"everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise" — sylvia plath
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BASICS
name: mari nakamura
age: 22
date of birth: 27th may 2001
gender & pronouns: cis woman, she / her
sexuality: bisexual / biromantic
hometown: nice, france
education: third year creative writing student
occupation: part-time bookseller at bernardi books
PERSONALITY
+ perceptive, generous, witty, protective, just – judgemental, hypocritical, nosy, impulsive, stubborn
zodiac: ☉gemini; ☾ leo; ↑ virgo
mbti: istp-a (the virtuoso)
alignment: chaotic good
temperament: choleric
vice: pride
virtue: diligence
tropes: badass bookworm; write what you know; amateur sleuth; holier than thou; cool loser; deadpan snarker; not so above it all; cultural rebel; daddy's girl; hypocrite; i should write a book about this; odd friendship (with rosemary); sibling cousin yin-yang (with oleander)
BIOGRAPHY (abridged)
mari's parents are the definition of opposites attract - rinji nakamura, a famous crime author from a family of well-respected journalists, is a quiet man, reclusive and sensible. ariane auclair, a socialite turned model turned one-time actress (an erotic thriller that was critically panned) from a wealthy family of her own, is reckless, and outgoing, and more than a little vain. no one really knows how they met or why they got together, but they did, and they had mari.
she was always closer to her father, who would let her stay in his study while he wrote. she would lie on the floor reading, or drawing, and eventually writing along with him. she declared that she wanted to be a writer when she was seven.
the circumstances surrounding mari's mother being cut out of her parents' will are somewhat shrouded in mystery. what's common knowledge is that ariane borrowed A LOT of money from them over the years, and got away with it for a long time as she was the baby of the family. when they eventually chose to confront her about this, however, there was an argument that turned pretty nasty — no one knows exactly what was said, but ariane made some below the belt remarks so damning that she was cut off.
the nakamuras moved into a smaller house, sold overseas properties, and mari started to attend a much cheaper private school. neither her nor her father were remotely bothered by this. in fact, it was refreshing. she learns from her peers, visiting places that real people go to and discovering the value of money that isn’t endless. in stages, she grows to detest where she came from, and her own family most of all.
despite now being social pariahs, they were still invited to the occasional family gathering (she suspects solely so they can be gossiped about). in the summer before her second year at meraviglia, oleander's family invited them to stay for a week. after six days of passive aggressive comments and thinly veiled insults, mari snapped.
during a party the day before they were due to leave, she slipped into oleander's mother's dressing room and tried her luck with the safe, correctly guessing the code after a few attempts (her son's date of birth — really, she was asking to get robbed) and stealing the marchesa diamond.
the act of stealing their precious diamond was not about acquiring something of worth, but about taking it away from them. she told as much to professor dupont, who seemed amused by her story as she detailed scouting the room for security cameras, an awkward encounter with a maid as she exited her guest room flushed with pride, rejoining the party with no one having noticed she’d left.
mari doesn't particularly like dupont – he’s far too much of an entitled snob for her taste – but as a child raised on mysteries, there is a certain appeal to the whole situation that gives her a quiet thrill. it’s why, in spite of her feud with caper, she was so willing to team up with them again in order to solve it. it’s harmless fun that allows her to get close to one of her best friends again, but she can’t deny that she would like to find out what happened to him.
HEADCANONS
since her family was cut off from her grandparents, mari has become something of a kleptomaniac. she never steals anything too valuable (with one notable exception, of course), usually just small trinkets that people might not notice are gone, but over the years she’s amassed quite a collection. pieces that were stolen years ago are displayed around her apartment like trophies. more recent acquisitions are kept locked in the bottom drawer of her desk.
she lives alone in a small apartment off campus. it’s notoriously disorganised, with mugs, papers and clothes scattered across every available surface, and books stacked precariously in towering piles on the floor. though she makes efforts to tidy it all up every once in a while, she actually quite enjoys the mess, as it makes her feel like a real writer.
at any given time, mari is working on several writing projects. a book of poetry, a one-woman play, a collection of essays. her favourite, however, is a biting satirical novel about wealthy families and hubris (think knives out).
one of her best qualities is that she’s unfailingly generous. most frequently seen materially – always more than happy to pick up a tab or give away books or clothes because ‘I read this and it reminded me of you’ or ‘it would look better on you anyway’. to those she's closest to, she’s also generous with her time, and is extremely dependable if you need someone to show up in an emergency.
mari doesn’t particularly like parties, but will attend the occasional gathering with the idea of finding some inspiration. every so often, however, she’ll feel the need to blow off some steam and will overindulge in whatever’s available. it’s also not uncommon to find her drinking on her own in an evening, or smoking a joint on her rickety balcony.
truth be told, she’s kind of a gossip. It’s not intentional, or through any ill will, she just enjoys the basic principle of acquiring and passing on knowledge. particularly grave or serious topics discussed with close friends she knows to keep private, but if you decide to tell her about someone you have a crush on, you’re running the risk of that person knowing within the week.
she’s surprisingly gifted at forging handwriting, a skill her friends are welcome to utilise if they ever need it.
music is something that mari treats with almost as much reverence as she treats the written word. she has curated playlists for every possible mood or activity you can imagine (motivational, shower, despondent, angry, cooking, sex), and uses them to fuel and inspire her writing. (however, she also has a penchant for true crime podcasts. she blames her father for this.)
speaks japanese, french, english, and italian fluently. she enjoys reading books in all four languages and comparing the way similar concepts are treated so differently, but her own writing is usually in japanese or french.
she has all of her father’s books preserved carefully on a shelf, and reads them whenever she misses him.









