This Is Not A Democracy

You know what’s really annoying about writing a Sean-centric bigbang fic set in 1962? Music. Because imagining the Sean we see in the film without suspecting he'd be spending what money he had on records is just... inconceivable to me.

First of all, there’s the temptation to confuse his interests with Creepy Kid’s, but even Bob wasn’t seeing much success in 1962, so that point is moot.

The big music scene at the time was Surf Music of bands like The Beach Boys, which I just mean... LOLNO and the year opened with The Lion Sleeps Tonight at #1 on the Hot 100. I MEAN, SERIOUSLY, 1962?

This is a kid that you just know would be into the British Invasion bands and Psychedelic Rock/Pop, if not Prog Rock, a few years down the line (he’s practically wearing drainpipes and we all see the Morrison mop, right?), but at the point the film is set, most of the Brit bands are two or three years from breaking the UK, never mind the US. The Doors didn’t form until 1965, as did the Mamas and the Papas, The Small Faces and the inevitable Pink Floyd; the Yardbirds didn’t form until 1963, which was also the year the Rolling Stones released their first single; The Kinks and Lynyrd Skynyrd until 1964 and Led Zep not until 1968. The Beatles were only just entering Abbey Road in 1962. Janis Joplin only began her music career in 1966.

Even The Zombies, who formed in 1961, except they didn’t really achieve success until 1964.

Personally, I can't see Sean being much of an Elvis fan, neither can I see him being much into Do Wop or Rhythm & Blues (if only because he grew up in small town Texas, in my ficverse). Frankly (no pun intended) the Four Seasons would probably destroy his hearing because they're so shrill (selectiveness or none).

I'm not even totally sure I can see him being into The Highwaymen (Johnny Cash's band). I feel like it'd need to be a bit groovier, for a youngster of his age in that era, no?

So, I'm in a headcanon quandry. I need the knowledge because I've already spent two hours researching this and I'll be fucked if I can settle for anything realistic. Therefore, I am turning it over for discussion: Sean Cassidy, 1962, record collection. Go!

Things I don't understand about fandom right now:

- The strange and on-going shift into darker and darker and more and more violent/outlandish sexual themes. It's an endless stream of non-con, dub-con, child abuse, domestic abuse, extreme BDSM (which is fine, but seems more abundantly common, lately) and D/s relationships. The latter two can certainly be accepted as kinks rather than the earlier ones and I'm totally cool with that. The point is more that they seem to be much, much more common and explicit in fanfics than they used to be, and I wonder why. What has prompted such an enormous upsurge in stories focusing on rape, abuse, violence and role-played versions thereof? When did that change? Am I the only one who remembers when the height of Teh Shock was Aliens Made Us Do It, We Did It With Aliens and Epic Sex Pollen?

- X-Men: First Class. How - and I am genuinely curious about this - is the pairing comprising A MAN PAINTED RED WITH BAD GREASEPAINT and A MAN WHO HAD NO LINES IN THE FILM WHATSOEVER more popular than the pairing comprising the DELIGHTFULLY DAMAGED BUT RIPPED YOUNG MAN WITH DANGEROUS POWERS and THE ADORABLE SMARTASS WHO CAN FLY BUT CAN'T FLIRT? WTF, fandom. Seriously? What the fuck is that? Also: you realise that after the end of the film Beast doesn't turn back into Nick Hoult, right? So all your three-some fics involve loads of blue, matted, semen-sticky fur, right? Okay.

- And while we're at it: why so little love for Caleb? FUCK YOU LOOK AT HIS FACE.




And when you've stopped laughing at the lengths they've gone to to make his skin look normal after PAINTING OUT HIS FRECKLES, let's note that he's the only main character other than Riptide (does Captain Hot-But-No-Speaking-Role even count?) who didn't make it onto the posters. Nor did he get a Marvel Minimate made of him, even though Havok, Beast, Mystique and even Azazel did. He's the only member of the X-Men who didn't. And he was so excited by the idea of getting to be a redheaded action figure for little redheaded kids to have, too. :*( ( RAGE SPOILERS ) C'MON. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT, MARVEL? AND ALSO: FANDOM. GET ON THIS SHIT LIKE SUNBURN ON A GINGER.

If you know where my ficjournal is, I've just reposted an Erik/Charles fic I wrote back around the time of X2.