Statistics « Phantasia

And for the final day of this OCDer’s dream, it’s time to have a look at our young faeries and see how they rate against their human counterparts. They’re quite different, as I’m sure you can see. For one thing, faeries have no physical body, so their physical strength is permanently ZERO!

Also, I remember saying I would explain some crazy symbolism?

The number 12.
That is all.

Faye

Faye is a atypical Water faerie: high knowledge stats, low creativity – it’s hard to be creative when you’re only capable of convergent thinking. Here sensing grade relates to her Reading ability, while her low adaptation demonstrates her inability to directly manipulate the thoughts of others. Her social skills are very much minimal too – something she has demonstrated rather well in her few few days in the human world.

Phantasia

Faeries can be just as varied as humans, as Phantasia here proves. Her perceptive and sensing abilities are her greatest asset, followed by her creativity and divergent thinking. Her skills very much compliment Faye’s and they cover each other’s weak areas. The only place they falter is in offensive ability, something they both lack. How well Phantasia’s magical abilities grow depend greatly on how well she comes to understand them – and just what they actually are! The predicted grades here are ambiguous at best.

So now on to the Special Guest Star. You see, the students get their own special little chart that only goes up to 10. In the REAL world, the SEELIE gradings go UP TO ELEVEN…actially, that’s a lie, they go up to TWENTY-FIVE. Although very few entities break the 20 barrier on anything, and those who break it multiple times… Well, here’s Queen Thetis, judge for yourself. And just to show the gap between our protagonists and their elders, I’ve added a comparison…

Queen Thetis	Queen Thetis / Faye

It’s what people have been waiting to see…or is it? Yes, it’s the grading for Sapphire Second!

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but you should take all these gradings with, as they say, “a grain of salt”. Why? Because these are the grades as they appear on the Academy’s database, with the potential year-end ratings based on the staff’s own predictions. Some students will make these predicted grades, some will not, and others will surpass them in ways never expected.

Also: the Academy records can lie. Maybe the teachers detect some abnormalities they want to hide for the safety of their students, or maybe some students hide their true abilities for reasons known only to them. Whatever the case may be, to quote a wise man, “no one here is exactly as they appear…”

Doyle

Doyle is in many ways the equal to Theseus, at least as far as his grades go. The two of them are perhaps the perfect example of how two people with the same rating can be so vastly different in the flesh. Doyle has attained his physical strength though a desire to impress others, while Theseus’s comes from a desire to protect them. Doyle’s focus on the physical also means his spiritual side is slightly more underdeveloped than Theseus’s. If he were to rise above his sexual desires, he could be a SEELIE candidate, but Doyle’s longing to impress and be recognised by others is so ingrained in his persona he may never overcome it.

Joel

Joel has, perhaps, the biggest difference between current grades and predicted ones. He has a lot of potential, but whether he can find the self-belief to use it is another matter. Much of his future really does hinge on his relationship with Kaori, as through her he has gained a mentor in Herman Shimomura. Perhaps the pressure of an idol passing on their teachings is too much for him, however? No one can really predict where Joel is going – only that he will end up either a great success, or a hopeless failure.

Kaori

Kaori suffers much the same problem as her boyfriend – great potential limited by her own weaknesses. If she can overcome her doubts she could surpass her mother, but her inheritance overshadows her everywhere she goes. Her lack of self-esteem and tendency to cling to others for support, rather than find strength within herself, hampers her current ability. However, unlike Joel, she is unlikely to be too effected by a break-up. Kaori is the sort of girl who would rebound onto another, and begin the cycle again.

John

John’s statistics are like a reflection of his father’s. Excelling in physical knowledge, with the potential to do well in mystical knowledge if he learns to accept that side of the world (and himself), his other lacklustre grades are likely to be covered for by the myriad of gadgets at his disposal. The only thing they can’t account for is his lack of creativity – John relies too much on established methods and logic and falters when faced with things he cannot adapt to.

Angelo
	Angelo isn’t the sort of person to really notice spiritual or magical things, and probably never will! Dancing aimlessly through life, his irrelevant attitude wouldn’t get him into any ordinary SEELIE Academy, but for some reason Payne likes to keep him around. The irony is, of course, that although Angelo may not be popular with SEELIE, the human organisation, he certainly would be with the traditional Seelie <em>Court</em> of the faeries.
Lysander
	Remember how previously it looked as if all the top students were girls? Well here’s the guy who slips into their little clique without any of his fellow students realising. For all his japes and shenanigans, Lysander is by far the most accomplished male student in his year…and part of that is down to his incredible mental defences. High physical attributes were always expected from him but, like with most students, the staff didn’t expect Lysander to hold up on the magical side. And yet, somehow, he does. Maybe better than anyone would want to admit…
Dante
	Dante’s grades are all over the place. His mental defences are high, helped (oddly) by his low social skills, while his creative talents are certainly above average. There are two things that really stand out about him though: firstly is his magical sensitivity – he is often able to notice things that others don’t – while second is his chi. Only Katrina matches him in natural, untrained levels. The problem that arises here is that, while Katrina is a kind, sisterly figure, Dante is more prone to emotional trauma. Combined with high natural chi – and thus a greater influence on the mana around him – it makes him a potential risk to those around – something he himself appears aware of, hence his personal barriers and anti-social nature.

What, where’s Phantasia? You can see her ‘assumed’ grades tomorrow, along with Faye’s. I say ‘assumed’ because neither faerie was around for the Midsummer exams, and thus the Academy’s records are based on what Queen Thetis told them. Oh, and I promised to show you the gradings for a non-student, just to show you how they compare? Who will it be?! There’s only one way to find out!

You want to see the statistics for Sapphire? Of course you’ll have to wait until tomorrow… But I’m not so cruel I won’t give a little detail on what all these crazy statistics are actually ABOUT. And tomorrow I might tell you about some of the crazy SYMBOLISM behind this. Because there actually is some. Seriously.

So those stats, ey?
For a stat, they’re ranked 0-10, or at least they are for students. I’ll show you someone else’s later in the week… Now, as far as SEELIE is concerned a second year student ought to be achieving around a 3 in everything, with a 6 representing considerable talent. To even be considered for an Academy, a prospective student must score a total grade of 20. This grading system is also used to determine what year a student should start in (first or second – third year is structured a little differently).

As for each individual stat, they cover a variety of things, but I’ve summed up the basics below.
ST: physical strength, stamina, endurance, that sort of thing
DX: physical dexterity, hand-eye co-ordination, perceptive skills
KN: general knowledge, understanding and common sense
TC: technical/scientific knowledge and ability, mathematical skill
SO: social skills, charisma, leadership, empathy
CR: creative ability, both in terms of artistic endeavours and improvisation/quick-thinking
MK: ‘magical’ knowledge
DF: defence, such as mental emotional barriers
CN/SN/AP: the three methods of using mana: Controlling it, Sensing it and Adapting it.
CP: chi capacity, how much spiritual energy/mana that person naturally contains

That’s a rough guide anyway. Obviously each area contains numerous specialisations, and then everything gets affected by an individual’s personality (which also reflects in their aura/elemental nature). No two people are the same, even if their grades are! And writing all this out just reminds me of playing paper-and-pen RPGs in the mid-90s…

ANYWAY! Now it’s time for Emerald Second, the highest rating group in the second year…

Horatio

The sports-loving boy who fled from the big city has decent all-round abilities. Like Theseus, he’s gathered a degree of control over his own chi through sports and martial arts. His focused interest in physical games is a deterrent when it comes to learning about more spiritual matters, which means he wouldn’t be of much use in SEELIE, but he could easily be employed by a more mundane army or mercenary force. His willingness to follow orders supports this potential career path.

Hermia

Hermia isn’t too different than Horatio when it comes to her grades, although she is slightly better in most areas (including strength!). Her social skills are more developed, which reflects in a more rebellious personality – Horatio didn’t leave the city of his own choice, after all – but she isn’t quite as creative a thinker. In many ways, Hermia and Horatio’s areas of expertise compliment each other, although both would be in a lot of trouble if confronted by a demon or psychic!

Amanda

You wouldn’t expect Amanda to grade so well, especially when she has always been in the shadow of someone else (Phoenie, Astrid), but that quiet exterior hides a dedicated student. Phoenie herself would hate to be told it, but Amanda’s involvement with Godhand has been of great benefit to her spiritual abilities. These are complimented by her creative and social skills, honed through her love of acting. Getting involved with Godhand may have helped Amanda achieve, ironically, the sort of grading that would get her into SEELIE.

Elizabeth

The first of Astrid’s devoted friends, Elizabeth covers the social areas that the more-physical Vespa lacks. Raised by a rich family steeped in social graces, Elizabeth is very much the embodiment of aristocracy. As with the other Godhand-ers, Elizabeth’s spiritual prowess is better than most students because of the church’s spiritualist leanings. They may despise demons and ‘witchcraft’, but in many ways they aren’t far from such things themselves…such is, of course, the nature of the world…

Vespa
	Unlike Astrid and Elizabeth, both born into powerful families, Vespa is an orphan. Her tribe was wiped out by Godhand and its children adopted into the church. A deep subconscious urge draws her into more violent past-times, promoting her physical skills at the expense of social and spiritual areas. She could improve, but she would have to overcome her inner turmoil first – and since that is ultimately directed at the very group who seek to control/teach her…
Astrid
	Of the Godhand Girls, Astrid grades the highest with skills greatly enhanced by her own inheritance. Being the daughter of Bishop Wotan – no matter his standing in the greater echelons of the church – has given her advanced social skills and knowledge. Her father had the foresight to teach her things beyond the guidelines of Godhand too, albeit in subtle ways not dissimilar to how Rembrandt Payne has been forced to teach his students. If it wasn’t for her attachment to Godhand and its beliefs, she would easily make SEELIE and currently ranks as one of the top five students in the year.
Korrigan
	Korrigan may be a blundering ditz with bizarre social etiquette, but that her social grading is so high speaks volumes for her charisma. With a devoted fanbase among younger students, her sporting talents would be enough to take her far in future, but she backs that up with musical ability (she’s some kind of teenage pop-star?) and spiritual powers in development thanks to Ceres. At the rate she’s going, the only things holding Korri back will be her lacklustre technical skills and atrocious common sense!
Ceres
	Vying with Deneb for Student of the Year, purple-haired Ceres has been gifted by her ancestry with all-round excellent grades. Because of her current ability, Rembrandt Payne treats her as if she were a third year student already, explaining her appearances in odd situations – one of her duties is to keep an eye on her fellow students. Her biggest failing would be her general disinterest in the everyday world: things like technology just don’t interest her, and it’s because of this that her potential grades lag slightly behind the more well-rounded Deneb’s. It makes you wonder if there are any guys with decent grades around…

Now it’s time to have a look at the students of Ruby Second, the smallest of the second year groups (which means less writing for me!). I should note that there might be a couple of students missing if you cross-reference with the cast page – that’s because I’ve avoided writing about any who haven’t really done anything. Because I’m lazy. And because there isn’t much to say about them other than “lol, failures!”. For now.

Vincent

The wanna-be leader of the Torsten Hawks spends a lot of his time slacking and smoking weed with Byron (just don’t tell the Hawks – they’re really quite straight-edge…). If he put the effort into his studies that he puts into his appearance, he might be getting better grades: not SEELIE quality, but still better than what he has! One thing to note: he does have the potential for leadership…whether he gets motivated to use it, however…

Byron

Byron is held back by the same things as Vincent – not much a surprise given their friendship. Byron has greater potential, however, especially when it comes to his creative ability (he focuses a bit too much on his poetry!) and his chi (which is already strong by nature). If he were to focus more and avoid transitory temptations – such as drugs and sex – he would fare a lot better. His tendency to sever social bonds in the most dramatic way possible doesn’t help him much, either.

Lyra

After Deneb and Ceres, Lyra is one of the year’s top students. Is it any coincidence that, like Ceres, she comes from a vagrant tribe? She isn’t quite as talented as the purple-haired witch, and doesn’t have her potential, but Lyra still outperforms most other students. Of course the fact her ‘magical’ grades (down the left) are more than basic does her overall grading wonders. Her biggest weakness comes from her abrasive personality – she just isn’t a nice person!

Theseus

As expected, Theseus shows a strong performance is physical areas with potential to improve to top-of-the-year standards – and because of his martial arts training he has developed (without even realising it) a decent degree of control over the magical energies flowing through him! Other, more mental, areas are lacking, but then Theseus has never pretended to be a clever person. Even with his distain for all things supernatural, he actually has the potential to achieve a passing grade in the second year.

Katrina
	Katrina’s chi is well above what anyone would consider average. If she could learn to use that natural spiritual power, she could achieve a great deal in magical areas – if there was ever an individual who showed up just what damage Godhand has wrought upon the Academy, Kat is probably it. Only her physical skills are lacking, thanks to her bumbling dexterity and general lack of exercise.

Ever wonder what the teachers think of their students and how they’re graded? Ever wonder who is ranked best in the year, and who should be doing something else? Maybe you’d like to know how SEELIE grading work?

No? Didn’t think so. Well tough, because that’s what this is about! I’m starting with the students of Topaz Second – tomorrow I’ll show you the grades for Ruby. As for what everything in those graphs means…well, rather than give you an elaborate description I’ll keep it simple: left side basically covers ‘magical’ abilities, the right more normal things. The filled section is that students grading from the Midsummer exams, while the dotted line represents what the staff believe they will have achieved by Midwinter, the end of the second year.

Bring on the James May graphage!

Lance

Poor Lance, if Torsten Academy were any other SEELIE Academy he wouldn’t even graduate from the first year! Barely scraping the grade for mere application to a SEELIE Academy, he owes his continued education to both the kindness of Rembrandt Payne and the fact his Academy…well…isn’t really that well regarded. Even his predicted grades for the end of the second year aren’t up to much – nowhere near the mark needed for graduation! He can at least take heart that his physical abilities are above average (ST and DX), and with a bit of work (and a lot less perving) he could achieve a reasonable social (SO) rating (that covers things like charisma and social knowledge – a good rating for leaders, diplomats and empaths).

Chris

Chris isn’t much better off than his lecherous friend, but his upbringing has given him at least some advantages. Brought up in the technopolis of Malkuth, he has a better grasp of science and technology (TC) than the average person, and his social skills are also fairly developed thanks to his family (wealthy politicians). Along with general knowledge (KN), these are his key areas and the only ones he is expected to excel in. Unlike Lance, his current grades would get him through the first year of the Academy, but his predicted final grades for the second year are far from graduation levels.

Elone

The devout Hawk with dyed hair has one thing going for her grading that the average person wouldn’t expect on first impressions: her chi (CP) is well above normal levels. She is either naturally gifted or has some way of developing her spiritual power outside of the Academy – the effort she puts into her education is lacklustre at best. Even with such a stand-out rating, however, she lacks any magical powers that could possibly make use of her potent chi and her potential is limited to more mundane areas. Elone isn’t SEELIE material, and her presence at the Academy once again exposes Rembrandt Payne’s soft stance.

Andromeda

Andromeda may be a hard-working student, but her focus on people skills and sociology has left her others underdeveloped. As both Chris and Elone have proved, the social grading isn’t just reliant on social knowledge – Andromeda has that in spades, but perhaps lacks the natural charisma to make proper use of it. Like Elone, she also has above-average chi, but this has come through her dedicated studies in meditation and thus may reach its natural limit (for her age anyway) soon.

Phoenie

Phoenie’s leadership potential is her strongest asset, followed by her strong skills in research, giving her both good general knowledge and – even though such teachings have been held back due to Godhand – above average magical knowledge (MK). Her obsession with the supernatural perhaps holds her back from developing her other skills, but it also means her mental and psychic defences (DF) are stronger than most other students in her year. If she reaches her predicted grades, Phoenie will almost scrape the accepted mark for graduation into the third year (yes, almost – that’s how high SEELIE standards are – and shows just how bad Torsten Academy has become). Of course Rembrandt Payne will likely ignore SEELIE’s recommendations and promote most students anyway…

Shelley

For one of the quieter students, Shelley actually has very high potential – her predicated grades would easily get her into the third year. A lot of this is due to her parentage, however – Shelley’s mother is a magic-user, infamous enough for Godhand to target Shelley to reach. But because of that infamy, Endora Edwards has not had the time she would have liked to pass her skills on to her daughter, and so Shelley’s current grades are lower than they could be. With the influence of Godhand removed, Shelley could reach her potential before the end of the year – assuming the Academy can pull itself together in time!

Deneb

Deneb is, without question, one of the second year’s top students. Second only to Ceres in her Midsummer grades, and surpassing her in year-end predictions, Deneb is a perfect example of what a student of SEELIE should be. She isn’t perfect by any means – she lacks leadership skills and works better alone than in a team – but compared to some of her peers she looks infallible. Quite why she performs so well compared to everyone else, though, is another question entirely. Rembrandt Payne does his best to downplay her grades to SEELIE, and insist that her presence provides a role-model for the other students, lest they decide to transfer her to another, superior Academy.