Dec 22, 2025
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some preliminary thoughts on Marisbury for the Finale
Marisbury is a man who fundamentally lacks imagination. His methods lie entirely in being efficient but his core goal is so unbelievably childish because he himself is a childish mage: Whereas every major villain who wanted to change humanity did so with the idea of humans still holding some semblance of free will, Marisbury is stamping his feet and questioning why they don't just work together, it's so simple!
Reaching the Root is the goal of all Magi, but Marisbury does not care for the effort that would go into it; Why bother, after all? Humans are so inefficient in the way they live, explore, create, destroy, and die. It's easier to just get the mirror image because it would functionally be the same. There's nothing that says a fake cannot surpass the original, but to him the fake is inherently better than the original because it's so much easier to achieve. If it fails? Easily replaceable. He could sit back and know that humans might theoretically evolve, but they'll do it in such a slow, inefficient, and outright stupid way that of course his method is better. He doesn't hate humanity by any means: He's not lying (lying is what he hates the most), everything he's done will ultimately improve humanity so long as the soul, as internality itself is removed. The outer self is the only thing needed because it's what tangibly exists and changes the world, and if the inner self was removed, everyone could do what they will with their outer selves far better. He loves them! He believes theyre just being so inefficient about living. It's not so much the ends justifying the means as the ends being a forgone conclusion, so any sort of struggle is meaningless.
There was no point in saving Olga from that operating table; He loves her, of course, fathers are supposed to love their daughters. He has never lied, but there'd be no point to it if he saves her now or in 100 years because the end result of CHALDEAS humanity being ripped apart to reform her would be the same. Why bother with that effort? Humans are so fundamentally stupid to him because they do not say what they mean, they hold meaning within them and that's unpredictable; Why would humanity shoot itself in the foot like that, if we all worked together we could have long traveled the vast cosmos! His mirror image, his fake humanity, his cosmic fantasy of what humans could be is good enough. What's the meaning in making the greater effort uniting a humanity that will never choose to unite because they can't say what they mean? It's not like there's any meaning in a meaningless struggle. The outside is good enough, what can be seen is good enough, yet what can't be seen is meaningless.
Goetia wanted Eden, Wodime wanted Ambrosia, The Lion King wanted Goodness, it was all about their visions of improving humanity.
Marisbury is the same, but he's not creative enough for it. He doesn't have the crazed indignation of Goetia, the burning will of Wodime, the steely resolve of The Lion King, the desperate hope that every Lostbelt King carried within themselves to maintain their worlds, not even the energy to tackle a boring every day that every human wakes up to.
He has nothing. Every smile and expression is empty because there's nothing within, nothing but a childish dream of a childish man who can't begin to comprehend other people, even the empty inhuman mechanism that was Solomon still carried more purpose than him with the simple wish to live a normal human life. He smiles, he goes through so many lengths to say what he means because he doesn't want to be misunderstood by these other beings that he himself cannot understand. Everything he shows and says, all his externality, is good enough, that's all that's needed to constitute being a "person", a "human". The only thing he can truly call his own is a childish dream that he will freely let be laughed at because he said it out loud.
He doesn't fear the unknown of the future, what he abhors the struggle itself. An unknown future is neither exciting or scary, it's just unsightly. A copy of him carrying on his mission when he dies is good enough because he doesn't need to see his dream come true. Why bother trying to decipher the hidden multitudes within individual humans when that only makes them unpredictable to each other?
how's everyone doing
☹️
In the Void, there is God.
*ooc warning*
in the cannon where chaldea doesn't exist
What can be said thematically and narratively about the pair that is Solomon and his Master Marisbury?
Solomon was a catalyst summon, not a compatibility one. The pragmatic Marisbury brought Solomon's 10th ring to his summon because he wanted an instant win button, and they're theoretically not linked by personality.
That said, this pragmatism speaks to what they share. Marisbury's most character-defining interaction so far is Romani watching his tea break, asking if he likes tea, and getting "I'd be just as fine with water. I need something I can drink, doesn't matter what." for an answer.
Every action is for the sake of the objective, and within that, flavor is irrelevant. Similarly, Solomon in his first life is a king whose character is described as "nothing". It's only in his second life as Romani that he gets to appreciate life for its flavors. Romani is Solomon growing progressively less Marisbury.
anima animusphere 🏳️⚧️ (originally drawn for tdov, happy pride!)