Remus/Sirius

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Pairing
Pairing: Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Alternative name(s): Wolfstar[1], Moonfoot, Moonstar, Puppylove, Puppies or Puppyshipping, Remus/Sirius, R/S, RL/SB, The One True Way, H.M.S. Wolfstar[2], R.M.S. R/S[3], H.M.S. Furries
Gender category: slash, m/m
Fandom: Harry Potter
Canonical?: No
Prevalence: very popular
Archives: Azkaban's Lair
The Howl Kingdom
Wolf and Hound
Other:
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The Remus/Sirius pairing became popular with the characters' introduction in Prisoner of Azkaban (PoA) and remains one of the Harry Potter fandom's most popular slash ships.

Background

After the release of Goblet of Fire (GoF), one common trope of Remus/Sirius fanfic was Lie Low At Lupin's fic, in which Sirius goes to stay with Remus as Dumbledore suggests he do at the end of GoF. After this, Remus/Sirius was so popular as a secondary pairing in e.g. Harry/Draco fics that it was sometimes taken as a given, and wasn't always listed in the header.

With the release of PoA, many fans were worried that JKR would develop the two with female romantic interests and even cast them as half-siblings rather than potential lovers.

[semielliptical]
One of Remus's parents is a pure-blood. There aren't many pure-blood families. So it is likely that he is related to the pure-blood families we know.

And oh my god, that instantly made me think of the "embraced Black like a brother" line in PoA. Which even made me pause the first time I read the book, when I had no slashy intentions. Just like a brother - that's a bit odd. Why that particular description?

I have said before that one of my worst fears for the HP series is that JKR would give Remus or Sirius a female love interest. But really, that wouldn't be so bad, since it's usually very easy to imagine my way around unwanted canonical partners. But now my worst fear is that "like a brother" was a clue, and we will learn that Remus and Sirius are half-brothers.[4]
"Apparently everyone is making these now, and I thought it might be a good time to remind all you lucky kids of what the Wolfstar fandom was like way back when. It was a simpler, angstier time. DISCLAIMER: I’ve never really been a Wolfstar shipper, but I’ve been in the fandom for over fifteen years (!) and it was inescapable, so I’m willing to volunteer myself as a fandom historian in this case. Some of these squares have crossover with other ships and with fandom today, but THIS IS YOUR HISTORY."[5]

With Sirius's death in Order of the Phoenix (OotP), the pairing became canonically doomed, but, if anything, only gained in fannish popularity. The pairing developed two main genres, one centering on Remus and Sirius as students at Hogwarts or shortly after leaving school (often called Marauders-era fic), the other on their reunion and time together before Sirius's death. Remus/Sirius denialfic AUs in which Sirius survives were also common in the wake of OotP, as were "Bring Back Black" stories in which Sirius somehow returns from the dead.

Some fans hoped Remus and Sirius would be revealed to be canonically gay. While suggestions that Remus/Sirius was a canon pairing were often meant jokingly, some fans argued that the Remus/Sirius subtext, especially in OotP, might be deliberate (their joint Christmas present to Harry was often mentioned).

The article Harry Potter and the Secret Gay Love Story, which contains reflections on this period in the fandom, says:

One of the definitive works of scholarship to come out of the summer of 2003 was a 7,800-word essay titled “The Case for R/S,” posted on LiveJournal by a British schoolgirl writing under the name elwing_alcyone. “Current mood: jubilant,” the essay begins (opening with one’s “current mood” was LiveJournal house style, the equivalent of the MLA header), and then proceeds to track, cite, and analyze every mention of Sirius and Lupin in the entire series. At one point she counts the lines of text that appear between two phrases: “Lupin’s eyes were fixed on Sirius” and “said Lupin quietly, looking away from Sirius at last.” The number is forty; Lupin stares at Sirius for forty lines’ worth of plot action. “JKR didn’t have to write that in,” she gushes. “I can’t think of any other examples of one character spending so many lines simply looking at another.” Current mood: jubilant, indeed.

It’s easy to forget how fully we trusted Rowling back then, how total her authority appeared when the series was still in progress and its ending known only to her. In those days, we were Talmudic scholars and she was God. “The Case for R/S” still holds up as a stunning achievement in Potterian exegesis, but what’s striking about it now is its unwavering faith in “JKR” and her control over her material.

Lupin, who was staying in the house with Sirius but who left for long periods to do mysterious work for the Order, helped them repair a grandfather clock …
OotP, p110, UK; p118, US
“Lupin, who was staying in the house with Sirius.” Not “Lupin, who was staying in the house to be closer to the Order,” or “Lupin, who was staying in the house because he had nowhere else to go,” or even just “Lupin, who was staying in the house.” He is staying in the house with Sirius.
JKR didn’t spend three years writing this book to shove in things that didn’t matter.

“Why?” elwing_alcyone writes at the conclusion of her essay. “Why has JKR left it so open-ended? She could have sunk this ship in a sentence. She didn’t, and now, the odds are that she won’t.”

The revelation of a romantic relationship between Remus and Nymphadora Tonks in Half-Blood Prince (HBP) caused a great deal of controversy in Remus/Sirius fandom. Some fans argued that this new canon made the Remus/Sirius pairing impossible,[6] some felt that both pairings were possible,[7] and some denied or hated the Remus/Tonks relationship.[8] After Remus/Tonks became canon, it became more common (but not universal) for Remus/Sirius fans to depict Remus as bisexual rather than gay.

Ship and Fandom Name

Initially, Remus/Sirius did not have a predefined ship name or fandom. As with other pairings, abbreviations were used, later smushnames were thought, as well as nautical names -- due to the FictionAlley Park's SCUSA.

Fans who sent the pairing under the nautical name H.M.S Wolfstar had roles, as if it really were a ship -- vessel -- as seen in the signing of Tribble Tater in 2010.[1]

With the creation of the ship name Puppies and its ramifications, the term puppylovers was formed to briefly designate fandom.[citation needed] With the fall of the ship name puppylove in favor of others, so fandom seems to have followed the path of naming itself as shipper preceded by one name like Sirem or another.

The popularity of these names and their period of use varies with different fandom groups, for example in Brazil there seems to be a slight predilection for portmanteau names, in particular Wolfstar.

Fanworks

Example fanworks

Classics

Back cover of Everyday life by Cherry Beans

Doujinshi

Fanvids

Wolfstar has had resurgence on TikTok after the popularity of All The Young Dudes and with that has come numerous fan edits of this pairing. For the majority of editors, Andrew Garfield and Ben Barnes are the Face Claims for Remus and Sirius respectively.

Some creators in this space are:

Example Edits

Fannish Tropes

  • Lie Low at Lupin's, fics which depict what really happened during the months Sirius lay low at Remus' (usually set between GoF and OotP).
  • Bring Back Black, in which Sirius is brought back from the dead in some fashion or other
  • Beyond the Veil (trope), about Sirius in the afterlife
  • werewolves mate for life (used in other Remus pairings, but common especially in early Remus/Sirius fic)
  • Raising Harry, in which Remus and Sirius adopt Harry or otherwise become his surrogate family

Fan Communities

The SBRL mailing list was started in October 2000, and is still active; its associated archive is Wolf and Hound. Other Remus/Sirius archives included Azkaban's Lair, which closed November, 2008.

The primary Remus/Sirius community on LiveJournal is remusxsirus, founded in 2003, but there are numerous others, including packmates, shacking_up, two_boys, justpuppylove, starcrossedmoon, hbpandrxs, and the_kennel.

In 2005, possibly in response to the events of Half-Blood Prince, there was a surge in fannish activity, leading to the creation of Dog Days of Summer. It provided daily prompts during the month of August. Later it was followed by sibling communities Scarves and Hats (October), Blanket Forts (January) and Welly Muck (April).

shacking_up ran a Secret Santa exchange in 2004 and 2005, archived at shackinup_sesa. From 2006, RS Small Gifts, founded by magnetic_pole and busaikko, has held winter art and fiction exchanges. The masterlist for 2006 is Winter 2006, for 2007 is Winter 2007, and for 2008 is Winter 2008.

Fests, Challenges and Exchanges

See also List of Harry Potter Fests & Exchanges and The R/S Library

Resources

Reclists

Further Reading/Meta

References

  1. ^ a b FictionAlley Park's SCUSA"Master Ship List and Ship Registry Submissions (May Contain Spoilers for DH)". 2020-10-03. Archived from the original on 2021-09-23.
  2. ^ "Top Fifteen Remus/Sirius Clichés by Juliane for H.M.S. WolfStar (FictionAlley)". 2002-11-05. Archived from the original on 2021-09-23.
  3. ^ Vessel that supports a Remus/Sirius relationship. Also known as "The One True Way". "Welcome to The Sugar Quill • Glossary #R". 2021-09-23. Archived from the original on 2021-09-23.
  4. ^ semielliptical (2004-08-10). "like a brother". Livejournal. Archived from the original on 2004-08-13.
  5. ^ (Apparently everyone is making these now, and I...), Archived version
  6. ^ Nistelle. comment thread in Spoiler Discussion for Book 6 post in the remusxsirius LiveJournal community, 16 July 2005, accessed 14 October 2008
  7. ^ Selecasharp. Calm down! in the remusxsirius LiveJournal community, 16 July 2005, accessed 14 October 2008
  8. ^ Cobalt_Violet. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt [dead link], 16 July 2005, accessed 14 October 2008
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