#strangled red steven

I looovved the idea of Steven being Red's idol growing up, so I may make a few callbacks to Red and some attributes he has so bear with me here hehe

Steven's favorite colors are red and orange. He is very explicit about how much he likes that color.

His favorite food is his brother's berry muffins. If it isn't Mike's, he won't eat them. He typically prefers home-cooked meals over restaurants.

He can be picky about what he eats, and Mike usually "does it the way I like it".

So when Steven was younger, he was rather quiet, but not in the sense that he was mute, but selectively quiet. He'd only find himself speaking if he was told to do so, or if it was on a topic he's really interested in.

With Mike being his main caretaker, he wasn't necessarily the most well-behaved child (when alone with his brother), but on the outside, he did his work, played outside, ate his vegetables, and made a few friends. He seemed okay to everyone.

You could say I see him as being neurodivergent in a way...

He had very odd fixations as a child that carried over into adulthood. Nothing weird, just very different for someone who looks the way he does.

He knows an awful lot about folklore, myths, legends, and anything associated with them.

If he were in our generation/world, he would have loved creepypastas(haha), obscure video games, and very underground bands.

He does love his big brother. He showed his love a bit more when he was younger, then drifted into small acts of affection (like listening to Mike read, or giving hugs randomly once in a blue moon).

Mike coddled him a lot, so he doesn't really listen to authority well. He will listen if it benefits him, but not because he cares about the person in charge.

He can be rather clueless about other people's needs/can be rather selfish (ex. Mike is coming in with a lot of groceries and struggling with them. He is NOT helping his ass unless he's offered a reward for his hard work).

Mike would babysit Red and Blue for extra money, so Steven would occasionally play with the two kids.

Red was obsessed with his style, and Steven thought Red was a cool kid since the kid never spoke a word... and Blue talked way too much.

He had favorites

He did enjoy having a younger brother figure just for the feeling of admiration he'd get from Red.

He gave Red his old caps and attire when he grew out of them.

At 16 yrs old, his brother introduced Steven to Daisy since Mike worked around Prof Oak a lot.

(Romance):

If you read everything above, you can kind of tell he wasn't very good at giving affection.

He and Daisy only got together because Daisy developed a crush.. Steven didn't know what he felt.

He thought Daisy was nice, pretty, smart, and a lot of guys thought she was great. So, hey, why not?

Steven... lowkey regrets dating her.

He might be aro in my hc, but I didn't realize this until I typed it out now... hm

He tried, though.

If she said, "Hold my hand," he did. He would do anything she asked, since it was his first real relationship.

He likes her! Just... not romantically.

(Trainer):

Since Strangled Red takes place before PKMN Red, I had this idea that Steven started his journey as a trainer much later in life, because there wasn't enough research to make it safe for children to go on their journey.

With that in mind, whenever Mike explained his findings on Pokémon, it excited Steven to no end. He desperately wanted to go out and become a Pokémon trainer/researcher to find his own Pokémon, his own step into the world.

When he started his journey, he was around 18, and I like to think trainers took more than a year (since that's more realistic imo, but if you wanna think about it in a pkmn sense then he finished it in one year bleh :p) so when he returned, he was already 20-21.

Miki is and was his number one. He rarely used his other Pokémon since he was confident that Miki could take on anything. He was somewhat right.

During his journey, he would contact Daisy or Mike (depending on who he had the energy for) to let them know what he saw/found/did.

(Adulthood/Champion years):

During his journey, Steven had a humble beginning, but when he became a champion, he grew to be a little more cocky.

He was praised for being a champion, his town loved him, his neighbors would constantly shower him with compliments and gifts.

He #lowkey was more of a dick to his brother at this point.

He felt he was better than him for not only being champion, while Mike only went through with training for collecting Pokémon for research..

uhmm you know what happens after that

(Mikis Death):

When it happened, he didn't say anything; he couldn't even comprehend it.

Once it clicked, it was when he and Mike were in the hospital.

For weeks, he would go in and out of the house-- from town.

He avoided Mike, Daisy, Oak-- everyone.

He resented Mike, but he didn't hate Mike. At least, he didn't think he did.

He was more focused on getting Miki back.

soooo with his knowledge of folklore/legends, he finds MissingNo.

When he finds it, it corrupts Miki, himself, and his resentment towards Mike.

(Death mention cw)

Yeah, he didn't really start with strangulation. MissingNo made him say things he didn't mean, and made him do things he wouldn't have done if MissingNo wasn't there.

(After Mike's Death):

If you think this helped him mentally, it did not.

Steven, realizing that his two closest things in the world are both dead/not the same as they used to be, started to crash out.

A lot.

He destroyed everything in the house in his despair. That being the photos, household goods-- everything.

He never did clean it up.

Sitting in his own destroyed home, he stayed inside as a recluse.

Did I mention in the Mike HCs that Mike comes back as a ghost? He does. And that doesn't really help for a bit since Steven thinks Mike has come back to kill him.

I think... that's it?? I could discuss how I think they are when it's ghost Mike, but I think that's another post for another time.

If there's anything you wanna know more, lemme know!!

Here's Mike's HCs so you can jump to his!

(lowkey realizing how different I typed these HC dumps)