#let crystal winter have a good character 2024

[cometblaster2070]

i'm here to peddle my crystal and farrah agenda so that means it's everyone else's problem now too.

i'd personally like to revamp crystal's entire character. like instead of being the snow king's daughter (which is fucking stupid might i add) she's just the snow queen's daughter, and in this version, the snow queen is a very cold and neglectful mother who couldn't care less about her daughter.

i think it'd be cool to have it established that canon crystal's personality is basically what crystal acted like as a child when ashlynn and briar knew her; as a fun-loving, carefree child with far too much power, but ultimately someone with a good heart who just wants to have fun.

but then crystal grows up. she grows up in a cold, isolated palace, entirely alone save for her callous and uncaring mother and hordes of servants who fear and hate her because of her mother.

this crystal is one that grows up and turns into her mother. she grows up bitter and spiteful and powerful, and she grows up with zero checks on her behavior, because the servants are too scared to ever say no to her, while her mother doesn't really care about what she's doing.

i'd like her to grow into someone so confused and upset; someone who very, very badly suffers from a lack of love or a loving home or parent. someone whose only happy memories are of the friends she made so, so long ago. someone whose happy memories are pushed so far back in favor of all the terrible things that have happened since.

anyways then the entire epic winter plot plays out, those shards in her mother's eyes or whatever, and instead of just being neglectful and cold, her mother becomes downright tyrannical and EVIL, and crystal's forced to go down to ever after high to get help from the only people she has left, who are, of course, ashlynn and briar.

and then, instead of having a whiny fucking little bitch who can't tie her laces and complains at any given moment, we'd have a crystal who is numb and unfeeling (something which i want ashlynn and briar to visibly question and be concerned about; i want them to CONSTANTLY be asking themselves about what the fuck happened to their friend and how can they help), and someone who is very, very selfish and is used to taking care of herself and only herself.

but then throughout the special we see crystal grow, we see her mature and we see her learn to love others and realize that she has a lot of people who love her and care for her too; and then gradually, we see her soften and see how her relationships with the other characters deepen.

and here is where i would want to put farrah in, because the crystal x farrah agenda is getting to me i think it'd serve to highlight the contrast between the two of them.

because on the one hand, we have farrah goodfairy, who loves helping people, who always puts people above herself, who risked literally death in order to ensure that ashlynn had a happy ending with hunter. farrah is someone who is said to exist to make others happy, that is her "job" as a fairy godmother; her own happiness doesn't matter.

but then there's crystal winter. crystal winter, who has cared for only herself and has learnt about the cruelty and harshness of the world from a very young age. someone who was not awarded any warmth and love and has learned to turn acrid and bitter and turn away all and any love. crystal is someone selfish. someone who thinks that she's self-sufficient and would not care to help anyone other than herself.

and then throughout epic winter we see them interact and we see them grow through their relationship with each other. farrah is baffled as to how anyone can be so selfish and self-centered and crystal can't believe anyone as optimistic and naive as farrah exists.

soon they get to know each other however, and crystal learns about farrah and her struggles with realizing her own happiness and farrah learns about crystal's lonely upbringing, and we see how crystal learns to be less selfish and care more about others while farrah learns to finally put herself first and prioritize her own needs sometimes.

and then they kiss in the magical epic winter fever dream because i said so and because all of my favorite ships had cute moments in the dream. i'm not really sure about the end, honestly, i'd just like to change crystal's character.

anyways sorry for this horrible ramble, i just have really strong thoughts on crystal and her ruined potential and epic winter, and i couldn't resist mapping something out.

[larperwithastaff]

PICREW LIST - What I've Used For Nina!

Time to make a list of picrews. Mainly for myself for future reference, but also to fellow LARPers who want to try out making their characters!

Fantasy icon maker

THIS ONE HAS SO MANY BIRD OPTIONS. I almost couldn't decide! I adore all the staff options, magic options, truly a very good fantasy picrew.

Fantasy girl

https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/197122

We've got a mischievous Nina this time! PURPLE CRYSTAL FOR STAFF YIPPEE! I also ADORE the clothing options! This one in particular caught my eye, cool for mage-like characters!

Yozora Dress Maker

So there's going to be a Winter Ball next year, and I have a fantastic purple ballgown that I could doll up for it... Let's just say i am Excited. I love all the options for magic in this one!! Bonus points for purple!!

Caramael's Character Creator

YESSS we got Nina's scar in this one! I love all the different earrings! (And going through all the pride flags gave me a giggle XD)

Teifling Maker

And here we have a tired Nina thats gone "no thoughts head empty" mode she's dissociating let her be for a bit. Lovely purple options!! And very nice clothes!! THIS PICREW IS VERY COOL!! VERY DIVERSE!! I LOVE IT!!

Nanamae ka (Namemaker)

https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/41329

I adore the artstyle so much!! And the clothes are so pretty!! Very texture!! Genuinely just obsessed with the artstyle, its so soft!!

[libertyreads]

Book Review #52 of 2024--

The Bitter End by Alexa Donne. Rating: 3 stars.

Read from September 2nd to 6th.

Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers over at Random House Children's for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. In The Bitter End, we follow eight teens from an LA prep school on their winter retreat. Most kids gets to spend a week in Paris speaking French or a week touring castles in the U.K. But these eight kids gets stuck on a ski slope in Colorado. How did they wind up here? And what will they do when they realize there's a murderer in their midst? The Bitter End comes out on October 14th and is available for preorder now.

This was a fun and fast paced read that definitely built up steam as it went on. I think the highlights for this book for me were the pace and the thrilling elements of the story. Once the story hit its climax, it never let up. The ending was probably the best part of this novel. I did enjoy the setting and the psychological aspects of this mystery. There were also what felt like a few Easter eggs related to the 1985 cinematic masterpiece Clue starring Tim Curry. So that was fun to see pop up now and again. I think I would have liked a bit more time in the beginning to get my footing with all of the characters before we started in on the action. But this was still a good time.

I struggle with how to explain my chief complaint with this one because it's not something I've seen happen often enough to know how to voice it. There are a few moments throughout the novel where you're reading from the perspective of a character and then suddenly you lose clarity in the actions. Suddenly something you don't understand happens and it's vague and weirdly convoluted. There's one moment in particular that sticks out here for me which is when a girl is skiing down the mountain on the first day and racing another girl and suddenly the first girl is tripped up. And I think the point was to add some mystery here: did the other girl trip her? Was it an accident? Or did the first girl trip herself in order to blame the other girl and get others to turn on her? And I just don't know if you can rely on making moments intentionally vague in order to push a mystery story forward, especially when every other moment in the novel is crystal clear.

Overall, this was a fun and fast read for me (despite having very few hours to devote to reading this week). I'm also eyeing up some of this author's previous work to see if I might want to read something from their backlog.