0nlythisandnothingmore - Quoth The Raven

heard someone say archive of our own should install a "dislike" button and I thought I should say this: no, there's absolutely no need for archive of our own to install a "dislike" button.

why? because archive of our own isn't tiktok or youtube or twitter/x where users can monetize their content. archive of our own is a nonprofit site run by fans for fans, which means every content — every fanfic — you see on archive of our own was made out of pure love and passion from the artists/authors.

ao3 authors write because writing about these characters is their happiness and passion. they write for themselves, but they were generous enough to share with you their creations.

they're not "content creators" the way tiktokers or youtubers or instagram models are. they don't "make content" for views and engagements that can be monetized.

so no, you don't get to "grade their works" unless they specifically and directly ask you to.

you don't get to "say what you dislike about their works" unless they specifically and directly ask you to.

you don't get to "dislike" works that are not made specifically to please you in the first place. you're just a guest in someone's house, a house in which they let you in because they were kind, you don't get to roam around their house and say what you dislike about their furniture. you don't get to roam around their house and say you "dislike their house".

of course, you can have your opinion about the house its host invites you in. but if it's a negative one and you find yourself not liking the house, the polite things for you to do is excuse yourself and leave without telling them you dislike their house.

and just because you personally dislike the house doesn't mean the house is "ugly" either. the house you dislike could be a favorite, most luxurious place to many others.

my point is, don't be entitled by wanting the rights to voice your disapproval of things that you get to enjoy for free. don't be entitled by wanting the rights to voice your disapproval of things that were made out of love and passion — things the artists made for themselves for fun.

it makes you look like an entitled jerk with main character syndrome. the universe does not revolve around you.

now repeat after me: don't like don't read. no one forces you to continue reading a fic you don't like. quietly leave instead of being rude to authors who write for free because writing is their source of comfort.

people are so used to contents that were made because it's a trend / contents like tiktok that were made with the main purpose of reaching high engagement and making profits that they forget sometimes things can be made out of love and be made just for fun. sometimes things are supposed to just be for people to enjoy, and if some people don't enjoy them, then they can simply leave without being unnecessary unkind.

Stone going on a undercover mission for gun and forgets to tell Robotnik causing the doctor to go on a rampage until stone returns (just wanted to share this idea to someone)

Coincidentally, that was the last mission Stone ever got from G.U.N.

ko-fi

(and also youre too young for her but you just cant get that one to stick in your brain, can ya?)

He couldn't deal with all that rizz

goth agent stone is something i've been spinning in my head for the past couple weeks... i've been into goth for, oh my god around a decade now (albeit on and off) so i hope you don't mind if i ramble some thoughts at you as a jumping off point? it's a bit of a niche headcanon so i'm delighted to share it with someone ;; this is a bit of a long one sorry so feel free to ignore it lol i won't be offended

i can imagine stone as having quite a corp goth lean: pinstripe pencil skirts, black trench coat over a suit, cat eye sunglasses, eyeliner!! that sort of thing. not all that different to what he usually wears, just... spookier! i can imagine him in a lot of black leather too, given the whole motorcyclist thing. robotnik might be similar but with more DRAMA. he's a supervillain he's got style he's got flair he's got ribcage patterns sewn into his jacket.

and since stone's someone who sews (and is clearly quite good at it) he'd have so much freedom!! can't find the perfect ruffly blouse? make one! in the '80s especially goth fashion was about hand me downs and DIY he'd be so at home

as for music!! that's the real heart of it. i can imagine them both enjoying the classic, 80s goth roots type of music but i've always pictured robotnik as having an industrial/metal/rock lean. stone feels like he'd be happy listening to whatever robotnik wants to listen to, honestly, as well as some of the dreamier stuff like cocteau twins. music to sway and yearn to.

but uhh anyway if you want a peek into goth culture i'd recommend watching or reading interviews with bands like specimen and fans at the bat cave or just on the street, there were a lot of news outlets that interviewed goths back when it was this really crazy new thing. i'm especially fascinated by the ones from the '80s but there's some excellent modern bands too :-3 and for a look into '90s and 2000s goth there's of herbs and altars' storytimes, please mind the content warnings on them because they're quite heavy but i credit dorian with getting me back into goth after i'd basically abandoned it in my teens.

i did a little happy dance when i saw you were thinking of looking into this stuff, i'm very passionate and this is really just scratching the surface. i could go on and on as all my friends are very aware ;; but i'll stop now. thank you so much if you read all this

Rambling is a love language and I would never ignore someone rambling at me. Feel free to ramble more, even! My DMs are open if you'd prefer!

This goes to everyone, actually. I am very very shy and socially awkward, but I ADORE IT when people talk to me about stuff they love. Everyone is welcome to! I love listening, as my girlfriend would tell you, and I love learning. No excuse needed, you can pop up like "hey I feel like talking about polar bears" and I'll pay attention.

That being said ohoho, this is great! Taking notes, taking notes, thank you so much! I can tell you've put a lot of thought into it. I do agree Robotnik would be far more dramatic with his clothes kinda like that scene in Megaming where he gets his evil outfit ready and I wouldn't be surprised if Stone is the one designing his outfits!

I can also picture this:

me externally: I write fanfic because I enjoy it! I write for myself!

me internally: validate me. drown me in kudos. i will sell my soul for comments and fic recs

I love your art so much slkkslslk The stone crying comic?? I ascend I can't help but imagine a situation where Stone is in distress (crying or hurt), Robotnik tries to tell/orderhim to stop it Then he realizes Stone is still in distress and he has the realization of "OH SHIT" slkskslsk He is such a silly man i love them

Try hugging him?

ko-fi

part two!!

oooh ooh mullet stan

Stan and Ford, when they were young, reveled in being identical. It was an genetically gifted, built-in prank, an innate friend, a second half of the same heart and brain. They dressed the same, acted the same, even made sure they sounded the same. The days when even their father couldn't tell them apart were counted as a success--- the ultimate joke, and they were pulling it off every week. (their mother could always tell them apart. It was uncanny; her only real psychic ability.)

Then, around seven or eight, Stan broke his glasses. Mom and dad couldn't afford a new pair, so they stopped having the same face. It got harder for him to read without them, and he stopped getting as good of grades, and got moved from the advance reading group to the average reading group in class. Ford got a nice jacket for his birthday, and suddenly they stopped dressing alike. That was OK, Stan reasoned: they still sounded the same, and were the same height, and still got up to all sorts of high-jinks together.

In middle school, they got put in a few different classes, so they couldn't fool their teachers; they had the same lunch block, though, so the lunch lady never knew what hit her! And they had the Stan o' War to work on, so they always had about the same level of sunburn.

Then Ford started to join clubs without Stan. They got different jobs in high school, and Stan got slapped with an acne curse and a propensity to forget to do his laundry that led to them looking distinctly different. Ford met friends that didn't like Stan, and Stan met friends who called Ford a nerd and lame, and Stan didn't always have it in him to call them out.

It was alright, though--- they were still twins. Stan looked at Ford and didn't see his exact mirror image, but he still saw himself--- in the brows, the nose, the mischievous gleam in his eyes, their matching sea glass bracelets Stan made them when they were 11. Ford was still unmistakably his brother, Stan reassured himself; they would always be fun-house mirrors of each other, not perfectly symmetrical but with the same roots. He told himself that when they got called to the principal's office, he told himself that when Ford stopped working on the boat so he could work on his perpetual motion machine, he told himself that when Ford said he was going away to West Coast Tech, no if, and, or but about it. They were twins.

But when Stan called out to Ford from the sidewalk, duffel laying half-abandoned by his car, he saw no mirror, no brother, and certainly no twin. The man who stood in the window--- the man who turned away from Stan instead of helping him--- no, Stan didn't recognize that man at all.