Erica Nightshade
Mark Sorelli
5th Year Hufflepuff
Erica Nightshade
7th Year Ravenclaw
... who, me?
Posts: 403
(1/14/06 2:03 pm)
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Link Rowley
OOC
Name: Erica Nightshade
Contacts: Ezmail is preferred, but e-mail is TryToDreamAgain@aol.com
Age: 17
Code: Hermione Granger
IC:
Full Name: Lincoln J. Rowley
Nickname(s): Link
DOB: February 21st, 1998
Year: 1st year
Blood: Though both of his parents are wizards, and were born of wizards, there is plenty of ‘blood impurity’ from both sides of his family.
House Preference: Gryffindor
Why: Though he has some of the characteristics of a Slytherin, it is undeniable that above everything else Link is brave. He was always trying new things, and won’t let what others think about him define who he is. He does things because he wants to, and is courageous enough to put himself out on a limb for something he believes in. He goes against what others expect of him, just because he can, and he has dealt with a lot in his life, which has proven that he is brave and can handle anything life throws at him. He is also a little arrogant, which is one of the worse Gryffindor traits.
Physical Appearance: Link’s hair is a mousy shade of light brown. Naturally highlighted by a few streaks of darker brown that are interspersed throughout, it is generally a pale shade of tan-ish brown. When left alone and untouched by gels or hair products, which are things that Link neither has nor wants, it is flat and plain looking… very ordinary. To make his hairstyle a little more attractive (an idea insisted upon by his mother) he keeps it cut in layers. These layers, which he often cuts and trims by himself with a simple pair of scissors, usually fall over into his face and cover his eyes. The length of his hair constantly changes depending on whether he feels like cutting it or not. Usually it is long enough to cover his ears, and it has been know to grow shaggy enough for the longest layers to reach his shoulders. Though far from fashionable and virtually texture-less, Link loves his hair and would never change it for anything.
Still growing, Link currently stands at a height of about 5’2” tall, but he is going through a minor growth spurt and will probably grow and inch or two within the first month or two of the year. Both of his parents came dangerously close to the 6’0” mark, so he has the idea (and hopes) that he too will become that tall. He doesn’t enjoy the somewhat inferior feeling that comes from being stuck around older, taller people (the majority of the Hogwarts students). He is impatient to become taller, just like he is impatient to grow up. Though he is getting taller by the day, Link hasn’t begun developing very much muscle definition as of yet. He gets plenty of exercise, however, and so he is in good shape. Like most boys his age, he craves activity and despises sitting around and doing nothing. The outline of his frame is thin and scrawny; he’s all skin and bones. He isn’t tall enough to be considered lanky, though, which is a blessing in his mind. Weighing in at a mere 100 pounds, he eats like a pig and yet his high metabolism and active lifestyle prevents him from gaining a pound.
Link’s complexion is a little on the pale side over the winter, as he hates the cold and prefers to spend as much time indoors basking by the fireplace as possible. Over the summer and spring, however, he turns a nice shade of tan. He doesn’t tan easily, though, and so he has to be outside often in order to get any color. He has a light spray of reckless on his shoulders, which he usually keeps covered up anyway, and a few on his face which dot his nose and cheeks, though they are very light and usually unnoticeable, blending in with his somewhat pale complexion.
His eyes are a brilliant shade of sapphire blue, a deep color that compliments the rest of his features. Though usually hidden behind loose strands of hair, they are very sharp and attentive, capable of catching even the tiniest of detail. When he’s thinking about something his eyes will dart around the room, resting upon various things before quickly moving on. They often have a glint to them that gives others the impression that he is scheming about something… his almost constant smirk doesn’t hurt that impression either. His eyelashes are a little long, and his eyebrows are of average thickness. Nothing really striking, however.
When he is out of uniform Link will usually wear anything he happens to see lying about. This can range from dress-shirts to baggy t-shirts, and khaki pants to work and frayed shorts. He does like to look nice, however, and often puts at least ten minutes of thought into his clothing selection. He doesn’t have a necessary ‘style’, however. It varies from day to day with his mood. During the winter he is most often seen in sweaters that his mother knits for him. When Link is forced to wear his uniform, which is something he hates to do, he’ll try to make it as unique to himself as possible. Sometimes he’ll wear it loose, throw in a belt, mess up his tie, or not tuck in his shirt… anything to make his outfit unique without going too far and getting himself thrown into detention for dress-code violation or something.
Personality: Link likes to do things for himself. Though this may strike some as selfish and anti-social, the truth is that he usually sees what he can get out of a situation before he does something. He likes the fact that he can take care of himself. It isn’t the fact that he won’t do things for others; he just enjoys doing things for himself when he sees the opportunity. He doesn’t consider this selfish, and sees nothing wrong with a little self-rewarding.
He also likes to push his boundaries. Infinitely curious, Link isn’t afraid to make a few enemies in order to see how much he can get away with. He’ll test himself just as much as he’ll test other people. He will voice exactly what is on his mind at any time, and doesn’t seem to take other people’s emotions or reactions into consideration. He’ll often put himself out on the line just for the sake of seeing how far he can go. This goes for others as well. When he sees someone who needs help in a situation, he’ll put himself on the line to help them, just because he can. As much as he enjoys doing things for himself, he knows that it isn’t always about him and that sometimes he needs to help others as well. After all, everybody can’t be blessed with his amazing fearlessness!
This general disregard for other’s opinions of himself carries over into his general way of living. He blatantly ignores and goes against stereotypes of al kinds, sometimes just to prove a point; that he will do something just because he can. Link lives for doing things for the ‘shock value’ that it evokes from people. He won’t hesitate to go against the grain or be the first to try something that others are reluctant about. This makes him a fun person to be around as he’s virtually unpredictable.
His behavioral curiosity has a tendency of spilling over into the academic level. He’ll never turn down the opportunity to learn something new, and he’ll rarely forget something he’s learned in the past. Though it may take him a while to perfect a spell or memorize a charm, once he has it down it never leaves his mind. He is very good at picking up on small details, whether it be school-related or just in general he can usually be counted on to notice things that others overlook. His mind can act as a sponge for details, and while this can help him at times, other times all of the details can be overwhelming for him.
Despite his blend-in-with-the-crowd-mousy exterior, Link is a huge people-person. He prefers to be with a group of people as long as possible and finds that life is easier to live with friends helping you out. He is usually reluctant to admit when he needs help, but likes knowing that he has friends to help him when he grudgingly asks for it. He knows that his somewhat cynical and sarcastic nature isn’t always the most welcoming, but he’s trying. He enjoys talking with others, and is really a decent person once you get to know him. He will make a lot of friends in the coming years, just because he’s easy to be around. Never too serious, his carefree and spontaneously fun attitude makes him a good friend to hang out with and have fun with. After all, deep down he’s just an eleven-year-old boy!
He will often do dangerous things just because they look like fun, such as trying to jump off of the roof with a sheet as a parachute (which landed him with a broken leg… twice). He has a quick temper at times and may get into a fight or two, and he isn’t afraid to stand up for himself or those he is friends with. He’ll put himself out on a limb for virtually anything.
He had a rough childhood, which has left him a little bit cautious with what he tells others about his past. He hasn’t told anybody about what happened to his parents, and he doubt that he ever will. He tends to keep emotional things to himself, and often blocks out bad emotions all together. Usually this is why he jokes around, to keep his mind off of the truth when certain situations arise. He finds comfort in avoiding his past, and has detached himself from his emotional connection to the past as much as possible, which isn’t very good for his psyche…
History: When he was born, his parents lived in a small cottage by a pond, which is exactly what they named him. Lincoln, in Old English, means ‘Small cottage by the pond’. They were always symbolic like that with stupid things like names. He didn’t really like his name, as it was much too formal, and from the moment he had learned to speak it he had shortened it to Link and refused to be called anything else. He was always very stubborn. His mother, Eleanor Russet, was a simple person. She never asked for a whole lot, and it was her simple, homebody attitude that caused Link to be so fondly attached to her from the moment he was born. She was very nurturing. His father, Liam, didn’t spend quite as much time with him as he could have and was often at work until very late at night.
Link was always surrounded by people as a child, be it family or friends, and so he grew used to being in highly populated areas. He would get frustrated and cry often as a small child when he was left alone in a room for too long. Ever since he was a baby he found comfort in being in a room full of people. He would become agreeable as soon as he saw another human being enter the room, and any crying would stop. As Link grew up, he realized that he loved being around so many people because it helped him to keep his mind busy and off of more somber topics. He took curiosity in the lives of others because it drove thought away from his own life.
Link grew up as a very friendly child. Up until the age of six he played well with all of the neighbor’s children and the children of his parents’ friends, though sometimes he got a little carried away by his play and monopolized the blocks or didn’t listen to the rules of games made up by the other kids. He loved to create his own games and usually made up his own rules in such a way that he would always win. He enjoyed having the upper hand in a situation, and he still does.
A born troublemaker, he was virtually fearless from the time he learned to crawl. Link would always try to get into the rooms he was banned from… as a matter of fact, banning something from him was and still is the best way to assure that he would do it. Locks didn’t hold him back for long, as he was soon using toys to unlock his playpens and as soon as he could reach the doorknobs he was unlocking those as well. His parents soon had to take to magically sealing rooms so that he could not get in!
Even though he was a fun kid to play with and usually nice to everyone, he was very sneaky and manipulative. He knew just the right way to cry in order to get his parents to give him what he wanted, and when he was playing with other children he knew the perfect ways to distract them from their toys when he wanted to play with what they had. He always thought of himself first, and usually didn’t take into consideration what the other children may want to play with when he took the best toys all of the time.
Being an only child, he was very spoiled. His parents always wanted to give him the best things they could, and while that wasn’t always top quality they did get him a lot of material things. His father often gave him gifts once a week, thinking that it made up for the excessive amount of time he spent away from home. Link was aware that his father wasn’t usually around, but he never really understood why that was a bad thing. He just got used to it after a few years.
His mother hated the fact that Liam was never around, but as she took care of the house and only had a small job watching neighborhood kids, she didn’t make enough money for him to be able to stay home more.
When Link was seven, however, his mother became pregnant again. Link was upset that he wouldn’t be the center of attention, and often found himself wishing that he wouldn’t have a younger sibling. He enjoyed being an only child, and didn’t want anything to change. He thought that his parents wouldn’t love him as much once the baby was born, and he was against the new child from the start, even though he pretended he wasn’t because it made his mother so happy. Every night he prayed that it was a mistake, but he knew that he would just have to live with it.
Or so he thought. About two weeks after his eighth birthday, his mother went into labor. She was alone in the house, as this was an entire month before she was supposed to have the baby, and panicked. She called out for help, but it was too late. The baby was going to come whether someone was there for her or not. Link was in the backyard when he thought he heard a noise from the house. He went inside to see what it was, thinking that it was just his mother yelling at him for not cleaning his room again, when he saw her laying on the floor surrounded by blood. She was breathing heavily at first, but as Link got closer he saw that her breathing was slowing.
He cried out, but it was too late. The baby was born moments later, and Link panicked as well. He tried to pick it up, but was afraid of hurting it. Now covered in blood, he turned to ask his mother what he should do when she gave him a fleeting, weak smile. Then her eyes closed, and she stopped breathing all together. Link, numb all over, managed to call his father on the phone with a very unsteady voice before passing out.
When Link woke up he was in a hospital, all they would tell him was that his mother died of ‘complications’ during childbirth. The baby had died as well, due to clogged lungs. He went numb all over again, but this time managed to stay conscious. When he asked where his father was, the doctors told him that he hadn’t been seen since the ambulance was called. Link never saw him again.
At the funeral, Link never shed a tear. He was deathly pale, however, and stood rigid as a statue through the whole thing. Many people worried for him and his sanity, thinking that something like this might push him over the edge. It didn’t, and he never completely lost it, though he wasn’t as trusting after that day. Losing everything you had ever known and loved is hard for anyone, let alone an eight year old, and he was reluctant to grow close to anyone or anything else after experiencing all of this.
Left utterly alone, he was sent to a temporary foster home for magical kids. He had lived in an all-magical community, and so this was only natural. Link was traumatized after watching his mother and his almost-baby-brother die, yet he never shed a tear. He kept everything inside and refused to speak about the situation to anybody, not even the therapist which he was sent to once a week. He just sat there with a dull look to his usually sparkling sapphire eyes. Inside he blamed himself, as he had wished that he wouldn’t have a baby brother. Somehow this was all his fault. He should’ve done something to help his mother, even though he hadn’t even known she was in trouble. Somewhere deep down he knew that there was nothing he could do, but he couldn’t help but blame himself. He was only eight, after all. Now what was he supposed to do?
He was adopted just after his ninth birthday. The couple, Katelynn and Adrian, had lost their first child to a horrible case of Dragon Pox at the age of two, and they were looking to adopt. Link wasn’t opposed to being adopted, as he was told that it would help him to move on with his life. He couldn’t stay stuck in the past, he was told over and over, and he had to learn to grow up despite his hardships. He listened to all of this but didn’t really believe it. He just went along with it because arguing with the adults was pointless; they thought they knew him better than he knew himself. Hah! Like they knew what he needed. And so he was adopted, and lived in London with Kate and Adrian.
They proved to be very good parents. They quickly learned his favorite foods and made them for him whenever possible. Just like his own parents, Adrian worked and Kate stayed at home to take care of him. They raised him as though he was their own child, and he was grateful for the fact that they never forced him to talk about his real parents. After a while he began to trust them, and told them about his past willingly. The second he wasn’t forced to talk he wanted to, and they listened without judgment. Kate always took pity upon him, as this was a horrible thing to have happen to an eight-year-old boy! Adrian worked at the ministry, and he was home a lot more than Liam had ever been. Link fit in well with these two, who had no other children, and he soon called them ‘mom’ and ‘dad’. This was a huge turning point in his childhood.
It was around this time that he became known as a selfish and sarcastic person among his peers. Yes, he had always been a little spoiled and selfish to a degree, but now he became a little angry towards the other kids. Whenever someone asked him why he didn’t live with his real parents, since the neighborhood kids knew that he hadn’t always lived with the Rowleys, he grew impatient and snapped at them. “Why don’t you shut up and mind your own business?” he would snap back, fearful that they would find out and also blame him for what happened. After all, why else would his father have abandoned him if it hadn’t been his fault? And so he grew a hard, calloused layer over his emotions, and appeared as the ‘rebel tough boy’. As defensive as he was, however, he was still a good friend to anybody who was able to look past his bad first impression and get to know him. He was sarcastic, sure, but he was fun.
When he turned eleven he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter. This was it, this was what he was meant to do. Nobody there would know what had happened, unless they happened to live in his old neighborhood, and he could start all over again. Nobody there had to know about his past, and perhaps it wouldn’t haunt him so much to be in a new place. Of course, he often had nightmares and he doubted that they would stop, but he could deal with those on his own.
Kate and Adrian took him to Diagon Alley, just as they would have done with their own son had he lived. Being adopted by the Rowleys hadn’t just done Link well, it did Kate and Adrian some good as well. Each helped to comfort the other, and things had worked out just fine in the end. They were a very happy family by this point, and Link loved them as if they were his real parents, which as far as he was concerned they were now.
Now he is ready to try out for the Quidditch team, maybe, and make some new friends. A fresh start is just what he needs to take his mind off of things and finally, truly move on with his life.
RP Sample: “Rowley, Lincoln.”
The name was read off of a piece of parchment by a professor who looked as though they had about a million other things that they would rather be doing. The Great Hall was filled to the brim with people, and only a few empty seats remained at each House table.
“It’s Link. Link, not Lincoln. I hate it when people call me Lincoln.” Lincoln, which meant ‘small cottage by the pond’, only served to remind him of the house which he had grown up in… the same house he had seen his mother and his baby brother die in. The same house he felt helpless in, passed out in, and then never saw again. Boy, what he wouldn’t have given to be able to owl his real parents that night. How proud they would have been to see him finally sorted and a student at Hogwarts, just like they had always told him about when he was little. His mother, a Hufflepuff, and his father, a Ravenclaw, had always told him stories from school about the Professors and students who had attended when they were kids. He hated the fact that he couldn’t share this with his mother, who had only wanted the best for him.
“Here I am Mum,” he whispered under his breath as he walked over to the sorting hat. “I hope you can see me. I’m doing just fine, and Kate has been brilliant. See how far I’ve come?” He smiled ruefully to himself at the memory of his mother, Eleanor, before sitting down and placing the hat on his head. He didn’t want to dwell too much upon the past, lest he become all sad and emotional. It just didn’t suit him. After all, he would get to owl Kate and Adrian after he was sorted, Kate, who had been a Gryffindor and Adrian who had been a Slytherin.
His mousy brown hair was covering his sparkling sapphire eyes, which had an eager look in them. Things were finally starting to fall into place with his life, and he knew that from now on he could deal with whatever came his way. He had gotten a broom as a pre-school gift, and thought that perhaps he could take up Quidditch. Joining a team couldn’t hurt. He was so lost in his thoughts that he barely heard as the Sorting Hat called out to the Great Hall that he would now be a proud member of…
((ooc- sorry the RP sample is a little small… my muse kind of died on me by the end of the bio!))
Edited by: Erica Nightshade at: 1/15/06 10:50 am
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