Full Name: Citrine Vivienne Rosethorn Hazelwood

Gender: Female

Age: 13

Height: ‘5“5

Physical Appearance: beachy curls, rose gold, slightly-shorter-than-shoulder-length hair, curtain bangs, amber eyes, ‘latte’ skin tone, ‘medium’ body type (is that a thing… 👀??)

Animal Form: sleek-furred, rose gold, medium sized cat with silver tiger-like markings and amber eyes.

What’s her role in your story? Main character, side character, etc.? Citrine is one of three Main Characters in ‘The Secret of Moonflower Valley’. She represents forgiveness.

What is her greatest desire? Something she’d give anything to have? Even though she knows it’s impossible, Citrine would give anything to see her mom and dad again. To have even a brief conversation; to be held in a warm embrace or exchange a laughing smile.

Does she have a dream job? If not, how does she feel about not knowing what she wants to be when she grows up? Even though she’s sort of always working on the farm, Citrine loves creative writing and aspires to be a bestselling author in the future. She has to use inspired moments to get anything done, but she doesn’t mind.

Can she fight? With or without weapons? Citrine fights like a madwoman with her late dad’s old sword. Her instructor had told her that the sword was too long for her arms— ‘cause it was made for a grown man—but she was determined to use that sword in particular, and after a six-month struggle, she figured out how to use it.

Is she left or right handed? Or is she ambidextrous? Citrine is left-handed, as is 90% of the humanimal race.

How strong is she, both physically and mentally? Citrine has great stamina and can lift things such as large branches and overflowing wheelbarrows—just barely, though—but can’t do a push-up to save her life. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Mentally… She doesn’t suppress her emotions when they come up, and since she writes in her diary that usually helps her to navigate her feelings. So I’d say she’s pretty strong.

What do you, as the author, want to happen to her by the end of the story? (Character arcs, new friendships, revelations, etc.) In the beginning of the story, Citrine is angry that Clementine is giving the Fox Territories a leverage in the war. It’s not that she’s a terrible person, but she’s scared of losing her adopted parents and feels like Clementine is picking friends over family. Over the course of the first book, Citrine starts to see where Clementine is coming from. It’s not that she prioritizes the Foxes over Moonflower Valley. She wants to restore peace and balance to their world, and it all depended on that final battle. Citrine also befriends Storm, which is a mini arc on its own because she’s a total introvert.

What does she do in her spare time? Citrine writes in her current WIP, ‘The Sunbird Prophecy’, but also writes jokes that not many people seem to appreciate. :( She also plays her viola to clear her head and takes the occasional bike ride around the countryside.

If Citrine kept reliving the same exact day over and over and over again, what would she do? She’d crash a ball. She once wrote a short story just for fun where the main character snuck into a gala sans invite and completely lived it up. Since it was a masquerade, nobody knew who she was, and she was able to shed her inhibitions. If she could, Citrine would just be as social and divinely her as possible—and not need to live with all-encompassing embarrassment for the rest of her life.

Does she keep a journal? What does she write in it? Citrine keeps a diary under lock and key, and writes about her day and the funny, sad, and angering things that happened to her. Sometimes she just needs to rant because why is life so frustrating?!?! (And why was Clementine so annoying today…? 😒) But yeah, those are the sorts of things that she writes in her diary.

Does she know how to dance? Does she enjoy dancing? Yep! Citrine loves to dance and does it as often as she can. Father’s day? How about a little father daughter dance? Mother’s day? Yeah, that works. She especially loved it when she worked up the courage to dance with a boy her age at Willow’s birthday gala, which was her first dance with someone other than family! Luckily, they didn’t have to make too much conversation since the music was so loud.

Would you and Citrine get along in real life? Oh, totally. Citrine is based off of Yours Truly, so if the two of us got to talking I’m sure we could spend hours together. (Although, I think I’m more of the post-character arc Citrine now. I’m still awkward around people I don’t know, but I’ve definitely improved.)

Who does she look up to? An older brother or sister, a parent, a celebrity? What does she like about them? How did this person earn her respect? Citrine looks up to her birth parents, although she’s guilty to admit it. She looks up to them purely because she misses them. She only has a few clear memories with them, and the fact that she can’t recall the sound of her mother’s voice breaks her heart.

Does she like little kids or does she find them annoying? Citrine hasn’t had to interact with children younger than ten for a while, but over the journey she grows a soft spot for Comet and Moonshine. 

Is she introverted, extroverted, or the perfect introvert + extrovert  salad? With a little weirdness dressing? Citrine is that kind of introvert that is quiet around strangers, but once she finds her people—WHOO BOY! She will not stop talking. (Or making dad jokes.)

Does she have siblings? Is she the oldest, youngest, or somewhere inbetween? How does her role in her family affect the way she acts? Citrine is the youngest and also adopted. She’s been really grateful for everything she has since her parents passed, and is very protective of her new family. Since she’s experienced what it’s like to have everything taken away from her, she doesn’t take anything for granted and is extremely loyal.

What is her unique relationship with each of her siblings? Her and Clementine are like best friends. They don’t do everything together, but they do tell each other everything!

Is she married or in a relationship? Does she plan on getting married in the future? Ha ha! No. Citrine likes the idea of marriage but hasn’t ever met someone that would make her consider it as a possibility for her own future. (Also, she’s thirteen.)

Does she have pets, or want any? Citrine doesn’t really have a pet per se, but there are five unicorns on her family’s farm that sort of like her. She does want a small, cuddly pet, but is pretty indecisive and hasn’t figured out what animal she wants to commit to.

Does she have a favorite animal? Citrine loves unicorns—they’re so sparkly and majestic and powerful and… and fancy-looking, too.

What does Citrine do in response to things she’s afraid of, whether it be public speaking, spiders, water, etc.? Does she try her best to avoid it? Have a panic attack? Take a deep breath, keep calm, and face it? Does she have any other methods? Citrine is terrible—and by extension terrified—at social interactions. She stutters, flusters, loses her train of thought, and always feels behind in conversations. She never tries to start a conversation with strangers, but if she’s with Clementine in one of her friend groups, she can usually keep her cool. She has been trying to work on it, though, and a few chapters into the novel she can be seen attempting—and mostly succeeding!—steady conversation with a new character.

What does Citrine think and do when she sees her reflection? Does she stop and fix her hair, wink at herself, wrinkle her nose, shudder, etc.? Sometimes Citrine just makes eye contact with herself and thinks about how odd it is that she’ll never actually see her face without external help. She also makes weird faces at herself until someone catches her. 

How does Citrine act when she gets sick? When Citrine gets sick, she mostly just sleeps through it. She doesn’t want to worry anyone, so she usually under-exaggerates her illness and takes medicine herself.

What would Citrine do if there was a bug—or a snake—inside their dwelling space? Would they scream and run away? Call her mom, dad, brother, sister, significant other, etc. to remove it from the premises? Would she glance at it and pick it up (or kill it) and then put it where it belongs? Citrine doesn’t bat an eyelash when there’s a rat or snake in her house. There’s a designated towel on each floor of the Hazelwood Manor so that she can pick up the pests and let them outside. (Her family is no help at all when it comes to unwanted guests.)

How does Citrine act in social situations? Is she the life of the party? Does she stick around her friends or siblings? Citrine mostly sticks by Clementine and observes conversations, but will sometimes wander around on her own. She always takes a small notebook to jot down any ideas that she has in the couple hours where she’s too shy to do ‘normal’ things.

Does Citrine know how to play a musical instrument? If so, what instrument does she play? Does she know how to sing? Does she perform for friends and family, or only play when she’s alone? Citrine plays viola really well and has been taking lessons since she was eight years old. She doesn’t play the viola in front of other people because it has a lot of sentimental value. Her and Clementine also sing together—sometimes while doing household chores, sometimes because someone accidentally spoke a lyric in conversations, and they burst into song. When they were younger, they would put on little plays for their parents and even incorporate dramatic duets.

Does Citrine participate in any form of sports? Citrine does sword fighting every Saturday and loves it with a passion. Besides it being a fun way to pass time, she’s capable of defending herself from the theoretical attacker in the roads. (Or not-so-theoretical attacker later into the novel…)

Is she a hugger? Why or why not? Citrine is extremely shy. She actually likes hugs, but sometimes finds them awkward, especially if she doesn't know the person very well. She only hugs her family members but, if hugged, will hug the other person back. (Unless the hug comes out of nowhere, that is. If she's caught by surprise, she may just stand there and not return the action if the hug doesn't last very long.)

What does she do when she gets tired and she’s around people? When Citrine gets tired but isn't able to go to sleep, she gets super sweet and sheds her inhibitions. (She also gets a little hysterical, but it’s all part of her charm.)

Aw, how adorable, Citrine. You sound so oddly familiar for some reason… Like a version of myself for a couple years.

These questions were compiled by Leah Larkspur into character sheets. If you would like to create your own character using her method, click here.