#REPRESENTATION

[justcallmemrslupin]

Remus Lupin is Canonically Straight!

(And aroace coded)

Many people ship canonically straight characters and that's fine. Everyone of us has our fantasies, fetiches and favourite tropes. But when it comes to Remus Lupin, some people — Marauders fans again, of course 🙄— say he's implied to be gay or bi in canon.

Let me just correct you right there: No. he's not. He's actually heavily implied to be grey aroace. I'm sorry, ship what you want but this is not a matter of Interpretation. It is what it is. Full stop.

So, let’s sit down, pour some tea, and straighten out a few things (pun not intended, but I’ll take it):

Remus John Lupin is canonically straight.

• He had a mild crush on Lily Evans (stated by J.K. Rowling in an interview).

• He fell in love with and married Nymphadora Tonks. He had never fallen in love before! Never.

His romantic arc is exclusively with women.

His official biography states that he had never fallen in love before Tonks. If you’re still arguing, you’re not arguing with an interpretation. You’re arguing with a direct statement. That’s not canon-adjacent. That’s just canon.

David Thewlis is a brilliant actor — and a notorious joker.

He’s witty. He’s playful. He cracked a joke about Lupin being gay because Cuarón (the director) told him to play the character like a “gay junkie.”

Everyone on set laughed. Because it was a joke. It was behind-the-scenes direction and performance.

The metaphor of lycanthropy is about stigma.

Specifically, J.K. Rowling said it represents “the stigma surrounding blood-borne diseases such as AIDS.”

That’s about how society treats people, not a metaphor for queerness.

(Side note: Not all people with AIDS are gay, and not all gay people have AIDS — let’s not regress 40 years in our public understanding.)

Remus as queer representation

You know who else is emotionally repressed, guilt-ridden, touch-starved, and awkward around romance? Aroace people.

If anything, canon leans toward grey aroace, not toward any gay or bi reading.

He spent most of his life avoiding love, never fell in love until his mid-30s, and struggled with intimacy due to trauma and internalized stigma. That’s aroace spectrum, baby.

So... Just write your fanfics and be happy. But let people who apreciate canon and who seek true representation be happy too.

[philosophybits]

The rules must be laid down arbitrarily, that is, are not to be read off from reality like a description. For when I say that the rules are arbitrary, I mean that they are not determined by reality in the way the description of reality is. And that means: it is nonsense to say that they agree with reality.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Grammar

[iant0jones]

"I feel very proud to be a black Creole vampire, in the show. I mean, I hope that all it does is opens the gates for more. Let's tell more stories. Let's be monsters! And enjoy it! Yeah, let's be problematic. Give us the space to be a problem." - Jacob Anderson

[writing2changetheworld]

The Rollettes are in a Lady Gaga music video! This is huge! This is amazing!

[cowsabungus]

Disability representation!!

I was lazy and used old drawings for this

Anyways much love

[osokasstuff]

you don't have a personal responsibility to break stereotypes about your demographics. you don't have to be the perfect representation. you don't have to be a good representation. you are allowed to exist as you are, even if it somehow fits into stereotypes.

you're allowed to have your experiences, hobbies, expressions, traits, problems, symptoms, etc. even if they're stereotyped. you are not a living stereotype. you are a person. a person who happens to have some traits. you're not making the world less diverse. your existence already contributes to diversity.

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

like honestly just give your non binary characters traditionally "gendered" features. just do it. it's not like being androgynous ever stopped non binary characters from being misgendered.

frisk undertale and kris deltarune were androgynous and are only ever referred to by "they/them" and ppl are still arguing over how the "main character is not the player but their own person" message didn't apply to their genders bc they refuse to wrap their head around different pronouns. raine owlhouse was paraded around as "disney's first ever nb representation" by everyone and their mother but bc they have short hair other countries dub them as male. this also happens to most anime nb characters bc of how japanese pronouns work. halara raincode literally has the color scheme of the non binary flag AND their in-game profile says that they, and i quote "have no specified gender" AND several characters remark on it in the actual game but bc theyre voiced by a female voice actor ppl still call them a woman.

like literally at this point just give your nb characters huge tits and a massive beard. if ppl refuse to accept the existence of non binary characters in media, then there is no way to make a character non binary "enough" to convince them otherwise. no matter how much you hammer in their androgyny in an attempt to detach them from "male" and "female," there will be people determined to assign gender roles to any trait you give your character.

creators being hesitant to give their non binary characters traits that could be associated with a binary gender is why every goddamn genderqueer character that the creator wants you to take seriously in popular media has shoulder length hair and a board-flat figure and a perfectly neutrally pitched voice. like. just do what you want at this point. the character is non binary because your story said so and people who misgender them would have done that no matter how androgynous they look.

[creation-help]

Hey. You. If you're a second language English speaker. You should make more of your ocs your own nationality. They don't all need to have inexplicably English names. They don't all need to somehow conform to American cultural conventions. They should speak your first language also. Holds your shoulders and looks you deeply in the eyes. Okay? Okay.

[aboredgremlin]

Did Fallout casually drop a non-binary character out of the blue like that? I love them, very gender. But I did not expect that from the Brotherhood?!?!

[writerofstuff]

Dead Boy Detectives was surprising.

It surprised me when, instead of Crystal dropping in and fracturing Charles and Edwin's thirty years of friendship, they went with Crystal sinking into the fold of Charles and Edwin's friendship and becoming an important and unique addition to the group.

It surprised me when, instead of Gay Boy Pining Over Straight Best Friend, they went with Gay Boy Realises Feelings For Straight Best Friend And Confesses Almost Immediately with a bonus of Straight Boy Accepts Confession With Surprising Grace And Nothing Changes, Not Really.

It surprised me when, instead of making the female characters repetitive and semi-rational and ultimately less powerful, they went with characters who are smart and selfish and kind and cruel and strong and flawed and oh, they happen to be female too.

It surprised me when Charles liking Crystal did not affect one bit of how much he loved Edwin.

It surprised me when Jenny talked about spinsters with cats and Niko did not bat an eye.

It surprised me with Edwin and Niko. It surprised me with, we have forever to figure the rest out. It surprised me with Crystal's kindness, Jenny's empathy, the casual and absolute, the good you do will come back around.

Dead Boy Detectives was surprising. One day, I hope I can sit back and watch another show and none of this has to be surprising anymore.

[justcallmemrslupin]

Being a Lupin Lover in 2025: a Shock!

I've always been a huge Potterhead and Lupin Lover. I wrote fanfiction about Remus Lupin before it was cool. The books were still coming out.

I spent years hating "Harry Potter", because Remus died in the last book. He was the soul of it for me, and losing him felt personal.

When I came back to the fandom, everything had changed.

Fanfiction had become mainstream... and not always in a good way.

Suddenly there were subfandoms like "the Slytherin Boys" and "the Marauders" (who exist in aesthetic moodboards more than they ever did in canon).

There were people treating fanon as gospel, and entire ships that rewrote core characters to fit trends.

And then... there was The Ship Which Must Not Be Named (Remus and Sirius 🤫🤐)

Let me be clear: the W*lfstar phenomenon didn’t just make me uncomfortable. It broke something in me. Because it erased everything I found validating in Remus.

As someone who is grey aroace, Remus was a quiet, deeply personal symbol: of restrained affection, of non-normative love, of choosing kindness over chaos.

And now that version of him (my version of him, the one the author actually wrote) is being replaced by a manic-pixie dream-werewolf who makes out with Sirius every ten seconds and never emotionally matured past age 17. And if I say anything? If I gently point out canon People go mental.

They flood official HP accounts. They spam David Thewlis’ Instagram. A literal reporter asked him about the ship.

Even Pinterest can’t post a Remus, Remadora (God forbid someone actually ships Remus with his Canon wife and only love!) or even just Tonks photo without being swarmed.

Let’s call it what it is: harassment. Or, if you're feeling mild: an absolute lack of fandom etiquette.

And the worst part? The people who love the real Remus (the layered, flawed, deeply human man JKR cried while writing) are made to feel like we’re wrong for still loving him. For missing him. For recognizing him.

Ship what you like. Headcanon freely. That’s what fandom is for.

But don’t gaslight those of us who remember the books.

Don’t call it “interpretation” — much less "representation"! — when it’s actually erasure.

I knew who he was before all the edits. And I’ll still be here, loving the real Remus Lupin (tired, polite, traumatised, quietly heroic) when the trends pass.

So… I came back to the Harry Potter fandom after years away. I was excited. A little wistful. And then I saw him. Remus Lupin. Everywhere.

I thought: "Wow. They remember him. They love him too. How cool is that?"😍

And then… I read the posts and realized: "Oh. They don’t love Remus. They love some kind of golden/amber eyes and sweater-wearing chaos gremlin with commitment issues, a nicotine addiction, and a soundtrack by The Smiths. Oh, and a teenager.

Let’s get one thing straight: Remus John Lupin was a gentle, wounded, kind-hearted man with enormous self-control, a dry sense of humor, and the moral backbone of a thousand wizards.

He loved once. He taught with empathy. He aknowledged when he was wrong. He thought he was unworthy of love, but he gave it anyway.

He died trying to make the world safer for his son, even when he was terrified of becoming a father.

But somewhere along the way, fandom shoved him into a grungy little Marauders-era box, slapped on a cigarette, erased half his personality, made him weirdly passive-aggressive, and said: "Yes. This is the one.” 🥸🤓👽

Honestly? As a neurospicy woman who always had Remus Lupin as a comfort character and wrote fanfiction where I was always worried about keeping him — and everyone else — on character... it hurts.

Because the Remus I love, the one who quietly shaped lives, who held so much sorrow and still chose kindness, is barely recognizable in today’s fandom.

Because apparently nuance isn’t aesthetic enough for TikTok edits.

And the worst part? When I do speak up about canon, I’m called a “purist” or “boring” or “not fun.”

Listen, I’m neurodivergent. I’m grey aroace. I am the soft-spoken weirdo who over-apologizes and masks until I break.

Remus isn’t just a character to me: he’s validation. He’s the first time I saw someone like me in a story that mattered. So yeah. I’m a little protective.

If you love the Ship Which Must Not Be Named, fine. Ship what you like. But don’t pretend it's Canon and don't rewrite Remus’s soul and tell me I’m wrong for missing him. I know who he is. I’ve always known.

And if anyone needs me, I’ll be in the library, drinking tea, quietly judging, and crying into "Hogwarts: A History."

Your Fandom Auntie, too old for fandom drama, still here anyway.

[decaffeinatedpartymuggoop]

“If you want more representation” okay but what if they did a better job than all the other actors???

Like, with PJO Rick didn’t go “only black people can audition for Annabeth!! Grover has to be Indian! Zeus has to be black!”

No, the actors auditioned, did a good job, and got the gig.

Like instead of crying cause all these white actors didn’t get it, ask yourself if they even deserved the position.

Everything isn’t some “woke” propaganda or “more representation.” They just deserved the job.

[elumish]

A thing to consider: when you're writing male characters, do you think of it as writing people, or as writing men?

When you're writing female characters, do you think of it as writing people, or as writing women?

In a lot of stories, men are written as people, but women are written as women. Men are written neutrally, with little to no explicit attention paid to their gender, while women are written with a lot of explicit attention paid to their gender. Women's gender becomes part of the story, while the fact that men are men is rarely lingered upon.

So if you're ever struggling to write female characters, or you're wondering why it feels harder, or if they seem less interesting or more annoying than your male characters, consider this: is it because you're focused on writing them as women, while you're used to just writing men as people?

[prokopetz]

I'm as keen on media rep for my particular demographic as the next dweeb, but I cannot emphasise enough now little interest I have in cozy bisexual romances where everybody is well-groomed and mentally normal and lives happily ever after. I want stories about maladjusted bisexual freaks being put in situations.

[captainjanewaylovespuppies]

Janeway is still incredible representation

As a young woman, I’m obsessed with Janeway. I imagine her being amazing representation back then, but I think that she’s still incredible representation now. Here are some things that I think still make her unique 30+ years later:

She’s “motherly” and she wants to have children, but she’s never made to feel bad or less than about not having children.

She’s so naturally commanding. There are no conversations about her being a woman in charge, she just is.

She has a mixture of stereotypically masculine and feminine interests and traits. As a starfleet captain, she gets to work a lot with science and engineering but in her spare time she plays gothic holonovels and knits.

She sacrifices her personal happiness with great stoicism. This feels like a trope I see used for male heroes, intended to show their strength of character, but I rarely see it used for female characters

She often argues for the pragmatic stance without being an emotionally closed off person. This is so refreshing since many female characters often argue for the moral and/or emotional stance. Female characters who argue for the pragmatic stance will often be shown as emotionless, cruel etc.

She has very realistic mental health problems and regrets, but she presents herself with incredible confidence. She has the same touch of overconfidence that Kirk has, but seeing a female character possess this trait (without being a villain) is still unusual.

She’s a middle aged woman who gets to be seen as beautiful and desirable without that being the focus of her character. The respect she gets from others is earned by her actions, but her beauty is also acknowledged.

Janeway is good at almost everything, but she isn’t always right and she’s no Mary Sue. She’s so aspirational because she’s so realistic, she is never “chosen”, special or superhuman in any way. She feels like a woman I could know, and it’s inspiring to see an “ordinary” woman lead and do extraordinary things with knowledge and determination.