Profile
Manari Sue is a young woman who has dropped out of engineering school following a burnout. She recently came back to her native town and now barely leaves her flat. She loves video games, especially indie and retro ones, as well as mecha anime.
History
Manari was born to Maurice and Mauricette in the town of Hijacque-les-Bois. She has always lived there, with her parents and her older brother, Moroni. Very quickly, Manari developed a liking for video games and robots thanks to her father, a technology teacher in middle school. Actually, when Manari started to attend middle school at 11, she was overjoyed: she would finally be able to attempt her fantastic dad’s class! And Maurice was happy to be able to share something with his daughter, too.
One could have assumed that Manari’s nerdy personality and interests would have caused her problems when socialising in middle school, but this wasn’t the case at all. Being the child of one of the most beloved teachers in the whole school was boosting her own popularity, and the adoration she showed towards her father’s work was genuine. Manari herself was already very skilled and knowledgeable in computers and games, and was surrounded by a lot of faithful friends, especially boys. She was also very liked by her teachers, as she was a serious student who didn’t have to work much to get incredibly good grades.
During her middle school years, Manari also met Anselm, a German exchange student. The two of them bonded quickly over their common interests and became best friends, and then a couple. Both their families being supportive of their relationship, they would often go on holiday in each other’s countries. It took Manari a bit of time because getting used to Anselm parents’ eccentric personalities, but overall, she was always enjoying herself.
However, when Manari was 15, in Anselm’s room, she received a late night phone call from her brother asking her to come back to France immediately.
Their mother had just died in a fire at her workplace! Taken aback by the event, Manari decided to stay at home more, to spend more time with her father and her brother, who were devastated. However, this didn’t last for long. Manari had to leave the middle school she felt so comfortable in and enter high school: a scary, intimidating new place, with no father to help her find her place. Her old friends were now gone, either because they found a new, “more mature” friend group or simply because they had to attend another school. Manari was alone.
It didn’t took long before students started to pick on her: why were her clothes so unfeminine, why was she unable to talk about anything but old games nobody played anymore, and why, out of all things, didn’t she look at people in the eyes when they were talking to her? She reached out to the only person left: Anselm, who offered her to go to his school instead. Manari felt incredibly guilty to leave her brother and her father alone once again, but she soon felt relieved by discovering how fun living and studying with her boyfriend was. And not being around people sobbing about how her mother wasn't here anymore was such a breath of fresh air. Was she a bad person to think so?
This whole situation was so good that when he suggested her that they entered engineering school together after Gymnasium she didn’t hesitate and immediately accepted. What a bad idea this was, however. An already tired and stressed out Manari could never survive in a very demanding school for very long. In less than a year, she became so burned out she had to return home, to her regret. What could she tell her father, who had put so much hope into her? She didn’t fail him, did she?
And… Maybe it’s just her impression, but her brother has changed a lot. And he wants her to change, too.
Personality
Manari spending most of her time at home, townspeople have little opportunity to see her in person. Her poor self-esteem and fear of her social awkwardness embarrassing herself in public often prevent her from interacting with strangers. Because of that, she is mainly known as “the mayor’s sister” around town and nothing else, which she hates.
Manari is actually a very passionate and curious individual, good at learning languages — both spoken and programming ones —, although quite clumsy. She jokingly compares herself to “a video game character with unbalanced stats”. She is also the kind of people to easily crush on fictional characters. Her first love in middle school was Asuka Langley Sohryu.
As a child, Manari was much more carefree and optimistic. She also was much more vocal about her interests; she now fears of being seen as immature because of them.
Trivia
- While Moroni has offered her to live in his mansion, she prefers to live alone in a little flat that she has turned into her personal lab. During the events of Flying Popcorn, Manari ends up self-proclaiming herself as the Professor Sue, her main subject of research being a friendly alien species: the Zinuts. Fascinated by the Zinuts’ culture, she also learns their language and later writes a French-Zinut/Zinut-French dictionary.
- Manari and Anselm are fans of a retro video game named The Adventures of Prince Eli. Manari's current online handle, @bi_naamah, references Naamah, one of her favourite characters.
- She owns a biography of Isabelle Schirch that was given to her by Moroni as an attempt to inspire her.
- She lives off junk food, especially pizza, cup ramen and popcorn. Still, being an ectomorph, she never seems to gain any weight. She finds the taste of alcohol and coffee disgusting, and only drinks soda and hot chocolate. Moroni often gives her money to buy proper food, but she prefers to use it on "interesting things she can keep", such as games and anime goodies.
- Manari is always seen wearing long sleeves and pants around people, because she doesn't shave.
- She is uncomfortable around all kinds of animals, as she finds their behaviour too unpredictable.
- Manari is autistic, although yet oblivious and undiagnosed. She usually stims by toying with her bracelets or chewing on her hair.
- She is the main protagonist of Flying Popcorn, and a descendant of Olivier Bernard, the protagonist of Et le grain mourut, on her mother’s side.
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