#control and then finally alan wake 2

[fras-redacted-shapes]

Paranatural women and their sidekicks!

is it just me or so they have the same hairstyles?

#FBC coffee is disgusting actually #casey gets the uncool mug too #alan wake 2 #saga anderson #alex casey #jesse faden #emily pope #control remedy #control 2019 #control game #remedy games #remedy connected universe #artists on tumblr #my art #fan art #fanart #control game fanart #alan wake fanart #very excited for all the new technological advances Remedy is doing #that way they can finally have more than ponytails headbuns and whatever emily's and casey's haircut is called lmao

[voluntarysubmission]

What's happening at the Oldest House during Alan Wake 2?

(Spoilers for ALL of Control, ALL of Alan Wake 2, including Final Draft.)

LET'S SPECULATE.

From Control, we know:

The Oldest House is on lockdown until the Hiss is completely cleansed, so it can't get out.

Jesse was witness to (a version of) Alan's conversation with Zane at the Oceanview Hotel/Motel.

Alan's writing definitely affected the way things went down at the Investigations Department - but to what extent he directly caused it to happen vs just influenced things already under way is debatable.

The Investigations Department control room for monitoring stations got an alert from the Bright Falls/Cauldron Lake station, dated "from the future", aka. 2023, when AW2 is set.

We don't explicitly know how long the events of Control are in terms of Jesse's perception of time. At least a few weeks, based on the hair growth we see in Dylan after the events in the Foundation. So from the lockdown starting in 2019, they think it's been a few weeks.

This is a SUPER tenous connection, but: after completing Foundation and meeting some hidden criteria, you get a bonus scene when interacting with Dylan, and one of the images that flashes up (the frames are shown clearly at the end of the youtube video) might be a picture looking up from inside the Huotari Well.

There have been FBC agents in Bright Falls for a while, and they were aware of the events of Alan Wake 1. Agent Estevez was acknowledged as being an agent from Investigations sending reports from the site, including complaining that the researchers at the Lake House won't share findings with her.

From Alan Wake 2, we know:

The Oldest House is still "dark". The Taken sometimes say "The Oldest House has gone dark", and in the Sheriff's Station Attacked manuscript, an FBC Agent called Young praises Estevez thinking "Estevez had held it together even after the Oldest House had gone dark".

The FBC is still operating outside the Oldest House. Despite it being a few years since the start of the lockdown, they have agents in the field currently working.

There have been researchers in Bright Falls since the first AWE there. The Research crew is at a facility called the Lake House near Cauldron Lake. This facility is manned when Saga first arrives (you can press on the call box there and ask an agent to send backup, they just say "The station heads are not currently available" - given it's plural, I think they're referring to Dr Marmont and Dr Marmont, the married FBC scientists.)

The Lake House was attacked by Taken, and is considered lost by Estevez, so that happened during the events of AW2.

A project of one Dr Campbell is specifically ongoing - the children's rhymes around the place. Dr Campbell himself is present up until just before the Dark Ocean Summoning events - if you complete the rhymes, you hear things go badly for him.

Estevez says that there is no further backup - they ARE the backup, when Saga asks if more help is available.

Dr Darling, who went missing just before the Hiss invaded in 2019, as spent 665 days minimum in the Dark Place. That's about a year and 9 months, though we don't know when during his stay that the recording happened.

So what can we conclude from all this stuff?

First, the Oldest House is still in lockdown, and has been for years, from the perspective of outside the house. There are several theories about what is happening inside the house, but it seems certain that from the outside world, HQ locked up and went quiet.

My main theory about what is happening on the inside of the house, is that as soon as the house went into lockdown, the passage of time there changed relative to... uh, the normal Earth dimension. Time in the Oldest House is going very slowly.

The two points of evidence for this are the AWE alert in Investigations for Cauldron Lake - Langston says it's coming from the future, but I think it's actually coming from the present - the inside of the House just isn't aware they've been lost for years. The second point of evidence is the conversation Jesse "eavesdrops" on between Zane and Alan - the version we see in Control ihas very similar dialogue to what we see in AW2, which may imply a certain "syncing". But this is more tenuous because of course, Alan has been going through loops so who knows how many times he's had this conversation with Zane. His hair is longer in this conversation in Control than in AW1, but not as long as it is in AW2, so, meh. I still think it's evidence though. You do "see" Jesse calling out "Hello?" in the AW2 version of the scene... I swear she calls out in Control but I can't find it.

The other option is that the house is still on lockdown because it's truly taken them YEARS stuck on the inside to clear out the Hiss, which would set up Control 2 for an interesting starting point. The nature of the Oldest House is such that it's existence, and to a lesser effect by association the FBC, are imperceptible by people who aren't otherwise aware of them. It's not unfeasible that this had the effect of making field agents unlikely to try and find out what happened, even if they knew about the House. But then, while they don't directly address it in Control, the people in the House DO have limited supplies of food and drinkable water inside. People trapped in the lost department (processes and protocols office) in the Foundation were concern about supplies and went looking for food, though ultimately died due to the Astral Spike (Gibbs survived long enough to become a Hiss though? So maybe she survived... or stopped needing to eat. IDK it's the house, it's weird).

I just think the first option is more likely than the second. I think come Control 2, the lockdown will lift and the FBC will find itself years out of date with the external world, scrambling to catch up with the field agents and researchers, and all the altered items and AWEs that have occurred without them being able to properly contain things.

But this all brings me to my main point, which was the reason I wrote all this down and speculated on it to begin with.

To me, the most astounding thing to realise is the Federal Bureau of Control's payroll system is iron clad. Despite the house being in lockdown, despite no department heads to approve budgets and expenditure, all FBC agents outside the House are STILL WORKING FOR THE FBC!!!! They would NOT be doing that if the paychecks stopped (maybe some of the more obsessive scientists... but generally no). The scientists at the Lake House have up until the night of Dark Ocean Summoning still been doing research - and presumably have project budgets and expenditures. They have technicians to regularly call on to check on the monitoring station and fix it after the Koskelas break it, who also get paid. The system functions!!! Like clockwork!!!

Now idk how USA federal government payroll works. It probably is just as simple as the FBC agents are all paid from the same place that the FBI does, I imagine it's somewhat centralised. And the Oldest House's perception protection probably means the reports get stamped and the pay goes through without being paid attention to. But this is the government we're talking about here, there's fuck ups and salary freezes and system errors and database issues. But these agents have been working on their own for YEARS! They are paying their bills! They are getting their holidays! They are filing their taxes!

Now THAT'S what I call a process to admire. No matter how catastrophic the disaster affecting HQ is, these government workers WILL get their paychecks and continue just doing their jobs and filing their reports. Incredible.

#alan wake 2 #alan wake 2 spoilers #alan wake final draft #final draft #final draft spoilers #control #remedy control #remedy verse #remedy connected universe #federal bureau of control #jesse faden #thomas zane #alan wake

[thedogtorwho]

Literally, this works either way around, but still.

#Alan Wake 2 Spoilers #Dr Darling #Thomas Zane #The Final Draft #Alan Wake 2 #Control #I love them :)

[alittlesliceofcucumber]

So a friend and I were having a long talk about Alan Wake 2 because he just finished playing the game and we were talking about Zane and Darling and how they could come back in the future. So then we started talking about the possibility of them showing up in Control 2.

Then my friend said what if you're just playing the game as Jesse and then all of a sudden a new mission pops up on screen titled:

'The Filmmaker and His Muse'

and i have not thought about anything else since afhshkwndk

#we came up with a lot of cool theories tbh #which i might make a separate post about #but this part was definitely a standout #alan wake 2 #alan wake 2 spoilers #the final draft spoilers #control #control remedy #control 2019 #alan wake #thomas zane #tom zane #casper darling #dr darling #jesse faden #random fandom ramblings

[velvetjune]

Remedy took THE most obnoxious (saying this affectionately) characters in their two most recent games and made them team up, and I think that’s beautiful. Zane and Darling better show up more together

#alan wake 2 #control 2019 #thomas zane #casper darling #control remedy #it would be funnier if they end up dating (?) too #final draft spoilers

[duckysamlake]

Matthew Porretta fr 🗣️

instagram

#finally posted someone that isn't Sam Lake 😞 #matthew porretta #dr casper darling #dr darling #robin hood #robin hood: men in tights #control rememdy #alan wake #alan wake 2 #alan wake ii #I don't like this drawing lmao

[lostinthewoodsomewhere]

My little Control/Remedey corner!!

#remedy control #control 2019 #remedyverse #though honestly its mainly Control #also fun fact it was Alan Wake 2 that finally convinced me to get the Xbox!! #so naturally I called the console Jesse Faden!

[plaidwearinghunters]

#alan wake #alan wake 2 #listen #i haven't even played the game yet #i just saw that part in a twitch stream #and that was what finally convinced me to start playing AW in the first place #and now i'm playing control while waiting for AW2 to download #which is taking a long time considering my download speed is about 1mb/s (on a good day. usually it's even less) #alan wake 2 spoilers #kind of i guess... #eh whatever #also this is like an actual problem #i have to submit my bachelor thesis in less than 2 weeks and all my brain does is blast herald of darkness on repeat #memes #low quality memes #am i talking about the image resolution or the meme itself #the world may never know

[cryyymetothemoon]

the unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest

#finally got a large enough chunk of time without homework to start playing this game and oh my god is it a fucking banger #sam lake my bestie my beloved I am in your walls #my art #fanart #artists on tumblr #digital art #alan wake 2 #alan wake ii #alan wake fanart #alan wake #mr scratch #horror #video games #remedyverse #remedy connected universe #remedy entertainment #control remedy #control game #ilkka villi #matthew porretta #sapphy draws

[ilkkawhat]

PLAYTHROUGH SIX!! GIVE IT UP FOR PLAYTHROUGH NUMBER SIX!!!

#mk.op #mk plays alan wake 2 #for the sixth time #final draft for the third time #i just…i need something comforting #(and i keep dying at control so i’m rage quitting)

[quokkafoxtrot]

Darling lives!

Hello, Darling

#quokka plays #alan wake 2 #Alan wake 2 spoilers #control remedy #control spoilers #the final draft #so if darling ended up in the dark place then it’s not too far fetched to #assume that the murder scene at the end of the tunnel is a part of the oldest house #which in turn makes it plausible that the dark place is a part of the oldest house #especially given ahti’s appearance in both the dark place and bright falls #something something the hiss and the taken behave similarly something something #not an invasion but an internal infection? #darling is my favourite character I will continue to wax rhapsodic and gleeful about my insane theories #edit: the videos only appear in the oceanview hotel #(so far) #I may have missed one

[lemongwenn]

#Alan wake #alan wake 2 #final fantasy 16 #ps5 #play station #steam deck #epic games store #xbox series x #video games #tumblr polls #remedy entertainment #control remedy

[gamesline]

As he does every year, Scott B @fkasocks treats us to another series of anxious ramblings masquerading as a game of the year list. #1 on this list is going to be Baldur's Gate 3. There's no way around it. All he can do is stall until the inevitable happens.

#goty 2023 #game of the year #aew: fight forever #alan wake #alan wake 2 #armored core vi: fires of rubicon #baldur’s gate 3 #control #exoprimal #final fantasy 16 #final fantasy 6 #Fire Emblem Engage #lies of p #lord of the rings gollum #myhouse.wad #redfall #remnant 2 #resident evil 4 remake #shadows of doubt #super mario rpg remake #the legend of zelda: tears of the kingdom

[prototypelq]

okay, so apparently the coolest thing about TGA this year is : BG3 getting the well-deserved GOTY, Old Gods of Asgard performance and a musical-game about a deaf girl (YAY FOR SOCIALLY IMPORTANT GAMES). Not bad, not bad at all.

#also not really worth loosing sleep over unless you have company and can suffer together xD #bless games journalists for news coverage and sacrificing their sleep #i am watching everything about alan wake 2 SO HARD when i finally get to it #remeby have captured me with control and im biting and holding and shaking them like a bulldog does with a favourite toy #the game awards #the game awards 2023

[velvetjune]

how am i supposed to take dr darling’s final videos in control and his ominous demise seriously when the first update we get on him in alan wake 2: the final draft is him holding hands with thomas zane

#to be fair it was already silly with the dynamite music video at the end #i just can’t believe for all these years I’ve been #‘oh no is he dead? will i ever see his character again? is he some strange changed higher being?’ #then he’s literally just hanging out in the oceanview making silly science gadgets and drinking with zane 😭 #alan wake 2 #control 2019 #control remedy #thomas zane #casper darling #just finished control (again) with platinum 🥳 managed to do the Marshall fight without assists this time #got very sad over Marshall’s message with how being director changed trench and damaged their relationship #also. lots of suspicious stuff with the board I didn’t fully notice before #final draft spoilers #alan wake 2 spoilers

[subjxctseventeen]

no spoilers i promise but quantum break fans how are we feeling about alan wake 2 because i am LIVING

#i'm 12 hrs in and i literally cannot breathe every time i read tim's updated whiteboard #someone tell me i'm not losing my mind bc i sense... #qb finally being recognized in the control/aw universe?? #beyond a handful of easter eggs?? #(i am still on my hands and knees begging microsoft and remedy for a qb sequel i need it like i need oxygen) #quantum break #alan wake #alan wake 2 #also idk i won't make this a separate post bc i enjoy rambling in tags #look i will always be an assassin's creed girlie at heart but... i think aw2 is the best game i've played all year #followed by phantom liberty #and mirage is... a distant third #or fourth depending on how i feel about totk it depends on the week lol #remedyverse