#crutchie is a good friend

[ill-say-anything-i-hafta]

"You wanna bust your other leg too?" is such a fucking shitty thing to say, Jack! This is Crutchie's life. His livlihood. He understands the stakes better than anyone.

I only have one good eye (sort of good? let's just say one eye i can use to do my job that gets me paid) and YES I've been like this my whole life and YES I'm still very sensitive about it. It is not fodder for friendly jokes. If a person I loved and trusted said something like this to me, I would lose it.

[jackkellysgirlfriend]

how romantic🫶🏽/s

Another request: Jack sells your organs to buy a train ticket to Santa Fe

[embermc]

Somehow, despite being a main character and despite how much of a devastatingly complex character he is, there is so little Crutchie content in today’s fandom and it actually causes me to go mad.

Crutchie Morris, aged fifteen, who had his newfound hope literally beaten out of him and who accepted the prospect of his own death and accepted that him being able to find a better life was just as much of a dream-like fantasy as Santa Fe was for his brother. Crutchie Morris, aged fifteen, who had to force himself to be twice as resilient as everybody else, twice as dedicated, twice as tough, or else he feared he’d be left behind and forgotten. Crutchie Morris, aged fifteen, who had to hide all of his anger and fear and sadness and resentment under a bright-eyed grin because heaven forbid he ever be anything other than optimistic, heaven forbid he show for a moment that a life of being abused and pushed around and verbally tormented got to him in the slightest. Crutchie Morris, aged fifteen, who convinced himself that he could never hope for more than what was thrown at him, could never strive for a better future (“let’s hit the streets and get our papes while we still can”), and could never show the slightest bit of weakness lest he be seen as a burden and sent away for good.

Crutchie Morris, aged fifteen, who got sent away anyways.

Crutchie, who had the worst possible thing that could’ve happened to him, his worst fear, come true, and who had to pretend he was totally fine with that because he thought his loved ones had bigger issues than him at the time. Who had to endure up to weeks of constant horrendous abuse, beatings, starvation, and who was just so damn out of it when he was finally released that he couldn’t focus on anything except the man who had messed him up so badly that he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of him in a safe, controlled setting without panicking (west endsies). But who, despite it all, still had to plaster on that same grin to show to all of his friends to convince them that he was still the same guy, even if he was irreversibly changed in a way that so many of them would never know. Oh also did I mention he was fifteen-

[theres-no-escaping-us-pal]

NEWSIES AND WHAT AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS THEY’RE IN + WHAT SPORTS THEY DO

JACK KELLY

he definitely does sets for the school productions

he also does lights

he did track in elementary-middle school school but quit freshman year to focus more on art

but he runs every morning

also he def started an art history club with davey and kathrine

DAVEY/DAVID JACOBS

he plays piano is jazz band

and he’s in debate

he plays tennis

he wins state championships for tennis

and he totally joined theatre tech cause all his friends were doing theatre in some capacity

helps kathrine with editing the school paper when she gets stressed

he’s in honors math and science

maybe english too

CRUTCHIE MORRIS

band

he’s a band kid

idk what instrument

don’t ask me

i’m not a band kid

but he is

and tenor in choir

he plays in the pit band for the school productions

helps jack with sets sometimes

honors english

b average

KATHRINE PLUMBER/PULITZER

she’s a total academic weapon

class president 5th grade-senior year

she’s in debate

chief editor of the school paper

runs the year book

stage manager

on the varsity volleyball team

was on jv her freshman year

when people ask her how she gets straight a’s she’s like “idk i’m just smart”

a+ average

RACETRACK HIGGINS

he’s on the competitive dance team

also ensamble or a minor role in every school production

he’s been the lead once

he didn’t like it

in honors math

he also does track (hehe race track)

he gets a’s in math and b’s and a-‘s in everything else

most flexible on the comp team

best turner on the comp team

was in debate for two years but quit because he started having stress related panic attacks and stress vomiting before debates

b+ average

ALBERT DASILVA

competitive dance too

he used to play soccer in middle school and part of freshman year

he’s in theatre normally ensemble but likes to be speaking roles

c+ average

pours his time into dance

like it’s his favorite thing

terrible at chaine and pique turns

he’s great at pirrouettes and a la seconds though

SPECS IDK HIS LAST NAME

competitive dance guy #3

he’s on debate too

2nd most flexible on the comp team

worst turner

amazing leaps

b average student

forgets his contacts for dance frequently so he just dances with no glasses on

in jack’s art history club

FINCH CORTEZ

also on competitive dance

least flexible

average turns

terrible leaps

good at tricks

he’s trick man

really likes doing theatre

school photographer

b- average

SPOT CONLON

def on the gymnastics team

don’t ask me why and don’t argue with my flawless logic

he keeps his grades just high enough to still be on the team

also on the wrestling team

people are always asking why he does those two cause there like polar opposites

he’s just like 🤷‍♀️

b average

definitely runs some kind of social justice or lgbtq+ club

(also applies to uksies spot)

MORRIS DELANCEY (specifically the mike faist version)

soccer and dance

specifically tap

he likes tap

and he’s been doing soccer since he was in middle school

he’s on debate team

he’s not very good but he makes it through

a- average

OSCAR DELANCEY

football

don’t ask me why i don’t plan to explain

c+ average

i have nothing else to say

SARAH JACOBS

varsity soccer

and debate team

and honors english, history, and science

and choir

she’s a mezzo

don’t tell me i’m wrong

i’m not

she’s a student tutor

like when a student needs tutoring she’s the persian they go to

for english, science, or history

a average

kinda academic rivals-lovers with kath

(sorry if these are shitty)

[foap-mactavish]

newsies as things my friends have said!

Jack: I just got cockblocked by Shakespeare

Race: Your in the cult you stay in the cult

Crutchie: What’s your sexuality? Vibin’

Spot: No let me beat myself up

Albert: You said your AirPods were dead now you're listening to shrek without me

Romeo: I’m going to pick you up romantically and throw you at the mirror

Jack: I’m good he’s good I’m trying to think of other things I’ve shoved up my ass

Katherine: Why are they prancing around in their little tights I can see their calf muscles

Davey: Thank you for serenading Me

Pulitzer (mocking the newsies): I’m a poor orphan boy with no hand eye coordination please by a newspaper from me

Les: The boys just started kissing

Medda: Jeff what the fuck are you playing at Jeff

Oscar: I will carry you away… by your legs

[ziggy-stardust-is-in-love]

So I thought maybe I’d do one of the informational things for my page (warning: it’s obnoxiously long)

You can call me Zags, Ziggy, “the Ziggler” (according to @virginia-madison,) or anything you want! Doesn’t really matter

She / her, they / them, or even he / him if you want. I don’t know what I am

Omni

Demigirl?? Idk about gender rn

Don’t be a creep I will block you (im a minor 🤨)

Music is my life

Theatre kid!!

I think I’m an infp whatever that is. Ig I share a personality type with Kurt Cobain so that’s sick

David Bowie made me who I am

Raised on classic rock

My posts will probably be random unfunny thoughts or updates

Ukulele freak

No negativity or bad vibes. We’re chill here (basic dni stuff)

My interests

Green Day

David Bowie

Weezer

Basically any music ngl

Stranger Things

Back to the Future

The Breakfast Club

Lord of the Rings

The Hobbit

Crying over people we can’t have

Roblox (I’m hiding this in here bc it’s a secret)

The Beatles

Billy Joel

My Chemical Romance (still learning)

Rodrick Heffley (shut up I love that man)

Green Day again I love them

The Lorax (gotta be one of my favorites)

Newsies (theatre kid)

CRUTCHIE!!! 💕 (Newsies) I played crutchie and it was freakin awesome

ANTHONY HOPE!!! (Sweeney Todd) another awesome character I got to play

Theatre in general‼️‼️ (PLEASE)

Pikmin

Heheh Good Omens now too

ANYTHING. PLEASE.

My pretty boyfriend: @someone-kill-the-ej <3 (He’s my soulmate and I love him so so much. I’m head over freakin heels for him bro)

Mi esposa: @natitith 😍😍💃🏽🕺🏻

MY BESTEST FRIEND TO EVER BE CREATED (I thank the lord for her every day) : @perfumeaddicted (she’s offline 90% of the time and usually doesn’t really post)

You can always send requests for images to our Weezer on or images to put in American idiot ‼️‼️‼️ (please do I’m lonely)

anyways sorry it’s so long maybe I’ll delete half of this later :P

updated 12-2

[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.

[metallicmikus]

Newsies Characters but as quotes from my friends!

- Race: “I have an oath to money… and whores!”

- Specs: “Put that guy (Les) in a cage and see if he smells a gas leak.”

- Jeremy Jordan playing Jack Kelly: “I’m almost 27. I’m one foot in the grave.”

- Finch: “What in the Freddy Faz fuck are you saying?”

- Les: “I love going to church cause there’s a surprising amount of verses that say among us.”

- Davey: “All my therapist have been millennials and I think that’s why I haven’t gotten better.”

- Katherine: “Kelly with an e?” Jack: “No, it’s a K.”

- Jack: “Something about that man is so flamboyant I was taken aback.”

- Romeo: “Wait, you have twink magic?”

- Albert: “If I smelled a really good pie right now, I would be floating.”

- Romeo: “I hope a woman gets aboard your ship and sinks it with her titties.”

- Elmer, while stabbing his food with a fork: “I wonder if this is what jesus felt like.”

- Albert: “I am within beating distance: 5ft.”

- Crutchie: “Davey, you’d make a great jewish man. I hope you know that.”

[newsiesrewritten]

Newsies Rewritten Footcanons

It’s not headcanons if it’s canon to my media rewrite.

Also taking suggestions for a better name LOL

One of the other family leaders in Brooklyn, Dorothy, also known as Dotty (aka the Uksies Spot) is the same age as Spot despite being Spot’s apprentice for a while. The two consider each other their younger sibling, and Dotty is constantly talking about overthrowing Spot.. as every sibling does.

Otto Wiesel is estranged from his father, he only briefly sees the Delanceys and he pretend like he doesn’t know him. He is also a full grown adult and tries to stay as far away from the newspaper industry as a whole. He used to be Wiesel’s muscle before the Delanceys show up.

Kid Blink was the first to scab because he had taken on the responsibility of Tommy Boy and he had led the first strike before the one Jack led, only for that one to fall through. He respects Jack for trying but didn’t believe it would work. (He also admittedly was saving up to get Tommy Boy some form of actual education and couldn’t afford to starve another day.)

He also knew his own David, David Simmons, who scabbed after becoming a popular interviewee of the strike Ann, Kid, and Simmons held themself. The two are close still, and Kid Blink often disappears with him for the night if the bunkhouse gets too crowded.

Racetrack will not stop talking about the damn horses. Rally speech? About the horses. Daily conversation with Albert? How ‘bout them horses? Albert is SICK of it.

Medda and Spot are closer than Medda and Jack are. Medda taught Spot to built his confidence and “grow into his shadow.” As he says. He brought a pair of pale baby pink suspenders that he wears for special occasion in memory of what she’d done for him.

Pulitzer spent so much time and energy on Katherine because she was not only the spitting image of his wife, but she also had her heart stop at the age of 2 due to pneumonia. Her survival deemed her the miracle baby of the six surviving children.

Katherine is the third born child of Pulitzer, though raised as the eldest daughter after her sister Lucille died when Katherine was 15. (Katherine would’ve realistically have been 17 years old during the strike of 1899.)

She doesn’t really interact with her siblings as she’s busy pursuing her reporting career but gets to know them after seeing how the newsies act around each other.

The first thing Jack buys after the strike is a brighter blue shirt. (To symbolize his commitment to the Manhattanites ofc.)

York is at the rally and when he finds out Crutchie had been taken away, he tries to beat on Jack for not protecting his cousin. (Even though they are estranged.)

Jack’s a bitch. I don’t know if you know this but Jack is somewhat unlikeable in Davey’s eyes for a GOOD fuckin’ portion of the rewrite.

Davey Irish goodbyes the newsies A LOT, he just slowly backs away and if no one notices it, he just leaves. He just doesn’t really know how to say goodbye.

Sarah and Katherine meet during Once and For All and have been good friends ever since.

Jacobi and Henry have a friendly rivalry, since Henry’s family runs a deli. Though Jacobi never admits he has a soft spot for the boy, he can sometimes be spotted teaching Henry how to perfect some of the recipes and showing Henry some of his personal record keeping books that he uses to keep track of deli costs.

[nyx-thedragon]

EVEN MORE NEWSIES THOUGHTS RAAHHHHH

noted down a bunch of things while watching again, so strap in for a bit of a long post!

1- reiterating that i love mr kloppman so much omg

2- mush has his fucking hat on before a shirt what's wrong with him /silly

3- "get the lead outta your pants" is such a fun phrase why don't we use it anymore

4- choreo for "carrying the banner" looks so fun

5- jack mocking davey's scoff i love them so bad

6- young christian bale as jack kelly is so charming

7- why is there just a boxing match going on?

8- medda complimenting les's acting skills <33

9- why is there a trolley on fire? why did they set one on fire?

10- "you can meet my folks" this is literally the first day you met him ???

11- esther jacobs is so pretty wow

12- second hand embarrassment/cringing when jack is telling sarah about what words make a headline good

13- les sleep singing and sounding good, i see you kid

14- "why don't you stay here tonight?" bro put the heart eyes away for a second my god

15- "when i dream on my own / i'm alone but i ain't lonely" <333333 love these lyrics

16- will forever be mad about livesies taking away jack's whole cowboy shtick it's so fun why would they take that away

17- how does jack just know how to ride a horse?? was he taught by someone when he was younger??

18- race & jack siblingism real !!

19- johnathon why do you work for pulitzer he doesn't appreciate you like he should

20- i love how natural the dialogue feels in the entire movie. it doesn't feel or sound like they memorized a script

21- "give him some room, let him think" les jacobs you precious little boy

22- jack and davey just make a great team to lead the strike. davey has the words and jack has the confidence and loud voice

23- "no! we can't beat up kids in the street, it'll give us a bad name!" "can't get any worse"

24- davey going from "i was joking" about the strike to helping organize and getting so into it i love him

25- davey wandering through the other newsies during "the world will know" love him (i have no clue why this stood out to me enough that i felt i had to note it down)

26- davey, again with the heart eyes. you're staring longingly at jack. please have some decorum

27- shoutout to denton for helping the boys. love our man denton

28- boots putting his ear up to the door trying to hear something i love him that's so silly

29- the look jack gives davey when he laughs at jack and les being kicked out of The World building

30- "no pictures" "sure" and then there ends up being a picture

31- spot conlon calling jack "jackie boy" oh i feel like they have some history. like friends when they were younger or something. or they've just known each other for a long time

32- mush and race little dance moment during "sieze the day" <3

now would be a great time to take a breather, drink some water, look somewhere other than the screen for a bit to give your eyes a rest

33- jack and davey are always so touchy with each other my god boys can you keep your hands to yourselves for five seconds please (/affectionate)

34- jack already trusts davey enough to let him hold the rope while he dangles like 50 feet in the air. they've barely known each other for two days these boys are lowkey down bad

35- jack and crutchy are brothers for real !!! i love them !!!!

36- snyder hitting the side of the bed to get that one kid to take his hat off why did he do that why did the hat need to be off ??

37- love how the brooklyn newsies' thing is slingshots it's so fun and cool

38- where did these boys learn how to tap dance

39- crutchy you gotta get better at lying, man

40- dude kloppman really is like these boys' father i just love him so much he seems so sweet

41- sarah jacobs why do you not find it a little weird for jack to sleep right outside your window all night?? i know you know him, but that's still a bit odd

42- "this rabble he's roused" pulitzer that's a great line, i gotta hand it to ya

43- love spot conlon's little walking stick/cane

44- the way the boys all love medda and hype her up <333

45- i need warden snyder dead and i need to be the one to do it oh my god i hate him so much!!!!

46- dutchy and specs are always around each other, as far as i remember seeing. they are a pair, do not separate

47- are davey and sarah twins? i've seen people online and in fics say that they are but it's not said in the movie and i am very curious if this is canon or a fanon thing that everyone has agreed on?

48- pulitzer gesticulates a lot. he's a hand-talker

49- "i don't understand" "i don't understand either but just get outta here!"

50- haven't said this before but i love davey's curly hair

51- weasel actually says "tisk tisk" (tsk tsk) he's such a weirdo for that

52- i also need weasel and the delanceys dead and i need to be the one to do it

53- roosevelt calling denton "denty" they're besties bro that's so fun

54- kloppman taking over weasel's job (edit: upon rewatching the movie again, i have realized that it is, in fact, not kloppman who takes over weasel’s job at the end of the movie. my apologies)

whoo. okay. less than the last one. that's good. i hope y'all enjoyed reading my thoughts and getting a little glimpse into my brain. and if someone could tell me the answer to my "are sarah and davey twins" question i will love you forever please i am very curious.

anyway, drink water, get some rest, and i will see you all later. stay cool

[spraceaesthetic]

I headcannon club foot because that's what I have hehe!

Crutchie Morris: your headcannon 2024

[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.

[heliads]

All in the Words

Based on this request: "race and some of the newsies are hanging out with yn and yn is acting all tough. They keep trying to make her drop that attitude by making jokes, and race flirts with her as a joke. Yn gets all nervous and blushy so he just keeps going thinking its adorable until yn fires back and he kinda dies"

me when i flirt with someone and they instantly perish

masterlist

Dawn comes and goes, and you are not there to see it. Normally, this would fill you with more than a small amount of fear– miss your morning schedule, and you’ll be hours behind when it comes to selling newspapers. Newsies live in the daylight hours, shouting slogans and catchy headlines as long as there are still people out on the street who can see enough to hand you coins. It does make it difficult to get up so early each morning, but it’s not like you have a ton of options otherwise.

Yet when you open your eyes this morning and see not sunrise but a well established day, you feel not a bit displeased with yourself. After all, why should you? Today, as it turns out, all newsies across the city will have a day off. The newspapers don’t like printing on holidays, so you can get off scot free for the whole set of twenty-four hours. Nothing says special like that.

For newsies, days off are a bit of a mixed bag. There is, of course, the immediate response to hearing that you won’t have to get up at dawn and spend too many hours out on the streets hawking papes. That would explain the shrieks and calls of glee from some of the younger newsies. Older ones, too. The second Jack Kelly heard about the holiday, he muttered something about having to talk to someone and hurried off in the direction of the New York Sun. You have a feeling he’s tracking down a particularly pretty journalist.

It’s great to think that you won’t have to work. However, you aren’t a newsie for the thrill of it. Not working means you don’t get paid, and that’s far less fun than one would care to imagine. That’s why you’ve been carefully saving your pennies for weeks now, just trying to make sure you’ll have enough to cover today’s costs before your job comes back the next day. It’s a life spread thin, to be sure, but it’s what you’ve got, and you don’t intend to waste it.

Still, sleeping in is pretty nice indeed. You allow yourself one last moment of leisure before dragging yourself out of bed. Most kids in the Manhattan Lodging House have partaken in the same delights– more than half of them are still sleeping peacefully in their bunks. You do your best to get ready as quietly as you can, and shut the door silently behind you.

By the time noon rolls around, the rest of your friends are up and at ‘em. Most of you are choosing to either kick back and relax in the Lodging House or go look for trouble somewhere else in the city. You heard Spot popped in once to check on a deal with Jack, but other than that, there are no threats in sight.

None to your physical health, at least. Threats to your peace and quiet still exist. You’ve barely sat down on your favorite threadbare armchair in a corner of the main room (the title being won by a good few rounds of fisticuffs, all solidly settled in your favor) before your name is being tossed around by some of the newsies nearby. You have a feeling that they’re trying to be discreet, but their whispers sound more like shouts when you’re indoors instead of yelling to be heard in the streets of Manhattan.

Four boys are causing trouble today, as it appears. Race, Jojo, Albert, and Romeo. All of the newsies are good friends– you have to be, at any rate, or you’ll lose your head with the godawful conditions of being outside all day– but these four are no exception. They’re the closest of anyone here, exceptions being Jack and Crutchie.

Today it seems they’ll be proving their camaraderie by trying to get a rise out of you. This isn’t anything special. You have a bit of a reputation for being stone cold, but can they blame you? Girls have to fight twice as hard to stay alive in this city, so what if you’re more here to keep yourself afloat than make friends? You’re nice when you have to be, but you keep your distance when you want it. Just because you’re not flirting all the time doesn’t mean you hate the rest of them.

The ‘Hattan boys know you don’t hate them, but that doesn’t stop the four newsies nearest you from trying to win you over anyway in the only method they know best:  being annoying and turning everything into a joke. Romeo tries his luck first, shooting his shot with a tip of his cap and a wink. You arch one derisive brow, which is all it takes for him to give up and head back to his friends.

Albert is next. He starts off strong with a story about a dream he’d had last night about pretty girls going out with him, but you cut him off thoughtfully with a recollection of a dream you’d had recently where all boys left you alone under pain of death. Struck out, he gestures for Jojo to take over.

Jojo’s attempts at flattery are so awful that you give up on trying to entertain yourself by watching them fail. You reach over for a paperback Katherine had left behind on her last visit to the Manhattan Lodging House. The book serves the dual purpose of letting you ignore the laughter of the boys and also hiding your face for the last of their attempts.

See, you can ignore Albert or Romeo any day. They’re just friends, just coworkers. You’ll never see them in any sort of romantic light. The problem comes with Race. Race is charming. Race is cute. Race is the only one who has ever been able to get through the strongest of your walls. It doesn’t matter if he’s just doing it as a joke, if Race flirts with you in the slightest, you will be affected by it.

Best to make sure he can’t tell, then, so you prop up the book in front of your face and pray he can’t see the slight smile that makes its way across your lips when Race tries his hand at flirting. It wasn’t even a good pickup line. Still, it worked, and that is absolutely devastating to your reputation.

The worst part is that he knows it, too. Even though you do your best to act as if you’re absolutely fine, you can tell by the triumphant tilt of his head that he knows it. Y/N’s got a weakness at last, and it’s Race. Of course it is.

The other boys don’t seem to have caught on, though, they’re just laughing raucously amongst themselves about the usual. Albert calls something out to Race about wanting to go take a tour of the shop next door, but Race doesn’t even look back, gesturing for them to go on without him without turning even once.

“You should go with them,” you say as indifferently as you can.

“Why?” Race asks, cocking his head to the side, “I’ve got a far prettier sight in front of me right now.”

You roll your eyes, but even you can feel the slight heat pricking your cheeks. “You’re insufferable.”

“Apparently not,” Race muses, “or you wouldn’t be smiling at me.”

You do your best to hide the offensive expression away, but your best attempts at staying serious just make your smile more stubborn. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t,” he says happily, “it’s not just because of me, is it? I bet Y/N L/N would never be susceptible to something like a boy.”

“Not even to a cute boy?” You ask, eyes wide with pretend surprise.

This, of all things, makes Race stutter over his words. You didn’t think it would be possible for Race to get nervous over someone flirting with him, but apparently you were wrong, because he’s all but shaking in his boots right now.

“That’s sweet of you,” he manages to eke out.

You grin. The tables have turned. “Funny,” you say, “I didn’t think Race Higgins would ever be susceptible to something like a girl.”

“I love it when you pay attention to me,” Race retorts, but it carries far less of the easy confidence he’d had earlier. In fact, Race looks like he can’t believe his eyes.

“I’m sure you do,” you muse, “Shame it doesn’t happen more often. If I knew you were going to react like this, maybe I would have started flirting back earlier.”

“I think you should keep doing it anyway,” Race whispers.

You laugh. “Only if you flirt back.”

“Oh, always, sweetheart, you know that,” Race says.

It’s easy to smile after that. Maybe Race has been flirting with you for a while, but maybe he’s meant what he said all along, too. It’s good that you’ll have plenty of time to figure him out, then. Yes, plenty of time indeed.

newsies tag list: @lovesanimals0000, @misguidedswagger, @thatfangirl42, @amortensie

[i-aint-got-santa-fe]

Top 10 favorite newsies lyrics?

That's so hard 😭

Uhhh...

1. THE POOR GUYS HEAD IS SPINNING 🤗‼️‼️ (no explanation needed)

2. I got nothing if I ain't got Santa Fe (I can relate to this w other things)

3. I can't spend my whole life dreaming, though I know that's all I seem inclined to do (I love this. So much.)

4. Look at me, I'm the king of new york (classic)

5. Hey, I bet a few months of clean air, you could toss that crutch for good (literally so wholesome I can't)

6. There's change coming once and for all, you're getting too old, too weak to keep holding on. A new world is gunning for you, and Joe we is too, till once and for all, you're gone. (IDKK I just love this)

7. Hey, that's my cigar! You'll steal another. Hey look! It's bath time at the zoo. I thought that I'd surprise my mother. If you can find her! WHO ASKED YOU?? (I love getting little dialogues sm)

8. Folks, we finally got our headline

"Newsies Crushed as Bulls Attack"

Crutchie's calling me

Dumb crip's just too damn slow

Guys are fightin', bleedin' fallin'

Thanks to good ole' Captain Jack

Captain Jack just wants to close his eyes and go!

Let me go

Far away

Somewhere they won't ever find me

And tomorrow won't remind me of today

And the city's finally sleepin'

And the moon looks old and grey

I get on a train thats bound for Santa Fe

And I'm gone

And I'm done

No more running, no more lying

No more fat old men denying me my pay

Just a moon so big and yellow, it turns night right into day

Dreams come true. Yeah they do, in Santa Fe

Where does it say you gotta live and die here?

Where does it say a guy can't catch a break?

Why should you only take what you're given?

Why should you spend your whole life

Living trapped where there ain't no future

Even at 17, breaking your back for someone else's sake

If the life don't seem to suit you, how about a change of scene?

Far from the lousy headlines and the deadlines in between

Santa Fe, my old friend

I can't spend my whole life dreaming

Though I know thats all I seem inclined to do

I ain't getting any younger

And I wanna start brand new

I need space, and fresh air

Let them laugh in my face, I don't care

Save my place, I'll be there

Just be real is all I'm asking

Not some painting in my head

'Cause I'm dead if I can't count on you today

I got nothing if I ain't got Santa Fe

(THE WHOLE SONG 🤗🤗‼️‼️)

9. We'll all be out there, carrying the banner man to man (gotta love the chorus)

10. There's one thing you ain't, that I'll always be! And honey, yeah that's right, that's rich. (Roasted 💀)

[i-didnt-do-1t]

On Katherine’s birthday she isn’t expecting any presents from the boys, but she heads over to the lodging house all the same on an invite extended from Jack, just happy to see them, just happy to have friends that care enough that want to see her and not them all being her fathers business partners, and it turns out almost each and every one of them has a little gift for her,

buttons made a little bow for her hair from some fabric he was able to swipe, kid blink grins at her and offers to teach her how to throw a good punch, Jack presents her with a series of sketches, crutchie repurposes the strike sign he made so she can hang it on her wall, finch gives her a sling shot, boots offers her a handful of marbles

Katherine is on the verge of tears, there’ll all so many little thing that she cares about so much and appreciates so deeply in comparison to the thoughtless money thrown at whatever gifts her father got her

[cosmicwolfboy]

crutchie - akb vs matthew duckett !!!!

alternatively titled - cast disabled people jesus christ

listen i am having so many thoughts and feelings about crutchie and at the risk of annoying the fuck out of my partner i am putting them on here instead!

prefacing this by saying:

i do not speak for all cripples

matthew’s duckett was my first real introduction to crutch and yes i am probably biased because of it (because matthew was an absolute sweetie when i met him)

i do not actually hate AKB as much as i dislike his crutchie

★

i think the main problem i have with his crutchie (and i understand that it is not entirely his fault at all!!!!) is that it’s so sanitised in so many ways. it is so of its time and not really in a good way, it came about in a period where representation wasn’t a big focus and i very much understand that, but i also hate it.

it’s so easy for disabled characters to fall into this weird ,sanitised, almost infantilising position, where their struggles are shown (abuse from the delanceys that was directly because of his disability, the fact he’s more likely to be put in the refuge because he’s seen as ‘weak’), but they’re bound by this kind of happy-go-lucky persona where they don’t show any real anger or upset. it’s fuelled by the abled need to see disabled characters as some sort of inspiration porn. “he’s crippled but look how happy he is despite that!!!!!! if he can do it i can too!!” he has this air of innocence and can-do-no-wrong that kinda falls a little flat compared to all his friends of the same age, and whilst this wouldn’t be a problem in itself, it fits a repeating pattern of the innocent, docile physically disabled person that is shown so much.

i loved matthew’s crutchie so much because he was so much more than that. he was happy, he was kind and an big laugh, but he didn’t shy away from being truly angry or scared (in the finale when he is brought back and cuffs snyder) and he was still a bit of a dick, he felt a lot more like he truly belonged. one of my favourite examples is at the start of the show the first time we see katherine, he helps one of the boys (i can’t remember which one) steal something from darcy and keeps it on him through the rest of the show. he’s as playful and annoying as the rest of them, shooting paper balls at them with his slingshot (especially during the finale, i love him so much for that). he has an attitude. he has the energy of a boy who was raised on the streets and knows what the fuck is what.

and thats what i think changes him the most for me. it’s all the same script (?) but it’s all so different when you think about how smart crutch actually is. i think the biggest change is my idea of him specifically when he’s being so nice to weasel at the beginning, when all the boys are being annoying and dicks, crutchie is so sweet. i don’t believe he’s doing that because he’s just such a nice guy who can look past weisel and the delancey’s being assholes to them, i think he realised quickly how to play the game. he’s gonna get sympathy, he knows that, and he knows if he acts all innocent and is overly kind, that they’ll somewhat pity him and he can use that to his advantage.

i hate being pitied by most people, i hate being looked at differently, like i’m almost helpless. but i also know how to use it to help myself, i know when i can play the poor little cripple card to my advantage. and i fully believe crutch does the same.

edited to add because i forgot to add this entire section in sorry!!

when i say sanitised i also mean literally. as in they made him cleaner. specifically in the finale again when he’s brought back from the refuge, broadway crutch looks way too clean. he’s a little bashed up but he’s not dirty. he doesn’t look like he’s been battered and then subjected to awful conditions. it takes away the impact of his time at the refuge. when he got back in the uk production they actively were disgusted by how much he smelled, because he’d just got out of a place where he couldn’t look after himself for a multitude of reasons. he suffered in there, mentally and physically, and in more ways than one. he was not given nice clean clothes and a pat on the back, he was taken out and put right back into the mess without much time to check himself over, without any time to process or heal.

i just think it has a much bigger impact when you can see, from his actual appearance and the other guys’ reactions, how much he actually struggled in there. they were glad to have him back of course, but it really drove home the point of how badly it affected him.

and once again in that scene, you could see the fear on his face and the anger when he faced snyder and when he made a move at him. he was fucking scared of the man that had subjected him to all of that. even when he was being a little goofy and put on the hat to handcuff him, there was still that fear, and there was evidence to why.

(end of edit)

but like i said, i don’t think it is entirely akb’s fault or his intention, he almost definitely wasn’t aware of the way it came off and how it perpetuates stereotypes. but it’s just another reason why giving disabled roles to disabled people is so important. plus we know how to use mobility aids properly

★

shoutout to my beloved partner who proof reads my shit and also is the reason i am into newsies . thank u babie @fizzloves-blog <3