Ethelwin, Yaxara

Yaxara Ethelwin (pronounced, the character claims, as "Ethelwín") is the mother of Tildaen Ethelwin. She is a middle-aged woman with a tendency to wear large wigs. She lives in Rotterdam, in the European Alliance and pursues a dual career as a medical researcher and as a doctor.

Yaxara's main characteristics include outstanding snobbery, often-ludicrous attempts to pass herself off as a member (or affiliated friend) of the Betazoid aristocracy, and a tendency to look down on others. Yaxara always behaves in the way she imagines aristocrats to behave, usually to a comical effect, especially given her modest social standing as the head of a minor noble house. Her main criterion is judging people, and she is most impressed by material wealth and a high social status. To a lesser extent, 'celebrity status' also influences her readily. Yaxara is fiercely traditionalist, believing in the benefits of a matriarchal society.

Yaxara's commitment to her social ascendancy

Yaxara is almost pathologically dedicated to improving her social standing, ingratiating herself (frequently in a completely shameless manner) with those she considers her social equals / betters. This extreme desire to associate herself with the upper classes even prompts Yaxara to rent a tiny, cramped apartment on the Betazed countryside, allowing her to boast about being "the owner" of a country estate. Her immense pretensions of having a Royal lineage very occasionally prompt her to publicly lay claim to Great House ancestry.

Yaxara's main device for enhancing her social circle, and by extension her own personal status, is to invite people to extraordinarily complex, pretentious, and lavish "candlelight suppers", the success of which is all-important to Yaxara. However, unbeknownst to Yaxara, her suppers are torturous occasions for her guests, who are known to go to surprising lengths to avoid them. Her efforts to improve her social status are nearly always scuttled by her immense self-superiority and the increasingly absurd lengths she will go to improve her social standing -- and in any case, she is regarded by both high and low as an extremely irritating presence.

If she hears that a neighbour has recently acquired an item nicer than hers, or has forged a new friendship with someone of high standing, Yaxara recoils. Conversely, whenever Yaxara hears gossip about a neighbour, particularly derogatory rumours, she embarks on a vicious campaign to belittle the neighbour in question.

Gerdaen Sandalari

Yaxara's relationship with her husband Gerdaen Sandalari can be somewhat strained. Usually, Gerdaen acts as a hen-pecked husband, who has been turned into a subservient partner through his marriage to Yaxara, and he generally indulges her whims. These include opening and closing doors for Yaxara in a butler-esque manner and grudgingly participating in Yaxara's contrived schemes for enhanced social status. When Gerdaen has the courage to stand up to Yaxara, his resistance usually takes the form of whining, and he is unable to stand up to Yaxara most of the time.

Relationship with Tildaen

Although Tildaen tends to avoid his mother, she dotes on him in the form of public compliments, such as "How very thoughtful of you to call mummy, dear". Calling him "My Tildie", she states the blatantly false falsely belief that she and Tildaen share a deep psychic bond. Like everything else in her life, Yaxara only cares for Tildaen as a tool to enhance her social standing, often commenting on her son's Starfleet career. She constantly comments to others on his perceived artistic abilities and noble manners, although in truth, Tildaen seems to have neither.

Gerdaen most likely has an idea that Tildaen is gay but he doesn't seem to be very able or willing to share this thought with Yaxara. Privately, Tildaen fell out with his mother years ago after Tildaen and his intended, Jemma Summers, aborted their arranged marriage. Yaxara has never really forgiven her son for doing so, and he was forced to leave the Ethelwin house shortly thereafter.