#* tbh I'm not a fan of a lot of decisions this website has been making. it's not just the AI stuff.

[royalarchivist]

If you aren't already aware, Tumblr is pulling some BS stuff with AI, and I'm not a fan. I've been on this website for over a decade, but I'll be upfront and say I will not continue using Tumblr if they go through with this AI garbage.

What social media alternatives do people recommend? I've heard folks talk about Bluesky and Cohost, but I'm curious to know if people have other recommendations and/or if they have opinions on Bluesky / Cohost.

I'll keep running Royal Archivist as usual for now, but I wanted to give people a heads up about this AI stuff.

[alt255]

shuuenpro truly will haunt me forever and like. obviously I'm fine with it being this way tbh . Uhm. But I've been thinking a lot lately, I guess, about how my motivations for staying with Shuuen are influenced primarily by what I've gained from its community. i.e. the reasons why I remain a shuuen no shiori fan are far more social in nature than any other interest I've ever had

I mean. from the very beginning, (for me, February 2019) it was already different because I was entering an interest that most people didn't seem to care for anymore . and I'm sure I at least had some level of awareness for this, that I was getting into something post-mortem. I just didn't think I'd get attached to the point that I Needed to talk about it with other people, y'know? So! around 4PM on February 11th, 2019, I gave the first couple of songs a proper listen, and then started reading the first light novel.

...and then, about 4 hours later, I made a group chat trying to get a few friends to read Shuuen no Shiori, because uh. Yeah.

uhm. and I was definitely doomed after 48 hours, because then I had actually finished reading light novel 2, which re:wired my brain and would remain my favorite light novel for years

but! around like 6-7 days in, I think things Really started to ramp up for me. because I had read just about every translation that I could find at the time out there, and made this hilariously desperate-sounding tweet that has aged incredibly well .

I also was becoming increasingly aware that it was becoming an obsession! Yeah. at some point I remember literally warning people that this was the only thing I expected myself to be talking about for months. at the same time, my Need to connect to people over shuuenpro only grew. I wanted to talk to people about shuuenpro So Fucking Badly.

and if there wasn't an easily discoverable space for it, then I had two options: give up the interest, or Make a space.

So. about a month in, after meeting/gathering enough people who were at least acquainted / knew of shuuen no shiori, I made a Discord server, which was possibly the best decision of my life. soon, I had turned 15 years old.

I was a baby shuuenpro fan. most people who joined the server were older than me and had already known of shuuenpro for years... which was admittedly a bit scary to me! but I already had a lot of passion for shuuen, and I would do anything just to find a community for it. So, somehow, I started to find one there.

around 3 months later, I uhm, organized my first Shuuen-related event: an art week during the summer (Week of Demise 2019)! But I was still very anxious at the time and (for some reason afraid of tumblr?), so while i announced it on twitter/discord, feya was the one who posted it here iirc. In the following years (2020-2021), I would become confident enough to make the announcements myself

the second half of 2019 is a bit of a blur for me, but in a good way, really. I think by some point we had around 100 members in the server. I got to meet and talk to a lot of people, and by the end of the year, I had basically found a home. and I felt genuinely so. comfortable and good about this.

and then came the need to be helpful to people, which led to the creation of a shuuenpro guide on carrd. November 2019. because there weren't really any completely up-to-date masterposts on the series I could find at the time, I made one myself. which became used a lot over the years, I think? my website now is one of the top search results for shuuenpro, so I'd say it's notable enough

I think just. what makes shuuenpro so special to me really is that it marked the first time I ever tried to actively engage with a community outside of a small circle of friends. and just how fucking awesome and good it felt to be able to organize stuff for that, to help contribute resouces and try to like. encourage revived or new interests in the series. to feel like I'm a part of something bigger. like simply being passionate about something could lead to so much .

like yes, of course I care a lot about the unresolved mysteries of shuuen, as many others do, but I think being able to participate in discussions about them (even if we would never reach an actual conclusion) is such a big part of the fun. all of those theories that we can never affirm or debunk, but being able to collaboratively contribute more and more points to them, or derive new ones from old ones, no matter how ridiculous or absurd they actually were, etc. It's just. Fun. even now I find myself looking back at messages and going. Oh my god. I missed this. we should do this again.

I am grateful to Shuuen no Shiori, but I think what I really mean what I say that is that I really am grateful to all the people I've met while in the fanbase. All of the important connections I've formed and strengthened, all of the ways through the community that I've learned to better myself—as a person, as a leader, etc. A lot of the improvement to my mental health in early high school could be attributed to the Shuuenpro community, I swear. And there are valuable skills I've picked up and projects I've pursued all originating from a love for Shuuen no Shiori, and a love for a community that I've wanted to give back to.

because I also found so much of myself in the community. I came out of it with a new favorite animal, a new favorite color, new hobbies—goddamn it, Shuuenpro was how I discovered my gender identity, among other things. 😭 I learned a lot about myself, basically! and I might even go as far to say that like. I don't think I would really be a programmer (or at least, as good of one), and I definitely wouldn't be as interested in archiving data and creating resources in the first place, if I wasn't so inspired by shuuen

In other words, Shuuen no Shiori made me.

so a love letter isn't enough, really. 1,713 love letters isn't enough, either. it's just. not.

I'm here because I want to be here, because even if I joined later than most people, I feel like I've found a true place to belong. This is my home. No matter what happens, as long as there is a community here, as long as there are people who still love this series, I too will love it. I'll take my own love for it to the grave. I won't forget it.

[intersexprophet]

what about the de-age to childhood friends au?

i am finally here to answer.........

first of all, i like to make it so that they only remember what they'd know at that age. so a de-aged touya to 8 years old would have all the memories of his 8 y/o self, but nothing after. secondly, idk what age they'd go back to, but probs not later than ten and no younger than five. third, formally the league would not be allowed near each other (as if that's how it works lol) but regardless

for jin, bc his situation is easier:

-very heartbroken to learn that his parents are actually dead. he'd have no memory of this, since it took place when he was 12. -i like to think the hero commission would try to get their hands on him since has no family and a very useful quirk, but the commission has come under heavy scrutiny and it's unsure if they're even gonna exist as they are. they do not get a hold of jin. -no idea who does though. not any place great, i'm sure. -at the very least, he's better off than when he lost his parents

for touya...

-this is probably very confusing. he remembers natsuo, fuyumi, (and maybe shouto depending on the age) but..... they were all definitely younger than him. -there's gonna be a lot of therapy here to even deal with the changed dynamics -all 3 of them still refer to touya as an older brother though, oddly enough -enji is not allowed anywhere near him as decided by the rest of the todoroki family -obviously touya thinks enji isn't around anymore bc he doesn't want him, but they're working on that -he's still trying to overcome his quirk, but he's not as fervent without enji's presence and overall is losing interest in beating proving his usefulness -he's still not keen on making friends until.........

childhood bestie moments

-jin and touya meet at a park or smth idk -rei immediately recognizes who jin and is surprised when touya is making an effort in engaging with another kid -despite the resistance she faces, she manages to keep the kids in contact (+enji freaking out) -(she'd let jin live with them but there's no way she'll get away with that) -jin is that final push touya needs to get rid of the hero idea -instead they have a lot of career goals they developed together like being astronauts or owning a bakery shop or owning a space bakery for astronauts -they end up going to the same schools and grow up together -at some point they're told the truth of what's going on (they've never been lied to, just never given the entire truth) -obviously they'd just find out at some point. there's literally videos of them as villains floating around -jin doesn't like hearing or thinking about it -seriously, it creeps him out to see an older version of him attacking and killing people -touya has a more morbid curiosity -at this point he didn't feel strongly about endeavor (he's spent so much time away from him after all) but seeing himself covered in burns and obviously not well has him feeling... weird, first of all. but also angry -when rei offers to let him see enji again (now that he's old enough to make that decision) he refuses -there are entire blogs/websites dedicated to them -some fans thinking/hoping the league will get back together and finish what they started -some that are less than happy about their situation -there's photos of them... like out in the yard or walking home from school... comments like "spotted one of them today.... wish i could wring the little fucker's neck" and "someone should just run them over LOL would do us all a huge favor" "i'd just kill the entire family at this point tbh" -it's not uncommon for them to get looks or things thrown at them or to get shouted at -the worst is when jin stays behind for practice when touya's going home and touya's attacked by someone -they have a knife and they're talking a mile a minute but, dazed as he is, touya makes out that he's killed someone this person knows -attacker is knocked out cold by jin who just happened to see what was going on -some useless ass hero finally shows up -touya and jin walk together after all -i think it's a lot easier for them to connect for obvious reasons but i think for touya especially so bc -i think the todoroki family does care about him but they also have memories of him he doesn't and while he retains hardcore personality traits, he's obviously not the same person is his previous life, so there's some disconnect there -it is, at times, awkward and weird

[alltheselights]

I'm not one of those who blames Harry for what is happening rn, but man, I'm side eyeing the fuck out of Jeff. I dont know what restrictions Harry still has and all that, but this is some terrible shit tbh. Like, all these rumours about premiering his music before Dunkirk... that would be terrible!!! It would so undermine and overshadow his role in Dunkirk. Terrible business decision. And now the timing of this registration... it couldnt be worst tbh. I really hope Jeff knows what he's doing

I agree with you, and also, I’m going to go on a bit of a rant because I can’t not. I just honestly think everything related to Harry’s solo career is absurd right now. Harry has been almost entirely cut off from the fandom pretty much since hiatus began. I think that’s fine, and honestly, and I know we’ve all missed him, but I think Harry (possibly even more than the others) needed that time to himself. I think it gave him time to recover from such a tough schedule with One Direction, I think it gave him a break from the fan service and BS that really seemed to have burned him out, and it gave him time to focus on Dunkirk, which was obviously something outside of his comfort zone that required his full concentration. But Jesus Christ, man. This is beyond ridiculous at this point.

We’ve gotten countless media sources, celebrities, and others in the industry talking about his debut album. And because he’s not talking, all of these people and sources are talking FOR him - and we don’t even know which of the things they’re saying are correct and which are completely false. And blah blah blah yeah, obviously the media is gonna talk about solo Harry regardless, but you’re lying to yourself if you think that his team couldn’t have shut up some of the people who have run their mouths about solo Harry at this point. And if the media is going to always make claims about his future music, both true and false, why wouldn’t he just speak for himself? Why wouldn’t his team speak for him? Why have they allowed this to happen for so fucking long? And don’t even give me that bullshit about oh, they just want to keep anticipation up - because at this point, that tactic doesn’t even make sense. I honestly don’t even know how solo Harries are alive right now considering they get hyped up for his music every two days based on what so-and-so said to the media. It’s fucking EXHAUSTING and it eventually burns people out to be constantly disappointed when they’re promised that something is about to happen and then it doesn’t. I’ve seen a lot of burnout in this fandom in the last week alone on the solo Harry front, and that’s so sad to see because things could have been so different.

If they’re gonna have a dude from Columbia come out here and tell me that an album is nearly done, and then have Grimmy say he was about to hear the album, and then have a touring company registered like a tour is gonna be in the works sometime soon when they haven’t said jack shit about ANYTHING, that’s beyond frustrating to me. You don’t have to give every fucking detail but god, not even a confirmation that the album is coming? NOTHING. Nothing at all.

Louis kept up fan service pretty consistently last year and eventually dropped music. Liam posts updates about his album progress to his social media, and yeah, his album still isn’t out, but there also haven’t been fifty people saying to the press every four days that it’s almost done. Niall was active on social media and kept up fan service last year before dropping his single as a surprise. Harry has done none of that, and I’m not saying that Harry has to do it the way the other boys did, but this is….really yikes. I don’t understand what the fuck his team is playing at, I really don’t. I know that Harry is the most famous in the band and I know that his music is the most anticipated, but he is not some untouchable artist with a shitload of street cred where his album is guaranteed to top at number one. I know this fandom might want to think that’s the case, but it isn’t. He is not Beyonce with numerous successful albums and decades in the industry. He has never put out solo music, and not only that, but we don’t have even the vaguest clue as to what his solo music would SOUND like at this point because again, we’ve heard nothing from his team.

The way this is being executed screams lazy and arrogant to me, and Harry is neither of those things, so I want to know what the deal is. To have this buildup for over a year with everyone else talking about it except for the people whose voices count the most and just expecting fans to be there, still waiting and ready and foaming at the mouth whenever you choose to drop music even though you never bothered to say anything about it….that doesn’t rub me the right way at all, I’m sorry. And listen, knowing this fandom and how much solo Harries have stayed pumped, it might work for them, it, but god, that is just….I don’t understand how people can respect that method of doing things. Us, the fans, as future consumers of his music, as the people who ensured that Harry is in the position he’s in today, deserve better than this. I know that fandom entitlement is a thing and we don’t deserve a lot of things that we think we deserve, but are people really gonna try to act like having confirmation of an album from Harry or his team is asking too much? Wanting some respect, and some clarity, and some basic fucking facts (for example: Are you coming out with an album? When is it coming out?) for Harry’s FIRST SOLO ALBUM EVER after over a year of almost complete silence from him (and silence about his future plans long before that) is perfectly reasonable, especially considering how much we’ve been jerked around about Harry’s solo career for like five years now, and quite frankly, anyone trying to suggest otherwise is fooling themselves. Harry’s team may not be able to control everything the media or other artists do or say about solo Harry, but they can (or at least, you would think they would be able to) control their own behavior, and at least so far, it seems like they’re just letting everybody else do the work for them (and do it messily at that, considering how many lies and ridiculous speculation has been published and passed around over the past year or so).

I’m just really frustrated because I don’t understand why his team is doing this and why they’re giving this impression of not knowing what they’re doing (e.g. the Full Stop website) or just not caring (e.g. [the metric for success] “is just existing”). With a lot of the Louis bullshit, even without knowing the exact details of what’s going on, you can usually figure out quite quickly that a) they’re actively trying to fuck him over and b) why they’re actively trying to fuck him over. The involvement of the stunts tainting everything Louis does also makes the intentions of his team clear (though no less infuriating). But this stuff with Harry? I don’t understand it and can’t even begin to imagine why things are being done this way. I don’t think it’s fair to the fans and I think it’s doing a huge disservice to Harry, his music, and if the rumors about when he’s dropping the music are correct, his acting career. I just really, really hope that there’s a huge change soon because I’m really cringing at what I’m seeing so far. I wish I understood any of this, but I don’t and watching it all happen is exhausting.

Alright, some of my word vomit is out. If people disagree with me, that’s fine, but this is my opinion. And no, I don’t think negatively of Harry or anything like that, I’m just not pleased with how things are being handled by his team (just as I’m not pleased with how Louis’ team is doing things) and I need to voice that.