#davey: i was in the newsboys strike of 1899 :) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

inevitablemoment · 2 years

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So, I watched the Newsies pro-shot last night, and now I’ve found myself falling back in love with Jack and Katherine. Just want to share a few random bits and pieces that popped into my head about Jack and Katherine’s life post-canon.

Jack and Katherine’s wedding date was September 25th, 1901. This was Katherine’s wedding dress; it’s definitely faded, but just imagine how beautiful it was at the time it was created:

This is a dress that Katherine wears when she brings Jack as a date to a birthday party held for one of her brothers (and yes, I’m gonna write a fic about it soon):

Here is Katherine’s engagement ring, which once belonged to Jack’s mother; he held onto it after all those years, thinking that he would sell it if it came down to it... but then he met Katherine:

Jack and Katherine have five children together:

Rose Lucille Kelly (born December 5th, 1902)

Rose mainly takes after her mother in looks, but she has her father’s hazel eyes. Her birth was very difficult, lasting for sixty hours, and she weighed nine pounds when she was born. She has her father’s energy and her mother’s ambition. While she dabbles in journalism, her true passion is fiction; she writes a few short stories that her proud grandfather has published in the newspaper. His death in 1911 devastated her and sent her into deep depression. It was only the birth of her brother, Jacob, that helped begin to lift her out of it. When she grows up, she writes a semi-fictional book about the Newsboys’ Strike of 1899 (from the perspective of her father and mother), which in that universe, becomes the base of the 1992 film and the stage musical.

Theodore Larkin Kelly (born June 14th, 1904)

Katherine went into labor during a Flag Day celebration at the Pulitzer mansion; as is often with second babies, baby Theo’s birth seemed to go by much quicker than Rose’s birth. He’s a sensitive soul and a quiet child (a definite miracle for someone of Kelly blood) who didn’t even say his first word until he was almost three (for those of you who are curious, his first word is “Mama”). He’s also very empathetic to a fault, heavily effected by world events happening in the world. After the 1918 flu pandemic and his mother’s brush with the illness, he decides to become a doctor himself. During the Second World War, he becomes a medic overseas. Unfortunately, despite his precautions, he contracts cholera. While the patient survived (and not without guilt), he died in 1943, leaving behind his family, including a wife (who became pregnant when he received Christmas leave) and twin daughters. His wife gave birth to another baby girl, whom she named Theodosia (affectionately called “Teddy” by her Grandpa Jack).

Elaine Josephine Kelly (born October 28th, 1909)

Little Elaine Kelly seemed to be born for the theater; at the age of two, while visiting Medda Larkin’s theater with her parents, she ran onstage before a show and began singing to “aws” and applause. She embraces the flapper movement, and performs onstage. She spends her teens dreaming of Hollywood the same way her father once dreamt of Santa Fe, eventually becoming a star of the stage and the screen.

Jacob Charles Kelly (born April 28th, 1912)

Named for Davey Jacobs and Charlie “Crutchie” Morris, obviously, though he is definitely a mini-me of Jack. While his siblings are all exceptional artists, he is the only one who pursues it as a true career aspiration. In fact, when Jack retires, Jacob takes over the cartoons.

Beatrice Grace Kelly (born July 28th, 1914)

The happy occasion of Beatrice’s birth was eclipsed by the beginning of the first World War. She was a very adventurous and inquisitive child. But she never left New York City for long, eventually settling down as a schoolteacher, marrying at the age of thirty-five, adopting an orphaned three-year-old girl, and welcoming a biological son and daughter.

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violetwolfraven · 3 years

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Crossover Headcanons

((I know I have requests in my inbox but I just had to get this out of my head. Also I probably won’t be posting those requests for a while because my writer’s block is only barely starting to lift, so...))

Anyway this is gonna start off from one perspective and go to more later. Enjoy. 💜

Tw: past death, nightmares

...

So this is a... spin-off? Of the reincarnation au? An alternate timeline? A variant? Whatever it is the newsies are reincarnated and remember their past.

Also somehow most of them are going to the same college here, (I’m not going to say which one because I don’t want to research colleges right now) even if they’ve got a wide range of majors.

There’s only one dorm building even if people are only allowed to share a room with someone of the same gender.

This works out well for Elmer, because he’s pretty happy to be rooming with his boyfriend, Buttons.

But then he gets up to the floor their dorm is on and almost drops the box he’s holding.

Because it’s fuckin her. His national-level math nemesis since 11th grade. They’ve only faced off twice, the first time with her team winning and the second with his winning, but they’re each the only one who can beat the other in a math competition.

Elmer can see the shock in her eyes as she recognizes him and shouts YOU and then she’s stomping over to him aggressively enough that he’s pretty sure she wants to throw down physically.

Jack (who’s also on that floor with Davey) figures that too, and steps in front of him before she gets too close, but that girl acts like she doesn’t even notice him and shouts I WAS HALF A SECOND BEHIND YOU SOLVING THAT PROBLEM!

Elmer is kinda terrified but he defensively shoots back well I still solved it first and moves around Jack because this is his math nemesis and his fight.

The girl scowls at him for a couple more seconds then just sticks out her hand to shake, and Elmer realizes that he doesn’t actually know her name beyond the surname he’s seen on the back of her mathletes jacket. She introduces herself as Cady Heron.

Elmer Kazprzak, he responds, and Cady looks like she’s trying not to laugh, but he figures that’s probably fair, with how ‘Elmer’ was a common name in 1885 but not so much in 2003.

Jack clears his throat so Elmer introduces him but forgets that this isn’t their high school so things like oh this is Jack. He’s basically my dad. are weird.

Cady definitely thinks it’s weird but she doesn’t question it. Instead she just asks where Elmer is living, and it turns out, of course, he and Buttons are right next door to her and her roommate, Karen.

(I say Cady is living with Karen because Gretchen wanted to live with Regina and rules be damned Janis is with Damien.)

Elmer isn’t completely sure he’s not going to get murdered in his sleep but he guesses if he could handle the 1899 Newsboy Strike and World War I he can handle Cady Heron.

Meanwhile Katherine is going to Harvard so Sarah is rooming with someone she’s never met and she’s a little nervous.

And in stomps a girl who declares I’m a lesbian and if you have a problem with that tell me now so I can switch dorms.

And Sarah responds with my girlfriend out at Harvard would be pretty pissed at me if I did have a problem with that.

The girl lets her guard down, explains that she comes from a small town, and says her name is Alyssa Greene.

After that little bump, they get along good. Alyssa explains that her girlfriend, Emma, registered late and couldn’t get a dorm with who she wanted.

And Sarah’s just kinda like wait Emma as in Unruly Hearts Emma? Alyssa’s just like yeah!! I’m so proud of her!!

Sarah brags a bit about how Katherine is studying to be a journalist with a specialty in queer stories and long story short they become besties and eventually Alyssa introduces Emma for real and Sarah introduces Smalls and Sniper.

Emma and Alyssa are a bit thrown by the whole nickname thing but hey whatever now they have a Lesbian Club!

They do meet up with the boys occasionally but the Lesbian Club meets on a video call with Katherine every Saturday.

Anyway Jack meets Janis in art class and initially they kinda think each other is weird because their styles are very different but then they get in an actual conversation and get along amazingly.

Jack is definitely a fan of Janis’s philosophy of when someone hurts your friends you attack and grind your foe into the ground.

Janis tells her new bestie about Cady and Damien (and Regina, Gretchen, and Karen, though she still keeps Cady and Damien closer than the former Plastics) and she’s honestly shocked by the amount of friends Jack tells her about.

She does recognize some names, though. Romeo and Damien are both theatre majors and they’ve become friends.

But anyway Jack and Janis are like. Super good friends. Art buddies. Mlm/wlw solidarity. Protective friend pals.

Janis is pretty surprised when she introduces him to Cady and they’ve already met, and apparently oh fuck your math nemesis is Jack’s Elmer???

Jack’s just going oh fuck Elmer’s math nemesis Cady is Janis’s Cady???

Also Regina met Spot and Sarah at the gym and now they meet up with a few other people every other week to throw down like their own personal fight club.

At first Regina was just angrily trying to fight with no technique, but don’t worry, Spot and Sarah teach her.

There weren’t a ton of out gays at Northshore High, so yeah the Mean Girls crew definitely gets along with the Newsies crew out of solidarity.

Janis and at least one of the Plastics but I can’t choose which one(s) join the Lesbian Club.

Meanwhile Race is super hyped to meet Emma cause like I choreographed a dance to your song wanna see???

Emma is flattered but kinda weirded out and she mentions her friend Angie who’s a dancer too and Race is just *error 404*

Cause of course he saw the news story and knows Emma knows these 4 big Broadway stars but it just. Hasn’t connected until this moment that she like has their numbers.

He tries not to freak out too much cause he knows that’s weird but Emma eventually goes do you wanna meet her? And Race goes do I wanna meet her? She’s only my IDOL!! she’s been dancing like 20 years and she’s still got it!!

Emma calls Angie partially because she likes her new dancer friend and wants to make him happy and partially because she wants to prove to Angie that people do appreciate her zazz and despite how she was just a chorus girl until a few months ago this random boy from New York has been a fan since he was 12.

Angie can’t exactly fly over at the drop of a hat but she watches some videos on YouTube of Race dancing and like holy hell this kid is good. And his friends are too but this kid right here has zazz off the charts.

When she finds out he’s an orphan she’s lowkey can I adopt him??? but then she finds out he already has an adoptive mother and it’s Medda Larkin.

Medda Larkin who did more than a few shows with Angie when they were young but left Broadway to open her own theatre.

They fell out of touch years ago but still follow each other on Instagram and stuff.

But Angie shows Barry and Dee Dee and she’s super excited like remember Medda Larkin??? THIS IS HER ADOPTIVE KID AND HE’S AMAZING

And they watch YouTube clips of Emma’s new friends in high school shows and like wtf these kids are fuckin talented why aren’t they on Broadway???

They almost tell Emma to tell her friends to drop out of college and come straight (haha not that straight) to Broadway but Trent is like wtf no education is important.

Whatever the actors aren’t that relevant.

Sarah has a nightmare about her death one night. And with the others it’s not as big of a deal because they’re all rooming with each other, but Sarah’s roommate isn’t one of them.

She thinks Alyssa is asleep so she calls Katherine crying about how scared she was, how guilty she felt to be leaving her brothers and friends and Kath without a goodbye.

And Alyssa isn’t quite awake, but she’s awake enough that she hears Sarah whisper about how everything is just so stupid complicated. I shouldn’t be afraid of dying when I’ve done it before—when we’ve all died horribly—but I still am, Kitty. I can’t stop being afraid.

Alyssa is out of it enough that she falls back asleep, but when she wakes up she knows what she heard. That her roommate thinks she had a past life and died and implied that all her friends did.

Emma notices she’s acting weird and when she asks what’s wrong she tells her.

They both know it sounds crazy, but...

Emma tentatively points out some weird things about their friends from New York.

She’s study buddies with Race and occasionally he points something out she got wrong on her history homework. Something so small and inconsequential that it would’ve been almost impossible for him to know unless he was there and remembered from experience.

Smalls and Sniper have a habit of jumping apart if they were so much as holding hands and someone walks in on them, even though they come from a mostly accepting city with an accepting friend group.

That whole group straight up skipped history class the whole week they were learning about World War I and refused to make up the work.

They bring the half-baked theory to Janis who immediately remembers all the times she’s seen Jack draw small war-torn towns in France and dirty city streets and an outdated skyline as if seen from a rooftop, all of them too detailed to be anything but directly copied from something Jack has seen before.

But the question is if they’re drawn from a reference photo or a memory.

Cady realizes, upon hearing the theory, that Elmer and Buttons never take her up on offers to come to football games because they don’t like the noise.

More specifically, she remembers the look on her nemesis/frenemy’s face when he said he didn’t like fireworks.

Aaron notices that Davey always solves math problems by hand. He never uses a calculator unless someone reminds him it’s an option. And half the time, he defaults to using his right hand with terrible handwriting even though he’s left handed. Almost like he was raised with the whole ‘left hand devil’ thing, which doesn’t make sense because he went to a public school; not a religious one.

Damien realizes that Romeo has a habit of correcting the costume department, like he knows the period clothing for Hello, Dolly! better than they do. It annoys the hell out of them because upon some research, he is always right.

Regina notes how Spot and Sarah fight like they’re fighting for their lives in a street brawl. She knows that because she started taking karate in an attempt to win fights. She noticed months ago that her friends use technique that’s barely sustainable, like they’re just trying to stay alive until they can run or backup comes.

However all this is just fun and games, a crack theory they’re all mildly creeped out by but don’t really believe, until Gretchen finds it.

An article on the Newsboy Strike of 1899.

There’s a copy of the Newsies Banner, written by Katherine Plumber, which references strike leaders Jack Kelly and David Jacobs.

But they could write that off as just a creepy coincidence if not for the photo.

It’s the one Katherine and Darcy took that first day, which is in black and white and not the greatest quality, but clearly shows a lot of familiar faces.

A later story by this Katherine Plumber documents lives of street kids with interviews from kids with the same odd nicknames as the group they know.

Regina was the most cynical about this theory and even she can’t deny it now. There’s just too much evidence.

Especially when Karen finds Crutchie’s obituary, but Regina stops her from showing it to anyone else because that’s just too creepy.

The Mean Girls crew and Alyssa and Emma are... unsure if they should confront their friends about this, because a) this is freaky and b) the newsie gang is clearly still harboring trauma due to their deaths.

Plus, as Damien points out, being gay was illegal in 1899. Do you think they want a reminder of how they had to hide their feelings for each other back then?

Emma and Alyssa share a knowing look because they know what that’s like.

In the end Karen lets it slip when she asks Davey a question about her history homework involving World War II, mistakenly believing he was there.

Davey naturally questions her about it and she spills the entire story about how Alyssa heard Sarah’s phone call and they figured everything else out from there. She even shows him the article with the 1899 photo and the Newsies Banner.

And... shit, there’s a lot of memories behind that picture. And that’s them, over a hundred years ago, when they were kids and they weren’t all the same age like this time around.

The old Davey looks so big compared to Romeo and Elmer and god was Specs tall for a 15-year-old.

Davey didn’t even meet Smalls and Sniper in this lifetime until they were 16, but in that picture they’re only 13 and they’re so small.

A sidenote on Katherine has a picture of her in a hairstyle he hasn’t seen her in since 1917.

It’s a mixture between ptsd and nostalgia and Davey can’t decide whether to freak out or be happy.

He takes the article to Jack and tells him about how Gretchen found it and their non-reincarnated friends know.

Jack’s silently cursing the fact that he really should have been more careful with what he drew around Janis, but it’s kinda a relief that they know, honestly.

He shoots a quick text to the group chat and then turns his phone on do not disturb mode while he sits Janis down for a little chat.

He doesn’t go into graphic detail, but he does tell her an abridged version of everything. How they were basically a family and all lgbt+ in the early 20th century and how they died before their time and got a second chance.

It’s more than a little freaky for Janis, but it does explain a lot.

Such as how Jack demonstrates on a dare that he can still do some parkour because once upon a time, he used it to run from the cops.

Elmer tells Cady he’s so quick at math because he used to have to calculate change quickly and later had to help Jack and Davey come up with battle plans based on numbers vs tactics and terrain.

Regina definitely trusts Spot’s combat advice a lot more now because he was essentially a gang leader as a teenager and it has literally saved his life.

Race admits to Emma that her song made him cry because... in this lifetime he might not have had to be closeted, but in his last he was constantly worried about getting arrested or worse if people found out not just about him and his boyfriend, but his friends. His family.

Emma may or may not collaborate with him after that to write a song about how much it hurts to be closeted for your own safety and how much better it feels to be free to be who you are. Race dances in the music video and many of the other newsies make appearances but it’s mainly him and Emma. Spot and Alyssa cry when they see it. Damien does, too.

Who am I kidding everyone cries.

They get like 4 million hits on YouTube and it’s amazing.

The title is probably In the Light or something.

Also Cady, Aaron, Kevin, and Elmer form their own college level mathletes team and no one can beat them.

(Kevin’s not as close with the main group literally only because I don’t know that much about him as a character.)

(Also Stacy, Kailey, and whatever their boyfriends’ names are might be there somewhere but I don’t know them either.)

Katherine does get to meet the new kids in person eventually. And also I didn’t mention this earlier but Specs goes to Harvard too and he comes to visit too.

The power when the Lesbian Club finally gets to meet all in person? Unparalleled.

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eddiebodywantssome · 4 years

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Javey - Promposal

not a request, but i saw this post by @newsies-is-life and i just had to write it lmao.

enjoy!

words: 906

tw: none

“So, what do you think?” Davey held up the sign he’d spent the majority of the day working on. He didn’t usually dabble in art – he left that side of things to Jack. But this was senior year prom, and he wanted it to be special. He also hoped it wasn’t coming off as too much.

It was a large white cloth that he had painted to look like the rainbow flag, and he’d cut and stuck large letters that spelled out ‘carry the banner with me to hoco?’

Sarah gasped, placing a hand over her heart. “Aw, Dave! I think it’s kinda sad that you’re asking me to go with you, but I'd do anything for you so yes, yes I will.”

“This is obviously not for you and you know it,” Davey said, rolling his eyes. He turned to the Crutchie. “Crutch? Whaddya think?”

“I think Jack would get mad at me if I went to hoco with his boyfriend.”

“Guys.”

“Relax, baby brother. It looks great and he’s definitely gonna say yes. Why would he say no to his boyfriend?”

“Because, we’re not technically boyfriends yet. We've only gone on a couple of dates so far.”

Sarah hummed in disagreement. “No, we’ve all pretty much known you were boyfriends since freshman year.”

“Wha- we weren’t even dating yet!”

“You might as well have been. It was pretty obvious you both liked each other.”

“And nobody thought to mention this to either of us?”

“We wanted to see how long it took for you guys to realise. Turns out you guy are more oblivious than we thought.”

“You’re both useless,” Crutchie agreed. “But anyway, he’s gonna love it. I’m pretty sure he began to think you were never gonna ask him. He was moping about it to me and Race earlier.”

“Aw shit, I should probably go do it now then. You sure he’s at home?”

“Yeah, Medda said he hasn’t left his room all day. He's been glued to Mario Kart since last night.”

“Okay, great. We'll go now then. I’ll see you later Sarah,” Davey waved his sister away. She sent him a flying kiss before heading out the door, her way of wishing him luck. He turned to Crutchie. “You brought the car, right?”

-------

“It’s not too much, is it? Maybe it’s too much. Oh my god, he’s never gonna wanna see me again,” Davey said from the passenger seat.

“Has anyone ever told you you’re stupid?” Crutchie asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the road. “You could ask Jack to marry you and he’d say yes. Boy is stupid whipped.”

Davey’s face flushed red. “You think so?”

“I know so. He doesn’t shut up about you.”

He settled back into his seat, feeling better. The ‘banner’ was sitting neatly folded in the backseat, waiting for its spectacular unfurling in Medda’s backyard.

“So, what’s it mean? The ‘carry the banner’ thing, I mean.”

“Oh, we did a project on the newsboys' strike of 1899 last year, and it was a phrase that came up a lot. It's kinda like an inside joke now.”

“That’s cute.”

They pulled into the Larkins’ driveway and Davey’s heart felt like it would jump out of his chest.

Crutchie and him crept around the house stealthily, hoping they wouldn’t be spotted. They positioned themselves in front of Jack’s window, and Crutchie took his phone out to document everything.

Davey picked up some pebbles near his feet. He was originally going to blast a song from a boombox but he realised he didn’t have one. He gripped the banner and let out a breath. He chucked a pebble. And then another. And another. Finally, he saw a figure appear in the window. He unfurled the banner and smiled, waiting to see his best friend’s face.

“Oh my gosh, yes!”

Wait, that didn’t sound like Jack.

“What? No, Race! Tell Jack.” Davey said, cheeks red as he hurriedly rolled up the banner.

“Okay! Jack, I'm going to homecoming with your boyfriend!” Race yelled into the house. Crutchie stifled a laugh and looked away.

“What the hell?” There was some commotion from inside the room, and Jack appeared in the window. “Davey! Is this true?”

“Nooo, obviously I'm not here for Race,” he wailed. Was it something wrong with him? Was he not being clear enough? “I’m here for you, Jack.”

He unfurled the banner again, and Jack’s face lit up. His hands went to his face as he stumbled backward, out of sight.

“He ran,” Race announced from the windowsill. Davey's face fell. Was it that bad?

The patio door burst open and before Davey could realise, oh, he liked it, he was tackled in a bear hug.

“Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes,” Jack whispered in his ear before releasing him, grinning like mad. “I thought you were never gonna ask.”

“It took me some time to get the paint,” Davey admitted sheepishly. “I know it’s not great-”

“Shut your pretty mouth, it’s perfect,” Jack looked at it lovingly. “I’m gonna put it on my art wall.”

“I didn’t think anything I made would be worthy of the art wall.”

“Everything you make is worthy.”

Crutchie faked wiping a tear away. “Disgusting. Okay, lovebirds. Give me a pose!”

Jack threaded his fingers through Davey’s as they held up the flag, massive smiles on both their faces. Davey refused to stop smiling after that. He couldn’t wait for prom.

#newsies #javey #javid #im so soft for these two #love em #may writes

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newsies-of-corona · 4 years

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Newsian Outline!

Varian builds a time machine that transports him 100 years into the future to the 1899 newsboys strike in New York. He quickly befriends the newsies (who nickname him Stripe because of his hair) and once he hears what they have been going through he wants to help. He likes Jack most of all and is invited up on the roof. The next day he makes a machine for the newsies that delivers papers faster. Jack is skeptical and feels outshined by Varian’s popularity and skill with selling papers. The next day Davey & Les come to meet the gang. Varian is still planning a way to get back to Corona and he goes back to the library to write out plans and think. He comes back later in the day with his machine and Jack is noticeably annoyed but doesn’t say anything. The next day Pultitzer raises the price of papers and Jack and Davey start the strike. Varian discovers that they aren’t selling papers anymore and he thinks it’s because Jack’s jealous of his machine. He goes to talk to him about it and Jack assures him that it was because they wanted fair pay, and though the machine was annoying, it had nothing to do with it. They make up and the strike begins. Varian crafts a paper shredding device out of pieces of the wagon that the newsies tip over, and they all go crazy about the strike and start tearing up papers and shredding them until the cops arrive. They try to arrest the newsies but Varian grabs some potions from his bag and attacks the cops with them. The newsies all get away just in time and hide out in Jacobi’s diner. Katherine announces that the strike has made front page of the NY Sun and King of New York starts. The newsies teach Varian to tap dance and tell him that it’s just a fun way that they entertain themselves when they aren’t working. After that day is over, Jack and Varian have another heart to heart talk on the roof, and when Varian says he wants to make Crutchie something so that he can use his leg, Jack gets mad at him and tells him to not get Crutchie’s hopes up because there’s no cure. The next day the newsies all show up at the circulation gate once again, but this time they are ambushed. Many of them are beaten and badly bruised but they get away. When Varian sees that Crutchie is about to get taken, he steps in front of the attacker and throws a ball of alchemy at his foot. He’s stuck there for a minute while Jack helps Crutchie get away, but the potion wears off and by the time Varian turns around, he’s punched in the face and dragged away bleeding to the refuge. While he’s there he thinks about his situation and how he may never make it back to Corona. He writes a letter to Jack saying that if he doesn’t get out alive, to search his bag and read his plans about being a time traveler from Corona. His letter blows away in the wind, but somehow it reaches Jack on the roof. He gets the gang together and they break Varian out that night. They meet up with Davey and Katherine at Medda’s theater and discuss the next step of the strike. Jack is discouraged but Davey comes up with the plan of a rally. Jack goes in to talk to Pulitzer about the idea just to mock him, but he’s armed with Snyder from the refuge and others. Pulitzer says that they plan to raid the rally and lock up or possibly kill all of his friends unless he hands over the kid with the blue hair and speaks against the strike. He says that he’s heard stories of Varian’s potions and how the science industry would pay him a lot of money to get those chemicals. He lets Jack decide and tells him to come back the next day with his answer. That night Varian sleeps up on the roof with Jack and Crutchie again, and Jack decides that he has to give over Varian to save his real friends. The next day Jack brings Varian to Pulitzer (Varian has no idea what is going on at this point) and the police cuff him and take him to a special lab in Brooklyn. Jack goes to the rally and speaks against the strike, but just in the nick of time, the Brooklyn newsies show up with information about Varian. At the lab, Varian is heartbroken that Jack would betray him, but at the same time he understands his motives because he was in his place once as well. The scientists ask Varian about all of his chemicals and what they do. First they ask nicely, but when he refuses to tell them they try to force him. The Brooklyn Newsies and the gang rescue him once again but not before they take the vial that activated the time machine. Varian says they need to go back for it, but it’s too late. Back at Newsies square, Varian starts to accept his fate as a Newsie. He helps them come up with the Newsies Banner which is spread all throughout town and he helps the newsies win the strike. Everyone is happy except for Varian who just wants to go back to his own time. He climbs up to the roof again and doesn’t hear Jack behind him. Jack apologizes properly and hands him the missing vial saying he grabbed it when the scientists weren’t looking. Varian says thank you and tells Jack the whole story about the time travel and everything and how he doesn’t have the parts to make a time machine. Jack says that he’s read Varian’s plans and the parts that he needs are in the printing press. (Jack still isn’t entirely convinced with the whole time travel thing though) Varian and Jack go into Pulitzer’s basement that night to steal the press. Varian starts working on the machine and he works all night and the next day until he thinks it’s finally ready. He says tearful goodbyes to Jack and the rest of the Newsies (saying to the rest of them that he wanted to move to another part of New York) He steps inside the machine and heads back to Old Corona. When he gets there he finds everything was the same as when he left even though he was gone for 2 weeks. He hugs Ruddiger and his dad saying he missed them. He went back to his lab and placed Jack’s hat on a shelf next to the time travel potion. He promised he’d never forget the Newsies and the time he spent with them.

A year goes by and Varian is in the middle of another project when he notices Jack’s dusty hat at the back of a bookshelf. He immediately drops what he’s doing (quite literally turning Ruddiger a shade of teal blue) and starts working on what he should have done long ago.

Jack heads over to Newsies square to find fresh new clothes for all of the Newsies, a fancy brace for Crutchie, and a pile of ham sandwiches. Everyone was mystified from where it all came from, but Jack knew. On the top of the pile lay his dad’s hat, still in perfect condition. He turned around and saw Varian. He silently said thank you and Varian waved goodbye and disappeared from view using a hand held time traveling device. Jack’s eyes well up with tears and his gaze lingers on where Varian once stood “I always knew there was something special about that kid.”

Dang this might as well be a fic in itself 😅 Here you go!

#newsian #lissa's stories #tangled the series #Newsies

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smallrunningmachine · 4 years

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What is Newsies and would you recommend it to me?

Ohh boy asking me this is practically begging for a ten-paragraph infodump but I’ll try to resist temptation this time

Newsies is a Broadway musical that came out in 2011 I believe (the movie came out in 1992 with Christian Bale in the lead role)

It’s about the Newsboy’s Strike of 1899 (combined with insanely high energy songs)

The main character is the leader of the Manhattan newsies, Jack Kelly, who (with the help of fellow newsies Davey and Les, among others) organizes a strike when the New York World and the Morning Journal raise paper prices for the newsies.

There’s also a novel but it’s pretty much the same as the movie. I’d highly recommend the musical soundtrack as opposed to the movie. The choreography in the musical is insane, and I’d watch it for that alone.

I’d say give it a whirl. When my history classmate way back in middle school suggested I go see a local production of it I was pretty skeptical but I went along with it and it was incredible!

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salmonrainy · 4 years

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K, T, Y!

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

MOVIE DAVEEEEEEEEY JAAAAAAAACCCCOOOOOOOBBBBBBSS if we’re talking about newsies bc he went from Proper Posh Boy With Anxiety to (CO-)LEADER OF THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899 HELL YEAAAAAA

if we’re talking like in general then zuko from a:tla bc holy shit???? he went from HONOUR to a chill happy guy content with life

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

DAVEY JACOBS HAS ANXIETY AND NOBODY CAN TELL ME OTHERWISE

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

the rapunzel/tangled series ?? (i dont know what its called.....) but i keep seeing it on my dash n it looks p neat :D n everyone seems to absolutely Die for this one character (Val?? Var??? Vav???) but honestly at this point. I, Too, Would Die For Him.

#agentsnickers #ask meme #finn i heart u #i would put in heart emojis here but im on pc so i cant #but i Heart U

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ragingnewsgirl-blog · 5 years

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Did the Newsies Actually Exist?: A Masterthread

Hey guys! I found myself needing a reference thread for which characters in Newsies (the movie and the broadway musical) actually corresponded to real members of the Newsboys Strike of 1899. This doesn’t have to do with just the newsboys themselves, but also the other characters. I hope this thread serves to help anyone who may be looking for this type of information! I’ll be updating this post periodically when I get new information. Use CTRL + F if you’re searching for a specific character!

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Main Newsies

Jack - Sort of (The character seems to be modeled off of Kid Blink, the actual leader of the Strike. Kid Blink was known to be charismatic and good at giving speeches, similar to how Jack was portrayed. Also, Kid Blink is infamous for supposedly accepting a bribe and going against the Newsies Strike, which is similar to how Jack accepted the money in return for speaking out at the rally. He also may have partially been based off of Morris Cohen, who helped to form the Strike.)

Davey - Yes (The inspiration for his character was David Simmons, who was the President of the newsboys Union and was noted to be one of the most eloquent of the group, similar to how Davey was the one to calm everyone down and lay out plans and such.)

Les - No (David could perhaps have a had a brother, but he was never mentioned.)

Crutchie - Yes (He was based off of a boy named Crutch Morris, who did really use a crutch to help walk. He was considered a prominent member of the Strike, at least in the second half, which is similar to how he’s portrayed as a main character in the musical/movie).

Spot - Yes (Although Spot Conlon did exist, he was not the leader of Brooklyn. He is a Brooklyn newsie, and refers to himself as the Grand Master Workboy of Brooklyn, which implies that he does have a very high role, although he’s only mentioned twice historically before he disappears altogether).

Race - Yes (Racetrack Higgins was a real boy, but he was not part of Manhattan - he was the leader of Brooklyn! He was eager to join the Strike and helped Manhattan out a lot, eventually becoming the vice-president of the Newsboys Union. Just like in the movie, he loved races and gambling! He also helped organize the rally.)

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Supporting Characters

Katherine/Sarah - Possibly (Katherine, most likely, was based off of Annie Kelly. Ironic, since Katherine was Jack’s love interest, and his last name was Kelly, hm? Annie Kelly was described by a newspaper as “one of the most faithful strikers”. She wasn’t a reporter, but actually sold the newspapers. She was famous among the strikers and newsboys and was quoted as being their “patron saint”. Only three women went to the rally at Irving Hall, Ms. Kelly being one of them.) (ALSO, the inspiration for Katherine’s name and her being the daughter of Pulitzer was that Pulitzer actually did have a daughter named Katherine - she died at the age of 2 from pneumonia.)

Medda - Yes (Medda’s character was based off of Aida Overton Walker, a black Vaudeville performer around the time of the Newsboy Strike of 1899. She was quite young when the Strike was going on, around 19 years old, so she wasn’t the motherly figure that was depicted in the musical/movie. Despite this, she DID provide a safe place for the Newsies and other kids who didn’t have a home. She was known as the “Queen of the Cakewalk”!)

Pulitzer - Yes (Joseph Pulitzer was obviously a real man. He was very powerful and rich and did end up racing the price of papers from 50c per hundred to 60c, and then tried to bargain for 55c - which was unsuccessful. In the two weeks of the Strike, Pulitzer suffered greatly and lost a great deal of his revenue. Eventually he agreed to buy back any unsold papers that the Newsies had, but he refused to lower the price - this was good enough, apparently, and the Strike was therefore ended.)

Roosevelt - Yes (Roosevelt was the governor of New York at the time of the Strike, but he actually didn’t do anything about it. Unlike the movie and musical, he had absolutely nothing to do with the Newsboys Strike of 1899.)

Wiesel - No

Snyder - No

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Pulitzer’s Crew

Seitz - Yes (Don Seitz, historically, was the manager of the World. Possibly lied to Pulitzer about the Strike ending not once, but twice.)

Hannah - No.

Bunsen - No.

Wiesel - No.

Darcy - No.

Bill - No (William Randolph Hearst allegedly has six children, but none of them were named Bill.)

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Minor Newsies

Mush - Yes (Based on “Mush” Meyers, the boy was said to be very intelligent. Also noted to be the most romantic of the newsboys. It’s also possible he got his name from being infamous for making out with his girlfriends in Central Park.)

Buttons - No

Albert - No

Elmer - No

Finch - No

Romeo - Possibly (Could be based on “Mush” Meyers due to his romantic nature).

Henry - Possibly (He could be based off of Henry “Major Butts” Butler, the boy who stepped up to take control of the Strike after Kid Blink was arrested. He was a newsie of upper Manhattan like Henry, but played a much larger role in the Strike than portrayed in the actual character.)

Mike/Ike - Possibly (They could be based off of Samuel Wolkinsky and John Armstrong, two newsies who worked and were arrested together for “cruel and unusual punishment” - they forced a scab to eat his own papers!)

Jojo - No

Specs - No

Splasher - No

Skittery - Yes (A newsie by the name of Skittery is mentioned in some historical papers.)

Dutchy - Yes (A newsie by the name of Dutchy is mentioned in some historical papers.)

Sniper - Yes (Some newspapers mention a newsboy by the name of Snipe-Shooter, which possibly inspired the character).

Kid Blink - Yes! (Reference Jack’s explanation.)

Tommy Boy - No

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Sources

http://nineduane.queenitsy.com/names.html https://newsboys-of-1899.tumblr.com http://newsiesfreak.com/history.html Several historical newspapers from around 1899-1900 https://newsboysstrike1899.weebly.com/newsies.html

#historical #newsies #musicals #broadway #92sies #newsies history #the newsboys strike of 1899 #history #newsie #disney #research #I can't believe I just spent three hours on this #I'm sweating #send help #kid blink

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santafeisafantase · 5 years

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@thattheatrefreak here ya go dood and others. it’s still just a rough draft and not me bashing newsies bc i love it so much, but i was interesting in doing the research so here we go. enjoy!!

Newsies vs. The Newsboy Strike of 1899

Did you know that back in 1899, the newsboys, also known as newsies, of New York City went on strike? The strike caused massive disruption to the city’s key services. Critical news stopped and strikes and protests halted transportation. At one point even the entirety of the Brooklyn Bridge shut down. This was such an important event in our history that Walt Disney Studios created a movie in 1992, which would later become a Broadway musical in 2012, about the strike called, ‘Newsies’. Disney’s Newsies represented the Newsboy Strike of 1899 inaccurately as evidenced by the fictional characters and plotlines.

Based on the Newsboys Strike of 1899, Disney’s Newsies creates many fictional characters to tell their version of the story. In fact, the main character and “leader” of the Disney’s Newsies strike did not exist in real life but was created to support their interpretation of the story..

Jack Kelly, the alleged leader of the strike, was a charismatic character created to further their story.. His character is loosely based off the actual leader of the strike, Louis ‘Kid Blink’ Balett(i)*. Kid Blink (sometimes referred to as Blind Diamond) was the leader and chief organizer of the Newsboy’s Union Strike Committee. Kid Blink was said to be between the ages of 13-18 and Italian, while Jack was 17 and (most likely) Irish. At the time, Italians were frowned upon, and otherwise not well perceived by others, including but not limited to- the Irish. So, although the change from Italian to Irish appears insignificant on the surface, due to tensions between these groups during this time it seems curious

Both Blink and Jack Kelly accepted a bribe from a newspaper, going back to work. Jack took the bride in order to keep his boys from going to The Refuge (a jail for underaged kids), and while there’s no apparent reason for Blink accepting the bride, it was most likely just for the money. Another difference between Blink and Disney’s Jack Kelly is their mannerisms during the strike. When Kid Blink came across scabs (boys who went against the strike), he would soak them (beat them up) into joining the strike, Jack used his way words to talk the scabs into joining the strike.

His more memorable speech from the Broadway production is as follows, “Listen fellas…I know somebody put yis up to this. Probably paid ya some extra money too. Yeah? Well, it ain’t right. Pulitzer thinks we’re gutter rats with no respect for nothin’, includin’ each other. Is that who we are? Well, we stab each other in the back and, yeah, that’s who we are. But if we stand together, we change the whole game. And it ain’t just about us. All across this city there are boys and girls who ought to be playin’ or going to school. Instead they’re slavin’ to support themselves and their folks. Ain’t no crime to bein’ poor, and not a one of us complains if the work we do is hard. All we ask is a square deal. Fellas…for the sake of all the kids in every sweatshop, factory, and slaughter house in this town, I beg you… throw down your papers and join the strike.” Disney’s Jack is more a verbal peacemaker than brute enforcer.

Along with Jack Kelly, David ‘Davey’ Jacobs, and the entire Jacobs family didn’t exist either. In the 1992 Newsies movie, the Jacobs family took Jack in when David and Les, two brothers, became newsies. Davey suggested the strike and became Jack's right-hand during the strike. Sarah, Davey and Les's sister, was Jack's love interest, but an otherwise unimportant character who was written out in the stage production. The Jacobs parents aren't in the stage version, as well. They’re mentioned a few times, but never shown or talked about in much detail. The family, in the movie, showed Jack what it was like to have a real family, as none of the newsboys really had families. This idea of a perfect family and Jack;s want of this idea becomes a recurring theme in Jack’s storyline. There’s a possibility Davey was based off Dave Simmons, the president of the Strike Committee who was voted out alongside Blink for betraying the strike. Simmons was treasurer for the second half of the strike after being forced to step down from his higher position. Davey could’ve also been inspired by/based off Morris Cohen, who replaced Simmons as president of the strike committee. Consistent with the transition of Jack from thug-ish to more of a charismatic leader, Disney gave Jack more relatable family ties and direction.

Furthermore, Bryan Denton did not write the big stories that won the boys the strike. In fact, those articles don’t exist at all! As well as that, Bryan Denton did not actually exist. He was originated for the movie. It’s likely he wasn’t based off anyone in particular, seeing as though the articles from the time came from all over the place. Bryan served to unify the storytelling in somewhat of a narrator fashion that the audience can rally around.

On the topic of the newspaper reporters, Katherine Pulitzer/Plumber (Plumber having been the name she allegedly published under) did not write for ‘The New York Sun’ or anywhere, for that matter. While Katherine Pulitzer was a real person, she died of pneumonia at the age of 2 years old. In the Broadway musical, she’s written to replace both Sarah Jacobs, as Jack’s love interest, and Bryon Denton, as the reporter for the strike.

Another misrepresentation is the infamous leader of the Brooklyn Newsies, Spot Conlon. Spot Conlon, and the Brooklyn newsies, according to the musical/movie, were major influences on the strike. Disney makes it out like without Spot they wouldn't have won the strike at all. Racetrack Higgins, in Disney's versions, is just a newsie from Manhattan who loves to play poker and bet on horse races, when in actuality, Racetrack was the real ‘voice of Brooklyn’ and is mentioned throughout the papers as a major influence on the strike. He also gave a speech at the rally in Irving Hall, claiming to have confronted the chief of police, as well as threatening the boys if they thought of betraying the strike. Racetrack was temporarily vice-president of the strike committee after Blink and Simmons were voted out.

Disney also claims after Kelly betrays the strike, he joins the strike again to assist in writing and printing their own paper that helps them win the strike. Joseph Pulitzer, the owner of ‘The New York World’, sees the paper and makes Jack and the newsies an offer. He would lower the raise of price by half if they went back to work. Jack rebutted by saying that ‘The World’ would also buy back whatever papers the newsboys don’t sell, full price. In truth, over the two weeks that the boys were striking, ‘The World’ made many offers to which the Union’s Strike Committee turned down. Most of the newsies disagreed with the Strike Committee refusing to accept the offers. Eventually, Pulitzer made an offer to the newsies, not the Official Decision Makers of the strike. Pulitzer offered them 100% return rights. The newsies immediately accepted the offer, agreeing to go back to work, while the Union Committee, who disagreed with their decision to accept to offer, said they would continue to strike.

According to Disney’s Newsies, Pulitzer decided to raise the price of papers because once the war ended, they weren’t selling enough papers. Joseph Pulitzer wanted to put more money into flashy photos and headlines, so they could sell more newspapers. In order to do so, they raised the price of the newspapers from $.50 per hundred to $.60, meaning the newsies would have to sell 10 more papers just to make the same about as always. When the newsies saw the raise in price, they were immediately enraged and decided to strike. When the boys organized their first rally, Pulitzer tried to get the mayor and Snyder (the warden of The Refuge) to arrest Jack and get the rally shut down.

In actuality, ‘The World’, and most of the newspapers in the city, raised the price of their papers during the war, knowing that the headlines were dramatic enough that papers would sell easily. When the war ended, all the newspapers brought the prices back down, except for ‘The World’ and ‘The Journal’. Because the war had ended, papers weren’t selling as well, and the newsies couldn’t make enough money to survive. That being said, the newsies didn’t strike immediately. The war ended in August of 1898, and they didn’t strike until July 1899. They elected a group of boys to lead the strike called the Union Committee which consisted of Kid Blink as chief organizer, Dave Simmons as president, Little Mikey as an orator, and Jim Gaiety, Young Monix, Barney Peanuts, Crutch Morris, Crazy Arburn, Scabutch/Scabooch, and Abe Newman. The intention of Pulitzer was not as ill-intentioned and specific as Disney indicated.

Even the conclusion of the strike was changed to suit Disney’s narrative! They make it out to be more willing and accommodating than what actually happened. So, all that said, Disney’s Newsies represented the Newsboy Strike of 1899 inaccurately as evidenced by the fictional characters and plotlines.

*according to some sources, it could also be spelled ‘Balett(i)’

Works Cited

Anonymous. “‘The Looker-on’ Observing Racetrack Higgins”. Brooklyn Life, 29 July 1899. cityhallpark1899.com/2015/07/29/the-looker-racetrack-higgins/

Nasaw, David. “Read all about it: The story of the newsies’ two-week strike against publishers Pulitzer, Hearst”. New York Daily News, 14 August 2017. nydailynews.com/new-york/story-newsies-strike-titans-pulitzer-hearst-article-1.2858550

Siegrist, Julie. “Newsies the Movie: Is it Historically Accurate?” When I Can Breathe, Blogger, 19 January 2014. whenicanbreathe.blogspot.com/2014/01/evaluation-newsies-movie-is-it.html

Romero, Kristina. “Newsies: The real story compared with the movie/musical”. Calling Extra, WordPress, 24 March 2012. callingextra.com/author/kristina/

Newsboys of 1899, Tumblr.

Torin. “Historical Context Newsies”. The Gilder Lehrman. www.gilderlehrman.org/content/historical-context-newsies

Stern, Liz. “Blast From the Past: Newsboy Strike of 1899 “. History Detectives, New-York Historical Society, 27 July 2012. historydetectives.nyhistory.org/2012/07/blast-from-the-past-newsboy-strike-of-1899/

Morisako, Kira. “Kid Blink”. Extra! Extra! Newsboys Take A Stand: The Newsboys Strike of 1899, Weebly. newsboysstrike1899.weebly.com/kid-blink.html

Anonymous. “Newsboys' strike of 1899”. Wikiwand, Wikipedia. www.wikiwand.com/en/Newsboys%27_strike_of_1899#/Louis_%22Kid_Blink%22_Baletti

Anonymous. “Newsies Historical Research”. Newsies History, Tumblr. newsieshistory.tumblr.com/post/91454605563/some-things-we-know-about-the-real-kid-blink-part

#newsboy strike of 1899 #newsies #research paper #this took me months to write bc procrastination #its not good

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