Fan fiction set in the Harry Potter universe
All the Young Dudes is a fan fiction written by Archive of Our Own (AO3) user MsKingBean89 set in the Harry Potter universe. It was written from March 2017 to November 2018, is over 500,000 words long and contains 188 chapters. The story takes its title from the song, "All the Young Dudes", by the English rock band, Mott the Hoople and interweaves music from the 1970s in its chapters.
The story starts in the early 1970s and follows Remus Lupin's years at Hogwarts and the love story between himself and Sirius Black. It ends in summer 1995, around the beginning of the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The story has garnered positive response from critics and fans while also gaining popularity online for its internet memes, fancastings and LGBTQ+ representation.
Plot summary
Nearing his 5th birthday, Remus Lupin, son of wizard Lyall Lupin and muggle Hope Jenkins, was bitten by Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf, and became one himself. After Lyall died by suicide, Hope placed Lupin in St. Edmund's, a children's home for boys. Lupin is looked after by Matron who locks him up during the full moon to keep him from hurting any of the other boys, while simultaneously preserving his secret. As he comes of age, Lupin is visited by Albus Dumbledore who gives Lupin his acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry which he would be able to attend. On full moons, he would be taken through a secret tunnel leading to a shack where he can undergo his transformation in privacy and safety.
During his first year, Lupin befriends James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Hesitant and cold towards them at first, the four become close friends and begin to call themselves the Marauders. During their years at Hogwarts, Lupin develops a close connection with Black, bonding with him over their shared scars. Black is also the first to learn Lupin is a werewolf. During their fifth year, the Marauders become Animagi to join Lupin during his transformations. Lupin also befriends Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon and Mary MacDonald who go on to form a close bond with the Marauders. During the summer of 1975, Lupin discovers that he is gay after having intimate relations with Grant Chapman, his new roommate at St. Edmunds. Upon returning to Hogwarts for the school year, Lupin finds he has a crush on Black. On his birthday, Lupin kisses Black and during their sixth year, the two become an unofficial couple. During a camping trip, Lupin comes out to the rest of his friends and Black later tells them that they are a couple. Lupin also reunites with his mother who later dies from lung cancer.
After their schooling, Lupin and Black move into a London apartment together. They decide to join the Order of the Phoenix and help in the war effort to defeat the rising Dark Lord, Voldemort. Lupin is tasked by the Order to infiltrate a pack of werewolves working for Voldemort, led by Greyback. Upon doing so, he becomes an advocate for the werewolves on the side of evil while also encourages liberation amongst various werewolves in the pack. On his return, Lupin attends Potter and Evan's wedding, however, a prophecy regarding their newborn son compels them to go into hiding. Lupin's constant werewolf advocacy leads Black to believe that he is a traitor, causing turmoil between them. While Lupin leaves to enlist the help of the liberated werewolves, Pettigrew, betrays Potter and his wife who are consequently killed. Black is subsequently framed for revealing their whereabouts and is sent to Azkaban.[a]
McKinnon and her girlfriend are also killed while MacDonald leaves to marry a muggle in Jamaica. After seemingly losing all of his friends and Black's apparent betrayal, Lupin shuts himself off from the Wizarding World and finds comfort in his old childhood friend, Chapman. The two become a couple and live in Lupin and Black's old apartment. Lupin also reveals his magical side to Chapman. Lupin is later asked by Dumbledore to return to Hogwarts as a teacher and during the year, Black's innocence is revealed.[b] Black returns to his and Lupin's old apartment and finds Chapman and Lupin living as a couple. Chapman moves to Brighton for a new job after realising that Lupin will always love Black more. Lupin and Black reconcile.[c]
In an epilogue,[d] an older Chapman meets Lupin's son, Teddy, and reminisces on his relationship with Lupin.
Background
"Wolfstar" is the paired-ship name between the Harry Potter characters Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.[4] In 2011, David Thewlis, the actor for Lupin on screen, stated in an interview for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 that he was told by, Alfonso Cuarón – the director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – "in the rehearsals, without J.K. Rowling's knowledge, that [Lupin] was, in fact, gay, so [he had] been playing the part like a gay man for quite a long time".[5] He added that after Lupin married Nymphadora Tonks, he "just saw it as a phase [Lupin must have] went through".[5] Vanity Fair writer Joanna Robinson noted that aside from the 'phase' comment, "it’s easy to see how Lupin—a man who is haunted and ashamed of a deeply personal secret, in this case, being a werewolf—could translate to many readers as homosexual".[6]
Release and publish
All The Young Dudes was published on Archive of Our Own (AO3) between March 2017 and November 2018.[3][7][8][9][10] The story begins in the early 1970s and follows Lupin's childhood and becoming a werewolf, his years at Hogwarts, his fight in the First Wizarding War, his werewolf advocacy and his relationship with Sirius Black.[11] The story ends at the beginning of the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix where it is stated that he and Black are living together.[12][13] It has over 500,000 words and consists of 188 chapters.[14] Other related works were released on AO3 by the author including short stories, unreleased chapters and an epilogue titled Out of the Blue.[3]
Reception
Media response
Upon release, All the Young Dudes has gained a positive reception.[16][10] The Mary Sue writer Benedetta Geddo noted that the story is "a beautifully written story of friends and war and happiness and loss".[3] She highlighted the story's love story between Lupin and Black, noting that "the queer subtext has always been there" in the original Harry Potter novels, adding that their love story was written "realistically and beautiful, immersing it in its historical and cultural context and delivering on the high stakes the characters are living through".[3] Slate posited that the reason the story is so "engrossing" is the extent to which it is "detailed and invested it is in building a world outside of the one Rowling created".[11]
Screen Rant writer Meagan Bojarski listed the story on the sites Most Popular Fanfiction For Each Major Ship list, adding that "because of its length and depth, many fans consider it a proper book unto itself and accept its information as canon in the greater Harry Potter world".[4] Another Screen Rant writer, Liz Hersey, wrote that because of Rowling's controversial comments, Harry Potter fan-fiction such as All the Young Dudes becomes "valuable, as it's an artistic space that fans can inhabit without having to grapple with Rowling's involvement" adding that the story "perfectly represents what makes the Harry Potter series so beloved".[17]
Impact and representation
The story was listed at number one on AO3's "Top of all Fics" but was eventually replaced.[18] Despite this, the story is the top Harry Potter fan-fiction on the site and has become an influence for other "Wolfstar" stories.[18] It also gained popularity on TikTok and the Harry Potter fandom at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.[11][19] On TikTok, the All the Young Dudes' hashtag, #ATYD, has over 1.5 billion views. TikTokers often fancast the characters (choosing celebrities and actors which they believe look like the characters) alongside creating memes about the story.[11][19] Popular fancasts include Andrew Garfield as Remus Lupin, Ben Barnes as Sirius Black and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as James Potter.[20] Barnes and Garfield have acknowledged the fancast, with Garfield calling it flattering and a "sweet thought".[3] There have also been memes on social media about MsKingBean89's identity being Taylor Swift.[21]
Liz Hersey noted the story's impact on the LGBTQ+ community, noting that fan-fictions such as All the Young Dudes "allow fans to play matchmaker" but also allows its queer "readers and writers to feel represented as many popular movie franchises don't have characters from that community".[17] Her Campus writer Vitoria Prates also praised the story for its queer representation.[22]
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