r/AlanWake • u/gallaxo Herald of Darkness • Mar 04 '24

Why doesn't he write a happy ending, is he stupid ? General

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1.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

200

u/ThrasherX9 Mar 04 '24

I see the argument a lot, even in Honest Trailers, why doesn't he just write himself a tank or this and that - and I mean, he like explains why he can't just do that, that the story has to make sense and mean something. He also has to "play with Scratch" as it were by writing on his terms as well, being a horror story. Basically there are rules that Wake as to follow or it wont work; or so he says. Hero's sacrifice and all that jazz.

Your post may be tongue in cheek though in which case... never mind?

66

u/gallaxo Herald of Darkness Mar 04 '24

Yeah I am joking ahah. I am not mocking anybody. I just find the idea funny.

30

u/Alienatedpoet17 Lost in a Never-Ending Night Mar 05 '24

Alan: I have to write to fit the tone and flow of the story.

Mr. Door: No you don't.

Tor and Odin: No you don't.

Saga: No you don't.

Jukebox: She put the lime in the coconut

6

u/hportagenist Mar 05 '24

It was a horror story ! It had to be dark

2

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '24

Genius shit post

73

u/Belydrith Mar 04 '24

Well, Door meanwhile is saying that Alan's rules are bullshit he's made up himself and chooses to play along with though.

58

u/AffixBayonets Mar 04 '24

Well, maybe. Door tells him that he's limiting himself but that still doesn't mean that he could have always written "and then Alan escaped the Dark Place, the Dark Presence exploding behind him."

If anything, I think he took Door to heart by acknowledging that there can be Heroes as well as Victims and Monsters.

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u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 04 '24 edited Mar 06 '24

I honest think this is the overall message the story is telling us in the bigger arch

It's about Alan learning to believe in himself, killing his own self-doubt (that before just had the form of his writer's block and other personality troubles), and overcoming the limitations he creates for himself.

Unsurprisingly, the villain since Barbara was defeated in AW1 is just himself, in the form of "scratch", which could be just his own big ego.

It also wasn't surprising how quickly Saga managed to overcome the dark place on her own and get out (I mean, I'm not absolutely sure she got out, but seems to have gotten out). She isn't swallowing in self doubt and self hatred (very possibly Alan himself wrote her that way). The entire dark place isn't even as dark for her. It's much more greyish.

18

u/coffeelover96 Mar 05 '24

I’ve thought about The Dark Place being gray when we play as Saga, and I believe that it may be that without Alan and his vision of the neon-drenched New York City to influence The Dark Place, it is slowly fading away. It lost the creative force that it was drawing power from. (Including the actual power, like Alan was paying the electric bill for the whole city.)

2

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 05 '24

Could be something like that happening too!

5

u/Josh_Butterballs Mar 06 '24

That’s why I love the scene where Alan grabs his flashlight and gun and enters deer fest. After being trapped so long and being free now he willingly goes back in, stops being a victim, and becomes a hero to try and save everyone.

2

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 06 '24

By the way, that scene really feels like there's some content the devs had to cut. Feels like that could've been, should've been, a whole level. Also the route from Deerfest to the Old folks home, which we just "fast traveled" between. Felt like they ran out of time.

4

u/scarypiano Park Ranger Mar 04 '24

I think that we take Door's words too close to heart. Just because he's imposing some rules doesn't mean he's imposing every rule.

I think someone here said that it's like Plato's Cave. You can't know what are imposed rules and what aren't imposed rules if you don't have any outside reference.

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u/pierzstyx Park Ranger Mar 05 '24

But we do have an outside reference. The Nursery Rhymes.

Notice how they are exactly what Alan fears, simplistic stories full of plot holes. And notice that they do exactly what Alan is afraid will happen if he doesn't write a true story. Whenever Saga alters reality using the Rhymes the plot holes in the stories leaves a way for the Dark Presence to slip into our world and manifest itself as the Taken Wolves. In the end they actually allow the Dark Presence to manifest in some unknown but apparently more powerful way when you complete them all and the Dark Presences attacks the researcher/scientist conducting the experiments.

This is exactly what Alan fears would happen if he didn't follow the rules and they have nothing to do with him directly.

4

u/WillyGoat2000 Mar 05 '24

Super this. We also see this with Tom's writing, and to a lesser extend with the Old Gods, as they do something by the lake that releases the Dark Presence, and a fight ensues.

Door's quote was:

"I don't even think you know who's under your mask. But you know how to make things difficult for yourself. All these rules. Endless, convoluted loops you insist on going through." He then goes on to subtly threaten Alan. I took some of this as Alan's loops through the Dark Place, his repetition of action there, and the Dark Place operates quote differently, as we see with Saga, Tim, and Door. Saga just wills herself to navigate it. Tim is just chilling. Door walks through with his own will. >! Even Tor and Odin don't seem to have a huge problem with it.!<

But the fiction outside the lake plays different. Final Draft Spoilers: Alan's final quote is "The process to change reality is so delicate, to be true in just the right way, and still find a way past our flaws. So many drafts. So many photographs. So many lives lived outside time, an eternity apart on this journey to finally arrive here."

From start to finish, we're told that there ARE rules to changing reality, and it's by no means easy. And sure, some rules may be made up or assumed by Alan, but as u/scarypiano says, not all of them.

4

u/pierzstyx Park Ranger Mar 05 '24

the Dark Place operates quote differently, as we see with Saga, Tim, and Door.

I think Saga and Door are special cases. Door claims his family has always had the power to walk between worlds. And I don't think we know what is up with Tim yet.

I think it also matters that you know what is happening to you. Saga knew what the Dark Place was when she got sucked in thanks to Alan. Therefore she was able to assert more control immediately. In contrast, Alan didn't know what was happening to him and spent an entire week (if not more depending on how long the DLC takes in Dark Place time) literally, mindbendingly insane as a result. He had to recover his sanity before he could start asserting control in any way.

2

u/scarypiano Park Ranger Mar 05 '24 edited Mar 05 '24

Oh, that's what I was trying to say, actually. I just meant that we can't know what rules are self-imposed because Alan doesn't know what rules -outside of the obvious, which Alan has noted- are self-imposed, and that there are some rules (like that one) that are true to the Dark Place, with or without Alan's influence. If that makes sense. I might be misunderstanding you though, in which case, I apologize.

2

u/pierzstyx Park Ranger Mar 05 '24

I think the difference is this:

Is it wrong to murder people or is that just a rule we invented to make a functional society?

That is the difference between Door and Alan.

2

u/DeRockProject Oct 04 '24

< Alan Narrating >

And then Alan escaped the Dark Place, the Dark Presence exploding behind him.

1

u/AffixBayonets Oct 04 '24

Shh don't spoil AW3 like that 

14

u/WoodenApple Mar 04 '24

I also think what is mentioned about how the clicker requires the artist to believe in their art is a big part of it, I know it's not the clicker but if it amplifies the lakes effect it surely means Alan needs to believe his work is a good piece of fiction, and his weirdly high standards have kept him stuck there? Whereas Door may have much lower literary standards, so he's like wtf you playing at write a shit ending and get out? Idk if I am regurgitating well known stuff at this point but it's definitely how I understood it

6

u/SpideyFan914 Mar 04 '24

Are you saying that the Dark Place is a metaphor for writer's block?

8

u/GloatingSwine Mar 04 '24

Sort of yes and sort of no.

The Dark Place responds to art if its creator sincerely believes in it.

If Alan half assed it and didn't believe in what he was writing, it wouldn't work.

4

u/pierzstyx Park Ranger Mar 05 '24

And what makes you think that Door is a reliable guide?

As opposed to, say, a power hungry sociopath who abandoned his wife and baby daughter in order for the ability to walk between worlds?

That whole scene reminds me of the kind of speech that a supervillain gives about how the hero limits him from doing things like killing people because "its against the rules." Door's whole speech sounds like something Magneto would say to Professor X or Zod would say to Superman.

Sire, if Alan had no problem with the slaughter of millions, maybe even billions, of people and the deaths of everyone he loves then he wouldn't have a problem just getting out.

But for some reason Alan thinks that is a bad idea.

1

u/hellolillykitty Herald of Darkness Mar 05 '24

I wouldn't be surprised if the next game is Alan vs Door.

16

u/btbcorno Mar 04 '24

It’s impossible for me to read anyone defending AWs plot not in Alan’s voice. It’s a horror story, the hero must pay the price.

5

u/morsealworth0 Mar 04 '24

Stop using the words!

9

u/[deleted] Mar 04 '24

I get considering it might have been a bit legit of a complaint because I do see it come up from time to time. It's insinuated that going too happy and outside the genre of the horror work will lead to a monkey's paw-like effect. It's like how Tom Zane successfully brought back Barbara Jagger, technically, but it was just her body and The Dark Presence was inhabiting it instead. Kind of like a wish being taken literally and having a dark twist added onto it.

4

u/SteveFortescue Mar 04 '24

Are there rules? It seems like wake imposes those rules on himself

12

u/thebige73 Mar 04 '24 edited Mar 04 '24

He imposed those rules because when Zane tried to write an ending without any rules The Dark Place twisted his writing to take over Barbara. If you/he writes with no rules The Dark Place gets what it wants because it can easily twist and use that writing.

2

u/SteveFortescue Mar 05 '24

That is Alans interpretation. Barbara drowned, Alice was taken

1

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 04 '24

At the same time that I appreciate this idea, is it canon? Was this mentioned in AW1?

I mean, I think both the real og Zane and the real og Barbara are currently in a heaven somewhere, thanks to a poem Zane wrote, and the versions of them we see in both games are people taken over by the light force and the dark force. If we take that poem that people found somewhere (maybe in Control or in websites) seriously. Or maybe was it in AW2? I can't remember anymore.

2

u/maxfax2828 Mar 04 '24

Yes it was brought up in AW 1. I'm sure you can find a clip on YouTube

2

u/pierzstyx Park Ranger Mar 05 '24

At the same time that I appreciate this idea, is it canon? Was this mentioned in AW1?

Yes. It is not only one of the subplots of AW1 there is a whole Old Gods song about it.

5

u/NonCorporealEntity Mar 04 '24

He also needs to stay true to the genre.

0

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 04 '24

He doesn't tough. We've seen the dark place operate it's magic with the children's drawings and music, even when entirely not being about horror. He could just write a cozy romance or a philosophical journey. No real need for it to be horror (even though we enjoy this way much more)

4

u/pierzstyx Park Ranger Mar 05 '24

We've seen the dark place operate it's magic with the children's drawings and music, even when entirely not being about horror.

And in every single case the Dark Place turned it into horror. Or did you miss the manifesting of the Taken Wolves?

Also, go back and read the Rhymes. They're dark.

2

u/Sempais_nutrients Mar 05 '24

The whole Herald of Darkness segment was about Alan convincing himself that he'd "figured it out" and there were no more games that he was actually in control. In response, the dark presence forced him into a musical performance with a song and dance routine that, while he thought was awesome, he actually had little control over. He HAS to play by the rules.

3

u/pierzstyx Park Ranger Mar 05 '24

The whole Herald of Darkness segment was about Alan convincing himself that he'd "figured it out" and there were no more games that he was actually in control.

No, it wasn't. If anything, it was about the exact opposite. The story reaosn We Sing recaps the first game is to remind Alan who he is, why he is trapped in the Dark Place, and what he needs to do in order to get out. It is Alan reminding himself of who he is after being repeatedly mind raped by the Dark Presence and having his memory stolen.

1

u/Peatore Mar 05 '24

It's less that the Dark Place steals his memories and more that each "loop" is a new iteration of Wake, who may not have those memories written in.

The point of Mr. Door's show and We sing is to bring the new Wake up to speed on things he needs to know about that the previous iteration of Wake didn't write in.

1

u/hellolillykitty Herald of Darkness Mar 05 '24

Another minor example of this is Rudolph Lane, he has a minor power and paints a whole bunch of creepy paintings.

6

u/Faded1974 Mar 04 '24

People miss the fact that he can't write a story he doesn't actually believe is good. It has to be something he truly believes is art, he can't phone it in because his intent matters for the power to work.

3

u/Cheezybro5 Mar 05 '24

What I found interesting is that we don’t get proof that there needs to be a balancing of the scales. It leads me to believe he never needed to do that, but his obsession with being a good writer leads him to sticking to tropes, after all that’s what he did with the Alex Casey series, milked the same tropes over n over. And wanting to end that and make something special to him put him into a writers block.

3

u/RHINO-1818 Mar 04 '24

To my understanding—and this builds on why the ending of the first game didn’t… work, per se—is that the ending has to fit the genre, and there needs to be a balance on the scale. For something good to happen, something bad also has to happen. And as you mentioned, it has to be subtle enough that scratch doesn’t re-write it. That’s why he very very slowly works his way out of the dark place—it has to be subtle.

2

u/TonPeppermint Mar 04 '24

It is a argument thrown around a lot.

2

u/Sempais_nutrients Mar 05 '24

He COULD write himself into a tank, but then Scratch would write himself to have an anti-tank rocket.

1

u/gonzohaze13 Mar 05 '24

I find the game takes on a lot of symbolism, like when you are in a dark place we would mean that metaphorically as to describe someone going thru a time in their life where they become unrecognizable to themselves. These rules Alan puts on himself are meant to limit his journey as that is something someone may subconsciously do to themselves. Mr. Door basically pulls a literal intermission with Alan to snap him out of it. This game is his path to enlightenment. Third eye wide open and finds balance within himself. We're all shades of grey that understand that we can't have dark without light and we straddle the line. Master of many worlds so to speak.

1

u/Circurose Mar 05 '24

But can’t he write himself a machine gun or some riot gear to wear in 2 like in American Nightmare?

1

u/WastelandGamesman Mar 05 '24

My one question is how does Alan know he cant do it?

1

u/Logic-DL Mar 05 '24

"Fiction doesn't become reality" or some shit like that as he explains to Casey as well, seemed pretty easy to understand why he can't just do X by writing to make it true

1

u/CapitalTax9575 Mar 05 '24

He’s limiting himself. He might not be able to change the mood of the story from horror, but he can write incredibly meta stuff - literally writing himself into divine ascendancy without consequence - so long as he does it by becoming meta / medium aware. He can change the genre to “meta aware story” whenever he wants because that’s what the story has been so far - he just has to pivot into it.

1

u/OptimalInevitable905 Herald of Darkness Mar 06 '24

Yeah at this point it's pretty safe to assume "are they stupid?" posts are satirical in nature.

1

u/mustachioed_cat Mar 06 '24

I really feel like this building up to him transforming Casey into Max Payne and using him as a nuke against the Darkness. Max Payne seems to have sufficiently horror-y elements to meet the criteria, I just don’t know if Saga would be on board with Casey being the sacrifice (if it was to save Logan…) or if Casey is sufficiently central to the story to be the sacrifice.

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u/Avijel Mar 04 '24

From what I remember from the first Alan Wake, Thomas Zane tried to have only happy endings and that went really wrong as dark place was twisting it (but I might miss remember, aka it's time to reply first game again). You need balance

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u/scarypiano Park Ranger Mar 04 '24

Nope, you're right. Like, the entirety of the first game established that writing someone back to life went wrong because there were no proper stakes. That he broke a fundamental rule.

1

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 04 '24

He still could write anything other than Horror. Why not some light fantasy adventure? Or cozy romance? Philosophical journey like "Sophie's choice" or something like that. Even poems and uplifting music work great.

11

u/scarypiano Park Ranger Mar 04 '24 edited Mar 04 '24

Because, he said in the game that the Dark Presence responded more to horror and darkness. He said in one of his videos that the Dark Place would twist his words to make things darker, so he had to just go along with it. Additionally, he couldn't just rewrite Return into something lighthearted; he had to stick with the genre and work with it. He tried writing action in American Nightmare and it didn't work. He's probably tried a happy ending many times. Also, as somebody else said, he has to believe in his writing. It doesn't work if he- even subconsciously- isn't confident with his writing.

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u/DrClutch117 Mar 05 '24

I think this is the main point. HE has to believe in it, and unfortunately he has very high standards for himself. If he feels like he is cutting corners to get a good ending it won’t work.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 04 '24

Imagine if Alan wrote romances and instead of a survival horror the game was a dating sim

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u/[deleted] Mar 04 '24

Imagine what the dark place would do if Alan was an acclaimed writer of lighthearted pulp erotica so he wouldn’t have been bound by the rules of horror in the first place.

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u/gallaxo Herald of Darkness Mar 04 '24

Tbh the worst situation would have been where he was a horror/science-fiction writer. Imagine aliens popping out of nowhere

8

u/i__hate__stairs Mar 04 '24 edited Mar 05 '24

The ending of the 15 minute tech demo Remedy released a long time ago has me wondering about it tbh (although I'm aware that they've stated specifically it was a tech/gameplay demo and not to take any of those story beats seriously). Alan Wake looking up and the camera panning back as he's tractor-beamed into a giant flying sauser looked cool af.

2

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 04 '24

Wait what? Is that available somewhere?

6

u/Kentuza Mar 04 '24

I don't think that would change much since he's not a horror writer to begin with

2

u/dmanny64 Mar 05 '24

RomCom writers in Bright Falls just having a wild but wonderful vacation and going home with their relationships stronger than ever

14

u/[deleted] Mar 04 '24

I have a theory about this, it is a good question, why can't he write what he wants, he says that it is hard to make fiction come true, so I think it is because Alan Wake is ultimately connected to our universe and it has to be a good story to exist, otherwise game wouldn't sell and Sam wouldn't write. It is very meta I know, if he just said "and Alan escaped" there wouldn't be a story and no reason for the game to exist.

1

u/ExternalOpen372 Mar 05 '24

Tbh i think the meta jokes should be about Remedy wants to sell sequel/makes franchise because they could put happy ending in Aw 1 and done without touching the IP again

1

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 04 '24

That does make a lot of sense and I can certainly see Remedy breaking the forth wall big time eventually, maybe using some VR/AR tech or something we still don't have. Could be part of Control 3 or something still far away like that.

12

u/GreatCrimsonDragon Mar 04 '24

Based on how the Dark Place affects works of art, you have to stay in genre. The books in game are horror stories, which need to be full of dread. You can't just slap a happy ending to the end of a horror and be satisfying.

That satisfaction is important to the Dark Place. Alan spent all those years trying to write himself out, but the story wouldn't take. It wasn't a proper way to write a horror story.

It's the same reason the Anderson Brothers need to perform as the Old Gods of Asgard toward the end of the game. They only have power as rock musicians, and can only perform rituals as such.

1

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 04 '24

But there's no need to be in the horror genre, at least no reason 'in universe'. The musical act isn't horror, for example. The poems and children puzzles we see work the magic aren't all horror either.

2

u/GreatCrimsonDragon Mar 05 '24

The poems and children puzzles are staples of horror, though. As for the musical act, it's more a staple of horror comedies to do full music numbers. It could also be a convention to break up the dread as to not wear the reader/viewer out.

As for why horror, my understanding is that Alan being a writer means he can directly do whatever the Dark Place wants. The Dark Prescence actively corrupts any works for it's own purposes.

In the first game, Alan isn't a horror author. He's a crime thriller author. Hence why the first game has those elements, albeit adding supernatural moments.

AW2 is survival horror because, well, what would any author be writing after, what, 13 years in total isolation aside from probably Satan himself tormenting you?

3

u/WillyGoat2000 Mar 05 '24

I agree in large part to what you're saying.

I will say though that between the Dark Presence influencing Alan's stories (he was forced to write Departure, he was edited heavily for Initiation and Return) I have always seen a lot of the darkness coming from both the Dark Presence 'infecting' the story as well as Alan's state of mind. So even if he started as an Erotic Star Trek Furry Fanfiction Author, darkness would've crept into the story.

I don't fully agree that the all of the nursery rhymes are innately dark and horror filled though - some truly are, but like there is one about a man without kids who raises a fawn, and the one about drowning is intentionally about NOT drowning. But IMO, the fact that they're open to interpretation is what created the danger, as it 'broke the rules' and let the Dark Presence kind of make up or influence the fiction directly.

From AWAN, it describes the power of the written work, and the dangers of implication:

To change the world, you must craft a blueprint for the new reality. Any work of art will do, as long as it's a genuine act of creation; that's what the energies of the Dark Place respond to. The results may be subtle and perplexing, or far-ranging and momentous.

My area of expertise -- the written word -- gives much more precise results than music or interpretive dance would, for instance.

But words can be extremely dangerous. What you define may become reality, but so can that which you imply... Even if you don't realize you're doing so.

1

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 05 '24

Great quote!

7

u/[deleted] Mar 04 '24

ah i see you're a man of aslume as well

4

u/Electrical_Trifle_76 Mar 04 '24

Cause it doesn’t fit the rules of the narrative. But also apparently the narrative doesn’t matter and he could just do that, at least according to Door. It’s like he’s making up arbitrary rules he needs to follow I think

4

u/gallaxo Herald of Darkness Mar 04 '24

I mean we're not a 100% sure that there are in fact no rule. There definitely are a few that are just Alan making stuff up. But it possible that there still are a few that arr actual rule. Do I make sense ? I feel like I am not very clear (english isn't my main language)

4

u/Gundamfan1999 Mar 04 '24

I believe in first game it's alluded to that any narrative he Writes has to be water tight or the "darkness" can make use of any "plot holes' so in a sense he is bound to a rule of anything works as long as it could realistically happen.

3

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 04 '24

I honest think this is the overall message the story is telling us in the bigger arch

It's about Alan learning to believe in himself, killing his own self-doubt (that before just had the form of his writer's block and other personality troubles), and overcoming the limitations he creates for himself.

Not unsurprisingly, the villain since Barbara was defeated in AW1 is just himself, in the form of "scratch", which could be just his own big ego.

It also wasn't surprising how quickly Saga managed to overcome the dark place on her own and get out (I mean, I'm not absolutely sure she got out, but seems to have gotten out). She isn't swallowing in self doubt and self hatred (very possibly Alan himself wrote her that way). The entire dark place isn't even as dark for her. It's much more greyish.

2

u/Spammer27 Apr 26 '24

Didn't Alan "write" her out?

1

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Apr 28 '24

True... I haven't considered that damm it

5

u/Baldurien Mar 05 '24

Telling Alan to write himself a happy ending is the metaphorical equivalent of asking someone with depression not to be sad

3

u/Educational-Oven15 Mar 04 '24

The problem is that's not his style

1

u/CaptainRaz Parautilitarian Mar 04 '24

His style is actually light cheesy cop stuff, that people read in airports in one go...

3

u/Mysterious-Mixture58 Mar 05 '24

I like to think the dark presence slaps the shit out of him when he does that

3

u/Peatore Mar 05 '24

Door's annoyance with Wake over the "rules" is interesting to me.

Door doesn't understand the rules because he isn't restricted in the sawe way Wake is.

He's above them, so he can't understand them.

3

u/TheAlmightyJanitor Mar 05 '24

I know this is a joke but people will genuinely ask this shit when it is outright explained why he can't.

2

u/Frkn385 Mar 05 '24

It's a horror story, I have to fit the genre. The ending has to be dark.

  • WAKE, every 10 minutes

2

u/Spiritual-Land-9601 Mar 05 '24

That’s what everybody wonders, but Alan would just say “It doesn’t work like that, if it was that simple don’t you think I’d done it already???”🤣🤷🏽‍♂️

2

u/wildwolf7525 Mar 06 '24

I never ask this to myself or even thought about it, if anyone played the game and paid attention to they would know the answer as to why he can’t lol

1

u/gonzohaze13 Mar 05 '24

The same way we cannot write a happy ending for ourselves in real life. We work at the ending we deserve. The ending that works best for ourselves.

1

u/gallaxo Herald of Darkness Mar 05 '24

Huh okay ? I feel like many people think I am asking for an explanation. (This os not a critic, I am just trying to understand) Does my post make you think I want someone to explain why he can't ?

1

u/ninjacat249 Mar 05 '24

It won’t work. In game it was explained in details.

1

u/Nightwurst Mar 05 '24

The Arkham Virus spreads with the unfunny jokes.

1

u/No-Play2726 Mar 05 '24

It has to fit the genre.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '24

This argument is so stupid I automatically thought it was a shit post when I saw it due to how many people are saying it. Did you even see play the game?

edit: i just saw your reply…..

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u/gallaxo Herald of Darkness Mar 05 '24

Yeah it's a shitpost ahah. I can't believe how many people comment to say how stupid I am without even reading the first comment

1

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '24

A lot of people, me included, don’t read the first comment i guess. But tbh this was such a good shit post that i just didn’t really feel the need to read it. Also my first reaction was that it was indeed a shit post while the rest of my comment was to make up for the case where the alternative was true. Of course I am very gullible and as soon as i saw the first large comment i assumed “oh okay guess it wasn’t a shit post” and just kept writing. I couldn’t see your reply due to the length of the comment you were replying to. I apologize for questioning whether you played the game or not or insinuating that you were dumb. I’m dumb af and that’s why this happened, hence why i edited my reply, have a good one 🤡< —- how i feel rn.

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u/gallaxo Herald of Darkness Mar 05 '24

No no it's okay you don't have to apologize. I guess that if that many people thought I was genuine, it's my fault. I mean the title wasn't very helpful ahah

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '24

Gotta admit the title was the least shit post esque, making me question it. But I’m not apologizing entirely out of forgiveness or shame, it’s out of humility as well. If i didn’t feel the need to apologize i wouldn’t have felt guilt or forgiveness, and then there’d be no need to apologize. There is never a scenario where an apology is unnecessary i think.

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '24

Many people agreeing on one thing doesn’t make you wrong, or them objectively right, rather it’s a subjective collective. We can’t put ourselves in your shoes and as such we cannot blame you. Not that i feel there is anything to blame here…..

1

u/CrunchyRaisins Mar 05 '24

An explanation I heard that I liked was that Alan couldn't just write it that way and get out. The standards he holds for his stuff, and the genres he writes in, makes it so he needs to feel like it fits. I kinda like this explanation because it leans more into the Dark Place being all your worst qualities reflected back at you, so self imposed limitations keep you there.

1

u/bryceallen1 Mar 06 '24

I don't think it was in a cinematic, but somewhere I remember Alan saying that he tried to write in things to use or happy endings and it just didn't do anything at all. like he knows hes out of bounds when nothing changes. maybe im mistaken. Someone who knows the details better can confirm?

1

u/PoPumpBumLung Mar 08 '24

Alan Wake you hack.

1

u/dorkspectre Champion of Light Mar 09 '24

What if he wanted to write a happy ending, but Scratch took over and rewrote it? Or the Dark Presence sensed what he was doing and made him stop. We get a show of this during AWAN when Mr. Scratch is first defeated.

How many pages did he write for 13 years?

Alan's lost memories, his ideas eaten, he even swallowed his own words, and his manuscripts float to the surface of a lake. Within those pages, how many attempts had Alan typed for a happy ending? We aren't shown, and Alan doesn't remember, but what he's done before hadn't worked.

1

u/RYSHU-20 Old Gods Rocker Mar 05 '24

He's stupid

0

u/MrDarkjeda Mar 05 '24

He is writing based on the limits established in AW1. He needs to work based on the Dark Place/ Scratch

0

u/Wataru2001 Mar 05 '24

He says it over and over. It has to fit. Otherwise it won't work. I take this as it's literally against his nature to write something that doesn't fit his narrative. Since he's a horror writer and a slave to his own story he's not really in control.

-1

u/patrickbateman2004 Hypercaffeinated Mar 08 '24

Alan likes to torture himself, it is a huge plotpoint that he self sabotages for the sake of his own masochistic pleasure. He writes people into his kink pretending he is a hero

1

u/hellohowdyworld Mar 04 '24

I was thinking about this and maybe Alan has a really hard time because all his writing is clairvoyant, so he’s like the perfect victim of the dark place. All his art already so close to reality