Countdown to small gifts 2/6: Head canon

[smallgiftsmods.livejournal.com]

First off, before you do anything else, head on over to yesterday's discussion post to introduce yourself! We've got both newcomers and long-time readers and participants this year, and we'd like to catch up and get to know you all.

Today: Tell us something about the version of Remus and Sirius that you enjoy reading, writing, or drawing. What's head canon for this pairing for you? Have you encountered any interpretations of these characters that have influenced your own? Are there aspects of canon (book or film) that you like to reinterpret, ignore, or downplay?

Check out previous countdown posts:
Day 1: Introductions Come tell us a bit about yourself!

Comments

[marc-duork.livejournal.com]

Ok, so I love smut as much as the next fic reader, and I've drawn my fair share (oh goodness, yes I have), but the idea of Remus and Sirius having sex has never been much of a serious consideration for me. I see them in love and romantically involved and all the angst and fluff that goes with it, but for some reason, my Sirius is asexual (I'm much happier with labelling him since I learned more about sexuality) and Remus is perfectly happy with that, what with the whole 'I'm a wolf sometimes, I don't deserve love anyway' thing. And Sirius as a 40 year old virgin is somehow more bad boy than schoolboy-prostitute!Sirius, no?

I also have never imagined them having an overtly open relationship. I mean, reading the books, they strike me as the kind of people who would be private about their private lives, and in combination with the social climate at the time, I like to ignore the parts in fics with a lot of a Public Displays of Affection.
So you have to forgive Harry for not noticing his godfather and his boyfriend canoodling; at least that's how I have to justify it, goddammit Harry!

[chalada.livejournal.com]

Haha, poor Harry, totally clueless in the first place and then they keep their relationship more or less to themselves? He's doomed. (Then again, I like to pretend this kind of supports the ship: When Harry first realizes he likes Ginny he's all "ah yes, those brotherly feelings I have for her", Remus embraces Sirius like a brother, works for me. ;P)

Seriously though, I also think they're not the public displays of affection type, or at least they're so subtle about it you'll most probably miss it or brush it off as them being good friends if you don't know what to look for.

[museinabsentia.livejournal.com]

Oh my yes, I feel like they wouldn't be the PEA types. I can get behind a story where they are if it has a purpose, but in general not so much. Of course, I also tend to believe that unless a relationship is new, or you are amongst just some close friends, PDAs scream a need for attention or recognition, almost like people need to ask for acceptance. Mind, I also feel like there is an acceptable level of romantic interaction before it crosses that line. Hmmm... Wow I sound overly opinionated now... That wasn't the point at all. Mostly I was trying to say I agree with you before my mental train derailed into a field of poppies.

[marc-duork.livejournal.com]

Be free! Opinionate! PDA is one of my pet peeves, probably because I'm so often third wheeling in my friendship group, it makes me feel awkward and unintentionally voyeuristic, like, why the hell are you octopussing each other all up in my field of vision, brahs?! Hand holding, arm draping, the odd (tongueless) kiss, and using each other as chairs (if you are short of actual chairs). These things are acceptable to me. Sorry, that was much more aggressive and ranty than I meant it. I'm nice really.

[museinabsentia.livejournal.com]

Hey, I started this rant. Besides, I completely agree with you, except for the being the third wheel part as I'm in a long term relationship... And also have no friends. I just feel like excessive PDA s are a cry for attention. I'll let a bit more slide if a relationship is new because new couples feel the need to touch all the time, but there comes a point where it starts to looks desperate.

[brighty18.livejournal.com]

Sirius as asexual is something we don't really get enough of in fanfic, in my opinion. Out of curiosity, where do you see him on the spectrum? Is he aromantic, too? I often see him as kind of demiromantic, in that he would mostly experience romantic attraction to someone with whom he has a deep, emotional bond. In fact, I often see him as someone who is rather polarized about people. There are people about whom he cares deeply enough to give his life (Harry, Remus, James, etc.) and then everyone else.

[marc-duork.livejournal.com]

I don't see him as at all aromantic, but by coincidence I see Remus as the only person he's ever had an attraction to. (Side note: Regulus though is asexual and aromantic to me). And very much yes to him being polarised about people, and I think that's linked to stubbornness too; there's not much chance of being upgraded to sacrifice-worthy if you even look at him funny!

On a general note, IDK but I thought that what you describe as demiromantic was what ~romantic meant anyway; maybe it's just my own limited personal experience but can you feel romantic towards someone you aren't on an emotional level with? I've always thought that was sexual attraction part..? Damn this spectrum is complex!

[mutuisanimis.livejournal.com]

Yes, agreed! Ace/demiromantic!Sirius is my fave.

[museinabsentia.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that I have a solid head canon. I mean, the obvious aside, such as even in a non magical AU Remus still needed to have something that makes it harder for him to be accepted, or he's not really him. But those sorts of things aside, I think what I love about this pairing is that they can fit into almost any situation. They are so easily molded and still able to be recognized as themselves, and that fluidity makes it so easy to keep coming up with fresh stories, which helps keep the ship sailing.

[nerakrose]

i'm not very picky (apart from pet peeves! XD) but the things i always kind of zero in on are:

- asexual sirius
- badass remus (someone who doesn't take shit and stands up for himself, because i don't see him do it much in canon AND I WANT HIM TO DAMMIT)

err, that's it. XD

i'm also a big fan of the 'old married couple' trope, in the meaning: a couple who have been together so long, or know each other so well, that they are at perfect ease with each other. and also because bickering. XD i don't see them as the kind of couple who have big violent fights unless there's something really major going on (like, idk, a war). and i'm a big fan of daddy!remus too. ♥

[brighty18.livejournal.com]

I love reading all kinds of things, but, in my head canon they are a very stable couple and that is how I write them, too. I don't really picture them as having too much of a tumultuous relationship, their friendship is just too strong.

I like writing about them as a stable couple the best. It gives a nice platform for having adventures or exploring other aspects of their characters.

[chibitoaster.livejournal.com]

Layers, layers, layers!

I like the fact that it isn't as simple as Sirius being wild and Remus calming him down. Remus is wild on the night of the full moon, and Sirius is there to comfort him. But then, I also think that Sirius has a calming effect just on his own. And Remus probably knows this, too.

Sirius is ready to lay down everything for what he believes in. And we find out later that Remus is, too, although Remus lacks the same confidence as Sirius.

They were both naughty teenagers who mellowed out into great men - both in their own ways. Sirius is almost unconditionally forgiving. He understands the situations, and knows that it wasn't Remus's or anyone's fault for believing that he was guilty through all his years in Azkaban. But he's willing to let it go. And Remus won't beat himself up about it, either. They're realists and very down-to-earth in many ways, but also free-spirits in others.

I just love how complicated they are. And that might be partly a mistake on the part of JKR, contradicting herself occasionally in the books, but maybe they really were meant to be this complex.

[marc-duork.livejournal.com]

They're just like onions. They even make you cry sometimes.

[chibitoaster.livejournal.com]

Isn't that the truth? I feel so bad that so many of that generation haveto be so utterly tragic.

[mustntgetmy.livejournal.com]

ia with everything you said here. Also wanted to say that the way you wrote this kind of reminds me of a horoscope :)

[mustntgetmy.livejournal.com]

One of my main headcanons for R/S is that I see the chief tension between Remus and Sirius as being that Remus is pretty reticent about showing affection (but still being very devoted), where Sirius kind of constantly needs affirmation and wants to show his love - always wants to cuddle and tell Remus he loves him, that sort of thing. (And I think that'd come from his cold childhood, not getting a lot of kisses from Mrs. Black, and so on.) My thought for how Sirius ended up thinking Remus was the traitor in the first war was that he never quite knew where he stood with Remus because their standards for showing affection were so different and they never sat down and talked about that so, naturally, any little comment from Peter or whoever about seeing Remus with Death Eaters or whatever would've been blown way out of proportion to him.

Also! I have a soft spot for the idea that Remus, while otherwise being a very mild-mannered type, got into a lot of bar fights in his twenties. Dunno where that one comes from, but I've grown very partial to that idea.

[mutuisanimis.livejournal.com]

Yes to all of that

[youcantseeus.livejournal.com]

I can really read a wide variety of interpretations of the characters and the ship. I also write the characters in different ways depending on the fic. In other words, I don't have one headcanon version of Sirius that I use in every fic. I might write him as a Gryffinwhore in one fic and then write him as a bit of a prude in my next fic and it doesn't bother me that much. That said, there are certain ideas that I tend to gravitate towards more than others.

I like it when young Sirius has a bit of cruelty in him. I also like it when he's trying very hard to leave his pureblood upbringing behind, but it still influences his viewpoints in certain ways. I don't play with this idea in all my fics and in some fics I make him nice and fluffy, but it is an idea that I gravitate towards.

I like it when Sirius and Remus have a tumultuous relationship (at least when they're young). I guess it's how I reconcile stuff like the Prank and stuff like the fact that each of them suspected the other of being the traitor with them being in a romantic relationship. I guess it's also how I answer the question that I sometimes see posed by non-shippers: "But why would Sirius and Remus be in a relationship when the books say that Sirius was closest to James?"

I like it when Remus is non-confrontational to a fault and Sirius is confrontational to a fault and their arguments sort of reflect this.

I like it when Remus is bisexual and Sirius is gay. I can't read Sirius paired with a woman.

I like the idea of Remus getting to know other werewolves at some point in his life (usually during the first war or shortly after) and toying with the idea of living with them and sort of leaving respectable wizarding society behind. I also like the idea of him having a werewolf boyfriend of girlfriend at some point in his life.

I actually like the idea of Remus being the one who is a bit promiscuous, not because he wants to rack up "conquests" or anything like that, but because I see him as liking a lot of people, being a very sexual person, and not wanting to get tied down to any one person (with the possible exception of Sirius) because of his lycanthropy. I think that he would only have sex with people he genuinely liked, but he wouldn't necessarily be interested in getting into a long term relationship with those people. By contrast, I see Sirius as a character who dearly loves a very small group of people and could really care less about everyone else. So if I write Sirius as someone who sleeps around a lot, then I have to write him as someone who is sleeping with people who he doesn't feel much for beyond lust.

Sooo, I made them sound a little messed up, lol. I do enjoy fluffy fics for this pairing as well, I promise!

[woldy]

According to my head canon, Sirius can't cook at all - given the chance he'd burn toast and fail to open a can of tinned soup - but Remus bakes beautiful bread and cakes. Random, but there it is!

[cevennes.livejournal.com]

I'm really not at all picky about what I'll read--I love seeing different permutations of these two!--and don't have much of a solid head canon, though I agree with everyone who's said they like the strong, stable foundation of friendship on which their relationship would be built. I love all the history they've got between them, and seeing them fall in love as sort of a natural progression of that is always great.

The only real head canon I've got is Sirius Black: Enormous Drama Queen. I mean, waiting for the anniversary of the day James and Lily were murdered to break into Hogwarts? "There will only be one murder here tonight!"? It's probably the end of the world for Sirius Black at least twice a week. I like to think Remus is equal parts irritated and amused by it, and probably plays along sometimes.

[mutuisanimis.livejournal.com]

Ace!Sirius and bi!Remus are my faves. I'm also a partisan of crossword-loving pups. Young and somewhat cruel Sirius is definitely up there for me as well. My Sirius expresses all sorts of love primarily through physical affection and giving gifts, and Remus primarily through spending time together, which led to some of the confusion during the first war. Someone up above me (I'm on mobile so I can't see who it was) was talking about how Sirius didn't know where he stood with Remus during that time, which I agree with for sure.