#ahti: literally just leave. you can leave.

[pathetic-gamer]

I am of the firm belief that Alan absolutely did not have to be trapped for as long as he was or driven insane trying to meet the inscrutable demands of the Dark Place, he's just Like that. literally everyone who tries to help him is like "brother in Christ it does not have to be this difficult" but he's soooo busy being soso sad and tortured.

[king0fcrows]

I’m obsessed with whether or not Tom Zane or Alan Wake came first

And the more I play these games the more I think Alan is actually just an extension of Tom

Since we know loops of the spiral exist—

What if Tom didn’t literally write himself out of existence?

If you can’t create from nothing maybe you can’t magically disappear from existence either. You can die, sure, but not just magically cease to be.

So if you need to disappear but don’t want to die, what do you do?

You assume another identity.

You warp realty around you until you were never a poet but an author (have to stay a writer, however, because you have to be true and the truth is your a writer all the way down to your bones) who never settled on the west coast but, in fact, were born and raised on the east coast

(And the love of you life wasn’t a dark haired beauty who was consumed by darkness but a blonde who was scared of even the thought of the dark—as much inborn protection from greedy shadows you could bless her with in the next life)

And from a young age this new version of yourself was given a tool to banish all thoughts of darkness from his mind with the click of a button—preemptive groundwork for if your gambit fails and this new you grows into a man who has to fight off the darkness as well

And when you finish mapping out the trajectory of your new life, you wipe the old realty from existence

(With the insurance that any mentions of your old self will still exist in shoeboxes—just in case the new you needs a little help)

And you begin another loop

—

I think this idea is further reinforced by the fact that Ahti only ever calls you Tom as Ahti can see the entire Spiral and he’s sticking to your original name

Ahti: Not so much evil that not a bit of good as well

(Here Ahti already senses the Dark Presence inhabiting Alan/Tom)

Alan: Can you point me to the exit?

Ahti: The work will instruct its maker. I was gonna get something from the basement for you, but now you can get it yourself.

(I’m unsure if this is implying that:

1) Alan/Tom is a project that holds Ahti interest, so his project asking for something directly is “the work instructs its maker” with Alan/Tom the work and Ahti the maker

2) Ahti is actually “the work” and Alan/Tom is the maker, with Ahti telling him directly where to go

3) it’s just a passing comment on the NEED for an exit from the studio being the impetus for Tom/Alan to go to the basement and get the lamp (so work instructing its maker on the path forward when the maker can no longer remember what’s going on)

Ahti: The more cooks the worse the soup

(Seems to imply Ahti interfering in the story directly weakens the story and thus endangers Alan/Tom. There can only be one deus ex machine here, thank you, and it’s not Ahti.)

Alan: What do you want me to get from the basement? And my name’s Alan, not Tom.

Ahti: No joo, mutta kotapa kun [Well yes, but see] a man’s a man but a man with a tool makes two, Tom.

I think this is essentially Ahti saying “a rose by any other name”—Tom Alan Alan Tom, there is no difference.

“A man with a tool make two.”

Alan is just a tool for Tom to reach his goal of ascension from the Dark Place more quickly.

Alan Wake

A. Wake

the thing you leave behind on the surface of the water (a lake, an ocean) as you move through it

the thing you hold to say goodbye to an old life

the thing you need to do

[subjectsix]

You've got any personality/relationship headcanons for the lads: Dylan, Arish, Langston and Ahti? Like how they interact with people or each other? (Sorry if this was confusing ask!)

ah, yes!! thank you for asking ;o; figuring out people’s general dynamics are some of my fave things tbh

this got very long so I’ll stick it under a readmore kjsdhfkjsdhf

Some Control Character Dynamics/Headcanons

Arish

- extremely calming/feel good vibes. i feel like hanging out with arish is enough to make your whole day, you know?

- strikes me as the type to always be available to talk to if you need anything, and is a pretty good judge of what you need (if you just wanna sit in silence together, need a listening ear, need to discuss something, or want a distraction)

- problem: tends to ignore his own issues and bad at asking help with them, will pretend everything’s fine if someone asks

- somehow equal parts very smooth and very dorky?

- not a fan of drama and gossip because its too much of a headache but ALSO he wants to know literally everything that’s going on, you know? like. he doesn’t want to cause drama or be involved but he loves knowing what’s going on. Totally Just For Security Reasons.

- if you’re close to him (and he knows you’re okay with it) his main love language is teasing people aksdjfhskjdfh just like, giving you friendly crap. it was especially like this with the old ranger squad

- lies very well in games (and probably cheats at cards) but CANNOT lie to friends. just like, entirely incapable of that. wouldn’t want to do that anyway. if you can tell he’s not having a good day and ask him about it outright he will not be able to hide it anymore

- generally just super nice and sweet to everyone-- even if he doesn’t super know or like someone he’s still super kind (unless you’re like, purposefully a jerk). at the same time he doesn’t see himself as any kind of like, a big deal or anything? like. he’s way more interested in other people and is surprised when people take an interest in him

- mom friend. have you eaten today? did u drink water? does everyone have an uber home? etc.

- one of the first people to befriend Dylan. they get along like a house on fire.

Dylan

- extremely defensive/snarky toward new people. especially bureau employees. sometimes on purpose, sometimes just because it’s learned behavior.

- is actually a very soft and sensitive person, he’s just built up many walls and defensives over the years to try and protect himself. some of his defensive measures have basically become offense at this point

- not always a great judge about what’s too far in terms of mean/rude things and sarcasm. not great at handling it when he does go to far, usually just panics and leaves

- also not great at saying what he means directly when it comes to emotions. will instead try and show you through his actions or gifts. pretty used to hiding his emotions bc he didnt want them known when he was a prisoner but now he’s adjusting and getting used to it again.

- however, VERY blunt person when he wants to be. it’s a coin flip whether you’ll get a very cryptic answer from him or an absolutely direct answer with zero sugar coating. if he doesnt like you he will make it clear.

- that said, he really wants (and needs) some friends, and the friends he does have he is super protective of.

- touch starved. melts into hugs from his close friends. learning how to ask for them more bc he loves them and needs them (also they’re easier than words)

- if u snark with him he’ll take a tentative liking to you. he appreciates it when people just like. treat him like a person (the bar is so low). like, instead of being scared of him, being on the offense towards him, or trying to overcompensate and act like youre walking on eggshells, just. treat him like another average dude. he appreciates that a lot.

- also if you’re nice to him it will confuse him, but in a good way. he’s gonna think about it for weeks. once he realizes you’re genuinely just. being nice to him and have no other motive he will carefully let his walls down just a little. just a little bit.

- will give his friends random gifts, but they’re always very... him? expect to receive random snacks and rocks from him with little fanfare or explanation (but a lot of love)

- also likes sitting close to friends so that their arms touch when hes in the mood for it (again, touch starved)

- he’s just so weird. just says whatever comes to mind. weird 10 year old kid energy but now he’s 27 and has all the extra added bonus of his experience in the bureau and the hiss. absolutely adore him for it. he deserves to be cryptic and chaotic.

- very close with arish. doesnt see ahti often but likes him a lot. likes to tease langston-- jury is out about whether that’s genuine friendship or just dylan being a twit.

Langston

- this man is extremely sweet but he is equal parts brutally honest and Very Long Rambler; he loves to info dump, please let him aksjdhfkjsdhf

- very passionate about many things!!! loves to share his opinions but likes to hear other people’s points of view as well

- sometimes when he catches himself rambling he will apologize and back pedal out of that

- really scatterbrained, usually because he gets extremely invested in one topic in his head, and other things just slip his mind. that said, he’s very thorough and thinks things through very carefully and will often think of an approach or angle nobody else did

- besides being into poetry and music, he’s a very big reader and loves discussing books with people and getting new recommendations. if you tell him about a book he’ll probably buy it, read it, and tell you what he thought about it within a day or two.

- makes jokes when he’s nervous, constantly

- is equal parts confident and not at all? he knows his own strengths and he’s solid in them and plays to them a lot

- talks to himself a lot. used to write notes on his hand as reminders but then he’d smudge ink all over things and himself on accident so he carries a pocketbook with him now for that. has a really good understanding of the House and seems to always know where he’s going, even if there’s been a house shift.

- gets along really well with arish even tho they don’t see each other often! really appreciates him. also doesn’t see ahti much, but ahti likes him.

Ahti

- everyone’s favorite grandpa/janitor/uncle/coworker

- sometimes will just call people over to talk to them. sometimes, even if he doesn’t seem to be making much sense, you’ll understand exactly what he means

- is absolutely a jokester. very smug about it. will pull harmless pranks or jokes on people sometimes. most people don’t even realize it’s him.

- likes to eavesdrop on people. none of it is malicious! but gosh dang is it easy to overhear gossip when you have on headphones, do janitor work, and most people forget you’re there

- just seems to Know people-- talking to him always feels very revealing, but in a good way. in the same way though, talking to him can be very confusing, because he tends to just speak his mind

- if you come sit with him when he’s at lunch he will tell you stories!!!

- if you’re a slacker or rude he might scold you for it. he doesnt tolerate stuff like that.

- will also just talk to you even if you have no idea what’s going on? like he might rant and complain about the clog, or northmoor, or anything, peppered with random knowledge and finnish and english in equal parts, and it might not make any sense, he’s just happy to have someone to talk to.

- always happy when people care for the plants in the house

- appreciates all three of these guys, a lot, for various reasons

not confusing at all, anon!!! thank you again!!! ;u;

[shain87]

my fav part of Control was undoubtedly The Ashtray Maze, but a VERY close 2nd was one of the few, small, inconsequential side missions you do for Ahti the Janitor, where you just talk to some plants.

like, literally.

you go down to Central Research and find some gloomy, withered plants and Jesse starts talking to them like asking how they are, if they have any family, admiring their leaves, opens up about herself, if she’s suited to the new job as director, etc, and the plants just brighten up and glow in response!!

i really, really hope we get more of this side mission or similar types in future expansions/DLCs where we can just go around talking to and cheering up random plants because it gave me such unadulterated joy seeing those interactions and it was kinda therapeutic and also just so PURE?!! 😭❤