#once again no hate to the asker you just gave me an excuse to ramble bc i love analyzing what i dislike in writing

[drifloonz]

The multiple miki thing might be because Miki could've been based on Charizard M and that thing is known for cloning itself.

Tbh i cant fault shadowmalerenamon for completely changing doors open when rewriting it. Having missingno be the main antagonist was miles better than how Steve was in the original.

( mention of suicide ig )

i respectfully disagree . i see where you're coming from but i think all of the rewritten strangled... duology i guess bc strangled red itself never got one

( thank fucking god to be honest. it needs No change. although at the same time its kind of funny it never got one bc its the most popular one and going more into him as a Person if smr didnt fuck it up would be nice ... but im too attached to my own interp based off of his canon implications to care about what smr kind of has to give. and he already did that in og strangled red, to a degree, although it focuses on the tragedy there is character stuff to be extrapolated from the implications of the story if youre very deeply ill. like me. )

- is a lot less character-focused, at least on steven specifically, and is focused on explaining or rewriting shit that never needed to be explained or rewritten. it is a revisit and reinterpretation of the story, that to me, is just purely kind of . Not good or fun to read. and the new shit it introduces is fucking stupid imo. steven being banished by the town instead of... fucking. killing himself ( especially specifically by cop. that's lame and way more boring + FUCK THE POLICE !!! + It feels out of character for steven he would just do it himself like actually. Also yk. hanging yourself is narratively thematic and ironic. ) or whatever goes so much harder .

guy who loves his town and home region and wanting to be a role model and wanting to be cool so badly being driven mad and then the entirety of kanto, his homeland, forsaking him and walling him off goes crazy . Also because it implies they're scared of him to some degree which also makes me go crazy as an implication.

[ more put below bc i love to fucking yap about strangled red and how much i dont like the rewrites ]

i Will not step down from 'the rewrites arent good' . Doors open is mostly bad because stevens characterization is garbage. even though its random and from left field ( why the fuck is he in sprout tower ) it couldve been handled well if it was written better characterization-wise.

also i supposed the 'M charizard makes sense. not. not really i don't actually think smr thought that through. if he did, which he couldve because she is named #'M# in Strangled Red, cool, but i still think it's just to make the "miki" name thing with 4 party members he has. which is cool admittedly. it's just that i hope it is never explained why he has 4. and it never has since, doors open rewrite didnt do anything with that thank god.

and bc he wouldnt have any other mon other than miki post-incident and afaik that thing only replaces existing partymembers, and steven canonically releases all his team in SR + pokemon avoid him. but yea. Doors open i treat as a 'spinoff' in a sense bc nothing from it really makes sense when properly thought through, and its basically there to make the lost silver crossover i feel. also, yk, he literally says "Never." in strangled red when you press switch on 'M / missingno/revived/whatever you want to call miki post revival. its kind of out of character for canon-compliant steven to have anything other than miki post-incident for these 3 reasons - i only made a team for him post incident bc im autistic about pokemon and pokemon teams so that was for fun.

basically it makes more plotholes and questions than not the more strangled reds plot stuff tries to be explained or added upon esp in the remakes which i think are not fun reads if you like steven as a character anyways. and also bc strangled and doors open in the ogs are easter eggs. trying to explain what is supposed to be an in universe easter egg in pokemon would obviously be kind of a lesson in futility. not. not exactly but at least in the way smr does it.

strangled makes sense, you just go to his fucking house and hes there. yea. doors open is like. Yea hes in johto now. dont ask. but its also easily explainable as... He just fucked off to johto. For what reason? idk. hates kanto bc theyve forsaken him and banished him to the Woods, just wanted fresh air i guess, or just for fun. these are all more plausible reasons.

iirc the rewrite doesnt even say why hes there and if it does the reason is convoluted and not needed. i think its just 'hes a ghost hallucination... thing??? following the mc which is the most boring route to go for with steven and the most uninspired thing ever, and missingno was not the antagonist just a plot device in the og story Why are we focusing on it so much.' and its still a plot device in the rewrites! it isnt explained ( good the explanation would be kind of awful ) and i cant see any good way to explain missingno other than the way i do as a fun idea. which is biased but the 'failed clone of mew number 3' is a fun idea.

this is an insane ramble from a deranged person. if you can't tell i fucking love steven as a character and smr does him dirty except in strangled red, really. strangled... is fine but bc he barely talks in that one and when he does its like. yea. that checks out.

no hate to you btw none of it was directed at you specifically just smr and strangled reds various canons. you just gave me an excuse to ramble about how much i dislike the remakes tbh. I fucking LOVE analyzing why i hate things esp involving steven bc hes not greatly written by his og creator and not often greatly written by the fandom either .

[badigeonneur]

Sur des grands cheveux blancs, en cavale Viennent les vieux tourments, de l'idéal, Pour questionner mon coeur, Le bal, du "Je serais mieux ailleurs?", La peur, de ne pas pouvoir m'y faire, Trop tard, pour revenir en arrière

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Nobody Balls were filled with mystery, with mystique; for outsiders, the thrill of not knowing who you end up hanging with could get exciting. 

No matter how hard the organization tried,  they couldn’t prevent Perry Bellwether from figuring out people’s identities; his passive ability to recognize someone from their smell was extremely useful in situations like this.

If he had to define his own smell, it would be mostly mint, strawberry, petrichor and a faint, very small hint of smoke, an aftermath of his time mostly spent in the streets with a destitute youth. 

This last element was way less overpowering than it used to be, but it was part of him, now - it would never truly go away.

Indeed, the Nobody’s idealistic mentality was trying to disorient everyone, but his mind was solidly anchored in reality, thanks to his nose.

-----------------------------------------------

Tonight, he was less interested in the food, in the event, and more there to find someone, a task most would define impossible when all are dressed up the same. 

But his smell, all freshly mowed lawn, daisy, campfire-roasted marshmallow and wool would betray him; his target was one that would never miss a beat. Perry learned that much last winter, in the dead moments of December, where he noticed that not even unexpected pneumonia could slow them down. 

Back then, it was different - he had Avery in his life, he was over them, he didn’t think about anything else; all that mattered was the relationship he had with the Grizzco COO - not the one that he could have had with the weakened Zealot.

If he was so over him, why was he so concerned when he noticed they could barely talk, that their usual energetic voice, the one that once whispered such sweet words into his ear, was barely more than a strangled whisper

Thankfully, by the time spring rolled around, his target’s health was much better; but occasions to confront him didn’t occur - Perry was glad they, but even if they knew better than anyone that his relationship with Avery was slowly sinking, he didn’t take the opportunity to catch up and make things better.

Goodness, he started dreaming about them again - that hadn’t happened in years. The weirdest thing is that he felt comfort about it, remembering all of these moments they had together, back when they were both extremely happy, rather than the nightmares from the last months - before they decided it was better to just ignore each other.

Summer was even busier for his target - they just turned 30 and wanted to make this specific ball something glorious to stealthily commemorate it. While Avery was still around, Perry’s relationship could be summed up by one phone call in the morning, and one whenever Avery had time to answer him, just before he went to bed.

What was the better option, being in a love with one ghost that was haunting his past, or one that was perfectly fine not being really there anymore, just saying I love you as an automatism. Avery knew that it was over, and just spared Perry’s feelings out of loyalty, out of friendship, out of kindness.

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Now, autumn arrived. It felt weird, but the atmosphere smelled like fallen leaves, unpicked apples that were slowly fermenting on their branchs, with a sidenote of  the brisk north wind, sole reminder that winter was coming.

Despite this, one person still had a distant summery odor to them, the feel of burning sunshine and the subtle smell of coconut. 

They’re alone. It’s time. Perry gently touched their shoulder, motioning for them to get closer.

“Excuse me, can we talk in private for a moment.”

"Sure...I suppose we can...is something wrong?”

“Nothing wrong. Just, nothing everyone else needs to hear.”

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“Go ahead.” they said, as they closed the doors, so that no curious onlooker would bother them.

“Well...to be honest...since the last time we’ve seen each other, you...you’ve been on my mind. And I was wondering if we could...you know, see each other out of here. Nothing serious. Just seeing if...you know.”

Moment of silence - they were pondering, evaluating their options. And then, they nodded, approving.

“As long as there are no strings attached, I don’t mind. But, you know the tradition, don’t you. I can’t just give you the information, you’ll have to Reveal it.”

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Everyone that had heard of the Nobody Ball knew about their traditions, their face-concealing uniforms, their solidarity, and their desire to shine the light of justice in a dark world, but to know about the Revelation, you had to go there at least once. 

To make a short story, when you’re at the ball, you can’t exactly ask anyone to unmask themselves; an extremely formal ritual had to take place, one known as the Revelation.

Whoever wanted to unmask has to answer one question from their target, something that could get extremely personal.

They had three tries, and if they succeeded, they got the contact information, meaning that they gained enough of their partner’s trust. They won the freedom to talk face to face.

However, if one failed to answer the question, they’d have to wait another three months to try again. There were no second chances, unless the asker didn’t mind switching the polarity, becoming the one that was here to answer.

Again, they only had to answer one question. Only three chances.

There was no preparation, no studying, one would have to answer with what they thought was right.

“Go ahead. What’s your question?”

“What do you think I’m looking for in a partner?”

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This question was no factual one, it was a matter of opinion, which made it even more complicated to answer; tastes were subjective. Perry would have to think 

“You....you’re looking for someone strong to lean on.”

“Not really. Two tries left.”

“Someone smart to change the world with?”

“That would be a nice bonus, but that’s not what I’m really after.”

Shit, that wasn’t going good at all for Perry - these were the two big things he thought he had going for him and neither of these worked. Either he played it safe with something cliche, or he could...

“My third answer’s gonna be longer. Don’t mind me.”

“But...What you’re truly looking for is someone that would listen to you ramble about the unfairness of the world for twenty minutes - not because you want to debate, but because you want to get it out of your chest, otherwise, you’re going to explode. Someone that will love you for your passion - not shame you.” 

“You’re looking for someone that’s going to comfort you in the dead of winter, whenever you’re at your lowest - you never do well when the sunshine is gone, don’t you. You want someone whose eyes are gonna be bright, warm, so that you can forget it’s February and that you hate this goddamn month with every fiber of your being.”

“You want someone that will appreciate your duality, someone that let you be strong in the face of adversity, but will accept the fact you will hide your face in their shoulder to cry when the dogfish dies in a movie. Someone that’s not gonna mind the fact you start chores, but never finish them - that the rooms will always remain half-dusted and the laundry barely done.” 

“You're not looking specifically for someone strong, or someone smart, because you’re far from dumb and weak - you don’t need a bodyguard or a teacher. But, you’re looking for someone that will remind you that you are strong and smart when you’re not feeling so good, when the task at hand feels so huge. Someone that will remind you to not give up, one that’s gonna validate what you do when you’re right, but won’t be afraid to tell you to correct your course if you’re not.”

“Someone that’s going to tell you that they enjoy everything about you, the fact you never wear two socks of the same color, your singing-along when you hear a bop you like, even when you only know two lines from that song, your love for Camp Triggerfish and your hatred for wasabi. Who love that you smell like campfire and wildflowers when you’re happy, and like thunderstorms when you’re not” 

“I don’t know if that’s what you’re looking for. But, that’s what I got to offer you.”

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“Well no...”

Fuck

“...that’s not the answer I was looking for...”

Of course it wasn’t, but Perry had to try, sell himself again, at least. Maybe in three months from now, the idea will have forged itself in their mind. There is still the possibility that in December, they’d be more willing to listen, offer them an easier question.

Or, he could figure out the right answer.

Was worth trying.

“...however...”

They still lifted up their hand, slowly undoing the straps holding their mask on their face, removing it, and putting it on a table.

“...it doesn’t mean it wasn’t right.”

Seeing this as a sign of approval, Perry removed his own mask, looking in his former husband’s eyes for the first time in what had been ages. Goodness, his own eyes were welling up with tears, this was just so exciting, being with the one you never truly stopped loving, after all.

“I was more going for “just”, or “fair”, as the right answer, but fuck, that’s such a sweet answer you gave me, I can’t really turn that down, can I?”

----------------------

“Angelo. I gotta ask you a question. You don’t got to answer it if you don’t want to. But...are you willing to let your dumb husband back in your life?”

“No.”

“My husband’s the smartest guy around; because if he was as dumb as he said, he wouldn’t be here tonight.”