#rwgroup

Hey everyone! @serenalunera​ here. It’s been a while. Not sure how many of you still lurk on here, but I thought I'd ask just in case. Since the show is ending this Sunday, I was thinking we could do a little something to celebrate the end of a long road.

I have to admit I kinda fell out of love with the show for a while there (also life happened and we all know how that goes), but I spent these past few months rewatching everything from the start in preparation for this final ark. And even if it's not the same as it was a few years ago when the fandom was active and the RWG was booming, I find myself feeling very nostalgic about Rickyl, and about what we had here at the RWG. I figured I'm probably not the only one, so here's my question: would anyone be interested in a little old-school RWG challenge as a send-off for the show?

I know we're all busy so I'll keep things simple. The idea would be to produce fanworks (fic, art, music, etc.) based on one (or more) of these prompts:

Prompt 1: Days Gone Bye Look to the past for inspiration: your favorite scene, episode, season, or even a specific fic or type of fic you used to love. Take that as inspiration to write something new!

Prompt 2: What Comes After Look toward the future and imagine a life for Rick, Daryl, or any of the characters. Whether it be canon-compliant, canon-divergent, or completely AU, as long as it takes place in the future, the world is your oyster!

Prompt 3: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life You're not satisfied with the ending or you don't like the direction the show went in at some point? Rewrite it! Erase that character, remove that death, change that relationship... You do you. It's your story now!

I realize some of us don't exactly have a lot of time on our hands these days, so feel free to write however many words you want/can if you do decide to write something. As for the deadline, I was thinking the 31st of December to end the year on a bright note but I can always push it back if you need more time. This is open to everyone, RWG member or not. If you plan on posting on AO3, don't forget to add the tag RWG Send-off Challenge 2022 so I can add your work to the collection (or post your work directly to the collection here).

“When’d you know?” Daryl asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

Rick looked over at Daryl, confused by the vague question.

“When did I know what?”

Daryl wasn’t meeting his eyes. He looked - strangely shy, for some reason, and it made Rick’s heart ache.

Daryl leaned back against the wall, clearly trying to look casual but missing it by a long shot.

“When’d you know how you felt about me?”

Oh.

Rick barely had to think about it. He hadn’t forgotten.

“Depends,” he said, mimicking Daryl’s position. “When did I know I was attracted to you, or when did I know I was in love with you?”

Daryl finally glanced over at him, seeming taken aback by the question.

“Both?” he said after a beat, looking even more hesitant than before.

Rick pretended that he was thinking for a moment, despite remembering both times vividly.

“I’ll start with the ladder first, since it’s less - embarrassing.”

That definitely caught Daryl’s attention, and he looked intrigued for a brief second before he steeled his expression.

Rick focused on the warmth of Daryl pressed against his side, and he took a steadying breath before he answered. Putting aside the realization, the memory wasn’t a pleasant one for either of them.

He looked down at his feet. “It was that first day with Negan. When you’d gotten taken away by the Saviors.” He could feel Daryl stiffen beside him, and Rick immediately felt guilty for bringing up, but he couldn’t stop now.

“It’s not exactly something I like rememberin’, but - I can’t forget. I still think about it sometimes.” He ran his hands across his face, shoving away the feelings of pain and fear that the memory always brought back.

“The second they dragged you onto that truck, I thought to myself, ‘I can’t do this without him.’ It felt like a part of me was getting ripped away.” He swallowed, trying to keep his emotions in check.

“And I just - I knew, right then. I knew that I felt much more than just - attraction, or companionship. I loved you long before that moment, but I hadn’t truly realized it ‘till then.”

A heavy silence settled between them, and Rick pretended not to notice the emotions passing over Daryl’s face. He was sure his own expression was the same.

For a moment, Rick wondered if he shouldn’t have told Daryl. He could’ve come up with something else instead, a memory that was less painful. It would’ve been easy enough.

But he couldn’t lie to Daryl. Especially about this.

About a minute went by, and Daryl seemed to compose himself, clearing his throat.

“And the embarrassin’ one?” His voice was slightly hoarse, but Rick didn’t point it out.

He sighed quietly, relieved to be on a lighter subject.

He finally looked over at Daryl, trying to figure out how to tell him in a way that wouldn’t make himself seem completely ridiculous.

“Alright. You might’ve forgotten about this, because it wasn’t exactly memorable, but...” he trailed off, preparing himself for the slight humiliation he was bound to feel.

“We were fighting one time, at the prison. Well, not really fighting, but we were bickering about somethin’ stupid. Can’t remember why.” He shrugged, feigning nonchalance. He wasn’t sure why he bothered— Daryl could always see right through him.

“I said something that you didn’t like. Not sure what. You said something back, and, uh...” Rick hesitated, glancing away.

“You called me sunshine?” And there it was. “Not in a nice way, but...” He shrugged again, smiling sheepishly.

He risked a glance at Daryl. He looked bemused, seeming like he was trying to remember.

His expression cleared a moment later. “Yeah. I remember that. You said somethin’ that pissed me off, ‘nd I said to ‘Fuck off, sunshine.’” Daryl frowned. “The hell’s that got to do with-“ He cut off as it dawned on him, and Rick mentally braced himself.

“Wait.” Daryl turned to face Rick fully, his expression a mixture of incredulousness and genuine amusement. “Sunshine? Really?” His eyebrows were raised high enough to be hidden by his bangs.

Rick’s smile widened at the reaction, and he could feel his face heating up, which he was certain that Daryl would notice. Damn it.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Rick replied, rolling his eyes. “Go ahead and make fun of me. I have it comin’.”

Daryl shook his head, looking like he was holding back a smile.

“Damn right you do. Should’ve known it’d be somethin’ like that.” Daryl leaned back against the wall again and casually wrapped an arm around Rick’s waist, pulling him against his side, and Rick laid his own arm across Daryl’s shoulders without thinking. He felt the familiar sensation of warmth in his chest that he always got when Daryl actually initiated physical contact.

They stood in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, feeling the breeze against their skin and listening to the birds sing, a rare sound of life that couldn’t be taken for granted. Rick let all of his worries drift away for a moment, allowing them both to relax. He could never be sure when they’d get another chance to, in this world.

“Sunshine, huh?” Daryl said eventually, his voice teasing. His lips quirked up into a small smile. “That what you want me to call you now?”

Rick was about to reply, but he paused, getting an absolutely fantastic idea.

“Nah. I’m no sunshine.” He shrugged with fake casualness. He waited a moment, before looking over at Daryl with a grin.

“That might fit you better than it would me, now that I think about it.”

Daryl froze, and his expression morphed into something surprised and almost fearful. Rick had to hold back a laugh.

“No.” Daryl attempted to pull away, but Rick held him closer, having expected this reaction. “Not a chance. Don’t even think about it.”

Rick blinked at him innocently. “Why not?”

Daryl glared at him halfheartedly. “I ain’t into that - sappy nicknamin’ bullshit. That ain’t me.”

Rick put on a show of looking a bit disappointed at the response, as if he’d expected anything different.

He pretended to think for a moment, and nodded solemnly. “Okay.”

Daryl narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the easy acceptance, clearly having expected Rick to put up a fight. Rick simply smiled, leaning in to briefly kiss him before pulling away.

He squeezed his shoulder once before stepping past him, not bothering to look back. He’d promised Carol that he’d pick up Judith before nightfall to relieve her of her babysitting duties, and the sun was already low on the horizon.

He made sure that he was still within hearing distance of Daryl, and his smile didn’t falter.

Written by @marooncamaro 

Rick's life was perfect. Perfect wife, perfect kid, perfect house, and perfect job. And for the first time since becoming head coach at his old high school, they have a chance to go to state. All because of their late blooming pitcher. Daryl Dixon didn't join the team until his senior year and he had a fastball that could get him a scholarship.

But then Rick's perfect wife decided maybe Rick wasn't so perfect. And his star pitcher has eyes on more than a championship.

As the team keeps winning and moving closer to the state championship, Rick goes further and further down a path that he knows won't end well. Eventually he will have to make a decision that will change everything, but will it be for the good? Or will it be the end of Rick's perfect life?

**Daryl is 18, but still a High School Senior**

Read the fic here. 

I cannot begin to articulate how much I love this fic. First of all, at over 100k, you can bet your ass the plot is rich and fully developed.  Plus, it’s about baseball!  What more do you need? Add in enough angst and the slowest buildup ever, and you have all the yes you need.  The writing style is descriptive, with a lovely realism of dialogue and pacing that just keeps you wanting more. 

Ladies, gents, non-binaries and everything in between, the RWG is honored to present this year’s Valentine’s Day challenge!

Let’s keep the ball rolling with a simple, no fuss challenge, shall we? As usual, this challenge is open to the entire Rickyl fandom, so if you or someone you know feels like writing some sweet Rick/Daryl loving, please feel free to do so!

All you have to do is produce any kind of fanwork based on the following prompt: “It’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.”

There’s a trick, though! If you choose to write something for this prompt, you have to keep it under 1000 words. Once that’s done, the only thing left to do is post it to this AO3 Collection.

You have until the 14th of February 2019.

Ladies, gents, non-binaries and everything in between, the RWG is honored to present this year’s March Madness Mini Masterpieces Challenge! 

All you have to do to participate is write 500 words exactly. No more, no less. And as always, submit your work to this AO3 Collection.

Any fandom, any pairing welcome. You have until the 31st of March to submit your work(s). 

If you have any questions, feel free to send us an ask or email any of the admins, and we will answer you to the best of our ability!

Ladies, gents, non-binaries and everything in between, the RWG is honored to present this year’s Secret Santa exchange!

We haven’t had one of these in a while and some members of the RWG seemed interested in participating, so we decided to bite the bullet and organize one. 

This exchange is open not just to RWG members, but to everyone in the Rickyl fandom if they feel so inclined.

All you have to do is fill out this handy dandy form by the 23rd of November 2018 and wait for us to find you a match. After that, you can start creating any type of fanwork you might like based on what the recipient we matched you with would like to receive, and have until the 1st of January 2019 to do so. Pretty simple, right?

Once your piece of fanwork is complete, all you need do is submit it to the RWG Secret Santa 2018 Collection over on Archive Of Our Own. This collection is anonymous, and the names of the authors/artists/creators will be revealed after the 1st of January 2019.

The suggested length for a piece of written fanwork is 1,000 words, but if you feel like you can’t do it, please let us know and we’ll be as accommodating as we can!

This is a fun and no pressure challenge to get your creative juices flowing! Complete your bingo card either by row, column, corners, postage stamp, or cover all. There is no word limit, chapter limit, posting limit, or time limit (except for the ending date of the challenge) to write for each prompt. Participants do not have to be part of the RWG to take part in this challenge, and can create as many or as few fanworks as they want. Participants can create one fanwork for each prompt, or combine as many prompts as they want in a fanwork. You can be as silly or serious as you want. Some of the prompts are intentionally tongue in cheek, so you can be as wild as you want!

The challenge starts on April 1st, 2018 and ends on April 30th, 2019. You can start signing up now, using this form, and can sign up pretty much anytime after it's launched, but cards will only start being distributed on April 1st. Please remember that these cards are custom-made by the admin team according to each participant's form, and therefore may take up to a few days to be produced and sent to the email addresses provided. However, we will do our best to work in a timely manner!