Amaze Handbook

Crystal Ong Xu Yin

Crystal Ong Xu Yin (Crystal Harding after Book 4) is the protagonist of Amaze. She was born in Shanghai, China but moved to Singapore when she was 7 as her parents wanted to develop her potential as a performer after her kindergarten graduation performance.
Basic stats
Birthday: 5 November (Scorpio)
Height: 167cm
Age: 14 (debut)
Segment: Puzzles and Patterns
MBTI: INFP
Siblings: younger twin brothers
Role: Leader
Affiliation: Amaze (leader,member)
Prebysterian Academy (Book 1-?)
-Prebysterian Academy Drama Club (publicity manager in Book 2)
Merlion Agency
Rising Sun Elementary School's Dance Club (just a member)
Type of performer: General performer (Pre-Amaze)
Singaporean Idol (Book 5)
Best at: Singing
Favourite food: Spicy food in general, ramen, dumplings
Least favourite food: tofu, green peas, all sorts of beans
Hobbies: Gardening, making videos for her IdolTube channel, writing her own lyrics
Appearance
Crystal has shoulder length brown hair, where she chooses whether to tie it up or keep it down. She has a slender figure, and wears round glasses.

Her style is a mixture of a tomboy and a girly girl. She isn't the most comfortable wearing dresses, but she won't mind skirts.
Background
Performing-wise: Crystal was born in Shanghai, China. She first became a fan of Hi-5 as she was a lonely, only child who was bored of playing with toys all day. She enjoyed it thoroughly and her favourite member was Fely, as she felt she was "very sweet and cheerful," hinting this would influence her behaviour later on.

At 7, Crystal moved to Singapore as her parents knew she had potential as a performer. She initially started off as a dancer but quit when she was 11 because of personal drama. After quitting dance, she started a YouTube channel called "Crystal❤️performing", where she uploaded singing and dancing covers.

After a year, she was scouted by Merlion Agency, and automatically invited her as "a general performer." However, as she wasn't doing well academically, her debut was postponed until her national exams, Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE) finished. She eventually joined the agency as a general performer after her exams.

Personal life: When Crystal immigrated, she was due to start second grade. However, after some tests, she didn't do well enough to go into second grade for Singapore, so they put her in first grade so she could "strengthen her skills and confidence in English."

Crystal actually struggled a lot in elementary school. She was bullied throughout her elementary school years, once to the point of suicidal attempts, was also rather weak academically, which greatly limited her chances in the performing world and didn't have many friends. This has led to her rather self-critical and sensitive nature as a leader.

The biggest reason behind her self-critical approach to her work is because she didn't do well for the PSLE. As she didn't do her best, she ended up looking back at her childhood with lots of regrets. She didn't want to keep living that life, so in Merlion Agency, she kept signing up for every performing opportunity out there and mugged just as hard academically, and in the process, forgot what it was like to actually rest. This is slowly reversed after the events of Book 1 and by book 5, she leads a balanced life where she works and plays hard at the same time.
Personality
In the present day, Crystal is an ambivert that is quiet yet cheerful and energetic. She is very positive, always believing that there is a way out of setbacks, which would be applicable when she meets setbacks like backlash after their failed debut show. However, she can be ditzy, clumsy and prone to making mistakes — weaknesses she tends to keep in check.

Despite her stereotypical "magical girl anime/manga" protagonist impression, she isn't all that stereotypical. Although she is the youngest among the five, she holds an abundant amount of maturity, responsibility and discipline, which qualified her to be the original cast's leader. She is very motivated and diligent, but also pretty harsh on herself.

The reason behind why she's so harsh on herself is because of her childhood self. While she was cheerful and positive in the past too, she was loud by nature, which caused her classmates to distance themselves from her. To make matters worse, she was motivated by the wrong things, had no discipline or responsibility and dealt with issues in a very immature way.

Throughout the series, she eventually overcomes her past trauma and forgives herself for her bad grades at the PSLE.
Abilities
Academic Ability: Despite her busy schedule, Crystal still gets good grades. She gets grades that aren't at the top, but are above average. However, she is especially outstanding in History and Math.

Green fingers: Crystal is a very experienced gardener, as she killed close to zero plants she has been placed to look after. She is rather knowledgeable about plants and which plants are best to grow in Singapore, which helps her to advise her friends where plants are concerned.

Creative Songwriter: Crystal has shown to be a creative songwriter. She is able to express herself through lyrics, and puts her feelings into words. Her lyrics are described to be mainly "lyrical and mature" although they give a more "upbeat and cheerful" feel sometimes.

Performing ability: Crystal is an all-rounded performer and is the only member in her team to achieve this title. She has the widest vocal range, which is a huge help for acting and singing. She is also very agile and flexible, which benefits her as a dancer. It is shown in later books she is good at the piano and similar instruments.

Cooking ability: Crystal is a good chef and is able to cook rather complex dishes- even south East Asian curry.