#west side story anybodys

[sl-newsie]

Cool Your Jets- Ch. 2: Meet the Jets (Riff x newcomer)

After I finish unpacking my few possessions from my chest I decide to go out to pick up some produce for an attempt at making dinner. A few blocks down I find a Puerto Rican marketplace with a wide variety of vibrant-colored fruits and vegetables. I find some tomatoes, peppers, apples, bananas, and even cave in for a fresh pineapple as a treat. I think my foist day’s going well…

“Stop! Stop right there!”

A police siren blares past as I walk further away from the Puerto Rican neighborhood, and I know I’ll probably regret it but curiosity’s get’n the best-a me. I quickly follow the source-a the commotion to a part of town that appears… literally torn apart. Construction workers and equipment are scattered everywhere around crumbling buildings. Lovely.

“Hey you! Stop!”

I look around but the yell is not directed at me. Instead I follow it to an alley where two big groups of boys seem to be facing off- a group of whites and a group of Puerto Ricans. I keep my distance, and soon the cops and the Puerto Ricans leave, which leaves the white boys and a detective.

I cautiously peek out from behind a brick pile and see some boys crowd’n around a shorter boy, one with- a nail in his ear?!

“Whoa whoa whoa! What happened?” I step in front-a the officer, set down my grocery bag, and examine the boy’s ear. “Ouch. That’s godda hurt. Hold on a sec-” I reach into my purse, pull out some gauze, and begin to wrap his ear.

“Why not just yank it out?” A boy asks.

“Because if you just yank it out, then the bleeding will increase and only make it worse.” I say as I finish up. “You need to keep it in place until he can get to a medical professional.”

Anodda boy scoffs. “Girly, we don’t got enough dough to see no doctor. Just let us handle it and don’t worry your pretty little head over it.”

At this I whip my head to look at a boy with a tank top and gray vest, and notice he’s got dark paint stain’n his hands.

“Who are you?” I ask coldly.

“Who are you, girly?” He snickers. “I know a pretty goil when I see one, and I ain’t ever seen you before.”

I press my lips togedda and try to recover. “Name’s Marilyn Jackson, just moved from upstate. First day here and I’m already caught up in trouble. So I ask again: who are you?”

The guy tilts his head and cocklily struts up. “Riff, leader of the Jets.”

I squint. There’s that name again. “The what?”

“The Jets. The biggest gang in the West Side.” Anodda boy calls. 

“The greatest!” Riff nods. 

Oh. Great.

“So girly, what brings you to the West Side?”

“Dead folks. You?” Blunt, straight, and to-the-point.

Riff seems taken aback, but regains his posture. “Sorry for the loss, doll. Lot’ve us here got dead folks, so we get it. We’s here to keep the West Side clear of all them PRs.”

“Huh?”

“The Puerto Ricans.”

I gape. “Why? What’s so wrong with them?”

One boy laughs. “They’ve been take’n our turf, that’s what’s wrong.”

“There’s enough territory for everyone. Hell, out west there’s land that hasn’t even been built on! So don’t go tell’n me there’s not enough room. The Puerto Ricans I’ve met so far are the nicest people I've ever known! ” I sneer, which gets a chuckle out’ve Riff.

“Wow, girly. You got some bite to ya. Last time I saw somebody talk to Action like that they got a black eye.”

“Why don’t he do that now?” I dare.

“‘Cause my boys know how to treat a lady.”

I grunt. “I ain’t no ‘lady,’ Jet Boy. I’m just a goil look’n to make a live’n.”

Riff goes to say someth’n, but then the Jet called Action says: “C’mon, Riff. You told us Tony’d be at the dance, so go tell ‘im!”

“Cool it, Action. Foist we gotta introduce the newcomer,” Riff smirks as he places a hand behind my back to walk me forward. A gesture that makes me stiffen and my heartbeat skip.

“This here’s Action, Ice, A-Rab, Mouthpiece, Diesel, and you’ve already met Baby John.”

Each Jet snickers and after the brief introduction I hear a wolf whistle behind me. Riff jerks his head and sneers at the one called Ice.

“You want a lesson in manners, Ice? You know the rules.” He offers a hand, to which I respond with a raised eyebrow. But eventually I take it. “Sorry ‘bout that, doll. Normally the Jets are on their best behavior.”

“I gotta say, in the country we know how to treat each odda.” I smirk.

He smirks. “So, you’re new here. I could take you on a tour, if ya want.”

“You’d do that? What a gentleman,” I snicker. “Luv to take the offer, but I gotta get home for dinner.”

Riff smiles. “Got a hot date?”

I roll my eyes. “Oh, yeah.” I hold up my grocery bag. “Hot date for one.”

“I’m surprised- pretty goil like you could get a guy real quick-”

“Hey, Riff!”

A skinny blonde girl comes up and wraps her arms around his neck to kiss his cheek. When she sees me her eyes narrow and her smile falters.

“Who’s the newbie?”

Me being the mature one, I stick out my hand in greeting. “Hi, I’m Marilyn. I just moved here from upstate and I was get’n groceries when I… had the opportunity to meet the Jets.”

She shakes my hand and gives me a pointed look. “I’m Graziella. And for the record, he’s all mine.” She taps Riff’s chin.

I hold up my hands. “Hey, I don’t wanna tussle, I’s just try’n to live a life that ain’t mine. So hi, goodbye.”

I pick up my bag and begin walk’n back, and I realize now just how off my grammar is. Wow, only one day and I’m already talk’n like a city goil.

“Hey wait!”

I turn and see Mouthpiece trotting up.

“Unless you’re gonna threaten me too or act as if I’m a crazy hick, then leave.” I point him away.

“Now don’t be like that. Grazi’s really a nice goil-”

“A smiling bitch is more like it,” I mudda.

“Just hear me out! Would you wanna go to the dance tonight?” The blonde asks.

I stiffen. “Dance?”

“Yeah, the Dog Days dance. It’s tonight at the school gym and… I wanted to ask ya.”

I grunt. “Yeah, so you punks can toss me around too.”

“Hey! We ain’t-”

I bite my lip. “I’ll consider it, but I’ve already had a hard day. Ya know, have’n to get through the grief of lose’n my parents and move’n to a big city all alone. So excuse me if I wanna have a quiet evening alone to go with it.”

I ignore Mouthpiece’s scrambled woids and continue to walk back to my new home. Leaving the crumble’n buildings and see’n hear’n the familiar Spanish chatter makes me feel safe, and when I get back to my apartment I come across some Puerto Rican boys headed for Anita’s apartment- ones that look very familiar.

“Hey! You’re the Sharks leader. I saw you guys earlier.”

The one called Bernardo gives me a sharp look. “You live here? Why? You’re not like us-”

“Leave her alone, Bernardo!” The door opens and Maria comes out with her hands on her hips. “She’s not like them. She’s from out of town, so she’s new here, same as us.”

“She was with those Jets!”

Maria looks at me and I wave it off. “I saw some cops clear off a fight and they happened to see me.”

“What did you think of them?” Maria asks.

“Well… They’re a bit rambunctious compared to back home-”

“A bit rambunctious?! Those punks hate us just because we want turf of our own!” Bernardo gets in my face.

“Bernardo! Leave her alone!” Maria shoves him away. “Anita’s all ready for the dance and we’ve been waiting!”

She drags him and the other boy inside, leaving me in an empty hallway. So I head inside my apartment and begin to cook up some vegetables.

“Knock knock.”

“Jesus!” I nearly drop my plate. I look over at the window by my bed and see a head poking in.

“Riff?”

It is Riff, standing on the fire escape!

“What the Hell-?!” I scream, then remember where I am and lower my voice. “What the Hell are ya doing here?!”

“Will ya let me in foist?”

I gawk. “No! I ain’t gonna let some creep I just met into my house- I mean apartment!” I dig the 22-pistol outta the kitchen drawer and cock it. “Now tell me why you’re here!”

Riff’s eyes go wide and he holds up his hands. “Jeez, doll! Put that thing down before ya kill somebody!”

“Oh, please. I’m from the country- I learned to shoot a gun when I was 5. Now tell me, Riff-”

“You remember my name!” He smirks.

“Why are you here?!” I scream.

There’s a knock on the door. “Marilyn? Are you ok?”

I set the gun down and go over to crack the door open.

“Yeah, Maria I- um, just burnt my hand!”

“Ay! Are you hurt?”

“No, no I’m fine! Um… I hoid someone say there’s a dance tonight?”

She nods eagerly. “Si, si! I’m so excited! I normally don’t go to social events but for some reason this one feels special!” Maria grins.

“Could I go too, or is it through invitation?”

“No, anyone can come. It’s a social mix event, but you hardly know anyone. Do you have a date?”

“No. But what does that matter? Back where I’m from I’d go to dances by myself all the time, and still have just as much fun. Girls would dance in groups and not give a guy a second thought!”

“I guess so. If you feel comfortable.”

“Then it’s settled. Tonight I’m going to my foist city dance!”

“Ok- see you there!”

I wave a good-bye and shut the door, only to find Riff sitting on my bed!

“Hey!” I grab the gun and hold it steady. “Get off-a there!”

“Hey, I don’t wanna intrude. I’s just wonder’n if you’s go’n to the dance tonight.”

“Foist of all, how do you know where I live? Second, why the Hell do you care? And third, how do you know where I live?!”

“I know ‘cause I sent Baby John to follow you. Why the heck’re y live’n with a bunch-a PRs? Second, I care ‘cause I want you to feel welcomed here. Thirdly, see foistly.”

I groan. “Real mature, Riff. Spy’n on me, huh? I’s live’n here ‘cause it’s cheap and the neighborhood ain’t a demilitarized zone. The Puerto Ricans are people just like you and me, and they’ve helped me get settled. It’s sweet you want me to fit in but I got bigger problems than that, such as pay’n rent. But if you must know, I will be there.”

His eyes light up. “Really? That’s great! I know Grazi was be’n a bit rough on ya, but she don’t bite.”

I grunt as I go on fix’n my dinner. “We’ll see. But just- please leave and let me eat in peace.”

Riff strides over and plops down on the chair opposite me. “I mean it, Marilyn . I know what it’s like to lose your folks, so if you ever need to talk about it-”

“I’ll think of you last. Now will ya leave?”

“No, I really mean it. If you need to talk about it, just hunt me down.”

“Not if you hunt me down foist, Jet Boy. Now shoo!” I usher him out towards the window and just before he heads down the ladder he looks up with hopeful eyes.

“So you’ll be there?”

“Yes. Now go!” I roll my eyes.

“See ya soon, beautiful.”

I shut the curtains before he can see my blush. Beautiful? He’s gotta be kidding!

[rainbow-filmnerd]

Frankie- Stein is voiced by Anybodys from West Side Story?!?!?! They were easily one of the best parts!!!! Them and Ariana DeBose

Yes!!! I've never seen the movie, but seeing a clip of Anybodys knowing that's also g3!Frankie is WILD.

I also found out that iris is also in FOP: A New Wish! Ze voice a character named Winn, who is also non-binary.

[tonymarias]

do your thing tony

[microsofttothemax]

i think personally we need more love for anybodys in west side story cause hes just. a cool guy

he literally is my fav character in the 2021 movie. slinks around shadows and beats up transphobes. love him

[transmascswagpolls]

Transmasc Swag Polls- ROUND 1

Propaganda and other info under the cut.

CANONICITY LEVELS-

PHINEAS: Because I Said So ANYBODYS: Subtext/ Coded (1961 film)/ CANON Transgender Man (2021 film)

MEDIA? Phineas and Ferb, West Side Story (movies specifically)

PHINEAS PROPAGANDA- He has that tboy slouch and a voice that gives me gender envy. He’s the shortest of his friend group AND he has a side-shave. He’s an active parallel character to Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and we already know that HE’S trans. He created the most stereotypically “masculine” superhero and it just so happened to make him tall, strong, and have a deep voice. Also his sibling is Ferb. Lookat him. Lookat his autism eyes and pointy, pointy face and many-a creations. This boy is trans, I have no doubt in my heart. ANYBODYS PROPAGANDA- In the original, Anybodys is a tomboy who wants to join the Jets but can’t because they’re a girl. There’s a cut song where they sing about how they want to be a boy, they get upset when they’re called a girl, and towards the end, one of the other Jets refers to them as “buddy boy” to signal they’ve become one of them. In the 2021 version, they’re played by a nonbinary actor and it was confirmed they’re intended as transmasc. What Anybodys wants more than anything is to be seen as one of the boys in the Jets. The first part of the musical shows us how much they feel disconnected from the other gang members, and how they refuse to let Anybodys officially join the gang because they see them as a girl. After Riff dies and the Jets' second in command takes over, he makes a point to include Anybodys with the rest of the boys and calls them "buddy boy", which results in the clearest non-canon depiction of gender euphoria I've ever seen. In the 2021 remake, Anybodys is a trans man, and the movie touches on his issues finding acceptance in the Jets because of his gender (or so I've read in the plot summaries, I haven't actually seen this one). They're scrappy! They're sneaky! They don't back down from a fight, and the only thing they want more than being seen as one of the boys is to be helpful to the people the respect.

[ohnoitsjetster]

“I’m gay” “I’m straight” Okay????? I drink? And I smoke?? And I inhale??? Why can’t I be male????????? Like everybody else????

[could-transition-save-him]

Anybodys from West Side Story (the original version I think)

Reasoning:

He says “why can’t I be male” in his song that was cut from the play, Girls Ain’t, and the entire song is basically him lamenting that he wasn’t born male and saying that he doesn’t feel like a girl. The lyrics of the song and a link to it will be the last part of the propaganda. There’s a scene in the 1961 movie where he tells Riff that he’s gonna need every man he can get in reference to himself. He is explicitly called “buddy-boy” when he is accepted into the gang by Ice, and he very clearly is extremely euphoric about being called a boy. He then responds by saying “Thanks, Daddy-o!,” which, to put it in casual terms, functions to confirm and build on the dudebro-ness of this interaction. Even after he literally put himself in extreme danger to save Tony from himself several times (getting him out of the rumble, spying on the Sharks, looking for him in Shark territory, and trying to get him to stop calling out for Chino), he immediately stopped trying to help him after he called him a girl. The fact that Tony used ‘you’re a girl’ as his default break glass in case of emergency insult to get him to stop trying to help him indicates that he knew that it would hurt him very deeply, and I don’t think a cis girl would get so upset about being called a girl that they would stop trying to help someone who is clearly very important to them (as a friend) despite putting themselves in extreme danger for that person several times in the past just because they called them a girl, especially if they were stubborn enough to obsessively attempt to force their way into a friend group where most of the members hate them with the passion of a thousand suns for months or even years. Basically, the possibility of getting arrested by the cops or killed by the Sharks didn’t deter him from helping Tony, but being called a girl did. He literally says “I ain’t no goddamn girl” in the 2021 movie.

submitted by @choppedupnotkilled

[hearts4shii]

Anybodys deserved a girlfriend 😕

[hesaprofessional]

I took some personality tests for the three Little Shop 1986 characters I was motivated to do this for (Seymour, Audrey, and Orin) and Anybodys from West Side Story 1961: one that matches you up with the characters you're most similar to out of 2000 and one that gives you your percentiles on the Big Five personality traits. If you are interested in taking these tests, message me and I'll give you links to them. Here are the results:

Seymour:

(Characters he's most similar to)

I don't know all of these characters, but I can confirm Stuart is a very good match for him. Something that's interesting to note is that Orin's top match was something like 1999 for him, almost as far as possible.

(Big Five personality traits, ranked via percentiles, i.e. a percentile of 50 would mean that that individual is perfectly average for that trait in comparison to the general population and a percentile of 80 would mean that that individual is higher on that trait than 80% of the population. The Big Five all encompass a lot of individual traits and would basically be impossible to explain fully in a short amount of time, so I'll just say that extraversion is being energized by being around people, agreeableness is trusting people, conscientiousness is having a good sense of responsibility and work ethic, neuroticism is having negative emotions, and openness is being open minded. These summaries do not at all encompass the full nuance of the Big Five personality traits, so I would recommend looking into them if you're curious about this.)

Extraversion: 1 (I was expecting to be low but I'm kinda surprised it was that low, I think if there was more room for the nuance of 'he's okay hanging out with literally one person' it would be a little bit higher.)

Agreeableness: 79

Conscientiousness: 1 (I was expecting it to be low but not this low. Again I think the nuance of 'he'll work hard at certain very specific things like plant projects' would've raised it slightly.)

Neuroticism: 99 (I would've been shocked if it was any lower.)

Openness: 65 (I suspect that this is the one case where his botany hyperfixation helped somehow.)

Audrey:

I haven't read Harry Potter in a hot minute, but this seems accurate. I love the parallel of him hiding his lycanthropy and her hiding her sex work.

Extraversion: 67 (I'm not sure exactly where the cusp between 'average' and 'high' is, but I'm pretty sure she's at most a few percentile points above the threshold for 'high.' I was expecting just a little bit more, but this seems accurate enough.)

Agreeableness: 91

Conscientiousness: 85 (Conscientiousness questions are hard to answer for her because in the timeline of canon she's held back from being as conscientious as she could be by her truly awful circumstances. And thus she gets a high score despite regularly being late to work. I think the question of how much weight her circumstances that are actively holding her back should be given is up for debate; someone who leans towards taking them into account probably would've ended up with a lower score for her. But 85 would probably be accurate for her post Suddenly Seymour life and especially her post theatrical cut ending life, so really this is a question of at what point this score becomes accurate rather than if it's accurate at all.)

Neuroticism: 52 (I was expecting this to be much higher. I think the fact that she's resilient and good at persevering through her pain and hiding it from others lowered it. Really I think that neuroticism should be more oriented towards what the person feels inside rather than how stressed out they appear to be from the outside, but I suspect both were taken into account here.)

Openness: 92 (No surprises here. Admittedly my headcanon that she really likes english/literature is probably doing some heavy lifting here.)

Orin:

I haven't seen Sex and the City and thus cannot speak to the accuracy of this, but I do know that his third match, Barney Stinson, is very accurate. I have a suspicion that these tests might not have been made with actual psychopaths/sociopaths (Orin would probably be the latter because he can feel empathy towards his mom) and sadists in mind, which might have limited the accuracy of their results in these extreme edge cases.

Extraversion: 99 (I expected it to be a little lower but this tracks. He thrives off of manipulating and torturing people after all, which does technically mean that he loves being around people.)

Agreeableness: 1 (This is where the limitations of that simplified definition of agreeableness I gave earlier come into play. Technically a significant component of agreeableness is trusting people and seeing them as inherently good. ...Orin doesn't really seem like he'd ever get too worried about anyone betraying him, and I think he does recognize the inherent goodness of people... so that he can use it to his advantage. This gets into an issue with a proposed sixth personality trait that consists of the traits psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, the existence of which is debated partially because unlike the Big Five it is not completely uncorrelated from the others. Essentially, part of the theory behind the Big Five is that if you know someone's score on any one of them, say, neuroticism, that doesn't tell you anything about what their scores on the others might be, because they're independent of each other. The proposed sixth trait contradicts this, as it's basically impossible for someone who is extremely high on it to also be high in agreeableness. Thus Orin probably has a low agreeableness score because he is extremely psychopathic, narcissistic, and Machiavellian. He technically hits some of the core traits of agreeableness, namely trusting others and recognizing their inherent goodness, but he certainly doesn't cooperate with people or show them kindness for their sake because of that. He is definitely willing to show people kindness, but only for his own potential gain, thus him having a very low agreeableness score.)

Conscientiousness: 64 (I was expecting it to be higher because he had the diligence to get through med school, but the fact that he never really has to suppress his urges probably lowered it. It's average but very close to being high.)

Neuroticism: 18 (I was expecting this to be a little lower, but I think it was raised by the sub-traits of anger and immoderation.)

Openness: 45 (This is the opposite situation to Audrey's openness score where my headcanon that he can't stand english/literature stuff probably lowered it. This seems accurate enough though.)

Anybodys:

Literally the funniest thing possible happened with him. He got matched up with his rival within the Jets who he hates for keeping him out of the Jets and probably also for being closer to Tony than him in the days before Tony left the Jets and who hates him because, well, because he's annoying, I can admit to that as the biggest Anybodys fan and expert on his character. I can't get over the fact that he got matched up with his rival out of the 2000 possible characters he could've gotten matched up with. I can definitely see similarities between them that I hadn't thought a ton about before this happened, so I think this result is accurate as well as extremely funny.

Extraversion: 99 (I would've been shocked if it was any lower.)

Agreeableness: 1 (I was expecting this to be low but not that low. I think if the nuance of him being more agreeable with the people he's actually friends with, Tony and Ice, was taken into account, it would be a little higher.)

Conscientiousness: 17 (I don't think this is the result of him not being willing to do hard work, because he is, it's probably because he's very much a doing rather than thinking kind of guy. I mean he literally could not have been more hard working about his goal of joining the Jets, so I think his low score is moreso about him very much living in the moment and doing what he wants to do.)

Neuroticism: 40

Openness: 2 (...Yeah this one tracks.)

[talesofsymphoniac]

The scene in the new West Side Story where the Jets accept Anybodys as a guy is always hilarious to me because it literally is "Diversity win! This racist murderous gang has a trans guy!"

[sl-newsie]

Cool Your Jets- Ch. 1: Welcome Home (Riff x newcomer)

People say that as long as you’ve got a home then life will provide.

But what can you say when life doesn’t provide a home?

“Here we are. Your apartment should be two blocks down.”

“Thanks.” I sigh as I tip the driver. After I heave my chest outta the trunk I begin my walk into the West Side. Ever since mom and dad passed, life has been a series of clean’n out old junk, sign’n papers, and be’n forced to move on. I never could’ve afforded my old house in upstate New York, so I had to find cheap rent in the city. Fortunately I found an apartment in a Puerto Rican community. When I agreed to the rent the owner was very surprised and asked it I’d prefer a different neighborhood, but all I cared about was a safe place to stay.

As I walk down the block, I notice a lotta Puerto Ricans give’n me strange looks as if I’m not supposed to be here.

A Puerto Rican shop owner actually comes up and asks if I’m lost.

I shake my head. “No, I’m looking for this address.” I show him a scrap of paper with my new home scribbled on it, and immediately his face lights up.

“Vámonos! This way.” He leads me to a tall building swarming with Puerto Rican women hanging laundry and children playing in the street.

“Thank you sir!” I wave as I look around. Not bad for a city life.

I drag my chest inside and begin climb’n the stairs, earning a few strange looks from passing Puerto Ricans. After a while I begin to realize that I’m the only white girl here.

I find the right floor and am about to open my apartment door when-

“Ay, mi querida! What are you wearing?” A voice behind me asks.

I turn and come face-to-face with a Puerto Rican lady look’n me up and down.

“Where did you get this? It’s hideous! I must burn it!”

I lean back a little, unsure about my need for personal space. “Um… It was the only thing in my mom’s closet that would fit me.”

“Tsk tsk. Mi querida I must insist you come with me so I can make you something much more wearable.” She takes my arm and ushers me into the apartment across the hall towards a room filled with scraps of fabric.

“Anita! ¿Dónde está mi vestido?” Someone calls.

A younger Puerto Rican girl runs into the room. She’s very short, almost as tall as me, and very beautiful. But she seems sad.

When she sees me, her eyes light up.

“Anita, quién es?”

I frown, unable to understand. “Um, I’m sorry but I don’t speak Spanish…”

Anita simply nods. “Maria, this is… I’m sorry, what's your name?”

“Marilyn Jackson.”

“Maria, this is Marilyn Jackson. Please try to speak English around here so she feels welcome. She moved in across the hall and I’m making her an actual dress. Not this scrap of burlap you see. Here.” She hands me a dressing gown. “Put this on and take that disgrace off so I can take measurements.”

I awkwardly take the gown and go into a nearby bathroom to change. When I come out, the two Puerto Ricans seem to be arguing.

“But Anita, es no-”

“English, Maria.”

Maria rolls her eyes. “Anita, why is she here? This is a Puerto Rican neighborhood.”

“The landlord offered me a better deal, and I’m tight in cash as it is.” I wring my hands togedda nervously.

Anita sighs. “Por supuesto, of course the rent would be cheaper for you Americans living with us.”

My eyes widen as I get her drift. “No, no- it’s not- I don’t mind living here, honest! I think this apartment is very homey and I’m sorry if I offended you.”

Maria nods. “Estoy impresionado. I’m impressed. It’s very rare for an American to apologize to us-”

“Maria!” Anita scolds.

“It’s true, Anita! You’ve seen how those Jets treat us!”

“The Jets and Sharks squabble over nothing. All I care is that Bernardo comes home safe. Here, mi querida. Try this.”

She hands me a flowy sea green dress- one far more elegant than any dress I’ve ever worn. I take it to the bathroom and slip it on. It’s a perfect fit- loose enough to breathe but tight enough to outline my feminine curves, and I luv how graceful it is.

When I step out, Anita starts clapping.

“Bravo, mi querida! You look stunning!”

Even Maria is impressed. “Wow Anita, that has to be your best one yet.”

I do a twirl and fall in luv with it even more. “Thank you so much, Anita! This is without a doubt the best dress I’ve ever worn! How much?”

She scoffs and waves the subject away. “No charge. Consider it a welcoming gift to the city! I can tell you’re not used to this, right?”

I blush and look at the floor. “That obvious, huh?”

“Si. So what brings you here?” Maria asks.

At first I don’t wanna say why, but these people have already been so welcoming…

“My- my parents died, and I had to move here to find work. I’ve lived in the upstate country all my life, so I’m gonna have to get used to this.”

Both women’s faces drop each share a knowing expression.

“I know how you feel, Marilyn. I took care of my papa up until he died, and all I have is Bernardo, mi hermano. My brother. If you ever need help, we’ll always be here.”

I shake my head slowly. “Thank you so much, but you’ve already done enough by welcoming me here. Back in the country everybody knows everybody, so it’ll be nice to have already met some friends. Amigos, if you will.”

Maria laughs. “You will need to practice your Spanish, mi querida! Don’t worry, I’ll teach you! Just wait until the Jets meet a white girl who can speak Spanish!”

The Jets?

I begin to ask what that is, until the door burst open and a Puerto Rican boy rushes in, panting heavily.

“Anita… es Bernardo… Los tiburón son batalla otra vez…” He pants.

Both women’s eyes widen and they each share worried looks.

“Cómo está mal?” Anita asks.

“Igual como siempre,” The man answers.

Both look relieved at this, and then remember I don’t speak Spanish.

“The Sharks, my brother’s gang- they’re fighting again,” Maria explains.

My eyes widen. “Gang? As in street gang? Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?”

“What did you expect? Come to the city and go about without running into trouble?” Anita points out.

“Only watch out for the Jets- but if you’re not like us then they might leave you be.” Maria scoffs.

I squint. Must be another gang.

“Thank you so much, for everything. But I’m afraid I have to unpack now and go shopping for dinner.” I pick up my old dress and begin to walk out.

“Quién es esta?” The man asks.

“Pepe, this is Marilyn Jackson. She’s a country girl who moved in across the hall, and she speaks little Spanish so please try to remember that.”

He grunts. “Why should I care about an American girl who can’t speak it?”

Anita glares at him. “Because this chica is very polite and deserves the same respect as all of us.”

He rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’m joining Bernardo in the fight- we’ve heard the Jets are going to wreck the painting.”

Unsure what to make-a this, I keep walking to my apartment door.

“Hold up, Marilyn! Would you want to join us for dinner?” Maria asks.

“I’m sorry Maria, but I’ve got enough chores to do as it is. Maybe another time.” I give a wave, close the door, and slump against it. Then I take in my surroundings: cramped bathroom, tiny kitchen, drafty bedroom with a rickety bed.

Welcome home, Marilyn.

[idkaguyorsomething]

this is the anybodys/chino dynamic to me

(IMAGE ID: three images. The first one is two sketches of people standing side by side. The first person is glaring and has their arms folded while being labeled “actual sunshine” and the second person is smiling brightly enough that a halo is emanating from their head while being labeled “dangerous”. The second image is of Anybodys from West Side Story 2021. The third image is of Chino from West Side Story 2021)

[scottyzoomz]

Tony and Anybodys

SO LIKE CAN WE TALK ABOUT TONY AND ANYBODYS RELATIONSHIP?? I'VE BEEN YAPPING ABOUT THIS AND I HAD NEVER SEEN ANYBODY TALKING ABOUT IT.. (wss 2021) did you see how HAPPY ANYBODY WAS WHEN HE SAW TONY IN THE GYM?? THE WAY HE RAN TO HIM?? They're sibling coded. I swear to god, this is not a ship i just see them as siblings. and i can see Tony being a bit confused but also supporting Anybodys for his identity and using his preferred pronouns, love it so much. Around the holding cell, before Gee Officer Krupke " I oughta be a Jet! Tony told me.. " AUGUDAH Like fuck you A-rab he's a guy i dont know what you're talking about here man. He aint no girl he's a MAN. Much more manlier than YOU. Anybodys trying to drag Tony away from Riffs body because Schrank was boutta be there:(( IT HURTS AGUSDAHGAH Anyways. Anybodys and Tonys relationship is so underrated like they're siblings.

[microsofttothemax]

misc doodles

[behold-the-brave-battalion-17]

Tony: I'm trying to get over my anger problems.

Anybodys: You just killed Bernardo.

Tony: I said I'm TRYING.

[yuri-luver69]

anybodys the entire 2021 musical:

👁️ 👁️