Remus Lupin

The little town was barely on most maps. It was rustic—quaint even for muggles. The roads were scarcely auto-worthy and you got the impression they liked it that way. Almost everyone had their own vegetable gardens, in addition to the surrounding farmland, and everywhere was walking distance from everywhere else. All showed a real love of this place. They seemed to consider it blessed. There were hints in their conversation, that they themselves would be unable to identify, that this was more than a feeling. Something was truly Charmed, here.

At one end of town, the dirt roads gave way to paved ones, to eventually connect up with the modern world. At the other end was a gentle hill with a tree on top, picture-perfect as a place to sit and read or gaze out at the village. What she was looking for would be on the other side.

Sure enough, with the hill between it and the village, still in the clear before the start of the woodlands, and set back from the… hardly road, here just a path—was a little one-storey house. Its colour was hard to tell anymore. The paint was so discoloured and the plants so overgrown. They climbed up the walls and windowsills and curved delicately around gutters. The lawn was completely covered in flowering weeds. It seemed that no one could be living here. But the sense the house gave was not of haunting or desertion. Rather, it seemed pleasantly like nature had moved back in. The family of birds under the eave, squirrels in the small tree, and rabbits in the overflowed garden seemed to agree. They gave the impression—unusual to their species—of feeling entirely safe.

But if you looked closely, you'd notice that the roof was in good repair, the windows were all intact, and the front door was clear of plants. Closer still, the doorknob was shiny from touch.

This must be the place.

Activity Archive II - Boomtown
Reverse chronological order

( Boomtown )

Backtagging/Late tags: It's a way of life. One I practice.
Threadhopping/Threadjacking: Yes! Multiple threads are wonderful.
Fourthwalling/Canon-puncturing: Anything short of "Haha, you're from a book!" …Even that may be negotiable.
Offensive subjects: I'm intrigued!


Hugging/Kissing/Flirting with this character: OOC no objection! IC results will vary. ;-) For his own deepest feelings, he's very private and a bit exclusive; his first loves and loyalties are hard to compete with. Physicality with intent probably will be backed away from. He's also very careful about boundaries, esp. student/teacher. In all else, he's very warm and generous. Seeking or offering physical comfort not a problem.
Punching this character: Defensive magic is his field… can totally try?
Fighting with this character: Yesm! The only warning is that as a player, I get extra nervous not to "cheat" (given how there are so many spells for so many things) and I'll probably over-check everything with you as we go, to make sure I'm not stepping on toes. My modus operandus: I'll cast a spell but leave up to you how/whether it lands. —I do think Loop's probably hard to beat. His "weakness" (if you're so inclined) is that he defends more than attacks, and will generally try to exhaust nonviolence first.
Torturing/Injuring this character: Surely! I assume we'd plan.
Killing this character: We'll talk!
Breaking/Taking Wand: This particular wand was a posthumous gift from someone he loved tremendously. You'd pretty much get at it over his dead body. …Even then…
Using telepathy/mind-reading abilities: Please do! I'm a sucker for that sort of thing! (Here, have some POV and headcanon!) He has some ability to block it if he wants to (support for the idea he has legilimency/occlumency) but he has to be aware you're doing it before resisting.
Energy sensing: Lupin's either extremely powerful, or just reads as surprisingly powerful because it's so incongruous with his unthreatening physical appearance. (Bit of both.) What wizards mainly do is manipulate external factors and forces, but the power to do so is innate.


Power reading: One of Lupin's (maybe almost semi-canon) specialties is reading Magical Signatures. He can see what kind of spell was cast, like an afterimage, and who cast it, like a fingerprint. It's not exact, largely up to interpretation. Though his expertise is Merlinian (Harry Potter) wizardry, he's fairly good at seeing and analyzing the nature of/powers in others, if through the lens of his own technical understanding. If it's not already on your permissions page, care to tell me what he'd see? —This ability is sometimes automatic and sometimes requires his deliberate concentration. I don't think it can be blocked, exactly, but I'm happy to have him have no idea what he's looking at!

Mindreading: he probably is proficient in legilimens/occlumens (see again—I maintain it's mostly above-average but nonmystical empathy/perceptiveness) but is generally averse to using it. Should the rare occasion actually arise that he tries…?

Teleportation: "Apparition/Disapparition". Can he come right to you? Can he get instantly away from you? Typically the answer is "yes" unless your character exudes a force field or magical interference or has cast a counter-spell… which they may well (have)! Pray tell.

Other spellcasting (in combat and general): See above re: fighting, I'll check obsessively as we go. I always try to cast a spell but not dictate whether it works, or exactly how. Effects can always be bent. Anything out of bounds? Anything particularly interesting/effective? Anything that will mutate on impact? Anything automatically blocked? Other concerns/objections/requests? Please let me know! (My main reference for HP spells is here)

Services: Is there anything Lupin, with his spells, can do for you?

Anything else? Please ask/tell!


T. Dojo IC Locations Entry
T. Permissions re: Death
T. Uber X-Rated Meme
T. Permissions re: Loki
T. Permissions re: Illyria
T. Medical Questionnaire

Who: Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, Guess Who, and The Sorting Hat
What: Origins and meditations
When: July-September, 1971
Warnings: HEADCANON ALERT (duh). And Sirius's vocabulary of swear words at age 11.

( trust me, you will )

It's said dreams are the amalgams of your waking thoughts: conscious with subconscious combined and given form. Dreams aren't omens. They can be used to reevaluate that to which we're consciously blind. "What you're in the middle of, you're least likely to see."

It's also said: the dreamer is everyone and everything in the dream.

Last night I dreamed I was in bed in the tower. A cat was sitting on my chest. She, McGonagall, said, "Idiot boy, I think more of you than that." Severus sat next to me on the edge. He was glaring (not unusually) as if (again) I'd failed him terribly. I understood: they were angry at me for forgetting, and keeping me human before I was caught.

Derivations: most obvious feel least relevant. Dream analysis, per above theories, ought to be done by the dreamer. Only they can know the full scope of resonance. Yet for my life I can't decide if by virtue of it being my brain I must be seeing the deeper truth; or if across the divide from Dreamtime to reality, consciousness is imposing its limited bias. Still, the impression's become unshakable. It's not what I would have expected.

Blame is too insidious to ignore, but it is an emotion, nothing more. It is not a fact which requires affirmation or refute, not a revelation which requires action. It is a wound which requires treatment before it becomes unmanageable.

You die and I dream of one I still blame for creating you, and one I still blame you for creating.

And the dreamer is everyone in the dream.

player name: Merry
player livejournal: halflingmerry 
playing here: In the past: Clint Barton/Hawkeye (antivillain ), DI Greg Lestrade (raisedplatform), Daniel Trepkos (trephaestos), Spike (samianscar), Jane Chatwin (justwatch) —and Lupin. This is my second time applying!
where did you find us? Le grande eisdamme !
are you 16 years of age or older?: Yes.



character name: Remus John Lupin
Fandom: Harry Potter
Timeline: Immediately after death. Came to Anatole dead and was revived.
character's age: Born 1960, died 1998. The rest depends on your perception of Time.

powers:

HPwiki: "a very talented and powerful wizard", (non-magically) “able to extract the best in everyone.”

Lupin's strongest aptitude is defensive magic. His reflex will always be to defend rather than attack. It's very hard to take him by surprise. Innate strengths include the reflexive (usually involuntary) charge that can kick in when conscious defenses are down. See Permissions page (power reading, possible basic legilimency/occlumency, etc).

Some would call lycanthropy a kind of power. He doesn't. To him it's always been a disease. However, it probably does strengthen his offensive powers, and definitely gives him some magical immunities.
In Anatole, he may find it's no longer directly linked to a lunar cycle. Instead it may be more reactive to emotional state. The plus side of this: he can channel its reserves, like superhuman strength, while human. The down side: transformations may prove negative-response-related.

more HPwiki: "Exceptional skill at dueling and knowledge of magic." “Defense Against the Dark Arts Master”, “Nonverbal and wandless magic expert” (“both are very difficult, indicating Remus’ magical power and skill”), “Master Duelist”, “Charms expert”, “Flying skills”.

Areas of expertise: Defense Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies. (Always interested in history and philosophy/religion.)

Lupin has a near-encyclopedic knowledge of spells, which includes the Dark Arts—not just as prerequisite to Defence Against. He (also) picked up spell-building from James and Sirius. Their genius was largely in the knack of perceiving and manipulating the intangible, mechanical components of magic. It can be handy way of thinking about magic, that leads to nonlinear ideas about it. That may be Lupin's greatest talent: thinking at things from different sides and finding new approaches. He's the most unjudgmental and patient listener you’re going to find. Best teacher ever.

pets: James used to say Moony was his own familiar. Nowadays, the man could really do with a cat or something.

equipment: Latin, chocolate, and a broken wand.


canon history: Born in 1960, of mixed blood, he rarely talks about his early life. At age eleven, he was bitten by Fenrir Greyback and made a werewolf.

He was admitted young to Hogwarts by Dumbledore personally. The Headmaster didn't want to see the boy lost to his disease. To help him become a full and productive member of the wizarding world, Dumbledore took several extraordinary steps.

A tunnel was dug from the Whomping Willow (protecting its entrance) connecting the Hogwarts grounds to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. Every month, Remus locked himself in the Shack to transform without posing a threat. The sounds became legendary and caused the Shack's notoriety. Back at Hogwarts, he was always mended by Mme. Pomfrey, who, along with Prof. McGonagall, helped Dumbledore keep his condition secret.

The arrangement worked to keep Lupin safe—but incredibly lonely. Along came James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettrigrew. They befriended Lupin, rather in spite of himself and his terror that upon discovering his secret they would abandon him for it. Discover it they did, and instead of leaving, they committed the greatest act of devotion Lupin has ever known: studying to become Animagi to keep him company. His wolf form proved docile with their animal forms, so his monthly incarceration in the shack was replaced with adventuring ("Marauding") with his friends. It was the first happiest time of his life.

The second happiest time of his life came many years later, after more periods of pure awfulness. (Life always seems to balance like that, in stupendous extremes. Not for wizards, a moderate life...)

The awfulness included long periods of loneliness and drifting. Antilycan prejudice kept him often jobless, even homeless. Then, Halloween 1981: the most awful day of his life, when (apparently) Sirius Black killed James and Lily Potter and Peter Pettigrew. In one stroke, everyone he lived for was gone. —Except Dumbledore, to whom he eventually returned, leading to, at last, the good bit: Lupin became Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts.

Lupin loved teaching more than anything. His students for that too-short term considered him the best DADA professor (and perhaps one of the best teachers, period) they'd ever had. Not least, in James's and Lily's son Harry, Lupin found a new familial friend to whose care he could devote himself. This of course ended too quickly, but as it had to... with the (sort of) redeeming trade-off of discovered the truth about Peter and Sirius. [ Details here ]

Another rather rotten period ensued, though he was more used to it now, and there were mitigating factors. He had Sirius back, for a time, and continued to help Harry and serve Dumbledore in the Order of the Phoenix. Though he was very glad to contribute to the war effort, it was still Lupin's lot to have depressing, isolating duties. In this case, they took him away from the people he wished to help (especially Harry) and too close to the side of himself he was always trying to escape: working with other werewolves.

Every time he returned to the Order, he grew steadily closer to Nymphadora Tonks. At last, she wouldn't let him sacrifice his feelings any longer (or hers, thank you very much) and they were married. The prospect of having a child nearly threw him over a very bad edge indeed, but he got back on track. The third, maybe best, happiest time: finally, finally whole and happy with his wife Tonks and son Teddy, helping their friends.

—just in time to be killed in the final battle of the Second War alongside Tonks.

Strange, terrible balances, indeed.



personality: An utterly undemonstrative man, yet an extremely capable and talented wizard. There is a quiet assurance about him that makes him a calming presence, even in the situations where unselfishness and reason are usually the first things to go. He's intensely private, yet penetratingly perceptive and sensitive to those around him. And he always, no matter how removed or strange the person involved, always cares. If someone is in need, he can often help with a gentleness and diplomacy that others can't manage. His popularity as a teacher was largely due to his skills in positive reinforcement and mediation; his thoughtfulness, kindness, and humour.

Once, the unfortunate flip side was that he had difficulty when negative reinforcement was required. Certain histories, personal and worldly, may have been reshaped had he been able to face antagonising those who'd offered him acceptance. At this point in the afterlife, he may have gotten better at this.

Though he's exceptionally skilled at helping others deal and grow helpfully through pain, he’s also been exceptionally unable to let go of his own losses. Most of his life has been lived with one foot in the past. [ It remains to be seen whether having died himself will help deal with the next round. ] Not liking this about himself, he's always done his best to throw his entire focus off himself and devote himself to others. He lived to help his friends, to serve Dumbledore, to teach, to care for Harry. (As said: Teaching, Marauding, and Tonks/Teddy were, to him, the bright moments of his life.)

[ original Note: Given that he was just violently killed in action after seeing the love his life struck down... it should be noted that Lupin may not be quite his relaxed & groovy wonderful self for the first little while. ]

why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting? Bellatrix Lestrange. The one person, above even Voldemort, he’s harbored violently vengeful fantasies—had literally Unforgiveable dreams—about. She killed Sirius. Now she’s also killed Tonks.
Either he’s here as a ghost to haunt her—or, having lived most of his life in a semi-self-imposed purgatory anyway, it makes sense he wouldn’t be able to let go simply by dying. (Or wouldn't want to.)

That's the entry point. How he develops past it remains to be played, but Lupin can't be fueled by vengeance for long. Whether he succeeds or his better nature prevails, he'll eventually look for a more nurturing and constructive cause. If there's any way to start teaching again, he'll do it. Probable pet causes:

• working past the Anatolian-Scorched prejudice [ I see him playing chess with Magneto now ]
• Restoring information on the Veneficus
• [ Grandiosely, therefore secretly ] Learn and teach to create a new generation of Veneficus, to attempt to restore this world.

...Alternately, if Bella does something like introduce an infestation of boggarts, Lupin'd be a great exterminator.



Network Post Sample I:
[OOC: Lupin 1.0, the initially undead, obsessed, and exceptionally grumpy]

[ see first post ]

Network Post Sample II:
[OOC: Lupin 2.0, after settling in a bit; his more typical ] [ voice ]

I'm happy to announce—not to rub it in anyone's face—that I've been having wonderful success with storytelling hour. Being seen to teach or preach is deservedly hazardous, but it seems Anatolian children can be simply entertained by the Scorched without ruffling too many feathers. Dreams of a school without these barriers notwithstanding: I'm relieved and content with this, equally as a starting place or an end in itself. Anyone, of any age or affiliation, is encouraged to stop by.

Now a general request. I've been thinking of writing something formal on the Veneficus. There's so much in the air about them but I find little in the way of a paper trail. If you have any information, anything at all, no matter how legendary or ridiculous, I would love to hear it. Stories can have value beyond the factual.

If you have just arrived and know my voice, call me. I'll find you.

Sona si latine loqueris.²

Third Person Sample: