Meet the Characters - Ann

I realize I've yet to make a post about a female character. While I will admit most of my characters (for pretty much all my stories) are male, you can still count some interesting, cute, and downright fun ladies among the cast. For that matter, I don't care so much about the characters' gender or ethnicity as I do about their likability and what they add to the story. 

As I said in a previous post, the best characters are the ones that make you feel all sorts of things, both good and bad. They do some things that strike a bad nerve, but you don't wish them any serious harm in the long run. 

Some of my characters came about in the first place because I tried to envision a slightly more palatable version of an already existing character. In this case, I thought about a version of Queen Cersei who's not only nicer but actually gets redeemed at story's end. 

It may sound surprising, given the extremely family-unfriendly nature of Game of Thrones. If it weren't for such mature elements, I'd be so much more inclined to read the books and watch the show for myself. That said, I will confess to stealing a few peeks at the Wiki and YouTube, and I consult my good buddy who's not only a huge GoT fan but can tell you anything you want to know about the series right off the top of her head. Really, she pretty much knows the entire series (TV and book) front to back, and back to front, which I'll admit is kind of impressive. 

So, as I was saying, I tried to picture a version of Cersei who had a bit more humanity, for whom you'd have a rather hard time not feeling sorry when you get to know her better.

As a result, Ann Fain Lactantius came into existence. 

If you're already familiar with Queen Cersei, then I'll go ahead and say her son, the infamous King Joffrey...

...also inspired Ann's son, Tyrell, and again, I really toned things down for my own story. 

While I don't believe in too much sugar-coating, I also don't believe in too little. I have no wish to alienate kids or adults. I try to keep things interesting, exciting, and suspenseful while maintaining plenty of warmth and humor. As Walt Disney (supposedly) said, "For every laugh, there should be a tear." 

So, Ann is the mother of Tyrell, Shea, and Reid, and wife and queen of Tallis, direct descendant of the celebrated Terence Lactantius. Unfortunately, she's not exactly what springs to mind with the words "queen" and "mother." While more likable than Cersei, she still falls woefully short of these lofty titles. 

Probably the best way to describe Ann is well-intentioned but pathetically ignorant. There are many things in life she doesn't know about, and what's worse, she doesn't care to know about them if she can help it. She knows so much less than she believes she knows, she's got potential but less capability than she thinks she's got...and it doesn't help that she has a stubbornness to match her gullibility, if not exceed it.

She makes a huge deal out of quite trivial things while turning a blissfully blind eye to the things that should be a huge deal. 

As you can well imagine, this all comes back to haunt her big-time. 

And yet, you would have to have a heart of stone not to feel at least some compassion for her, even before karma comes to call. 

She starts out as a sheltered, pampered city girl. Her parents weren't royalty but their place on the social ladder was nothing to sneeze at. She was most definitely above the humble country folk, so she really looked down her nose at peasants; this led to a most serious clash with Kyla, the wife of her husband's brother. 

Kyla grew up poor (not dirt-poor) but she was still raised to be polite, honest, hard-working, intelligent, and just downright sweet. Looking at her now, you would assume she had been royalty herself all along. Her husband, Romulus, was supposed to be Daire's next king (it's a long story) and yet he still conducts himself like one. 

In any case, Kyla would have made a vastly better queen than Ann would, and she still beats her out of the ballpark in matters of motherhood. And Ann knows it even if she'd sooner get her teeth pulled one by one than admit it out loud.

Since Ann wasn't royalty herself, she only saw the glamorous aspects of royalty for the longest time. In her view, the Lactantiuses "had it all" and they were by far the cream of the crop. To become a member of the Lactantius household was, more or less, the ultimate dream. 

Ann wasn't the only person who thought so. It was easy for pretty much everyone outside the Lactantius household to assume the Lactantiuses were perfect, so much happier than they actually were. While Terence wasn't the only Lactantius to be idolized, he was still placed on a noteworthy pedestal by himself...a much higher pedestal than he would have been comfortable with. Beowulf, Terence's devoted servant, knows Terence was truly great in his day but even he knows the "hero worship" has become a bit much. 

A rather sad, if not downright frightening, applicability to our own day. Contrary to popular belief, fame plus fortune does not equal happiness, and there's always so much more to a person than meets the eye. To quote Schmendrick the Magician from The Last Unicorn: 

One of the first signs of Ann's likability is that she doesn't try so hard to get Tallis's attention. While some girls pull some rather outrageous stunts, and an extremely bold few try to become his wife by brute force, Ann lets Tallis decide for himself if he wants her or not. She hopes he does, by all means, but she doesn't make as big a fool of herself and she wouldn't throw as big of a tantrum if he refused, so Tallis falls for this girl entirely of his own accord. 

Another thing that makes Ann easier to stomach is she makes Tallis genuinely happy. Granted, she doesn't really help him with his problems, certainly not the way Kyla helped Romulus with his problems (and that's how Romulus fell for Kyla), but there is something worth mentioning about how she perked him up, considering how miserable he had been for the greater part of his life.

Romulus and Kyla will be the first of anyone to admit it. Even if marrying the girl turned out to be a big mistake, no one can knock the joy she's brought him all that much, either. 

Furthermore, Ann deserved as much of an opportunity as anybody to prove herself. Romulus was more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, and even the royal council, despite strong-arming Tallis into accepting the crown, were lenient enough to let him choose his queen. 

Beyond that, Ann's naivete isn't all her own doing, which earns her a few more brownie points. When all's said and done, the bulk of the blame rests with her mother and father. Edith and Bentley Fain, who are the worst disgrace to marriage, parenthood, and overall humanity imaginable, raised her with absolutely no work ethic, no responsibility, and no respect or consideration for others. They also raised her with the mindset that money and prestige are all that matter, so becoming someone rich and famous (the richer and more famous, the better) is her only hope of becoming someone worthwhile. 

For that matter, Ann would have become a whole lot worse if she spent more time at home, paid a little more attention to what was going on under her pretty nose. In a way, being a perpetual party girl, insatiable social butterfly, and even a bit of a dingbat saved her life. Even her disabled sister, Ida, in spite of her heartbreaking neglect, was spared from the family's corruption. It's Farrah, their baby sister, who's the true lost cause. 

Despite Ann's ignorance about her own household, she still treated her family well...loads better than any of them deserved, with the major exception of Ida. 

She was the only one to respect her father and defend him from all the naysayers; she thought people were way too harsh on him, whereas Ida believed people went way too easy on him. As it was, old Bent was indeed a slimeball who hoarded more than a few skeletons in his closet. The true things about him would have made Ann nauseous, and Ida had enough dirt on him to get him exiled or locked up for life.

Their mother wasn't much better. Edith only married Bentley out of necessity, and it's plain enough that they make as good a match as fire and gasoline. Edith fussed plenty about her daughters' outward appearance but did nothing to cultivate their characters or inspire worthy goals. 

Due to Ida's disability (autism, with a slightly twisted foot, and slow but eloquent speech), both Edith and Bentley dismissed her as a "thing" rather than a living, feeling person, only caring for her enough to avoid trouble with the authorities, and Farrah learned to treat her the same way, if not worse. Only Ann treated Ida well, taking the time to be with her and talk to her like a normal person. Despite Ann's constant partying, she often told Ida all about the fun when she got home, and brought her nice treats, too. Although Ann could have done more for Ida (for obvious reasons), it makes perfect sense that Ida would latch onto her the most.

When Ann got married, she promised Ida she could visit the castle anytime, and she would send her lots of letters, phone calls, and presents in the meantime. Unfortunately, the rest of the family had other ideas. While Ann made good on her promise (she essentially flooded her family with letters, money, and gifts that were far from cheap), the parents and Farrah stole the majority of Ida's gifts, only letting her keep the stuff they considered "garbage," and tossed out any letters marked with Ida's name. At least Ida was able to salvage most of those letters, even if she couldn't read them, and she still treasured the few trinkets she got to keep; it was her only hope that her sister hadn't truly forgotten her. Whenever Ann asked for Ida on the phone, her parents always found some way to avoid getting Ida on the phone, and they were forever making excuses for not visiting in spite of Ann's almost constant invitations. 

Actually, it was Bentley who kept them from visiting in person. He resented his daughter's good fortune to no end; he only let Tallis marry her because it meant having one less silly female sharing his roof (yes, he was a certified misogynist) and even he knew better than to refuse a royal offer. Besides, he had some extremely shady business going on that would have led to a boatload of trouble if Ann or Tallis got wind of it. As aforementioned, Ida had enough dirt on her father to send him to jail in a snap if she'd had the backbone for it.

Had it not been for old Bent, Edith and Farrah would have wallowed in Ann's luxury like pigs in the mire. So, they did the next best thing by milking Ann's generosity for all its worth while giving absolutely nothing in exchange. Farrah in particular demanded plenty, once throwing an incredible tantrum because Ann gave her six beautiful, expensive dresses but none of them "had the right color," and yet she never sent Ann so much as a birthday card. Even Romulus and Kyla couldn't believe the audacity of this family, long before the full truth came to light. Kyla might not have had such luxuries in her own childhood, but even if she had, she would never have been such a horrendously spoiled brat.

For all that, Ann was always the dutiful daughter and sister, for more than twenty years, and that sure gives my own heartstrings a good tug. 

While paying excessive homage to the family she never saw, Ann's treatment of the family she did see was another story. 

This is where our pity party ends. This is where you see Ann's not-so-attractive side.

Despite her happy marriage to Tallis, Romulus and Kyla rightly suspect that she's only stayed with him all this time because of his lineage, that she cares more about the perks of being his wife and queen than about him as an individual. If Tallis ever suspected such a thing, he never admitted it; he got so upset at the mere suggestion that his marriage (and reign) was based on a lie that they were quick to change the subject. In Tallis's case, love was indeed blind.

Neither Tallis nor Ann liked to talk about anything serious, anything that put a bit of a damper on things, anything that disrupted their "eat, drink, and be merry" mindset. They focused much more on what made their people happy (or satisfied) than what their people truly needed in the long run. As a result, Romulus was often obliged to step in and clean up their messes, or else give them a blunt, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Unfortunately for Ann, she had a hopeless inability to admit when anything was her own fault, despite the glowering evidence. Even when she knew better, she always tried to pin the blame on somebody else to soothe her smarting ego. Needless to say, this resulted in quite a few ugly clashes...and it was none other than Romulus with whom she clashed the hardest. 

Romulus is a very sweet, even-tempered man, so it's kind of a big deal when he gets mad. It also takes an extra special talent to make him angry on a fairly regular basis; he and Ann can hardly make it through a single week without at least one nasty confrontation. 

As it turns out, Ann is jealous of Romulus. He may not be the king but he's so much more fit to be king than his brother is, and as I said, Kyla would trounce Ann as the queen with almost no effort, despite being a "mere peasant girl." Not only is Romulus more competent and clever, but he's easily more loved; people sing his praises as loudly as they sing Ann's praises, if not louder. 

For that matter, half of Daire's subjects make it very clear that they would rather have Romulus for their king; Tallis may be a "fun" king, but Romulus actually gets things done in a more beneficial way. If someone's not kissing up to Ann, they make sure she's close enough to hear their insults. And if there's one thing Ann absolutely cannot stand, it's knowing that she's not universally popular, that some people not only despise her but would dispose of her in a heartbeat if they could get away with it. 

The idea of anyone harming a king or queen (let alone Daire's king or queen) on purpose just doesn't seem feasible in her pretty little mind, much to her brother-in-law's dismay. While this warrants a little more sympathy from us, we find ourselves asking how in the world this woman lasted all this time in one piece. Few people are that lucky (or that stupid) for so long and live to tell it.

For all her snobbery, for all her "acquired situational narcissism" after she inherits the throne, Ann has a truly vulnerable side that she'll do anything to cover up. 

Despite having everything she ever wished for, she's not happy...certainly not as happy as her younger self would have expected. She gets her happily ever after, but finds herself asking after a short while, "Is this it?" 

Thus we learn that timeless, heartbreaking lesson: no amount of money will buy happiness, nor will all the worldly prestige compensate for true love and friendship. The song "Lucky" from Britney Spears suits Ann's pitiful situation to a tee: 

"She's so lucky, she's a star,
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking:
'If there's nothing missing in my life,
Then why do these tears come at night?'"

Even Ann's servants don't take her seriously, not as seriously as they take Romulus. Some of them never miss an opportunity to make a crack about Queen Ann, but heaven help you if you insult Lord Romulus in front of them. 

It doesn't help that Romulus sometimes goes out of his way to rub Ann's incompetence in her face, gets a little too critical about the way she runs things, and a little too smug when she falls short of the mark yet again. So, Romulus has a fair bit of culpability all his own...a smaller bit, to be sure, but it's there regardless.

And then there are the issues with the children. 

Of course, Ann was over the moon about having children with that glorious Lactantius blood in their veins. Next to her marriage, the birth of Tyrell, her firstborn, was the best day of her life; there was no lack of fanfare inside and outside the castle. Even when Tyrell is fully grown, he's by far the star of the family. Tallis and Ann are always singing his praises, making excuses for the few bits of his unsavory behavior that they see with their own eyes, and basically raising him with a most ridiculous "king of the world" mindset. 

They teach their beloved son that he deserves literally anything his little heart desires...and there's hell to pay when he doesn't get his way. 

By the time Shea and Reid came along, some of the fanfare had died down. People didn't make quite as much of a fuss over them, least of all Ann. In fact, Reid's birth threw a real wrench into the works, because no sooner was he brought into the world than the doctors dropped the bombshell that Ann would not be able to have any more children. I'll skip the medical mumbo-jumbo, but while it wasn't totally impossible, the odds of Ann becoming a grandmother were so much greater. 

Since Ann had her heart set on a big number of children with Tallis (not a specific number, but as many as possible), this was a devastating blow, more so because she'd dreamed of having a daughter but now she'll only have three boys to call her own. She suffered a brief but intense bout of postpartum depression; I never experienced such depression myself, for obvious reasons, but no doubt other women out there can tell you it's dreadful.

Another contributor to the hostility between Romulus and Ann was the fact that Romulus had two daughters to call his own, in addition to a son. Granted, Romulus and Kyla were a lot less choosy; they wouldn't have cared if they got all boys, all girls, or even one child, just as long as there was at least one. You could say they counted their blessings more than Ann did. 

As a result, Ann didn't get along so well with Tracy, either. Tracy was not only a painful reminder of that daughter Ann "could have had," but Tracy did not like the way Ann fought so much with her mother and father. Even as a tiny child, her aunt's unsavory behavior was never lost on the girl. 

As you can see, Ann's quite the hypocrite, too. She has no trouble putting someone else down to their very face, but she practically has a heart attack when someone puts her down. Even Reid, her own son, lampshades her attitude: 

It's both hilarious and heartbreaking that Ann, for all her neglect of Reid, still flaunted her badge of motherhood like a badge of unquestionable authority. She hardly looked twice in Reid's direction, especially when Tyrell was in the same room, yet she expected Reid to do exactly what she said when she said it and then had the nerve to get mad when he refused.

While Ann didn't totally disregard him or Shea, Kyla was more motherly by a long shot, and it was Romulus and Beowulf, not Tallis, who molded Reid into a proper young man; Shea ended up latching onto Tyrell. While Reid does love his mother, while he often wishes his relationship with her (and the rest of his family) was better, he just as often wonders out loud, "What did she expect?" 

It's like not caring for a plant properly and getting upset when it won't give you the fruit at the appointed time. Or else Ann assumes, in her own deluded way, that she can have her cake and eat it, too. Romulus and Kyla do all the work for her and she's still entitled to all the rewards.

Besides Reid, Ann refuses to hear anything bad about her precious Tyrell. Tyrell becomes quite the bully, but he's able to pass it off as "just joking" with relative ease. Like her father, Ann believed people were being unfair to Tyrell, whereas Reid knew for a fact people woefully underestimated his brother. 

Then the day came when it all became too much. 

Tyrell, who was worse than his mother at assuming personal responsibility and believing he was "untouchable," and who learned a few unpleasant lessons from her clashes with his uncle (it was Reid's warm bond with Uncle Romulus that Tyrell envied the most, along with Reid's few genuine friends whereas Tyrell had no friends at all), came up with an evil plan. 

Despite being his parents' pride and joy, even he could see they were phonies. Neither of them were fit to be monarchs at all, let alone parents, and Uncle Romulus wasn't exaggerating when he said Terence and other past leaders would weep if they could see Daire's condition now. Tyrell also feared his parents' love was a mere act like all the rest, that they only liked him as long as he behaved himself accordingly. That's what struck such a bad nerve as far as Romulus and Reid were concerned. Anyone could see how dear Reid was to Romulus; people often confused the boy for Romulus's son, and sometimes Reid himself wished it were so. 

And anyone Romulus noticed and loved, along with old Beowulf, had to be worth something. 

To make a long story short (and keep spoilers to a minimum), Tyrell, with some much-needed assistance, formed a plot to "fix" Daire up, and Reid himself was unfortunate enough to overhear him. 

As appalled as Reid was at how low his brother was willing to stoop, despite his great reluctance, his conscience got the better of him. So, he "blew the whistle" right away and Tyrell was thwarted in time...but this meant Tyrell got arrested on the spot and banished from Daire, most likely forever, and not even Ann could do anything about this.

You can only imagine Ann's feelings, having her entire perfect world shatter before her very eyes like this. Everything she ever knew (or thought she knew), everything she held most dear, blew up in her face with the intensity of an atomic blast. 

It's at this point that the woman reaches her lowest point, crosses "The Moral Event Horizon" as TV Tropes would say. She has the gall to blame Reid for destroying their family along with their family's noble reputation, and neither she nor Tallis have anything to do with Reid for an entire year. They'd always neglected him before, but now they actively avoid the boy like the plague. 

They focus a lot more on how much they have been hurt...all but ignoring the fact that they hurt their family plenty of times before (so they can't stomach a dosage of their own medicine) and Reid is no happier about this than they are. 

Reid's got his share of pain, too; he lost both his brothers (since Shea was roped into helping Tyrell) and an old friend in one fell swoop. What's worse, it's their fault Reid was forced into this position in the first place. 

Reid knew from the start his parents would be devastated, but he deeply resents them, especially his mother, for punishing him for doing the right thing. After all, it would have been so much worse if Reid had kept his mouth shut and Tyrell's plans had succeeded. As always, Ann knows the truth way deep down, but she's far too churned up to handle the situation correctly. This was beyond anything she had experienced in her life or could possibly fathom.

On the other hand, Reid gains a world of favor in his kingdom's eyes. The people who used to bully him can no longer do so, and everybody acknowledges Reid was so much braver than any of them would have been in such a situation. Even Uncle Romulus very much doubts he would have been been able to do it.

Then Tyrell comes back to Daire, despite the exile...with a war on his heels. He plans to murder his entire family, Ann included, and take the crown for himself. Reid, having had enough of his family, too, has every intention of fighting back (since he's the one Tyrell's after the most) and cares no more about what it takes than Tyrell does. "The Plagues" from The Prince of Egypt would be absolutely spot-on for this scene: 

Now Ann is forced to see for herself how bad the situation is...and the part she's played in it. Despite Tyrell's treachery, the fact remains that he would never have gotten this far all on his own, and she's quite possibly the worst offender of them all.

Even before his final showdown with Reid, Tyrell rightfully bawls out his mother (and his father) for how she failed him. It would be a lot like Tai Lung bawling out Shifu in Kung Fu Panda: "ALL I EVER DID, I DID TO MAKE YOU PROUD! TELL ME HOW PROUD YOU ARE!"

When at last it's over, Reid is the clear winner, but no one can very well call this a victory. Even if it was for Daire's sake, for the sake of thousands of innocent lives (if not more), he had to fight his own flesh and blood, and he only just avoided going off the deep end himself. When the poor boy comes back to his senses, he's horrified and heartbroken to learn what he almost did, what he was more than capable of. 

Daire may be saved, but she's still left in a terrible mess, of which they'll be lucky to clean up a mere fraction. 

And worst of all, this whole mess was completely preventable. 

Any pride Ann had left is gone now. The pretending game is over. The jig is up. It's plain enough to her, to everybody, who the real victim is here...who truly betrayed whom. 

While it's good that Ann finally learns her lesson, it's no less of a tearjerker that it took so long and required such drastic measures to make it happen. 

It's a miracle that Reid will still look at anybody or talk to anybody at all. 

Ann knows how lucky she is that her youngest still wants her, needs her more than ever. Being Queen no longer matters; all that matters is what she is, first and foremost: a mother. 

On top of that, Ann finally realizes how much Tallis means to her, whether he's King or not. If she loved him for selfish reasons before, her love for him is the real deal now. She wants him regardless of his wealth, power, charm, or handsome appearance. Despite being married for nearly three decades, they get to fall in love all over again. 

Of course, Ann also realizes how awful she'd been to Romulus and Kyla; this hits her all the harder after she discovers her parents and sisters' true colors. Despite the numerous quarrels, Romulus was still a brother to her, while Kyla was a better sister than Farrah ever was, something Ann ends up telling Farrah to her very face. 

Romulus also realizes he owes Ann a big-time apology. His judgment of her might not have been completely wrong but he still misjudged her in a great many ways, and he had his own part to play in this horrendous blow-up. He had a bigger influence on Tyrell than he would have guessed, and for all his love for his dear Reid, he still hurt Reid pretty badly, too. 

When all's said and done, the only people who haven't hurt Reid are Cousin Ren and Cousin Opal, and Beowulf.

It would be all too easy to call it quits at this point. 

Instead, Ann focuses on doing what she can to repair the damage, placing one foot in front of the other, doing one good thing at a time, slowly but surely earning her family and her people's trust back. 

In the end, she's the first to say she was never a good Queen (and she used to revolve her whole identity around the crown) but she does become a worthwhile wife, sister, aunt, mother, and grandmother. By the time grandchildren arrive on the scene, Ann Fain Lactantius is a changed woman for the better, and she gets it right with the second generation. All of her grandkids absolutely adore her...especially her granddaughter, Angela, the beautiful little girl she'd always dreamed of.