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.

[norgbelulah]

This Raylan is just...guh. Tugs at the ole heart strings.

My heart very much does go achey at this Raylan. Ugh. Raylan in general, why so sad, buddy??

Oh, wait. I remember. :P

[norgbelulah]

But, it's hard for me to see a character like Arlo, who was used to talking with his fists, decide to curtail his behavior when it came to his son - a son that he really doesn't care too much for.

This is pretty much how I feel about the issue. I really can't see Arlo having held back. He doesn't have that kind of self-control. And I feel like that's where Raylan gets a lot of his more self-destructive impulses... you know, in addition to having been abused as a child, if not physically then at least emotionally.

what is up with the canon with Raylan's mother? It's driving me nuts. JESUS, right? In my head canon, because of Ava's lines in the pilot about having spoken to Raylan's mother about him being a Marshal, she dies after he leaves Kentucky. But from what we've seen since then, how sensitive Raylan is about her, and because of how he speaks about Helen, it's really fucking hard to tell