#all you need is newsies

[corpusdiem-seizethedead]

Davey: *addressing the newsies* I’m going to need you to swear-

Race: FUCK

Davey: …

Davey: Swear as in “promise”…

[munsons-mutiny]

Let’s talk about the Watch What Happens (reprise) and why Only Davey could’ve sang it.

Like at this point they’re pushing the Katherine and Jack agenda, why shouldn’t she be his inspiration to keep going in this moment???

And the answer is cause she can’t grasp the situation fully!!!

Let me make it very clear that this is Not Katherine slander. I love her. I think this scene highlights the differences in their struggles and upbringing in a really brilliant way.

When she sees Jack wants to quit in this scene she’s so harsh with him. Doesn’t try to empathize with his situation at all, wants him to just buck up and keep going! Because for her, in her situation, with her upbringing, that’s the only way to get anywhere! She wants to be a reporter? Well she can’t listen when she’s told no. She has to push ahead no matter what. She can’t show fear and she can’t show weakness cause she’ll be called a girl like it’s a bad thing and have it used against her. But she doesn’t see her privilege in this! That in coming from a rich powerful family her physical safety can not be put in jeopardy! Her worst case scenario is moving back home and having to deal with her family’s idea of what it means to be a women in this time period. And don’t get me wrong that’s horrible, it would be a terrible and unfair outcome.

But it doesn’t threaten her physical safety!! (Not to say this is true for all women in her position but the show paints a picture that her dad does genuinely love her in his extremely misguided way and we never see him threaten her physical well being or even to stop bank rolling her). She can’t understand that sometimes you need to let a fight pass you by to survive. She doesn’t understand what it really means for Crutchie to be in the Refuge until later. So she pushes hard and it would’ve just ended in a fight where her and Jack miss each other’s points entirely.

But Davey gets it. Maybe not to the extent Jack does, but Jack said it himself Davey’s dads physical safety being jeopardized at work has threatened his whole family’s housing and food security. Something that could’ve been prevented with a union. He knows that this isn’t safe, he fully grasps the danger they’re in, to an extent that Katherine can’t because she’s never threatened by it. Not really. For her and her rich friends she involves this could just be a pet project (she would never view it that way of course) but if this all goes pear shaped all she has to live with is the guilt not the consequences. Her life continues with maybe some delays depending how long her blacklisting lasts.

But for Davey this could be the choice that means they can’t afford food or can’t pay rent. This could be the choice that means Les can’t go to school and his dad doesn’t have a safe place to recover. He gets it, he matches Jack’s fear, but he can’t backdown when they’re making real changes that Jack is having a hard time seeing in the wake of losing Crutchie to an institution that is a large source of his trauma. He needed empathy and hope not an ass kicking and Davey delivered.

Without him that scene would’ve ended with Jack running away a lot sooner and a lot more permanently. Rant over. Hopefully this is semi-well articulated it’s late and I couldn’t sleep til I got this out.

[we-are-inevitable]

if you’ve been following me for a while, you know i absolutely hate dwvey being seen as the “mom” friend of the group. there’s a lot wrong about it- david is too new to the group to ever be seen as a maternal figure, for instance- but it is so so SO prevalent in fics, particularly those taking inspiration from livesies.

but west endsies is smashing that trope to bits and let me talk about why.

as we know i have not seen west endsies but. BUT. from what i have heard and how it has been explained to me….. davey is no longer giving mom friend energy to the extent that ben fank unknowingly gave, because ryan plays him so weird and quirky as the show goes on. and i am just calling that an absolute WIN for jacnation

like i dont think ben fank intended to play him as mom-friendy, i think most of that is misconstrued by fanon seeing davey in a way he’s not intended to be seen, but from what i’ve heard about ryan’s performance, he’s way too awkward and shaking-like-a-leaf-ish to be seen as the “””mother””” of the newsies and i am so fucking HAPPY about it

bc even ryan himself said that as the show goes on, he starts playing davey weirder and weirder and you can see that This davey is just another teenager who wants friends and gets them in the form of brotherhood. this davey knows what the right thing is, and he does it, no matter how reluctant he may be. he’s not scared, per se, but he’s just iffy on the whole thing until he gets his stride in act II.

i think @jack-kellys put it best when they said:

now bear in mind again i bave not seen the production but just based on everything ive heard about this davey. this is the conclusion ive come to and as an AMFD (anti-mom-friend-davey) supporter, it is what is keeping me going in these trying times

[noxexistant]

gays be having bad breakups without even dating

[shutup-andletme-go]

a Race in the Refuge (working on the title i promise...) snippet for all of you to enjoy on this lovely saturday afternoon (or whatever time and day it is where you live :))

tw the Refuge, claustrophobia, and mention of beating

Race hadn’t done anything wrong. And now here he was, trapped in solitary at the Refuge. It was somehow worse than he remembered. Not enough room to sit comfortably, no light, not even a window, just a slim crack at the very top of the wall letting some air flow in. The skittery feeling that accompanied the Refuge for Race clambered over his skin, settling like a cold sweat. His fingers twitched and he screwed his hands into balls, digging raggedy fingernails into his palms. 

Above him, he heard a crack and then a scream. He forced a breath in. And out. Just like Les had taught him, the first time the younger boy had found Race curled up in an alleyway sobbing silently. Another crack and scream. His chest got tighter and his breaths became shallower. The feeling of worry that came when he was in small spaces grew and a few wet droplets slid down his cheek. 

He pressed his palms into the cold stone floor. In. And out. Again. Race forced himself to breathe. Forced himself to notice what he could hear, and touch, and smell.

---------------

also a couple of tags @eponine-thenadier & @draigthedragon bc u seem like u want to read it! (lmk if u dont wanna be tagged! - or other people if youd like me to tag you)

[aceofspades-sml]

*Clears throat* Genderfluid Spot Conlon.

Thanks for your attention

[pigeonwit]

manhattan, west virginia [WIP, scene snippet]

“This was fun.” Davey says quietly to the foam left in his mug, clinging to the ridges of the porcelain in a clumsy crescent. “I don’t normally…” He trails off, his voice growing uneasy, as he shuffles in his seat. “Talk to, uh…” He taps his fingers against the polka-dots, quick and rhythmic. “To people.”

Jack can feel a smile tugging at his cheek as he watches Davey’s fingers dance.

“Yeah.” He murmurs, straight from his chest. “I liked it, too.”

Slowly, tentatively, he pushes his own mug forward, the rough base scraping softly along the table like a warning. But Davey keeps his hands still, save for his ever-quickening fingers, until Jack’s knuckles brush along his.

“Maybe…” Jack lifts his eyes to peer into Davey’s own – he knows the hope must be pouring out of him like rainwater, but he can’t figure out how to stop it. “We could do this again?”

Davey’s tapping stops, his fingers clenching tight around his mug until they stain yellow-white at the joints. He stares at Jack like a deer in headlights, a moth before a flame – and above them, Jack can hear the thrumming of the diner lights, growing louder and louder with each second, as the bulbs begin to flicker and flash, tinged with blue at the edges, and if this were just two months ago, Jack would think he were going crazy, because he swears he can see the ring of colour around Davey’s pupil flashing along with them, white and gold, spreading further and further across the lines of his iris-

The bulb above them shorts out in a burst of sparks, and Davey’s chair scrapes against the floor hard enough to rattle inside Jack’s bones. It topples over with a clatter against the checkered linoleum, one of the legs jabbing Davey in the back of his calf, sharp enough to make him gasp – he slams a hand on the table behind them to steady himself, bending out of Jack’s space like the wrong end of a magnet.

“I – have to go.”

-is all Jack hears before he blinks once – and Davey’s gone, leaving burning sparks of blue and gold behind Jack’s eyelids, the diner door swinging loosely as the bell clinks overhead.

[mythical-illusions]

During the writers and actors strikes going on rn it's been making me think of Newsies (fucking love the musical, 100/10) and I just wanna know one thing. It's a VERY popular musical that Disney has produced TWICE (movie music, 1990s I believe, Broadway recording, 2016 ish). So I believe I can safely assume that at least some of the higher ups in some of these companies have seen it, or at least know the plot.

And if they do, DID THEY LEARN NOTHING? THE ENTIRE SHOW IS ABOUT THE NEWSPAPER DOING EXACTLY WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND GUESS WHAT? THEY GIVE INTO THE DEMANDS AND COMPROMISE

and here's the fun bit, it's based on a true story. So if some poor kids were tired of getting taken advantage of in the late 1800s and got the big old rich guys to listen to them. What makes you even PONDER that these writers and actors (some of which were PART of productions of these kinds of stories) are going to give up and continue to be taken advantage of? Get a fucking grip AND PAY YOUR FUCKING WRITERS AND ACTORS

You guys would be NOTHING without them. Disney wouldn't have made it these last 100 years without everyone working their damn hardest to make a movie everyone can love. Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and everyone else would be distant memories without the hard fucking work people put into their jobs. SO PAY YOUR FUCKING WORKERS

Those workers add HUMANITY and emotion and care into everything they do and that's not something you can replace with a fucking robot either

[fireworkss-exe]

92sies fans when someone likes livesies

livesies fans when someone criticizes livesies

[riding-palominos-every-day]

NOOOOOO ELMER🥺😭😭😭

Is it that there's no room they can't feed him or don't want him?

A mix of all of those things, I think.

Elmer's mother never really wanted a ninth child. She hadn't even planned eight, it was just her luck two of her pregnancies resulted in twins and then triplets. Elmer's eldest sister always told him he was a "happy surprise", because there was no way she was letting their mother tell him the truth.

Their apartment in America was horribly cramped. A ten person family can't comfortably fit in an apartment with only two bedrooms. Elmer's oldest brother wasn't yet 21, but he found a wife quickly and went to live with her to free up some space in the boys room. His oldest sister marries and moves out too.

Eventually, their mother's patience wears thin. With the oldest children gone, Elmer's extra support falls to her. She's already got enough to do without having to help an eleven year old manage basic tasks (my HC is Elmer is (undiagnosed ofc) dyspraxic and autistic, and he needs some extra support).

So one night she packs up his few belongings, takes him over to the local boys lodging house, and pays for him to stay the night. And then she's gone.

The newsies take a shine to him immediately and welcome him in, but Elmer's siblings were pissed when they found out. Elmer doesn't want to leave the lodging house but his siblings visit him regularly. They don't discuss their mother.

[corpusdiem-seizethedead]

*singing along to Carrying the Banner*

Newsies: “Start out sweating, end up sneezing, in between it pours-“

Me: …why is this marching band

[thatoneandlonelyemo2005]

I want an AU where Newsies are working at like a grocery store or IKEA even a moll istffg

[we-are-inevitable]

it's time once again for unsolicited newsies opinions with jac! on the chopping block for today: a look into David Jacobs being the "mom friend", featuring classism in the newsies fandom. yay!

disclaimer: this is purely my opinion and i am not trying to start discourse. i don't really care if you don't agree! it's fine to have your own thoughts. these are mine.

moving right along, the biggest thing- and something i talk about quite a lot- is that it's interesting that people see Davey as the mom friend.

ok first of all, i feel like to be the """""mom friend""""" you have to be really well established into the group as someone who has been, is, and always will be a caregiver.

and davey does not fit this description!

also: "mom friend" is just a weird term in general; it just feels like a backhanded title for a friend to have. most "mom friends" are forced into- or force themselves into- the role because all they're """good for""" is caring for others and pushing themselves to the side

anyway! moving on

you're not just going to make a new friend and immediately label them as the mom friend, because you don't know their personality or how they mesh with the group, yet this is what the newsies in fanon seem to do with davey.

is davey loyal to the cause? absolutely! does he want what's best for the newsies? yeah! but he's never going to have the same history that jack has with the boys, since jack has been taking care of them for a while. if anyone is going to be the "mom friend," it's jack.

there's a difference between Davey making a speech at the rally advocating for workers rights and united boroughs, and Jack taking care of all of the newsies for as long as he's been the leader.

Jack is more of a family member, Davey is more of a spokesperson. joining the strike and coming up with the rally- which failed, as @jack-kellys pointed out- doesn't mean that Davey automatically replaces Jack as the parental figure of the group.

also, as @roideny pointed out in a conversation on discord, it's kind of... sketch? seeing people replace Jack with Davey?

Jack is undoubtedly the "parent" of the newsies. a lot of them don't have families, and he's had to step up. he's been stepping up. he's responsible, he has the newsies best interests in mind, and sometimes he can be a little selfish in his wants- hi, Santa Fe!- but it's because he's under so much pressure.

so why does the fandom take Jack and replace him with Davey as the "mom friend" ??

i think we know why!

it's interesting to see that people will see a smart kid who uses big words and is somewhat more well off than the other newsies and say, "yeah. he's the one who takes care of everyone."

as if Jack hasn't been doing that for YEARS.

wow !! the kid with an education and more money is the one who steps up and acts as a "parent" to the poor kids !! because the leader is a "disaster dumbass" who is also a poor orphan !! isn't it funny how that works out !!

and this idea coupled with the rising popularity of poc jack kelly........ do you see where i'm going with this? the connotations are there.

all i'm trying to say is:

there's so much in this fandom that just shows that everyone is only paying attention to the actors and the characters, not

how the characters interact with the world and class systems around them

how the characters interact with each other as products/victims of the systems around them

there's no denying that David Jacobs is a good and loyal friend. but you can't sit here and say that he's the one who tries to "tame" or "parent" the kids who are less fortunate than him. it just leaves a sour taste in the mouths of the audience.

Jack Kelly is more of a "mom friend" than David Jacobs will ever be (even though "mom friend" is a sketchy way to describe it). he's not constantly a disaster- he's a stressed teenager with the weight of the world on his shoulders, in charge of a huge group of kids who deserve so much better than what society is giving him. cut him some slack. he's not stupid, yet the fandom paints him to be this wild, impulsive, dumb guy who cant tell left from right. are we really going to ignore the entirety of canon? are we going to ignore everything Jack did for the newsies? intelligence doesn't equal education. as @the-calvarys-coming-out put it: Jack would've been unstoppable if he had the same resources as other kids.

in conclusion: our fandom as a whole needs to reevaluate the fact that this show isn't just about characters and fun friendships onstage. this show is about classism and class inequality. just be mindful that some of your opinions, headcanons, and ideas can are liable to go against this core meaning of the musical, and understand why.

and again, big thanks to @roideny @jack-kellys and @the-calvarys-coming-out for helping me get my thoughts in order! love you guys very much 💙

[carpe-diem-since-1899]

well i’ve been giving everyone fic titles but since the title i was going to give you was “you can’t stand my words”, i’ll ask u this instead:

who of the newsies are the best liars, how often do they use it as a tactic (negatively or positively), and who can see through them/what are their tells!!! canon era or not either works!! @jack-kellys 💥

Tysm Rizz because I have Thoughts To Share

I’m going with Race but only in this very specific au (I won’t say which one it is because what I’m gonna say only happens later in the story and it’s one of my main gimmick in it, so dm if you really wanna know)

Okay, Racetrack Higgins. He’s the jokester, witty, charming, approachable, very much still the guy we know and love. All of these are who he is as a person but he also tend to dial his “agreeable traits” (saf explained this better than me) to 11 and present himself this way because a) he thinks that’s what people think and like about him and b) It’s easier for his line of work. He’s more of an archetype than a person, he’s here to fill a role not having a good time

With that being said, lying is kind of his default mode, more of a telling-half-truths, leaving stuff out, and misdirecting way. He’s a con man (not exactly but let’s just call him that for now), not being honest and remain undetected is literally in the job description. He lets on enough about himself to build a sense of honesty so he can do his thing, but he also keep up the “This guys is chill and Will Always be There For You and You Can Trust Him!!” façade around his friends/family. Telling truths means offering a piece of himself, and that kind of vulnerability is just too terrifying for him. His lies are his safety net, something that he has control over

He’s the best liar because again, he build his stuff around part of the truth so there’s a fundamental thingy there, and then he convinces himself like, “Yeah that’s Totally What’s Going On” (Unhealthy af when he’s dealing with his own emotions and problems) , Jack and Albert can tell that something is slightly off every once in a while, but they can’t pinpoint what is wrong. Finch can see that something is bothering him, his eyes have this sparkly thing when he’s telling the truth and have a sunshiny warmth aura around him, and he tends to be more tactile and touchy-freely, so whenever those aren’t happening he’s pretty much underselling his feeling/straight up lying. Finch knew him since they were kids so he knows Race before he built his façade and would nudge him to open up whenever he can. Another person that can tell he’s lying is Spot, but for him it’s more of a take one to know one situation. Spot has his own façade and reasons to put up a front and although not quite the same as Race’s, he can tell when something is up after knowing him better

So quick summary and other stuff: Race hides behind lies because he’s afraid to show too much of himself and then people won’t like what they see, also his work involves lying to survive, and as time went on it became a knee-jerk reaction to lie. Finch knows his tells because he knows Race the longest and he’s observing, and he does his best to help Race, Spot can tell because his kinda in a similar situation, different motivations different tactics different outcomes but both do it for Other People.

[carryingthebanner]

so now we know that sprace and javey are canon