All The Young Dudes

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Fanfiction
Title: All the Young Dudes
Author(s): MsKingBean89
Date(s): March 2017 - November 2018
Length: 526,969 words (188 chapters)
Genre(s): Slow Burn
Fandom(s): Harry Potter
Relationship(s): Remus/Sirius
External Links: All The Young Dudes (Ao3), Archived version
Cover art by a_and_s436 (2021)

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All The Young Dudes is a Harry Potter fic by MsKingBean89.

It is a canon divergent fic that fills in the Marauders timeline and is focused on Wolfstar (Sirius Black/Remus Lupin), spanning from their arrival to Hogwarts and all the way until the events of Order of the Phoenix & Deathly Hallows and is a total of 526,969 words long (188 chapters).

In April 2021,[note 1] it became the first English work on Archive of Our Own to reach 2 million hits. It currently (as of February 2023) has more than 9 million hits, making it the fanwork with the highest hit count on AO3. It also holds the highest number of comments and kudos in the fandom.

Many fans, especially Gen Z fans, consider it their canon version of the Marauders and some prefer to consider ATYD-influenced Marauder fandom as separate from regular Harry Potter fandom, particularly as it rose to fame after Rowling's controversial statements about trans people and fans' subsequent desire to distance themselves from the author. Jokes about how MsKingBean89 "actually wrote Harry Potter" are somewhat common.

Grant Chapman, a particularly well-loved OC from the story, has started appearing in other fanworks.

Author's Summary

Author's Summary: LONG fic charting the marauders' time at Hogwarts (and beyond) from Remus' PoV - diversion from canon in that Remus's father died and he was raised in a children's home, and is a bit rough around the edges. Otherwise canon-compliant.

Rise to Fame and Reception

Initial Response

The story was posted from March 2017 to November 2018, and in this time, netted three Marauders Medals awards: for best Work in Progress (2017), Best Characterisation of Remus (2018) and Best Characterisation of James (2018).[1]

Explosion in Popularity

However, the source of most of its fame originated in December 2020 when the story started to gain traction on other social media platforms, particularly TikTok (see also: MaraudersTok). It introduced a lot of readers to Harry Potter fanfiction, and somewhat even to the concept of shipping.

The fic's newfound popularity was such that it prompted a Slate article: 'The Best Harry Potter Novel Isn’t Written by J.K. Rowling', published in November 2021. Written by an author who was also a fan of the work, the article analyzed the fic's appeal to fans, its rise to popularity, and the fandom that had sprung up around it. One passage on All the Young Dudes' explosion in popularity reads:

The growing interest in All the Young Dudes of late has this movement of reclamation [of queerness in the Harry Potter universe] to thank, but there’s another factor: Fanfiction TikTok. All the Young Dudes in particular really had its moment in the second year of the pandemic, starting around the winter. Here’s some more numbers: The fic finished publishing in November 2018. By mid-2019, it had somewhere around 100,000 hits on Archive of Our Own. By November 2020, it had just under 300,000 hits. Jump to January 2021: By the end of the month, the story had reached just under a million hits. And now it now has more than four million hits on Archive of Our Own. There are now YouTube reviews of this fic. People have taken it upon themselves to read it for audiobooks in a practice known as podficcing. It has almost 9,000 ratings on GoodReads and a 4.82 star average review score, which a lot of published authors would kill for. It has its own TV Tropes page, and there are hundreds of posts in the Tumblr tag, which includes some phenomenal fan art.

Over on TikTok, the #atyd hashtag on TikTok has 704 million views. Few of of them have anything to do with the Mott the Hoople song, although almost every single TikTok that uses that song is about the fanfiction of the same name. The spinoff hashtag #atydtiktok has 45 million views in and of itself. Among countless memes and fancasts dedicated to the story, people have even posted clips of themselves printing and binding the entire, 500,000-word fic so they can have their own physical copies.[2]

It also gained coverage in the Telegraph and was featured in Screen Rant's April 2021 list of '10 Amazing Works Of Harry Potter Fan-Fiction On AO3', in which it was the first listed fic. Author Kath Leroy described the story as "One of the longest and most celebrated fics on AO3."[3]

A note appeared in the fic's summary between January and March 2021[note 2] stating that the author would no longer be reading or responding to comments on the fic.

Impact on Fan Culture

Its popularity on TikTok also led to a rise in a new generation of vidders. These creators are mainly making edits for the Wolfstar pairing of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, but many now include actor George MacKay as a faceclaim for the original character Grant.

The explosion of All the Young Dudes in popularity is often cited for ushering in a new, typically younger, wave of Marauders fans. These fans have a reputation for creating fanworks relatively distanced from the original canon and/or expanding on the canon greatly. This new wave in fans has, at times, caused friction between newer and older fans who may exhibit hostility towards the fandom's newer trends and characters.[4] In 2023, tumblr user sunshinemarauders[5] observed:

I really believe that JK Rowling’s anti-trans statements are the reason for such a removed and yet passionate fandom. One fan wrote in my survey that they believe “most of the fandom is already so disconnected from canon… Also I don’t care what JKR thinks or says about anything or any of the characters.” Of the 315 participants, 73.6% of them joined the fandom after 2019. As the fandom grew during the pandemic, the canon has become less and less relevant. The most popular fanfictions on Archive Of Our Own are All The Young Dudes, Manacled, and Crimson Rivers. While AU fics are common in every fandom, it is no surprise that these fanfictions don’t have any canon ships (except for Jily in All The Young Dudes). After June of 2019 (when Rowling first tweeted her support for a self-proclaimed transphobe), there was a huge increase in the amount of fanfictions written- the number of fanfictions written for the Harry Potter fandom on AO3 alone was 179,457 on June 1, 2019. As of May 6, 2023, there are 410,766 fics written- and counting! Fanfiction has become a way for fans to completely transform the canon that they have felt betrayed by, and create their own stories.

https://sunshinemarauders.tumblr.com/post/718028131103129600/i-really-believe-that-jk-rowlings-anti-trans sunshinemarauders, May 2023

All the Young Dudes is often considered by these fans to be the canonical source material for the Marauders, though many newer fanworks and creators deviate from its content. For instance, many of the newer fans have worked towards diversifying the characters through portrayals of queer identities as well as new racial interpretations of the characters, such as portraying James as desi and Sirius and Regulus as East Asian.[6][7]

Taylor Swift Authorship Meme

Over the years, many fans have started to speculate that the real-life identity of MsKingBean89 is none other than famous singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift. Proponents of this theory point to the author's relative anonymity (they no longer participate actively in the fandom) along with the use of "89" in the username, which matches Swift's birth year of 1989 (also the name of one of her albums). While many commenters do not seriously believe this theory and consider it an inside joke, it is not impossible that some do genuinely believe Swift wrote the fic. Theorists often draw links between the content of the story, as well as the Marauders characters in general, with Swift's lyrics.[8][9][10][11] For more information, see here.

Comments on Legality

The practice among fans of printing out and binding copies of the fic reportedly sparked off a discussion about copyright, although as Rachelle Hampton (the author of the Slate article) noted:

The popular fandom logic goes that the only reason that fanworks aren’t technically violating copyright law is because they’re transformative, which means they’re different from the original work they’re based upon, and because they don’t affect the market of the original work. Profiting off of fanfic theoretically changes the legal calculus though actual legal experts are in dispute over that. But since MsKingBean89 isn’t selling copies of All The Young Dudes, just allowing others to spend their own on bound copies of her writing, the argument is moot in this case. There’s little to no financial incentive for MsKingBean89 here—any attempt to monetize a level of engagement that brands would kill for could potentially open her up to a copyright claim from Rowling. Which makes the popularity of All The Young Dudes entirely organic and grassroots in a way that few internet trends are anymore.[12]

With that said, some (presumably fan-made) copies of the book have appeared for sale on sites such as the book patch, with some comments questioning their legitimacy and others criticising the "illegal" act.[13]

For further information about this controversy and trend, please see 2024 Harry Potter Fanbinding Controversy.

Fan Reactions

This is the first Wolfstar fic I’ve ever read and I think it has ruined me. I literally can’t stop thinking about it and in my head this is canon.[14]

This is better than anything the original series author wrote, truly. It perfectly fits into the world of Harry Potter while being a better exploration of love, trauma, grief and growth. The characters are rich and lifelike, and the relationships are ones I’ll be thinking about for a long time. People might think fanfiction is silly, but when it’s as good as this, it deserves some respect. Incredible.[14]

i have no words. i don’t know how to describe the experience that was reading this fanfic (book, honestly). i never really understood what people meant when they said “i would give anything to read this again for the first time” but now? I GET IT. i would give ANYTHING to read this again for the first time. (just the hogwarts years though the last part of this book was the most painful thing i’ve ever read).[14]

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years being angry at the person who created a world that defined my life for the better part of 15 years, and angry at myself for losing the joy I felt as a Hermione-cosplaying child. This fic brought back a lot of that joy, as well as so much pain. It reminded me why I had fallen in love with the wizarding world when I was 6, and let me know it was still okay to feel that love.

I don’t know if I fully have the words yet to determine how I feel about All the Young Dudes. It hurt a lot because all I felt for about half of it was the constant ticking of time towards the events of 1981. Even the happiest moments made me sad because of the canon. But I think with the pain it also brought me a lot of healing as Remus went through and dealt with his troubles along with his friends. All I could think about was how young they were, especially in the war. Now I’m 21, I couldn’t imagine having to deal with what they went through, and would honestly probably have similar coping mechanisms to Remus.

I think this fic will stay with me for a very, very long time. I might even reread the original series now, and hopefully still find that same love there that I felt while reading this.[14]

for any Marauders or harry potter fans, All The Young Dudes is the BEST fanfic i have ever read! i've been reading fics since i was 11 and this is my all time favorite, MsKingBean89 understands the characters and portrays them perfectly. it held my attention the entire 188 chapters ! its the longest thing ive ever read and i read it in under a week while in school, work, and having stuff to do! i love this fanfic so much[15]

it’s honestly one of the best modern day pieces of literature, warning though , don’t get into it unless you have 1.a lot of Time binge read 2.tissues that won’t scratch your face 3.chocolate/ice cream to cheer you up once the crying has ceased[15]

Practically essential reading for Marauders. It's what started my love for all and any fanfiction and even though it's long, it's written so that it is great for people just getting to know the characters.

As well as directly inspiring lots of fics/characterisations, I think because it is so prominent in the fandom (and likeable) a lot of fans are influenced subconsciously as there is so little canon to go off.

Basically any Marauders fan will tell you this is a classic even if they don't like it or draw from it, it can't be ignored and is a good starting point to get to know the characters as it has influenced so many fics.[16]

You should not miss All The Young Dudes by MsKingsbean89. It is a work of art and will move you to tears. It should be published as a book series, it’s better than most I’ve read anyways. Fuck copyright, this deserves awards and public recognition![17]

That being said, MsKingBean89′s ATYD is amazing and it was the first R/S fic I read, I’m pretty sure. I love it and it hurt so bad and it’s wonderful. I would highly encourage everyone to read it for how wonderfully characterised everyone is, and how utterly enthralling @atyd-wolfstar‘s writing is. I wonder if, perhaps, that the longest wordcount puts some people off, however? (Not me, give me the slow burn please and thank you.)[18]

This fic RUINED ME. I am going to be completely honest and say that I haven’t been able to bring myself to finish it just because of the PAIN it caused me. If you told me this was a published piece of work and all the Harry Potter books were just fanfictions based on All The Young Dudes, I would believe you with no question. I have come so close to printing and paying for this fic to be bound into a physical copy just because it is so worth it.[19]

Inspired Fanworks

Art

Example Art Gallery

Graphics and Gif Sets

Fanfiction

Playlists

Vids

Meta and Further Reading

External Links

Notes

  1. ^ The earliest version of this page, created in April 2021, mentions that the fic had become the first English-language work to pass 2 million hits. A Wayback Machine snapshot from March 2021 also shows it at 1.6 million.
  2. ^ Absent as of this snapshot taken on 22 January 2021, and present as of the next Wayback Machine snapshot taken on 12 March 2021.

References

  1. ^ Reflected in the fic's summary as captured by the Wayback Machine in January 2021. Later removed.
  2. ^ The Best Harry Potter Novel Isn’t Written by J.K. Rowling: It’s queer, it’s class-conscious, and it’s 500,000 words-long., Archived version
  3. ^ Fic Recs: 10 Amazing Works Of Harry Potter Fan-Fiction On AO3, Kath Leroy, Screen Rant. Published April 25, 2021 (Accessed February 6, 2023).
  4. ^ https://sunshinemarauders.tumblr.com/post/716621646964883456/sexist-experiences-in-the-marauders-fandom
  5. ^ https://sunshinemarauders.tumblr.com/post/718028131103129600/i-really-believe-that-jk-rowlings-anti-trans
  6. ^ https://sunshinemarauders.tumblr.com/post/718028539772944384/racebending-in-the-harry-potter-fandom
  7. ^ https://youtube.com/watch?v=K1MffKSXxqY
  8. ^ https://www.wattpad.com/1269482652-proof-taylor-swift-wrote-all-the-young-dudes-part
  9. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/Wolfstar/comments/1c7xy91/the_black_dog_taylor_swift_mskingbean89_confirmed/
  10. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/Wolfstar/comments/kzj7je/taylor_swift_says_wolfstar_is_canon/
  11. ^ https://www.distractify.com/p/atyd-taylor-swift
  12. ^ The Best Harry Potter Novel Isn’t Written by J.K. Rowling: It’s queer, it’s class-conscious, and it’s 500,000 words-long., Archived version
  13. ^ All The Young Dudes on the book patch. Accessed February 6, 2023. ([https://perma.cc/N6K9-EN29 Archived link).
  14. ^ a b c d Goodreds review
  15. ^ a b Comment by moriahhh08 on International Fanworks Day Feedback Fest 2022
  16. ^ Comment by RC1762 on International Fanworks Day Feedback Fest 2022
  17. ^ Comment by TheSmayles on International Fanworks Day Feedback Fest 2022
  18. ^ "June 11, 2019 Tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2023-01-23.
  19. ^ "some of my ao3 wolfstar recommendations!". Archived from the original on 2023-01-23.
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