#ilysm jac

[tarantulas4davey]

last sentence tag game

tagged by: @lailuhhh

Rules: Write the latest line from your wip (or post where you last left off in your art) and tag as many people as there are words in the line. Make a new post, don’t reblog.

It takes until Race is sitting up sharply on the couch, the warm, dark hands of his older brother tight around his wrists, to realize that the person screaming is him. He breathes harshly, rough in and out of his spasming lungs, throat raw from all the noise he was making. His face is wet with tears, he realizes.

Albert’s laugh is still echoing in his ears.

tagging:

@we-are-inevitable @roideny @jack-kellys @enter-plot-holes-here

[we-are-inevitable]

i need everyone to know how conversations with chandler go

@tarantulas4davey

[jack-kellys]

rizz, my love, your job title:

Lead Analyst

requirements: 4+ years of experience, astute observational skills (i.e: noticing small details in live performances and/or boots), technical knowledge of stagecraft and theater industry, teamwork skills used for collaborative efforts, creativity, ability to connect AU themes back to core central theme of subject material

optional skills: baller photo editing and the right amount of snark for every response

- @we-are-inevitable ✨

it actually is the way this made me tear up and also the way i called u davey’s autism fairy godparent

send me a newsies fandom job and i’ll bust out my resume! except jac busted mine out for me on this one

ok i literally do think aus are at their best when thematically it mirrors the source material.. like everything just feels more in character that way from the get-go. even my hunted au still has davey and jack trying to both punch down on a system that has fucked them up in the past- even if they’re going about it the wrong way.

also even if lead analyst is my full time job i’ll do commissions for fic moodboard edits :)

[thestarlightforge]

Yes, the world is often still a terrifying nightmare for queer people.

But.

Spring 2024 served up a full season of Ava & Deborah in Hacks S3, the always delightful Abbot Elementary for its S3, and Ncuti Gatwa Fifteenth Doctor kissing Jonathan Groff on Doctor Who.

Summertime delivered Poolverine in Deadpool 3, a season of excellence with Interview with the Vampire S2, the killer finales of Umbrella Academy and Star Trek: Discovery, the continued successor to She Ra & Steven Universe in My Adventures with Superman S2, a taste of a future queerer Bridgerton in S3, the interracial interabled lesbian wedding of the year in The Dragon Prince S6, and House of the Dragon blowing up the internet for two months gay with its wonderful shenanigans—from the sept scene, to GNC-coded Rhaenyra kissing Mysaria, to Alicent going full Virginia Woolf on a MF & then proposing elopement in a 4 AM break-in.

Spooky season has the return of Jac Schaeffer to the WandaVision fam—Billy Maximoff, Teddy Altman (who he’s explicitly dating) & a bevy of PEAK lesbian activity in Agatha All Along, coming out (ha) within a month of Heartstopper S3, and the series finales of What We Do In The Shadows and Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Then, we’ll close out the year with Harlivy in Harley Quinn S5, Lady Gaga as Harley in a musical in Folie a Deux, and MF-live action WICKED PT. 1.

And this isn’t even it, y’all. This doesn’t include countless anime, cartoons, and queer shows that are gaining ground now that they’re streaming (Kevin Can F**k Himself, ILYSM).

No, it isn’t perfect. Yes, I want more and better representation. (Especially for sapphics, BIPOC queers, disabled queers, trans and GNC folks.)

But there are reasons for hope. We are moving in the right direction. 🏳️‍🌈❤️

[proud-and-defiant]

Hey, appreciation post for @we-are-inevitable anyone?? Jac you’re the best ily please take care of yourself bestie <3

Let’s all go comment on all of Jack’s fics with long heartfelt comments that notice all the details they add in to show them how much we appreciate them, thank you <3

[thespacebetweenmoments]

dropping in to say i so very much enjoy seeing things from your shows on my dash. even when not rbed by you. they are my blorbos-in-law and that is SO fun to me

also ! you deserve the world ! mwah mwah !

JAC

i have kept this in my inbox and kept looking at it bc ahhhhh!! you are SO- !!!!!!!!!

ilysm and i love seeing my blorbos-in-law on my dash (and sometimes instagram!!) as well <33

also unrelated but it’s wild that you follow/encounter multiple people who like to shout about the dead people in a bbc sitcom (unless you mean from yonderland in which case good Lord) 😄😂

lots of love!! mwah mwah!!!

[kageyuji]

— @osamiiya

HELP :(((( i think it’s bold you to assume you haven’t already 🥺

[feversxmirrors]

9/5/2022

[spir1tfar3r]

You're so pretty!!

thank you bby🥺💜

[tarantulas4davey]

hi yes all of this javid family au has got me thinking: jack and davey raising their kids, who are friends with race and albert's kids. like. to the point that the ralbert kids think of javid as their uncles and vice versa. can you imagine how CHAOTIC those family dinners would be

oh BOY

jac you have no idea what you’ve just done i already had too many thoughts about this and now it’s RALBERT CHEHHFJDJD

- jack and davey’s kids all call albert ‘al’ for the most part, although their youngest heard race call him ‘albie’ once and has latched onto that nickname. they all call race ‘bubba’. i don’t really have a reason for this, i just feel like jack and davey’s oldest started calling him that and it stuck (for the record i think jack and davey have 3, most likely 2 boys and a younger girl)

- because i think it’s funny and ironic, race and albert’s daughter (singular, i think they would only have 1 or 2 kids and for the sake of my own sanity we’ll stick with 1) has switched the normal nicknames so it’s ‘jacky’ and ‘uncle dave’ (the ‘uncle’ is race’s fault, he thought it was funny to have davey, someone who DOESNT fit the stereotype of a man named dave at all, be called uncle dave by his kid. he’s right, it’s fucking hysterical every single time)

- jack and davey’s middle boy and race and albert’s girl are,,,, a month apart in age? if that? and their families aren’t just close friends but ALSO fairly close in proximity and they end up at the same daycare and preschool and elementary schools and stuff. these two in particular are joined at the hip. the oldest gets along with them fairly well cause he’s really not that much older, just a year or 2. the littlest is barely learning how to talk, but the kids are patient with her for the most part and race and al’s daughter is SO EXCITED that there’s another girl around.

- family dinners are,,,,, nothing short of a tornado. first of all, race and albert are there, which is enough to flatten a small house on their own (even if they are a bit more mature now that they’re older). not to mention that there’s 4 kids under the age of 10, who get along VERY WELL and have behaviorally inherited every bit of their parents chaos, all under the same roof. it’s kind of a mess.

- they all really love family dinners though! once everyone is fed the kids go play and the adults pretend to talk about serious things but they’re really just being shady and gay and half-assed listening for any injuries or fights in the other room. it gives the a chance to actually catch up amidst the chaos, cause the kids see eachother all the time but the adults have ✨responsibilities and whatnot✨

- yeah <3

I REALLY LOVE THEM DJDHDHDHDHBD

jac ilysm and this was so fun omg please never stop talking about this 🙏

[transeliot]

"top five" anything

I somehow just saw this now and I love it thank you ily bean

[we-are-inevitable]

how dare you not give context

Y’all I basically got called an orange cat last night I am absolutely living my best life right now

[thespacebetweenmoments]

shoutout to my wonderful friend @jac-for-short, who’s just spent the past 10 minutes (and counting) answering every question i have about the american college system just so that i, a british person, can write an au

[kageyuji]

*forehead kith* Akaashi isn't here rn, but I'll hold you if you want?

on all levels except physically and legally i am married to you 😞 kith, yes please

[myysaints]

Ily jac how are you doing <3333

HIIIIIIIII i’m doing okay!!!!! super tired bc i got a job 😭😭 and it’s a standing 9-hr shift which im NOT used to. but otherwise i’m great!!!! ilysm!!!!! miss u!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰

[tarantulas4davey]

don’t mind if i do (hi jac ilysm ur a saint. everyone go read saf’s addition it’s so fucking good.) @to-be-a-dreamer

so i just. at one point we talked about the idea that race would want al to be his second in command. and i. he. al would be so fucking UPSET with him at this. like bro is Not Happy. and it’s. the problem is not particularly that albert isn’t responsible enough to keep them safe, fed, warm, and looked after. he’d be pretty good at it if there wasn’t any other options. it’s that he hates it. he hates being the person people turn to, hates having to school his expression and throw the train back on the tracks, hates the idea that if a kid starves or freezes it’s his fault. he loves race, more than anything, but this is truly his worst fucking nightmare.

al is. idk he loves being a newsie and he loves the boys but he has. this partially incurable block in his brain when considering he is anything more than. the youngest dasilva. he has been The Little Brother for so long he’s truly terrible at having any sort of title or spotlight. and even when he wasn’t The Little Brother, he’s surrounded by BIG personalities. race’s boy. finch’s best friend. a kid that helps jack out. he’s always been something in relation to someone else, but if he’s second in command, that’s His Own Thing. then he’s albert, the one that keeps the manhattan boys alive. and he doesn’t like it, doesn’t need the recognition, would do it if he could stay anonymous. race can handle the pressure of attention, albert can’t. and he HATES the strain that him being unable to help race the way race wants him to puts on him, on them. hates the persona race puts on to be a leader, hates the way they’re not quite comfortable anymore, but he just. he can’t.

and just like. idk i have to build on the idea of al watching race shift and change for the sake of gaining and keeping respect that the boys refuse to acknowledge he’s earned cause of. his dynamic with them before. it’s just. al doesn’t like responsible race. he loves race, loves him like he loves air and water and sunlight. but responsible race isn’t his race. shoulders heavy with grief and strain, eyes with shadows like bruises around them, too thin and constantly freezing. jack didn’t die, but race doesn’t have him to lean on anymore, and he misses him. bone deep type misses him. race isn’t a blur of energy, not anymore, almost stoic like jack used to get, mouth that used to perpetually have a smile tucked into it pressed straight and stern. his laugh is too watered down, distant, like his brain is a lightyear away from here. al can count his ribs through his shirt, knows he frets more than he sleeps, knows he wakes up gasping for air when he finally DOES drift off because he’s not just dealing with every single kid in the lodging house, he’s doing it without having jack for the first time since he was a tiny kid. albert doesn’t like the change, cause it doesn’t feel like a change from one thing to another. it feels like a decay, like the rotting of something, the withering of the boy he loves. but he can’t help, and that just makes it worse.

just. al is supposed to be the angry one. he idles at 75, ready to rev up and jump into a fight at the drop of a hat. i just. albert’s angry. he’s BEEN angry. the kid has a shit dad and shit brothers and a boyfriend in a time he can be killed for it. he’s the one that rants on the fire escape when they can’t sleep, race throwing jokes up at him while he paces. race is easy, a slow stream, gentle and calm and cool and consistent. but when jack leaves and everyone follows, that water gets blocked up. increases pressure, overfills, builds into a roar, and it’s unlike anything albert’s ever seen. he’s not scared of race, he never could be, but he’s scared for what it means. scared for what all of this is doing to the boy he fell for. scared he’s making it harder. and i just. just. over time, race reeling in the anger. the rage. not strictly for albert’s benefit - albert could’ve handled all his rage and more, if race would have let him - but for race’s, too. it’s easier to act nonchalant. like it’s a joke. like circumstances don’t make him want to scream his throat bloody and raw. but once the pressure builds, the rage does too, until it has nowhere to go but out. and nobody else is safe enough to spew it at, not anymore. it used to be jack’s job, dealing with race’s anger. listening to the stuff he couldn’t bear to keep on the inside anymore, listen to him parrot some of albert’s words and choke out even more of his own. albert’s the only one left that he trusts to not shatter completely under the force of it. but race isn’t just angry, he’s petty. he’s cruel without meaning to be, and angry enough to forget he’ll regret it. it leaves them freefalling for awhile, but that doesn’t mean they don’t keep falling and catch eachother on a ledge eventually.

but just. i. i think race is FAR too stubborn and just a little bit too proud to admit he regrets something, even if he said it angry and too mean. he’s good with words, will apologize well when he comes to his senses, but it takes far longer than you’d expect for him to rangle it back in and actually do that. especially the shit he would say to albert. i just. i want him to say something mean. petty is a gentle way to describe it, him saying the type of thing you say, not even cause you really think it, but because it’s occurred to you that when you say it to them, it’ll hurt. and then he’ll be too ashamed and stubborn and afraid to apologize, to acknowledge it, and it gets impossibly worse cause now he doesn’t have al AND everyone can see it, too. and for days, maybe even weeks, the hurt is sharp enough to keep albert away.

and a la saf’s post, he gets fucking CHEWED OUT by mush in front of god and everybody. it fuckin hurts race. the barb is painful, lethal, but he’s the leader, even when he’s being a dick and someone calls him on it. so he grits his teeth against the tears and he glares and there’s this brief moment where he fully considers telling them to get out. if he wasn’t so close to crying that his throat is tight, too choked with tears to spit anything out through his teeth, he probably would’ve. and then he’s HORRIFIED, because under no circumstances, ever, does he turn away a kid, and these are his friends, boys he’s seen lose baby teeth and sprain ankles and lay out on the road in the pouring rain cause it was coming down too hard to sell any papers. he’s DEVASTATED, too, because he’s finally realized what he did to albert, how he made him feel, and is hit in the same second by the fact albert didn’t do what he almost did. albert didn’t throw anything nasty back in his face. but race is in charge of all these kids, needs them to respect him, and he’s hurtling towards crumbling into a sobbing mess in front of about half of them, staring with bated breath at him like they’re waiting for the pin to drop, and so he does the only thing he can remember jack doing in a situation like this, trapped in a face off with a bunch of people. race turns on his heel, just this side of hyperventilating, and he runs. he’s always been jack’s brother, after all, hasn’t he?

and when he runs, he doesn’t stop until he gets to the sheepshead, and - like jac said - right into spot. and i just. race has a lot of things that he needs to get in order. truly, his priority really should be the lodging house, but it’s too fresh and raw and he doesn’t know what he’ll say yet, needs al to help him figure it out. and he feels like more of an idiot than spot tells him he is, and she’s not exactly nice about it, cause this whole leadership thing isn’t going very well in general but all he can seem to do when she listens to him ramble is loop back around to albert. he’s trying to be subtle, to make it more general, but it’s the catalyst for everything else. letting the anger and the pressure get to him enough that he was so mean to al meant that he lost every outlet, and THATS how he ended up in this situation. and so when spot, with her wide, perceptive eyes and stern face he couldn’t dream of copying just tilts her chin back towards manhattan with a raise of her eyebrows and a quiet “quit being an idiot. fix it with him, then figure the rest out.” all he can do is stare for a moment, this time with a place to go instead of just a place to get away from.

and just as an aside, the thing that i am obsessed with is the separation. spot isn’t in race’s borough, he has no reason to think she knows anything, but she’s perceptive. sure, not EVERYONE knows about him and al, but she certainly does. she’s smarter than most and knows what to look for. and it catches him off guard, the idea that someone else separates al from the pack the way he does. that someone who doesn’t REALLY know him, not like jack or finch, under his skin and muscles and bones down to the soul, would know it would take fucking up both. would know that there was a both to fuck up in the first place, that al wasn’t in the crowd that made him flee in the first place. idk i just. spot who’s strength is seeing what others don’t. who uses that strength to protect her people, to scare away outsiders, and to help people like race, who fall somewhere between the two. i just. i think it’s enough of a shock to startle race’s addled brain like cold water, get him moving again, stop the burn of shame and self pity long enough to shove him into action, regardless of what the action ends up being. (he goes and finds albert in an absolutely questionable and dangerous move but it turns out ok and it’s not Perfect but al kisses him back so. he’s just gotta prove to himself he can keep it together long enough to fix it.)

i could absolutely keep going but i’ve already written a novella so uh. that’s all, folks!

ok so i was talking to @to-be-a-dreamer @tarantulas4davey and @carpe-diem-since-1899 about racetrack things the other day and i just thought i would dump some of those thoughts here bc i am So invested in this weird little guy

anyway i just ,, i have a lot of feelings abt jack passing the newsies onto racer once he ages out.

i feel like. charlie is the next choice, but charlie in my eyes is the same age as- if not older than- jack; if jack hadn’t been the leader of the newsboys, it definitely would have been charlie, but jack is the one who took the reins. (this age hc is mostly because of west endsies ngl.) anyway! moving on

jack and charlie have always been a team. charlie is definitely jack’s second in terms of always being there, but race is his second in terms of business- it only makes sense for race to take over when jack is gone, and i just,, i love the concept of race either not really wanting that or not really knowing how to handle that. i think, at his core, race is trying to hold onto whatever youth he has left. its why he’s always cracking jokes, despite how jaded and angry he is under the surface. he pretends not to care or else he’ll crack under the pressure, and when he cracks, it’s angry. it’s mean. his bark is as bad as his bite. so he puts on this front- this childish, snarky, comedic relief front- and he’s terrified of the implications of Being The Leader because he feels like he’ll no longer have that front to hold onto or hide behind. and it takes him a long time, i think, to realize that he doesn’t have to be exactly who Jack was- he can lead the newsboys how he sees fit, he doesn’t need to be a carbon copy of jack, because they’re fundamentally so different. and i think that is just very fun

but more on the anger, because i think it’s an interesting take that is very much represented in West Endsies- as @roideny and @jack-kellys have pointed out before:

i’m interested in the other newsies- especially albert, finch, and maybe spot- seeing that sadness and strain and anger that seems to be taking it’s place as his dominant trait. yeah. bc i think,, i think race is angry at his core, like i said. angry at his position in all of this. angry that jack left, that charlie followed, that davey was never staying in the first place, that spot still thinks of him as a kid instead of a new leader, that other burrough leaders don’t take him seriously because they know him as the jokester. angry that these kids are his kids now, and angry that his kids are still starving, still walking holes in their shoes, still shivering at night and still dying of sickness when the cold weather hits too hard. i want this race to be fucking pissed and i want everyone else to be caught off guard by it.

because, let’s be real, jack wasn’t the roughest leader. he was strong, and dependable, and not afraid to put kids in their place, but he’s still nurturing and parental. after years of being used to that, i think the newsies would struggle with Race for a while, especially as race tries to figure out his leadership style, and i think a lot of that would manifest in this anger that has been bubbling up under the surface for ages- the anger he never lets anyone see because he doesn’t want that.

race has spent anywhere from 5 to 10 years- depending on when you headcanon him to join the newsies- being the funny guy, the clown, the joker; if he’s going to earn respect, he’s going to have to take it from a few kids. lashing out and being brash- all for the sake of keeping everyone safe, of course- but he’s such a different leader than jack, and i think it would be SO fun to explore that more in post-canon works.

i feel like this post is a little disjointed and i may not be explaining things correctly, plus i haven’t actually seen west endsies yet! a lot of this is based on convos with the besties and i am just having brainrot. besties, feel free to jump in with any additions, and anyone reading this: feel free to send asks or talk in the tags <33