Crutchie Newsies - Blog Posts

it's slowly coming together, everyone ...... I haven't forgotten y'all I promise .... it's just taking a while to actually write and set up and logisticize and everything .... plus i SHOULD be getting an ao3 account on feb 21st so im hoping to post there :)

and what if I make all the newsies in my au classically trained musicians... what then.

anyway Albert - trumpet

race - clarinet

Davey - alto sax

jack - piano/pitched percussion

crutchie - actually he's the only one who doesn't play anything .. he came along to all the band rehearsals and sat w them

second last one....... (for apartment au!!)

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.

crutchie is a BIG fun socks guy ... he's got at least 10 pairs of utterly odd and colourful socks ... davey on the other hand only owns black socks and jack only owns white socks ..

jack and crutchie who have look at phone in bed time together every day vs. davey who has to look at phone in bed by himself (crutchie is funnier so he gets bed time with jack)

crutchie and davey play ranked splatoon w race while jack looks at phone in bed ... occasionally davey yells in anger just like a 'GRHAH' and it catches jack really off guard ... one time he actually falls out of bed ... my domestic boarding school headcanons ...

in a hobby shop rn ... anyway crutchie is a board game fan .... race collects model cars .... davey likes making models but isn't too into cars ... race has horrible fine motor skills ... davey makes the models for race to display ....

the loveliest @crutchie-69 as crutchie!! as part of my newsiesblr cast drawings ... i rlly like how it turned out !!

crutchie has a blahaj btw ... jack and Davey have a djungelskog ... their shared room in (boarding) school is a MESS but they have their guys so it's ok ...

Newsies Headcanon

Brooklyn has a soft spot (pun intended) for cruchie (+race iykyk) hear me out

Crutchie: free

Brooklyn: not helping

Crutchie: refuge

Brooklyn: bringing their army

Because hes a ray of sunshine (yes ik hes a bamf and dont take nobody's shit )

Probably got started when jack went to one of those meetings with spot and brought crutchie with him for the first time, and crutchie smiles and is very polite so spots like mentally *protect this adorable sunshine kid* (platonically like jack)

And don't come for me saying 🤓☝️ "actually the reason brooklyn waited was to see if Manhattan would back down" ok I get that but this is a HEADCANON let me dream

Anyway have a nice day 😁

Davey: Wait. Where's Jack? He loves this game.

Crutchie: I thought Albert invited him.

Race: I thought Finch invited him.

Finch: I thought Spot invited him.

Spot: I never invite him.

So anyway I’m going to be writing Newsies fanfiction

None of it’s out yet, but the one I’ve got started is a Javey Tangled AU. I’m almost positive Jack is Flynn, Davey is Rapunzel, and I’m flopping around on the ground to see who gets to be Maximus(Race, Spot, Katherine, Crutchie… the list goes on) but any way it goes Les is going to be Pascal

It’s going to be on AO3 eventually, it’s currently unnamed but some possible titles include:

When My Life Began

Starlight

I’ve Seen You

Seeing is Believing

ANDREW KEENAN-BOLGER! BEN FANKHAUSER! KARA LINDSAY! TOMMY BRACCO!

I am Canadian so this no way affects me.

Crunchie Morris?

Sue me.