#Davey's Blog

[cake-bread]

My thoughts on Baba is You.

I think this title should stand next to Stephen's Sausage Roll by how they've both shaken the puzzle game genre in their own unique ways.

While TSP and TBG are known as meta commentary on the games, Baba Is You does so through the basic mechanic of the game. I haven't seen many puzzle game titles before it that would make the rules so breakable yet still so logical. You can't make contradicting statements or imaginery rules but you're given such an arsenal of choices to make and try out, I don't think it's a problem for anyone.

And unlike many other titles here, you're supposed to both learn and forget your experience. Every world is based on a new mechanic that gets introduced but the way you perceive it is supposed to constantly change.

Baba is You but You aren't Baba most of the time. Yet still, Baba is within you one way or another.

[jack-kellys]

so we all know life is a circle. thus fandom is a circle. we see things come back around like the de/twinkification of racetrack higgins. or cowboy versus artist jack kelly. or "mom" friend david jacobs and the perpetual need to make the newsies some kind of heteronormative family. and yet again we've found our way back to the anti katherine pulitzer arc of her "getting in the way" of jack and davey's popular subtextual/fanon relationship. (yes im late nevermind that.)

now, not being a katherine fan is different than being anti-katherine. not being a katherine fan means you might have criticisms like "i'm not sure how she serves the newsies narrative better than, say, sarah jacobs, as sarah is more aligned with the newsies contextually/societally and katherine is very distant and rich lol", or even "i'm not a big fan of how katherine seems to be tired of jack's shit for most of the play and then 'suddenly' finds romantic interest in him within one song".

but being anti-singular-young-woman-character because of a ship between the main two boys is. a tired take is it not? again with the circle, we've had this discourse already and its been cut out. since 2012 and 2017 we been talking about this girl and her value, but not in the context we should be.

(because the context we should be talking about it in is a newsies 1992 versus newsies broadway context, not an anti-katherine context, but i digress.)

katherine's value. what is there to mine from? she is an extremely young woman reporter, 17-18 years old, whose article makes the front page of the new york sun. since she writes under a pseudonym, i'm presuming she writes with skill well above her age to be published at all (yes, even writing vaudeville reviews). in past productions she either finds the newsies at jacobi's because she saw the walk-out (TWWK) from inside The World (UK), or jack kelly simply interests her enough for her to seek him out again (Broadway/Tour/Live). she is unsure about herself as a writer despite her skill which is made clear in her song. she is rich. she did not need to have a career and was encouraged not to. pulitzer is her father and she does not get along with him. she matches jack word for word, often with davey at her side. she mills comfortably about the newsies through the second act and has a friendship of some kind with specs specifically. she also literally says "that's a face [jack's] that could save us all from sinking in the ocean/like someone said 'power tends to corrupt'" essentially prophesying the act 2 betrayal. which is crazy.

you can draw your own conclusions from the above, but all of it is essentially canon? right? so maybe you don't have to be a fan of all of it, but you're really going to tell me absolutely none of this is compelling. that none of this is something you can interpret for yourself as complex. that albert is more complex.

this is not me saying you have to include katherine in everything, because that isn't what this post is about. this is about individuals choosing to dislike or devalue katherine by only viewing her in relation to her as a romantic interest, instead of a complex character in a period piece with a full arc. yes a full arc. it's the musical that's rushed not katherine.

@we-are-inevitable speaks on this extremely well in the comments of this post as well, more in connection to katherine as being a compelling romantic interest in the context of newsies speaking in the defense of love interests/often women characters. in this post i speak on how i would navigate jack/katherine as a director, and in this post i speak on how to direct something to believe in to make it, well, believable, aside from its awful writing for both kath and jack. because again, fandom is a circle, and i literally talked about how to "fix" jatherine in august 2024. at length

[askthe-newsies]

A boy strides into the bedroom of the Newsboys' Lodge, hands fidgeting furtively with his standard issue herringbone cap. His eyes sweep the room as the other newsies look up from the various activities they were previously engaged in. Hopefully.

Only Davey and Albert look up from a seemingly intense conversation they were having and quickly starting nudging eachother.

“Do you know that kid?”

“Dude I know like six people around here”

“You know everyone”

“Nuh uh”

“Your drunk”

“You are to”

“Go introduce the kid!”

“I’m drunk!”

“I’ll go with you”

Finally, after a little more debating, they both walk up, stumbling slightly

“what’s up with you?”

“Yeah, we’re all—“ hiccup “wasted, bad timing”

[cassandralottie]

hey hey hey uhh trans sarah & davey jacobs who just switched names when they transitioned

[cake-bread]

(DISCLAIMER: this if a fan ask blog for TBG Davey, NOT the actual Davey!!)

Thank you for this great review. Coda's games hit very close to my heart and the way you described it seems to match how I was feeling.

When you go to a museum, you admire the craft and effort put in the work. I don't think I'd be ever able to recreate Mona Lisa, Vase With Fifteen Flowers but I can share it with others so people can appreciate it. And for people who don't make their own gallery show, who leave their work in the drawer because they don't feel good enough - friends should spread their word. Because who knows how would our world look like if Mendellson hadn't found Bach's pieces? If another ground breaking creator would just get lost in time?

Thank you, for understanding my intentions.

The Beginners Guide is such a good game, its so goddamn good.

and while not the main theme, the part of it where its like "i need share these peices of art that has made me emotional with other people because i struggle to make something comparable to these peices of art so the closest thing i have to give people the feelings this art has given me is to-"

i dont know how to explain it.

i want people to experience some of the great things I've experienced, and showing people these things makes me feel responsible. makes me feel like lve done something.

i dont know

play the beginners guide i guess. its really good

[ohmyenjolrass]

the way i SWOON every single time i hear ben fankhauser singing "a regular beat for our star reporter!" in king of new york.

SOMEBODY SEDATE ME

[askdavidj]

What's your ideal partner like?

Someone who can tolerate me for more than five minutes.

But ideally - empathetic, I guess. Open-minded. Somebody who can easily place themselves in the shoes of others. Ambitious, inviting sense of humor, doesn't take themselves too seriously, willing to communicate. A good listener, a go-getter. Charismatic?

As for looks, uh... I haven't given it much thought. Tall, I guess. Nice eyes. Logically I can't really afford to be picky, nor am I looking for a partner right now at all.

[we-are-inevitable]

listening to the world will know rn and remembering why jack kelly was my og blorbo

[certifiedfae]

“…Okay.”

selected dialogue from the ending of The Beginner's Guide, a game released in 2015. screenshots taken from NiZZULiVE's no commentary walkthrough of the game on YouTube. Would highly recommend playing through it yourself if you're at all intrigued by this.

[askdjacobs]

heya, mouth!

was wonderin’ if youse wantin’ to go out with me later, to jacobi’s? that is, me and the fellas.

(@ask-jackk)

Hi Jack!

'Course I'd like to go- I just have a few chores to finish before I'm free for the day. Did you want me to meet you all at Jacobi's or are you showing up on my fire escape again?

...I hope that didn't come out too harsh. I'm joking- or at least trying to. I don't mind it at all when you show up. It's actually quite nice at times-

So, uh, what time?

[cake-bread]

The Epilogue.

(one last DISCLAIMER: this is askblog for TBG Davey, not the actual Davey Wreden.)

I assume you have many questions - and after my response, you'll come up with even more. But I never planned to answer any of them.

I'm only telling a story.

Once TSPUD got announced, people have asked me if I'd remaster The Beginner's Guide. That question kept showing up, and I kept saying - 'Whats the point? The story is already finished.'

And then, I was asked again. And then, again.

And then - again.

At some point, I stopped responding. It was not due to being tired of repeating myself, but because I wasn't sure if the answer was still true. I felt there was nothing more to add, and enhancing the graphics would only take away from the experience. And yet, I knew there was so much more to the story.

I looked at all the game reviews, emails, and messages I could, realizing that this was it.

Feedback or The Cookie9 Phenomenon, if you want to call it that.

In a way, I suppose, I've always been my audience's Coda. The only thing that was different was no direct contact. After the enormous, very overwhelming response from the original TSP, I've been sparingly responding to any private feedback I've been receiving.

But the emails kept not changing. I do find the mails where I'm getting 'destroyed' or 'owned' very funny but that wasn't the case from the start.

So, I've wondered - how would these people react if they could see an effect of their own words? That it's not just something they spout into the ether but there's an actual person on the other side?

I wondered how could I bring this up without making a Skip Button Ultra Deluxe Edition. While games are interactive, you still have a barrier between you and the creator of the games.

Inspiration came randomly, during one panel I was listening to. Typically, a person would have a big speech followed by questions but that one particular instance was like 70% QnA. And at the end - I felt great! Maybe I couldn't give my own feedback in the sea of hands but there was something so charming about this being such a collaborative work. At the start, the performer said "you shape how the show will go" and even if it was obvious in that circumstance, to this day I remember it.

So, I've decided to make this askblog. But as I stated in it, in hidden clues - I'm fine at the moment! I'm happy where I stand as a creator and I had moved on from the past. That, however, wasn't always the case.

I'm lucky that I was mad enough to have many diaries throughout my life. I've written down so many of my reactions, thought processes and feelings, reading through My Files wasn't that much of an issue. And since I've already played as my past self once - I could do it again.

I will leave this askblog open but I won't respond to every message left for it as I've used to. I'll spare your time and write down some of the questions that you'll probably not get answers to:

"Was Coda ever real?", "Where the Twitter screenshot real and if so, what were Coda's thoughts and reaction to all of this?" "Were Coda's answer actually his?" or any other Coda-related questions like that,

"What are you working on now?", "Are you really fine?",

"What exactly inspired you in your life to do this now?", "Had a similar situation happened before?", "How did you deal with other Fake Codas?", "Will you one day answer our questions again?"

or anything TSP/TSPUD related,

because you're not entitled to someone's work or life.

And I won't light up your lampposts anymore.

Davey, out!

===

(Hi, it's me, @shinakazami1, the creator of this story. I'd like to thank everybody who spent their time to support this. I adore interacting with my own audience so this way of storytelling felt great thanks to you! My plan was to have something in the spirit of the original The Beginner's Guide in a form of an ask blog - small questions connected with themselves, telling a bigger yet short story that had already 'happened'. As Davey had said - you shape the way this could have gone. While the ending was predetermined from the start, Act 2 aka 'Coda's Askblog' was entirely up to you! For every post that you've asked Coda about something, I've already prepared a draft for the other blog. There were different versions of Coda and Davey planned. You've chosen Anxious Yet Assertive Davey and Angry but Weirdly Supportive Coda. I might talk about these more either in an edit of this post or on my Tumblr Blog, as I'd like to show a bit of a cut content :] While askblog Davey said he might not answer the questions mentioned - I might, so feel free to come and say your thoughts on this, your feedback, anything! I've myself been once again feeling stuck with creating, especially with drawing. But this project made me feel great, and it's all thanks to you. So thank you, Player. May we see each other another time. Toodle-pip!)

[blues-kindergarten]

uhhhh what about the kg3 kids and adults?? how are they

Appletits and Danner are fine (still tired), and so are the KG3's! (KG3 characters aren't available for asks)

[erial-c]

remembered this win cutscene from tekken tag 2 and its so angel and david coded

[fae-ridgeite]

‧₊˚ ☆ ⋅ 𝙽𝚎𝚠𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 ⋅ ☆ ˚₊‧

Day one - David Jacobs

Magic

“Mouthpiece is all sweet and all, but he’s too curious for my likin’. Buddy, when he ain’t sellin’ always has his nose in a book.” Mooney said shortly. He likes Davey, sure, but he didn’t like people in his business and poking at him like he was a science project. “Buddy kept claimin’ I was magic like one of his mather goose stories.”

(Headcanons and Discord link under cut!)

Headcanons-

David is Gay and uses He/Him pronouns. He's 17 years old

After his father's arm heals, he goes back to school. He sometimes ditches to sell with Jack because even though the work's tough, he wants to spend time with his boyfriend best friend and do what he finds fun

He’s a worrier because of his anxiety. Sometimes it gets so bad that he can’t go out and sell. Most of the time it’s about what’s going to happen the future. He can’t predict everything that could happen and it makes him worry. Les helps him get over his thoughts with breathing.

I'm starting with David and not with Jack because I feel like he's the main character of Newsies- especially in 1992sies. I decided to also do two cards for Davey because he has two main outfits. I mixed his Act 1 outfit with 1992sies Davey’s shirt because I love it so much.

If you'd like to hang out with some cool people from the Newsies fandom, we have a discord! It's run by me and @flintt! We are a little quiet, but most people usually say hi and hang out for a bit.

@newsiestober2024

[jack-kellys]

3 bc we are Choosing Violence today

well.

give me a number and i'm gonna say some real shit rn.

3. screenshot of an awful take or a description of the worst thing you've seen opinion-wise. [my tags say no hate is meant, btw.] [but also this is mild bro.]

i could say a lot of things! i could talk abt someone who sent me an ask saying that uksies "completely ruined the sprace dynamic" (racist and sexist, made a post abt it). i could talk abt a post that had said nothing had changed or was special abt uk's something to believe in even tho jack was entirely black and said "i know girls like you don't end up with guys like me” (made a post abt it) i could talk abt every post from the dawn of time about sunshine boy crutchie and the absolute damage andrew keenan-bolger accidentally incited with his/bway's take. but i saved two special instances bc someone else also asked for #3. ahe he hem:

there was an issue a while back where there was someone on tumblr saying that they don't headcanon the jacobs to be jewish, or something. in theory that'd be fine, everyone's entitled to their own cultural headcanons, but the jacobs' jewish identity and culture is something this fandom (& i) has been very adamant about and i’m gonna be frank. this was like……. the first if not only diverse headcanon/fact about newsies for like. a long time. and by that i mean popularized- i think latino jack kelly years later became popular but that’s like…. recent, oddly enough.

anyway the jacobs are canonically jewish, according to their names, their parents’ names, and the 1992 novel flat-out saying it. but this person’s reasoning, after a friend of mine cites the book’s statement, is "headcanoning characters with Jewish names as Jewish feels like stereotyping”. (i don’t have the post anymorrrre… might’ve been deleted)

and so like. this person. had to have been trying to cause discourse i’m sorry. what are y. the book is from DAVID’S POV, btw, like. he is saying they r jewish. the point of jack being irish in 92sies is that irish and jewish community tensions were high and so them working together is slay & cool. and since they do have jewish names, what you need to do is respect it, not make attempts to admonish yourself from not wanting to see them that way. what?? what the fuck. so that was a crazy fucking take. this fandom has history, and it’s important. like ur allowed to be new here, of course you are, but when these ppl who’ve been here a long time are trying to HELP YOU understand something and u say that shit. brother god help u lmao

[dave-miller-dsaf]

*William is gay ahh cuddling with Dave*

[The selfshipping be wild today 🥀]

insert soft grumbles and the sounds of eggs being eaten