a manifesto by Abe Francis @italianwitchbooks on tik tok

I. What is All The Young Dudes

1. All The Young Dudes is a Harry Potter Marauders Era fanfiction containing 188 chapters for a total of 526,969 words published by MsKingBean89 on Article Of Our Own (Ao3). According to wordsperpage.com, they estimate that if it were a published book (12pt font, standard margins), the whole work would be around 1,170 pages

2. All The Young Dudes (ATYD) was published between March 2nd, 2017 and October 12, 2018

3. The contents of ATYD is a complete parallel of the original harry potter books, but set primarily between 1971-1978 from the perspective of Remus Lupin. Not only was this set during the Marauder’s Hogwarts year, but it also depicts the war, post war, all the way through to July 14, 1995. For reference that was when Harry was in his 5th year at Hogwarts.

4. The Marauders were a close-knit friend group consisting of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They were known as the Kings of Gryffindor.

5. In addition, the genre I’d classify this book as would be a slow-burn tragedy. The romantic relationship between Sirius Black and Remus Lupin is hinted at throughout their first years at Hogwarts, until it reaches its climactic peak in 6th year-pre war, with notable conflict between the two of them throughout. The relationship pairing is called Wolfstar. For those who haven’t read the Harry Potter series, Remus Lupin is notably a werewolf who’s nickname is Moony, and Sirius Black is a black dog animagus who’s nickname is Padfoot.

6. Fun facts about ATYD: (unrelated to Taylor Swift… or is it?)

   1. In ATYD, Sirius Black is infatuated with David Bowie. He is his idol, and when asked why he wanted to move to London, he said “to meet David Bowie”. There are many Bowie songs referenced in ATYD, all of which reflecting on Sirius’ life or the wolfstar relationship. A specific example would be “Lady Stardust” from the 1972 album, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. In real like, David Bowie, Gary Oldman (actor who played Sirius), and David Thewlis (Remus’ actor) were all great friends in real life! So close in fact, that Gary is the godfather of one of Bowie’s children. Gary said on the Drew Barrymore Show that he and Bowie had “weekly Skype dates” In addition, Gary was featured in the Bowie music video for “The Next Day”. With that knowledge, it seems as perhaps David Bowie was the original Wolfstar shipper. It’s so full circle that Sirius finally got to be best friends with David Bowie.

   

II. How is Taylor Swift Connected?

• The most notable connection is the username that published ATYD is MsKingBean89, as common knowledge, Taylor Swift was born in 1989, and regularly uses the number 89 as a sort of tag for Taylor. She is very intertwined with the number 89.
• Taylor Swift took a hiatus between March 2016-August 2017. MsKingBean89 has confirmed that she wrote most of the work before publishing it in March of 2017, therefore, Taylor could’ve wrote the majority it during her hiatus, finishing up the last couple chapters by October 2018.
• Did David Bowie get Taylor Swift to ship wolfstar? They have plenty connections, let’s check it out. First, in an interview with one of her writers Dan Wilson, he said, “she’s [Taylor is] Bowie-esque”. Next, in a 2014 photoshoot, Taylor Swift is pictured holding Bowie’s album Young Americans. On Swift’s album, Midnights, she even has a song called Labrynth, which most directly correlates to the 1986 film Labrynth staring David Bowie. With this knowledge, it’s reasonable to assume she is a decent fan of Bowie’s, and likely consumes a lot of his music, or even met in person. In meeting him, he could’ve pointed her to wolfstar through his best friends Oldman and Thewils.
• For the release of her newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, she’s selling a “Black Dog Deluxe Edition” through Target, that includes a patch and sticker of a large black dog jumping in front of the moon. The black dog being Sirius, the moon obviously being Remus (AKA Moony).

III. Evidence in the songs…

1. Cardigan - Folklore Album

   1. Remus lupin notably has very many scars from being a werewolf and accidentally harming himself during the full moon. In ATYD, Sirius (named after the star Sirius, part of the Canis Major, known as “The Dog Star”) many times comforted Remus and helped him heal his scars, leaving behind the constellations of his touch.

      You drew stars around my scars But now I'm bleedin'…

   2. Sirius is a heavily tattooed man, many fans theorizing that he did many stick- -poke tattoos during his Hogwarts days. In addition, Remus and Sirius in ATYD would often smoke cigarettes together, and later when Sirius was gone (in Azkaban), the smell of cigarette smoke haunted Remus since it always reminded him of his lost love. When Sirius was away in Azkaban, Remus was distraught. He thought Sirius to be the love of his life, but then why kill their best friend and 12 muggles! He cursed Sirius till the end of the world, but deep inside, he missed and loved him.

      But I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs The smell of smoke would hang around this long 'Cause I knew everything when I was young I knew I'd curse you for the longest time

2. Champagne Problems - Evermore Album

   1. The Marauders lived in the Gryffindor dorms, and were known for their epic parties, mischief, and many many pranks.

      "This dorm was once a madhouse"

   2. The Marauders were so close they were practically brothers. True brotherly love and endless trust between those four boys, only to be completely wrecked on Halloween night of 1981 when Voldemort killed Lily and James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew framed Sirius for their murder, causing Remus to lose his three closest friends in one evening. They thought they’d last forever (evergreen), but perished to a cruel fate.

      How evergreen, our group of friends, don't think we'll say that word again

   3. New generations of students walk through the halls of Hogwarts and in the Gryffindor tower, without any knowledge of the kings that came before them.

      And soon they'll have the nerve to deck the halls that we once walked through

3. The Black Dog - The Tortured Poets Department Album

4. As a caveat, this reminds me of when Remus cut off Sirius after “the prank”tm. Sirius was his best friend and he trusted him with everything. He hated him so much. But he really did love him. He tried to distance himself from Sirius, but his heart never stopped wanting him. But Sirius did his best to move on and actually dated girls at that time, making Remus believe it could’ve all been a lie.

   I move through the world with a heart broken My longing state unspoken And I may never open up thе way I did for you And all of those best laid plans You said I needed a bravе man Then proceeded to play him Until I believed it too And it kills me

5. Remus was an outsider, he was a muggle born who went into Hogwarts with zero knowledge of the wizarding world. In addition, he grew up in an orphanage, and wasn’t used to the wealth that the rest of the Marauders grew up in. Joining the Marauders, and being in Gryffindor was truly a fraternity, and Remus felt he was constantly getting hazed with bizarre esoteric (magic) rituals he didn’t understand. But at the end of the day, he still was proud to be a Marauder.

   Was it hazing for a cruel fraternity? I pledged and I still mean it Old habits die screaming…

   Were you makin' fun of me With some esoteric joke?

6. As mentioned earlier, when Remus and Sirius were apart, Remus could barely smoke his cigarettes because they reminded him so heavily of Sirius.

   Six weeks of breathin' clean air I still miss the smoke

7. Sirius Black (the black dog animagus) and Remus would often sneak out of Hogwarts to go listen to rock bands performing in pubs. It was their safe haven. Even in their dorm, they listened to rock n roll music constantly, and eventually the songs wrote themselves into their relationship. When Sirius would dance with pureblood witches to their songs, Remus felt contentment because the girls didn’t even know the songs Sirius played for them.

   And then I hope it's shitty in The Black Dog When someone plays "The Starting Line" And you jump up, but she's too young to know this song That was intertwined in the tragic fabric of our dreaming With tail between your legs, you're leavin'

4. The Tortured Poets Department - TTPD Album

1. They often smoked together, and ate copious amounts of chocolate after a full moon, as per Remus’ attempt to kill the wolf within himself.

   You smokеd, then ate seven bars of chocolate

2. Sirius was a tattooed dog, and often fell asleep in dog form next to Remus

   I scratch your head, you fall asleep Like a tattooed golden retriever

3. Fresh Out The Slammer - TTPD

4. Sirius Black was arrested for the murder of Lily and James Potter as well as 12 muggles. He was fresh out of the slammer and went to find Remus (in ATYD, non canon compliant).

   Now, pretty baby, I'm runnin' back home to you Fresh out the slammer, I know who my first call will be to

5. Even before Azkaban, he was a prisoner in his own home, suffering 16 years of mental and physical abuse, primarily from his mother. This made him very emotional, dragging all his friends into his swing of emotions. Remus put up with his moods because it meant being with Sirius.

   Gray and blue and fights and tunnels Handcuffed to the spell I was under For just one hour of sunshine Years of labor, locks, and ceilings In the shade of how he was feeling But it's gonna be alright, I did my time