#ruth.

eli stepped out of the small kitchen into the open hallway of his home, rubbing at the dark circles under his eyes and studying the dryness of his cheeks. he'd been pulling more nights at the carroll volunteer fire department as the number of heater fires ticked up. as they did every winter. the sound of the doorbell ringing had eli stepping out to yell, "it's open".

the twins would be home this weekend and he wanted the house in order before that. or maybe that had just been an easy excuse to spend time with ashton and ruth. it seemed like he got less and less of that these days. it didn't feel right, but he tried not to fight it. it's not like he was actually their brother in any sense that mattered. they probably got tired of him always watching a long time ago but his protectiveness over the duo had kept him in their gravity regardless.

THE WILD & WONDERFUL APPALACHIA WELCOMES… ruth ellery as written by jen ( she / her ).

✱ affiliated with AFTERGLOW RESEARCH SOLUTIONS ✱ working as SURGEON ✱ has taken up residence in BURNINGTON ✱ born on MARCH 23RD ( 28 ) ✱ identifying as CIS WOMAN ( SHE / HER ) ✱ known to be BRIGHT, ECLECTIC, THOUGHTFUL ✱ also know to be DISORGANIZED, DEFENSIVE, HYPOCRITICAL ✱ portrayed by DAISY EDGAR-JONES

THE BARROW SIBLINGS. (modern edit because bunny tried to find them all in period clothes and failed.)

in order of youngest to oldest: GIDEON, THOMAS, RUTH, PAUL. 

gideon & paul take after their father, JOHN. while thomas & ruth take after their mother, CORNELIA.

the barrow family hails from MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.  the year was 1877. john barrow and cornelia dawson met while john apprenticed at the local clockmaker.  cornelia was on a mission to repair her father’s pocket-watch, and the two felt the spark of love at first sight.  often, cornelia would find herself in the shop to talk with john.  the two married two years later, and john continued to rise in rank while cornelia found a job in textiles.

paul was born on APRIL 9TH, 1881.  john wanted his son to follow in his footsteps of clockmaking, but paul was built strong and wide.  he found more pleasure in working with his hands.  paul left school at the age of FOURTEEN and went to work on his uncle’s farm in blackley.  he still lived at home with the farm not being too far of a trek.  as thomas got older, he and paul butt heads – especially when thomas had been taken under john’s wing for clockmaking.  paul would call him delicate. after thomas left home, paul did not seek out his younger brother.  paul DIED in france in 1917 during the war.  he was THIRTY-SIX years old at the time of his death.  he left behind a wife, KATHLEEN, and two children, ages 9 (SIMON) and 13 (LILY).  ( in modern verses, he doesn’t die young. )

ruth was born on DECEMBER 3RD, 1883.  ruth was incredibly bright in her youth, excelling well in school.  cornelia wanted her to finish her studies, but john insisted she get a job early.  ruth eventually joined her mother at the textile mill, but before she started working she became best friends with PHYLLIS BAXTER at school.  she and phyllis were inseparable.  thomas was closest to ruth; as he got older, he often would hang around her and phyllis.  ruth fell in love with a local boy named HENRY CHAPMAN and married him.  they had three children together, CHARLIE, SAMUEL, and DOROTHY.  her and paul’s children grew up together and were very close.  at the time thomas left home, he begged ruth to stay at her place – she denied him, having just given birth to her oldest son charles.  she claimed she didn’t want him bringing any bad luck to their house.  later, thomas wrote to ruth to inform her that he’d gotten a job at downton abbey as a footman.  they continued to write to each other but only on rare occasion; thomas could not forgive her for turning him away.

thomas was born on NOVEMBER 17TH, 1891.  cornelia suffered through three miscarriages before she finally gave birth to thomas; she initially deemed him as the miracle baby after fearing that she could no longer have children.  john was a stern father of few words, but he took thomas under his wing when the boy showed interest in clockmaking.  thomas realized he was gay early on while at school; the other boys would talk about girls, while he would think about them.  there was another like him, CALLUM DONNELLY, whom he grew closer to over the years.  he left school at fourteen just as paul had, but he would go to apprentice under his father at the clockmaker’s shop.  john and cornelia (and paul) never liked how close thomas was to callum.  john eventually caught them kissing, and thomas was thrown out of the house at the age of FIFTEEN.  he never looked back.