#federal bureau of control

[solid-six]

Control - Patterns & Textures

#control #control game #control remedy #remedy control #remedy entertainment #remedyverse #jesse faden #federal bureau of control #the oldest house #virtual photography #video game textures #video game patterns #video game scenery

[bugcowboyart]

Scratch’s Playthings

The FBC Nursery Rhymes are one of my favorite parts of Alan Wake II, not only were they fun to puzzle out I also just love the idea of some business person running around making handicrafts and clothespin dolls. I wanted to combine that with my absolute appreciation of the environments and props in this game and here’s the result.

Might end up buying the supplies to make my own clothespin Saga and Wake!

#alan wake 2 #alan wake ii #alan wake fanart #Alan wake #saga anderson #the mind place #the writers room #fbc #federal bureau of control #remedy games #remedy connected universe #AWE

[n1ghtw1ng-scp]

#best way to describe me #this image #scp foundation #aperture #black mesa #federal bureau of control

[doctorenoch]

WELCOME TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF CONTROL

#control remedy #remedy entertainment #remedyverse #control #roleplay #alan wake 2 #federal bureau of control #alan wake

[divvy-div-art]

this was mildly funnier in my head

#it's the “tails wake up! you fucked up big time” meme btw #just in case it's secretly super niche #which i doubt but i've heard three different people say they've never seen that meme so #i felt the need to add context #btw when i say 'mildly funnier' i mean i was actively giggling while drawing it #jesse faden #jesse faden control #jesse control #control 2019 #control remedy #remedy control #remedy entertainment #the board #board #the board control #federal bureau of control #control fanart #fanart #meme #control meme #i've not drawn literally anything since like early october #i'm super rusty and did not trust myself to make anything serious #so i just had fun #gotta work my way back up to my normal level of comfort and then continue trying to improve #it's a process yknow?

[anthurak]

One of my favorite things about Control is just how completely and utterly nuts/bonkers/GONE the FBC is as one of these ‘secret government blackops’ groups.

Like this is a trope we’re all fairly familiar with at this point; some secret government organization formed to monitor, contain and research all kinds of weird shit and keep it secret from the public. Also they may or may not have kinda gone totally rogue somewhere along the way and might now answer only to themselves at this point in a ‘who watches the watchers?’ commentary on the need for oversight.

But the more you find out about the Federal Bureau of Control, the more it becomes clear they just so utterly past ANY of that by the time the game begins. And have been for basically the last fifty some odd years.

Like here is a basic overview of the FBC that you learn within the first thirty or so minutes of the game: They are a secret government organization dedicated to the containment, cataloguing and research of supernatural artifacts and events. They are headquartered in what they call ‘The Oldest House’, a tall, imposing yet utterly nondescript building in the middle of New York City that is literally impossible for anyone to enter or even notice unless they already know about it. And the interior of the building is actually a twisting extradimensional labyrinth that also opens up to other dimensions/realities and might actually be the World Tree Yggdrasil. It also kind of hates any technology made in the last twenty years. And apparently Number 2 Pencils.

Oh, and the FBC doesn’t really report to the US Government. They report to a floating, inverted black pyramid that exists in a space outside of known reality that might also be the collective human subconscious. The pyramid is colloquially referred to as ‘The Board’ and they are an extradimensional entity/group of entities that appoints the Director of the FBC via the use of a physics-defying geometric gun called ‘The Service Weapon’ that is probably Excalibur/Mjolnir/every other legendary weapon in human myth. They also speak in word-salads and probably know they are in a video game.

See, back in 1964 when the FBC first discovered The Oldest House, they basically decided ‘WOW, this place is cool! Let’s make it our new headquarters!’ and promptly moved in. This was also when the current Director at the time found the Service Weapon within The Oldest House, made contact with/was chosen by The Board and from the point on the FBC really hasn’t answered to the US Government anymore.

Also, the Government basically doesn’t even know the Bureau even EXISTS anymore. Remember how The Oldest House has this kind of ‘Perception Filter’ that prevents almost anyone from entering it or even noticing it, which is how basically nobody can find it despite the fact that it is right in the middle of New York City? Well, after they moved in and became effective ‘residents’ of the house, this filter started applying to the FBC itself. They basically CAN’T be noticed or remembered at this point by anyone who isn’t part of the organization. The reason this secret organization can operate entirely off the grid and can’t be tracked is because they literally have freaky extradimensional reality-warping covering their tracks.

This is what I meant when I said that the FBC is just so far GONE. At this point, the FBC is itself a crazy, supernatural thing in and of itself.

Other fun details about the FBC include:

The Bureau facilities in The Oldest House are not powered by coal, oil or nuclear power. No, instead the lights are kept on by a former director who went a tad power-mad and lost control of his pyrokinesis, so the Bureau locked him up in a giant ‘Sarcophagus Containment’ unit and now use him as a power-generator.  He also sometimes talks through the waste-disposal furnace to try and get people to bring him human sacrifices.

The maintenance sector of the FBC includes an area called the ‘Black Rock Quarry’. The so called ‘black rock’ is an extra-dimensional mineral that, among other things, blocks and dampens supernatural effects and abilities. Needless to say, the Bureau mines the stuff extensively. Now, despite being within The Oldest House, the Black Rock Quarry is an open-top quarry. To space.

One of the ways Bureau personnel get around is via pull-strings that show up all over The Oldest House. Pull a string three times and you are transported to the Oceanview Motel, a quaint little motel that probably exists outside of known reality because no one has ever been able to actually go or see outside the motel. Once you’re there, you just ring the bell on the front desk three times, do some random task and procure a room key. The key opens a door, but only one with an inverted black pyramid. From there, you pull another string and are transported back to somewhere else in The Oldest House. So basically a rather convoluted teleportation system. There are also doors with other symbols that probably go to other realities, but the Bureau hasn’t figured out how to open them. Though one does seem to lead to a void of malevolent darkness that feeds off human creativity and is currently holding one Alan Wake.

Also, the bureau’s janitor is probably a Finnish Sea God.

#control #control 2019 #federal bureau of control #ahti the janitor #rambling about one of my favorite games

[zowiemortem]

I want more AW memes, show me some!more!

#alan wake 2 #alan wake #control #remedy games #jesse faden #control remedy #thomas zane #tom zane #koskela brothers #ilmo koskela #jaakko koskela #alan wake ii #alan wake meme #federal bureau of control #ilkka villi #alan wake 2 spoilers

[x3nka]

Jesse Faden from Control :3

#artists on tumblr #my art #digital art #illustration #jesse faden #control remedy #control game #federal bureau of control #female protagonist

[gentleman-velvet]

The FBC did not have things handled

#alan wake 2 #alan wake #alan wake meme #alan wake 2 spoilers #alan wake spoilers #memes #dank memes #remedy #the fbc #federal bureau of control

[theriainwonderland]

I have to remember: the Hiss. The Hiss is the enemy.

- Jesse Faden, Control

#control remedy #jesse faden #remedy control #dylan faden #zachariah trench #the hiss #fbc #federal bureau of control #control game #virtual photography #photo mode

[div-divington]

Been binge watching X-Files recently and I've always wanted to make a fake Altered Item file cuz it seemed fun

It was fun.

#the paranatural property is that it imbues a simultaneous sense of scepticism and desire to believe #it basically sat in that office for a decade absorbing the emotional resonance of mulder and scully #and it projects a concentrated form of that on people who look at it #which the last bit of redacted text says makes it a useful tool for training FBC agents #cuz it makes them better investigators #cuz scully and mulder were at their best when they worked together :) and the poster gives somebody both their best properties #obviously this isn't very lore friendly #cuz if X-Files and Control existed in the same universe the FBC would never have allowed the X-Files to exist #unless they deemed it a useful tool ig #anyway #txf #x-files #x files #fox mulder #dana scully #frederick langston #federal bureau of control #control #control 2019 #control remedy #crossover #possible other anomalous property: the poster makes coworkers have very not-platonic feelings for each other #that they don't act on properly ever #and it drives everybody forced to watch crazy

[solid-six]

Control - Patterns & Textures

#control #control game #control remedy #remedy control #remedy entertainment #remedyverse #federal bureau of control #the oldest house #video game textures #video game patterns #video game scenery #virtual photography

[bugcowboyart]

Me, Delusional: draws a future where Estevez gets her tour t-shirt (and her ex-wife back) and Casey is just cool and normal

#alan wake fanart #old gods of asgard #alan wake 2 #alan wake spoilers #alan wake ii #alan wake ii spoilers #alan wake 2 spoilers #Alex Casey #Sam Lake #poets of the fall #kiran estevez #agent Estevez #agent casey #fbc #federal bureau of control

[refrigerated-conscience]

levitate is the best ability

holy. shit. i just got levitate and it is quite literally game-changing. launch is forever my babe but *levitate*???? holy shit. its so fun. its so versatile. i can fly around and chuck rocks at people. i can fly around and shoot (missing 90% of my shots lmao). i cannot wait to explore the other levels now i've got this

also here's some more pics i took during the quest to stop the TV

tumblr is dogging the quality of pics unfortunately :/

#control #control 2019 #control game #levitate #jesse faden #federal bureau of control #video game

[xylathesilkwing]

Incorrect Control Twitter Posts

#control 2019 #control remedy #control #Jesse Faden #Emily pope #Jesse x Emily #Frederick Langston #Simon Arish #fbc #federal bureau of control #go on. eat the mold. you won’t die probably #coming out as a Jesse x Emily shipper I love them let them kiss remedy #If y’all want more lmk!! #incorrect control #control meme

[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