The reason I chose that song is because I headcannon Sheldon as not having the greatest relationship with his parents (which got better once he was an adult) and his general fears & anxieties growing up.
The lines “You were perched atop my shoulder / You were pecking at my head” & “If I stay in bed long enough /
They'll go to church without me” are about how his parents were very over protective and controlling of him as a kid and young teen. The second specifically being about him wishing he could just be by himself and in control of what he does.
The lines “7th grade was hard enough /
Someone thought that they knew me” was about his tremulous time with other students, growing up being disliked and constantly bullied. They thought they knew him despite never talking to him outside of mocking him.
Both of these experiences are why he got attached to Jenny and Brad, because having people treat him with kindness like that was something he always wanted. That's why he cherishes them as his friends.
Also, for clarification, the lines “I was locked inside a basement / The guards went on vacation while I plotted my revolt” is metaphorical in Sheldon's case, meaning that he felt trapped. The singer of the song, Sean Bonnette, actually did go through that as a kid. I think that brings out this raw element in the song.
So yeah, that's basically it. Apologies for dropping this late, I only just saw your response to my comment.
another sheldon complex relationship with parents truther......shaking your hand
i really love this sort of deep personal and raw look into sheldon's being and how it felt not only with his family but also growing up an outcast kid. i really love that you've taken what we get of him and really made him feel so grounded and relatable
another piece in the exhibit for what sheldon should have been tbqh. fanon interpretations of him always feel so much more sincere and intimate than the version of him we get in canon (especially given........*gestures to whatever's going on with the sheljen dynamic*) like idk
side note i also am a sucker for the idea of sheldon acting the way he does in part due to social stuntedness. speaking from experience, i went to a really small grade school (we're talking my graduating class of 8 being the biggest in 15 years /srs) and being mocked and shunned by my peers made it really hard for me to learn how to connect with people normally
so like. having sheldon struggle with social connections due to his bullying feels like it would be so interesting to dig into. why he comes off so awkward in situations. why he doesn't really seem to understand that he's doing too much sometimes. idk i think there's an interesting angle when you actually play around with his history of being bullied
anyways like i said earlier i really love that you've gone in and given sheldon a complicated relationship with his parents. i have a very similar view of sheldon's parents (i write them as controlling and also very traditional, which is why in my hc sheldon never comes out to his parents) and it honestly makes me wonder if there's a reason that seems to be the common point with sheldon's parents in fanon? I think in several other fics, sheldon had strict/overprotective/controlling/etc parents (inertia's a big example with sheldon having homophobic parents + not a great relationship with them in general). it makes me wonder like... is it projection? was there something in canon that implied this that i can't consciously recall? is it just mere coincidence? i don't know, but i just found that similarity kind of intriguing
thank you for sharing btw i love reading character analysis especially related to music. xoxo. please always feel free to come into my inbox and tell me about sheldon and/or brad
