Origins
Sem is my oldest character, with his most earliest incarnation having been created back in 2005. Unlike my other characters he is as much of a persona as he his a character, and he has gone through the most changes, since he is essentially a self-insert. So, in other words, he changes along with me. He probably wouldn't exist the way he does today if it weren't for a game called "Second Life", which I began playing rather heavily back in 2005 until late 2006. Second Life is essentially a virtual life in a virtual world, in which you control your fully customizable avatar in a world in which you can do virtually anything. I was pretty heavily addicted to it during that time, and spent much of my time building things, from buildings to vehicles, to avatars. My username in the game was Semaj, which is James backwards. (Yes, I liked to think I was being clever back then.) The friends I met in-game soon began to simply refer to me as Sem and the name has stuck ever since in my online life, and eventually Sem turned into not just a persona but an actual character separate from myself yet also tied to me directly.
During that time I took great interest in my avatar and up until then it changed with the day of the week, but I was looking to have a more permanent look, and so I set about creating it and eventually ended up with this:
I cringe looking at it now, simply because I wasn't the greatest at making avatars. I was so much better at making buildings and objects, I loved it. However, I must've not been too bad at the avatars because I was able to turn my hobby into a business. See, the in-game currency was actual currency that you could exchange for USD or other currencies. It was through my little business in Second Life that I was able to afford to buy the Wii on launch day =D Anyway, I'm getting off-topic.
That in those pictures, comprised almost entirely of stretched out and sliced-up spheres, is Sem's first incarnation. The thing on the floor is a posing stand, which is why he's floating - it's what I used to create and adjust my avatars. His hat is also sort of purposely floating because I liked how that looked. In my mind it was somewhat of a mix between an otter and a fish. The right eye is also a lighter, more clouded color to represent my own actual blind eye.
Anyway, my time in Second Life came and went, though I still miss it sometimes and wonder if I could have taken my little business a bit further and actually made some good money from it. There are people who do that and are actually able to support themselves, selling virtual clothing or virtual plots of land. Pretty ridiculous if you think about it.
Sem changed in outward appearance very little throughout the next few years, though his fins changed to a blue color and he actually became more anatomically similar to an otter and not a freakish humanoid/furry. For any of my readers who have no idea what a furry is the very last thing you should do is Google image it.
Isn't he adorable? Yes, that was his face for a quite a while. Also note that none of these were images were created by me - they were made by some very talented friends of mine and I have many more where they came from. The animal itself that Sem was is a species I decided to unimpressively name the "aquamor" - taken from aqua and amor - water lover essentially. I had always had it in mind that it was only a temporary name and that I would eventually give the species a better name. I never did.
To be fair there have been a great many Sems, and I did have more human-looking ones for several different purposes that have existed for almost as long. However, all of my Sems were essentially the identical in every way except for some minor differences, mostly aesthetic. More than a year ago I "retired" the aquamor-form of Sem and I changed him entirely to look human, as well as actually starting to give him some concrete history, which up until that point had been rather wishy-washy. I phased out the other Sems as well and basically reinvented him into what he is currently.
Sem comes entirely from my own dreaming and it has been almost entirely my own creative force that has molded him, more so than my other characters who had outside influences play roles in their creation. He started out as and has always been a fantasized version of myself.
Personality
Since Sem is essentially a self-insert, his personality is rather similar to mine. You think that that would make writing him easy but it actually makes it more difficult. I've gotten better over the years, since I've been getting to know myself better in that time. The only difference is that I try to imagine what I would be like, or rather, would like to be like personality-wise if I were alive for as long as he has. He is obviously a lot more mature than I am and very much wiser than I am.
I suppose he would also be a slight parody of myself, in which I may over-exaggerate my own "dark" personality.
Appearance
Currently Sem looks human, though he technically isn't. I would describe his overall appearance similar to mine, yet having the changes that I would make to myself if it were in my power to do so. I like to think that if I were to suddenly look like him people would still be able to recognize me. His skin is bronzed like mine, but a bit more olive-toned. His eyes are cerulean-blue, and both work ;P Hair color is about the same, though Sem has a streak of snow-white in his fringe.
Sem is also a bit shorter than I am. I dunno why, but I always wish I had stopped growing years ago. I wouldn't mind being 5'7" or something, which is about how tall Sem is. His frame is also different. I've lost a lot of weight in recent years, especially in the last year, but I know that I have a larger frame in general. It's something about me I'm getting over slowly but surely, but I still decided to give him a different frame. He's not super thin and lanky because I just wouldn't like that for him or myself. He's in a good medium between the small and large frames and actually fit, unlike myself.
The face is the same, since I actually like my face, though his nose might be a bit smaller. He's also looks about my age as well. He dresses the same as me, though he actually has the money for all the nice things I wish I could have, so he looks nicer than I do.
History
Like Sorena, a huge part of Sem's history is underdeveloped since he was born in the 13th century, the year 1213 to be exact. I haven't settled on a birthday for him. His birthday will probably be January 11th like mine, or I may change him so that he's a Pisces, just for the symbology of it.
Sem wasn't born in the way humans are since he's not human. He's part of a group that I've come to refer to as "True Elementals". There are only seven of them in existence at any given time, one each to represent a traditional element as well as some non-traditional ones. Fire, though plasma is more accurate, Water, Earth, Air, Plantlife, Light, and Darkness. They are immortal by nature but can die - in the event of ones death a new one is immediately created to replace him/her. True elementals are the embodiments of nature's raw power, and Sem represents the oceans, or water specifically. True elementals are born in a variety of physical stages of development as far as humans are concerned. If a true elemental is born in the image of a child then they may grow to apparent maturity, though not always. Some of them are also born looking as if they are way past their twenties. Sem himself has the body of someone in their early twenties, though he's often mistaken for someone younger.
Sorena was present during Sem's creation, and she took it upon himself to care for him until he was able to take care of himself. He was created with a normal functioning mind, but obviously knew nothing of the world, or even how to speak. Sorena was present during the death of Sem's predecessor, who she had come to know very well and care very much for, and so she promised that she would care for the next in line in place of the one who died.
Sem stayed with Sorena as the two had grown very closer, even closer than Sorena had grown to his predecessor. They rode out the trials and waves of history together. During that time Sem has "died" four times, though each time he came back stronger than before. He has also had a large struggle to deal with for many years.
As he grew more and more in touch with his element Sem began to lose his organic qualities. And as he became less and less flesh and blood he also began to care less and less about the world around him to the point where he was a apathetic and unbiased as the ocean itself. Sorena was able to help him through it, and from then on Sem wears a pendant around his neck that looks like a raindrop. It is a magical pendant that allows him to have his human appearance and the five senses, but he is now comprised entirely of water, having lost any of his organic structure. So, he's really not joking when he says he's heartless, which he enjoys with his twisted sense of humor.
Because of this though he is fairly indestructible, as he can manipulate water in any of its stages, so freezing or evaporating him would do nothing.
Despite the pendant allowing him to feel more human, it actually does nothing to help him combat the apathy he can sometimes slide back into. It is an ongoing struggle for him, but he has become more and more able to deal with it as the years go by, and Sorena does a great deal to remind him why he cared so much in the first place. He also helps her as much as she helps him with her own personal struggles.
Personal Impact
"Personal impact" is the wrong title for this section but whatever. Sem, unlike other characters, isn't very influential to me personally. He is rather the personifications of my dreams, fantasies, and visions for my future. I want to reach the end of my life satisfied with who I am, and even though Sem is immortal, he has achieved a state of mind where he is happy with his life and he is an effective carer for those around him.
I suppose that's all I can say right now. Thanks for reading =)
The character Sem is ©2005 James Curry a.k.a Sem
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