voice testing ./////////.

[ex_theherald551]

No reason to be shy.

I was made for this sort of attention, after all.

Soon as we iron out the kinks, then it'll be time to show off what I can really do. In a new place. With new people. Not one that will be a fan, but they'll soon be.

What do you think? Won't it be fun to take in the new horizon as Alan Wake? It's not like I haven't gotten quite good at being him. Oh, of course, it won't last. Eventually, I'll just get bored of it. Who wouldn't? But to start, it will be just ... great.

So, get to gathering that confidence. I have a lot of plans that can't start until I get out of this ocean.

Comments

[furrows]

As if I'd just let you get out that easy.

[ex_theherald551]

There's nothing that can be done to stop it. Not this time.

[relit]

Mr. Wake...?

...No. You're not him.

[ex_theherald551]

Now ... what makes you say that?

[relit]

You don't talk like him. The voice is the same, but it's coming out wrong.

[ex_theherald551]

I think you mean that it's coming out right. Finally saying all that he should say. There's a lot that he keeps all bottled up. But not me. I'm more into sharing.

[cordelisse]

SOMEone's a bit full of themselves, aren't they.

[ex_theherald551]

Now, I wonder who that could be.

Well, it might be me, but that's just because I love the spotlight, and it loves me just as much. Being full of yourself is just another way of saying that you love yourself the best, after all. Proud and confident in all that you are. And that is what I am.

[nyctophobic]

You can look like him, and sound like him, but you'll never pass as him. [ The doppelganger could play pretend all he wanted, but anyone who knew Alan would never be fooled. ]

[ex_theherald551]

Sure, I will. I'm a better Alan Wake than he ever was or could be.

Now, I get what you're saying. I can't pass for him forever. And I agree, Alice, I can't. It's just there's a lot that I want to do that he can't, won't. That's just not fun for me. But doesn't mean that it has to not be fun for the both of us.

[southpaw_senpai]

[Akihiko narrows his eyes. The way this guy talks... he sounds a lot like what Labrys' Shadow sounded like when she was trying to get the original to deny her. This could get bad.]

Why do you want to be this... Alan Wake person?

[ex_theherald551]

Why?

[ A beat. ]

Good question. He's not very interesting -- too self-conscious, too much conscience in general which stops him from doing anything worth doing. But his life will be my life. I'll wear it around for a bit then tear it off to do what it is that I really wanna do. Why? Because it's what's fair and what's right. He had his chance to really live it up, to really do what he wanted, and didn't take it.

So, it's my turn.

[southpaw_senpai]

[...Not helping your case. Now he's positive you're a Shadow.]

Sorry. Can't let that happen. I kind of have a thing against letting Shadows kill their hosts and take their place. It's kind of what I do.

[Assuming a fighting stance now.]

[ex_theherald551]

You actually think you can stop me? Now... that's really cute.

[southpaw_senpai]

I've gone toe-to-toe with gods before. Besides, I like the challenge.

[Have a right hook.]

[ex_theherald551]

[ Well, have fun punching smoke and darkness as he moves around. ]

Listen, as fun as it would be to dismember you and believe me starting to really sound like fun, it doesn't do anything. Don't you get it? There's nothing here. This is a vast void of nothingness. I can't do anything to you and have it stick. Nor can you even hope to hit me. So, it's just a lot of smoke being blown, and I know about smoke.

I'm not about to get into anything meaningless. If I'm gonna get into a fight, it's gonna mean something and it's gonna leave a mark. There's no marks to be left here. It's chaos here, just like it was down there. Drop a bit and nothing changes. You get me?

[southpaw_senpai]

[He can try, can't he? He still doesn't like the idea that he can't even touch this Shadow, especially while the original is out there walking around. Once again, he's powerless. So, he opts to punch a wall.]

Doesn't stop me from trying. Not in my job description to just let a Shadow wander around to try and take over someone's life.

[ex_theherald551]

Well, then it's good that I'm not a Shadow, isn't it? I'm the Herald of Darkness! Or so they feel like naming me. I like it all the same. Love it, even. Suits me. Slips on like a glove. But really, I'm not just a Shadow.

[southpaw_senpai]

Call yourself what you want, you still fit the bill in my book. Especially the way you're obsessed with this Alan guy's life.

[ex_theherald551]

Obsessed. You really don't get it, do you?

[southpaw_senpai]

[Have an eye roll.]

Why don't you enlighten me then?

[ex_theherald551]

Why do I have to do that, buddy? You seem to have all the answers on how we "Shadows" work, and really, monologuing on my drives and motivations... do I look like that kind of stupid? There needs to be a mystery or else there's no point.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I could go on and on about why I want his life, but it isn't obsession. After all, who doesn't look at a person's life and say, "I want that," even once. It's just thinking inside a box that all you little protags have a problem with. So, why is it up to me to get you to think creatively?

Really. I'm not that generous a guy.

[southpaw_senpai]

First you say you're not a Shadow, that you're "something more" and that I don't get it. Sounds to me like you can't get enough of your own voice. Even after saying you're not going to tell me, you wax poetic about why you won't tell me.

Almost sounds like you don't know yourself.

[ex_theherald551]

Well, you are right. I love the sound of my own voice.

And it can sound that way, but you'd be wrong. Sucks when the villain won't give the answers you seek, doesn't it?

[southpaw_senpai]

Wouldn't change matters even if you did. You still need to be put down before you hurt someone.

[ex_theherald551]

Violently snorting at me will do me in.