TheLadyAnatola's Links
I get it when Dad says that I’m a lot like Aunt Hanna. Maybe some people would take that as a bad thing, but I know he means confident, outspoken, and assertive. Not loud, argumentative, and difficult. But I like those things about her sometimes, too.
It’s funny how Hanna says her brother is the serious one of them, and that she’s the one who is more carefree and knows how to have fun. And then Dad calls her the serious one, and that he’s the fun one. I do think they both have a sense of humor and also worry a lot. Hanna is just louder about it.
I never got to know Randin’s father, but my father always spoke fondly of him. Described him as his closest friend and the one person he could truly trust on the battlefield. He also said he was just as gentle as Aunt Mey, so I guess Randin had little chance of being anything but sweet.
Aunt Mey was basically my mother, although she always felt awkward if I ever called her that. Even though she was my father’s alter, they didn’t seem to have much in common. She was obviously much more like Randin, sweet and wouldn’t harm a fly.
I didn’t get to know my mother, but it always felt like my father had mixed feelings about her. I suppose they were only together because Aunt Mey and Randin’s father were together. Father said that her heart belonged to someone else, that someone being the Dyric I was named after. I guess I have mixed feelings about that too.
Father was everything I hoped to be, and he and Aunt Mey did everything they could so Randin and I could make it in the world. I don’t think they ever meant to leave us so soon, but he wasn’t afraid to make that choice. I don’t know if he would be proud of the choices I’ve made, or if he would still feel I was worth it.
Ratralast's brother was a nasty piece of work. It was definitely community service to give him the boot. He always treated Ratralast so scummy, and he was always leering at all the dancers whenever they practiced. Good thing he was gone by the time Ly and I were old enough to get on his sleazy radar.
Nari's uncle was really charming, pretty much everyone in town liked him. It's such a small community, it really makes a difference when we lose someone, and especially so when it happens like that...
I can kinda see how Nadia could find Beck appealing. I mean, he's kinda cute like how a worm is cute because it's kinda dumb and just squirming along without a thought in its head.
My father is nothing to me but a source of stress. In my mind, he’s not family. He’s too spineless and desperate for power and influence that he will never see me as anything but an unfulfilled backup plan to Jarkoda’s failed potential.
I don’t read the letters I get from my mother anymore. They’ve never had anything positive to offer me. Nothing I am or have ever done is good enough for her, so I stopped caring a long time ago.
I understand why you’d be angry if all you’ve said is true, but I don’t get why you think any of that is my fault. I wish I could hate you as much as you hate me, but more than anything I want to know why nothing I ever did was good enough to show you that I’m not like him.
Nadia always claimed she had standards, but they were just preferences. Otherwise her standards would have been subterranean-low. The only reason she found Beck charming was because he wasn’t ugly or an elemental.
It was kind of awkward when I still lived in Detrati, and Dad would stop by the town for work on the trade caravans... and he would just gloss over the fact that Mom wasn't around. And then he'd leave??? Both my parents stink at being role models.
I haven’t heard a single good word about you, but… I feel like I have to meet you. I just need to know for myself who you are and why any of this happened.