oceanview || ❝ i must guide my love through the night. ❞

[outlierdirector]

OCEANVIEW II

into the dark, dark, dark.

I’m fighting to save my love somеhow
I cannot feel her by my side
Even in this placе inside my mind CODE BY TESSISAMESS

Comments

[crazyisinevitable]

[ Maybe words are all he has, if he can't rely on actions to show her how much he hates everything about what he's being forced to do. She knows the story forces his hand, but is this the story or is this him? Either way, he knows it's not what she wants. It's not what he wants. And reading between the lines of Tim's words, the once-sheriff is following directions given to him by Alan himself, just at some point in the future.

That doesn't make Alan feel better about any of this. Maybe the truth of the matter is, he has neither words nor actions to use at his disposal. Didn't he say once that the words were gone, that he needed new words but couldn't find them? Maybe he's just been deluding himself this whole time, thinking that he could write the right words to fix the story and use both words and actions to tell Jesse that she's helping him along the way.

Maybe all he's been doing is stringing both of them along. Maybe there is no saving him. But there has to be, doesn't there? Why else would he have sent Tim with directions to do... soemthing? But what is that something? Alan as he is right now hasn't the slightest clue what that is. Maybe the paper Tim's holding will tell him. He'll probably hate it, but it has to have a purpose. Tim certainly seems to believe it does. ]

What is it? Why would I give it to you and tell you to come here now? [ Alan frowns and his eyebrows furrow. He always knew Jesse couldn't stay forever, but the timing of Tim's arrival is hardly desirable, even though he knows it's not the other man's fault. It's probably not even his future self's fault, although Alan wishes he could have waited just a little bit longer.

... Although, in reality, he would have always wanted just a little bit longer. ]

I can't see how the loops are going to end. I know the ending that I- that we want, but I don't- Will we ever get to that end?

[ When the darkness drags Alan away and then spits him back out, it really feels like he'll never see that ending. He believes in it, of course, but he's unsure if he'll ever see it. ]

Jesse- [ He says her name too, echoing Tim unwittingly, but he breaks off before he can say more. Her resolve to stay with him, to not leave him in the dark... it hits Alan like a ton of bricks. He's fought so long, but he hasn't been alone. Jesse and Tim have both helped him countless times along the way, and he doesn't feel like he's alone.

But he has a feeling that if Tim takes Jesse now, he might not see her again for a long time. He won't be alone, because he'll have the memory of them, unless the Dark Presence rips it away from him again, but the writer's room will be quiet. Quiet except for the sound of his typing and his pacing the floorboards. They'll be gone.

Maybe it's for the best, though. The Dark Place isn't safe for anyone. It's not safe for him, but it's definitely not safe for either of them. It would be selfish of him to ask Jesse to stay. He won't ask that, not ever. He'll come home to her, one day, but he won't ask her to stay here with him.

Alan freezes when he hears the sound at the door. He knows what it means, and he knows what's coming. They don't need to be here to see it. If they're here when it's over, they'll be in danger. His hand clenches into a fist as he watches the two people he cares about most around here, the only friendly faces he's seen, other than Ahti the janitor. They have to go before this place tears into them too. ]

I'll keep it safe, Tim. You- you should go. [ Alan's voice wavers and he seems to pale visibly, but he doesn't react more than that. ] Jesse, I...

[ That breaking sensation only grows worse, but there's nothing he can do about it. He watches Tim wrap his arms around her, watches her pushing against him trying to break free. He knows she can't, not this time.

He raises a hand to reach for her, to maybe touch her one last time, but he's too far away, and... and just like that, Tim and Jesse vanish as if they were never there. The page that Tim dropped is still where it fell, but Alan hasn't moved to pick it up yet.

Alan's hand falls to his side, and he just stands there staring motionless at the place where his two friends were. ]

... Goodbye.

[ He says it to the empty room, and after a moment, knowing that eventually the scratching will stop and darkness itself will invade the room again, Alan grabs the page off the floor, crosses to the desk, and falls into the chair.

Alone again. His eyes scan the page, and a strange feeling of familiarity that does nothing to counter the sudden loneliness he feels takes hold of him as he reads the words written on it. ]

[outlierdirector]

I can't tell you the future, Alan. Not directly. I can say it gets better. You're both happier.

[ Jesse's eyes widen slightly in worry at the Writer's paling face. The Dark Presence is coming back. She has to stay to help him. It's why he brought her here--to pull him out of the waters the Dark Presence pushes him under. There is a slightly shake of her head. She's not going.

She's staying here with him.

The next thing Jesse can truly register is the feeling and sounds of the Oceanview Motel.

The gentle music plays from some radio somewhere she can't truly ever locate. The lights are dimmed, as the connection to the Dark Place remains. Her own crazy wall is down the end of the hallway.

All Jesse can feel is numbness.

Tim gently unwraps his arms from her. He takes a step back. For a moment, Jesse simply stands where she is. The same spot she always shows up in before a loop begins. The same place the Light Switch Cord brings her.

The hallway filled with doors to places she can't reach.

She takes a half step, but finds herself crumbling down to her knees. Her hands catch her to help soften the blow. It's almost as if everything has been drained out of her at once. The constant fight against the Darkness within the Dark Place shows then, but her eyes are simply locked onto the floor of the Motel.

« I left him there. We left him there. After all of that... the show... everything... hes just THERE. Still. Stuck. What was the point of it?! What good is being awake going to do if its going to push him down again?! Why--why does this always happen? Why do I keep LEAVING people behind?! I'm supposed to be different now. I'm the Director! » ]

Jesse. For what it's worth? He's going to get out.

[ Jesse raises her eyes to Tim. He has moved past her and is standing up next to one of the chairs. In his hand is a dimly illuminated manuscript page, crumbled into a ball. Her eyebrows knit together. Alan... had left that page here. Hadn't he? He didn't want anyone to see it again. It... it was...

« Scratch. From the loop where he killed me. Why does "Tim" want it? » ]

Safe keeping. [ Tim's reacts almost as if he's heard her thoughts. ] I know Alan won't want to touch it at all. We can't risk someone or something getting a hold of it. So, I'll hang on to it now. Just like you keep holding onto the one he gave you. And... it might take a while, but, he'll come home, Jesse. I promise.

[ Jesse stares at the spot Tim stands even once he disappears as he had appeared in the room Alan remains trapped in. She shifts, leaning sideways until she hits a door. She leans entirely against it and closes her eyes. She doesn't need to see to know what door she's against. There's been plenty of shouting and pounding on it in hopes of somehow garnering the attention of the man on the otherside.

Jesse lowers her head and raises a hand to rest against the door. Then, her head leans against it too.

« I was supposed to bring him home. »

The manuscript rests in Alan's hands. Perfectly typed with no signs of edits or damage. Prestine. Everything on it happening as it should.

Tim Breaker was someone who ever went back on a promise. Even if that promise was made in another time. Another world. Places where faces were different and names changed. But, still, the same people.

He promised to help Wake when he needed it. "That's what friends do," he said once.

Wake needed a favor.

The Dark Presence -- Scratch -- was going to come for Wake again. It always did. It needed his mind to create a story where it could be free. Relentlessly trying to take the Writer for thirteen years. Wake fought back as long and hard as he could. Fought to the point of breaking multiple times. Fought until he needed a hero.

He couldn't let one of the heroes be trapped like he was. Faden couldn't be taken like he had been. Her guiding star wouldn't allow it to happen. But, the Dark Presence could break her like it broke Cynthia Weaver. Make her watch as it destroyed the man she loved over and over again until nothing of him remained. Until he wasn't Alan Wake.

Just a facade of a person turned into a character made write like a puppet on strings.

Wake needed Breaker's promise to save Faden. He couldn't get out of the Dark Place if Faden was trapped and broken. He needed her out to save him. The story needed her.

Wake needed the woman he loved alive to keep driving him to escape.

He nudged Faden's guiding star to help Breaker find them. Down in the depths of the Dark Place. Once he was there, Breaker could take Faden back to the place the loop would start.

The Oceanview Motel.

Breaker could easily walk through the doors now. Even if he hated it.