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aemiron-main · 11 months

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Henry’s In A Tank: Stranger Things vs The Evil Within (2017)

So, I talked in this post and this post about Elder Brains, and today, I want to talk about The Evil Within, Ruvik, and the STEM system.

Long story short, I think that Henry is in another NINA tank somewhere, since Edward Creel is Vecna, and we don’t know where Henry is, and since Henry seems weirdly present during NINA.

Henward vs Ruben vs Ruvik and The Creels vs The Victorianos

I’m going to talk about Ruben/Ruvik in general in a little bit, but first, let’s just take a look at the initial, most obvious parallels.

Ruben/Ruvik as an adult vs Vecna/vs Burnt Henward:

Ruben as a child vs Henward as a child:

And if you still don’t believe me that this parallel is intentional, look at this official concept art for Vecna:

That’s definitely inspired by Ruvik. Ruvik even does the same damn hand thing that Henward and El do:

Now, let’s get into Ruvik’s backstory, and then get into the story of the rest of the game and how it ties to ST, and why I think Henry’s in a NINA tank.

So, as a child, Ruvik was isolated and “weird,” but very close to his sister, and also a child prodigy. He came from the wealthy Victoriano family, with a religious father (much like Victor), and a mother that he wasn’t close to. Ruben was doing science experiments as a child, and when he was still a child he met a doctor, Dr Jimenez, who assured Ruben that he also did similar science experiments, and that it didn’t make Ruben a monster. Even just initially here, this is already extremely similar to Henry having already known Brenner (talking about “the very doctor I had hoped to escape,” recognizing Brenner immediately by his face after waking up in the lab), and we also have the “monster,” imagery that is constant with El, Brenner, and Henward.

Then, one day, Ruben and his sister were playing in a barn when some disgruntled townsfolk lit the barn on fire. His sister died saving him, and Ruben was left burnt and disfigured, much like Henward in the yellow UD.

Although Ruben survived the fire, Ruben’s father faked Ruben’s death, and led Ruben’s mother to believe that Ruben died in the fire when in reality, he was imprisoned in the basement, and then later at Beacon Mental Hospital. This is SO similar to what happened with Henry- his death was faked (and Virginia likely involved), and then Victor was led to believe that Henry was dead when in reality, he was at HNL, with the mother vs father thing swapped for Henry vs Ruben.

Ruben, much like Henward is frequently associated with spiders. During the game, the player sees a fucked up fleshflayer-esque spider version of Ruvik’s sister. It’s a common motif for him, just like it is for Henward.

When the game begins, the player plays as Sebastian Castellanos, years after the Victoriano fire/Ruvik’s disfigurement (which we’ll come back to later in the STEM system section) but you don’t need to know much about him for this analysis, just that he’s the player character.

We end up at Beacon Mental Hospital, which takes us to the next section of this analysis.

Beacon Mental Hospital vs HNL and Pennhurst

So, Pennhurst and Beacon Mental Hospital look EXTREMELY similar:

At the beginning of the game, the player/Sebastian ends up at Beacon Mental Hospital, pursuing Ruvik. As the game progresses, we learn that the characters aren’t in the real Beacon Mental Hospital at all anymore- instead, they’re part of the STEM system/the version of Beacon Mental Hospital that exists in Ruvik’s mindscape/memories, as Ruvik is part of the STEM system, and the player character is hooked up to a STEM system tank, which we'll get into later, linking their mind to Ruvik's.

The whole "not in the real Beacon Mental Hospital" thing reminds me of the fact that the area of the lab that we see during NINA is COMPLETELY different from the lab we’ve seen in other seasons, and we’ve never seen the NINA area outside of NINA, and we have two different rainbow rooms, too, and the lab and Pennhurst are paralleled all the time, both being likened to prisons, both having orderlies in white uniforms, both experimenting on their patients, etc etc.

The STEM System vs NINA vs Elder Brain Tanks

So, the STEM system is basically multiplayer NINA (although, as is the point of this analysis, I think that NINA is also multiplayer).

Now, going back to the Victoriano fire and Ruben’s disfigurement and the death of his sister and Ruben’s father faking Ruben’s death. Prior to the player character entering Beacon Mental Hospital, Ruben escaped the basement, killed his parents, and became “Ruvik,” and went to work at Beacon Mental Hospital with Dr Jimenez.

Dr Jimenez would betray Ruben, however, and teamed up with the company, MOBIUS, to have Ruben captured, restrained, and forced to become a test subject, just like Brenner kidnapping Henward forcing Henward to be a test subject at HNL.

Ruvik was the first test subject for the STEM system project, and he was hooked up to multiple machines, and his body was experimented on until there was nothing left of him except for a brain, which became part of the STEM system. Ruvik, although just a brain in the real world, had a physical form in his own mindscape, and spent decades trying to find a way to escape his imprisonment. (again, VERY similar to 001/Henward trying to find a way out of the lab.)

Before Ruvik was killed/left as just a brain, though, MOBIUS attempted to sync his brain with Leslie’s- Leslie was a quiet boy, very similar to Ruben, and Leslie reminds me a lot of both Will and El, and was also a test subject at Beacon Mental Hospital.

Ruvik and Leslie’s brains were synced in the STEM system because they had shared trauma- both had lost their families in a violent manner.

I’m staring DIRECTLY at Murray talking about “shared trauma” in ST. Murray even ties "shared trauma" to "your dad," just like the shared Brenner trauma between El and Henward.

So, I’m also staring DIRECTLY at Henward and El during NINA and syncing their brains, and the shared trauma of Brenner/growing up in the lab, especially with all the talk of “you’re like me/we’re the same/papa hurt you," and how they have shared trauma and shared memories.

Unfortunately, Leslie’s brain was unstable (much like NINA glitching for EL), and that’s what resulted in Ruben being killed/stripped down to his brain, as Ruben wanted to proceed with the use of Leslie, but MOBIUS did not.

Decades later, Ruvik somehow managed to manifest himself in the real world briefly, and committed a massacre at the real-life Beacon Mental Hospital (which is why Sebastian was at the hospital in the first place, investigating the murders). Ruvik was searching for Leslie when he committed the massacre. It reminds me a lot of a.) Henward seemingly committing the massacre to try and get El out of the lab and b.) Vecna searching for Will.

Now, let’s look at the STEM system vs NINA vs Elder Brain tanks:

And when we jump to DND and look at Elder Brain tanks, how do those work? What do they do? Well, an Elder Brain (which resides in an Elder Brain Tank) is a hivemind- it’s what controls Mindflayers. And it’s also known as a living library, which has me staring DIRECTLY at the library in ST. Elder Brain tanks are typically kept in caves beneath cities, much like the NINA bunker, but I’m also looking at the basement of the library in ST as some sort of connection, especially since the library basement specifically was brought to our attention & tied to the Creels when Robin and Nancy went down to the basement to look for newspaper information about Victor & the Creel murders.

And interestingly enough, the fleshflayer from S3 also resembles the STEM system- which makes sense, since the fleshflayer is basically a hivemind/combined minds, just like the STEM system.

Also, the STEM tanks are literal bathtubs- bathtubs that are eerily similar to the Creel tub, and need I remind you that the sensory deprivation tanks in the lab are referred to as “the bath” by Brenner and El? And the fact that the S1 episode with the NINA-shaped, round pool in the school gym that El uses as a sensory deprivation tank is called “the bathtub”?

Like, it's the SAME sort of clawfoot tub.

Mirror Imagery

So, in order to save the game in The Evil Within, you have to find a mirror, which takes to to the safe zone of Beacon Mental Hospital. Mirror imagery is constant in this game, and I'm staring DIRECTLY at Henward talking about how he held a mirror up to his family & the mirror in the rainbow room during NINA.

Music

If you’re STILL not convinced that these parallels are intentional, I want to draw your attention to a certain song that plays in Pennhurst:

Clair de Lune. This song is CONSTANT in The Evil Within (which, need I remind you, takes place in an asylum JUST like Pennhurst), it’s the main song for the game, and is always associated with mirrors (which are extremely associated with Henward in ST), and specifically, are associated with the “safe zones” in the game, which, again, are accessed via mirrors, and the whole “music is safe/saves you” thing is VERY ST4. Clair de Lune is not just a song that happens to play once in the background of The Evil Within- instead, it’s THE song for it, you absolutely cannot miss it.

Dream Imagery

So, every subject that’s connected to the STEM system has some level of subconscious, “dreamlike” influence over it, and throughout the game, the whole experience of the STEM system is described as being like a dream/nightmare, except it's alive and can kill you because you're hooked up to the STEM system. (staring at all of the nightmare imagery with Henward, and Victor's "a nightmare far worse" vs Henward waking up in the lab vs El waking up in NINA, and Victor talking about a "waking, living nightmare" vs NINA basically being a waking, living nightmare)

We also have El talking about a shared “dream circle,” with Terry vs all of the dream imagery with Henry (Dream a Little Dream of Me etc), and the circular shape of the NINA tank. I think El and Henry were both likely present during NINA/connected mentally, like a STEM system, like an Elder Brain tank, and like a dream circle.

El talks about the dream circle "repeating," JUST like the repeating scenes during NINA.

Conclusion

But yeah! Like I’ve talked about before, I won’t be surprised if Henry has been in a NINA tank this whole time, which would explain why he seems so weirdly present during NINA sometimes- because he IS present. Just like how Terry was present in the dream circle and how Ruvik is present in STEM.

#stranger things #henry creel #edward creel #st creel timeline weirdness #st-evil within parallels #st nina project

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woundedheartwithin · 3 months

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I think my favorite part of The Evil Within was how unequivocally evil Ruvik actually was, but he still tried to make Sebastian feel sorry for him? He was like oh my life has been terrible and I lost my sister and was horribly burned because the townspeople hated my rich and powerful family and my parents were super religious and then I had all my diabolical research stolen and then they used me as a test subject and trapped me here in the hell I created, and Sebastian literally goes “you brought this on yourself” because he totally did. Like he was torturing and dissecting animals long before the barn fire, and then he was fucking chopping up people and poking their brains in his insane experiments. There is literally nothing redeemable about him, so when Sebastian stomps his brain you’re just like yeah! And stay down, asshole! Like not only was he the most evil villain I’ve ever seen in anything, he’s a whiny little bitch too. And honestly 10/10 just for that

#the evil within #she speaks #I did like the game a lot I just didn’t understand some of it lmao

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captianimarum · 21 days

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@ceaselxss || LIKED for a STARTER with Ruvik. -- FF7 EDITION

Eyes, cold and colourless survey the stance of he waiting in the hallway outside of his personal research space with no small amount of scrutiny and curiosity. Visitors were a rarity, oft unwanted - considered naught more than a disturbance - but the innermost workings of the company ought be noted, and the little ravens belonging to Shinra himself were not to be shunned.

Careful fingers, marred and discoloured, place aside a scalpel and remove gloves - the delicate and thin slivers of brain matter momentarily forgotten in favour of reacting. Ever is he gradual to move, bare feet against cold tile flooring pacing towards a door to open - but he makes no eye contact, obscures his face with the hood of his labcoat and hums;

"Turk." The word is offered quickly, a brief if not blunt greeting. Ruvik, as he has come to be known as, doesn't enjoy beating around the bush. There is a reason his current company has appeared and he would know it swiftly so whatever issue is present may be resolved. "Do you seek me in a research capacity or a medical capacity?"

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sapphire-weapon · 5 months

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I am also one of those people who loved TEW1 and thought TEW2 failed to deliver on continuing the story, and rewrote the plot to be what they wanted. I know chances are beyond slim for a TEW3 to follow through, but what would you have wanted to see in an ideal sequel from 1?

based on a recent-ish conversation i had with john johanas, TEW3 is never going to happen anyway. he didn't say that outright, but he sure did imply it heavily.

without getting too in the weeds about it, TEW2 was originally supposed to be about sebastian fighting through the layers of STEM, not realizing that it was his own brain at the center of the machine, because he is, in fact, ruvik's true vessel. leslie was an imperfect one that wasn't going to hold up over time, and ruvik really needed sebastian instead.

due to time restraints and budget cuts, that didn't happen. but boy, if you know your TEW1 lore well enough, you can really see the seams in TEW2 where shit got cut and changed. that game is a fucking frankenstein product.

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wither-shadow · 2 months

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Run or I will kill you. Ruvik x GN!Reader Angst Part two

Part one

TW: you see Laura then Ruvik and you try to shoot him, Gore, blood, and bad smells (Ewwww) You take the walkie talkies carefully but the once corpse moved and you kicked its head in and the room fills with the smell of iron blood and you just about puke from what looks like brains on your boot and you work quickly to patch up your side and you take the pain medication inside of the first aid pack. You place the shotgun from the desk onto a strap on your back then place the revolver into your holster before getting ready to leave the room you test the walkie talkie "Hello? Hello is there anyone there? this is Agent *Last name* from the KCPD I am requesting immediate evac. can anyone hear me?" you wait for a moment and you hear a response "*your name*?" a gruff voice said "this is your senior detective Sebastian Castellanos. Where are you?" you think for a moment before saying "I don't know detective. some sort of subway but Krimson City doesn't have any subways sir." there was a pause on the opposite end "We will find each other then. but for now do you have any idea what those things are?" you reply quickly "No sir I do not, all I know is you need to shoot them in the head to make them stay down" another pause "Thank you for that info, we will stay in touch, head to beacon mental hospital for now." you nod even though you know he can't see you and you exit the security room and enter what looks like a subway hall. "Gotta find stairs." you say before going right seeing light that way being careful to stay off of the tracks near the right wall. After about a 20 minute walk you start to doubt yourself and your decision to go this way but you keep walking regardless and you end up finding subways the have been torn apart by the earthquake shifting the neighboring wall up breaking it apart and you see what seems to be dead bodies and quickly deciding you don't want to know if they are alive or dead you head up the stairs and see a man in what looks like a hoodie and shorts both burned and covered with blood his body has burn scars all over and a burn on his face accompanied by a glass dome on a part of his head he turns to face you but then disappears leaving a monster like woman where he was and she seems to vanish into the floor reaching her arms up out of the ground with screams accompanying her as her arms move quickly towards you and you turn to run but the man is behind you and you pull out your gun just for him to appear in front of you and he takes your gun and he moves you to a room in an instant "what the fuck is this place?!" you scream and you get a response back "Your nightmare" then you hear a high pitched scream and it all goes dark.

#evil within #x reader #ruvik #ruvik victoriano #sebastian castellanos #the evil within #joesph oda #juli kidman #gender nuetral reader #part two

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timidteratoma · 4 months

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NEW BABYGIRL DROPPED

So I just dreamed this guy.

It was a dark fantasy themed dream (similar to Dark Souls, even though I never played that game), and he was one of the most formidable of his kind. Also the only one with a face like that (other ones looked like pissed off humans). Anyway, later in a dream it came about that he could be easily defeated by... pacifying him with hugs and kisses. No I'm not joking.

Also I am aware that my brain basically took Jeff the Killer, Ruvik (I didn't play that game either) and a generic zombie/undead, combined them and woobyfied them.

#art #digital art #digital illustration #artists on tumblr #dream art #dreams #creepypasta #kinda #has the aesthetic #creepy #cute #tw blood #tw gore #also hes a wet dog #not once during the dream was i scared of him lol

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roemantics · 10 months

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TEW drives me so insane bc the foundation of STEM being ruvik’s unrelenting grief for the one person he treasured and loved in his life could have been so haunting if the writers knew how to handle villains in any other way than just slapping “psychopath bla bla EVIL” on top of them like tbh the torture and mindfuckery and lobotomy shit was enough to convince me he wasn’t like, good, so not sure why they go so ham on the psycho mental health thing (in the second game too with stefano fr??) and then try to show his genuinely upsetting backstory with unfortunately very little depth to it to.. make me feel bad? i think? i genuinely have no clue how we as the player are supposed to interpret ruvik and i. do not like that. it switches from generic sad backstory (that genuinely only has an ounce of nuance if you look at throwaway notes and the character model descriptions) straight to “actually he was always like this he looooves torturing people and having power over them he just uses his sisters death as an outlet to express his sadistic TWISTED tendencies” and then it’s back to his horrific childhood in which i cannot see any way that he would have turned out to not be bad. the game lacks nuance but pretends it has so much of it and it makes it feel so so soooo corny and genuinely idiotic. ruvik establishes a connection between himself and sebastian for a reason... y’know because of grief.. fire-based grief on top of that... and because they wrote sebastian as such a dry fucking character we dont even get to find out why ruvik thought it necessary or beneficial to do that!!! grief is powerful and the writers obviously knew that in some way when they wrote the DLCs but it’s pushed aside in favor of more corny lines trying to convince us ruvik is sick and twisted when WE KNOW. the brains in his house already told me. the monsters born from his own ass mind TOLD ME. every time i got pulled aside by that mfer in the safe room to get told how much ruvik loves torture it was so infuriating because i thought i was going to be told something i didnt already know. corny ahhh game tricked me into thinking it was going to have a haunting story about how grief affects people. where was the part where sebastian realizes that this is who he could have become? ruvik, regardless of his already pre-existing sadistic tendencies, was created because he was consumed by grief and loss. they portray his disfiguration as something to be feared (not even going to comment on this) but then describe in the character model notes how he was often plagued by seizures and other ailments because of it like... oh my god. they could have hit the nail on the head!! if they wanted the psychological elements in this fkcing game to work they could have done it.. they were so so close. regardless it’s a good action horror game or whatever but it fails on almost every department when it comes to the story.

#not a ruvik defense in any way he is definitely a shithead!#however i think they could have made him a lot more nuanced and the game would have benefited #grief is scary #everyone goes through it #that's what makes it so haunting #i will never experience stem but i will experience those dear to me dying one day #that's scarier than any monster they could have thrown at me and it makes me sad they didnt utilize it more #my ramblings #srry this game makes me mad sometimes #ruben and laura make me very sad bc i dont even want to THINK about what would happen if i lost my sister #but whatever

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