#charlie morris

[raggedy-albert]

OK NEW THEORY

santa fe (prologue) is literally a prologue.

jack and crutchie’s relationship seems slightly different, like they don’t really know each other that well. they’re both just getting used to the idea of having someone there for them. why would jack just be telling crutchie his fondest hopes and dreams if they’ve been best friends and brothers for years?

it’s because this was a few years earlier.

also, the lighting in the background changes. at first, there’s a dark sky like it’s very early morning. then, jack starts talking about his dreams and the sun starts to rise. after the song ends is when it changes to the present. the sky goes back to dark, and race wakes up the other newsies instead of jack.

[military-newsboys]

Davey: Without you man, we're just a group of rudderless delinquents trying to survive.

Crutchie: You make us a family.

Jack: Well, I'm the cool rebel brother.

Albert: You're the mom.

Race: Mother.

Specs: Mom.

[jack-kellys]

would u change anything about the jack and crutchie dynamic? how would u portray C? i would love to see a production where hes a little less sunshine and a little more realist (which i think uksies did well) buttttt i know thats your man so gimme some thoughts

- @we-are-inevitable ✨

how ~i~ would direct crutchie. ooough. major. hi again jac

give me some newsies issues and ill. i'll-

so i would cast him a year older than jack, or like. he turns 18 a few months before jack or smth. he just seems to understand things already that jack's whole arc brings him to at the end of the show. "I don't need folks. I got friends." takes jack two hours and a fifteen minute intermission to figure that one out. brotha.

i think making crutchie the only guy in the play who really knows what and how things are going to happen is really... just. makes him interesting. his sense of self-awareness, his personal knowledge of who he is and what he stands for- the wild thing abt him is he already. knows. crutchie stands for his friends. it's why initially he isn't for striking ("let's hit the streets while we still can") bc he knows any other action is going to get his friends hurt... but it's also why he's good with it pretty soon after- well, if they are gonna do this, he's not letting his family do it alone/without him... even if he knows what's probably going to happen to him afterward. give me a crutchie with foresight who doesn't ignore it, per se, but whose moral backbone refuses to make him a coward. (its why he and davey r like🤞🏼 to me.)

i would also let him fight. in the fight choreo. he's winning to morris delancey i do not CARE. i'm having the reason he gets caught be him shoving the jacobs out and away. because crutchie already knewwww. from the moment of "you mean like a strike?" what was goin down.

(i would also make the "romeo! finch!" not be a reaching out, but a "get the fuck out of here" wild gesture. as long as crutchie takes center, no one else is getting hauled through downtown in a police wagon.)

i also think that whenever race makes his little comments to davey crutchie is the one gesturing for him to back off, bc i think it's fun when racer and crutchie butt heads and i rly adore crutchie seeing davey and knowing his potential like. immediately. i think i'd have them be talking a lot in staging it- uksies does this already if ur looking for it, but it's so key to me.

tl;dr, crutchie is the most experienced person at the lodge, and i think it should show. and also like. u can debate me on that? that jack's more experienced or is portrayed to be since he's the leader, but... tell me why jack learns friends are equivilent to family when crutchie knew that shit at 00:00:00 in the musical. lmk. crutchie has almost prophetic knowledge in his brain ok he knows newsies the musical as well as us. i think that's fascinating.

also this is unrelated but the way matthew duckett uses the crutch as a true extension of himself is unlike any crutchie we might ever have again. go watch the boot again and just watch him. he points with it, gestures with it, sits in interesting ways, like. his comfortability with his body is smth crutchie needs to have bc he knows himself, more than the rest know themselves. im so serious.

[just-pot-over-here]

Ok, of course, yes please also tell us about your favorite Crutchie and why!

LETS FUCKING GOOOO OKAY

i have no problem with AKB as a person!! just getting that out of the way because i WILL shit on his portrayal of Crutchie swiftly and without remorse.

AKB is very good at playing the happy-go-lucky, innocent, wide eyed comedic relief character. he plays the same type of character in tuck everlasting as Jesse, and in the Dracula reimagining he's in now. he's a good actor and he plays that typecast well!

the problem is, that isn't Crutchie. i feel like AKB drastically sanitized the character that was written in the script. he made Crutchie into this pure and wholesome caricature of a disabled person, who gets pushed around and defended and is always upbeat about it. The general atmosphere of fan spaces in 2017 didn't help that at all either. I remember a lot of infantilizing Crutchie, all sorts of "smol boi ray of sunshine" shit. he was treated like this defenseless, needy little thing. he wasn't a person.

I really feel like Matthew Duckett (an actual disabled actor! almost like it matters!) read the same script as AKB, and got a person out of it instead of a pity sponge. Matthew's Crutchie is, to put it plainly, a little shit. He antagonizes the Delanceys, fights cops, slingshots his friends when he gets bored. He's playful and funny, but he's also whip-smart, fast on his feet, and will talk shit like it's nobody's business. his doubt about the strike isn't him being scared and worried about fighting, it's him being a realist and a strategist, recognizing flaws in their plan that jack isn't even thinking about. He isn't this defenseless little blob that the other newsies have to constantly worry about, but a competent and capable part of the community. one of jack's right hands and confidants, an intelligent and necessary part of the strike. it makes it so much more devastating when he's taken to the refuge. jack falls apart because he's lost his friend, brother, and equal, not because he let poor little Crutchie get captured by the cops.

and when Matthew's Crutchie gets back from the refuge, he is happy to be back and see his friends, but he is also angry. he's angry and hurt and has a lot of other emotions going on, which you can see when he cuffs Snyder. he doesn't just bounce right back, he is affected tremendously. like a REAL GODDAMN PERSON.

i love how Matthew Duckett gave Crutchie room to be a capable, emotional character instead of a clean-cut sunny blob. you can really see that he isn't just Crutchie, he's Sean (or Charlie or whatever name you prefer), the real person.

AKB made Crutchie a caricature, Matthew Duckett brought him to life.

[we-are-inevitable]

Infodump about the frat au. Literally everything I’ve never come across you before. Pretty please and than you <3

i feel like i’ve shared so so much about this world but here are some fun things that aren’t important to the actual story but that i love!!:

technically davey is the middle sibling. he was born 12 minutes after sarah and she never lets him forget it! (oddly enough, the number 12 shows up a lot in his life. he thinks it’s a fun little reminder. he considers it his lucky number because it always makes him think of sarah, and sarah always makes him feel better.)

jack speaks fluent spanish because he’s half mexican, and davey speaks fluent spanish because it’s one of the 5 languages he knows outside of english! (he’s only fluent in 2 of the 5, but he’s passable in the other 3 and can have conversations with minimal struggle)

charlie is a HUGE sports nut. he’s really into hockey and plays sled hockey recreationally! he’s really competitive and brutal about it. in the fic, he has multiple sclerosis and primarily uses forearm crutches, but he has a black and green wheelchair kitted out in stickers, patches, and pins that he uses at least three times a weak.

charlie, albert, and jack all watch hockey games together and try to go to at least two games a season once they get closer.

davey loves live music but it can be a lot for him sometimes— he tends to stay in the back and uses noise canceling earbuds, but loves people watching and loves the atmosphere. gay bars don’t bother him as much because the noise level- albeit loud- is less so, but he always carries his ear buds on him. he keeps them on a carabiner clipped to his belt or crossbody like the fag he is.

(jack doesn’t think he’s allowed to say “fag.” davey assures him he is. jack has issues and he’s working through them.)

davey works at a public library close to campus, and spends most of his time with youth and teen programming. (he loves his job.) jack works in the fraternity and sorority affairs office as a student leader; he talks to current high schoolers about joining greek life. (he hates his job.)

davey likes horror movies and jack doesn’t like horror movies but he likes being able to hold davey’s hand through it.

jack drives an jeep cherokee from the early 2000s. medda helped him get it when he decided to go to college outside of the city, bc public transportation isn’t as easily accessible. jack got his license at 18 and thinks it’s stupid that he has to drive places now but he really likes his shitty little car. her name is Rory like the gilmore girls character but he swears there’s no relation

on campus, jack usually skateboards, and davey rides his bike everywhere. davey’s car is a little 2014 corolla named Miss Priss and she’s decked out in bumper stickers and trinkets inside.

race and albert have been together since high school. they SHOULD never have time for each other but they somehow never leave each other’s side. it’s kind of disgusting actually.

race starts learning how to do drag about a month before he meets jack!

katherine and spot work as waitresses at the same restaurant. they should not get along. they are best friends.

[wekiaam]

Perhaps some Crutchie art?!

Crutchie chilling on a rooftop 🌇

[str4wb3rry-fire]

guys am i the only one who deeply ships jack kelly and crutchie morris and thinks them being brothers is weird?

you can think theyre brotherly but i soo disagree and i need to find my queer community please

[uncertaininnit]

Newsies home improvement store alignment chart. I don’t think any of them would be there for sensible reasons and none of them are on track

[emmedoesntdomath]

*race and crutchie getting arrested*

officer, glaring at them both: anything you would like to confess?

race, glaring right back: nope

officer, nodding, writing on his pad: guilty

race, sputtering: but- what???

officer, ignoring him, turning to crutchie: and you?

crutchie, doing his best impression of a baby duckling: nope

officer, eyes narrowing:

crutchie, blinking innocently:

officer, nodding again, writing on his notes: must have gotten lost

race, who knows that ALL successful parts of the plan were crutchie’s and not his: oh come on-

[sparkedblaze]

*RUNS THROUGH A WALL BECAUSE I SECRETLY LOVE PERCY JACKSON*

okay, who would crutchie’s godly parents be??

CRUTCHIE’S GODLY PARENT

OOOOOOOO

Okay so he’s super bright and sunshiney but he’s also realistic and kinda super smart and really fucking stubborn

OOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOH

HEAR ME OUT

Nemesis.

He made a deal like Ethan Nakamura.

He’s losing his leg, but it’s to help turn the tide of (whatever is strike adjacent)

And it does.

He pays a little more, gets locked up.

But it’s worth it in the end because they win and Snyder is arrested.

Keeper of balance and stopper of unneeded vengeance pranks amongst the newsies.

Thx ily

[asexualmusicalnerd]

Small extract of a post refuge one shot I'm working on. Will Post it all when finished.

...

Now fully awake, Crutchie knew sleep would elude him for the rest of the long summer night, that he would once again have to make up some excuse for lagging behind the other fellas when the morning bell was struck.

It was a deception he had been working on ever since he had been released from the Refuge.

Sure, Jack and the others had all asked, tried to check in with him about whatever occurred to him during his time in Snider's grasp yet his continued denyals of any lasting effect had eventually forced them to consider that perhaps that was indeed the truth.

All except Jack.

Jack bore his own scars from his many stays at that God awful place, and Crutchie knew his brother suspected he wasn't being told the whole truth. Jack would give him these odd looks as if he were about to say something but always stopped short.

In his own way, that meant so much more than continuous asking in Crutchie's opinion, it showed his brother valued his independence and respected that he was capable and wasn't something to be pitied.

But on nights like tonight he wished he was really as capable as Jack.

Sure, he'd witnessed the famous Jack Kelly after his first refuge stay while the other boys only found out a few days later, had seen for himself his brother's beaten form, tended to the whip slashes upon his back and held him as he sobbed through the pain and fear, yet Jack had been locked up for months not mere days.

In comparison Crutchie was pathetic.

"Crutchie?"

Cursing, the younger boy shifted, attempting to mask his features as Jack stirred.

"Crutchie, you awake?" Jack's arm slapped the empty spot on the ground beside him, obviously sensing the absence of his brother.

"Yeah?" He didn't mean to make it sound like a question. Damn, that was bound to raise suspicion.

[raggedy-albert]

crutchy: hey, i don’t want nobody carrying me, ya hear?

crutchie: *physically carried off stage by albert*

[whoops-im-obsessed]

Expanding on my previous point - crutchie who is arguing back to davey that he has to sell because he's been in the refuge, he can't afford board for the night and nobody's been working, they can't afford to spot him. davey just shakes his head and brings him to esther who takes one look at him and crutchie immediately learns where Davey gets his stubborn from

[jack-kellys]

hi guys i saw newsies again

i think what we collectively didn’t realize about the context of which santa fe is sung is that jack is beat to hell, like on his way to a concussion while he’s singing that. he is barely pulling himself up that ladder, he’s leaning against literally every piece of rail or penthouse beam that he can. like. santa fe is, really, a dream. he sings it when waking early in the morning with charlie and then when he’s fucking concussed. it’s actually a delusion in this version. god…

david jacobs will get his way or die trying and i have to admire his gay little snooty faces LMAO… “tell me how quitting does crutchie any good?” is said while he’s looking over the paper with his back to jacks with an eyebrow raised. and when jacks doesn’t respond (which davey doesn’t even see he just fuckin knows) his “exactly” is this sing-song told-you-so of-course-i’m-right and i’m obsessed with it

tommy boy’s like plot thru this is really strong???? he’s reluctant to strike and then shows up as a scab and is the last one to agree to join the strike, and then at the rally when jack betrays them he. he is literally screaming “we hate you! we hate you!” at the top of his lungs at jack oh my god. jack bromage i owe you everything holy shit

charlie is genuinely like my favorite character in this production. i think this is the best take i’ve ever seen, the best acting, the most genuine acting, like. matthew is that good, and so is crutchie as a character. he’s so fun to watch react

^going off that through the whole precursor scene to TWWK for him is like. visceral. charlie has an understanding of the streets and the police that is sort of… almost deeper than jack’s. jack is ready to fight, but charlie is like horribly aware of their position, and almost argues jack’s for-the-strike fervor against the strike. he’s looking at other guys with this older sibling “don’t be stupid don’t do this” look, he’s very in favor of finch’s “the cops’ll bust our heads”, and his “like we got a choice?” to henry’s “[can we sell] at those prices?” is definitive. it’s a fucking command, until jack says to hold on obviously. idk… i just really crutchie’s very obvious position as a leader in this show, and he’s not just strong for “getting through it”, he’s jaded from living with it. ugh. best character.

jack’s face through the “my daughter, katherine” scene is such a journey LMAO… michael is soooo. good. he gets so mad at pulitzer’s “and beautiful, isn’t she?”, he has this withering look when he says “i’ll tell her you said so.” god. and then the WAY that goes to a different kind of anger—

one thing about jack is that anger is not one emotion for him, and he shows it every time. disgust looks different, shock/betrayal looks different, rage looks different. he is so, so, genuinely angry as a character and that’s terribly romantic and sad. to feel the fight for every scenario in your veins, to only feel forced to run at every opportunity. god god god, jack kelly, the character you are.

also i asked michael to sign my sketchbook’s inside cover like everyone else has so far and he was SO excited and went “you sketch???” with the most enthralled inflection. and then we also talked about interracial relations on stage and jack kelly being black. and i’m really not sure how many people have actually asked him or told him how much it meant, because he was very ready to talk about it, which is quite bittersweet.

that’s all i have rn it’s late :( see y’all soon

[just-pot-over-here]

TW character death, disease

i come back once every six months to drop an AU and leave. this is entirely inspired by this mitski song btw (EDIT: @ill-say-anything-i-hafta has informed me that this is a Peet Seeger song that mitski covered!!)

jack leaves for Santa Fe after the strike. whether because he and kath break up, or because he decides he actually can’t stand manhattan, it doesn’t really matter. what does matter is that he brings crutchie with him.

they make it on the NYCentral railroad up to chicago, at which point they need to start walking. this would be a problem, except jack has enough money from his shiny new job to buy a horse and two packs, and he figures that not much can go wrong. and for a couple of weeks he’s right!

the problem is, they’re two kids who’ve never left New York trying to walk from Illinois to new mexico. they’re not exactly survivalists here. they’re drinking out of rivers and eating stale/mouldy bread and jerky. something’s gotta go wrong, and unfortunately it goes wrong for crutchie.

typhoid fever is a killer, and crutchie’s not lucky enough to beat two deadly plagues. jack has to bury his little brother somewhere in between Oklahoma and Kansas.

jack makes it to santa fe, but he leaves a piece of himself in the ground 900 miles away, placemarked with a crude branch cross.

needed to get this out of my BRAIN

[we-are-inevitable]

frat jack chapter 3 - snippet

Jack’s mouth closes, dumbstruck, until he says, “You’re gay?”

He receives a deadpan look. Charlie crosses his arms over his chest, head cocked to the side, and Jack can see the smile he’s trying to stifle. “You couldn’t tell?”

“You don’t…” Jack hesitates, then takes in a breath. He cringes before he even speaks. “You don’t look it.”

Charlie stares at him for a few moments, then smirks and shakes his head. “Okay, now we gotta hang out. That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. I think I’m in love with you, man.”