#wineinthewindow

[thelordslight-archive]

“   i know you don’t worship the   LORD OF LIGHT,   my queen,   but the way you threw that feathered pen at me really set   my   heart aflame.   ”

🔥   ——   @wineinthewidow   ASKED FOR   crack.

[damnedcrybaby]

NEXT UP!! What did Elijah expect coming up to meet them? Was he nervous knocking on that door for the first time? How does he feel about Caroline and Daniel now as opposed to how he felt when he first seen them? How DID he feel when he first laid eyes on them? 👀👀👀/// listen I love reading about them okay ?

uHM YOU ARE SPOILING ME OMG asjkldskldfjksfsdkf !?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?! I DUNNO WHAT I DID TO DESERVE THIS AND I CERTAINLY DON’T DESERVE YOUR BRILLIANCE BUT ALSKJDLASJD I LOVE TALKING ABOUT MY BABIES LASJDALSKJDALASKJDSLKDFJS

PRECURSOR :: LEVI JACKSON = PAPA, and Eli only knew him as the man who signed his name on the letters he was given on his mother’s death bed.

Honestly: Elijah expected to come up on some magnificent PLANTATION or MANSION TAKING OVER ACRES OF LAND! Of course, he’d read that Levi was a farmer and he’d read about a farm in the letters he’d gone through after his mother died– but the idea of a simple farmer being able to take on the responsibility of sending SO MUCH MONEY for him and his mother to live comfortably, even to get him through college… he’d been expecting to meet a WEALTHY MAN, had actually only brought the letters to prove to Levi that he WAS his son, thinking some brilliant landowner would think anyone coming along with such a claim as lineage would RIGHTLY BE DOUBTFUL OF SOMEONE WHO MAY BE TRYING TO DIG INTO HIS POCKETS!

Eli didn’t know Levi was dead when he went searching for him.He knew there were children, notably a son and daughter, but from the context of the letters he’d been able to construe they were adults (which he was correct about)– and, considering the resources Levi had been able to give him from all that distance, he assumed they’d both be off living their own successful lives elsewhere as adults (which, obviously, he was NOT correct about) and wasn’t all too worried over finding them until he mastered the mystery of Levi… (and, he didn’t know if those children were like himself, kept at a distance)

So, really, the first time he walked up to the address on the letters…boy thought he had the wrong house, and learned for the first time he hates chickens.

And when Caroline answered the door, he was baffled, but she looked at him like he held a world of answers inside of him, and once he realized she was Levi’s daughter / his half-sibling: he immediately decided he loved her. Not only did he love her, but he suddenly felt an absolute need to DEMAND the best for her, to know she’s happy and doing well, to care for her the way an older brother should do!

Since he’d been gone for so long and only met Caroline years after she managed to swim above the surface of her overwhelming melancholy– he only knew that bright-eyed, curious darling who insisted he stay for dinner. He didn’t know the past of guiding her, of teaching her to listen to that conscience and common sense she buried within her, of battling her internal demons so this ray of sunlight could come beaming out of her, and certainly not of the ongoing struggle faced when trying to keep her as cheery and well-dispositioned as possible… THAT HAD ALL BEEN DANIEL’S BATTLE TO FACE. Eli came right on in and got to reap the benefits of the loving sister who just wanted to take care of him and listen to him, without fully having to comprehend the heart strings of hers he threatened to re-snap with his mere presence…

So, when DANIEL came into the dilapidated homestead to find Eli and Caroline chattering away, he was faced merely with hostility. Not only towards him, but also to the WONDERFUL SUGAR-SWEET SISTER HE’D FINALLY FOUND! and Eli was absolutely unwilling to accept any authority this illiterate (which, Eli didn’t KNOW Daniel was illiterate at first, but managed to figure it out after a couple weeks of hanging around) brute claimed when he came stomping in and BOSSING around Caroline! She’s not some CINDERELLA to be ORDERED AROUND or UNDERESTIMATED: SHE’S A LOVELY GIRL WITH A SUNNY DISPOSITION WHO COULD BRING THE MEN HE USED TO WORK WITH TO! THEIR! KNEES! IF SHE KNEW HOW TO JUST USE THAT CHARM SHE’D BEEN BLESSED WITH…

And at the first sign of such, of his unwillingness to accept this farm-boy’s sense of pride over the shitty property and ‘family’ he’d supposedly kept going along… Well, Daniel made no efforts to hide his distaste for Eli. Daniel made it quite clear early on that he didn’t like him being there, didn’t trust his intentions, and absolutely didn’t believe a word he had to say– which, unfortunately for Daniel, Eli only takes such things as OPPOSITION instead of PERSONALLY, comes with the lawyer gig… so the two are constantly butting heads over knowing what’s right or what’s best, especially for Caroline, and Daniel’s insistence that Eli is here and going after something offends him to the point of chipping away at any respect he could hold for him…

So, Eli’s not all too fond of Daniel at all, and absolutely believes he’s intellectually and just generally superior to him– definitely believes he could do more for this ‘family’ than that farm boy ever could… and since neither brother are willing to budge or put on a show for the sake of appearances, the hostility is not only obvious- but runs DEEP.

Eli & Caroline’s bond only makes it worse: she shares a sort of intellectual camaraderie with him that she could never have with Daniel, even if most of her familial faith and love for Daniel is a bond that could never be compromised…

ELI IS STARTING TO COME AROUND, THOUGH, NOW THAT HE’S SPENT MORE TIME WITH THEM… it’s beginning to become clear how Daniel is really just drained and exhausted from all the responsibility he’d been left with, responsibility Eli could not even begin to fathom… and how Caroline, though certainly sweet as pie, has her own emotional and social stunting that came along with her personal struggles before he ever came along… and their bickering with each other is even starting to become more reasonable to Eli, too: now that he can see the strong hand and guidance she requires just to overcome her own internal demons that get in her way…

But most of all: Elijah is learning that family isn’t always sitcom-stunning, and that the struggles make you more’a family than all the good times ever could…

… that bit of brain power Eli & Caroline have are about to put their bond to the test, though, in the oncoming drabble i’ve had sitting in my drafts forever:

“Do you think my Papa was a criminal?”

“I believe your… our father was involved in more than farming.”

“Do you reckon any guesses to exactly what that would entail?”

“My only guess, Caroline, is that it may have been a little less than legal.”

“What makes you say that?”

“It funded me well enough to get through law school…”

[damnedcrybaby]

Talk to me about Caroline and Daniel’s feelings when Elijah’s showing up like ‘hey guess who I am’

~*snuggles & sets out blankets and pillows for the story time*~ i… love you… a bushel & a peck… a bushel &’a peck, &’a *ATTACKS INTO HUGS*

WELL: Caroline’s taken right away, mainly because Eli’s a spittin’ image of her “Papa”… she felt more like she was seeing a ghost than anything else– and didn’t even think twice about doubting his claims when she saw the letters… she knows her Papa’s handwriting, and Elijah came with a whole bundle of them, sweet words and all… with both Mama and Papa gone, she’s quite apt to accept any and all sort of FAMILY that would come along, and we all already know how trusting she is of strangers, even ones she probably SHOULDN’T be so willing to believe… 

PLUS, he’s so darling towards her: has all this FAITH that she could do BRILLIANT THINGS, that there’s some untapped TALENT in her bones, that she’s capable of moving past her proclivities to BECOME SOMETHING BETTER! (which, truth be told, she’s always wanted something different, but she’d never considered CHANGING SO MUCH to comply to a specific ‘something’… aka: a white-collar job with nice things and money in savings…)

– worth an author’s note: Caroline absolutely does not comprehend or consider the Pavlovian effect Elijah’s resemblance to Papa has over her… She’ll rather blindly do most anything Eli asks of her, will go along with any plan he concocts, will try to appear ‘on his side’, will consider any thought he proposes, and will definitely make attempts to hide the tendencies everyone else who knows her are much more familiar with– and it’s all because, when he looks at her, it’s like looking right into Papa’s eyes; when he talks to her, it’s like listening to Papa’s voice; when he raises his tone or gets frustrated, it’s like disappointing the Papa she’s missed so devastatingly for so long…

Elijah really doesn’t mean to take advantage of it, and for the most part HE’S JUST SO HAPPY TO HAVE FOUND FAMILY!! WHO LISTENS AND REVERES HIM!! that he just thinks he’s helping save her from the lot life left her with (see: subtle dash’a SAVIOR COMPLEX & EGO, since he thinks HIS way of living and HIS wealth and HIS lifestyle is superior): but that resemblance is why his mother had such a hard time looking at him, sincerely showing her maternal love for him— so Caroline turning that resemblance to LOVE and UNQUESTIONABLE AUTHORITY AND ACCEPTANCE is too much a sign of love (that he’s been missing out on) to even consider looking further into…

(And, this psychosomatic hold Eli has over her makes Daniel loathe him even more)

Daniel is… distrustful, intimidated, slightly-jealous-and-suspicious in general…

Really, Daniel has more’a problem with the MONEY situation than anything else. From what he’s known his whole life, especially since the brunt of the work fell on his shoulders, is that his family is dirt poor. They can put food on the table, and every now and then there would be a surprisingly special present or gift coming from Papa– his inheritance was even meager, just enough really to help pay off bills and his funeral services… so when this city-slicker comes along with his NICE shoes and his NICE DRESS SHIRTS and he wanders off to a NICE BUSINESS JOB, only to come back with a NICE DRESS and NICE SHOES for CAROLINE! of all people, so he can try to bundle her up and get her a job at those NICE OFFICES too… it feels almost like an ambush that only pits this supposed bourgeoisie brother against his own proletariat position as the LEADER OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

He’s done absolutely everything he can to keep food on the table after Papa passed.He’s done absolutely everything he can to keep Caroline from getting herself killed.He’s been who she’s answered to, who she’s looked up to, who she’s listened to (mostly)…

But then Elijah comes along, and suddenly she treats him like some sort of LOST HERO!

Daniel hates it. Eli wasn’t there when the family worried over sickly little Caroline refusing to grow at all as a child, he wasn’t there when Papa fell ill and they had to take care of him as well as the house, he wasn’t there to make sure darling Caroline ate / that she got out of bed / that she combed her hair / that she took the time to get dressed / held her hand when she was scared the world would fall apart / to make sure she managed to actually live while battling the depression that came with losing both parents– all while HE STRUGGLED THROUGH THE SAME, UNABLE TO TAKE TIME TO BREATHE OR THINK ABOUT IT, SO WORRIED OVER HIS SISTER HE COULDN’T EVEN GRIEVE THE LOSS OF HIS PARENTS PROPERLY–  but ELI is apparently the SUPERIOR BROTHER, with all his SUCCESS, and the ANSWER TO HER PRAYERS…

And please, don’t even mention to him how it’s unfair and utterly devastating to his sensibilities that he had to watch his family, his sister and mother AND his father, all STRUGGLE to get by comfortably… only to learn that this ELIJAH and HIS MOTHER that nobody knew existed was basically getting a paycheck out of Papa just for BEING.

… unfortunately, further fueling this brotherly fire: Daniel can’t read well, and is absolutely worried there’s a trick at play or SOMETHING BENEATH THE SURFACE of it all… he can’t read the letters Eli brought to prove his story… he doesn’t get to read the kind words Papa had spoken of him to Elijah’s mother, doesn’t get to read the stories Papa had shared about how PROUD he was of Daniel, doesn’t get to read the sweetness of which Papa spoke of his sister or his mother… and considering Caroline’s sweetness on Eli, and well, considering CAROLINE at all… he doesn’t trust her to be able to see past the shimmery surface of this family reunification… 

All he sees is an older, more successful, wealthy man coming in trying to call them family.Despite, for the last many, many years: THIS FAMILY WAS DANIEL’S.