Eli Laffe

## Disabiguation

Eli Laffe is the main character in *Day,* and has the "Day of God" trait.

## History

The original concept around Eli was to make him follow the ENTP Meyers-Briggs trait, however he is now an ESTJ. Due to his incredibly timeliness, ability to teach and work with people, and practical approach to life, he has established himself successfully in a marketing firm located in Seattle. He has a comfortable life with his wife Sarah Laffe, a psychiatrist, and his daugter Maisie Laffe. It's possible the Eli has French ancestry considering his last name, but this has no effect on the plot in any way.

## Character Arc

Eli is very responsible but isn't the best as expressing or connecting with his feelings. This brings a humerous contrast when considering that his wife is a psychiatrist, or possibly a therapist, and works with people and feelings.

When Eli meets Stacey in *Heart,* or in another book depending on how the story does, there is a immediate contrast between them; Stacey is introverted and feeling oriented, where of course Eli is not. An important part of his arc involves this unlikely couple leading each other toward a healthy middle due to their constant time around each other. Through Eli's divorce and the situation where he blames himself for his daughters' rape, he becomes a broken man and changes much from his initial place. Through proximity and interaction, the girl who he thought was distant, strange, and unfocused helps him to better get in touch with his own grief and feelings. And similarly, the old guy who acts old and is way too stuck up teaches Stacey some things she never learned from anything else as the two form an uncle-niece type relationship.

It's also possible that Eli may treat Stacey as a de-facto daughter and try to mend the tear in his own soul, as well as make up for his complete disastrous mistake with his own daughter, by showing some uncommon loyalty to Stacey. This is due to the fact that his own daughter mostly rejects him after constant attempts to mend the relationship. This dynamic could be compared to Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in *Breaking Bad.*

In *Days,* Eli interacts with Aldorlian, an elderly Indian man with the "Eye of God." There relationship will also be lasting and significant.

More pertinent to Eli's arc is Tam, the polynesian man who is his first boss in the night job he has in *Day.* The two may *[possibly]* form a bond or have other interactions besides boss and employee.

Obviously, Eli's favorite co-worker Phil is comedic relief in the story, but may become more important.

The interaction between Eli and Thames is a significant one, because where Eli is an authoritative figure who believes in rules and common sense, Thames is philosophically driven, if only because he has such an extraordinary ability. In a basic way, Eli could be seen as structure and Thames as Chaos; however, Thames is very structured and has well thought out plans for his actions.

An interesting dynamic is the one between Stanley Long and Eli. Both are extraverted and self motivated, but Stanley is willing to cut corners where Eli is not and in this way they often disagree.

Author notes: When thinking of the dynamic between Stacey and Eli, I feel there would be a timidity to do dangerous and certain things "that have to be done" in a story like this. This is because Stacey is non-conflict oriented and will generally avoid hurting people, and Eli won't necessarily fill this gap because he is logical and very structured, and wouldn't like deviating from social norms. Because of this, the story may benefit from a third in their party, someone like Stanley, or even someone like Eliza. James Shumaker could be a good fit, but his principles lead him to be an upstanding person in general. Perhaps Bo Wilson could be involved with Stacey and Eli in a part of the story. Thames, as well, would be interesting, because he's philosophically different from Eli, yet is self guided enough to take himself in his own direction if he wants. Eventually all the main characters will (probably) converge in the story anyway, but the dynamic has to continue to be interesting. Someone like Claudia would also be interesting to throw in with Eli.

Eli's main arc points include gaining a more spiritual view and broader point of view in life, validating emotion even if it doesn't make sense, and accepting himself, which may or may not ever happen after something as devastating as his divorce and blaming himself for his daughter's trauma.