(SPOILERS) - Alan Wake 2 - Writer's Journey - Drowning

Datamined Videos + Sound

[@yaelmurillo1863]

As a writer, I’m glad we finally have an accurate representation of the writing process.

[@WritingGeekNL]

I thought the same thing.

[@RandomGuy-ci9nt]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

[@RandomGuy-ci9nt]

Some parts yes

[@kielbasamage]

This is definitely me writing at 5 in the morning with three energy drinks dragging me paragraph by paragraph like a trash bag full of bricks.

[@cregerbot8217]

The best one. This alone should give Matt and Ilkka an award imo

[@luizaAmilena]

Justamente, porém essas premiações têm muitas cartas marcadas. Nós fãs sabemos que eles merecem, são incríveis!

[@djsmiff760]

Me at 3am finishing my essay due in 5 hours

[@egg_234]

My favorite line has to be 'you are a character in MY story'. Matts performance is fucking phenomenal

[@michaelbarney4060]

0:28 Bro heard "This story will eat you alive" and decided to strike preemptively.

[@AnMComm]

"I eat the words" *Eats the words*

[@Xehanort10]

He wanted to start from scratch.

[@MaRaMa-ARTZ]

Whole game I kept being sus about the shadows in the Dark Place. I wasn't sure if they were random people. Saying things like "I'm lost. I wanna go home. Let me sleep" etc. Then some would say it was their story, they didn't want to be a character, they wanted to be written out. So I thought maybe they were characters from Alan's mind? But then I would STARE at them after using the flashlight. I'd see that blurry beard, being tall... their LONG hair having physics. The very first time one came at me he was wearing red clothes and I freaked out thinking "SCRATCH?!" then went back to being confused. THEN THIS VIDEO COMES UP! After this I spent like 30 minutes near the shadows with music/sound effects muted and heard EVERY. SINGLE. LINE. from this video. How amazing is that that a lot of people don't even notice if they aren't paying that much attention. The only time Alan fights actual Taken is out in the real world and that bit from Herald of Darkness. I love this game so much!

[@MaRaMa-ARTZ]

His actually eating the pages send me for some reason too lol

[@AnMComm]

​@@MaRaMa-ARTZhe ate the words.

[@ninjatoriumnova2483]

Honestly, same. The lines from the shadows that stood out to me the most were "I write and I write" and "Drowning", and when I saw this video it just clicked into place and blew my mind.

[@xCarnageV1]

It wasn’t until my third playthrough that I caught this, haha.

[@zephyrone01]

Honestly one of the best pieces of acting showing someone just having a complete breakdown I've seen in a game.

[@xCarnageV1]

Genuinely one of the best breakdowns I’ve seen in any piece of media.

[@MeatGreasy]

"Would you like a bag, sir?" Me, having a mid-life crisis in the middle of the Walmart checkout line:

[@alien_baby7924]

This one is the saddest. This is the exact moment when Alan is done, he doesn't know what to do anymore after he previously convinced himself that if he writes the good stuff he's gonna get out, he has to follow the rules and all is gonna be fine but it's not that simple. The hope goes away and the desperation starts to sneak in his brain, ultimately the anger and the rage are the feelings dominating him. We can see glimpse of Scratch in this video.

[@xCarnageV1]

You’re definitely right, but I also think there’s layers to this. I have a working theory that this video is actually The Dark Presence/Shadow in the first half, and Alan in the second. With the Final Draft, Alan rewrote the Shadow’s origin to come from within, as to trap it in a loop. With that in mind, the desperation coming from Alan here is actually the Shadow coming to terms with the fact that it is a part of Alan as much as Alan as a part of it. It realizes it’s a character trapped in a story and doesn’t have the power it once did. Once the dialogue shifts into anger, this is Alan himself peeking through. He’s telling the Shadow emphatically, in no uncertain terms, that this is HIS story. The Shadow is now a CHARACTER in HIS story, and he wants it out of his story. He insists that the Shadow has already lost because it’s stuck in a loop, it lost the plot and it will never escape like it wants to. Final Draft allows Alan to ascend from the spiral, while ensuring that the Shadow always dies and is reborn by the Bullet of Light, thus keeping it stuck in the Dark Place while allowing Alan to find the Spiral’s exit.

[@impracticalnuke]

Matthew Porretta popping off in this one, I swear to god

[@hellcat1401]

I feel so bad for Alan being trapped there for so long and slowly losing it. But him flipping off the camera cracked me up. 😂😂

[@neonixel5995]

I'm lost. I'm lost in the dark. Drowning. I'm drowning. I'm drowning. No way out. There's no way out. Sinking deeper. Deeper and deeper. This is hell. I'm in hell. I died. I wish I was dead. Let me die. I just want to sleep. Please let me sleep. I'm so tired. I just want to go home. I've written so much. I write and I write. There's nothing left. It's all gone. I don't know how to write. All the words are gone. There's no more words. Where did they go? Did I eat the words? I don't recognize these words anymore. Are the words moving? This is familiar. Why is this familiar? I've been here before. Have I said this before? I've read this somewhere. Where am I? Who am I? Alan Wake? Wake? That's a strange name. A. Wake. That sounds like a character's name. Did I write the name up, did I make that name up? I don't want to be a character. I don't want to be in this story. Just write me out of this story. Ram these words down your throat. Make you choke on these words. I know the words. Secret words. You can't take the words. I eat the words. These are my words! Stop using the words! The words! Cult of the Word. This isn't your story. It never was your story. The story is a monster. The story will eat you alive. The darkness is coming! The darkness inside. This is my story! You're in my story! Get out of my story! You are a character in my story! You can't stop the story. The story will go on forever. There's no escape! You will never escape! You will drown here. You're stuck in a loop. You don't have a clue. You're lost. You lost the plot. I'll show you.

[@seppuku_doge]

Me every morning before work

[@causticgastrap2835]

😂 same

[@Xehanort10]

This is probably what writer's block feels like.

[@GenericHandle666]

Why does death have to be feared? Imagine if you couldn’t die, permanently trapped in a loop.

[@MisterAcolyte]

when you realize these are the lines the shadows in the dark place say

[@xxlamaxx1]

The delivery here is so damn good, it sounds so genuine and i cant help but feel sad and scared for alan

[@baileydiss33]

this one made me stop for a few minutes just like... goddamn this poor fuckin guy. great acting by both Ilkka and Matthew.

[@egg_234]

One of my favorite scenes in the entire game. Matt and Ilka fucking killed it in this game

[@AB-vp9mi]

I saw it for the first time two nights ago. Really broke my heart.

[@Amazing-dx6sp]

when an underpaid game developer is forced to work overtime.

[@L4dyElixa]

i come back and watch this one a month

[@MrShisuto]

0:11 - 0:16 I can relate to this on a spiritual level.

[@datguyuno98]

I'm lost. I'm lost in the dark; drowning, I'm drowning. I'm drowning no way out, there's no way out sinking deeper deeper and deeper this is hell. I'm in hell, I died, I wish I was dead. Let me die, I just wanna sleep. Please, let me sleep. I'm so done I just want to go home I've written so much. I write and I write but there's nothing left, it's all gone. I don't know how to write. All the words are gone there's no more words. Where did they go did I eat the words? I recognize these words are the words moving? This is familiar! Why is this familiar? I've been here before. Have I said this before? I've read this somewhere; where am I who am I? Alan Wake. Alan Wake? That's a strange name A. Wake that sounds like a characters name. Did I write the name up? Would I make that name up? I don't wanna be a character I don't wanna be in the story just, write me out of this story... Ram these words down your throat. Make you choke on these words. I know the words, secret words, you can't take the words I, eat the words. These are my words! Stop using the words. The words. The cult of the word. This isn't your story, it never was your story. This story is a monster. This story will eat you alive! The Darkness is coming! The darkness inside. This is my story! You're In My Story! GET OUT OF MY STORY!! You are a character in MY story! You can't stop this story. This story will go on forever! There's no escape! YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE! You will drown here... You're stuck in a loop...and you don't have a clue. You lost. You lost the plot. I'll show you.

[@SoilderofChirst]

All games with New game plus, in a nutshell...

[@ahsantehabari]

Me while studying for my exams:

[@ТриссМеригольд-и1р]

Poor Alan((( The Dark Presence sucks🖕🖕

[@creativeusermane]

FACTS BRO!

[@mohawke4459]

And Saga's actor gets a game awards nomination. What a sick joke

[@ChampionsOfLight]

the BAFTAs rectified that :P

[@drepdrained]

dont diss her for that, they did that

[@ChampionsOfLight]

i dont think it was an insult towards the actress rather the award system not capable for more elaborate actor line-ups .. i truly believe the game awards didn't nominate Ilkka Villi and Matthew Porretta because it was too much of a hustle ^^ @@drepdrained

[@drepdrained]

@@ChampionsOfLight hope so!

[@MarkRosOfft]

well she's a main-main character, but this is just a scene from TV that you can just skip and not listen.

[@lealumie]

This is a perfect representation of depression and that darkness that seeps in. Remedy really hit it out of the park with this game. One of my all time favorites.

[@franciscoaguilar2597]

While the game may not be totally scary from beginning to end, the atmosphere and psychological aspect certainly is. I caught myself with my mouth agape by the end of this tape segment when I got to it.

[@juliamay7069]

Extraordinary work from both Matthew Porretta and Ilkka Villi. And the way this monologue is echoed by the shadows in the dark place... I was floored when I connected the dots. The horror is truly astonishing. And what boggles my mind is that you might not even make the connection if you're not listening closely enough.

[@Fullmoonat9am]

I’m a Screenwiting student finishing my thesis script rn, this hits

[@kingx1180]

there is some missing background noises like hitting the table and screams

[@ChampionsOfLight]

since most of the writers journey vids have for the most part white noise in them i decided to do dialogue only for these :) but youre correct :P

[@kingx1180]

@@ChampionsOfLight wish you could restore the other background sounds (without the white noise)

[@ChampionsOfLight]

remedy mixes all sound (for a video) in one file .. which is a good thing otherwise these videos wouldnt be possible ^^ @@kingx1180

[@janicelizheim2419]

Spoiler alert I just realized that all the shadows of Alan part in Dark place(Initiation) were whispering the narration of this video, and I was stunned. What were those shadows. What's certain is that over the past 13 years, Alan has had unimaginably dark days. I think he was literally losing himself.

[@elliepixbit3287]

I feel so bad for Alan 😢😭

[@Alanwake2023]

I cant.... I cant....

[@elliepixbit3287]

@@Alanwake2023 What? Escape :(

[@Alanwake2023]

@@elliepixbit3287 im trying.... But is not working......

[@elliepixbit3287]

@@Alanwake2023 Your still ……… Dark Place? Have you…. anyways…. Stop the loop?

[@Alanwake2023]

@@elliepixbit3287.....

[@Fatikis42]

IMO, Alan almost realizes he is a creation of Dr. Darling here. He even goes back and forth speaking as Doctor Darling. Thomas Zane a creation of Doctor Darling as he goes mad in isolation. Day 665. Suddenly with only the idea of a sane man an artist comes through. Doctor Darling calls and creates Thomas Zane. He brings him to him, and he was always there. Recursive creation. The creation creating the story. At some point events become confused. Darling begins to devolve. He becomes less and less defined. Suffusing with this place. A place that originally was neutral. For 665 days Doctor Darling remained at least semi-sane. Not sure the order of these events, but Doctor Darling and Thomas Zane after many attempts to escape the Dark Place realize their Science and Art separate are not enough. They need someone with logic and art. Someone who can spin a logical tale that had truth while not being true. A medium of art that could incorporate exact concepts in a logical fashion. Doctor Darling goes completely mad. He descends into becoming The Dark Presence. Alan was going to stop writing. Doctor Darling at the end comes through. I will show you the way. Doctor Darling is pushing fighting for a way out. Using anything he can to escape. He considers himself an empty vessel. Alone in darkness for years. In the darkness with a few others for decades. This is the story to lead you on Your friends will meet him when you are gone Who are we leading on? Who are the friends and who is him? This is a story to lead the FBC and Alan on. Two meanings. Doctor Darling's friends will meet Doctor Darling when Alan is gone. Doctor Darling in his madness is creating events in our reality. He created the concepts of Thomas Zane and Alan Wake. That is why they exist in the primary reality. That and they always existed. Time doesn't matter. Events in The Dark Place aren't clear. A child scared of nightmares. A mother calming her child with a Lightswitch. The power of the Dark Place and a child. Strong enough Para-utilitarian power, enough plausibility, and belief. Using the representational art of Thomas. Thomas's face. Doctor' Darlings voice. They could write a story. Alan's story. Glimpses into reality enough to make it real. There are also a number of hints that this place is literally at least originally manifested actually ..inside? of Dr. Darling. His influence is everywhere in Alan's story and in others. Many Worlds, 665, scattered notes, and videos. Doctor Darling is reaching out for help. In his madness. "Thousands have gone missing. Beyond the labyrinth of me. When you're lost. You're lost in your own company."

[@Fatikis42]

Interesting supporting information. Most of what Alan sees are things Doctor Darling would know. The primary location is New York. Because Alan lived there? Yes, and no.| Doctor Darling lived there. He worked in the FBC. He lived drove by parliament tower. The cult murders? Not just glimpses into reality. Events that Doctor Darling as a member of the FBC knew about. Ritual cult activity. Doctor Darling is making New York more real. Alan too, but not originally. There is a reason Alan is from New York. It is what Doctor Darling knows. Just like Alan, Doctor Darling is telling himself his own story. Using Alan and Zane his creations to try to help escape. Only they are real enough that they have their own independence. Which is why Doctor Darling has descended into The Dark Presence. Something that will use anyone it can to escape.

[@ardyn3177]

University life:

[@lucasg.c.6488]

this ilustrates how it feels to program in java at 4am