#linkou

[chiefbeifongcanrailme]

14 & 29 for lin x zekou maybe 🥺👉🏾👈🏾

i miss my babies 👶

Aw, I miss them too! I have incorporated both the prompts.

Thank you for thinking about Zekou!

This occurs somewhere between book 2 and book 3.

Lin threw a couple of ice cubes on, and wrangled the piece cloth together before rushing out of the kitchen.

This was the last time, she swore- just as she had sworn the previous countless times.

She entered the living room to see those two hooligans laughing their stupid United Forces coats away. She rolled her eyes and walked up to them.

"Here," she whispered, handing the makeshift ice pack to the touch more sensible of the two clowns.

"Thanks, Lin," he replied, taking it from her.

Despite being in her own house, Lin felt ill at ease. The two of them, on the other hand, were right at home. At least her and Bumi had known each other their whole life. Zekou, injured and vulnerable feeling comfortable, in her- a stranger's home was wild. But to think, this was Bumi's first time in Lin's home. And, thankfully, he wasn't making a fuss about it. They had known each other their whole lives after all, and Bumi being Bumi would be comfortable in a dragon's nostril on the south pole. Zekou was probably just trying to fit in- that Bumi being comfortable meant that he too could be comfortable too. Zekou wasn't cocky- she knew him enough to draw that conclusion.

"Lin, have a seat. Consider it your own home."

But Bumi sure was cocky.

Lin scoffed and took a seat on the chaise beside Bumi.

"Ow!" Zek winced.

Instantaneously, Bumi placed his palms on her knees. "Should we call a healer?" he asked, those bloodshot eyes piercing into hers.

"I'm fine, Bumi. I just bumped it. It's just a swelling," Zekou interjected.

She looked over Bumi at her injured guest and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry. It doesn't hurt all that much."

"That's because you're drunk. It's going to hurt a lot more tomorrow," Lin offered.

"Then I'll see a healer tomorrow," he replied with a smile.

She had done her part, but she still worried. Head injuries had a way of appearing benign only to turn out serious. She decided she would follow up with him the next day. The swelling on his temple seemed to be easing up with the ice.

Nevertheless, this was the last time she went out drinking with the two of them. Their shenanigans were but a foot step away from landing them in jail- and to think she would probably arrested as an accessory by one of her rookies.

At that point, she'd rather listen to Pema talk about her kids.

"Anyway, I got to take a fat piss now. Lin, bathroom?"

Lin shook herself back to the present and replied, "Yeah, down the hall."

Within seconds Bumi had vanished, leaving an empty seat between Lin and Zek; alone for the second time in all their friendship. Bumi had this way of being omnipresent so when he wasn't physically around, there was a lull- although, in their case, it was still comfortable.

"Is the pain any better?" she asked, moving to the cushion next to his.

"Who knows," he replied with a chuckle. "My head is cold, my hands are cold- everything is numb... And cold."

"Do I have to remind you that you're a firebender?"

Zek snorted. "Won't that melt the ice and make a mess on your expensive couch?"

Lin rolled her eyes. She reached for the ice pack and Zek allowed her to relieve his chilled hands. He winced when the cloth pressed against his forehead and Lin promptly adjusted her grip to rest the ice pack lightly against him.

"No need to be gentle."

"I'm not being gentle," she retorted.

"You are gentle. You like to come across all rough and tumble but you're really just soft, gentle and caring."

Lin scoffed, pressing the ice against him with just enough pressure to make him wince again. "You clearly don't know me."

"I don't," he confessed. "We've been drinking together for weeks on end and I still only know of you what Bumi told has me."

"That's good enough."

"Oh, come on, Lin," he said, clasping her wrists and bringing the her arm down to the couch. Lin placed the ice pack on the coffee table and folded her arms in front of her chest. He continued, "Tell me something about you that I don't know."

"I don't know what you don't know."

"Okay, fair."

He stroked his beard in thought as he studied her sitting in front of him. "Have you and Bumi ever—"

"Nope. Never happened, never will."

Zekou laughed. "I was going to ask if you and Bumi ever had a heart-to-heart. But, it's funny how your mind went there."

"You obviously meant to ask me that."

"You think if you two had ever kissed- let alone had sex, Bumi wouldn't have told me? Or brought it up every time we hung out?"

Knowing Bumi, that would probably be part of the introductory package.

"Fine. Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, we've had one heart-to-heart conversation. But something tells me you already knew this."

"I did. I asked Bumi if you'd ever opened up to him and he told me you did once."

"And you wanted to waste your question on something you already knew," she deadpanned.

"You know, you tell me that Bumi and I are basically the same person. I think, you and Bumi are extremely alike- different sides to the same coin."

"You don't actually believe that!" she said rather defensively.

"He's just as avoidant as you when it comes to sharing personal things or talking about your feelings and dreams, trauma—"

"Oh come on, don't tell me you've been psychoanalyzing—"

Ignoring that, Zek continued. "So, my question to you is: what was that conversation about?"

"Mmmm," she hummed in thought. "I guess I'm just liquored up enough to answer that."

"Enlighten me." He crossed his legs and turned towards her, smile flashing across his face.

"Well, I'm sure you know I was involved with Bumi's brother."

"Yes, the last airbender."

"Right," she swallowed. "It was the night of his wedding. I had a moment of weakness, and Bumi was there. I realized I was going to be all alone- that his wedding meant there was no going back- and I began spiraling. My mother was gone, my sister was pretty much exiled and I had nobody and nothing but my badge left. That's when Bumi arrived with a bottle of champagne. He tried making me feel better by telling me how miserable Tenzin was," Lin let out a grim laugh, "but I knew he was just saying that to make me feel better. We ended up talking all night. About our lives, our jobs, parents and found that we really had a lot more in common than we thought,"

"I was right!" Zek interrupted.

She gave him a slight nod.

"And we realized we weren't actually alone. That him and I will always have our broken legacies tying us together and that's something that would never change. And then acceptance came around. Bumi is never going to be an airbender and the person I once truly loved is never going to be by my side. It was okay to be ourselves and bring enrichment to our lives the way we liked. We didn't need to fit into some mold of expectations. Whatever we're looking for will come find us when the time's right."

"Wow," Zekou said, touched. He placed one hand on hers, knowing she would likely reject the gesture. But her hand stayed under his, especially once he brought some heat to it since it was also cold from the ice pack. "That's- that is sweet. Profound."

"Didn't think I'd spill that much, did you?" she smirked.

"Well, you did outdrink me tonight," he quipped back.

"Do you know me enough now?"

His hand continued to loiter over hers. She was easing up in a way he had never seen before. So when she asked him that, he felt something warm in his chest. So much so that his thumb slowly meandered into her palm and he squeezed her hand softly.

"No," he said with a laugh. "There's still so much I want to learn about you."

Lin rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, Bumi appeared in front of them. Zekou noticed how quickly she pulled her hand away from his- he was certain Bumi couldn't have seen it.

"I actually passed out in there! How long has it been?"

Lin stood up, hands on her hips. "Long enough. I think it's time to call it a night."

"Aw, really?" Bumi said. "What'd I miss here?"

"Nothing—"

"-seeing if Lin was interested in meeting a swarthy man the next time we go out drinking," Zekou spoke over Lin while giving her a mischievous look.

"No—"

"I think that's a great idea!" Bumi exclaimed. "Lin, pick out your best panties, we're going to get you laid next week!"

"Nope, not happening," the Earthbender called. She grabbed Zekou by the ear and led him over to Bumi, whom she yanked by the collar, and then dragged them both to her main door.

"I'm done with both you of now. Leave," she said.

Both the men laughed. After Bumi's failed attempt at giving her a hug of sorts, she opened the door for him, and Zek followed him out wordlessly.

"Good night, Chief!" they both said together.

"Good night, Commander and a good night to you too, Captain."

Zek decided to leave her with a little wink in return.

Five word prompts from here

[cowboy-outlaw]

I hope you all had a wonderful new year.

During my hiatus, I was sent to Taiwan to work for a month. While I was there, I was able to experience celebrating new years in a different country as well as celebrate the lunar new year. I’m grateful to have gone on this work trip as I was able to learn a new culture and to have met a lot of new friends along the way. Although this isn’t everything I saw, it’s just a small glimpse of what I experienced.

Until the next adventure!

[mise66]

Il ciliegio del giardino visto dalla finestra di casa #taiwan #linkou (presso 林口區) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpWiJ1dvGLy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chengyangblog]

[vyva-melinkolya]

no invented words could describe how this recording makes me feel. listen with caution

[musickickztoo]

Mark Linkous 

September 9, 1962 – March 6, 2010

[onekindredspirit]

Sparklehorse - "Saturday"

[d1gnan]

pig by sparklehorse inspired mixed media collage (2024)

[nymclem]

Heart of Darkness by Sparklehorse cover :)

[dustedmagazine]

Sparklehorse — Bird Machine (Anti-)

Photo by Danny Clinch

Bird Machine by Sparklehorse

When Sparklehorse released Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot in 1995, it felt like an outlier. At the time, during the height of Britpop, there weren’t many artists making slow-motion, country-influenced, lo-fi rock music like Mark Linkous. His aesthetic brought together a classic pop sensibility with a junkshop approach to instrumentation and timbre, where a song like “Chaos of the Galaxy / Happy Man” from second album Good Morning Spider literally sounded like tuning into a radio transmission. He collaborated with PJ Harvey and Tom Waits on It’s a Wonderful Life, and on the title track of fourth album Slept For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain, he painfully evoked the syrup-thick sensation of depression. Though Linkous was candid about his mental-health struggles, when he took his own life in March 2010, it was still a shocking and tragic loss.

Bird Machine is technically the fifth Sparklehorse record, and was worked on by Linkous in the months leading up to his death. This posthumous release has been lovingly put together by Linkous’s brother, Matt, and his sister-in-law, Melissa — and they’ve done a fantastic job. It sounds just as a Sparklehorse album should, and is a surprisingly upbeat listening experience given it was recorded during Linkous’s final months. Among the 14 songs are some searingly fuzzy numbers, such as opener “It Will Never Stop,” “I Fucked It Up,” and “Listening to the Higsons,” a Robyn Hitchcock cover. There’s the sparklingly Beatles-esque “Daddy’s Gone,” the bright, Mellotron-laced “Evening Star Supercharger,” and “The Scull of Lucia” is reminiscent of Radiohead’s “No Surprises,” with a naïve, music-box feel to its melodies.

It’s in Bird Machine’s heavier moments, though, where the album really hits home — and the loss of a unique artist is most keenly felt. The harrowing “O Child” is so slow and sparse that it feels like it could fall apart at any moment, and the lengthy instrumental outro includes fractured, static-flecked dictaphone recordings. On “Everybody’s Gone to Sleep,” Linkous taps into a mellow Yo La Tengo vibe, his vocal sounding uncannily like Ira Kaplan. After the brief guitar instrumental “Blue,” “Stay” is a heartbreaking piano-driven closer, reassuring a loved one “It’s gonna get brighter,” yet sounding as if Linkous is already heading towards the light. And on standout “Kind Ghosts,” which belongs among Sparklehorse’s finest songs, the lyrics are all the more bittersweet given the context: “Where were you, my kind ghosts, when I needed you?” Let’s hope they were waiting for him on the other side.

Tim Clarke

[moonsjonghyun]

[chiefbeifongcanrailme]

What is Zek's love language? How does he express it to Lin? How does he receive and reciprocate Lin's love language?

Hmm this is a good question.

I wanna say Zek's love language is definitely a mix between Quality Time and Acts of Service. He is very receptive to Physical Touch and Quality Time but his 'giving' expression is more Acts of Service.

Coming to Lin, whose love languages are Physical Touch and Words of Affirmation, the former being given and the latter being received, I think the two of them complement each other pretty well. As someone who has dedicated herself to serving her city, she receives Acts of Service really well. She feels appreciated- like all her sacrifices for her whole city were worth it because she gets to feel taken care of just like that. Quality time can be a little tricky with Lin since she barely has any time to spare, I like to imagine that they find this balance where she's reading a book or listening to the pro-bending match on the radio while he's doing something else, but is in the same room with her.

It's kinda because of this need of Zekou's that they wind up moving in together pretty early (by Lin's standards, ofc) into their relationship. She really liked him and she didn't want to lose another relationship- especially since she finally started allowing herself to be happy- to another one of her issues. And at least this way, she has her space but also it also accedes to Zekou's needs.

And of course, he tells her every day how much he loves her and how lucky he is to have her- even though she rolls her eyes at that, she secretly relishes it.

All in all, I think they strike a fantastic balance together.

[drumsand2ba]

Sparklehorse with Sol Seppy at John Dee Oslo 1. November 2006

[spilladabalia]

Sparklehorse - Eyepennies

[vyva-melinkolya]

She don't worry all them murders of crows

Even though they was always out of reach

She don't get up when I come into the room

She don't run through the fields anymore

[musickickztoo]

Mark Linkous *September 9, 1962