#itey

[sofietrophied]

does anyone else do this

i wrote everyone’s names in what i think their handwriting would look like

idk

[anorphanwithastuttahh]

Underrated af character

Words cannot express how much I love him

[bumlets-appreciation-blog]

Newsies and Immigration

Since some people seemed interested in me talking about the effects immigration could have on our favorite little newsboys, I thought I’d make a post about it. I really did focus on community a lot in this because of how important it was and still is to the culture of New York, so these might be kinda samey and I apologize for that. I didn’t do all of the newsies, just some of the ones that really screamed “affected by immigration in some way,” but if you want to hear about any of the characters I missed, feel free to ask, and I’ll see if I can come up with something! Minor warning, this is kinda angsty, but I made sure to add fluff!

Based on his names and lines in the novelization, Jack is Irish. No matter when his relatives immigrated, they likely suffered in some way from the potato famine. Ireland is still affected by the famine today, so I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Jack would struggle with its effects, such as generational trauma. Besides that, there’s textual evidence for Jack struggling with food insecurity the way many poor, disenfranchised kids do.

Because of this, I think Jack would see food as a love language of sorts. You can kinda see this in the scene where he’s eating with the Jacobs family: Jack just really basks in the domesticity of taking part in a family meal and it clearly meant a lot to him. I think that when people make food for him, whether it be a full meal or a cake for his birthday, he’d be really touched. And when he’s older and he has a home and a kitchen of his own, I think he’d try to do the same thing for his loved ones. Results may vary, but the love behind his actions never does.

The history of Jewish immigration to America is very long, but the bulk of that immigration happened between 1880 and 1920, when Poland was divided under Russian, Prussian, and Austro-Hungarian rule. Many of these immigrants were leaving Eastern Europe to escape pogroms targeting Jewish people under Russian rule after the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. Because of these pogroms, about 3 million Eastern European Jewish immigrants came to America between 1880 and 1924.

This influx of immigration led to a very strong Jewish community in the Lower East Side that the Jacobs family would be part of. Manhattan was (and still is) the epicenter of Jewish culture in America and I don’t see it explored enough. David clearly isn’t thrilled at the idea of going back to school, so his closest friends besides the newsies would most likely be from their synagogue and I’m sure it’s similar for Sarah now that she’s working from home. I imagine it would be very a very tight community, especially for Esther and Sarah.

Spanish and Latino immigration to New York was fairly uncommon in the 19th century and still only hit its peak in the mid-20th century. Bumlets (played by a Latino actor) would most likely be pretty lonely in a way the other boys aren't. And as much as he loves the family he’s made for himself with, it’s a very different community than the one he was born into (I personally headcanon Puerto Rican).

Which means that when he does manage to find a similar community in Manhattan, I think he’d really latch onto it. And since he’s such a genuinely sweet boy (at least imo), I think they’d really love him right back! I absolutely adore the friendship/found family the movie gave the boys, but I think it would be really good for him to have a community built around cultural experiences in addition to his newsie community.

I’ve always seen Itey as a fairly recent immigrant, meaning I placed him as immigrating in early 1899. An interesting phenomenon I learned about through my research is that many Italian immigrants during this time period were single men and that an average of 40% of these men would later return to Italy. The immigrants who stayed, like Itey, would still be very close to their families in Italy and send money back to them.

Family is extremely important in Italian culture and I think being so young and so far away from his family would be very difficult for Itey. I’ve always seen him as 16, so he’s at a strange point in life where he’s old enough to live in America on his own, but still young enough that he needs guidance and support from someone older and more settled. Obviously, Kloppman provides that support for the boys as best he can, but I also think Itey found a community of his own among his fellow Italian immigrants. I’ve mentioned this in a different post, but I'll go ahead and say it again: This guy is a hit with little old Italian nonnas.

(Side note: @nsnshahana asked me if I could have one of his many adoptive nonnas and while it doesn’t exactly line up with the independent young man I see him as, he still very loved and supported by them, so don’t worry! He’s very well-cared for.)

My friend @chaosfairy introduced me to the idea of Dutchy being a Dutch immigrant who grew up on the border between the Netherlands (typically called Holland then) and Germany, meaning he speaks both Dutch and German. And thanks to @jackcowboyhero, I also think he has a real knack for picking up languages (English, of course, but also French, Italian, and a little Spanish!). So you have a young man who knows six different languages, which is very impressive! The thing is, I also think he’s dyslexic.

Even today, people refuse to understand dyslexia and I think it would be very hard on Dutchy, especially when he was learning English as a child. Reading and writing in Dutch was hard enough, but when you add in an entirely new language, I think he’d feel like he was dumber than he actually is for a long time. What I think would help him with these feelings is, first and foremost, supportive friends. You would never be able to convince me that the other boys wouldn’t find his affinity for the spoken language fascinating and I think they would definitely help him improve his fluency.

Last but not least, I think Swifty would have a very complicated experience with immigration. He is a half-white, half-Chinese boy living during the height of the Chinese Exclusion Act and during an era where it’s illegal for him to exist in pretty much every state besides New York. To keep him and any siblings he might have as safe as possible, I think his parents would’ve raised him as more American than Chinese. So he has this disconnect from his heritage that really starts to bother him as he gets older.

One issue he’d face is the fact that the majority of Chinatown residents during that time spoke Cantonese and I’ve always seen him as being semi-conversational in Mandarin. It would be one of those things that further isolates him from his heritage and I think it would be very frustrating for him. However, he’s also a very stubborn person, so I can definitely see him teaching himself Cantonese just so he can make those connections with other people.

[mismatchedmango]

Newsies as fidgets

If the newsies were fidgets what fidgets would they be?

David: Wacky trap. He has a ridged set way of thinking. His brain can go a hundred different paths, constantly moving and connecting things, making things click.

Race: Monkey noodle/stretchy string. Physically he's very elastic-y he's very flexible and moves a lot, he -like monkey noodles- aren't bothered by injuries and continue to function almost as before

Jack: infinitey cube. He's mentally folding in on himself and his personality is slightly different for everyone until they all integrate together when in a large group because he wants to be friends with everyone.

Kid Blink: Bike chain

Mush: Silly putty. I searched the entirety of the Crazy Aarons website and I think he'd be Hug Me, or Triceratops. He's mushy and soft and silly and a hopeless romantic. Also I refuse to believe he didn't have a dino obsession at one point and doesn't know almost everything about dinosaurs.

Les: Pea pod. He's seen as kiddish (he's a child) and all though he has so much personality everyone mostly sees him as happy and is always looking for him to be happy.

Sarah: Rainbow slug. Lots of people don't count it as a fidget nor Sarah as a newsie. She's very fun and has personality as diverse and loud as the colors or as quiet as the noise it makes.

Crutchy: tangle toy. He's a mess and feels like he's constantly in a bit of a knott but is able to sort it out himself. He also has a bunch of complicated thoughts and feelings that most outsiders simplify.

Dutchy: puzzle sphere. He's smart and creative and careful. If you become good enough friends with him you'll see his sneaky and mischievous side.

Itey: sticky snake. He's also known as being like a kid and fun though parents will call him "a bit much". He's also clingy and his hands always are a little sticky

Skittery: Marble trap. Much quieter and subtler but as soon as that damn marble is lose and falls out the net it's fun and chaos and adventure and a whole search to find it/him.

Swifty: water tube. fast and slippery. Colorful and unique inside. Fun and chaotic. Gets messy when he pops/ gets pissed

Spot: fidget spinner. Not many like him and it's not really considered a fidget anymore. He can and will hurt you if you aren't careful.

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

Itey appreciation post

[saysflora]

Newsies as my favourite Christmas Songs because I’m having newsies thoughts again;

Jack Kelly - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

David Jacobs - Christmas Wrapping

Race - Fairytale of New York

Crutchy - Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Blink - In Dulci Jublio (the correct choice)

Mush - All I Want For Christmas Is You

Specs - Merry Xmas Everybody

Dutchy - Merry Christmas Everyone

Skittery - Stop the Cavalry

Snitch - I think he’d enjoy any carol, but his favourite would be The First Noël (my favourite)

Itey - Underneath the Tree

Boots - It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Bumlets - Wonderful Christmastime

Sarah - Never Do a Tango With an Eskimo

Les - Here Comes Santa Claus

[a-dime-a-day]

Itey going on his tiptoes 😭

[logicalucy]

newsies characters Halloween costumes:)

jack- a cowboy (basic,yes but perfect)

David- neil perry from dead poets society

les - an astronaut

Race- Freddie Mercury

spot conlon- joker

sarah- Regina George

Katherine- cady herron

dutchy- ponyboy curtis (solly because he looks like him)

specs- Sherlock Holmes

skittery- dipper pines

tumbler- alien (matching with les)

mush- john laurens

blink- Alexander Hamilton

boots - vampire

itey- harry potter

snitch- ron weasley

bumlets- Percy Jackson

snipshooter- georgie from IT

snoddy- zombie

jake-klaus Baudelaire

swifty- peeta melark