literary wolfstar recs part 2 (modern classics/post-2010)
hallo! Okurr so this is officially part 2 of my “literary” (by which I mostly just mean fucking beautiful) wolfstar recs & it covers the various post-2010 gems that I’ve managed to discover/read thus far. Posted this to reddit back on Remus’s bday because I’m a big nerd & thought that would be cute, but I’ve tidied it up just slightly since then bc the original post was an utterly a spur-of-the-moment thing & riddled with typos, etc.
As a general disclaimer, I abandoned fandom in like 2009-ish & have only been back for a few months so I can only imagine I’ve probably missed SO many lovely stories/authors (!!) and can only beg their forgiveness in advance. Still, wanted to post what I've got so far & hopefully one day I shall update or add a part 3 when I’ve had more time to read/explore contemporary ("contemporary") fandom.
And now, in no particular order whatsoever – modern wolfstar classics <3 -
we build our own unfolding & longsdune by @imochan.
Already recced imchan on the last list, I know, but these two were written post-2010 (meaning I just discovered them within the last 2 or 3 months lol) and are fucking beautiful, so. "We Build Our Own Unfolding" is a post-Hogwarts get-together about the death of Remus's mother, and "Longsdune" is an atmospheric multi-era fic that centers around an abandoned train station. Anyway, again, everything imochan writes is painfully gorgeous.
a history of sexuality, vol. 1 by istajmaal.
I think this is the author's only wolfstar fic but ohmygosh, it's so charming and also just achingly lovely. As the title would imply, it focuses on Sirius's sexual awakening & schoolboy crush on Remus but - God. It's just beautiful and heartbreaking and perfect. (Very minor spoiler alert but this fucking line: “Sorry I can’t make you feel normal” / “You’ve driven me so mad I don’t even care.” Kills me every time.)
annual honesty by tigrrmilk.
This is such a beautiful and original take on the Prank, very dreamy (both in vibe and literal content, lol); Snape utilizes legilimency & dream magic in his attempts to discover what the Marauders are hiding. Walburga's also a creepy legilimens in this one, and ever since reading this fic I truly can't imagine her any other way.
grounded (& the rest of the listeneise series) by @yeats-infection aka fluorescentgrey.
Okay so fluorescentgrey has written SO many wolfstar fics and as of yet I still haven't read the vast majority of them but, but. I would be willing to bet that they are all amazing, because what I have read of hers so far is so stunningly beautiful and distinctive. I recced "Grounded" because it's a personal favorite, a Grimmauld Era canon-ish story with so many unbearably and achingly gorgeous lines, but it's actually the third part in a series (Listeneise) & every story in the series is wonderful.
EXILE/RETURN (& the rest of the empire falling series) by zambla.
This one's actually the last part of a series (Empire Falling), and everything in the series is beautiful and absolutely worth reading, but this one happens to be my favorite so it is now the one I'm linking here :). This is a non-magic AU and homage to Derek Jarman; Remus is a Jarman-esque artist who dies of AIDS and Sirius his surviving partner, who reads Remus’s old journals and reflects on their lives together as he travels Wales. The writing is fucking beautiful and it HURTS.
stick season by mombasas.
Such a sweet, charming premise (in which Remus unwittingly becomes the go-to helping-hand for "all things monthly" at Hogwarts) and the prose is wonderfully sharp and clean. And the PINING. This fic is pure UST/pining/etc., and it's so, so lovely.
between the moon and the stars by llassah.
A beautiful, imagistic, atmospheric get-together fic, in which James is distracted and Remus and Sirius spend most of the summer before seventh year attached at the mouth. This one is just so pretty.
light in august by orestesfasting aka @newsom.
Ahhh, the Sirius-visits-Remus-over-the-summer fic to end all Sirius-visits-Remus-over-the-summer fics. A charming, lovely, gorgeously imagistic get-together story (in which Remus and Hope Lupin are both, like, adorably granola). I mean, what else is there even to say here. This story is beautiful and happy and just, wow.
all manner of wolves & leave the children behind by @montpahrnah aka montparnasse.
Montparnasse is another one who has apparently written a LOT of wolfstar and I am just one busy human who has still not read sooo many of her fics, but they're probably all amazing because her prose is truly beautiful. "All Manner of Wolves" is a short sweet little first-kiss fic, and "Leave the Children Behind" is a long, beautiful Lie Low at Lupin's story. Again, her prose, her imagery/descriptive language, her use of metaphor . . . utterly stunning.
of witness testimony & in lieu of beaujolais by @aeridi0nis.
Omg ANOTHER author with so many fics that I've yet to read, but istg one day I will because her writing is so original and gorgeous - atmospheric and richly imagistic, full of creative metaphors, I mean - I could go on. I love everything I've read by her. "of witness testimony" is this lovely and funny and yet PAINFUL, utterly painful story from Peter's POV, in which he observes (and the other oblivious Marauders do not, lol) Sirius's immense affection for/growing attraction to Remus; "in lieu of beaujolais" is a charming post-Hogwarts story in which Remus and Sirius get a flat and sometimes hook-up and spend quite a lot of time misunderstanding each other/talking around their feelings.
Okay this is actually a graphic fic/comic/etc. (so, pictures + words!), and probably I was the last person on earth to discover it, but anyway, it's haunting and beautiful and I can't let it go unrecced.
to fill a gap by @sqvalors.
An era-shifting (mainly post-Halloween & Lie Low at Lupin's) fic with, just, such lovely writing, and so much hurt, and - ah. Featuring an epigraph of obscure contemporary poetry and Lyall Lupin as a somewhat reserved but actually fucking amazing father. This story is just gut-punchy and achy and gorgeous.
where your teeth meet the flesh by @squidgilator.
THE FIRST SCENE. This story, this fucking story. I must rec it because it contains the most stunningly PSYCHO characterization of eleven-year-old Remus, and I cannot even. That freaking first scene has become one of my all-time favorite fanfic moments *ever.* Anyhow the story features various crucial bites in the lives of Remus & Sirius. Also, it is lovely and angsty and tender and so very good. And another author with so many wolfstar fics that istg one day I will read! Because this.
p.s. tried to tag all the authors I could find on tumblr, but pls lmk if I missed anyone.