unless it was music related, but he had also been hoping Minglong's first visit wouldn't be this awkward. Having a guy friend was somewhat nice, anyway. After going over the notes a couple times, he finally picked up the bow, giving Minglong a crooked smile, "Alright don't uh... don't laugh, okay?" He said, trying to sound playful, though his voice was still betraying him and it sounded slightly more threatening than he intended.
Finally, he played over the piece, stumbling over a couple of the harder sections, but otherwise doing alright. He was frowning as he finished, "I should really work on practicing harder chords, they always trip me up." He muttered, more to himself.
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
28.
Background
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Minglong Lin on Feb 27, 2016 16:45:00 GMT -8
Minglong watched Remi play, mostly nodding, but occasionally making a slight face when something went off. When Remi finished, he said, "I see part of the reason those chords, they are causing you the problems. When you are playing, you keep pulling the violin to far in front of you and twisting your wrist at a not right angle. It makes it harder."
He thought for another second and asked, "Could I see your bow? I would like to check that the tension, it is right."
As he held out his hand he added, "Overall, it was not bad, getting a lot better. I think most of all, you just need to keep practicing. We can run through the individual passages one by one, and try to correct the small errors though."
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Violinist for Seoul Philharmonic Symphony.
Pansexual/Aromantic.
Single.
01/27/1998.
26.
Ox (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Remi Young on Feb 28, 2016 21:49:43 GMT -8
Remi let Minglong see his bow as he tried to look over his positioning as compared to the chords. He winced a bit, his hand not actually hurting, but the memory of pain still there. "That's because some arse aimed their baseball right at my hand last fall. So my practice positions got thrown off because it hurt to play it like this." He said simply, shaking out his hand. "All of them?" He snapped, raising an eyebrow. "I haven't been able to practice them all enough to go over just the bloody small errors."
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
28.
Background
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Minglong Lin on Feb 29, 2016 0:35:00 GMT -8
Minglong watched Remi fidget with his violin, and when he actually got the violin into the right position, Minglong said, "Right there, make sure you are focusing on holding the violin there when you do the practicing."
He poked at the bow, loosening the tension and slowly and smoothly tightening it again before digging his own rosin out of his violin case and giving the bow a few runs over. He said, "Make sure you are getting the even tension in your bow too, and using the rosin regularly. If you feel like your bow gets stuck and then slips sometimes, that is part of the problem. You sometimes tighten your bow in quick hard tightens, and it makes the tightness not so even. That should be a little better."
He held the bow back out towards Remi, and looked at him thoughtfully with his little outburst. He shook his head and said, "We will see how much we have time for today, so maybe not all the phrases, but we can work from the beginning and see how far we get. Are you doing exercises for the hand injury? That sounds not nice to have happen."
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Violinist for Seoul Philharmonic Symphony.
Pansexual/Aromantic.
Single.
01/27/1998.
26.
Ox (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Remi Young on Feb 29, 2016 11:47:40 GMT -8
Remi evaluated the position, trying to burn the right pose into his mind and muscle memory. He hadn't realized how thrown off his hand injury had cause him to be. He took the bow, testing his position with the bow in hand. It definitely made it easier for him to hit the right chords, but since he was still learning, he had a feeling he'd still get caught up in the more complicated chords. Hopefully not as much now though. "I'm still getting a feel for how the bow is supposed to be." He retorted simply, observing the bow in an attempt to also remember it's look.
He brought the violin down, setting carefully at his feet before running his hand through his hair. "I did every day until it was fully healed, but these days it's more just kind of when I think about it." He shook out his hand, though it wasn't actually hurting, then curled and uncurled his hands into a fist, stretching it out a little. "It wasn't, but that bloody baseball player's still limping so I don't feel like I got the worse end." He said, grinning simply. He sighed, leaning back so he was slouching against the back of the couch. "Bloody hell mate. I haven't been practicing much lately, alright? I'm sorry but my mind is just not... here."
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
28.
Background
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Minglong Lin on Mar 3, 2016 2:27:58 GMT -8
Minglong got a thoughtful look on his face as he processed the things that Remi was saying, translating in his head to double check that he had understood and comparing the words to the tone. He looked over Remi's posture, shoulders up, tenser than usual, in a defensive posture, and finally he said softly, "Remi, are you alright? Is there a specific thing that is wrong?"
He knew there was a good chance that Remi wouldn't tell him even if there was, but he had the suspicion that Remi rather desperately needed to talk to someone who wasn't going to pressure him, and Minglong sort of wondered, if Remi had been calling him a friend to his mother, if he would be someone who could fill that role at least for a little bit. For all that Remi could be difficult, and Minglong hadn't had the immediate easy rapport with him that he did with many people, he still liked the other young man, and he could tell that for everything, Remi was trying to find the things that worked for him.
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Violinist for Seoul Philharmonic Symphony.
Pansexual/Aromantic.
Single.
01/27/1998.
26.
Ox (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Remi Young on Mar 5, 2016 15:32:34 GMT -8
Remi remained silent for a while, pondering over the question and how much he should actually reveal. He and Minglong were still new friends, but a part of him was yearning for better advice from another guy besides Jaeki's ever-so-useful 'you f'ed up man.' He sighed, sitting up and resting his elbows on his thighs and he wrung his hands. "Yeah, there is. I mean it's a lot of things but there's one main thing that I've been thinking about since it happened and well..." He faded off, running a hand before his hair before continuing.
"So," He began after a concentrated breath, "A little while ago, Mikkie found out she was pregnant. I don't really want kids and we both agreed now wasn't really the right time, but she couldn't bring herself to get an abortion. Just recently, something got botched and she miscarried the baby. I don't see what the bloody problem is, we didn't want a kid anyway, and bloody hell we can't afford one right now, but she's all gutted over it and now she's pissed off at me for being relieved?" He ranted, feeling rather open now that he'd disclosed all that, but also really wanting advice before he actually really missed Mikkie. "She won't even bloody talk to me."
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
28.
Background
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Minglong Lin on Mar 19, 2016 1:04:59 GMT -8
Minglong thought about it for a bit. He only knew Mikkie from what Remi had said of her, since they'd never met, and some of the flow of words was a little bit hard for him to understand because it was fast and not what he was used to talking about. He fiddled with the beads on his shuzhu, trying to think of the right thing to say.
He was pretty sure he had let the pause draw out a little bit too long, but he finally responded, "She must have been through a lot of pain. Her body and her mind. If something went wrong, I am sure that it was not easy on her body at all, but if she could not go through with the abortion, then there was some part of her that must not have wanted to lose it. And even without that, pregnancy, it changes the chemistry of someone's brain and body, so that would be a sudden change, and I am sure that it would be uncomfortable."
He kept his tone steady and thoughtful when he continued, "Just because something is easier from the outside, that does not mean that it feels the most right sometimes, and maybe she will understand how you feel relieved eventually, when she is not hurting, but if you know she is hurting, then being gentle and not pushing her about feeling a feeling that is not hers is generally the best course."
He looked Remi over and said, "If you feel seriously about her, you should probably be very nice to her for a little while, do nice things, make sure you are paying attention to what she wants and needs, even if you do not understand it. That is important in a relationship, it is hard to maintain one if you do not try to make sure that the other person's needs are met. Let her have her feelings and try to support her. The reality is the one you wanted, and eventually, she will recover."
He frowned and added, somewhat more lightly, "Otherwise, you are kind of being a jerk."
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Violinist for Seoul Philharmonic Symphony.
Pansexual/Aromantic.
Single.
01/27/1998.
26.
Ox (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Remi Young on Mar 19, 2016 14:48:29 GMT -8
Remi thought through his words, feeling a bit like he may have been stabbed in the chest by Minglong's last words. He chewed on his lip a bit, letting the words sink in. He figured he'd been being a jerk, but actually hearing it, and hearing it put into that context, it really made him see that had been rather insensitive. And at least Minglong had been more specific than Jaeki was in terms of why, rather than just stating the apparent obvious. "Be very nice to her, huh? I can't remember what I eat for breakfast some days, how the hell should I remember what she likes?" He groaned, his lips turning down as he tried to think of how he could do something nice for her.
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
28.
Background
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Minglong Lin on Mar 19, 2016 20:52:21 GMT -8
Minglong responded far more quickly this time, now that he had a better grasp of the conversation. He felt a little bit bad for seeing the face that Remi made, and the way he hunched up a bit after what Minglong said, but he also thought that it looked like Remi was acknowledging that maybe there was a problem for him to fix, which was probably good. Minglong said, "Ask someone who knows? Levi might be a good place to start. Even if she is not so happy with you, she might be willing to help you for making Mikkie feel better. Also, ask Mikkie and listen if you get the chance. If you are worried about remembering it, write it down, or make a note in your phone or something, just something that you can look at to help you remember what you are needing and wanting to be doing."
Minglong paused for a moment and added, "And focusing on believing that her feelings, theyare real even if you do not understand them. It is an important part of the being nice to her, and it mostly means listening to what she has to say and trying to help not based on what you are thinking would be right but what she says she needs or wants then. Does that make sense?"
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Violinist for Seoul Philharmonic Symphony.
Pansexual/Aromantic.
Single.
01/27/1998.
26.
Ox (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Remi Young on Mar 20, 2016 20:16:04 GMT -8
Remi nodded, taking in the advice without responding. He chewed on a finger for a bit, contemplating what his next move should be. He looked down to his violin, sighing and running a hand through his hair as he leaned to pick up his violin, setting it on his lap carefully as he looked down at it, playing with the bottom edge of the instrument. After what was probably far too long, he finally spoke, "I just..." He began, not really sure how to formulate the words, let alone in a way Minglong would comprehend it, "even with medication, I still feel like emotions just don't come... easy? I guess? So trying to understand when no one will explain, I just... thank you." He finally said, letting a breath of relief escape. He didn't even mean to say it, the thank you, not really, and so he kept his gaze on his violin.
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
28.
Background
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Minglong Lin on Mar 20, 2016 21:41:25 GMT -8
Minglong said gently, "You're welcome."
He added, hoping it would be reassuring, "Emotions are not necessarily easy, even if people have a grasp that is more intuitive of the emotions. Talking about them and listening to people, it is important for everyone, even if not all the people do it or talk about doing it. Maybe you have to be making a little bit more of effort than some people, but that effort, it is still there."
He paused, thoughtful for another moment and added, "I cannot promise that I will always be able to do the explaining, but if you are confused, I can try to at least give a little bit of a perspective if you want."
He shrugged, not sure if the offer would actually be welcome, but Remi seemed sad and frustrated and confused, and Minglong liked to help people.
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Violinist for Seoul Philharmonic Symphony.
Pansexual/Aromantic.
Single.
01/27/1998.
26.
Ox (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Remi Young on Mar 26, 2016 15:49:29 GMT -8
Remi nodded, mulling over their conversation on more time before bringing his violin into position, fingering the bow a bit before looking pointedly at Minglong. "This conversation didn't happen." He threatened, before looking towards his violin, "I think I'm okay to practice a little more. My mind's a bit more cleared up after that, and you came for the purpose of helping me practice anyway, so we may as well." He said, biting his lip a bit after his words were done.
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
28.
Background
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Minglong Lin on Apr 5, 2016 10:33:06 GMT -8
Minglong couldn't help but roll his eyes a bit at Remi for his first response. He muttered, "If you say so, but you can always talk to me about this if you want again later."
When Remi turned back to his music, Minglong smiled at him and said, pointing at a part of the music, "Yes, practicing, it would be good. Let's take the stretch that was giving you trouble there again. And if you want, after, we can try it with two instruments, so you can hear more what the sound it will be like when we are all playing together, so that it is not so distracting."
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Violinist for Seoul Philharmonic Symphony.
Pansexual/Aromantic.
Single.
01/27/1998.
26.
Ox (Korea)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
|
Post by Remi Young on Apr 7, 2016 17:34:03 GMT -8
Remi nodded, trying to keep his face stern despite seeing Minglong roll his eyes, let alone knowing he was being ridiculous. He nodded to Minglong's comment about trying it with another instrument, hoping he'd be able to keep up alright. He went over the part he was having trouble with using only his fingers, making sure the positioning was correct and not adjusted to pre-healed hand injury. It was definitely easier when he wasn't making up for a brace, though that part still gave him a bit of trouble. He made a face, somewhere between anger, frustration, and laughing at himself. "Now what did I do wrong?" He grumbled, looking at his violin like it was the offender.
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