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fras-redacted-shapes · 5 months

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Thoughts and ramblings about Zane and Filmmaking before NG+

Scratch is the only one of the Alan/Zane/Scratch trifecta that we know can manifest in the real world while still inhabiting the Dark Place. It already manifested as a real person in the shape of Barbara Jagger to Alan, for example.

Zane collaborating with the Dark Presence is a logical move which I think is what allowed him to change his artistic craft from Poet to Filmmaker.

The changes done to reality by the Dark Presence/Dark Place take time to become real, they have to be gradual. I wonder if being done very slowly would allow them to become "canon".

Let's assume Remedy is not gaslighting us and Zane was initially a Poet.

Zane's craft would've been changed between 1970-2019 (2019 being the latest we can assume given Jesse's interview with a psychiatrist, which can be found in Control and doesn't have a date as far as I remember). The change solidified between 2010 and 2019. 2010 being the first time we see poster for Tom the Poet film (the asset appears in the Remaster but the file first appeared in American Nightmare in 2012 as far as I know).

That's a time-frame of approximately 50 years for such a change to become "canon".

We know events in the Dark Place don't unfold in a linear manner parallel to time in the real world, as evidenced by encounters between Saga and Alan happening out of order.

One could also count the times Alan stepped into his apartment and was photographed by Alice's camera set up. The "haunting" started after his disappearance and by 2017 Alice had already photographs of these encounters. So, as Alan has been traversing the Dark Place, his actions have bled into the real world at different points in time.

Not to mention the unknown amount of loops he's gone through before the current game, and how (if) those loops bled into each other.

I'd guess this would also apply to anyone trapped in the Dark Place. In this case, Tom Zane.

We know the Dark Presence is Scratch when it tries to imitate Alan. But when it tries to imitate Zane it becomes the Grandmaster.

The voice files for the Grandmaster lines during Zane's Film are named ZANE_SCRATCH. No grandmaster or master. Zane-Scratch.

I'd guess collaborating or integrating with Scratch would allow him to place "canonical" changes in the real world. And it could've been done at his will, following his plan, unlike the antagonistic relationship Alan has with Scratch.

And let's be honest, Zane praising Scratch? That's exactly what Scratch is after. Encountering someone who would adulate him sounds like the perfect way to manipulate him.

I think that was a great chance to make a character based off of Dark Presence in a film by Thomas Zane. A character that can be conveniently played by Zane himself.

Why changing from Poet to Filmmaker?

Filmmaking is the art form where those that came prior to it can converge:

Writing/Poetry

Painting

Sculpture

Architecture

Music

Performative Arts (Dance and Theater)

Photography

So, if you're trying to change reality, one form of Art will not be enough. In a film, anyone can play anyone.

The director would have total control over a character. Not only by directing their actions and events unfolding around them. A film Director also has control over the character's face and voice. Re-casting power if you will.

And Zane calls himself an auteur, and here, I think that makes him a control freak. Forget collaborations. It's all about him.

Before he went into the lake, Zane already knew a few musicians, the Anderson brothers. He knew at least one architect - the one that built his manor, and with whom he was probably planning on building a Hotel and Spa on an abandoned bunker.

Given the Dark Place isn't subject to causality and linear time as the real world is, we know the following events happened - but not exactly in this order and maybe one didn't give cause the next event, and we're probably missing so many events and loops that could've happened in between, on top and below, all superimposed:

After being trapped, Zane decided filmmaking would serve his goals, whatever those are.

Alice Wake, a photographer, falls into the lake. We don't know yet how the Dark Presence made use of her craft - given Alice seems to be in control of her craft during the game.

Alan Wake falls into the lake, he meets the character Tom the Poet (light in a diver's suit). The Dark Presence feeds off of him. The Scratch persona takes shape.

Tom the Poet the film is made which mirrors Zane's disappearance. Zane's original craft now a movie title, himself a character. It appears in the real world sometime when it coincided with his existence as a poet. Let's say, before or around 1970? this way the title of the film can be confused with his craft. An understandable mistake.

Alan Wake is credited as the writer that inspired the film Tom the Poet.

Alan Wake sees echoes of a cult committing murders in NY subways. Re-writes scenes to traverse the Dark Place, unaware he's (retroactively) affecting the real world. The characters are echoes of real people (Professor = Tammy, Cultist = Ilmo, NYPD officers = Thorton and Mulligan, etc.) as well as seemingly appearances of real people (Ed and Casey).

Alan meets Zane, and Alan says they don't deserve to get out - assuming we believe Zane's words while he's tied to a chair during their second meeting.

Alan stops writing.

Scratch meets Zane and they decide to collaborate, somehow giving shape to the Grandmaster. Who turns out to be the Cult leader whose followers do a lot of killing.

Scratch writes Return.

Zane, in parallel, films Yötön Yö. This movie appears in the real world sometime before Tom the Poet. At least before 1965 which is the earliest we know Zane was living on Bright Falls. Actors are credited with Finnish names, even if they originally weren't (Alex Casey). This retroactively strengthens his Filmmaker persona. This film features a character named Writer Alan Wake (this is the only named character, everyone else is just a role, like Detective and Janitor). This would be the first appearance of "Alan Wake with Zane's face" in the real world. Veikko Alén appears in the credits as the author that inspired the film.

Nightless Night is the translated name. Alan Wake is credited as the writer that inspired Nightless Night. This would be the earliest Alan Wake is referred to as a writer in the English language.

Alan meets Zane for a "second" time (first ingame meeting), in which Alan has no memory of previous meetings.

Alan finds out Scratch wrote Return and confronts Zane.

Alan shoots Zane.

The "fictional character" Alan embraces the Dark Presence and becomes Scratch after finding out the Author (real Alan in the Writer's Room) was responsible for Alice being haunted.

Author Alan embraces the Dark Presence and is shot by Saga.

If collaborating with Zane means he gets total control over a person's identity over in the real world then, it was extremely fucking clever to make himself a character in the first place.

And this makes me wonder. What kind of influence can he exert over paranatural beings?

Alan only ever encounters Zane in his film projector, therefore being an actor under Zane's direction. During that last meeting, Zane tried to re-direct Alan, swap their roles, but Alan resisted and took control over the scene.

As did Saga and Jesse on their respective nightmares.

Yet, Jesse corrects herself at the beginning of AWE. The changes are getting to her.

I don't think that bodes well for Ahti considering he's got dialogue where he feels lost and talks like a regular old human being while in Valhalla Nursing Home.

Now, we have not seen the Olds Gods of Asgard in any of Zane's film, yet we know they've met him and maybe were friends with him.

And it's such an interesting details the Old Gods have been performing in Door's show. And Alan has been, unknowingly, playing along, even if he sometimes seems to go out of script.

A lot of people trying to change, claim or appropriate other people's identities, and the former fighting back.

Scratch is the most straightforward doppelganger. I think he at least deserve some modicum of respect for his honesty, he's very clear about his goal to Alan, unlike every other person.

On a more meta and speculative note:

The fun thing is, filmmaking cannot exists by itself. Most other art forms can exists more or less independently from each other. A painting can be viewed without the existence of writing. A theater play doesn't need music or even architecture in its barest form. Dance is tricky in this context and someone smarter than me could make an argument in favor or against it existing without music.

Point being: Filmmaking is in essence, Photography.

It's photography in motion, across of time.

I'm really curious if Remedy is going to make use of that fact in any meaningful manner in the future.

Last thing to think about.

Let's forget for a moment that a recording (of either music or film) requires someone to press play to be enjoyed.

All forms of art previously mentioned are to be passively experienced. They exists regardless of the audience. No active input required.

However, Video Games do.

Welcome dear player. You're an essential part of the narrative. This experience cannot exist without you.

Which makes me think. We should be very wary of Chester Bless attempts at making a video game about Alan Wake :')

#let's see if ng+ adds anything to these thoughts #alan wake 2 #thomas zane #tom zane #one draft complete #six to go?#remedyversetxt

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cauldronlakefiles · 5 months

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Alan Wake and The Implications™️ of Gnosticism as told by Carl Jung (1916)

So in AW2 NG+, there is a new video called "Spiral," where he ruminates on the implications of what the Spiral could mean (spoilers below, and a very long post ahead)!

"There are loops beyond these loops. Vast, complex super structures. Beyond what's happening to me now, ahead of me. And I'm there as well. A version of me, something I have become- some elevated, enlightened version- an archon, a demiurge, a demon of some sort- playing a secret game."

Now this is veeeery interesting to me.

In the Gnostic religion, The Demiurge (literally "artisan" in Greek) is described as a creator of the material world. He is the God of the world, but not the God of the universe. Think Cronus or Odin, under Uranus and Burí. The Demiurge cannot create something out of nothing. He takes matter, already existent and created by the upper god, and turns it into our world, though it comes out imperfect due to the matter being imperfect.

Then, we have another Greek word admist his monologue: the "archon." The archon is Greek for "ruler" but in Gnosticism, it is the builder(s) of the universe, composed of a team. There's usually seven, and each one rules a planet.

And finally, the demon. That's self-explanatory. In Gnosticism, the definition is interchangeable with the Archons. The Archons are demons and the demons are Archons. Yes, this is relevant.

What I find interesting is the intersection where these definitions meet, the center of the Venn diagram. The Demiurge, the Archon, and the Demon is Yaldabaoth, The Son of Chaos and The Prince of Darkness. He is also known in some iterations as Samael, the Angel of Death, and is primarily viewed as the precursor to our modern day Satan, as well as the Gnostic equivalent to Seth, Saturnus/Cronus, and Typhon. He is described as having a face made of "half flame, half darkness, defiled with blood."

If you ask what his morality is, you will spur a fishtfight among the occult (as I found out by perusing the various forums and subs). He is generally considered evil or amoral, but he used to be depicted as a genuinely "good" God. He is usually described as arrogant, a "fiery nature," ignorant of higher powers and jealous of other gods.

Now, Jung further developed his idea of the Demiurge and Archon and Demon from Yaldabaoth, giving him the name of Abraxas, as taught by Basilides. Little is known about Abraxas, as the sources beyond Jung are scarce, though his name dates back to the ancient Greeks. The church burned much of the text that held his name. The Catholic Church outright banned him for being a pagan God and a demon. He is the God of time, and is more powerful and more dualistic than the aforementioned Yaldabaoth (both morally and figuratively) . He was a prominent figure in his book, *Seven Sermons to the Dead,* where he had this to say about him:

"That which is spoken by God-the-Sun is life; that which is spoken by the Devil is death; Abraxas speaketh that hallowed and accursed word, which is life and death at the same time. Abraxas begetteth truth and lying, good and evil, light and darkness in the same word and in the same act. . . He is the God of the cosmos, extremely powerful and fearful. He is the creative drive, he is form and formation, just as much as matter and force, therefore he is above all the light and dark Gods. He tears away souls and casts them into procreation. He is the creative and created. . . His power is the very greatest, because man does not perceive it at all. He is magnificent even as the lion at the very moment when he strikes his prey down. His beauty is like the beauty of a spring morn. To see him means blindness; To know him is sickness; To worship him is death; To fear him is wisdom; Not to resist him means liberation … Such is the terrible Abraxas … He is both the radiance and the dark shadow of man. He is deceitful reality."

Abraxas is duality, the God and the Devil combined in one. He is the beginning and the end. The first word and the last.

Anyway, we reach the part where he has successfully Ascended. He pronounces himself the "Master of Many Worlds." He becomes, in this sense, an "archon, a demiurge, a demon," and I can only imagine what that entails. Talk about a character arc!

#alan wake 2 ng+#aw2 #alan wake 2 #alan wake ii #alan wake spoilers #alan wake 2 spoilers #alan wake ng+#Alan wake

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