Crystalline
Crystalline is a concept series I've had since I was about 12. It follows three girls who harness the power of the 'Crystalline Emblems' (magical crystals charged with energy) to transform into enchanted warriors called Crystalline. It's intended to be appropriate for all ages, but more for older kids onwards. Here's my outline!
Plot
Mary Gardner, 15, is moving on a scholarship to a high-end boarding school after bullying at her old school, and sees this as a fresh new opportunity, a restart to her life. After a disastrous first day, feeling hopeless and alone in this big new town, Mary agrees to sneak out with her cool roommate Chantelle to the nearby hill to see a meteor shower. There, the two are attacked by a monster made of a huge, deadly flower. When it attacks Chantelle, Mary is suddenly filled with a new power. An enchanted stone called a Crystalline appears in her hand, and, with it, she transforms into the magical warrior Rose Quartz. She defeats the monster and finds she can heal Chantelle's scrapes.
As instructed by Facet, the guardian of the Crystalline, Mary and Chantelle agree to keep Rose Quartz a secret. Mary will continue fighting and purifying the monsters (called Shards) which will appear around town, and hopefully find the other Crystalline warriors. Chantelle will help her out from the sidelines. Most importantly, they will prepare for the Day of Light, when the evil witch Celeste will manifest in the human world. No matter what, she must be defeated.
Main Characters
A clumsy 15-year-old whose head is always in the clouds, causing a lot of people to underestimate the intelligence which got her into Krest Private Academy in the first place. She's sweet and tries to be positive, but is also very nervous and troubled by her past as a victim of bullying. She likes cooking with the fruits of her own gardening, crafting, sewing her own unique outfits and plush toys, and reading fairytales. As she comes from a poorer background than her friends, her practicality is often useful. However, Mary is terrified of getting in trouble and is often held back intensely by her anxiety and stress. She wants everyone to like her, making her a people-pleaser, often annoying the very people she wants to befriend. Her appetite is so huge she has been banned from every buffet in Krest. Mary dorms with Chantelle, her closest friend, who encourages her to have fun. She has short brown hair held with flower and clover shaped clips, hazel eyes, wears her school uniform as an undone blazer with trousers or a long skirt (Winter/Summer), and is the shortest of the group. Her casual outfits are handmade, upcycled or thrifted, always very pink or generally colourful.
As Rose Quartz, Mary, like the other girls, ages up to around 18 (a la Mahou Tsukai Precure etc). She can create powerful roses, petals, vines, and thorns. Rose Quartz has some healing abilities, initially very weak, and they only work on magical wounds, e.g. inflicted by a Shard monster. Her wand is the Crystal Bouquet. She is a balanced fighter. Her costume is nurse-like, her hair grows a little longer and turns pale pink, and her eyes become green.
Bernie is the 14-year-old daughter of Klarissa Kandelle, the famous actress, and wants to follow in her mother's footsteps. She doesn't take school seriously at all, knowing she pays her way in and doesn't have to worry about tests, but runs her Drama Club with an iron fist. Though friendly, confident, and outgoing, she's also a bit of a spoiled brat...entitled, demanding, and often pushy. Less intentional malice and more a lack of self-awareness. When introduced, however, she clicks with Mary and Chantelle. She is childhood friends with Lulu, though the two of them had a falling out and don't speak to one another for the first few episodes. A little awkward considering they are roommates. Bernie likes video games, going running, and reading comic books. She always casts herself as the lead in her plays, including male leads. She's always full of energy and has a mischievous side. Her relationship with her mother is a little strained. Bernie is average height with a dark blonde pixie cut and blue eyes. Her school uniform is worn with the blazer slung over her shoulder and flared trousers or, in warmer seasons, shorts. Her casual outfits are usually simple and comfortable, mixing dark and bright colours.
When Bernie transforms into Fire Opal, she gains flame magic and impressive physical prowess. She often prefers to just use her fists than her magic. Her wand is the Crystal Torch. Her costume is more streamlined and practical than the others, with shorts and a blazer. She has flame-like pigtails which actually catch on fire when she charges her magic up. Her eyes are the colour of blue flames.
Heiress to the Fontaine Family, Lulu is an astronomically rich girl with a serene, if icy demeanor. She is very popular and academic, and is the representative of her year. Her hobbies include playing the piano and ballet, which she has been taught to do since she was a small child. Lulu is so graceful and seemingly flawless that it can scare away potential friends, to her chagrin. She has never really found the right people for her, until she meets the other girls. She initially has a vendetta against Bernadette for seemingly ignoring her after she messed up and injured her leg at a vital recital a year ago, but the two make up. Lulu still sometimes struggles with her leg, pushing herself out of an obligation to be "perfect" like her family's image. She likes to write poetry and stories, though she keeps them to herself at first. She is the second-tallest of the main quartet, only shorter than Chantelle, and has an athletic slim build. She has an afro puff, dark brown eyes, and wears her uniform as a buttoned blazer and a knee-length skirt with white tights. Her casual outfits are very formal and feminine, with pale colours.
As Lapis Lazuli, she weilds the power of water and (limited) ice. She is the most graceful and quick of the team, dancing around the battlefield and showing off just a little, though she also serves as a strategist a lot of the time. Her wand is the Crystal Baton. Lazuli's outfit is pale blue, doll-like and fluffy; her hair becomes ocean-blue locs and her eyes turn gold.
Chantelle begins as, seemingly, backup for the team. Though she has no powers of her own (and, according to Facet, has zero magical potential), she helps the girls out and keeps their secret safe. She is a bit of a dark horse on campus, rarely showing up to classes and yet never facing much punishment. She is effortlessly good at most things regardless, but has no interest in them. She is, however, very into the arts, and her paintings have won prizes. Chantelle likes Tarot readings, playing solitaire, reading thick books, amateur witchcraft, and watching horror movies. She is cool, snarky and mysterious, not liking her friends to know a lot about her. She is especially close to her roommate Mary, though she often teases her for fun with scary stories. Chantelle has a black bob, grey eyes, and glasses. She is the tallest of the group, and the slimmest. She forgets to eat a lot. She wears her uniform as a sweater with slacks; her bag is crammed with pin badges. Her casual looks have a light emo aesthetic or are otherwise dark academic.
Other Crystalline
An 19-year-old Crystalline from a neighbouring city, the leader of her team. She is a short-tempered, tired, deeply introverted girl who is a bit annoyed at having to balance university entrance exams (a retake after she failed last year) and her Crystalline duties, though she likes the experience of having magical powers. She enjoys coding, lazing about, and playing games in her free time, and has some mild mad scientist tendancies. She has short black hair and green eyes. As Emerald, she has the power of air and wind, and resembles a winged knight with a pale green bob and lavender eyes. Her weapon is the Crystal Staff.
A sweet, loving girl in Arielle's class who loves to bake and can talk for hours, often to Arielle's mild irritation, though the two get on surprisingly well. She has long red hair and blue eyes and wears lots of ribbons and cute accessories. She is the tallest of the girls. Though as Topaz she has electricity powers, she tends to dress them up with "cuter" designs, creating deadly cakes and whipped cream with her weapon, the Crystal Whisk. In this form she wears an apron and a cheflike costume, and her hair is tied in honey-blonde pigtails; her eyes turn pink.
An older Crystalline warrior, at first a mysterious presence testing the girls' abilities. She is eventually revealed to be Bernadette's mother, the worldwide-travelling movie star Klarissa. She is a harsh, disciplined woman, seemingly very serious and aloof, and her relationship with Bernie is strained due to Klarissa often working overtime and letting Bernie do whatever she wanted, looked after by her older sister if anyone. In truth, being a Crystalline warrior was causing Klarissa to have even less time to see her daughter. Klarissa is a tall, glamorous woman in her late 40s with a blonde ponytail and blue eyes. She wears neutral colours. As Opalessense, she has an all-white outfit extending to a white bob, but when she uses her powers, her costume glows different colours. She has the ability to split herself into seven copies, one for each colour of the rainbow. Her weapon is the Crystal Lance, a powerful sword. She is known as a legendary Crystalline.
The Lux Heart (Antagonists)
Celeste i
Chantelle's true identity, though, with her shapeshifting magic, she easily fools those around her, even altering her voice. Diana was once a normal human orphan who the government took in to use as the vessel for an experiment: creating the first artificial Crystalline, the (labgrown) Black Diamond. They saw her name as a good luck charm. Diana was kept in the lab and experimented on for years, until Celeste found out and, horrified, immediately sent Perisol to destroy the lab and save her. Diana became Celeste's adopted daughter, devoted to her and willing to do anything for her motherly love. Now going by Dia Noire even when untransformed, she fights the Crystalline while learning their secrets as Chantelle. Celeste instructs Dia to build up a friendship with the Crystalline trio, then break their hearts with her betrayal--making the Crystalline easy targets for corruption. While a little guilty and conflicted, Dia prioritises her mother no matter what. She is cool and seems apathetic, often talking in an eerie, whispery monotone. Most of the Lux Heart is terrified of her, despite her young age. She has long silver hair (turned from stress), red eyes (dyed from her magic), and wears an oversized black and white princess dress with a matching crown. Due to her accelerated cell regeneration, her hair grows rapidly and must be cut daily. Of course, she cannot easily be wounded. Dia can also shapeshift to a minor extent, though her mood affects her appearance. She is tall and lanky, very thin due to having almost no appetite. Chantelle is more like how Dia would look, were she never experimented on.
When transformed, Dia doesn't change much; her magic is active all the time, baked into her very flesh, but transforming can enhance her control. She gains a cape and a halberd weapon. When later redeemed, Dia Noire gets a redesign. She begins wearing her glasses when transformed (which she really needed, it turns out) and has a more personalised outfit like a Halloween witch costume, complete with a big hat. Dia Noire, as an artificial Crystalline, has to cast spells by hand from her personal spellbook a lot of the time, drawing runes and sometimes offering ingredients, though they are more powerful than the others'. Her stronger magic causes her pain and, if overused, could kill her; only she can really hurt herself. She never quite gets over Celeste's death.