hello, i love the way you've been going about writing remus in kikrs and was wondering if you had any advice for writing HIV+ characters? <3
hello, thank you!! my advice is gonna be a bit boring but it’s literally what i’ve done so here goes:
research the medical facts first to get a feel for what’s real and what’s fearmongering,
listen/read up on first hand accounts from people who’ve been diagnosed - multiple accounts so you can build the best & most layered perspective,
research on the history of the illness both globally and from where the person’s born/raised/infected/diagnosed/now lives as it’s gonna really impact their day to day both medically & psychologically,
double check you’ve got the medical aspect right.
everyone who lives with a lifetime illness reacts differently so you’ve got a bit of leeway on that front! but hiv is a v specific illness which has a v specific class/sex/gay background & still to this day a v specific portrayal in media and society.
a big no-no for me would be to make it something completely ~unproblematic yknow. esp if it’s remus lupin you’re writing that boy is layers upon layers of self-hatred bc of his lycantropy so writing him being a-ok being hiv pos is like...no