Application
Senshi: Sailor Seth, ‘Wa’ew of the Red Sky’ (a mythic senshi)
Name: Samantha Scarlet Dalca
Meaning: ‘Samantha’ is a combination of the Hebrew masculine name ‘Samuel’ meaning ‘God has heard’ or ‘good listener’ and the Greek suffix ‘–antha’ meaning ‘flower’. The color red, considered to be the color of evil or chaos in ancient Egypt as it’s associated with the desert (and by extension foreigners/invaders who crossed it) is where her middle name comes from. ‘Dalca’ is a Romanian last name meaning ‘lightning’. Her first name is a play off of Seth’s banishment and being shunned by the rest of the pantheon as, historical speaking, the Hebrew/Judaic/Israeli/Chaldean tribes and the Greek civilization had antagonistic relationships with the Egyptian civilization.
Age: 23
Birthdate: June 7th
School/Occupation: Recently completed a double major Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology from the Eugene Lang College in the New School for Liberal Arts, located in New York, NY. While in school she had a work study with the history department and later an internship which developed into her current job. Post-graduation she works full-time at American Museum of Natural History in the archives because it doesn’t require her to work with other people as much as working as a tour guide or secretary. Though she eventually broke out of her shell and became more of a social creature she only does so on her terms, not a set schedule (work being an example) because she refuses to force herself to do it. She will however occasionally take over as a tour guide is coworkers are sick, on paternity/maternity leave, etc. She lives on the Upper West Side a few blocks from the museum, having moved after graduation to be closer to her job. She lives in a studio apartment.
Major NPCs: Younger half-brothers Connor (younger by five years, 18, a college freshman at the Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin, studying photography to become a photojournalist) and Douglas (younger by nine years, 12, in 6th grade/first year of middle school who enjoys swimming and fishing). She does not maintain contact with her biological mother, Connor’s mother, though her mother Leah has tried to establish a relationship with her in recent years (after Samantha graduated high school). Her father Doru Dalca is of Romanian descent and works as an urban planner in Minnesota. Leah was an elementary school teacher and after giving birth to Connor went back to school to get a second degree in electrical engineering. She wants nothing to do with her uncle whom her mother later remarried after having an affair. Her stepmother Alexandra (Andy for short), a Marine veteran who was in Operation in Desert Storm and the first Gulf War, works as a security guard at the Mall of America. In college she developed a crush on fellow anthropology student, whose emphasis was also cultural and had a second major in global studies, Kamon Metharom who later becomes her girlfriend. After graduation Kamon returned to the New School to get a master’s in psychology with the objective of becoming a counselor specializing in cross-cultural psychology for international students at her alma mater’s campus counseling department. During their college years they lived in the same apartment building. Kanom stayed in that building to stay close to campus while working on her masters degree so she and Samantha live about 4-5 miles/20 minutes away from each other depending on traffic.
History
Samantha hails from a small town in a Minnesota, having born during a strong wind and lightning storm. Her mother left when she was four after coming clean about an extramarital affair with her husband’s brother after learning she was pregnant with his child. Her father remarried when Samantha was eight. She has a half-brother from both her mother and stepmother, Connor and Douglas respectively. She cut off contact with her mother, though Leah recently began trying to contact her. Because of her mother’s affair Samantha has trust issues and deep down an overwhelming fear of neglect and abandonment so she actively avoids establishing close relationships with people. Growing up she does become somewhat close to her stepmother and younger brother Douglas by the time she reaches middle school. When she was sixteen her family moved to St. Paul, instilling an anxiety in her because of the high population and proximity to the Mall of America (a major tourist attraction). Her father has always been very invested in his work and isn’t home as often as he would like to or should be. Her abandonment fear gets the better of her in high school when her birth mother begins contacting her and she decides to go to college as far away from her family as possible.
Her first job was a dishwasher at a mom and pop diner in her hometown, Douglas’ favorite restaurant, which she began when she was fourteen. She didn’t want to be a waitress because it would require her to engage with customers and enjoyed the fast-paced environment in the kitchen, as well as the expectation to keep things running smoothly. After her family moved she worked in the shipping and receiving department of Target because she didn’t have to deal with customers or coworkers as much as she would in another position. Because of her first job’s demands and requirements she developed a strong work ethic and found an outlet for her loneliness in academics, namely history because she felt as though she was becoming acquainted with the historical figures she was studying by learning about their lives. This led her to become extremely invested in her academics and a very industrious student which backfired on her because of the recognition and praise she was receiving from teachers and her parents. She is especially interested in ancient/classical civilizations and military history. This was the foundation for her desire to go on to study history and anthropology (with a cultural emphasis) in college.
Her relationship with Douglas stemmed from their shared love of video games and in what little free time she had she played combat-based multiplayer games like Call of Duty with him. She found herself inexplicably interested in the time Alexandra spent in the desert and became interested in hearing about her time in the military, particularly Operation Desert Storm. She isn’t very close to her dad because he isn’t home very often; before he remarried she was mostly raised by babysitters.
She met her half-brother Connor during her sophomore year of college when he emailed her after looking up her student email address via the campus directory. Lack of face-to-face contact made her somewhat comfortable with regularly exchanging messages, feeling as if she were talking with an AI (even comparing it to Cleverbot), until he asked if they could meet in person. Despite her apprehension Kamon, well aware of her difficulty opening up to people convinced her to do it and they met in New York. To ease the situation for her Kamon offered to tag along and show Connor around New York with Samantha but she decided this was something she had to do on her own, which Kamon was hoping she would do. After spending a day with Connor she found they had a lot in common, or rather that he was very much like the part of herself she was hiding. She decided to start to get to know the person she had been hiding from and hiding from the world, her real self. She, in true Gemini fashion, began to gradually communicate with Douglas and her parents more but still refused to communicate with her mother or uncle/stepfather. She joined the Anthropology Club after a slight push from Kamon, who was treasurer at the time.
During her junior year of college Samantha picked up an internship at the museum she eventually began working at and she and Kamon started dating. The two also became co-chairs of the Anthropology Club that year and after a great deal of fundraising and applying for grants from the school, organized a club trip to the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, a prestigious conference where lectures are given by prominent scholars in the field. It was held in Minneapolis that year and with the conference being held over a weekend she was able to go to St. Paul to see her family for the day, surprising them with her change in character. She didn’t however make mention that she was dating another girl because she was unsure of how her parents would react though she did tell Douglas who, due to his young age and lack of exposure to the antagonistic backlash towards queer/trans* rights activism was unfazed seeing it as no different than coming out as a history and anthropology major or a Gemini.
It was during this conference that Seti first entered her life, sneaking into her car in the form of a caterpillar hiding underneath the driver’s seat and leaving in the form of a butterfly which followed her all the way back to New York by keeping his distance as he flew. When she returned to her apartment she noticed a strange rise in temperature, much warmer than the rest of the building and bizarre for spring. A thunderstorm began to kick up and she immediately dropped her luggage, becoming ignorant of the heat as she ran to the window to watch the lightning. Much to her surprise the skies were clear but the sound of thunder continued. She heard something slide across the tile floor and felt it hit her foot. She bent down to pick it up and saw the ankh which would later become her transformation relic. As she examined the object, ‘archivist instincts’ taking over, she heard a gruff masculine voice say “Before you ask, yes, that is real gold”. She looked over her shoulder and saw Seti, her guardian, sitting up staring at her. Her jaw dropped and she rubbed her eyes furiously, harkening the sight up to fatigue from the long drive back from Minnesota. When she opened them he was still there.
“What’s the matter history student? Haven’t you ever seen a Seth animal before?”
Kamon, who has a space key to Samantha’s apartment, comes over unannounced frequently. One evening she catches her talking with Seti (unaware there even was a snake in the apartment) and she tells her about her alternate identity and powers as Sailor Seth. Initially Kamon is frustrated that she didn’t tell her sooner but Samantha was afraid her knowing would put her in danger, making her a target to rival factions. It takes awhile for her to get used to Samantha’s other life and Seti’s presence (“Wait…If he’s been hiding every time I’ve been here…Oh my God, he’s heard us having sex!” “Child, you need not fear that, for I have reason to believe it is not only I who can hear you, but the entire building.” “…he’s a little blunt.” “I noticed.”) but she acclimates and jokes about how she feels like Mary Jane and Samantha is Spiderman.
Personality
Samantha has trust issues and is afraid of being close to people, believing everyone will leave her for their own selfish gain in the end, courtesy of her mother’s affair when she was a child. She secretly desire to develop close relationships and takes a risk in become closer to her parents and Douglas but her fear gets the better of her which is why she left for college as soon as she could on the other side of the country. When people try to get close to her she dons an aloof and distant, or abrasive, passive-aggressive, and sometimes even bellicose façade. Social situations make her anxious.
After meeting Connor and starting to get in touch with her real self she found that she was friendly and talkative by nature and greatly enjoyed academic discussion with her peers and professors. She earned her internship through a pleasant student-professor relationship with her history professor who specialized in historiography and has a bachelor’s degree in museum studies. Her hard work didn’t go unnoticed and her internship became a paid internship she was getting academic credit for; post-graduation it elevated to a full-time job. She has kept in touch with this professor, Dr. Lehrer, since graduation. She found that she was also a decent orator and would occasionally pick up shifts as a tour guide when her coworkers weren’t able to give them, though she’s not particularly fond of them.
She enjoys video games, namely RPGs because she can create the intimate relationships she craves without having to worry about the NPCs leaving her and first person shooter games. For as long as she can remember she’s always loved thunderstorms, finding the lightning beautiful and the sound of thunder to be soothing; she found that she sleeps easier in noisy and chaotic environments such as during storms and just as some people play gentle nature sounds to fall asleep she plays recordings of thunder and rain. Her favorite season is summer and she loves the scorching heat.
Having been a loner and never involved in clubs or extracurriculars Samantha had no goals in life until she discovered her love of history and the ancient world. She has found purpose and meaning in her alternate identity as Sailor Seth, but later stopped using that alone to define herself. Being so mentally invested in this other identity she is prone to forgetting what she calls ‘Samantha obligations’ such as paying rent on time, returning phone calls, doctor and dental appointments, etc so her apartment is covered in sticky notes to help remind herself, even after breaking out of her shell. She loves spicy food, especially Thai after Kamon introduces her to it. Samantha herself is a terrible cook, which her apartment building is painfully aware of because the fire alarm is constantly set off so Kamon teaches her how to cook. Her favorite color is red and her favorite music genre is classic rock from the 80s, and her secret guilty pleasure is Korean pop.
Appearance
Samantha is short, approximately five-feet, with shoulder-length copper brown hair she keeps in a ponytail and bangs in a side-sweep. She weighs roughly 115 lbs. and has a pear shape/hip-heavy figure. She has hazel green eyes. She has glasses with translucent light blue frames and rounded rectangular lenses which, when not wearing, she keeps them on her head like a pair of sunglasses. She prefers wearing dark denim jeans, boots, military-style jackets (ex- images.esellerpro.com/2569/I/2…, and t-shirts with some sort of pop culture reference (ex- icons and symbols like Nyan Cat or the Nintendo logo, quotes from movies and TV shows, band shirts). She gets a tattoo of the EGA (Eagle, Globe, Anchor), the United States Marine Corps symbol, to pay homage to Alexandra’s service after graduating college and cartouche of her name. The first is on her right shoulder so she can keep it covered at work and the second runs vertically down her left leg below the knee.
Fuku
In her senshi form Samantha’s hair changes to curly red, as Seth himself has curly red hair. She has thick eyeliner that was typical of Egyptian men and women all of socioeconomic statuses (and very distinguishable in their artwork). Her tattoos disappears in senshi form. The color scheme of her outfit is red, white, and gold. To start from the bottom up she wears sandals which are exactly like what one would find the people of ancient Egypt wearing which she initially has difficulty moving around in and are tan colored. This remains the same in super and eternal form. From the waist to just above her knees she wears a schenti, or loin cloth, wrapped over a skirt. A schenti ties at the waist and extends downwards to match the length of the skirt underneath; the front of the schenti is just the tie itself and is open in a triangular shape. This means that unwrapped a schenti would look like an upside down trapezoid. The schenti is dark red and the skirt is white with an embroidered gold trim at the bottom. The top half is a sleeveless camisole style (figure fitting) which runs around just below the collar bone and cinches at the waist, beneath the tie of the schenti. The top piece is red with gold trim running along the very top and the very bottom (which is barely visible because the schenti starts at the waistline). In super form the skirt gains a red embroidered line above the gold, and the top piece gains a white embroidered line beneath the top gold line and the bottom gold line. In super form she gains a translucent satin white sleeve on the left side of the top which runs down to the elbow/covers the forearm. In eternal form she gains a traditional regal headpiece made of gold; these typically have a snake extending out of the middle of the forehead but hers has the head of the Seth animal with red rubies for eyes. For reference see i.imgur.com/Qjo3F.jpg; specifically the lower left for the satin sleeve and top (but unlike the image her top covers her breasts), the upper left for the schenti and skirt design, and the upper right for the headpiece.
(I currently don’t have access to a scanner but when I do I’ll whip up a quick doodle of the outfits if my application is accepted)
Transformation
Her weapon is the relic owned by Seth himself, the Staff of Was, and because it’s bound to her its power tiers in direct proportion to her own as she grows in strength. Though its name is a staff it starts out as a small wand-like scepter, which is a symbol of power. The implication is not her strength as she initially lacks it but Seth’s more positive symbol as transformative deity, a symbol of growth and self-discovery. The ‘power’ symbolism is related to how the weapon’s strength grows with her own, essentially the latent power in her that she cultivates over time.
Her transformation phrase is “Guide to the wandering, beacon of discord, I invoke It Set, Netjer of desert and storm!”. ‘It’ is ancient Egyptian for ‘father’, ‘Set’ is the ancient Egyptian form of his name (Seth being the Hellinization/Greek form), and ‘Netjer’ means ‘God’. The use of the word ‘father’ is similar to that of the Christian God as the ‘father’ in the Holy Trinity. Seth is the source of power as well as a protector for a senshi under his name; essentially the expression ‘a good offense is the best defense’. Her transformation sequence whips up a column of sand which swirls around her and a spontaneous roll of thunder, even if the skies are clear. Her transformation relic is an ankh, which translates to ‘life’ and is sometimes referred to as the ‘Breath of Life’. It is believed one cannot enter the afterlife without it which is why the embalmers plant so many relics inside the sarcophagi and in between the very wraps of the body. It is small, about an inch in width and two in length, so she uses the loop to wear it as a charm for a necklace. However it is made of gold and bedecked with lapis lazuli, a precious stone popular for jewelry and found in many tombs of pharaohs so she must lie that it’s a souvenir made of fool’s gold and painted rock. Only the trained eye of a jeweler or appraiser could call her bluff.
Powers
Crimson Lightning- the small wand-like Staff of Was shoots a bolt of red lightning at the enemy. This requires perfect aim; if she misses the target and hits something like a tree there is a risk of starting a fire. Thus there is a risk of friendly fire. The attack is not instantaneously fatal unless a vital organ such as the brain or heart is hit, and as such requires multiple blows. The bolts will create third degree burns and can burn through clothing. *Similar to the senshi from Sailor Moon it has a mini upgrade (ex- Fire Soul -> Fire Soul Bird) called Crimson Lightning Stasis which induces paralysis by targeting the nervous system, using the bloodstream as a catalyst in the same way water conducts electricity, in addition to causing life-threatening damage.
Supersonic Electric Chaos- as Super Sailor Seth the Staff of Was is now a scepter, roughly a foot and a half (eighteen inches). This attack creates an overwhelming thunder roll only the enemy can hear creating pain akin to a debilitating migraine and renders their sense of hearing subject to only the sound of roaring thunder until they are completely deaf. This attack is not fatal, but rather a debuff.
Entropic Desert Siphon- her most powerful attack which she develops after becoming Eternal Sailor Seth, when the Staff of Was is at its peak and final form. Chains of sand shoot out of the ground and wrap around the victim in a snake-like fashion, coiling upwards and resembling mummification. After the entire body is enveloped the power of the desolate desert wasteland sucks the life out of them by draining the body’s water contents, reducing them to a dried corpse (i.e. a mummy, as the mummification process involved placing the body in salt to throw off the salt-water balance to prevent decomposition).
Guardian
Samantha’s guardian Seti is an unknown animal, referred to by archaeologists and historians at the “Seth animal” (his sacred animal, like the jackal to Anubis or the falcon to Horus). Theories from various scholars claim it to be a type of canine or boar. It’s impossible to tell by appearance, leading Samantha and others to believe he’s not a creature of Earth but a mythological creature. Like Seth he is a shapeshifter so he may travel with her without raising suspicion but he can only transform into other animals. However the shapeshifting power is exhausting and can only be used so many times. As such he spends most of its time as a red snake living in Samantha’s apartment with free roam, hiding when she has company. The snake as an animal has no significance but rather is a choice of convenience, able to hide easily and travel with Samantha by stowing away in her shoulder bag when she is out and about. If any connections were to be drawn to Seth is would be the snake’s shedding of skin symbolizing growth and transformation.
Her guardian Seti is the first pharaoh to bear the name. He has an ambivalent nature, reflecting the unpredictable nature of storms and Seth being an archetype for change/growth/transformation. He is helpful to Samantha but will only give her so much advice, preferring that she figure out the answers to her troubles –personal or senshi- on her own. He can quickly lose his temper with her when the conundrums prove to be difficult, having high expectations of her mental capacities and fortitude. During his reign his greatest accomplishment was a military conquest; as such he has a habit of pushing Samantha to become stronger. His is quick to criticize anything he perceives as a failure. When he was pharaoh he was known for opening rock quarries and erecting obelisks so whenever he is out with Samantha he has a habit of trying to convince her to purchase fancy and luxurious things, because the lavish lifestyle was the only lifestyle he ever knew. He is especially critical of modern politics, making comments such as “If I were pharaoh of this land…” or “They call this a military?”. He is very irked by the fact that he was ‘subject to mockery’ in the modern The Mummy franchise, especially by the historical inaccuracies, and even more so by the movie The Prince of Egypt for similar reasons as well as the ‘horrendous noise’ (i.e. the music, which he refuses to call music).
Explanation
Names-
• ‘Connor’ means ‘dog’ or ‘wolf’ (Gaelic), a reference to Anubis to whom Nepthys gave birth after sleeping with Osiris, from her affair with Samantha’s uncle; though some myths say Anubis is Seth’s child, many believe because Seth is of the desert wastelands he is infertile hence my usage of the former and not the latter belief about Anubis’ parentage. He is studying photojournalism because Anubis, who served as the model for his family relations, would display the truth in one's moral character and events in the course of their life during the judgment of the deceased. Additionally priests would invoke him while embalming a body, a process meant to preserve the body the same way a photograph 'preserves' a moment.
• ‘Douglas’ means ‘dark river’ (Scottish), a reference to Sobek whom Seth fathered with the Goddess Neith. Sobek is a crocodile-headed God who acts as a protector against evil forces, the Nile river (where his love of swimming and fishing comes from), and military strength (hence his love of violent video games). I chose a name with a negative connotation because Sobek is morally ambiguous in the Egyptian mythos.
• ‘Leah’ has a disputed meaning, being “weary” (Hebrew), “mistress” (Chaldean), or “ruler” (Akkadian). All of these meanings apply to her backstory and involvement in Samantha's life because she had grown weary of her marriage to Doru, she was more or less the mistress of her brother-in-law, and is now trying to assert a right from self-entitlement to reconnect with her daughter (just as a ruler would impose their agenda on others).
• ‘Doru’ is a Romanian name meaning “longing”, a reference to Seth’s being ostracized and shunned, perhaps even lonely. Historians dispute over whether or not he was actually an evil God based on a war between Upper and Lower Egypt’s old cults of Seth and Horus warring over the throne (the most popular myth involving the two). Seth’s cult lost the war, reflected in the myth and arguably the origin of his status as the God of not only storms but deserts (the land of chaos, making him the God of chaos and an evil being) and patron of foreign invaders. In the very beginning of the Egyptian mythos Seth was a minor God of the wind and didn’t gain his popularity until the feud between the worshippers.
• ‘Alexandra’ is the feminine form of the Greek ‘Alexander’ meaning ‘defender of men’. She is based on Neith, the mother of Sobek. Neith is a war Goddess hence her Marine veteran status; serving in the First Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm is derived from Seth’s role in the Egyptian pantheon of both storms and the desert. ‘Andy’ is a diminutive of the masculine name ‘Andrew’ which literally translates to ‘man’ (and etymologically related to the –ander element in ‘Alexander’) which I chose as her nickname because of her involvement in a male-dominant field (the military). While she served she proved that it’s possible for women to be just as capable as men so the nickname is implying that she showed she could be ‘one of the boys’, or that her gender didn’t inhibit her success.
• ‘Kamon’ is a Thai name, both masculine and feminine, meaning ‘heart, mind’, in reference to Samantha’s interest in her. I chose a gender-neutral name for her because Seth is believed to have been bisexual and Samantha is. ‘Metharom’ means an academic setting or place where knowledge is obtainable, a reference to Samantha meeting her in college.
• ‘Seti’ literally translates to ‘of Set’ and was used by many pharaohs, their children (both royals and non), a viceroy, and the grandfather of the first pharaoh to bear the name (a military general)
• ‘Lehrer’ is a German name meaning ‘teacher’.
Fuku and Senshi Symbolism-
• Samantha’s hair color changing is because of Seth’s own hair color, which was one of many reasons that he was ostracized by the other Gods (he also had pale skin, ironic for a desert God, though her skin tone doesn’t change)
• ‘Wa’ew (‘Soldier’) of the Red Sky’ is reference to both the cultural connotations of red in Egyptian color and Seth’s powers over storms, not the sky itself but in the sense that storm clouds can dominate the weather/atmosphere
• Though the Staff of Was can be seen with multiple Gods it’s supposed to directly associated with Seth
• Aside from being a common part of everyday dress, the thick eyeliner also held the purpose of protecting the eyes from the sun when workers were out in the field. This can interpreted, in the case of Sailor Seth, to Seth’s relationship with the head of the pantheon and sun God, Ra. Seth was the one who would fight the serpent creature Apep every night when the solar boat (the sun) made its descent in the sky. Ra lost power with each passing hour, all of which were passed in their own respective realms of the night sky, until he died only to be reborn come sunrise. Seth fought to protect the weakened God. But if he has been ostracized and banished he would hold a grudge against the one he once protected for eons. The idea of blocking the sunlight can be thought of as not acknowledging the sun and its journey, making it ‘out of sight, out of mind’. This is my own extra interpretation of the eyeliner specifically for Sailor Seth, but it was used to shield the eyes from the harsh sunlight during the daytime.
Miscellaneous-
• Samantha’s birthday falls under the ancient Kemetic astrological sign of Seth himself. Those born under this sign follow the archetype of Seth as a symbol of transformation and growth. They are ‘spiritual travelers’, seeking out constant change and a sense of completion. Seth as the sign itself represents both the cocoon and the metamorphosis which takes place within it.
• Her mother’s extramarital affair with her father’s older brother is a reference to Seth’s wife Nepthys having slept with Osiris, Seth’s older brother (as well as her own, and in the case of Samantha’s family her mother’s brother-in-law)
• Meeting Connor, the brother inspired by Anubis, is responsible for her reevaluation of her character and expression of self because Anubis is in charge of judging the souls of the deceased. Encountering him sparked a judgment of sorts by weighing out the options, the pros and cons, just as the deceased's metaphorical heart (a symbol of their morality and character during their life on Earth) is weighed on a scale against a feather Ma'at, both the symbol for universal truth and the Goddess herself.
Writing Sample
Letting loose a heavy sigh Samantha leaned back in her chair and folded her hands behind her head, watching the blinking black line on the blank Word Document taunt her. She stuck her tongue out at it and with a frustrated groan rose from her desk, shuffling to the kitchen. Never before had a subject for a paper eluded her so masterfully and she had grown weary of academic hide and seek. She couldn’t bring herself to admit it had nothing to do with the assignment itself and that the fault resided in her. She was in absolute denial of the fact that she was distracted, the source of which a mere two floors below her with another encounter scheduled in eighteen hours. Anthropology of War and Conflict had elevated itself from a boring midday lecture from a monotone old woman who made no secret of the fact that she despised her job, more specifically young adults, to a predestined panic attack.
Two rows to the right and three forward she sat, obstructing Samantha’s view of the front of the room. As much as she wanted it to irk and annoy her she couldn’t bring herself to hold contempt towards the glossy black hair settling on a pair of shoulders covered by a vintage inspired sweater or cardigan, and took even less issue with the elegant and classy skirt that accompanied it. Like a mental photo album those images had been burned into her memory and she couldn’t shake the distraction.
“Screw it,” she mumbled closing the fridge with more force than intended. She slipped on her worn tennis shoes and grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter. “A walk will clear my head…I think. I hope.” One hand buttoned up her jacket while the other reached for the door. She looked up and her cheeks immediately flushed. Standing before her with an arm raised and a fist formed was Kamon, who looked equally surprised though nowhere near as nervous as the brunette. Her dark hair was pulled back into a braid that rested on her shoulder and she had a flower-shaped pin just above her ear. She was wearing a long-sleeved raspberry red crocheted shrug that cut off at the ribcage and a white knee-length dress with a tan colored belt encircling her waist. She glanced over at her hand and quickly dropped it, folding her arms behind her back.
“I wasn’t going to punch, I swear,” she joked and started to rock back and forth on her heels. Samantha laughed softly. “Really?” she asked playing along. “Had me fooled. What’s up?” She’s wearing red. Someone pinch me, she’s wearing red. Mother of God, she’s gorgeous. And wearing red.
“Did you by chance start the paper we have due next week? I can’t come up with a topic for the life of me and was wondering if you might be able to help me brainstorm but it looks like you’re going out so…” The black-haired girl’s voice trailed off. Shaking her head Samantha replied, “Nope. Same boat as you.” And it has nothing to do with the fact that I can’t get you out of my head…Me? Distracted? Perish the thought! “I was just planning on taking a walk to clear my head. My brain is a little fried at an exam I had today so I can’t really think of anything either.” Not a complete lie…I did have an exam.
“Oh, I see,” Kamon replied nodding in understanding. “Mind if I join you?”
Yes. “No.” Yes I do. “Not at all.” It would be completely counterproductive. “Maybe we could bounce ideas off of each other.” Not likely. “Sound good?” Sounds terrible.
“Sounds great. I’ll go grab my jacket. Meet downstairs in the lobby?” Samantha said nothing, words escaping her, and simply nodded in confirmation. Smiling brightly Kamon replied, “Great. I’ll see you down there.” As soon as she was out of sight Samantha mumbled a string of colorful cuss words and locked her apartment door. She gently banged her head against it and sighed. “I would meet her in a class all about conflict and aggression…Could be worse I suppose. We could be in Anthropology of Love, Sexuality, and Kinship together.”
Out of the corner of her eye Samantha noticed her neighbor from four doors down giving her a bizarre look as he walked by. She raised her head and an eyebrow along with it. “What’re you staring at? This is New York. You’ve seen weirder things that someone banging their head on a door.”
“Never while talking themselves about sex and anthropology…”
“Sexuality,” she corrected acerbically as though the semantics was a life or death situation. “Big difference.”
Name: Samantha Scarlet Dalca
Meaning: ‘Samantha’ is a combination of the Hebrew masculine name ‘Samuel’ meaning ‘God has heard’ or ‘good listener’ and the Greek suffix ‘–antha’ meaning ‘flower’. The color red, considered to be the color of evil or chaos in ancient Egypt as it’s associated with the desert (and by extension foreigners/invaders who crossed it) is where her middle name comes from. ‘Dalca’ is a Romanian last name meaning ‘lightning’. Her first name is a play off of Seth’s banishment and being shunned by the rest of the pantheon as, historical speaking, the Hebrew/Judaic/Israeli/Chaldean tribes and the Greek civilization had antagonistic relationships with the Egyptian civilization.
Age: 23
Birthdate: June 7th
School/Occupation: Recently completed a double major Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology from the Eugene Lang College in the New School for Liberal Arts, located in New York, NY. While in school she had a work study with the history department and later an internship which developed into her current job. Post-graduation she works full-time at American Museum of Natural History in the archives because it doesn’t require her to work with other people as much as working as a tour guide or secretary. Though she eventually broke out of her shell and became more of a social creature she only does so on her terms, not a set schedule (work being an example) because she refuses to force herself to do it. She will however occasionally take over as a tour guide is coworkers are sick, on paternity/maternity leave, etc. She lives on the Upper West Side a few blocks from the museum, having moved after graduation to be closer to her job. She lives in a studio apartment.
Major NPCs: Younger half-brothers Connor (younger by five years, 18, a college freshman at the Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin, studying photography to become a photojournalist) and Douglas (younger by nine years, 12, in 6th grade/first year of middle school who enjoys swimming and fishing). She does not maintain contact with her biological mother, Connor’s mother, though her mother Leah has tried to establish a relationship with her in recent years (after Samantha graduated high school). Her father Doru Dalca is of Romanian descent and works as an urban planner in Minnesota. Leah was an elementary school teacher and after giving birth to Connor went back to school to get a second degree in electrical engineering. She wants nothing to do with her uncle whom her mother later remarried after having an affair. Her stepmother Alexandra (Andy for short), a Marine veteran who was in Operation in Desert Storm and the first Gulf War, works as a security guard at the Mall of America. In college she developed a crush on fellow anthropology student, whose emphasis was also cultural and had a second major in global studies, Kamon Metharom who later becomes her girlfriend. After graduation Kamon returned to the New School to get a master’s in psychology with the objective of becoming a counselor specializing in cross-cultural psychology for international students at her alma mater’s campus counseling department. During their college years they lived in the same apartment building. Kanom stayed in that building to stay close to campus while working on her masters degree so she and Samantha live about 4-5 miles/20 minutes away from each other depending on traffic.
History
Samantha hails from a small town in a Minnesota, having born during a strong wind and lightning storm. Her mother left when she was four after coming clean about an extramarital affair with her husband’s brother after learning she was pregnant with his child. Her father remarried when Samantha was eight. She has a half-brother from both her mother and stepmother, Connor and Douglas respectively. She cut off contact with her mother, though Leah recently began trying to contact her. Because of her mother’s affair Samantha has trust issues and deep down an overwhelming fear of neglect and abandonment so she actively avoids establishing close relationships with people. Growing up she does become somewhat close to her stepmother and younger brother Douglas by the time she reaches middle school. When she was sixteen her family moved to St. Paul, instilling an anxiety in her because of the high population and proximity to the Mall of America (a major tourist attraction). Her father has always been very invested in his work and isn’t home as often as he would like to or should be. Her abandonment fear gets the better of her in high school when her birth mother begins contacting her and she decides to go to college as far away from her family as possible.
Her first job was a dishwasher at a mom and pop diner in her hometown, Douglas’ favorite restaurant, which she began when she was fourteen. She didn’t want to be a waitress because it would require her to engage with customers and enjoyed the fast-paced environment in the kitchen, as well as the expectation to keep things running smoothly. After her family moved she worked in the shipping and receiving department of Target because she didn’t have to deal with customers or coworkers as much as she would in another position. Because of her first job’s demands and requirements she developed a strong work ethic and found an outlet for her loneliness in academics, namely history because she felt as though she was becoming acquainted with the historical figures she was studying by learning about their lives. This led her to become extremely invested in her academics and a very industrious student which backfired on her because of the recognition and praise she was receiving from teachers and her parents. She is especially interested in ancient/classical civilizations and military history. This was the foundation for her desire to go on to study history and anthropology (with a cultural emphasis) in college.
Her relationship with Douglas stemmed from their shared love of video games and in what little free time she had she played combat-based multiplayer games like Call of Duty with him. She found herself inexplicably interested in the time Alexandra spent in the desert and became interested in hearing about her time in the military, particularly Operation Desert Storm. She isn’t very close to her dad because he isn’t home very often; before he remarried she was mostly raised by babysitters.
She met her half-brother Connor during her sophomore year of college when he emailed her after looking up her student email address via the campus directory. Lack of face-to-face contact made her somewhat comfortable with regularly exchanging messages, feeling as if she were talking with an AI (even comparing it to Cleverbot), until he asked if they could meet in person. Despite her apprehension Kamon, well aware of her difficulty opening up to people convinced her to do it and they met in New York. To ease the situation for her Kamon offered to tag along and show Connor around New York with Samantha but she decided this was something she had to do on her own, which Kamon was hoping she would do. After spending a day with Connor she found they had a lot in common, or rather that he was very much like the part of herself she was hiding. She decided to start to get to know the person she had been hiding from and hiding from the world, her real self. She, in true Gemini fashion, began to gradually communicate with Douglas and her parents more but still refused to communicate with her mother or uncle/stepfather. She joined the Anthropology Club after a slight push from Kamon, who was treasurer at the time.
During her junior year of college Samantha picked up an internship at the museum she eventually began working at and she and Kamon started dating. The two also became co-chairs of the Anthropology Club that year and after a great deal of fundraising and applying for grants from the school, organized a club trip to the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, a prestigious conference where lectures are given by prominent scholars in the field. It was held in Minneapolis that year and with the conference being held over a weekend she was able to go to St. Paul to see her family for the day, surprising them with her change in character. She didn’t however make mention that she was dating another girl because she was unsure of how her parents would react though she did tell Douglas who, due to his young age and lack of exposure to the antagonistic backlash towards queer/trans* rights activism was unfazed seeing it as no different than coming out as a history and anthropology major or a Gemini.
It was during this conference that Seti first entered her life, sneaking into her car in the form of a caterpillar hiding underneath the driver’s seat and leaving in the form of a butterfly which followed her all the way back to New York by keeping his distance as he flew. When she returned to her apartment she noticed a strange rise in temperature, much warmer than the rest of the building and bizarre for spring. A thunderstorm began to kick up and she immediately dropped her luggage, becoming ignorant of the heat as she ran to the window to watch the lightning. Much to her surprise the skies were clear but the sound of thunder continued. She heard something slide across the tile floor and felt it hit her foot. She bent down to pick it up and saw the ankh which would later become her transformation relic. As she examined the object, ‘archivist instincts’ taking over, she heard a gruff masculine voice say “Before you ask, yes, that is real gold”. She looked over her shoulder and saw Seti, her guardian, sitting up staring at her. Her jaw dropped and she rubbed her eyes furiously, harkening the sight up to fatigue from the long drive back from Minnesota. When she opened them he was still there.
“What’s the matter history student? Haven’t you ever seen a Seth animal before?”
Kamon, who has a space key to Samantha’s apartment, comes over unannounced frequently. One evening she catches her talking with Seti (unaware there even was a snake in the apartment) and she tells her about her alternate identity and powers as Sailor Seth. Initially Kamon is frustrated that she didn’t tell her sooner but Samantha was afraid her knowing would put her in danger, making her a target to rival factions. It takes awhile for her to get used to Samantha’s other life and Seti’s presence (“Wait…If he’s been hiding every time I’ve been here…Oh my God, he’s heard us having sex!” “Child, you need not fear that, for I have reason to believe it is not only I who can hear you, but the entire building.” “…he’s a little blunt.” “I noticed.”) but she acclimates and jokes about how she feels like Mary Jane and Samantha is Spiderman.
Personality
Samantha has trust issues and is afraid of being close to people, believing everyone will leave her for their own selfish gain in the end, courtesy of her mother’s affair when she was a child. She secretly desire to develop close relationships and takes a risk in become closer to her parents and Douglas but her fear gets the better of her which is why she left for college as soon as she could on the other side of the country. When people try to get close to her she dons an aloof and distant, or abrasive, passive-aggressive, and sometimes even bellicose façade. Social situations make her anxious.
After meeting Connor and starting to get in touch with her real self she found that she was friendly and talkative by nature and greatly enjoyed academic discussion with her peers and professors. She earned her internship through a pleasant student-professor relationship with her history professor who specialized in historiography and has a bachelor’s degree in museum studies. Her hard work didn’t go unnoticed and her internship became a paid internship she was getting academic credit for; post-graduation it elevated to a full-time job. She has kept in touch with this professor, Dr. Lehrer, since graduation. She found that she was also a decent orator and would occasionally pick up shifts as a tour guide when her coworkers weren’t able to give them, though she’s not particularly fond of them.
She enjoys video games, namely RPGs because she can create the intimate relationships she craves without having to worry about the NPCs leaving her and first person shooter games. For as long as she can remember she’s always loved thunderstorms, finding the lightning beautiful and the sound of thunder to be soothing; she found that she sleeps easier in noisy and chaotic environments such as during storms and just as some people play gentle nature sounds to fall asleep she plays recordings of thunder and rain. Her favorite season is summer and she loves the scorching heat.
Having been a loner and never involved in clubs or extracurriculars Samantha had no goals in life until she discovered her love of history and the ancient world. She has found purpose and meaning in her alternate identity as Sailor Seth, but later stopped using that alone to define herself. Being so mentally invested in this other identity she is prone to forgetting what she calls ‘Samantha obligations’ such as paying rent on time, returning phone calls, doctor and dental appointments, etc so her apartment is covered in sticky notes to help remind herself, even after breaking out of her shell. She loves spicy food, especially Thai after Kamon introduces her to it. Samantha herself is a terrible cook, which her apartment building is painfully aware of because the fire alarm is constantly set off so Kamon teaches her how to cook. Her favorite color is red and her favorite music genre is classic rock from the 80s, and her secret guilty pleasure is Korean pop.
Appearance
Samantha is short, approximately five-feet, with shoulder-length copper brown hair she keeps in a ponytail and bangs in a side-sweep. She weighs roughly 115 lbs. and has a pear shape/hip-heavy figure. She has hazel green eyes. She has glasses with translucent light blue frames and rounded rectangular lenses which, when not wearing, she keeps them on her head like a pair of sunglasses. She prefers wearing dark denim jeans, boots, military-style jackets (ex- images.esellerpro.com/2569/I/2…, and t-shirts with some sort of pop culture reference (ex- icons and symbols like Nyan Cat or the Nintendo logo, quotes from movies and TV shows, band shirts). She gets a tattoo of the EGA (Eagle, Globe, Anchor), the United States Marine Corps symbol, to pay homage to Alexandra’s service after graduating college and cartouche of her name. The first is on her right shoulder so she can keep it covered at work and the second runs vertically down her left leg below the knee.
Fuku
In her senshi form Samantha’s hair changes to curly red, as Seth himself has curly red hair. She has thick eyeliner that was typical of Egyptian men and women all of socioeconomic statuses (and very distinguishable in their artwork). Her tattoos disappears in senshi form. The color scheme of her outfit is red, white, and gold. To start from the bottom up she wears sandals which are exactly like what one would find the people of ancient Egypt wearing which she initially has difficulty moving around in and are tan colored. This remains the same in super and eternal form. From the waist to just above her knees she wears a schenti, or loin cloth, wrapped over a skirt. A schenti ties at the waist and extends downwards to match the length of the skirt underneath; the front of the schenti is just the tie itself and is open in a triangular shape. This means that unwrapped a schenti would look like an upside down trapezoid. The schenti is dark red and the skirt is white with an embroidered gold trim at the bottom. The top half is a sleeveless camisole style (figure fitting) which runs around just below the collar bone and cinches at the waist, beneath the tie of the schenti. The top piece is red with gold trim running along the very top and the very bottom (which is barely visible because the schenti starts at the waistline). In super form the skirt gains a red embroidered line above the gold, and the top piece gains a white embroidered line beneath the top gold line and the bottom gold line. In super form she gains a translucent satin white sleeve on the left side of the top which runs down to the elbow/covers the forearm. In eternal form she gains a traditional regal headpiece made of gold; these typically have a snake extending out of the middle of the forehead but hers has the head of the Seth animal with red rubies for eyes. For reference see i.imgur.com/Qjo3F.jpg; specifically the lower left for the satin sleeve and top (but unlike the image her top covers her breasts), the upper left for the schenti and skirt design, and the upper right for the headpiece.
(I currently don’t have access to a scanner but when I do I’ll whip up a quick doodle of the outfits if my application is accepted)
Transformation
Her weapon is the relic owned by Seth himself, the Staff of Was, and because it’s bound to her its power tiers in direct proportion to her own as she grows in strength. Though its name is a staff it starts out as a small wand-like scepter, which is a symbol of power. The implication is not her strength as she initially lacks it but Seth’s more positive symbol as transformative deity, a symbol of growth and self-discovery. The ‘power’ symbolism is related to how the weapon’s strength grows with her own, essentially the latent power in her that she cultivates over time.
Her transformation phrase is “Guide to the wandering, beacon of discord, I invoke It Set, Netjer of desert and storm!”. ‘It’ is ancient Egyptian for ‘father’, ‘Set’ is the ancient Egyptian form of his name (Seth being the Hellinization/Greek form), and ‘Netjer’ means ‘God’. The use of the word ‘father’ is similar to that of the Christian God as the ‘father’ in the Holy Trinity. Seth is the source of power as well as a protector for a senshi under his name; essentially the expression ‘a good offense is the best defense’. Her transformation sequence whips up a column of sand which swirls around her and a spontaneous roll of thunder, even if the skies are clear. Her transformation relic is an ankh, which translates to ‘life’ and is sometimes referred to as the ‘Breath of Life’. It is believed one cannot enter the afterlife without it which is why the embalmers plant so many relics inside the sarcophagi and in between the very wraps of the body. It is small, about an inch in width and two in length, so she uses the loop to wear it as a charm for a necklace. However it is made of gold and bedecked with lapis lazuli, a precious stone popular for jewelry and found in many tombs of pharaohs so she must lie that it’s a souvenir made of fool’s gold and painted rock. Only the trained eye of a jeweler or appraiser could call her bluff.
Powers
Crimson Lightning- the small wand-like Staff of Was shoots a bolt of red lightning at the enemy. This requires perfect aim; if she misses the target and hits something like a tree there is a risk of starting a fire. Thus there is a risk of friendly fire. The attack is not instantaneously fatal unless a vital organ such as the brain or heart is hit, and as such requires multiple blows. The bolts will create third degree burns and can burn through clothing. *Similar to the senshi from Sailor Moon it has a mini upgrade (ex- Fire Soul -> Fire Soul Bird) called Crimson Lightning Stasis which induces paralysis by targeting the nervous system, using the bloodstream as a catalyst in the same way water conducts electricity, in addition to causing life-threatening damage.
Supersonic Electric Chaos- as Super Sailor Seth the Staff of Was is now a scepter, roughly a foot and a half (eighteen inches). This attack creates an overwhelming thunder roll only the enemy can hear creating pain akin to a debilitating migraine and renders their sense of hearing subject to only the sound of roaring thunder until they are completely deaf. This attack is not fatal, but rather a debuff.
Entropic Desert Siphon- her most powerful attack which she develops after becoming Eternal Sailor Seth, when the Staff of Was is at its peak and final form. Chains of sand shoot out of the ground and wrap around the victim in a snake-like fashion, coiling upwards and resembling mummification. After the entire body is enveloped the power of the desolate desert wasteland sucks the life out of them by draining the body’s water contents, reducing them to a dried corpse (i.e. a mummy, as the mummification process involved placing the body in salt to throw off the salt-water balance to prevent decomposition).
Guardian
Samantha’s guardian Seti is an unknown animal, referred to by archaeologists and historians at the “Seth animal” (his sacred animal, like the jackal to Anubis or the falcon to Horus). Theories from various scholars claim it to be a type of canine or boar. It’s impossible to tell by appearance, leading Samantha and others to believe he’s not a creature of Earth but a mythological creature. Like Seth he is a shapeshifter so he may travel with her without raising suspicion but he can only transform into other animals. However the shapeshifting power is exhausting and can only be used so many times. As such he spends most of its time as a red snake living in Samantha’s apartment with free roam, hiding when she has company. The snake as an animal has no significance but rather is a choice of convenience, able to hide easily and travel with Samantha by stowing away in her shoulder bag when she is out and about. If any connections were to be drawn to Seth is would be the snake’s shedding of skin symbolizing growth and transformation.
Her guardian Seti is the first pharaoh to bear the name. He has an ambivalent nature, reflecting the unpredictable nature of storms and Seth being an archetype for change/growth/transformation. He is helpful to Samantha but will only give her so much advice, preferring that she figure out the answers to her troubles –personal or senshi- on her own. He can quickly lose his temper with her when the conundrums prove to be difficult, having high expectations of her mental capacities and fortitude. During his reign his greatest accomplishment was a military conquest; as such he has a habit of pushing Samantha to become stronger. His is quick to criticize anything he perceives as a failure. When he was pharaoh he was known for opening rock quarries and erecting obelisks so whenever he is out with Samantha he has a habit of trying to convince her to purchase fancy and luxurious things, because the lavish lifestyle was the only lifestyle he ever knew. He is especially critical of modern politics, making comments such as “If I were pharaoh of this land…” or “They call this a military?”. He is very irked by the fact that he was ‘subject to mockery’ in the modern The Mummy franchise, especially by the historical inaccuracies, and even more so by the movie The Prince of Egypt for similar reasons as well as the ‘horrendous noise’ (i.e. the music, which he refuses to call music).
Explanation
Names-
• ‘Connor’ means ‘dog’ or ‘wolf’ (Gaelic), a reference to Anubis to whom Nepthys gave birth after sleeping with Osiris, from her affair with Samantha’s uncle; though some myths say Anubis is Seth’s child, many believe because Seth is of the desert wastelands he is infertile hence my usage of the former and not the latter belief about Anubis’ parentage. He is studying photojournalism because Anubis, who served as the model for his family relations, would display the truth in one's moral character and events in the course of their life during the judgment of the deceased. Additionally priests would invoke him while embalming a body, a process meant to preserve the body the same way a photograph 'preserves' a moment.
• ‘Douglas’ means ‘dark river’ (Scottish), a reference to Sobek whom Seth fathered with the Goddess Neith. Sobek is a crocodile-headed God who acts as a protector against evil forces, the Nile river (where his love of swimming and fishing comes from), and military strength (hence his love of violent video games). I chose a name with a negative connotation because Sobek is morally ambiguous in the Egyptian mythos.
• ‘Leah’ has a disputed meaning, being “weary” (Hebrew), “mistress” (Chaldean), or “ruler” (Akkadian). All of these meanings apply to her backstory and involvement in Samantha's life because she had grown weary of her marriage to Doru, she was more or less the mistress of her brother-in-law, and is now trying to assert a right from self-entitlement to reconnect with her daughter (just as a ruler would impose their agenda on others).
• ‘Doru’ is a Romanian name meaning “longing”, a reference to Seth’s being ostracized and shunned, perhaps even lonely. Historians dispute over whether or not he was actually an evil God based on a war between Upper and Lower Egypt’s old cults of Seth and Horus warring over the throne (the most popular myth involving the two). Seth’s cult lost the war, reflected in the myth and arguably the origin of his status as the God of not only storms but deserts (the land of chaos, making him the God of chaos and an evil being) and patron of foreign invaders. In the very beginning of the Egyptian mythos Seth was a minor God of the wind and didn’t gain his popularity until the feud between the worshippers.
• ‘Alexandra’ is the feminine form of the Greek ‘Alexander’ meaning ‘defender of men’. She is based on Neith, the mother of Sobek. Neith is a war Goddess hence her Marine veteran status; serving in the First Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm is derived from Seth’s role in the Egyptian pantheon of both storms and the desert. ‘Andy’ is a diminutive of the masculine name ‘Andrew’ which literally translates to ‘man’ (and etymologically related to the –ander element in ‘Alexander’) which I chose as her nickname because of her involvement in a male-dominant field (the military). While she served she proved that it’s possible for women to be just as capable as men so the nickname is implying that she showed she could be ‘one of the boys’, or that her gender didn’t inhibit her success.
• ‘Kamon’ is a Thai name, both masculine and feminine, meaning ‘heart, mind’, in reference to Samantha’s interest in her. I chose a gender-neutral name for her because Seth is believed to have been bisexual and Samantha is. ‘Metharom’ means an academic setting or place where knowledge is obtainable, a reference to Samantha meeting her in college.
• ‘Seti’ literally translates to ‘of Set’ and was used by many pharaohs, their children (both royals and non), a viceroy, and the grandfather of the first pharaoh to bear the name (a military general)
• ‘Lehrer’ is a German name meaning ‘teacher’.
Fuku and Senshi Symbolism-
• Samantha’s hair color changing is because of Seth’s own hair color, which was one of many reasons that he was ostracized by the other Gods (he also had pale skin, ironic for a desert God, though her skin tone doesn’t change)
• ‘Wa’ew (‘Soldier’) of the Red Sky’ is reference to both the cultural connotations of red in Egyptian color and Seth’s powers over storms, not the sky itself but in the sense that storm clouds can dominate the weather/atmosphere
• Though the Staff of Was can be seen with multiple Gods it’s supposed to directly associated with Seth
• Aside from being a common part of everyday dress, the thick eyeliner also held the purpose of protecting the eyes from the sun when workers were out in the field. This can interpreted, in the case of Sailor Seth, to Seth’s relationship with the head of the pantheon and sun God, Ra. Seth was the one who would fight the serpent creature Apep every night when the solar boat (the sun) made its descent in the sky. Ra lost power with each passing hour, all of which were passed in their own respective realms of the night sky, until he died only to be reborn come sunrise. Seth fought to protect the weakened God. But if he has been ostracized and banished he would hold a grudge against the one he once protected for eons. The idea of blocking the sunlight can be thought of as not acknowledging the sun and its journey, making it ‘out of sight, out of mind’. This is my own extra interpretation of the eyeliner specifically for Sailor Seth, but it was used to shield the eyes from the harsh sunlight during the daytime.
Miscellaneous-
• Samantha’s birthday falls under the ancient Kemetic astrological sign of Seth himself. Those born under this sign follow the archetype of Seth as a symbol of transformation and growth. They are ‘spiritual travelers’, seeking out constant change and a sense of completion. Seth as the sign itself represents both the cocoon and the metamorphosis which takes place within it.
• Her mother’s extramarital affair with her father’s older brother is a reference to Seth’s wife Nepthys having slept with Osiris, Seth’s older brother (as well as her own, and in the case of Samantha’s family her mother’s brother-in-law)
• Meeting Connor, the brother inspired by Anubis, is responsible for her reevaluation of her character and expression of self because Anubis is in charge of judging the souls of the deceased. Encountering him sparked a judgment of sorts by weighing out the options, the pros and cons, just as the deceased's metaphorical heart (a symbol of their morality and character during their life on Earth) is weighed on a scale against a feather Ma'at, both the symbol for universal truth and the Goddess herself.
Writing Sample
Letting loose a heavy sigh Samantha leaned back in her chair and folded her hands behind her head, watching the blinking black line on the blank Word Document taunt her. She stuck her tongue out at it and with a frustrated groan rose from her desk, shuffling to the kitchen. Never before had a subject for a paper eluded her so masterfully and she had grown weary of academic hide and seek. She couldn’t bring herself to admit it had nothing to do with the assignment itself and that the fault resided in her. She was in absolute denial of the fact that she was distracted, the source of which a mere two floors below her with another encounter scheduled in eighteen hours. Anthropology of War and Conflict had elevated itself from a boring midday lecture from a monotone old woman who made no secret of the fact that she despised her job, more specifically young adults, to a predestined panic attack.
Two rows to the right and three forward she sat, obstructing Samantha’s view of the front of the room. As much as she wanted it to irk and annoy her she couldn’t bring herself to hold contempt towards the glossy black hair settling on a pair of shoulders covered by a vintage inspired sweater or cardigan, and took even less issue with the elegant and classy skirt that accompanied it. Like a mental photo album those images had been burned into her memory and she couldn’t shake the distraction.
“Screw it,” she mumbled closing the fridge with more force than intended. She slipped on her worn tennis shoes and grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter. “A walk will clear my head…I think. I hope.” One hand buttoned up her jacket while the other reached for the door. She looked up and her cheeks immediately flushed. Standing before her with an arm raised and a fist formed was Kamon, who looked equally surprised though nowhere near as nervous as the brunette. Her dark hair was pulled back into a braid that rested on her shoulder and she had a flower-shaped pin just above her ear. She was wearing a long-sleeved raspberry red crocheted shrug that cut off at the ribcage and a white knee-length dress with a tan colored belt encircling her waist. She glanced over at her hand and quickly dropped it, folding her arms behind her back.
“I wasn’t going to punch, I swear,” she joked and started to rock back and forth on her heels. Samantha laughed softly. “Really?” she asked playing along. “Had me fooled. What’s up?” She’s wearing red. Someone pinch me, she’s wearing red. Mother of God, she’s gorgeous. And wearing red.
“Did you by chance start the paper we have due next week? I can’t come up with a topic for the life of me and was wondering if you might be able to help me brainstorm but it looks like you’re going out so…” The black-haired girl’s voice trailed off. Shaking her head Samantha replied, “Nope. Same boat as you.” And it has nothing to do with the fact that I can’t get you out of my head…Me? Distracted? Perish the thought! “I was just planning on taking a walk to clear my head. My brain is a little fried at an exam I had today so I can’t really think of anything either.” Not a complete lie…I did have an exam.
“Oh, I see,” Kamon replied nodding in understanding. “Mind if I join you?”
Yes. “No.” Yes I do. “Not at all.” It would be completely counterproductive. “Maybe we could bounce ideas off of each other.” Not likely. “Sound good?” Sounds terrible.
“Sounds great. I’ll go grab my jacket. Meet downstairs in the lobby?” Samantha said nothing, words escaping her, and simply nodded in confirmation. Smiling brightly Kamon replied, “Great. I’ll see you down there.” As soon as she was out of sight Samantha mumbled a string of colorful cuss words and locked her apartment door. She gently banged her head against it and sighed. “I would meet her in a class all about conflict and aggression…Could be worse I suppose. We could be in Anthropology of Love, Sexuality, and Kinship together.”
Out of the corner of her eye Samantha noticed her neighbor from four doors down giving her a bizarre look as he walked by. She raised her head and an eyebrow along with it. “What’re you staring at? This is New York. You’ve seen weirder things that someone banging their head on a door.”
“Never while talking themselves about sex and anthropology…”
“Sexuality,” she corrected acerbically as though the semantics was a life or death situation. “Big difference.”
Results
Very strong first showing, but some elements didn't quite come together, and the senshi and guardian elements need revision. The verdict is Reject for Revision.
Your application was reviewed by Em and Regina. Asterisks (*) indicate elements which would require attention before re-applying.
Civilian Info
+ E: Impressive name research!
- It might be good to separate out the entires for the NPCs more, and include some general notes on their personalities and what Samantha's relationship with them is like. (Particularly Kamon, as she is present in NYC.)
History
- Some sentences in this section are in present tense when past tense would be more appropriate.
- You have a tendency to write long, compound sentences, which is fine, but sometimes they're a bit convoluted and there are some structural errors as a result. Consider using more short statements to improve readability.
- The history jumps around a bit chronologically in favor of a topical approach. It might be easier to follow her history if it were more directly chronological.
* What was her childhood like? Was she a calm child, or hyper, or shy? Before the divorce, what was life like? How old was Samantha when her mother confessed to the affair? Was Samantha ever told, or did her mom just pack up and go? How did she adjust to her stepmother? How old was she when she gained the stepmother?
- How old was she when she went to work at Target? (R: I'm fairly sure they have age requirements that are higher in shipping-and-receiving than the floor staff, due to the heavy lifting.) Why did she switch jobs? (Better pay?)
- How long was Samantha talking with Connor over the internet? How did they come across each other on the world wide web? What did they talk about?
- R: ... what's "true Gemini fashion"?
* When exactly did she meet Kamon? Given her personality, how did she become involved with Kamon?
- R: Butterflies are not known for fast flight - why not just hang out in her car until she came back, if he got in there in the first place? Samantha noticed the heat, so she was hardly ignorant of it.
- E: You state that she met Seti in her junior year of college, which would be two years prior to the game start. This is quite a bit before the game's start. Perhaps choose a more recent event for their meeting? Additionally, guardians should really appear within, say, a hundred-mile radius of NYC. Milwaukee is a bit too far away, almost 900 miles.
* There are some guardian issues which will be addressed below.
* While Kamon can be aware that Seti talks, unless Kamon is a senshi, she cannot hear Seti's voice directly.
+ R: The last paragraph is <i>hilarious.</i>
Personality
- Given her personality and issues, how does Samantha have successful relationships with anyone, patricularly a long-term romance without prior romantic experience?
- How does her anxiety manifest?
- Integration between personality and history is good, but the personality section is a little too history-focused. Some of this detail, like how she got her job, would be more suited to the history section.
- R: Could use more detail: "RPG" is a very broad genre, to the point where anything that lets you have any choice at all counts as one. What sorts of video games does Samantha like? Call of Duty was mentioned earlier, does she also like Halo? What consoles does she play on?
- There is a lot of detail about her likes and dislikes, but it would be better to expand upon her behavior, with examples of her interactions.
- R: From her history it doesn't sound like she's been Sailor Seth for long, so it seems unlikely she's been using that to define herself for long. What does Samantha consider to be her obligations? She has the ability to sense when other senshi are around, as well as the shards, but neither have been making an appearance until very recently. What has she been doing regarding her senshi-dom?
- E: Samantha was involved in the Anthropology Club, so she has been involved in an extracurricular. Did you mean before attending college? It's a good idea to contrast how she was previously with how she is now, but be sure to focus on how she is now more than how she has been in the past, and be clear which is which. The main focus of the personality section should be who she is now andhow she behaves.
- E: It's mentioned elsewhere that Samantha is bisexual. Expand on this: when did she figure this out, what are feelings on her own sexuality, and how her sexuality is perceived by the outside world?
Appearance
+ E: Nice to see a character with tattoos, and a short character for a change.
- When did she get these tattoos? Why did she get the cartouche?
- E: Very good description of Samantha's overall appearance, though I'm curious to know about her facial features. Face shape, general expression, anything notable that ditinguishes her from everyone else.
Fuku
* The fuku as given seems a little bare, just sandals, skirt/schenti, and camisole top. (It's a little unclear, does she have a collar in addition to the camisole?) Some additional elements might be a good idea -- collar, choker, tiara, some variation of glove/wrist decoration.
- You don't need to worry about super or eternal forms at this point in time, as it will probably be a while before you reach Super. Including this information confuses the design of her fuku at present.
Transformation
* Her weapon belongs in her powers section. (Please also describe its appearance in detail, as you did with her transformation relic.)
- You're welcome to use "Set" rather than "Seth" if you prefer.
Powers
* Please only include her starting powers -- leave her super and eternal powers off until she reaches those stages.
* Powers cannot be instantly fatal.
* How does she perform Crimson Lightning? How many times can she perform it per day? What is its range? You mention perfect aim, but as it's a lightning-type projectile, is it very accurate in its flight path?
+ E: The friendly/accidental fire element of Crimson Lightning is nice!
* How likely is it that Crimson Lightning will set something on fire? 100% of the time? 50%? What if it's not a tree, but a building, or a road?
- E: Third degree burns are quite serious and dangerous; perhaps an attack which increases in effect when repeated on the same target?
- The paralysis mini-upgrade is a nice thought, but cannot cause guaranteed life-threatening damage.
+ E: Supersonic Electric Chaos is a nice power, but how long does the effect last?
+ R: I like the name of Supersonic Electric Chaos. It's like the name of a cheesy dance tune. Or a movie sequel. Electric Boogaloo.
Guardian
* All guardians are past senshi/people who have been reincarnated in regular animal forms. Your guardian animal must be something that could be found in or around NYC. Your guardian cannot be a shapeshifter. Their only powers are magical communication with senshi, identifying senshi on their team, and giving senshi their transformation relics. If your guardian is not an animal common to the area, you'll have to explain how your animal appeared in NYC.
- E: I like Seti -- being accustomed to luxury is so appropriate for someone who was a prhaoah in his former life!
- R: "Ambivalent" means someone personally has mixed feelings about a particular subject, or frequently changes their position about a subject. If Seti does this frequently, Seti himself is inconsistent, whereas his opinions are ambivalent.
- E: In its original proper usage, "ambivalent" means feeling strongly both ways. For example, I am very ambivalent about Star Wars, because I love it and hate it at the same time.
- What sort of situation does Seti consider "difficult"? What if things are going smoothly but are taking too long, or the situation is outside of Samantha's control anyway? What does he perceive as failure?
Explanation
- E: There's a lot of name meaning here, and tying of Samantha's family to Egyptian mythology. This isn't strictly necessary, particularly since eventually someone might very well be Sailor Anubis or Sailor Neith. All names have some sort of meaning, but honestly, we don't need this much detail on the NPCs. I think you can leave it in because you've already written it up, but more immediately focus on the powers and fuku, who Seth is, and why you made the choices you did. (So move NPC name info to the bottom.) I'd especially put in more information about Seth's history. Basically tell us your god's story, in a simplified manner.
- E: You state in Connor's name meaning that Seth is infertile, but in Douglas's name meaning, that Seth fathered Sobek. This seems contradictory?
* For your particular Seti, when did he reign?
* What is the Staff of Was in Egyptian mythology?
* How does Red Sky relate to storms, specifically? (E: I understand this myself, but it should be explicitly stated for the benefit of those who don't.)
+ E: The inclusion of Kemetic astrology is a very nice touch!
* There isn't a lot about Seth in mythology - what stories have been told about Seth? What role did Seth hold in Egyptian society and pantheon?
Writing Sample
- Start a new paragraph when a new person speaks.
- E: Isn't Samantha out of school now? Maybe use a sample that takes place in her current state, rather than an event from some years previous.
- R: I'm not certain if Samantha is uneasy with her girlfriend, or if she simply has a lot of self-esteem issues, or both.
- E: Whichever the case is, that might be something worth exploring in the Personality section.
Your application was reviewed by Em and Regina. Asterisks (*) indicate elements which would require attention before re-applying.
Civilian Info
+ E: Impressive name research!
- It might be good to separate out the entires for the NPCs more, and include some general notes on their personalities and what Samantha's relationship with them is like. (Particularly Kamon, as she is present in NYC.)
History
- Some sentences in this section are in present tense when past tense would be more appropriate.
- You have a tendency to write long, compound sentences, which is fine, but sometimes they're a bit convoluted and there are some structural errors as a result. Consider using more short statements to improve readability.
- The history jumps around a bit chronologically in favor of a topical approach. It might be easier to follow her history if it were more directly chronological.
* What was her childhood like? Was she a calm child, or hyper, or shy? Before the divorce, what was life like? How old was Samantha when her mother confessed to the affair? Was Samantha ever told, or did her mom just pack up and go? How did she adjust to her stepmother? How old was she when she gained the stepmother?
- How old was she when she went to work at Target? (R: I'm fairly sure they have age requirements that are higher in shipping-and-receiving than the floor staff, due to the heavy lifting.) Why did she switch jobs? (Better pay?)
- How long was Samantha talking with Connor over the internet? How did they come across each other on the world wide web? What did they talk about?
- R: ... what's "true Gemini fashion"?
* When exactly did she meet Kamon? Given her personality, how did she become involved with Kamon?
- R: Butterflies are not known for fast flight - why not just hang out in her car until she came back, if he got in there in the first place? Samantha noticed the heat, so she was hardly ignorant of it.
- E: You state that she met Seti in her junior year of college, which would be two years prior to the game start. This is quite a bit before the game's start. Perhaps choose a more recent event for their meeting? Additionally, guardians should really appear within, say, a hundred-mile radius of NYC. Milwaukee is a bit too far away, almost 900 miles.
* There are some guardian issues which will be addressed below.
* While Kamon can be aware that Seti talks, unless Kamon is a senshi, she cannot hear Seti's voice directly.
+ R: The last paragraph is <i>hilarious.</i>
Personality
- Given her personality and issues, how does Samantha have successful relationships with anyone, patricularly a long-term romance without prior romantic experience?
- How does her anxiety manifest?
- Integration between personality and history is good, but the personality section is a little too history-focused. Some of this detail, like how she got her job, would be more suited to the history section.
- R: Could use more detail: "RPG" is a very broad genre, to the point where anything that lets you have any choice at all counts as one. What sorts of video games does Samantha like? Call of Duty was mentioned earlier, does she also like Halo? What consoles does she play on?
- There is a lot of detail about her likes and dislikes, but it would be better to expand upon her behavior, with examples of her interactions.
- R: From her history it doesn't sound like she's been Sailor Seth for long, so it seems unlikely she's been using that to define herself for long. What does Samantha consider to be her obligations? She has the ability to sense when other senshi are around, as well as the shards, but neither have been making an appearance until very recently. What has she been doing regarding her senshi-dom?
- E: Samantha was involved in the Anthropology Club, so she has been involved in an extracurricular. Did you mean before attending college? It's a good idea to contrast how she was previously with how she is now, but be sure to focus on how she is now more than how she has been in the past, and be clear which is which. The main focus of the personality section should be who she is now andhow she behaves.
- E: It's mentioned elsewhere that Samantha is bisexual. Expand on this: when did she figure this out, what are feelings on her own sexuality, and how her sexuality is perceived by the outside world?
Appearance
+ E: Nice to see a character with tattoos, and a short character for a change.
- When did she get these tattoos? Why did she get the cartouche?
- E: Very good description of Samantha's overall appearance, though I'm curious to know about her facial features. Face shape, general expression, anything notable that ditinguishes her from everyone else.
Fuku
* The fuku as given seems a little bare, just sandals, skirt/schenti, and camisole top. (It's a little unclear, does she have a collar in addition to the camisole?) Some additional elements might be a good idea -- collar, choker, tiara, some variation of glove/wrist decoration.
- You don't need to worry about super or eternal forms at this point in time, as it will probably be a while before you reach Super. Including this information confuses the design of her fuku at present.
Transformation
* Her weapon belongs in her powers section. (Please also describe its appearance in detail, as you did with her transformation relic.)
- You're welcome to use "Set" rather than "Seth" if you prefer.
Powers
* Please only include her starting powers -- leave her super and eternal powers off until she reaches those stages.
* Powers cannot be instantly fatal.
* How does she perform Crimson Lightning? How many times can she perform it per day? What is its range? You mention perfect aim, but as it's a lightning-type projectile, is it very accurate in its flight path?
+ E: The friendly/accidental fire element of Crimson Lightning is nice!
* How likely is it that Crimson Lightning will set something on fire? 100% of the time? 50%? What if it's not a tree, but a building, or a road?
- E: Third degree burns are quite serious and dangerous; perhaps an attack which increases in effect when repeated on the same target?
- The paralysis mini-upgrade is a nice thought, but cannot cause guaranteed life-threatening damage.
+ E: Supersonic Electric Chaos is a nice power, but how long does the effect last?
+ R: I like the name of Supersonic Electric Chaos. It's like the name of a cheesy dance tune. Or a movie sequel. Electric Boogaloo.
Guardian
* All guardians are past senshi/people who have been reincarnated in regular animal forms. Your guardian animal must be something that could be found in or around NYC. Your guardian cannot be a shapeshifter. Their only powers are magical communication with senshi, identifying senshi on their team, and giving senshi their transformation relics. If your guardian is not an animal common to the area, you'll have to explain how your animal appeared in NYC.
- E: I like Seti -- being accustomed to luxury is so appropriate for someone who was a prhaoah in his former life!
- R: "Ambivalent" means someone personally has mixed feelings about a particular subject, or frequently changes their position about a subject. If Seti does this frequently, Seti himself is inconsistent, whereas his opinions are ambivalent.
- E: In its original proper usage, "ambivalent" means feeling strongly both ways. For example, I am very ambivalent about Star Wars, because I love it and hate it at the same time.
- What sort of situation does Seti consider "difficult"? What if things are going smoothly but are taking too long, or the situation is outside of Samantha's control anyway? What does he perceive as failure?
Explanation
- E: There's a lot of name meaning here, and tying of Samantha's family to Egyptian mythology. This isn't strictly necessary, particularly since eventually someone might very well be Sailor Anubis or Sailor Neith. All names have some sort of meaning, but honestly, we don't need this much detail on the NPCs. I think you can leave it in because you've already written it up, but more immediately focus on the powers and fuku, who Seth is, and why you made the choices you did. (So move NPC name info to the bottom.) I'd especially put in more information about Seth's history. Basically tell us your god's story, in a simplified manner.
- E: You state in Connor's name meaning that Seth is infertile, but in Douglas's name meaning, that Seth fathered Sobek. This seems contradictory?
* For your particular Seti, when did he reign?
* What is the Staff of Was in Egyptian mythology?
* How does Red Sky relate to storms, specifically? (E: I understand this myself, but it should be explicitly stated for the benefit of those who don't.)
+ E: The inclusion of Kemetic astrology is a very nice touch!
* There isn't a lot about Seth in mythology - what stories have been told about Seth? What role did Seth hold in Egyptian society and pantheon?
Writing Sample
- Start a new paragraph when a new person speaks.
- E: Isn't Samantha out of school now? Maybe use a sample that takes place in her current state, rather than an event from some years previous.
- R: I'm not certain if Samantha is uneasy with her girlfriend, or if she simply has a lot of self-esteem issues, or both.
- E: Whichever the case is, that might be something worth exploring in the Personality section.