towerofanimus APPLICATION

[inspector_link]

Player Information

Name: Ningi
Personal Journal: ningi
Age: 25
Contact Info:
EMAIL: amandaleewilliams@gmail.com
AIM: Sanguine Ningi
PLURK: areyouokaypanda
Other Characters Played: N/A

Character Information

Character Name: Howard Link
Character Series: D.Gray-man
Character Age: Link is between nineteen and twenty at his canon pull point, but the his time spent in his previous game puts him between twenty-two and twenty-three.
Character Gender: Male
Game Transplant
Canon Point: Chapter 202, just before he realizes that the Cardinal in Allen’s cell isn’t there to help, BUT due to previous cast members and memory test shenanigans, he has knowledge of happenings up through his appearance in chapter 217.
Former Game: a_facility
Background Link: Link at the D.Gray-man Wiki.
Game Background: Previous Game History. Be warned, that’s four years worth of history. Bit of a doozy, so have a summarizing blurb instead.

Link spent four years in a torture box. Okay, it was actually a space station, but all that really means is that it was a fancy box. In space. He’s not the real Howard Link, but a clone of the original created purely for the purpose of torture under the guise of scientific experimentation. As a clone, his genetic makeup is somewhat unstable. All subjects of the facility were prone to occasional "clone sickness", periods of unconsciousness with no other explanation other than that their body just decided not to work that week. Sometimes bodies refused to start working again, and clone sickness would lead to death.

He began his time in the facility as a huge stick-in-the-mud... and he still is one, but the suffering he’s gone through has helped him grow into a genuinely better person. Link might not see things so optimistically, but as the Doctor says life is a pile of good things and a pile of bad things. His pile of bad things is pretty large (pain, torture, and loss out the wazoo), but his good pile has grown immensely over the years. He’s reexamined the man he was and the man he wants to be, made friends, and even approached love with a side-eye and a long stick. In spite of all the trials he’s experienced, our dear inspector has come out on the other side on top (if not a bit worn), and the bad things can’t spoil that I’m sorry, I’ve been watching Doctor Who :|a.

Link’s also changed physically during his time in space. He wears his hair long (even longer than it is in canon), and tends to let his bangs get just a little too long before trimming them up. He’s also paler and thinner than he ought to be due to a lack of sun and dwindling food supplies, but he was as careful as possible to not to let his strength deteriorate. He remains well-muscled, but the facility left its mark in other ways. He bears a meriad of scars that he mostly keeps hidden, and his left leg had to be amputated from below the knee. He wears a detachable, fully articulable prosthetic limb. Think robot leg, ala Homestuck.

Personality:

Okay, so this particular version of Link spent four years in a torture box. He’s still the same guy deep down, but he’s been through a lot of crap that has changed him in a lot of pretty understandable ways, so let’s split this up a little to keep things neat. I apologize for it getting so long. This is actually the cut down version, but I can try and cut it down more if necessary. >>;

GENERAL PERSONALITY
Link is a very serious individual with a tendency to impose strict regulations upon himself and those around him. Not surprising considering his upbringing. An orphan taken off the street and raised by the Vatican to be a ninja assassin? Yeah, that’s gonna cause some issues with spontaneity and free-thinking. Rules are rules and aren’t meant to be broken... except sometimes when they are. He has been known to bend the rules on occasion when the situation merits it, like allowing Allen use of the Ark during the Level Four’s attack on Headquarters even though the exorcist had been forbidden to use his abilities without higher authorization. These exceptions tend to only happen during pretty extreme circumstances, but they prove that he has the ability to make his own rational judgements outside the guidelines of his job, especially in situations where innocent lives are on the line.

As a member of CROW, his purpose is not to defeat the enemy (akuma, to be specific), but to protect others from them, and Link is perfectly willing to perform his duty to the end, even if it should prove to be his own. That sort of unthinking devotion to his duty can be blamed mostly on that super fun upbringing of his, but he exhibits a passive sort of concern for others that only grows as he spends more time with Allen. While acting as an inspector for Central, his original assignment was to shadow Allen Walker as a mere observer, but that silly boy has a way of changing people, and Link? Not immune. He watched Allen overcome challenges and suffer so much, and eventually keeping that detached view of him became impossible. Somewhere along the line, without Link even realizing it at first, "stalking" became "caretaking".

We’re treated to a new facet of Link’s personality when canon reveals the fate of the other members of CROW that he grew up with. Knowing the monstrosities that they’d become because of the orders he had followed when delivering a piece of akuma egg to Central was devastating. The Thirds were his support system through childhood and one of his very few bonds, and to know that he had a hand in the experiments they underwent (and, by extension, their eventual corruption by the millenium earl), however unknowing, forced him to reexamine his place in the Order and in the world in a way he had never thought to before. That new point of view is what ultimately leads to several extreme decisions that change the course of his life very shortly after his pull point, but that’ll be examined more in the Facility portion of his personality.

All in all, he can be a major pain in the ass, but he’s not nearly as harsh as you might expect someone in his position to be. Hell, next to his boss, Link looks like a fluffy kitten. Link is very much a Lawful Good Paladin, but current canon is quickly forcing him to reexamine just what laws he should be relying on. He depends on rules and paperwork and limitations to frame his world, but is capable of adapting to new situations. He’s very intelligent (smart enough to defeat a chess champion) and usually very calm and collected (calm enough to defeat the aforementioned chess champion while surrounded by battling akuma and exorcists). He also enjoys sweets and is extremely loyal, not to Central, but specifically to his superior, Malcolm C. Lvellie. It’s not entirely clear whether this loyalty is inspired by his own personal sense of duty or something more complex in their shared past that we’re not yet privy to.

FACILITY PERSONALITY
Most of the changes to Link’s personality brought on during his time in the facility center around Allen Walker. He also went through two canon updates and learned some very... unsettling things about his existence in the game setting, so bear with my while I try and work through everything.

Though it wasn’t initially apparent, residents of the facility were eventually revealed not to be people extracted from the universes they originally came from, but simply clones of those people. Artificially created bodies with memories and abilities inserted to meet the Doctors’ needs, forced through experiments ranging from the ridiculous to straight up torture only to be tossed into the incinerator once they no longer proved useful.

Sounds like some pretty existential crisis-y sort of stuff, huh? YEP. Link had a difficult time accepting the facility even before the clone revelation. What do you mean we’re in space? What do you mean we can’t go home? Is that guy over there claiming to be an angel? It was all way too much for the inspector to handle at first, and he actually ended up having a mental breakdown of sorts not long after his initial arrival. He did, however, manage to recover, focusing his energies on surviving the experiments and continuing his observations of Allen Walker. Allen served as a very important focus early on. Though stalking the boy was pretty unnecessary with no members of Central to report to (and believe me, Allen resisted every step of the way), being able to do his job is what kept Link stable enough to acclimate to the facility properly.

The clone revelation was a huge blow for Link, but one he generally refused to acknowledge for a very long time. He was pretty well settled by the time it came, and he initially decided that the whole thing must be another trick by the Consortium, the group in charge of running the facility. Over time, though, evidence was presented that made denying things more and more difficult, and now? Well, it’s something he’s come to accept, but he refuses to dwell on it for any real length of time. He may not be the exact individual he thought he was, but his memories are still the same, his experiences are (at least in his own mind) still the same, and his personal beliefs are still the same. He refuses to consciously allow himself to change so much when he knows exactly the sort of man he wants to be.

Now, that’s not to say that Link hasn’t changed at all beyond the whole ‘whoops, you’re a clone’ thing. He’s loosened up considerably since his arrival in the facility four years ago, a change most people would say is for the better. It took two years, but he did eventually grow comfortable enough in the setting and with Allen to stop officially monitoring him, though the two never did go further than separate rooms in the same suite. Inspector and exorcist managed to form a very strong bond over time, one that Link did eventually manage to label as friendship, and a very important one at that. Almost every other bond he made during his time in the facility was formed through Allen in some way, including those made within the Order, and while he is capable of maintaining his own friendships (though admittedly very few), everything leads back to Allen.

That aforementioned loosening up applies not only to the parameters of his former job, but to Link’s emotions as well. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still one hell of a stick in the mud, but where the man used to show emotions in only small slivers (usually just annoyance and the occasional sarcastic comment), he now behaves... almost like a normal person. Link is still often of the opinion that others see him as just "the inspector from Central", and suffers from no small amount of self-loathing when he’s left to think things over for too long, but he is slowly ( very slowly) working past that. He’s much more willing to engage in verbal clashes with other members of the Order (usually Kanda) and can occasionally even be seen engaging in brief bouts of childish arguing. He’s also managed to pick a fight or two in his time (again, usually with Kanda) and is perfectly willing to punch Allen in the face if he does something stupid. He likes to think of himself as a voice of reason amongst some of the more reckless members of the Order, but sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.

Those negative emotions aren’t the only ones being dragged out into the light, though. Romance was something the inspector never considered before his time in the facility, because hey, when you’re a secret assassin fighting against abominations that you literally have no way of truly defeating? It’s pretty likely that you’re not going to live long enough to settle down, but surprise, surprise, there are actually a few ladies that find short, lawful jerks attractive. His first experience with this romance nonsense was... awkward. And difficult. To be honest, he wasn’t entirely aware of what was happening until the young lady in question informed him that they were, in fact, dating. Link did come to care for her in his own way, but eventually put his foot down and cut off the relationship (if you can call holding hands on the couch a relationship) when he realized how devoted she actually was. It wasn’t fair to let her string herself along when he couldn’t care for her the same way. The Order would always come before outsiders, and had on several occasions, and letting her believe otherwise would only be cruel.

Link has had a few experiences with intimacy (*GASP*), but each was based solely on effects from various experiments. He actively distanced himself from anything resembling a romantic relationship until just before Alpha Omega station crashed. Over the two years prior he formed a bond with Emilia Galmar, a tutor from the D.Gray-man universe. They went through many ups and downs over time, their friendship almost dissolving once when she was finally told just what sort of underhanded activities CROW tend to involve themselves in, but in the end they both missed the support the other offered too much not to make peace. Deeper feelings formed naturally over time, and when Emilia confessed a deeper attraction before the crash, Link reciprocated.

Time in the facility wasn’t all about emotional development, though. Most days there were spent dealing with the effects of the weekly experiments. They were extremely diverse, from simple silliness like everyone glowing neon colors, to individualized, week-long torture. Link bore each of these with varied amounts of stubborn dignity, but one in particular left its mark in more ways than one. During a Reaver raid about a year and a half before the station crashed, Link lost his left foot. He spent most of the next few days half delirious on the crude drugs that that week’s setting could provide, but once he came down a deep depression set it. After all, what use would he be as a cripple among a population of demons and super heroes? Not long before the injury he had learned of what he believed to be his own death back home, so not only did he have nothing to offer the facility, he didn’t even have a purpose to focus on at "home". He was as good as dead in two worlds at the same time.

He spent (what he would describe as) an embarrassingly long time trapped in that depression, convinced he would be nothing more than a burden for the rest of what he was sure would be a short life. Allen and the head medic at the time, Tsunade, both played important roles in getting the inspector back on his feet foot, but in the end it all came down to another experiment. In a series of Saw-inspired tests, subjects were forced to overcome extreme obstacles in order to prove they truly had what it took to continue living, most involving self-harm in some form or another. Link’s test rekindled his will to survive and thrive, and shortly after his success he sought out an engineer to build him a prosthetic leg. He now operates just as well as he did before his injury, perhaps even better given the added strength his new limb provides.

Link has suffered mentally and physically in ways he never could have imagined for himself back home (which is shocking considering the nightmare fuel DGM is generally made of), but he’s more stubborn than even his mun could’ve predicted. His time in the facility has molded him into so much more than just a dog of the Vatican, and someone who defies the simple, one-dimensional definitions that the manga gave him to begin with. He’s become a voice of reason, a teacher to some, a leader in times of need, and a dependable friend to those willing to look past his stiff exterior.

Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.

Abilities:
While Link is an impressive specimen where strength and speed, almost everything about him is still within normal human limitations. However, he does have one major physical alteration that can act as an advantage... or disadvantage depending on the situation. About a year and a half before his jump to Animus, Link lost his left foot during a Reaver raid. It was replaced by Equius Zahhak (Homestuck) with a two part prosthesis. A metal cap has been permanently attached below his knee, bearing a plug-ish apparatus that can be easily attached/detached from the socket in the rest of the prosthesis. The limb is very sturdy (adding weight to the inspector’s steps and strength to his kicks) and capable of the normal range of motion, but he has to be careful not to damage it. Who knows if he’ll ever find someone who can repair should it break.

His only supernatural abilities come from magic spells specific to the members of CROW. Using paper strips with specific symbols inscribed on them, he’s capable of using a range of techniques. Most involve binding targets or forming protective barriers around them, but a few are capable of delivering explosive fire damage. All the spells Link is capable of are listed here, but I’ll go ahead and list them in my own words below.

Destructive Spells:
          Secret Art - Black-winged Flame Spirit: That’s a fancy name for "punch it in the face with fire" The user clutches an explosive spell strip in one hand, empowering their arm with explosive energy... and then punches targets in the face with fire.
          Flame Wings: Targets are covered in a layer of destructive spell strips which, when activated, explode. With fire.

Defensive/Restrictive Spells:
          Secret Spell - Binding Wings: Spell strips are used to form a ring around the target that causes them to feel heavy. Piss off the user and they can lash out further, turning "feeling heavy" into "HELP, GRAVITY IS STANDING ON MY WHOLE BODY". Off the battlefield it can be used more precisely and on a smaller scale (i.e. binding an exorcist’s Innocence).
          Protection Wing: Binding Wings in reverse. Defensive strips form a protective ring around a person/group of people. No person/thing can get in or out of the circle until it’s deactivated. Strips can also be attached to walls so the user doesn’t have to play constant babysitter.
          Restriction Wings: Put it in a box and punch it with electricity.Restraining strips form multi-tiered barriers around a target. Pretty easy to break out of before it’s activated, but activation brings with it a nasty surge of electricity. Enough to knock out a magically regenerating super child, so I’m going to assume that it’d hit a normal person pretty hard.

Sample Entries: Post, plus another one in case you don’t like joint posts.

New Sample:

The last thing Link remembered before waking up was screaming. Not his own screams (or so he distantly hoped), but definitely screaming, though that didn’t come as much of a surprise considering just where he’d been before blacking out. His memories of the crash were surprisingly clear up to a certain point, time seeming to slow down as the moment of truth grew closer. He remembered the way the station shook and the way the room had tilted. He remembered throwing himself around the nearest body to cushion them from the fall. He remembered holding Emilia tight to his chest, taking some satisfaction in knowing that in his final moments he would be spent protecting as he had always been meant to, but for his own reasons rather than those of the often faceless men he had once answered to.

And then there was nothing.

Now, standing next to the bed he’d woken up in with a strange letter in one hand and the edge of his new collar under the fingers of the other, he wasn’t sure what to do. Maybe he really was dead. Starting over like this seemed like a very appropriate setting for his own personal Hell, but Link rarely allowed himself to linger on such dramatic thoughts. It could always be another trick by Val, or some sort of ruse by the Consortium. Honestly, it didn’t matter much either way. Years in the facility had prepared the inspector for a multitude of strange scenarios, most of which beginning similarly to his current situation, and in such situations there were unofficial protocols to be followed.

Kneeling by the trunk at the foot of his bed, he lifted the lid and quickly began sorting the contents within. He donned his clothing and switchblades immediately after discovering them, his natural paranoia too great to let him remain underdressed or unarmed for any longer than absolutely necessary. His personal journal, blade cleaning kit, and CROW robes (why he’d been supplied with those he couldn’t guess) were all removed and set aside as he searched for an item that had never before seemed so important as it did now.

"Naturally," Link muttered under his breath as he came up empty-handed, his communicator nowhere to be found. He was clothed, he was armed, and so the next logical step would be to find the others. Which "others" he was mentally referring to didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding someone he was familiar with and figuring out where to go from here, but he couldn’t do that without a communicator or a hell of a lot of luck.

After carefully reloading his trunk and taking quick stock of the room around him, Link strode toward the door. When a glance up and down the hallway outside made it clear that there were no dangers present, the inspector started walking, eyes taking in as much information as possible and stopping only when another person finally appeared at the end of the hallway. Link picked up his pace, approaching the stranger with a serious expression and absolutely no hesitation.

"Excuse me? Can you direct me to the nearest network terminal?"