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For old time's sake, and with my ONE YEAR anniversary coming up on January 2nd, I'm going to restart (with some changes, of course) the first RP I ever made. AKA my Historical Fic. RP: I need this for ideas for a movie for National History Day at school, which I am doing on the Newsies Strike of 1899.
It brings back good memories! So to all history/theater/films-no-one-except-film-nerds-have-seen-film-nerds/NEWSIES geeks; let's get this thing started!
Like before, I will be giving you options for characters. You can have two, but if you do have two, one must be a boy. Otherwise, your one charrie can be girl or boy. Here they are.
NEWSIE: ages 7-17 years old. Your job is to sell The New York World, a newspaper run by Joseph Pulitzer. Newsies were mainly boys, but I will accept one girl newsie (besides my character, which is the same one from last time except with a different name). Post a nickname that suits your charrie, as well as your charrie's real name.
RICH KID: Age 11-17. Your family knows Mr. Pulitzer, and you can choose to be for or against the Newsies strike.
FACTORY WORKER: Age 9-21. Your life is extremely hard, as you are just a kid, and can't go to school, because you have to work all day. Can be girls or boys.
NEWSPAPER WORKER: Age 19-25. You work by distributing newspapers to the newsies, and to try to shut the strike down. You are against the strike.
NEWSPAPER REPORTER: Ages 21-25. You either work for The World, The Journal, The Times, or The Sun. If you work for The Sun, you can report on strike news.
Here's the charrie sheet:
NAME:
NICKNAME(S):
JOB (of the choices above):
AGE:
PART OF NEW YORK CHARRIE LIVES IN (Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, the Bowery, Midtown, Harlem, Brooklyn):
CRUSHES:
STRENGTHS:
WEAKNESSES:
BACKGROUND:
POSITION ON THE STRIKE (for or against):
There you have it! Now, for my character.
NAME: Kathleen
NICKNAME(S): "Eagle" "Princess" "Irish"
JOB: Newsie
AGE:15
PART OF NEW YORK CHARRIE LIVES IN: Brooklyn, as she is one of Spot Conlon's newsies.
CRUSHES: She'll wait and see, depending on if any of you chose Newsie crushes.
STRENGTHS: Good fighter, independent, determined, kind, strong-willed, tomboy, talented Newsie.
WEAKNESSES: Good fighter, has a dark past that she tries to hide (and doesn't remember), very handy liar, tomboy, strong-willed.
BACKGROUND: Her parents died when she was six, in mysterious circumstances, leaving her alone on the streets of Brooklyn. She doesn't remember much about her family, only that there was a fire, and they had to have died in that. She's not sure though... (#PlotDevelopmentIdeas) Out on the streets for two years, she was taken to The Refuge, a kids jail, at age eight, for stealing food. She escaped after only a day, because she was so skinny, she sld through the bars on the windows, and climbed down to the streets. She ran away back to her old home by the docks. There, she was taken in by an old friend of the family's, Spot Conlon, who is only a year older then her. They both became newsies, and both her and Spot gained a reputation for being the best newsies in New York.
POSITION ON THE STRIKE: Kathleen is all for the strike, and she was the one who convinced the Brooklyn newsies to help the Manhattan newsies with the strike, after spying on them to see if they had the guts to go through with the strike, and FIGHT!!
So, there you have it! I'm counting on some of you who joined before to join, and I'd like some new people to join. Thanks!
submitted by Brooklyn Newsie
(December 30, 2016 - 10:58 am)
(December 30, 2016 - 10:58 am)
I don't think Abe is flat. I think that could be a really deep story. That's something unique you have there. Great charrie, Applejaguar.
(January 2, 2017 - 12:09 pm)
Thank you! I think I'll just have to be careful with him.
(January 2, 2017 - 7:31 pm)
@Applejaguar
I think Abe having a crush on Martyna would be really interesting. Because they are kind of complete opposites and stuff and she's not very, I don't know, open? Nice? It would be fun to write, and could work with character development, too. I'm all for it!
(January 5, 2017 - 9:44 pm)
Okay, I'm going to take anyone else who joins before Thursday. On Thursday, I'm going to make the first post, and we can begin writing the story. I really don't want this to die, so let's keep this going untill the strike is over.
(January 2, 2017 - 12:07 pm)
I'll keep posting until the strike's over, even if it's on the third page. Top!!!!
(January 2, 2017 - 6:00 pm)
NAME: Maurice
NICKNAME(S): Um... I don't know right now. I'll decide later. Does anyone have any ideas?
JOB (of the choices above): Newsie
AGE: 14
PART OF NEW YORK CHARRIE LIVES IN: Manhatten
CRUSHES: He really doesn't like crushes or any of that stuff.
STRENGTHS: Tough, clever, a better fighter than he looks, loyal
WEAKNESSES: Often underestimated because he is small, lets little things bother him, will never back out of a fight even if he's sure to lose.
BACKGROUND: He doesn't know who his parents are, or what his last name is. I'll probably develop it during the story.
POSITION ON THE STRIKE: For!
~~~
NAME: Benjamin Nickleson
NICKNAME(S): Ben
JOB: Rich Kid
AGE: 14
PART OF NEW YORK CHARRIE LIVES IN: Manhatten
CRUSHES: We'll see.
STRENGTHS: Smart, usually nice, and loyal.
WEAKNESSES: Spoiled, used to getting his way, boastful, snobby, bossy and sometimes rude
BACKGROUND: Grew up rich. I will develop it later. I think maybe his father runs a newspaper and so is definitely aginst the strike. He will probably become a better person throughout the story.
POSITION ON THE STRIKE: Against
~Also, I really do not know so much about Newsies, so could you please explain a little more about the strike and Mr. Pulitzer and stuff?
(January 2, 2017 - 8:27 pm)
Some ideas for Maurice's nickname: Ricky, Mauri, Smalls, Shrimp?, Half-pint, I don't know, maybe an animal that sort of fits his personality?
More about Newsies: So, these two guys, Pulitzer(in charge of The New York World) and Hearst(in charge of The New York Journal), decided they wanted to earn more money. They said they could do it by cutting their factory workers' salaries, or fire people who's jobs weren't important. They decided to raise the tax on the newsies' papers, instead, from 50 to 60 cents. Keep in mind that these kids are already dirt poor. They then went on strike, refusing to buy either Pulitzer or Hearst's papers.
I'm pretty sure Pulitzer and Hearst did not lower the price of the papers, but instead agreed to buy back unsold ones. I'm not sure, though.
(January 3, 2017 - 7:10 am)
You are correct, Bluebird. (And I should know because this is my NHD project.) The price was no lowered, but now, any papers the newsies didn't sell, the papers would buy back from the newsies.
(January 3, 2017 - 4:11 pm)
Ok. Thanks!
(January 3, 2017 - 6:35 pm)
Look at me! I'm at the TOP! of New York! Suddenly! I'm respectable, starin right atcha, lousy in stature!
(January 4, 2017 - 11:34 am)
So, I guess I'm posting first! Thanks for joining, everyone, this is going to be so terrific.
Kathleen~
"Ugh!" Dirty, freezing water splashes down onto my face and limbs, drenching me and the cobblestones in the alley, where I have chosen to spend the night. Jerking awake, I spit soap suds out of my mouth, and glare up at the window, where a few of my fellow newsies, Chess, Fish, and Club, are holding a washtub out of their boardinghouse window. They are snickering, assumably at the sight of me gasping and shivering awake once the water hit me. Grabbing my slingshot, I angle it up towards the window. The boys freeze. "Honestly, you three! What was that for? Do youse think youse got any right to pour your bathwater on me?" I see a gold-topped cane hit Club playfully on the head. Shaking my head, I stand up and, wringing the water from my dark brown hair, I yell, "Spot Conlon, quit pretendin' that youse don't know what was going on. I know you put them up to this." Spot pokes his head out of the window, and laughs. "Irish, I know youse would know that it was me who done it. 'Sides, I'm the King of Brooklyn. I can't always be all tough-act."
"Yeah, 'cause I'm the only one you're not all 'tough act' for."
"Come on, Irish, I known you since I was nine," he says.
"Yeah, and I've could've beat you up since before then." I shoot back.
"Fair 'nough. Now are you gonna quit beautifin' youseself, or is you gonna help sell some papes?" A chorus of boy laughter rings out from the boarding house.
"Funny, Conlon. As to 'beautifin', why is it you spend around ten minutes a day makin' sure your hair lies just right with your hat, wheress I only need to pull my suspenders up to be ready for the day?" I yell back up. An even louder chorus of quite un-manly giggles rings out. If Brooklyn newsies, the ''tough newsies', sound like that when they laugh, I don't even want to know what the rest of New York's newsies sound like. "Come on, let's get to the distribution place before all the scabs do!" I say.
Chess pokes his head out the window, "Just because youse the only goil Brooklyn newsie, doesn't mean youse gotta act like me mother!"
"If anyone acts like your mother here, it's Spot," I call back, buttoning up my boots, and grabbing my stick and slingshot. I know Spot won't retort because whenever we walk out the door to sell papers, he instantly puts on his uncaring, tough, I'll-beat-you-up-in-a-heartbeat-if-you-make-one-more-move act. It's kind of his adaptation to living out on the streets. Being his best friend for so long, I know that it’s just an act. The thing is, all the years of selling papes has made Spot a good actor. He has to. We all have to. We’re all alone, and selling papers is the only way for us to survive in this city. Besides that, it’s fun.
The newsies begin pouring out of the boardinghouse, and I grab my cap and follow after them. The sun has just begun to peek over the Brooklyn Bridge, and the light casts onto the empty streets. The only people out on the streets are the kids, the working kids of New York. The street rats, alley cats, newsies, factory workers, sweatshop kids, all the children, heading to work in the morning, some to support their families, some to support themselves.
What would my parents have thought? Would have they sent me to work in a factory? Were they rich, and could afford for me to not need to work, and could spit on the streets, and expect some poor person to clean it up? Or were they so dirt poor that I would be their only hope?
“Irish! Come on!”
Snapping out of my moment of philosophical thought, I begin running in order to catch up with my friends who have gotten ahead.
(January 4, 2017 - 7:09 pm)
Yay! Top!!!! Also, I guess I need a better nickname for Giuseppe than Russ or Giu. Maybe Midge, short for midget? But only the newsies call him that, not Piero. (Also, when Giuseppe calls him Pie it's pronounced Pea-AYE, not Pie)
@The Riddler- I think since Giu and Maurice are both Manhatten Newsies, they might know each other. Maybe they could be friends or something?
Giuseppe~
I am awoken by a loud string of cuss words and a, "Pop, we got annuder rat!"
Great. Again? I grab the shutter that had fallen off our window last week, and head over to our 'kitchen'. My cousin Piero, all six feet of him, is standing on a chair, his eyes darting around like the rodent might jump out at any minute. I guess it could. The sight of him standing there is too funny, and I begin to laugh. "Stop it, Giu!" He yells. "Just kill it already!"
"Fine, fine." I say. We've woken my uncle up, and when he looks at his son, he starts to chuckle as well. Piero scowls. "Well, at least I'm not afraid of cockroaches."
I shudder. Even after years of living in a tenement with serious bug issues, those things still give me the creeps. Sometimes, I wake up with them in my cot. Other times, we find them in our food.
I'm about to say something in reply, but then, the rat tries to makes a break across the room from under our stove. Piero yelps. I try to hit it with the shutter, but it's too fast- I throw the piece of wood instead. Thunk! I don't even have to look to know that the animal is dead.
"'Ey, what's da big idea?" A muffled voice sounds from the tenement next to us. With walls this thin, I assume we've woken up everyone on this floor, and possibly, the whole building. Oh well. Everybody here would be getting up around now anyway- we've all got places to go, and things to get done.
The sun has not risen above the horizon yet, but the sky is turning pink. It bathes the streets of Little Italy outside in a dull glow, illuminating the places where resturants and shops and venders will soon be buzzing with people. I'll be with them, calling out headlines until I lose my voice. As we've always said, "Headlines don't sell papes, newsies sell papes."
Very true, if you ask me. I've got a bit of an advantage, with my too-young face and small frame. That's the whole reason I started doing this in the first place. The bad part is, I get singled out and beaten up, or people offering to be my partner and split my earnings. But I'm not one to get swindled easily. Leave that to the buyers.
"Time to go, Giu." Piero says, tossing me a piece of bread and slipping on his jacket. I catch it and eat the whole thing in one bit, then grab my bag and follow him out the door. We've walked together ever since I came over, and plan to keep on doing it for as long as we keep our jobs.
Which may be forever.
I've never really thought about what I'll do when I grow up. You can't stay a newsie your whole life. I guess I'd become my uncle- working in a factory all day, taking care of a family, breaking my back to put food on the table. Maybe my family would be with me then. Maybe I'd go back to them.
It's silly to hope. I need to concentrate on what's going on now, which is trying to sell all my papes by sundown.
Piero rambles on about some kid from his factory, until we come to our turning point and go our seperate ways. Him, to the sweatshop, and me, to get my papers for the day. I can't wait to see what Pulitzer and Hearst have come up with now.
This life might not be the most luxurious, but at least I'm not cramped up inside like Piero. This is the life of a newsie, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
~~~~~
I'll try to post Piero and Martyna tomorrow. TOP!!!
(January 5, 2017 - 9:52 pm)
(January 5, 2017 - 10:08 pm)
@Bluebird
Great thing about your charrie being a newsie in Manhattan is that he gets to know Jack, and Davey, and Blink, and Boots, and Les, and yeah, stop me now, or I'll go on like this forever..!
(January 6, 2017 - 6:56 pm)
Yeah, I need to rewatch the movie. It'll be fun!
(January 7, 2017 - 9:59 am)