The Newsies are bi and so am I

In 92sies Jack is frequently called by his nickname Cowboy, dresses like a cowboy with his hat and bandana and carries a Western comic which he shows to Davey. Spot refers to Davey as a ‘walking mouth’, presumably due to how much he talks, which seems to have stuck as his nickname since Jack repeats it when introducing Davey to Pulitzer.

Race is addressed as Racetrack twice, specifically when Medda shouts for him after Snyder shows up at the rally and when Davey tells him to watch Les while they free Jack from the Refuge. His gambling habit is made clear, which explains where this nickname comes from. For example, he offers Wiesel a hot tip about which horse is likely to win (and later returns from the race having been wrong about this), wants someone to bet with him on Jack beating the Delancys, sings the King of New York line ‘a permanent box at the Sheepshead Races’ and wants to roll the judge for his sentence, “double or nothing.” Interestingly, he wears nicer clothes than the other newsies and is able to lend Jack money for Davey’s papes, so it is likely gambling does work out for him sometimes.

In the opening scene, Boots, Skittery, Snitch and Mush are addressed by name. When Jack is assigning boroughs, he addresses Bumlets, Specs, Pie Eater, Snoddy and Snipeshooter by name. These are all clearly nicknames, even if the reasons behind them aren’t obvious. Kid Blink - who Davey calls Blink in the scene after Seize the Day - wears an eyepatch, which explains his nickname. Crutchy uses a crutch, which explains his nickname.

With every newsie being known by a nickname based on a distinctive trait, as well as the clear camaraderie and loyalty of the group, this comes across as radical acceptance of their individuality. Especially since some of the nicknames come from traits it might be considered impolite to point out, but aren’t seen as negative by the newsies.

Whereas in livesies, Jack and Davey don’t have nicknames. Race is only called Race or Racer, with no indication of what it is short for or why they call him that. When waking the newsies after Santa Fe (Prologue), Jack shouts, “Hey, Specs! Racer, Henry, Albert, Elmer!” The last three could easily be their original given names. When assigning boroughs in the diner scene, Jack addresses Tommy Boy and Finch by name, which could also be more or less their original names.

There is a reference to nickname culture through Romeo’s name. He goes to flirt with Katherine during Carrying the Banner and Jack tells him, “Step aside, Romeo.” Later he flirts with her again during the diner scene, prompting her to say, “You thinks wrong, Romeo.” He replies, “How’d she know my name?” His flirtatious demeanour has led to this sticking as his name, as demonstrated when Crutchie shouts for him while being taken to the Refuge. But given that Romeo is a preexisting name and almost all other newsies are also called by real names, this doesn’t do much to single him out.

can i maybe see a little les and davey? i love them and their wholesome brotherhood sm

I actually really liked drawing this they're so cute. Also I will never not draw Les with missing teeth cause its adorable!

Still trying to catch up with requests, I see a lot of Sprace in the future…

it’s totally normal and not gay and not romantic at all to draw your best buddy and admire his features right?? RIGHT??

Spot: What? No, I'm not Hot, I'm Spot. With an S-P

Spot: *points to another Newsie* That's Hot

And her….

“Friendship” with Kath

they did this woman WRONG in 92sies ok????

in 92sies, sarah is the older sister of davey and les, and the love interest for jack. she is also written incredibly bland, which is a tragedy, because- older sister of davey and les?? hello?? you think THEIR older sister is boring?? the older sister of david ‘no one died’ jacobs and les ‘aNd YoU cAn TeLl PuLiTzER-‘ jacobs seriously just sits there biting her lip and twirling her hair?? nah. I refuse.

so here’s how sarah’s story REALLY goes:

sarah’s two-ish years older than david, but everyone always thought they were twins with how close they were. she’s smart, incredibly so, and helped david and les with their homework when they needed it. she’s also the kid that when it was time for her to stop going to school (“because it wasn’t practical for a girl her age”), she threw a fit, screaming and crying, about the unfairness of it all, and how david would still be expected to go. she swore that she would never make her daughters quit their schooling for such an arbitrary reason.

she begins working in the factories, and helping her mother out at home. she absolutely despises needlework, and WILL stab you if you make a comment about it. she’s not that bad of a cook, but esther (her mom) has definitely kicked her out of the kitchen before (I don’t care about that scene, she doesn’t cook). she reads the newspaper everyday- ironyyyyy, baby- so she knows literally everything that’s going on. politics, big news stories, the whole thing. and she has Opinions.

when she meets katherine for the first time, jack is legitimately concerned that the world is ending, because dear god, they’re terrifying together. sarah keeps grinning, and ducking her head down, while katherine won’t stop giggling and shooting her fond glances. and from then on, they just. do everything together? they go meet bill and darcy every week, hang out with the newsies. katherine even comes over to help esther cook (she’s not that great at it either, but she makes a valiant attempt to impress everyone). jack calls them the female version of him and davey, and david just sighs and calls him a dumbass (jack is confused, and doesn’t understand what he means).

eventually, sarah marries jack, and it’s a nice, civil partnership. they don’t have children, because neither of them were interested in that route. katherine, in a surprising turn of events, marries davey, and they have three children together (sarah always said that she didn’t need to have kids, because david and katherine did it for her). they’re all still really close, and there’s a…uh…MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING between them (except for jack. he still has no fucking clue.).

Davey🥰

I did les earlier so I feel like it’s fitting to end today with davey

david jacobs. what an enigma. the middle child of esther and mayer jacobs, brother to sarah and leshem jacobs. he’s a hot mess and a half shoved into someone who looks like they have their shit together, and his anxiety has anxiety. he isn’t the mom friend, but he is the friend who will come to bail you out of jail at 3AM.

he was named after david, who is an important religious figure in all abrahamic religions (sarah’s named after a spiritual woman also named sarah. les’ name isn’t found in the torah, but it means precious gem in hebrew).

when he first realized he was gay, he had the biggest religious crisis. by the time he met jack, he had already swung back and forth from devout religious to atheist TWICE. (he did eventually settle on believing that there was a god, and praying a little bit, but not to the point that he had been previously)

one time, a girl at synagogue told him that he looked nice when he wore blue. it didn’t really occur to him that she was probably trying to flirt with him, but he did learn to wear blue whenever he was trying to impress someone (hint. entire second act of livesies. one francis sullivan never looking away from him.)

he and kath pretend to be in a relationship sometimes. it’s kind of shocking at how well they make it work.

he skipped a grade in school, and so he’s directly behind sarah’s class when they’re both in school. she hates it and pretends she doesn’t know him in the most older sister-ly way possible (anyone else talks any crap about her brother, may the lord have mercy on their souls, because no one’s finding their body).

race gave him a very animated shovel talk when he and jack got together. spot turned right around and gave jack one, because “you’re the goddamn reason brooklyn and ‘hattan ain’t soakin’ each otha right now. ‘course imma make sure kelly don’t mess it up”

davey’s really good at impressions. like, ridiculously good. he can mimic ANYONE. when jack and race find this out, all hell breaks loose. (his pulitzer? spot on)

he gives race his old math work so he can study it.

he would either be a poli sci major (because he feels pressure to have a “real” career) or he would become a high school english teacher. no in betweens.

even if he’s not inherently religious, he still keeps kosher.

he hates planes. hates the altitude, hates the pressure, hates having to go through the security. sir is having NONE of it, thanks. he’ll drive.

sarah forced him to be the one to explain to les how babies were made. he has many regrets about that speech (it was the most medical, scientifically accurate thing ever), and they’re both still traumatized.

he doesn’t like getting drunk or high because he doesn’t like the feeling of not being in total control of himself.