Character Exploration: Tristine
Three questions. Lots of development. Prepare Ye for Text Wall! (or just look at the doodles, that’s fine too)
Character in question: Tristine Serral (Sybal Heim)
1. What went into this character’s design and why? Be specific!
Over time, I’ve cultivated a little garden of keywords for Tris, some of which I planned at the start, but most of which emerged gradually. Here are a few of the ones that have come into play the most:
Sunlight
Tris is meant to have the kind of personality that makes any room brighter and warmer for her presence, like a ray of sun, and her Sybal and Power is very much an outward reflection of that personality. She is also an eternal optimist, and resolutely chases after even the faintest silver lining. There are few things she loves more than seeing her fellow citizens smile, enjoy life, and spread a little light of their own.
Moth
When she was a child, her father called her “pichona arna” (little moth) whenever she got into places she shouldn’t or pulled a reckless stunt. The comparison stuck with her bitterly after the accident that cost her leg, and thus ended up factoring into her Sybal. It illustrates her curiosity and self-destructive flights of fancy—the moth flirting with the flame.
Energy
Tris is a very energetic, extroverted person, which often clashes with the fact that she is crippled. By day, she has managed to channel that energy into her work ethic, but she still needs to take breaks to just chat with her friends and staff now and then to recharge her mental and emotional fortitude. The pent up physical energy manifests itself in her Sybal, making her incredibly restless at night and a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Over the years she’s managed to curb her natural bent towards reckless behavior and snap decisions, but if she’s had a particularly boring day it can be difficult to avoid straying into dangerous stunts.
Touch
Physical contact is an integral part of Tristine’s pattern of communication, and she’s not afraid to invade personal space. Nine times out of ten, if you engage in conversation with Tris, she’s going to try and touch you (be it a pat on the shoulder or grasping your hand, or even a back rub if you look particularly sad). She’s gotten very good at gauging whether or not someone seems open to that kind of contact and she can restrain herself, but the instinct will always be there, and she might even do it anyway if she thinks it will help. She is equally unfazed by people entering her own personal space (so long as it’s nothing boorish), since she’s used to needing physical assistance for balance and traversing obstacles. The only thing she will not tolerate is contact with her leg stump. Doesn’t matter who you are or how well you think you know her. She will crutch you. Or slap you. Probably both.
Theatrics
Tristine grew up in the heyday of the Occitan troubadours and their tales of courtly romance and adventure. She has always cultivated a flair and appreciation for the dramatic, but it becomes particularly pronounced at night. In her early years, it was a more subdued quality that came out only among friends, but once she became Minister, she found herself calling on public performance skills more and more often. Plus, achieving city-wide name recognition in under a year stirs up more than a little vanity and ego in a woman who remembers what it was like to be ignored by society. Even after three hundred years of growing accustomed to her role, she still finds herself flouncing about like a pretty princess now and then…
2. Recount some of the important parts of their history. What are your feelings about their history up to this point? Think “Director’s Cut.”
One core aspect of Tristine’s history that I haven’t managed to really show much is her faith (aside from the fact that she lives in a cathedral, of course). Ever since her accident, Tris began a journey that has cultivated a very strong, very personalconnection to God. When she shattered her leg, even the best physician her father could afford had trouble keeping a twelve-year-old girl alive through such a harrowing and inexact procedure as medieval amputation. At the first sign of infection, most of her friends and family gave up hope, but her father and elder sister stayed at her side and prayed fervently for her recovery. When the fever broke unexpectedly and the herbs and medicine began to heal the ugly wound, they counted it as nothing short of a miracle. From then on, their own faith rubbed off on Tristine, and in the hours when she felt lonely and secluded by her handicap, she would end up talking to God the same way she talked with her earthly father. Her faith certainly faltered through the long years of waiting for her life to gain meaning, but when Sybal Heim opened up to her she saw it as nothing less than an answer to her prayers— a sentiment she maintains to this day.
3. What does the future hold for this character? Throw out some speculation or plot ideas without giving away the entire goose.
Evil author that I am, I’m still thoroughly enjoying the closeted, Eponine-Marius nature of her relationship with Theo. Initially, I tried very hard to avoid having romance dictate too much of Tristine’s story arc, since it felt like weakening her character to make her preoccupied with finding herself a man. But as she’s developed over the course of time and RPs, I realized that adamantly chasing her heart is her character, and to avoid it was to deny a fundamental part of her.
In short: expect more romantic drama, folks!
