001 of 100: They'd Start To Think of You As A Biter by EngageProtocol

[norgbelulah]

In the first installment of 100 Awesome Fics I've Read and Loved, I'll be sharing with you...

They'd Start To Think Of You As A Biter (5921 words) by

Comments

[bleodswean]

Is there canon to support the fandom belief that Raylan was seriously beaten as a child?

[norgbelulah]

Well, we know for sure that Arlo beat Raylan's mother. I can't think of specific examples right now when it was made clear exactly how badly Raylan was treated, but the fact that Arlo's dementia or what-have-you in S3 prompted him to apologize to Raylan as a man, I would say yes.

It's fandom's prerogative to decide how severe.

Also, this fic isn't about Raylan's family history of domestic abuse. It puts his history of abuse into a completely different context.

[bleodswean]

Interesting. I don't buy that Raylan was beaten and fics that use that as a platform don't, therefore, work for me. I read the first 1k words of this and the style IS fun...the bisexuality sorta kinda just jumped out though! ;)

I don't feel Raylan is the kind of man who would have been beaten as a child - serious child abuse we see in fandom. Child of a beaten mother seems spot on to me.

[norgbelulah]

I tend to try and be flexible with people's visions of pre-series, since we're such a small fandom and good fic (even if you don't agree with everything in it) is hard to come by consistently.

That said, it takes me a lot longer to get over some writer's assumptions that Boyd was also beaten as a child or a teenager. That I do not buy. Bo Crowder is smart and strong enough to exert his power over his family without resorting to violence. And he would have never made Johnny beat Boyd in S1 if he had ever done such a thing before. That was a line he wouldn't cross. /rant.

:P I'm glad you checked out the story! It's definitely worth a read to the end.

[bleodswean]

Total agreement on Boyd.

I want to be flexible, too....and the fandom is small...I bristle when writers/reviewers assert their opinions as canon, though. Not saying that is the case with this fic - it's not. But it is hard to accept consequences of a premise I don't buy. Severe child abuse is such a character core builder.

I'll have to bookmark it to finish. My current fandom quota tops out at about 1500 words. I just don't have the brain space at the moment.