I think the most mundane thing that will tell you so much about a person is who they play in Mario Kart. So here’s me applying that thought to the Magnus Archive characters:
Gerard Keay plays as Dry Bones.
Jonathan Sims plays as Daisy.
Basira Hussain plays as Metal Mario.
Peter Lucas plays as Ice Mario.
Elias Bouchard plays as King Boo.
Daisy Tonner plays as Baby Peach. (Small Elaboration: Much how she enjoys the irony of her nickname, she also enjoys the irony of absolutely wiping the floor with her coworkers while playing as a baby.)
Tim Stoker plays as Funky Kong.
Michael Shelley plays as Lakitu.
Sasha James plays as Lugi.
Martin Blackwood plays as Toad.
Melanie King plays as Roy.
Gertrude Robinson plays as Cat Toad.
Georgie Barker plays as Yoshi.
Thought about Tim Stoker for more than five seconds
“Even now I can’t fully bring myself to regret that part of the events that led me here, and had we reached the Valley as planned, I believe we would have been far happier than most.” Is a line that’s extremely relevant line to The Magnus Archives as a whole. So much of the series is things going wrong in every way they could go wrong up until the apocalypse happens. And yet…it’s so hard to imagine any of the cast fully regretting all of the parts that lead to the end of TMA 200.
I can’t imagine that Melanie regretted getting to know Georgie more in her search for the truth about the supernatural, and I can’t imagine that Georgie regretting falling for Melanie…even though it meant she became a cult leader and got involved with The Institute at the end. I can’t imagine that Basira regretted every moment with Daisy. At the least, not the long car rides where they would listen to “The Archers.” I doubt Daisy regretted that part either, even as she grew to rightfully regret every other path she walked on.
I can’t imagine that Tim would have regretted growing up with a brother, or knowing Sasha, and the friendship they shared. I can’t imagine that Sasha would have regretted joking around with Tim in The Archives, even if she knew their words foreshadowed their fates. I can’t imagine Martin regretting that he doesn’t have to be alone anymore, and that he can finally be seen. I can’t imagine that Jon fully regrets getting the answers that plagued him, even if he does regret where they ended up leading.
And of course, all of this doesn’t mean they don’t have ANY regrets. I’m completely sure all of them wish things would have turned out very differently. But…if they could have reached the valley as they planned, and lived the better lives they wanted with the people they cared about, then they could have been happier than most. And that’s such a hard thing to completely regret.
There’s something so cruel about Not-Sasha’s “boyfriend” being named Tom.
His name is so close to Tim’s. It’s like the universe is taunting him with what almost was, with Tim nearly getting to hear his name every time Sasha talks about her new partner. But not quite.
It’s the perfect manifestation of the Stranger, but it’s likely not a manifestation at all. Someone who was probably Tom introduces himself with that name to Daisy YEARS before The Not-Sasha stuff happens.
So that means the Tom/Tim parallel is probably just a coincidence by the universe instead of a direct manifestation…which almost makes it hurt more to imagine Tim’s thought process when “Sasha” told him that she had given up on their “will they, won’t they,” story to date a guy that almost has his name.
Tim and Sasha are doomed in such a parallel line way. They always seem to run along each other somehow, but they’re never able to intersect.
It’s so bittersweet that Tim is the one who goes back for Jon in “Hide And Seek.”
Tim has so many negative feelings toward Jon at that point. Most of which are warranted after Jon stalked his house and accused him of murder.
Yet, when Jon tells him and Martin to go home early because he’s “sick,” Tim is the one who decides that he and Martin should tail Jon and figure out what’s going on in case he tries to hurt himself or others.
It’s really an encapsulation of the thing I find most interesting about Tim and Jon’s dynamic: Tim is clearly angry at Jon, but he can never really seem to bring himself to fully hate him, despite always being at the cusp of that feeling. It’s like when Jon gets accused of Leitner’s murder and Tim at first assumes that he must have hurt Sasha too, only for his opinion to waiver a bit the second Martin points out that Michael or the Not! Them creature could have gotten her too…almost as if a part of him was still eager to believe that Jon was innocent.
I’ve thought about Jon and Tim’s dynamic a lot lately. It’s just so…they could have been such good friends in another universe. Maybe they are.
