#howard link

a habit that sticks with you timeline: the searching for a.w. arc

so anyway, i'm here again rambling under my own posts, thanks for stopping by. on today's agenda, as usual, two topics: allen and link.

considering that in the last few months before his escape, allen lived with link 24/7, almost the first thing he did every morning was say good morning to link? so now the first thing he feels in the morning is loneliness and regret? sure, allen only finds out about link's "death" from kanda and johnny, but still, he must've thought"how is he doing?"

link, on the other hand, both infuriates and amuses me during this arc. based on his orders, his conversation with kanda, and that "why did you come to US" line, it seems like he just followed allen around for a month or two without making contact? he didn't have explicit orders to avoid allen, so was he just running across rooftops and clearing his head, trying to get his thoughts together?

of course, there's also the possibility that allen would've just run away from link, because he doesn't want to drag anyone else into it, and the idea that he needs help had to be drilled into his head beforehand (thanks, kanda, thanks, johnny).

anyway, i can't stop thinking about this forced, bitter separation. i'm glad they're hanging out together again now.

and the text and image separately for some reason? "You don't have to sit here, you know." "Keeping an eye on you is part of my duties." "Haha, right... But did you make the pie yourself? It's really good." "It's Inspector Lvellie's recipe." "So that's... part of your duties too?" "Just eat in silence, Walker."

Since when do you smile when you say things you don't believe? This all started with thoughts about how Link started smiling way too much in volume 29. But ever since his very first smile during the conversation with Kanda and continuing his spy game where he doesn't even know what he wants it's like he's just endlessly bluffing?

He says "why did you come to US" - what "us," really? He says "I ran away" - an obvious lie. He says "I'm here on Lvellie's orders" - he's here for Lvellie, sure, but from that same conversation with Kanda, it's to "save" him. And last time, by obeying without question, he lost Tokusa. So I seriously doubt he's ready to put Lvellie at that kind of risk again with his usual flawless obedience.

And honestly, his whole "I'm here for the 14th and nothing else" sounds like complete bullshit. There's no one in the world who cares less about each other than Link and Nea.

And that made me wonder, where did Link learn to smile when he lies? Also, the whole Third Exorcists thing is still unexplored! There are only like 2–3 panels with little crows across the entire internet, which is just not enough. I hope we'll get more about the Thirds when the time comes, but for now, I've let my imagination run a little in that direction.