#Saga Anderson is my hero

[pinkomcranger]

(another messege on saga)

The saga hate is 100% racism, sadly, and its sad how these ppl refuse to accept it. Like, i wasnt sure about thr beggining - i waited for a sequel for 13 years and now i have this new character taking the larger role in the story. But the game was good, story was good, she was fine. But now these ppl want her gone or erased, "only alan parts were good!!" What??? They are the same!!! I loved alans gameplay (execpt the teleporting enemies) but i dont believe you would hate sagas gameplay if you loved that one, its like, the same.

As in all recent gaming sheres, it makes me mad becuse there are critiscsm to talk about, real discussion, but it gets buried under these fuckers. Cant tall about my issues withiut some stupid guy busting in to complain about black pepole in his games, thinking we are the same. Im so more confident in my decision of cutting on all these sites.

I can't see any other reason to ignore Saga than racism, and I was FULLY aware it would be a problem, but I only expected it from gamer bros crying that it was Alan Woke now, and their fav white man was replaced with an unnecessary black woman. I could handle that because I've been seeing it for YEARS, but I always discounted them just for the fact I knew that they would never see beyond their surface level woes and wouldn't actually be in the fandom proper.

Their racism was loud and proud but it didn't hurt me or concern me. It elicited nothing more than an eye roll because nothing was going to satisfy them the second Saga was created anyway, even if she WASN'T black. I'm not even going to get into their reaction to Abby from The Last of Us 2.

Covert racism is the shittiest because you're thinking, ooh tumblr! this is where I'm going to find the GOOD stuff, this is where I'm gonna see people that played the game, are content creators and are going to overthrow the gamer bros because they're not blinded by the white man being joined by a black woman who's equally awesome.

I was wrong. I was a case of not being nervous at the idea of Alan being replaced in his own game after waiting 13 years because I didn't get to play AW1 or AN because I didn't have an Xbox. My older brother did, but I could only play at certain times, so I just didn't bother with AW.

That changed with AW2, the funny thing is that I didn't have the time to buy it until last month. I've focused solely on watching playthroughs, so Saga was written so well that I didn't NEED to play the game to be able to relate to her and adore her.

I'm not the least bit worried about the gameplay and I KNOW that's just an excuse to complain about Saga. It sucks that the content creators obsessed with FBI Alex Casey won't just admit they don't find the black woman appealing. I think that's a stupid as fuck opinion and not worth entertaining but at LEAST be honest about it!

FBI Alex Casey wouldn't be even a tenth of a bit interesting if he wasn't paired with Saga for the majority of his time. And that's the rub of it. I love Saga's Casey, but I wouldn't enjoy him if he was on his own, or if he and Saga's places had been reversed.

Saga could star in her own spin-off game dedicated solely to her backstory and her problems independent of Alan, and you'd find a treasure trove of things to talk about with her. But you're not getting that now, because "ohmergerd Alan is so hot with Casey!" When that was never the point.

[krakenshaped]

Why don't we ask Johan? (Part 2)

[dextraicarus1994]

With my three OTP from different media, well one is more like a mentorship but the other two are my complete OTP: Sam Fisher and Katia Loernstern from Splinter Cell Operation Barracuda novel, Alex Casey and Saga Anderson from Alan Wake 2, and Sam Fisher and Marcus Holloway from Captain Laserhawk serie (this one is more like a mentorship than anything) 🥺🥺🥺👉👈💞💞💞💞

— slow burn for friends to lovers˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

aaaa slow burn man, enjoy LOL

delicate hugs, but they linger longer the more both of you do it

"why are you staring? is there something on my face?"

gently pushing their hair behind their ear to see their face better

handholding where your hands are intertwined tightly with theirs

late night calls where one of you accidentally falls asleep

them reading you like an open book, especially knowing when you're going through difficult times

"i can't imagine who i'd be without you in my life"

wanting more physical affection yet you don't want to overstep

yearning to constantly be in their presence

platonic sleepovers that somehow ends up with you waking up with their arms around you

buying matching jewelry, but it doesn't mean anything right?

getting extremely worried when they get physically hurt

memorizing their coffee/tea order so you can buy it for them every morning

"you're so oblivious aren't you"

accidentally staring a bit too long at their lips

watching your favorite movies together

singing your favorite love song to them as if you are truly dedicating the song to them

"you drew stars around my scars" (cardigan by taylor swift)

feeling like your complete self when you're with them

sharing each other's clothes (especially hoodies)

hearing rumors that they have a crush and desperately hoping that it is you who they are crushing on

the urge to confess to them whenever you see them, yet you fear losing them

"what are we to each other?"

[a-couple-of-bees]

SPOILERS FOR ALAN WAKE 2!!

Did I just spend an entire play through writing down every conversation between Saga & Alan in the overlap scenes? Why, yes. Yes I did.

Conversation 1

Wake: “Help me. Trapped. Escape. Danger…”

SAGA POV:

Wake: Who are you?

Saga: What is this? Who are you?

Wake: …hear me.

Saga: I’m Saga Anderson FBI. I can hear you

Wake: Cauldron Lake.

Saga: Yes. I’m at Cauldron Lake. Where are you?

Wake: …escape…danger. The Dark Presence.

WAKE POV:

Wake: An FBI agent? Who are you?

Saga: What…who are you?

Wake: She can hear me.

Saga: I’m Saga Anderson. FBI…Hear you.

Wake: This is Alan Wake. I’m trapped here. The Dark Place. Under Cauldron Lake

Saga: Yes …at Cauldron Lake? …are you?

Alan: I’m trying to escape. I’m making progress, but I’m in danger. The Dark Presence! Help me! Please. Help me.

COMPLETE CONVERSATION

Wake: An FBI agent? Who are you?

Saga: What is this? Who are you?

Wake: She can hear me.

Saga: I’m Saga Anderson FBI. I can hear you

Wake: This is Alan Wake. I’m trapped here. The Dark Place. Under Cauldron Lake.

Saga: Yes. I’m at Cauldron Lake. Where are you?

Alan: I’m trying to escape. I’m making progress, but I’m in danger. The Dark Presence! Help me! Please. Help me.

Conversation 2

Wake: Anderson…tricked…he has it now…Still trapped…helping me…the hero…

SAGA POV:

Wake: Saga Anderson, listen.

Saga: Wake?

Wake: I’ve been tricked. Scratch wrote…try to fix the story, but… has it now. It’s the key to escape.

Saga: What do you mean ‘escape’? You’re already out and so is Scratch.

Wake: …I’m making progress. I wrote you in…the story’s hero. …save her family. Save us all.

Saga: “save her family”? Are you talking about my family?

Wake: Yes! …It’s working. You just need to keep going.

Saga: Did you put my family in the horror story?

ALAN POV:

Saga: …Wake?

Wake: Saga Anderson. Listen. I’ve been tricked. Scratch wrote return. I tried to fix the story but- he stopped me before I reached the end. He has it now. It’s the key to escape.

Saga: What do you mean ‘escape’? …is Scratch

Wake: I need to stop him. I need to stop him before he gets out. He’s after Alice. I’m still trapped but I’m making progress. I wrote you in to be the story’s hero. Scratch made a horror story. I need to match the genre. It has to be dark. But a hero can break through, save her family, save us all.

Saga: “Save her family”? Are you talking about…

Wake: Yes! Whatever you’re doing it’s working. You just need to keep going.

Saga: …in the horror story?

COMPLETE CONVERSATION

Saga: …Wake?

Wake: Saga Anderson. Listen. I’ve been tricked. Scratch wrote return. I tried to fix the story but- he stopped me before I reached the end. He has it now. It’s the key to escape.

Saga: What do you mean ‘escape’? You’re already out and so is Scratch.

Wake: I need to stop him. I need to stop him before he gets out. He’s after Alice. I’m still trapped but I’m making progress. I wrote you in to be the story’s hero. Scratch made a horror story. I need to match the genre. It has to be dark. But a hero can break through, save her family, save us all.

Saga: “save her family”? Are you talking about my family?

Wake: Yes! Whatever you’re doing it’s working. You just need to keep going.

Saga: Did you put my family in the horror story?

Conversation 3

Wake: …destroyed….only way….writing a story

WAKE POV:

Wake: It’s you again. The FBI agent. Saga Anderson. I’m closer now, I can feel it. You helped me get closer to escaping.

Saga: …Wake? …still trapped? …the clicker. We can…

Wake: You know about the Clicker? It can help us. I destroyed the Dark Presence with it last time. You can help. You can find it. You must find it!

Saga: …I can get it to you…I have yo understand. Did you write…the story?

Wake: Alice is in danger. I have to stop Scratch. I have to find ‘Return’. I have to get back to my apartment. I’m writing a story to get through, “Initiation”. It’s the only way.

Saga: …the story! …you can do that!… you can… write…

SAGA POV:

Wake: …you again…the FBI. Saga Anderson. I’m closer now. I can feel it. You helped me get closer to escaping.

Saga: Wake? Where are you? Is this coming from the dark place? When you were still trapped? I have the clicker. We can finish this.

Wake: …the Clicker? You can help. …must find it.

Saga: I already have it. I can get it to you. But I have to understand. Did you write Logan into the story?

Wake: …in danger. I need to get back…I’m writing a story. It’s the only way.

Saga: Then change the story! If this is the past. If this is you still in the Dark Place, then you can do that right? You can not write her in. She’s my daughter god damn it

COMPLETE CONVERSATION

Wake: It’s you again. The FBI agent. Saga Anderson. I’m closer now, I can feel it. You helped me get closer to escaping.

Saga: Wake? Where are you? Is this coming from the dark place? When you were still trapped? I have the clicker. We can finish this.

Wake: You know about the Clicker? It can help us. I destroyed the Dark Presence with it last time. You can help. You can find it. You must find it!

Saga: I already have it. I can get it to you. But I have to understand. Did you write Logan into the story?

Wake: Alice is in danger. I have to stop Scratch. I have to find ‘Return’. I have to get back to my apartment. I’m writing a story to get through, “Initiation”. It’s the only way.

Saga: Then change the story! If this is the past. If this is you still in the Dark Place, then you can do that right? You can not write her in. She’s my daughter god damn it

[laurasimonsdaughter]

Question question, Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite stories/series, and though it was written to be a "modern fairy tale", it's quite different from the tales you talk about here, so I was wondering about your feelings and thoughts on it

My feelings on the Wizard of Oz are a little complicated, so it's probably fair to start with saying that I've only read a Dutch translation of Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that was probably somewhat shortened. And I've never read the other books in the series. With that said:

I like the Wizard of Oz! It has fun fantasy logic, a plucky heroine, melting witches, fantastic magic shoes, flying monkeys, a mix of 'real magic' and the power of belief, and you can kiss protective stars onto foreheads.

What I don't like, is that it keeps showing up on lists of "most beloved fairy tales", while it really isn't - in my personal opinion - a fairy tale. (Just like Peter Pan, Pinnochio and Alice in Wonderland, but I digress.) I think it's a great example of being inspired by fairy tale elements, but giving them your own spin.

The magical silver shoes, for example, are very like the kind of object you'd find in a fairy tale. They'll remind people of Cinderella's slippers and the Seven League Boots, but also of the gifts (magic nuts, protective necklace, blessed weapon) that fairy tale heroes often get. Letting them be stolen from a witch, however, and making their magic unclear at first and then having them do full teleportation, is much more fantasy than fairy tale.

Another fun twist is Dorothy melting the Wicked Witch with water. This does not come from folklore, but it's such a striking visual that it is pretty much part of American folklore by now. Which in my opinion is a testament to how good of an idea that was! Because it sounds like something that makes sense to defeat an evil witch with. There is folklore scattered about that states witches can't cross running water (like some vampires) and water as a purifying, cleansing thing is deeply routed in all kinds of traditional beliefs.

But at its core The Wonderful Wizard of Oz feels much more like a fantasy travel adventure to me, than like a fairy tale. Most fairy tale characters are archetypal, and their motivations are simple. The story focuses on what happens to them and how they act, but rarely on their inner experiences. This works well for a short tale, because you don't get bogged down in details, but usually starts to drag in a longer format. It's not strange to me that Anderson's The Snow Queen usually gets shortened in retellings, it makes it a full fairy tale instead of a fairy tale-ish saga. Nor that De Villeneuve's Beauty and the Beast only ended up in oral tradition after De Beaumont cut out half the plot. (Elaborate dream sequences are hard to remember when telling stories around the fire).

I feel like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has far more to say than would have ever fit in a fairy tale. Not just because of the length, but also because of the kind of story it wants to tell. So I personally wouldn't call it a fairy tale, but I do think it added wonderful imagery to our fairy tale telling vocabulary ^^

Also, in my Dutch translation there was a beautiful illustration of Glinda's female guards, dressed in what I now realise must have been inspired by Canadian mounted police uniforms. Child-me thought they were the absolute best <3

[rogue-bard]

Alan: I wrote you into the story, so you can save them. I made you the hero!

Saga: "Them"? My family? Mr. Wake, did you write my family into a horror story???

Alan: ....

Alan: Now that she put it like that, it DID sound like a bad idea. Luckily, the punch that Agent Anderson threw at Wake was stopped short by her sudden realization that she could only do what the writer let her.

Saga: ... fuck you.

[autisticwriterblog]

Fandom 50 Post 17

My fifteenth piece of Alan Wake 2 meta. This one is about Initiation 8.

Initiation 8: Zane’s Film

What happened in this chapter?

Once he leaves the TV studio, Alan resumes his plan to visit Zane so Zane can hopefully point him toward a murder site. When he investigates Zane’s room at the hotel, Alan finds it empty except for a projector pointing at the wall.

Turning it on, he watches a video of himself and Zane; Alan holds Zane at gunpoint, whilst a bloodied Zane is tied to a chair. As Alan threatens to shoot him, Zane explains that Alan had stopped writing, so when Scratch showed up and offered to write, Zane jumped at the chance to escape the Dark Place. But when they were finished, Scratch took Return and abandoned him. Alan says that the manuscript and Scratch are still in the Dark Place, and Zane says that Alan can catch him—and when Alan finds him, Zane wants Alan to kill him with no hesitation. After Zane mentions a murder site in his cinema, the footage starts to flicker, grins appearing and disappearing from Alan and Zane’s faces as they swap places and then back again in a very confusing way, which results in Alan shooting Zane through the head. He takes a ticket for Nightless Night from Zane’s shirt pocket—and the footage ends.

After watching the confusing video, Alan leaves the hotel. Noticing the bright lights in the distance, Alan heads towards them. Eventually, he locates the cinema, using the ticket to grant him access. He progresses through the cinema, using the plot board to change his surroundings as he encounters echoes of Casey investigating the Cult of the Word. On one memorable occasion, Alan uses his lamp to light the lamp being held by an image of Zane on the film screen, which is yet another example of the meta weirdness this game does so well.

Zane’s lamp shines light on the wall and reveals a door, letting Alan explore the alley outside the cinema. As he learns more about the cult, Alan climbs up the building, finding himself on the rooftop of the huge cinema. On the roof, Alan learns about the cult’s Grandmaster from a cultist who kills himself in front of Casey in an echo, which should allow Alan to reach the projection booth of the cinema.

Back inside, Alan heads to the projection booth. To get there, Alan interacts with a door on the screen in the cinema, which takes him to another location. Inside, he finds himself in another endlessly looping location, like back at the subway tunnel and hotel. Each time he goes through the loop, Alan hears Casey shouting at the cult, losing his mind more and more with each loop. At one point, Alan comes across a man wearing a deer mask and tied to a chair. The man speaks with a Finnish accent and bears a striking resemblance to the actor called Sam Lake who Alan met at Door’s show. He keeps telling Alan not to stab him with a knife, and when Alan goes to locate the knife, the man escapes and runs away.

Finally, Alan reaches the projection booth, where he finds the corpses of two police officers strung up, one with a moose skull on his head. When Alan approaches, the moose head disappears, and Alan sees another vision of Saga Anderson. He tells Saga that he wrote her into the story as the hero, and even with communication difficulties, it’s clear that Saga isn’t happy about her family being involved in the story.

Once again, Parliament Tower appears outside.

My Thoughts

On the way to the hotel, you can listen to an echo where Casey describes Zane as “an esoteric bohemian with a hard-on for acts of cruelty performed in the name of occult nonsense” which made me laugh the first time I heard it. Both because it’s such a Casey thing to say, but also because I love the way James McCaffrey delivered the line.

Another thing that made me laugh is if you hang around after watching the film in Zane’s room long enough to see the video start again and Zane come back to life because he was only acting being dead—and Alan’s reaction is a hilariously delivered, “What the fuck?” which I imagine summed up the confusion a lot of players felt.

The first time I played this chapter, I remember getting lost and not knowing what to do to progress the chapter, which made me frustrated and soured it for me. But I’ve replayed the game three more times since then, and once I didn’t get myself lost (which is very much an issue with my sense of direction rather than game design, because I get lost in basically everything I play—and real life) I grew to love this chapter. The cinema has such a cool atmosphere and a creepy aesthetic at the same time, and going into the theatre and seeing all those shadows just hanging around in there terrified me.

The whole story going on with the characters in the echoes found throughout the chapter is really interesting. The police officers – who have the same voice actors as Mulligan and Thornton but totally aren’t them – have been dumping bodies for the cult to work their way into their ranks, whilst a cultist – who, again, isn’t Ilmo Koskela despite having the same voice – who’s being pursued by Casey eventually takes his own life because his ‘role’ in the cult is done. The Cult of the Word is clearly a real cult, dangerous and not caring for the lives of its members, as opposed to the Cult of the Tree in the real world, which is just a clever marketing campaign by Ilmo to keep people away from the lake. Interestingly, Ilmo is the leader of the Cult of the Tree (well, joint leader with Jaakko), but in the Dark Place, his counterpart in the Cult of the Word isn’t in charge, instead just a member who would kill himself because the cult no longer needs him. I can certainly see why @koskela-knights was fascinated enough by this whole topic to write his Echoverse series.

[haveievermentioned]

Alice thought:

"Follow you into the Dark" is so clearly Alice's song. The Orpheus and Euridyce motif is her and Alan's entire relationship... except for one line.

"Mother's a Seer with second sight" which feels like it's Logan talking about Saga or Saga talking about Freya. But Saga's song is Super hero and I'm not sure about Logan having a song at all.

So if the Seer line is still referring to Alice, then it's a reference to ALICE'S mother.

Can she be related to the Anderson's too? Either a more distant branch or an out of wedlock kid or something?

Edit: this could explain her fear of the dark. I know people can have irrational fears, but if she on a subconscious level fears the dark place due to her anderson blood...

Edit 2: maybe that's how she found out about Emil Hartman? He's not well known in US circles apparently but "I got the book because he's taking care of my kinda crazy rocker great uncles" would explain a lot.

[massiveobservabletidalwave]

I have not finished Alan Wake 2 yet. I've gotta finish up the Alan parts then it feeeeels like it's the final chapter section. I want to RAMBLE ABOUT MY THOUGHTS. Fair warning, SPOILERS FOR ALAN WAKE 2. Stop reading now.

ALRIGHT SO. Again, not done. But. I dont think Alan...exists? Like hes the Alex Casey for Thomas Zane. And alllllllll of this is Tom trying to get out of the Dark Place.

Tom is a director, not a poet. This is stressed often. So if this whole thing was the real Yoton Yo, Alan is like Alex Casey. We even see Tom portraying Alan in the clips of Yoton Yo. It gave me lots of the same vibe of "Alan role playing a detective (Casey) to get out of the Dark Place" vibes.

My personal theory is that Tom is kinda a shit writer, but visionary director. So he made a movie about a writer getting stuck in the Dark Place, to give himself a way he COULD get out. Make a movie about a writer getting trapped in the Dark Place. Convince writer to write a better movie, one that shows getting out of the Dark Place. Bingo-bango outta here Tom! THATS THE COLLAB TOM MEANS, even if he lies about it now.

I also dont think Saga is a human in a similar but different sense. Shes descended of the Andersons and has powers associated. And her father is 100% Mr. Door (otherwise why is he involved?). I think shes the ACTUAL hero Thomas has in his movie. Hes getting Alan to write Saga into the hero of the film hes making (those assholes straight up dont care about Saga as a person, but a literary device). And I think her lineage is important, because I wonder if she can get stuck in the dark place, since Mr. Door can't, per Control (dont get me started on if THAT exists).

Maybe Tom/Alan finally could use a person who exists (poor Saga) and force them into the hero tropes and to save him/them, with the added bonus of they wont end up like Alan, stuck in the spiral.

Again, all unsubstantiated speculation based on the story and thinking about how stories work.

Also, Sam Lake why you do that to my boy Jaako?!?!? Stinky tall man (affectionate).

[darkicedragon]

ALICE DID WHAT? NOOOOO D8

...Wait.

Waaaitwaitwaitwait AHAHAHAHAHAHAH OH HELL YES, I LOVE THIS.

TIME LOOPS UPON TIME LOOPS AND RESTRUCTURING WHAT YOU THOUGHT WHAT HAPPENING AND YESSSSSS!!!

I'M SO HAPPPYYYYYYYYY!!

O-O

I

Don't think Saga survived that...

Theeeere he goes. He was very much talking like a die later character, haha.

GUYS?? COME BACK!! BUT OKAY, GO SAVE YOUR GRANDAUGHTER THOUGH.

Yeah, but you're not an Anderson though. You didn't have the support of your grandad and great-uncle!

Exactly!

HE'S DOING THE HERO SACRIFICE, AND KNOWINGLY TOO AAAAAh.

Good final words, hahaha.

We finally got to deerfest, yeeeeah!

THIS HURT, AAAAAAAAAAAH. QAQ

This is Scratch's final ending?? An endless celebration?? That spreads darkness????

Yessssss

OH FUCK YES. Mind place being attacked!! Just what I wanted!

Yessssss, I love it when the game mechanics that have become habit get changed to drive home a point aaaaaaaah!!! <33333

OH MY GOD, SAGA AHAHAHHAA.

To be fair, yes, this is a valid point. But you were also being written to accept them by a very sleep deprived and desperate writer.

Focus on the good things, yessss! Oh my god, do I love it when characters are in their bad spot but do start aggressively looking for the good things and HNNGGGGG.

IT'S SO GOOD AND I FUCKING LOVE THISSSSSSS. THE REALISATIONNNNNNN.

Awwwww, Casey!

[the-hidden-writer]

A Piece of True Fiction: Chapter 7

An Alan Wake 2 fic. Spoilers for Alan Wake 2!

Summary: Aleksi Kesä manages to slip out of the spiral and film he was trapped in.

Saga Anderson, caught in the middle of Wake's horror story, finds a man that looks identical to her partner in the middle of the woods. He's lost, confused, and only seems to speak Finnish. Saga has to try and uncover the truth as well as trying to save her family. Where did he come from? How did he get here?

And where's her Casey?

Chapter Summary: Saga is trapped in the cell block during the blackout with only Alan and Ilmo for company. Warnings: brief description of blood/injury Words: 2,147 AO3 Link: [Here!] [First part] [Previous part] [Next part]

A Piece of True Fiction

Chapter 7: The Wrong Side

Saga pounds on the door for the hundredth time.

“Hello?! Estevez?! Anyone, please, I’m stuck in here! Open the door!”

Nobody comes to her aid. The gunfire and shouting from earlier had slowly died away, but there’s no indication that anyone can hear her on the other side.

“They’re all fucking dead, Saga.” Ilmo says, dejected. After the initial panic at the blackout, he’d urged Saga to find a way out and to take him with her. When over thirty minutes passed with no luck, he’d silently sat on the cot in his cell in defeat.

Despite the high chance of him being right, Saga doesn’t let it break her spirit. There were so many agents, at least one had to have survived whoever or whatever attacked. Had it been the Taken? 

Had it been Scratch?

The red light that indicated the locked nature of the door had gone out completely, leaving both doors of the cell block jammed shut. Saga had tried to force it with her good shoulder but had quickly given up. She knew she wouldn’t be able to force it open and any further attempts would be a waste of precious energy.

Saga knocks again. No response.

From behind her, she hears Wake groan. He’d reacted worst to the blackout, becoming incoherent and hysterical until he’d passed out entirely on the floor. Once she’d used her flashlight to make sure his chest was still rising and falling, Saga had focused on trying to get out. Him making sounds is a good indication that he’s waking up at least, even if they’re sounds of pain.

Ilmo hears it too and curses.

Saga knocks again. “Hello?!”

No response.

Wake groans again, louder. Deciding that she can spare two minutes without knocking, Saga approaches his cell.

He isn’t sprawled on the floor anymore, but is instead on his knees facing away from her. His elbows are resting on the cot and his fingers dig into his scalp. Another migraine?

“Saga…” he whispers.

Saga goes to reply when Wake starts to talk again.

“Fuck… Scratch- no, yes, Scratch. Why would he… what happened to my story? My story. This isn’t right. It doesn’t make sense, there has to be an escape, why would the hero-”

He continues his ramble. Saga can only make out bits and pieces between the man’s incoherent sentences and ragged breaths. She wants to ask what’s going on. Something holds her back and makes her more inclined to just listen.

“-It’s right but wrong. Wrong what? Right people, but still empty inside. An empty scene. An empty cell. One half of a fractured whole. Right place but… wrong time. Saga… Casey…”

At the mention of Casey’s name, Saga’s focus locks onto Wake’s words with the hope of finding any clue about what’s going on.

“-out of control. It’s… too soon. It’s too soon, or- no, that’s not it. Then what..? Could it be… on the wrong side? The wrong side. The wrong side of the story, an echo or phantom of another. Wait, no, it’s the door. The wrong side of the door. A door that leads where? The station? To the change? To someone. Scratch? Or… to family. A friend. Or maybe… what if it’s not a door, but a mirror? The wrong side of the mirror, my mirror. It’s shattered. No, twisted. Not mine, not anymore. But then who…”

She can’t help herself. 

“Wake?”

Alan jumps at the sound of her voice. His elbows slip from the metal cot and he faceplants into it as a result, with the thump from the impact echoing around the cell.

Alan lets out a small, pained whimper as he forces himself back onto his feet. He rubs his forehead and winces. “Fuck…”

If it was anyone else, Saga would have apologized. Because it’s Wake, Saga feels a sliver of satisfaction. 

“Saga!” Wake rebalances himself and rushes toward the bars again. “You shouldn’t be here. You’re on the wrong-”

“The wrong side of the door, yeah, I got that part.” Saga finishes. It feels like stating the obvious. “Do you remember anything else?”

Wake shakes his head. “Uh… maybe? I don’t know, it’s already slipping away. But it was hazy to begin with… it was like a different version of events. I’ve been feeling this really strong déjà vu. It’s like I’m reliving a memory that ends up deviating, but by the time I’ve noticed a difference I can’t remember the original. Only bits and pieces I can hardly make sense of.”

Saga’s left conflicted. Should she tell him that she… gets it? Maybe not the remembering part, but the déjà vu and feeling like she’s going down the wrong track with all her choices is something that she has definitely been experiencing but hasn’t been able to articulate. 

She decides not to. Wake’s the crazy one, the one who was trapped in a lake and caused all this madness through Scratch- who wouldn’t exist without him, most likely. She doesn’t want to admit that she’s feeling the same as him, and neither does she want to bring him down to her level. It’s clear he has far more experience and is knowledgeable in everything that’s going on, even if he can’t remember half of it, so if they’re struggling with the same feeling…

It would mean that they’re both out of their depth. And that thought is terrifying.

She’s about to ask for clarification on some of the other things he’d said, such as the mention of her and Casey’s name, when their conversation is interrupted by four sharp, distinct knocks.

“Anderson? You in there?”

She and Wake make eye contact for less than a second before Saga darts back toward the door to knock back.

“Estevez! Is that you? I’m here!” She calls. She also notices Ilmo stand back up in anticipation.

“Oh thank God, I was worried they’d found a way in.” Estevez’s voice returns. She sounds out of breath.

Saga immediately starts asking for more information. “Who? What happened?”

“We got swarmed by individuals infected with the Shadow. We weren’t ready… a lot of the people here were infected. But uh- are you good in there? What’s the status on Wake and Koskela?”

“Ask about my brother.” Ilmo sternly demands.

“They’re fine.” Saga answers, prompting swearing from Ilmo. “Wake was out for a while but he’s up again now. Is it clear out there? I can help fight if you get me out.”

“We’re working on it, just need to fix the fuse box. There’s seven survivors up here including me but they got my leg pretty bad. It’s uh… it hurts. It isn’t clear yet though. We got some of them down, but plenty of us got infected. For some reason a few of the Shadow people didn’t attack and just seemed to want to walk through. Gave the couple of us the chance to retreat. I think the ones that got past were headed down into the basement. I’m pretty sure I can hear them still fighting.”

The part about the behavior of (what she assumes are) the Taken strikes a chord of familiarity in Saga. They’d been acting weirdly dismissive in her last encounter with them back in Coffee World, when she was defending Kesä. Even more strangely was that it was like they were being dismissive in favor of attacking him.

Wait.

The basement is connected to the morgue. The morgue where she’d left Kesä in the hands of the FBC. Fuck. She lets out a panicked shout. “Casey’s down there!”

“So is my team.” Estevez counters. “I don’t want to send more down in case they turn too. I just don’t know how things got out of hand so quickly! I know we were low on resources but… this is really bad.”

Saga tries to calm herself by breathing deeply. She’s starting to make connections between events that make her very nervous. It’s only a hypothesis at this stage, but she feels the need to warn Estevez just in case there’s any semblance of truth to it.

“No, you don’t get it. I think the Taken are targeting him.”

Twice now the Taken have ignored potential victims and made their way toward Kesä’s position. It might just be a coincidence- Saga prays that it is. Still, she struggles to hold out hope, even if she can’t deduce the motive behind it.

“Why?” Estevez rightly questions.

“I don’t know, it happened at Coffee World, but you can’t let them get to him! Get this door open and I’ll find him myself!”

“Agent Miller’s gone down to try and replace the fuse. I’ll open the door first thing as soon as we get power. Hang tight, Anderson. I’ll be back as soon as I have an update.”

Saga hears movement from the other side of the door followed by faint voices from further away. Estevez has probably moved.

Saga turns around to face the cells again. Even though she now has reassurance that there are survivors and that they’re working on a solution, the fight having moved toward the vulnerable version of Casey increases her worry tenfold.

“Why didn’t you ask, Saga?”

Through the darkness, Ilmo exudes a sinister, threatening aura. His voice is low and firm. There isn’t a hint of the smile he often wears. Instead, he bears an utterly serious expression that makes Saga, for the first time, believe he could be a cult leader. It looks as if he would commit murder if not for the bars acting as a safety net. It’s entirely uncharacteristic from what Saga has seen of him so far.

She tries to defend herself. “My partner’s in danger. I’ll ask once this door’s open.”

“I need to see him.” Ilmo says in that same dangerous tone.

“I know.” Saga does really understand. Blood is thicker than water, especially when the blood is your own. Logan is everything to her, and while she doesn’t know if Ilmo has family besides Jaakko, she can imagine being separated from his twin in the midst of all the death and chaos must be torture.

It takes another ten minutes before the lights of the cell block flicker back on. Saga readies herself by the door in anticipation for the red light to turn green.

“What’s your plan, Saga?” Wake asks. He sounds a little more stable now, albeit frightened and frustrated.

Her response is a no-brainer. “Find Casey. Figure out what’s going on with him. Stop your story from coming true.”

“And find the Clicker?”

Oh yeah, she’d lied to him about that. Continuing to keep it from him is probably the wisest option. She doesn’t plan on handing it over until she’s certain he can fix things anyways. “And find the Clicker.”

“The cult should have it,” he adds. “This is all new territory but you’re a good hero, you’ll make it work. You have to. Even if-”

Alan pauses for a second. “Nevermind. It wouldn’t make sense.”

“Even if what?” Saga prompts just as she hears movement on the other side of the door. There’s a beep indicating the door being unlocked.

Alan sighs and then relents. “Look, I don’t know for sure, but… the man you found might not be Casey. Or at least not the one you know. Just be careful.”

The door swings open as Saga tries to wrap her head around what the fuck Wake meant by that. She knows it’s not the Casey she’s familiar with, so then what is he implying? That it’s actually a different person? Not just her Casey, transformed?

She’s met with Agent Estevez on the other side. Saga’s eyes are immediately drawn to her heavily wounded leg. Something had sliced right into her thigh, exposing flesh and muscle fibers oozing out blood and leaving Saga feeling grateful that her own arm injury is nowhere as severe. Coupled with the sweat beading down the agent’s forehead, she looks to be deeply in pain. 

“Anderson.” Estevez greets professionally through labored breaths. “Glad to see you're still yourself.”

“Likewise,” says Saga. Then she can’t help herself. “That leg doesn’t look good.”

Estevez lets out a shaky sigh. “Feels even worse. That’s why I think I’m going to have to take you up on that offer to help. We haven’t recovered anyone and I can’t go into the basement myself, so-”

“I’ll go.” 

Forcing a small smile, Estevez nods and steps aside to let her out. “Thanks Agent.”

As she exits, Wake and Ilmo shout after her about the Clicker and Jaakko respectively. Saga pushes both thoughts aside. Yes, they need to be dealt with, but they aren’t her priority at the moment.

Estevez said that they hadn’t recovered anyone. That means Casey’s still down there.

That means that she will blast through as many Taken necessary to get to him, Wake’s warning be damned.

saga: wow wake has been through so much for 13 years straight. he has experienced the horrors. while he's out of line for bringing innocent people into it, i do feel sympathy for him. alan: *faceplants into a hard surface* saga: :)

Thanks for reading! I'm having a blast writing this fic :D

[pinkomcranger]

About the white asshole line: it's not as left field as people think tbh There's a similar line in the first AW game from Alice (in the DLC, Wake's version of her since it's all in his head). She uses the term 'while male melodrama'. This is literally Wake's own mind so he knows a lot of stuff he put her through was from a perspective of a person who has a lot of advantages. Back to Saga, that line aligns with the racism we are hinted she dealt with in her field and STILL deals with in present day. Mulligan and Thornton are racist af (haven't seen anyone discuss this yet) to her even if they seem pleasant at the start of the game. Not entirely either, when Saga and Casey meet Mulligan he automatically assumed Casey is the lead agent. He apologizes about it but there's an air that neither him or Thorton take Saga seriously. They barely speak directly to her and instead more to Casey unless she directly speaks to either. It's that seemingly benign, passive racism that is more toxic sometimes, especially in a work environment. In her face they show some surface level, thinly veiled respect but behind her back they called her a 'stuck up FBI bitch'. Part of the horror story adds she let her daughter drown so they doubt her work entirely. And concerning the Bookers, there's this passive aggressive comment where Thorton says the case of the murder of Nightingale would've been solved if the FBI wasn't involved. Thorton says something like "they stick with their own". Now, this could be seen as city folk stick with their own but the Bookers are black, this was purposeful imo. I honestly liked how Remedy incorporated this in such a realistic way. Some could dispute this and say "that's circumstantial/reaching" but lets not forget both Mulligan and Thorton are literally the bastard law enforcement type that kills are the drop of a pin. They killed that woman while enthralled with this feeling of power (referencing the page about it) and threw her body in the well to hide it, blaming the death on each other at first before they decide it's neither of their faults and hide the evidence. They become taken being so twisted in their dark ways. They are bad guys, I'd argue misogynistic too. And lets add a layer of actual parallels to rl racism to the mix here now. If she dealt with that in Bright Falls on her first day I can only imagine the assholes she had to deal with climbing her way up in the FBI, in life in general. This is why her mother is a strong foundation, they are not only close because they loved each other but she made sure she'd be strong. Parents who have mixed kids (black kids especially) know what they will deal with. Maybe even a meta thing like Spiderverse, adding the backlash into the story. Which she did and still does get from gamerz (tm). People STILL bring up that "race swap" from the Quantum Break trailer which is honestly just early concept stuff. Saga is written so well and carefully that even her problems outside the pace of the story seems to have been considered. So while it does seem random and may make people uncomfortable it's purposeful. Remedy really captured this aspect with Saga without making it her personality or the core part of her (like she just there for black trauma, so glad they did not do that and made her a character with experiences). Let's not forget Saga's field of work. We know it's predominantly white. Her saying 'another white asshole' says more about her experiences than anything else. And being at her lowest where her insecurities, doubts, fears thrive it says something about her agency and how sometimes it can feel taken from her based on her skin tone, gender, so forth. Sorry for the long ask! It's just, this line definitely does not feel like it's random to me. I was just shocked I heard it but the game lays down the ground work for it to be said. It's as subtle as the worst kind of racism though imo

I'm VERY interested by imagined!Alice's line because while we don't know if she actually feels that way, we see Alan can acknowledge that he KNOWS how lucky he is by virtue of being a white man, it might not be something he thinks about daily, but he's admitting he's aware of it.

You're right in regards to what Saga deals with in her work environment and most likely her daily life. It sucked for me that Mulligan and Thorton ended up being racist, misogynistic assholes because they truly just seemed like the goofy, slightly dimwitted small-town cops. I think maybe because I haven't actually played the game yet (shame on me, I know! I just managed to get it last month and haven't had the time to dedicate to it like I want) that I kind of brushed Mulligan and Thorton's behavior towards Saga off until we learned their true nature.

But we see how they're more comfortable deferring to Casey over Saga, and we can even see that Casey is NOT the least bit pleased with it. Saga clearly picks up on it, and it's one of the reasons she chooses to leave them with Casey. She can handle the Bookers easier, because yes, they ARE black, she KNOWS they're going to open up to her far easier than if it had been Casey. Do we get reflections of their shared experiences? Not really, but the Bookers weren't going to trust the FBI regardless, Saga being a black woman lowered their defenses a little.

You can argue that she was better suited for talking to the witnesses because it's just her personality, Casey was dry and sarcastic from jump while Saga was the opposite. But did the Bookers know that? Absolutely not. They were less cautious with Saga, Ed especially. They weren't hiding anything to be malicious, they just wanted their own things to be successful.

Hearing Mulligan and Thorton's true thoughts about Saga really tore me up. Not even so much at the fact they felt that way, but because they didn't have the guts to say it to her face. You don't hear that venom directed towards Casey at all, even though he's the EXACT same stuck-up government agent who's worse to them than Saga.

But it's what black people tend to see when dealing with the police force. Condescending, impatient, better-than, bitter, power-hungry and drunk on their self-importance and position of authority. There's a REASON they were made Taken when the Koskela brothers couldn't, but that's really neither here nor there.

Seeing what she had to deal with in Bright Falls from two guys that were SUPPOSED to be on her side and help her is very telling and it made me even more interested in her backstory. How many people actually believed in her when she joined the FBI? Who dismissed her out of pocket simply because of the color of her skin and her gender? You can even get a hint of her past simply by her questioning Casey on why he wants her to be the lead on the case instead of jumping in straight away.

And that's to her PARTNER, a man she’s known and trusted for years, who clearly never had a problem with her being a black woman, or there's no way in hell they'd have the kind of relationship that they do.

Freya being such a strong influence for Saga was evident in her card to her daughter. She knew the struggles Saga was going to face by going after what she wanted to do and never discouraged her. I'll always be bummed over Freya lying to Saga about her being a Seer though. I know it was to try and protect her from even more shit she didn't deserve to go through over something she had no control over. But it almost felt like a vote of no-confidence. And there's no feeling in the world like thinking your mother might not believe in you.

I'm still VERY annoyed at ANYBODY bringing up the "Return" concept from Quantum Break JUST to say Saga was race-swaped when almost NOTHING from that teaser made it to the main game proper. Sam and the team took all of that and flipped it on its head. That was clear the second FBI Alex Casey stepped into the background instead of being in the lead.

I love the fact we don't get the "another white asshole telling me what to do" until the end of the game, and it's when Saga is at her lowest point, when the Dark Presence is trying to do its best to break her down. But like I tend to bring up, Alan says it can't create something out of nothing. Meaning those doubts and resentment were there for a LONG time, and it VERY easily could have been her entire personality.

The fact that it wasn't showed how much thought Remedy put into creating Saga and I appreciate it so much. She wasn't her trauma, she wasn't her anger, she was the exact OPPOSITE of that. She faced her problems with determination and PUNS! Even when shitty things were going on, her mind wandered to humor "More like "Underwatery" I'll have to tell Casey that one later." Speaks volumes about her character.

I think that's one of the reasons she fought SO hard against the horror story. OBVIOUSLY her main motivation was saving Logan, and then Casey. But she wasn't about to let her agency be taken from her like she's been fighting against it for years. She was the one that was going to be in control, she was going to tell this story, and Alan himself (some of that as him being the face of the Dark Presence for her) "no, fuck you. Another white asshole is NOT going to tell me how to live MY life. You're not using my doubts and fears against me to take my family from me"

And she did it, she did what the white man couldn't do on his own in 13 years. How am I NOT supposed to root for her? How could I NOT want to know more about her history? There's no way I can look at Saga Anderson and go, well her story is done, there's nothing else to be written for her. As I said, I do love FBI Casey, but he's practically a blank slate compared to Saga, I could live without him because, for me, outside of his personality (I'm also grumpy and sarcastic), I cannot relate to him.

Despite not being a wife and mother in the FBI, I CAN relate to Saga. I can understand her struggles and pain. I feel her love for her family, I can relate to her love and disappointment towards her mother. The struggle of being a black woman in a world that still caters to white men and the pushback she gets just from existing. I understand her in a way I never could with Alan Wake. I understood and related to his issues as a writer struggling with inspiration. But the thing with that is Alan didn't HAVE to struggle like that, he could have chosen, at any time, to stop being a writer and do something else.

Saga couldn't choose to change the color of her skin. Her challenges would be with her simply because of how she's perceived at first glance. She'll never have the advantages of Alan and Casey in that regard.

I'm sorry for the long answer! But I LOVED your ask, and that's why it took me a hot minute to answer it. I had to get my thoughts in order and give this the response I felt like it deserved. So thank you for letting me see your thoughts towards Saga! ❤️

[infriga]

Finished Alan Wake 2, it was awesome! The mystery was well done, they improved a lot on the first game's mechanics, the characters were fun and interesting, Casey and Saga lived!!! (and technically so did Alan? I think? Alice mentioned that the only ways out were destruction or ascention, and they were on the way to ascention, and the light bullet was from her. I'm glad her suicide wasn't real that one stung when I watched that video ngl lol 😭), I like how they actually did encorporate Alice's photography into the artistic creation powers aspect of the plot like I've wanted them to, and it's even hinted that she's actively working on saving Alan somehow (her light bullet being a part of that presumably), and I like how they pulled an inception style ending where we never actually get to see if Logan picks up when Saga calls her.

I thought it was funny how Alan was like "this is a horror story so for this to work the ending has to be dark, a price has to be paid by one of the heroes" and Saga's response was basically "well clearly Logan, Casey, and I will all survive and thrive. I've earned my happy ending and I won't take no for an answer." leaving Alan as the only option of the 2 heroes to pay the "price" lmao. Like I'm sure he woulda offered anyway and I don't think she was being callous so much as just trying to figure out a way to get her family (which includes Casey of course) out of this in-tact and unharmed, but it still made me laugh how blunt she was about it lol. Saga knew what she wanted and she was getting it, extremely valid. And Alan survived anyway, so like Saga said it's not the end of his story 👀. It's also possible that Saga has her own price to pay in some way, like maybe having to escape the Dark Place still?

There are still some plot threads left unaddressed that I find really interesting:

Odin and Tor went into the lake after Saga and technically her and Casey are still stuck in the dark place as far as I'm aware.

How did Rose get into the dark place, like was that really her there? And if so, how will she get out? Alan said he wasn't sending her messages but her knowledge was way too detailed for it to just be coincidence. Maybe Alice is the one sending her messages? Or maybe they're from the future and Alan hasn't sent them yet?

Wtf is going on with Thomas Zane and why do Ahti, Odin, and Tor keep calling Alan Tom? I keep wondering if maybe Scratch was actually a corrupted Tom who's merged with the Dark Presence or something? But half the time Ahti is calling Alan Tom is before he technically gets possessed.

I theorized in the past that Ahti was the owner of the Oldest House, and someone brought up a good counter theory that Ahti IS the house, as in a projected avatar of its will, which is also very possible. But Alan Wake 2 might possibly contradict that if Ahti is able to leave the house and do stuff outside it and fuck around with other phenomena, which I don't think the house itself would be able to do? Though I could be wrong. So maybe he is the owner of the House and that allows him to leave it and use it to get places normal people can't get to? I know part of Ahti's nature is to be mysterious lol but it's fun to speculate.

Who is Warlin Door and what is his deal??? It sounds like he has a similar thing going on with Saga with both their family lines having special abilities, where Andersons are seers and Doors can travel across/through worlds/dimensions/spaces via their control over "doors". Thinking about it... Saga mentioned that her dad left before she could remember and Tor didn't like her dad for some reason and drove him away, and she used Door's page to figure out how to travel through the dark place. Possible connection there maybe? 👀 Door did mention that someone important to him was dragged into Alan's mess which was why Door got involved. Not to mention the nature of his disappearance. Maybe that someone was Saga. Maybe Tor's beef with him was some sorta blood feud thing between supernatural families. I'm sure we'll learn more about him in future games lol, they drew too much attention to him for him to just be a one-off character.

TIM! He's still stuck in the Dark Place too as far as I know, poor guy. Dunno why door dragged him there and left him there to vibe (maybe so he could give Saga that page when she actually needed it?), but the poor guy deserves freedom too lol.

Who was on the payphone with Saga in the Dark Place? Was it Alice? I feel like it was Alice.

Is the Oceanview Hotel related to the Oceanview Motel? They seem to serve very different purposes and have very different designs/vibes/uses aside from having those symbols on some of the doors, but the name can't be a coincidence. And if they are related, does that mean the Oceanview Motel is connected to Thomas Zane?

These aren't complaints or anything, I'm sure a lot of these points will be addressed in further sequels to either Alan Wake or Control. Hopefully that doesn't take another 13 years to happen this time 😂

I'll have to replay the game at some point because tragically I missed petting 2 deer heads apparently. I'm really tempted to replay Control again atm. The Alan Wake sequel definitely incorporated a lot more of the Control style vibes this time around lol, which I enjoyed a lot, and now I've got a hankering...

[shinigami-striker]

The Game Awards (2023): My Votes | Thursday, 11.30.2023

Here are the nominees (and my votes; excluding nominees for Content Creators, eSports athletes, etc.) the upcoming 2023 Game Awards premiering live on Thursday, December 7, including:

Game of the Year

Alan Wake II

Baldur's Gate 3

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Best Game Direction

Alan Wake II

Baldur's Gate

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Best Narrative

Alan Wake II

Baldur's Gate 3

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Final Fantasy XIV

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Best Art Direction

Alan Wake II

Hi-Fi Rush

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Lies of P

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Best Score & Music

Alan Wake II

Baldur's Gate 3

Final Fantasy XIV

Hi-Fi Rush

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Best Audio Design

Alan Wake II

Dead Space

Hi-Fi Rush

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Resident Evil 4 (2023)

Best Performance

Ben Starr (as Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy XIV)

Cameron Monaghan (as Cal Kestis in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor)

Idris Elba (as Solomon Reed in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty)

Melanie Liburd (as Saga Anderson in Alan Wake II)

Neil Newbon (as Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3)

Yuri Lowenthal (as Peter Parker/Spidey in Marvel's Spider-Man 2)

Innovation in Accessibility

Diablo IV

Forza Motorsport

Hi-Fi Rush

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Mortal Kombat 1

Street Fighter 6

Games For Impact

A Space for the Unbound

Chants of Sennaar

Goodbye Volcano High

Tchia

Terra Nil

Venba

Best Ongoing Game

Apex Legends

Cyberpunk 2077

Final Fantasy XIV

Fortnite

Genshin Impact

Best Community Sport

Baldur's Gate 3

Cyberpunk 2077

Destiny 2

Final Fantasy XIV

No Man's Sky

Best Mobile Game

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis

Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Honkai: Star Rail

Monster Hunter Now

Terra Nil

Best VR/AR Game

Gran Turismo 7

Humanity (video game)

Horizon: Call of the Mountain

Resident Evil Village

Synapse

Best Action Game

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Dead Island 2

Ghostrunner 2

Hi-Fi Rush

Remnant 2

Best Action/Adventure Game

Alan Wake II

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Resident Evil 4

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Best RPG Game

Baldur's Gate 3

Final Fantasy XVI

Lies of P

Sea of Stars

Starfield

Best Fighting Game

God of Rock

Mortal Kombat 1

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

Pocket Bavery

Street Fighter 6

Best Family Game

Disney Illusion Island

Party Animals

Pikmin 4

Sonic Superstars

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Best Sims / Strategy Game

Advance Wars: 1+2 Reboot Camp

Cities: Skylines II

Company of Heroes

Fire Emblem Engage

Pikmin 4

Best Sports / Racing Game

EA Sports FC 24

F1 23

Forza Motorsport

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged

The Crew Motorfest

Best Multiplayer Game

Baldur's Gate 3

Diablo IV

Party Animals

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Street Fighter 6

Best Adaption

Castlevania: Nocturne (Netflix anime)

Gran Turismo (live-action movie)

The Last of Us (live-action TV series)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (animated movie by Illumination & Nintendo)

Twisted Metal (live-action TV series)

Most Anticipated Game

Final Fantasy VII rebirth

Hades II

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Star Wars Outlaws

Tekken 8 (coming 01.26.2024)

The 2023 Game Awards premieres on Thursday, December 7 @ 8:00 P.M.

[bmaxwell]

Alan Wake II

2010's Alan Wake would be high in the running for my most disappointing game ever. The open world tale of a frustrated writer whose stories start bleeding into reality released five years after it was announced (considered a VERY long development period at the time). The setup, vibes, and look of the game landed for me, but the gameplay killed it. It felt like the devs kept throwing combat encounters at me so I wouldn't get bored. I came back to the game several times over the years and bounced off each time.

This process was repeated with Remedy's 2019 release Control. Fascinating fiction, writing, style, and world building with rotten combat and an obtuse map. So any sane person would not fall for it yet again with Alan Wake II. Certainly not as a full price release. Thankfully this time it was different.

Well, different enough.

The way Remedy designs action and traversal in their games just fundamentally does not mesh with me. It's the inverse of the old Blizzard secret sauce. I don't think they are Bad at it since I'm in a minority with that opinion, but as much as I am drawn into the world, the part where I am pressing buttons often yanks me back out. Thankfully Alan Wake II is heavy on the story and aesthetics and lighter on the action.

Remedy's worldbuilding is second to none. I immediately fell in love with the cast and the "every person in this town is just a little bit off" presentation. Saga Anderson and her partner Max Payne Sam Lake Alex Casey as FBI agents investigating a disappearance in this fucked up little Twin Peaks town is just what my wife and I needed for a few weeks in November.

The game opens on a grizzly murder in the woods followed by a weird interaction in the local diner and it just spirals out from there. There's a cult of people in deer masks, dead naked dudes walking out of Cauldron Lake, a defunct coffee-themed amusement park, and the Koskela Brothers with their wonderful commercials. And good old Ahti. It's a rich tapestry of weirdness and I love it.

Like with 2019's excellent 13 Sentinels, early on I decided to just go along for the ride wherever the writers wanted to take me rather than try to hyper analyze it all. Alan Wake is trapped in the lake and he has to write himself out but there's a bad version of him named Mr Scratch who is already out causing trouble and wait now the real Alan is out too? Also Alan made his fame writing a fictional detective named Alex Casey and one of the agents investigating him is also named Alex Casey? And Thomas Zane and Barbara Jagger and and and...

Alan has written Saga Anderson into his story as the hero in an attempt to free himself from the Dark Place* and in the process has endangered her and those close to her. Maybe? Everything that happens has to be filtered through your "This might not be real" filter. Eventually Alan escapes the Dark Place and the game has you switch between playing as Alan and Saga in an attempt to unravel all the strange happenings in the town of Bright Falls.

Along your journey you will encounter a murderer's row of memorable weirdoes:

Saga's FBI partner Alex Casey. Alex Casey is also the name of the protagonist in Alan Wake's bestselling series of books. Total coincidence.

Rose. She works in the Oh Deer! diner in town. The first time you meet her, she addresses you by name as if she's known you for years and gives her condolences for the passing of your daughter last year. The one you just talked to on the phone.

Jaarko and Illmo Koskela. These guys run a wildlife tour in the area as well as the Coffee World amusement park. Their live action commercials are a highlight of the game.

Tor and Odin Anderson. These two old guys live in the local retirement home, but they used to be in a band called The Old Gods of Asgard.

Thomas Zane. He apparently disappeared into the lake decades ago much like Alan. He made a short little arthouse film that I watched in the game.

Ahti. The cryptic janitor from Control appears in this game as well. I love him.

Warlin Door. He's the late-night talk show host frequently interviewing a confused Alan Wake. He's definitely a key player in the story and I still am not 100% sure how.

The confidence they show in wedging live action sequences and frequent references to their past work into their video game is the work of a development team at the height of its power. Two musical numbers stand out in the game: "Herald of Darkness" which everyone knows and was performed live at the 2023 game awards, and "Dark Ocean Summoning" which was less acclaimed but awfully damn cool.

A lot of the videogame-y parts didn't land for me. I didn't enjoy the combat, I found much of the Alan gameplay tedious, and the Mind Place / Storyboard elements are better on paper than in practice. No matter, the game's highs are so high, and the things it gets right work so well that I can overlook its shortcomings. I'll take ambitious and flawed over safe and rote any day.

I'm invested in this story and this world now. I'm onboard for the ongoing mysteries surrounding Saga's origins and her daughter, Alan's madness and Alice's...well, Alice's whole deal. Alan Wake 3, the inevitable Alan Wake 2 DLC, Control 2...I'm in for whatever's next.

*Alan is not an especially strong writer.

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

April At A Glance

(Given how much I post, I thought it might be worthwhile to try doing a monthly list of all of my edits — please let me know what you think of the idea because I’m very much not sure!)

Luna Hale bio

Reese Masrani & @decennia‘s Selina Merrick + Trouble

Lyra Lovell moodboard

Aurora Anderson + Embassy Row (TV) Aesthetic

Cassia Potter + I’m Not Your Hero

Aurora Anderson + Embassy Row Aesthetic

Beatrice Devereaux moodboard

Ivy Knight & Malcolm Merlyn Scene

Benjamin Bridgerton moodboard

Eudora Donovan moodboard

Adhara Black & Rosalind Greengrass + You look just like your mother

Hannah Dawnwell moodboard

Kyla Keller & @decennia‘s Guy LeMieux + Cruel Summer

Cassandra Aelius moodboard

Jessica Wheeler moodboard

Benjamin Bridgerton x Edwina Sharma + The Lakes

Scout Stilinski moodboard

Cassiopeia introduction

Faye Anderson moodboard

The Final Countdown introduction

Kitty Hotchkiss moodboard

Kirsty Gilmore AU: Begin Again

Kyla Keller & @decennia​‘s Guy LeMieux + Young God

Aurélia Agreste + The Batfamily

Angelica Hopper bio

Nikki Rogers & The Science Kids

Stevie Cooper bio

Cassia Potter + Grief

Rebecca Wayland moodboard

Harriet Warwick x Anthony Bridgerton + Jane Austen

Chelsea Geller moodboard

Austin Geller moodboard

Cassia Potter + The Captain Of My Fate quote

Stephanie Carter bio

Nikki Rogers profile

Joy Schuester bio

Julietta Drake x Jason Todd + Hope Ur Okay

Remi Alcott moodboard

Nikki Rogers + Blue & Pink

Elle Winchester Tropes

Aurora Anderson + Representation

Erin Humphrey moodboard

Colton Cartwright x Finn Hudson + Taylor Swift

Saga Thorsdottir x Steve Rogers + Photograph

Valentina Wolfe x Audrey Hope + Boyfriend

Aspen Linwood moodboard

Atlas Black x Dimitri Volkov + Family

Amethyst Andrews + Whispers

Colton Cartwright x Finn Hudson + Taylor Swift

Amelia Bolton moodboard

Nikki Rogers + Wake Up

Brielle Livingston moodboard

Verona Rosier + King

Katherine Wayne moodboard

Invictus + Bury A Friend

Colton Cartwright x Finn Hudson + Taylor Swift

Katherine Wayne + My City Of Ruins

Jacob Hopper moodboard

Katherine Wayne intro

Kinsley Kord x Dick Grayson + I Need A Hero

Reese Masrani intro

Carlotta Falcone intro

Julietta Drake + Edge Of Dawn

Aveline Fox

Jaqueline Grant & Brady Mariano moodboards

Bobbie Fortescue moodboard

Reese Masrani moodboard

Aurélia Agrese as Batgirl

Aurélia Agreste as Delphyne

Emily Patterson + Colours

Kirsty Gilmore + Colours

Abbie Hudson + Colours

(all birthday exchange gifts)

(all belated gifmas edits)

current giveaway

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