LET'S DISMANTLE ATYD Part 1
As I mentioned a few days ago, I started reading ATYD (All The Young Dudes). For years, I avoided this story as if it were evil, seeing how much damage it caused in the fandom. How many people began to pass it off as canon-compliant, using it to villainize Snape and make the Marauders look like little angels and Remus a poor, bullied boy. For years, I've watched in confusion as this mischaracterization, the hypocritical theft of Snape's personality and his experiences to pass it off to other characters, reached truly ridiculous heights.
For years, I've been working on a collection to dismantle the falsehoods spread by Marauders Stans, and the time has come to also approach the fanfiction that provided much of the material used to create this mess.
I want to reiterate this emphatically: I don't hate the author of this fanfiction and I won't tolerate any comments against her.
Fandom is freedom, and it's wonderful that everyone publishes their own vision of the story, or even rewrites that deviate from canon. What I criticize is the arrogance with which some Marauder fans are using this story as a pretext to spread hatred against those who adhere to canon, spreading misinformation and falsehoods.
ATYD is not canon compliant, and I will explain in detail what's problematic about this story in terms of its canonical relevance and the characters' personalities.
These posts are designed so you can create a chapter-by-chapter collection, without having to read the whole thing if you don't want to. Or at least have a clear idea of what's in it and realize how much it deviates from canon.
(Obviously, it will contain spoilers for the story.)
Let's begin.
CHAPTER 1
The fanfiction features Remus, and in the first chapter, set in 1971, the boy is 11 years old and lives in a Muggle orphanage, St. Edmund's. Yes, Remus is an orphan.
This is already the first point that stands in stark contrast to canon. Remus actually has two loving parents, Lyall and Hope Lupin, who raise him with love and prefer to live isolated from society rather than abandon their son. In this story, however, his father was abusive, died, and his mother abandoned him.
This drastically changes the course of the story, because Remus is forced to live in the orphanage with a headmistress (the sister of a wizard) who treats him badly and locks him up during the full moon. So the author has given Harry's unhappy and unloved childhood to Remus. In the first chapter, Dumbledore visits Remus and reveals the existence of Hogwarts to him (a bit like Tom Riddle).
And yes, I know the author put this change in the introduction, but it's still wrong.
This is what's written:
LONG fic charting the marauders' time at Hogwarts (and beyond) from Remus' POV - a 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, it's canon-compliant. 1971 - 1995
If you introduce such a huge change, then the story can't be labeled or considered canon-compliant. It would be like me writing a fanfiction in which Harry was raised by the Malfoys but passing it off as canon-compliant because, for better or worse, the people who died in the books also die in my fanfiction.
And yes, a lot of people actually say this.
They claim that aside from the complete distortion of Remus's story, everything else is canon compliant, but it isn't.
I repeat, drastically changing a character's origin story obviously brings about other huge changes to their personality. For example, Remus is bullied by the other kids in the orphanage and is angry and violent. And, as we'll see, it's a lie anyway, since so many other things deviate from canon.
CHAPTER 2
Remus is escorted by the orphanage's director to Platform 9 3/4. Like Harry with the Dursleys, he's not believed in his method of reaching the platform, so he goes alone. Disoriented, he goes to sit alone in a carriage. Suddenly, a girl enters his compartment and leans out the window to greet her parents, and guess who it is?
Yes, Lily, but she's alone; Severus is, well, nowhere to be found.
The two talk for a while, and only after a while does Snape arrive, saying he's been looking for Lily for ages (when they were together in canon).
Snape tells Lily to go to his carriage, and when Lily asks if Remus can come along, Snape looks judgmentally at Remus and his secondhand clothes.
This part made me laugh. Even Severus has secondhand clothes. Why would he be such a snob? xD
The meeting with James, Sirius, and Peter isn't canon at all. Shortly after, James and Peter arrive in Remus' compartment, and it makes no sense at all.
In canon, James and Sirius were in the carriage with Lily and Severus, and they start bothering Snape from that moment on, and it's Snape and Lily who leave.
So if the author really wanted to show the encounter with the Marauders, it should have been Remus who joined them; it makes no sense for James and Sirius to change carriages.
So this isn't canon compliant either.
CHAPTER 3
The Sorting takes place. Remus has the same insecurities as Harry, but that's fine. Like Harry and Ron, he's influenced by James and Peter to end up in Gryffindor, but that's fine; this doesn't distort the canon. Peter is immediately shown as a bit unpleasant and prejudiced toward Slytherins and Muggles, which makes me turn up my nose a bit. Peter's betrayal in the series is tragic and painful precisely because it's unexpected.
This trend of portraying him as the intruder in the group, ambiguous from the start, I find a bit strange, but I'll put it aside; these are interpretations of the character.
CHAPTER 4
In this chapter, Remus is shown the Shrieking Shack reached via the tunnel under the Whomping Willow. Madam Pomfrey and her concern for Remus are endearing. Although Remus seems to find everyone unpleasant, his childhood transformation makes him angry and distant toward everyone, a stark contrast to his canonical personality.
The description of Remus's transformation into a wolf is interesting.
CHAPTER 5
The first lessons are fun to read, very reminiscent of the original series, and it was fun. There are further references to Remus' dyslexia, which isn't actually canon, but it's an interesting addition, though. And then comes the first Potions lesson, where Remus argues with Snape. Slughorn has the students work in groups of four (Slytherin and Gryffindor together), and Lily calls Remus to join her and Severus (Mulciber is with them).
Remus can't read the instructions for making the potion, and Severus, annoyed, says this:
“Oh hurry up,” Severus snapped, “It’s not as if it’s difficult.”
“Leave him alone, Sev,” Lily chided. “The book’s covered in your notes, no wonder he can’t find his place. Here, Remus,” she flicked open her own, brand new potions book. But it was no good.
Remus shrugged
“Why don’t you do it, if you’re so clever.” He spat at Severus.
“Oh Merlin,” Severus’ lips curled, “You can read, can’t you? I mean, even muggle schools teach that, surely?”
“Severus!” Lily gasped, but the smug dark haired boy didn’t have a chance to say anything else – Remus threw himself over the desk and into Severus, fists flying. He only had the element of surprise going for him – Mulciber grabbed his collar and yanked him back, punching him square in the face in three seconds flat.
Like, hello? Snape grew up in the Muggle world, Snape went to a Muggle school.
This is totally OCC
Oh well, let's pretend he said it, Lupin physically attacks him, Mulciber defends Severus, and the two Slytherins are punished?? o.O
CHAPTER 6
In this chapter, the Marauders decide to take revenge. Am I the only one confused? I mean, yes, Snape was certainly rude here, but Remus responded by beating him and sending him to the hospital wing. Isn't that enough? No, for the Marauders (the little guardian angels of the weak, as the Delusionals would have us believe they are), revenge is needed. But not just for Severus, no, revenge is needed for the entire Slytherin house.
“The Slytherins.” James hissed, “Keep up, Pete.”
“Not all of the Slytherins,” Peter asked, sounding worried, “Only Snape and Mulciber, right?”
“All of them.” Sirius confirmed. He had just appeared from under the desk they were sharing, and presented a piece of parchment, “This what you were looking for?”
CHAPTER 7
Little angels, they decide to put pepper spray in the boys' dormitories, all the boys' dormitories in Slytherin, which causes enormous problems for the boys and, we discover the next day, a major allergy attack for Severus. But Remus doesn't care; in fact, he's happy about it, and the other Marauders laugh about it too.
“It worked!” James whispered, breathless with excitement. Even Peter looked cheerful now.
As more and more Slytherins filtered in, their problem became more obvious – and more hilarious. By seven o’clock the Slytherin table was full of squirming, writhing, scratching boys, and horrified looking girls. Amycus Carrow, a burley sixth year, eventually ripped off his robes, his school jumper and even his tie to claw at his chest which Remus could see was already red raw. He almost felt sorry for them.
But then Snape came in. Whether it was karma or sheer luck, Severus seemed to have reacted particularly badly to the rosehip seeds. He walked in with his head bowed, hair falling over his face, but his nose
was still visible and clearly bright red.
“Oh Merlin!” Sirius wheezed, laughing so hard he was holding his stomach. “Tell me we got his face!”
“Oi, Snivellus!” James yelled out, suddenly, to get the other boy’s
attention.
Snape spun around, looking up; his hair parted. The left side of his face was covered in an angry red rash, from his temples all the way down to his neck, disappearing under his uniform. His left eye was
red too, the lid swollen and irritated.
“Looking good!” Sirius crowed, and all four boys dissolved into giggles as Snape stormed out of the room.
By the time breakfast was over, the entire castle was buzzing with rumours about what exactly had come over the Slytherin boys. Sirius and James looked as though all of their Christmases had come at once, and even Peter had cheered up remarkably – reminding them all that he had kept lookout, after all, making the entire venture possible.
“It was all Lupin’s idea, though,” Sirius returned, slapping Remus heartily on the back, “What shall we do to celebrate, eh? Exploding snap? Raid the kitchens?”
They have no remorse, they are sadistically satisfied (as I imagine the canonical Marauders might be) how can the Stans defend all this??
CHAPTER 8
In the next chapter Remus tries to live his days hiding his werewolf condition and dyslexia from his new friends, nothing special
“Remus and Lily, the only two Muggleborns in the class”
Excuse me??
Remus is NOT Muggleborn. It's clearly stated that his father is a wizard, even in this fanfiction it's stated that his father attended Hogwarts, Slughorn remembers him.
Can't they even maintain consistency with their own rewrite of the canon? xD
The rest of the chapter is cute; the first flying lesson takes place, where Sirius tries to get close to Remus and help him. He's the first to realize that Remus is dyslexic.
It's an interesting addition; it's a headcanon that doesn't really distort the story too much. The main problem remains the same: making Remus an orphan and raising him in a Muggle orphanage completely changes his personality, distancing him too much from canon. If Lupin had been called something else instead of Remus, the story would have worked better.
This is not Remus but an OC that was named after him.
CHAPTER 10
The way the relationship between Remus and Sirius gradually develops is nice. Sirius understands his friend's dyslexia and tries to help him.
The only thing that makes me uncomfortable is that Remus is called the mastermind of the group.
Sirius says this: "We'll need your evil mind for pranks."
When was Remus ever the evil mind for pranks?
If it were canonical, it should show Remus being against the kind of things James and Sirius do. We're explicitly told in book 5 that he tried several times to stop his friends, albeit half-heartedly.
He certainly wasn't the one who invented the "pranks."
Furthermore, in this chapter, the Slytherins take revenge on the four Gryffindors by sending them sweets with something inside that makes hair grow on the marauders' flights. Nothing painful, nothing that would trigger dangerous allergic reactions, and, I point out, something that targets ONLY these four, the ones guilty of putting peppermint powder in the ENTIRE Slytherin boys' dormitory. Slytherins are more balanced even when it comes to revenge than the Marauders. Who, however, have not understood anything and do not accept being equal, no, no, they decide:
"Come on," Sirius stood up, sticking his furry nose up with an air of aristocratic dignity that was nothing short of hilarious, "Let's get to the hospital wing. We can plot our revenge later."
Really? First Lupin punches Severus, then they put peppermint powder in the beds of all the male Slytherins, and now that they've gotten back, even a small part of what they gave, they still want to take revenge? Oh well, let's pretend to tolerate it because they're 11 years old.
CHAPTER 11
A bearable chapter, the way the Marauders' daily routines and interests are described is nice. The only thing that really doesn't work is Belaltrix still being a Hogwarts student; she's nine years older than the Marauders, so she can't have been at school at the same time as Sirius. But it's a pretty common problem in fanfiction, especially since in canon we're told that Snape hung out with the Lesternages and Belaltrix. JKR admitted to confusing the math. So let's say I can forgive this mistake, even if it's not canon compliant.
CHAPTER 12
The usual problem: Lupin, being an orphan, he stays at Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays. He broods over his Christmases spent in the orphanage, which, let's all repeat in unison: it's NOT CANON COMPLIANT.
Sirius runs away from home and returns to Hogwarts alone via the Floo Network, then enters the castle on foot from Hogsmeade. The school's security system is great xD
Anyway, here begins to reveal the horrendous family climate Sirius lives in. We're told that the entire family insulted him because he became a Gryffindor, he was called a traitor, and sent to bed without dinner. Walburga sends him a howler threatening to disinherit him. And remember, this is Sirius's first year.
And in the howler, it says this:
“SIRIUS ORION BLACK,” it shrieked, “HOW DARE YOU DEFY YOUR FATHER IN THIS MANNER!” Remus covered his ears. Sirius remained perfectly still, looking up at McGonagall, “Consorting with half breeds and blood traitors! Turning your back on your family! If your grandfather was alive, he’d have disowned you the moment you were sorted! You will remain at school until the end of the year and think about the shame and dishonor you have brought upon your noble title! Don’t think we won’t disinherit you! You are not our only son!”
Now, it’s not entirely clear to me whether he’s implying that Walburga knows about Remus’s werewolf status. I don’t think so, obviously it wouldn’t make sense. I imagine it’s just another way to make the witch worse than she is.
I mean, that poor woman just followed the tradition of beheading house-elves and keeping their heads hanging on the wall.
The Lord forgive a woman for having a hobby. xD
The way the Marauders Stan made Wlaburga into a terrible person who doesn't love her children never ceases to piss me off.
She certainly wasn't a perfect person, but in canon she loved her children; Sirius' escape broke her heart.
CHAPTER 13
We start with a bang. Remus and Sirius want revenge on Snape, yes, only Snape because they SUPPOSE he was the one who gave them the sweets with the spell that made his hair grow. And Remus, our sweet Remus, says this: “We should just get James’ cloak, follow him around ‘til he’s alone, then beat the shit out of him.”
Remus growled as they sat in the empty common room one evening. He gripped the arm of the settee as he said this, feeling the leather creak under his grasp. It was getting close to the full moon, and his temper was closer to the surface than usual.
Remus has never been so violent and aggressive, and no, the full moon doesn’t make him this way, either before or after the transformation. Same old point, it’s not canon compliant.
Oh, I almost forgot, there are many clues that Remus will invent the Marauder’s Map; he’s the one who starts the search for the secret passages. It doesn't really break the canon, it's just an addition.
CHAPTER 14
The introduction to this chapter is this:
“Snape gets what's coming to him...”
I don't think I need to point out how much this already shows the author's bias at this point.
Severus is being targeted by the Marauders AGAIN. And what they do here is horrific. I remind you that all this “revenge” started because Snape told Remus to hurry up in his first Potions lesson and asked him if he could read. But no, Remus isn't touchy at all, of course.
Sirius starts teasing Snape and Lily during class, and Snape responds by teasing Sirius, having heard about his running away from home, and Sirius and James openly threaten Severus.
So let's try to understand: the Marauders can insult, tease, attack, hit, and curse Snape, and they're still little angels, but hey, if Severus responds in kind, then he's a monster.
Nothing new, classic Marauder Stan double standards.
And here too, Remus explodes and almost attacks Snape again. Then, during dinner, the Marauders see Severus laughing with his classmates at the Slytherin table, and Remus can't help himself.
He curses Snape in front of everyone in the Great Hall (though very conveniently, no one but his friends sees him), creating a cloud that chases the Slytherin raining down on him, and Remus thinks this:
The immense satisfaction Remus felt was compounded by the laughter echoing around him. Snape was such a nasty, spiteful boy, even some of the Slytherins looked pleased to see him get what he deserved. The more Remus thought about it, the more he wanted to punish him, and the harder it rained. In fact, the cloud seemed to darken and swell.
And when? When was Severus mean or spiteful?
The only time in this story where he says something irritating without provocation is during the first Potions lesson, already mentioned above. The rest of the times, he was provoked and cursed.
In this chapter, Remus almost drowns Severus.
How long can revenge last?
If I'm rude because you're slow, you can swear eternal hatred and make my life hell? Really?
This Remus is truly out of his mind, and I haven't said it enough: he's NOT CANON COMPLIANT.
CHAPTER 15
In this chapter, Remus goes to the library alone and then sits on a suspended windowsill (the architecture here confused me a bit). Absent-mindedly, he drops a book from the stairs.
Snape is with Mulciber and jumps up in fear. Snape uses a Homenum Revelio charm, and Remus is dragged down the stairs (since when does this spell work like this? O.O.?). Of course, Remus draws his wand to attack Snape, but the Slytherin is faster and casts an Expellarmus. Oh, I forgot, here Snape calls Remus "Loony Lupin." How sweet, they try every way to distort Snape, when the only people who have ever used a nickname to make fun of a classmate are the Marauders.
You know the Snivellus issue that arose on the train journey?
But no, in this story, we don't know why, but Snape has many of the canonical James behaviors.
It's quite ironic that the Marauders Stam hate this Snape, when he's literally the canon James, who insults, mocks, and attacks Snape when he's superior against the Slytherin. Obviously, to replicate the bullying behavior, in this case it's Snape and Mulciber attacking poor Remus 2-on-1.
Sound familiar?
As usual, this simply doesn't make sense.
If Snape had actually treated Remus this way, the issue would have come up; James would have said he was attacking the Slytherin to protect Remus, but that's not the case.
This is yet another non-canon compliant invention.
CHAPTER 16
Nothing tragic here; the Marauders discover that Remus's birthday is approaching and insist on throwing him a party. There are references to Remus's sad childhood in the orphanage, with elements that are obviously NOT canon compliant.
CHAPTER 17
They celebrate Remus's birthday, and here he shows off the proto-Marauder's Map he created for the first time.
CHAPTER 18
The first year is approaching exams, the Marauders are revising, and Remus is having sad thoughts about having to return to the orphanage for the summer, being alone. All this makes me think of Tom Riddle and how interesting it would have been to read about him, but instead, we were forced to read about this OC who stole Remus's name. Remus's transformation is the most interesting part; we're shown how it happens, what the boy feels, and how much more painful it is becoming now that puberty is starting.
Oh, here's a reference to Sirius's scars, another crude attempt to introduce the idea that his parents tortured him. Does the boy growing up in an abusive family sound familiar?
Oh well, nothing new, they've stolen Severus's story again and are foisting it on other characters. But this isn't canon compliant.
The rest of the chapter is pretty boring.
Remus feels ill toward evening and goes to the infirmary, I imagine to leave some clues about Remus's condition that his classmates will understand.
CHAPTER 19
The final chapter that concludes the first year. The students take their exams. Belaltrix (my love) is mentioned studying for her NEWT exams, which, as I mentioned, doesn't match the canon chronology. The Marauders obviously pass all their exams. I admit that the descriptions of the exams were fun to read; it took me back to the original series where Harry has to take his exams. On a positive note.
CHAPTER 20
It only contains letters Sirius sends to Remus over the summer. It reminded me a bit of the Shoebox Project, the first fanfiction about the Marauders, which was practically entirely in epistolary form.
Honestly, I expected worse, but I know the worst is yet to come.
I'll make another post about the second year chapters soon.
