“Was it scary? Was I scary?” He had no idea what he looked like in wolf form.
Sirius’s expression did not flicker. “No.” He said, firmly. “You were beautiful.”
who is remus? what the hell is ATYD?
in short, remus "moony" lupin is a werewolf-wizard from the harry potter/wizarding world universe. MY version of him is based completely on the all the young dudes fanfiction by mskingbean89, because the idea that JKR has anything to do with him, and the marauders, makes me physically ill, and this fic version of him is the one that i feel closest to, and is me in real life.
all the young dudes (which you can read here) is a VERY long (526,969 words!) harry potter fanfiction set in the 70's, following the marauders' lives from their first year in hogwarts, into the wizarding war in the 90's. it's written from remus' POV (in 3rd person). i feel that it's an incredible study into remus' character, and is a wonderful look into friendship, love, and family.
tell me about him!
why are you so attached to a dead gay werewolf from the 70s ?
because he's my strongest kintype! i am Remus IRL. i've always identified as and with canines, and therianthropy (not to be confused with medical lycanthropy - which is why we use the term therianthropy). upon reading ATYD, i realised "hey, that mfer is me!!"
the longer answer is that remus helps me a lot with identity, chronic illness and pain, and emotional regulation. his struggles with his identity (the clash between wizard and werewolf) which i relate to heavily, and his acceptance of who he is, is something that grounds me and helps me remember that I can do it too. he also helps me deal with chronic pain and illness; his transformations are painful and sometimes cause permanent injury, his wolf hurts itself when it's lonely. but he still gets up and does what he has to, and he still has a supportive group of friends that are more like his family. specifically with ATYD remus, his style, backstory, relationships with his parents, etc really hit home for me.
I think the most important thing though is that when I look at ATYD fanart or stories, or the things that I associate with the characters, it feels like home and family. It just feels right. i know that at one point, this was my family, my pack, too.
