Poetic License [Thomas Zane/Alan Wake]
Tom regrets giving birth to Alan Wake—this foolish, innocent, doe-eyed man spending about thirteen years to leave. Every time they meet, Alan is startled just like the previous loop, and he asks: why do you look like me? Only for Thomas to reveal: maybe you look like me, you handsome devil. Because that is the easier way.
For how else would Alan trust him if not in a voice from beyond, a sort of fatherly figure, as the only guidance he could have—as a being with the light in its face to show there’s a way out? Impossible. Tom has tried otherwise a few times. He failed and was stripped out of his humanity, bit by bit. And in losing, he found out the greatest sacrifice should be the next in this space of entrapment: Thomas understood that, to escape, he must be the supporting actor of this film.
And so Alan opens the door. He doesn’t get it, never gets it. Thomas restricted himself to the rule too far for someone who failed too often; Alan’s lenience was always the same and his eyes, sweet little blue eyes of whom is now Thomas Zane’s creator, are so stupidly lost. Alan was granted everything. Even his skill for writing. Even the sad story of the absent father. The Dark Place ate through his sanity—Tom couldn’t say he expected better on Alan’s face.
But the boy… he sits his head over Tom’s lap, everytime. Never remember anything. He nudges and relaxes and Tom takes in his wavy hair, fondling a mix of softness and greasiness and letting him weak for a while.
(This is one of the brief moments Thomas wins: this company permits intimacy and permits a small indulgence that’ll end shortly, because Alan always refuses to stay. Always runs in circles.)
He’s never relayed a thank you when he pins Thomas down to the chair and aims the gun at him. Nicely staged. Even his anger is believable. But a few words and a little show to prove they are not different might change him and let his guard down, and maybe…
BANG. Alan watches, sighs, and leaves. Curtains close. Nobody claps.
Hm. How curious.
It’s not like he won’t return to his creator in the next loop.