Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Length: 1500
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Scribe
Why this must be read: This fic is dark, gritty, and harshly realistic. It's a "five ways" fic, but none of these are fluffy. A few are filled with a little hope, but I love the dark feel to them. These five scenarios are more true to the times than to a movie musical. Spot is an adorable, elfin King of Brooklyn in the movie that just so happens to be a scary and intelligent kid, but I love when fic authors make him dangerous and rough - the way he would have to be living on the streets of Brooklyn. This fic is just a fantastic punch to the gut...if that makes any sense.


Variations

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Length: 1800
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Poison Ivory
Why this must be read: Modern AU's are the most prevalent stories in the Newsies fandom. Unfortunately, they're not my favorite thing, but this story won me over. It's a short one-shot but I just really loved the characters voices. The best one-shots don't over-explain scenarios or give complex background information; they just let the characters *be* let's them show what's going on. That's what the author does here and it really works. Spot and Race have a confrontation when Race comes back from college. There's a lot of information to infer and guess about, just by how each of them acts. I thought this was well-written and one of the few modern AU's that I actually like.


Proceed With Caution

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack Kelly/Crutchie, Spot Conlon/Crutchie, Jack Kelly/Katherine Plumber
Length: 35,000
Author on LJ:rchan_fic
Author Website: Renee-chan
Why this must be read: Okay, so RL has gotten in the way of me writing a new overview of the Newsies fandom that includes the Broadway musical, but I still want to rec this story because it is awesome and it sort of fuses the two stories together. Remember how Crutchy was sort of annoying? Well, the musical changed it to "Crutchie" and gave his personality a little less whining and a lot more adorableness. Seriously. They cast super-hot Jeremy Jordan as Jack and then have the two of them do stuff like this onstage - shipping was inevitable. The new love interest for Jack is a reporter named Katherine Plumber who is so much better than Sarah. There are other changes but none that are essential to this fic. Renee-chan basically smooshes the movie and Broadway musical together and it is AWESOME. The story is set after the strike when things are supposed to be getting back to normal, except Jack has a new girl now and Crutchie starts to realize that he's losing him. Spot comes in as the leader of Brooklyn but also as a very old friend of both Jack and Crutchie. The backstory for all three of them is heart-breaking, sweet, and has perfect characterization.  Katherine is fearless, intelligent, and never tips over into Mary-Sue Land as Sarah usually does.  Renee-chan treats the Jack/Katherine relationship well and never uses her as just a character that's in the way.  Crutchie is such a sympathetic and lovable character in this - you just want to wrap him up and snuggle him.  I keep re-reading this story because it's just so perfect.  Give it a try, even with no knowledge of the Broadway show I think you'll really love it.


A New Day Dawning

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack Kelly/David Jacobs
Length: 1400
Author on LJ: toomuchplor
Author Website: toomuchplor
Why this must be read: Jack and David are one of the common pairings in Newsies fandom because they gave us so. much. to. work. with. Seriously. The scene on the fire escape being just one of many really great Jack/David moments. toomuchplor rewrites that scene with a seriously hot ending. She has Jack's mannerisms down: his small half-smiles and the "Shaddup" being my favorites; but this story is from David's pov and it's really well done. You get the sense that he doesn't exactly understand what these new feelings are for Jack, but that Jack knows exactly what he's doing having lived on the streets for most of his life. The easy camaraderie and affection between the two is definitely there and it's easy to see them continuing a partnership, friendship and maybe something more from this point onward.



New York World

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Length: 2500
Author on LJ: carolinecrane
Author Website: carolinecrane
Why this must be read: This is the sequel to Nothing Says I love You (Like Blackmail) which I recced here. This follows up beautifully on the events in the previous story. It's just a small interlude between Race and Spot but both of them know that something is different, that this isn't just a casual thing anymore. Race is the only person Spot can trust when his "King of Brooklyn" veneer slips a little. I love the continuation of the characterization here and the ending is so hopeful and sweet without being saccharine. It's a lovely sequel to one of the best pieces in the fandom.


And Then You Say

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Length: 3,000
Author on LJ: carolinecrane
Author Website: carolinecrane

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins, Jack Kelly/David Jacobs
Length: 35,000
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Vera
Why this must be read: I'm a sucker for when authors take mythology and fit it into a fandom where you would never think to see it happen. This story totally shocked me with how good it is. Vera takes the mythology/fantasy element and makes it such an epic, amazing part of the Newsies 'verse. What's also great is the mythology isn't lifted straight out of anywhere - it's a hodgepodge of different elements and it's all just incredibly *cool*. There's a dreamscape, demons, Alexander the Great, and the badass image of Spot Conlon swirling his cane around alive with blue flames - fantastic. The relationships are developed really well in the midst of all the fantasy and there's a great side-plot about these boys handling how they feel about each other in the early 20th century. Seriously, go read this. I stayed up so late the first time because I just could. not. stop. reading. So go stay up super late like I did and give the author some love as well :)


Ouroborus

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Length: 2000
Author on LJ:chwheeler
Author Website chwheeler
Why this must be read: I think the reason I love this pairing so much is that, when written correctly, it's never fluffy or mushy. This story shows that perfectly. It's sort of a twisted domestic fic; Spot keeps insisting that he doesn't need a home and Racetrack calls him on it. The ending is absolutely perfect.

Home

Hello everyone, I'm  jainamac   and I'll be driving the Newsies van this month.  I've been obsessed with this movie since I was 8 years old, but I just got back into the fandom when I saw the new musical on Broadway.  My favorite pairing is Spot/Racetrack so that'll be the main bulk of the fics, but I'll throw in some Jack/David as well as some new pairings from the musical.  I'm working on a new overview that includes the Broadway musical as well.  Hope you enjoy!

Fandom:  NEWSIES
Pairing:  Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Length:  1100
Author on LJ Unknown
Author Website: Sterlingsuspenders
Why this must be read: This piece is short but I love the author's use of language.  There's no dialogue just a collection of Racetrack's thoughts about each encounter with Spot.  Each time they meet there's a different emotion, a different way that it plays out that shows him more about Spot's character and feelings.  I really loved this so go and enjoy.  

Talk is Cheap

Thanks for having me this month! Here's a last, lovely fic to go out on.

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack/David
Length: 500
Author Website: FFnet profile
Why this must be read: David can't sleep at night. Short and full of voice, this captures the feel of strange, middle-of-the-night, not-quite-awake memories and thought cycles perfectly.

Stranger Things Than Runaway Dreams

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Racetrack/Skittery
Length: 2,300
Author on LJ: graciebird
Author Website: FFnet profile
Why this must be read: Skittery broke up with his girlfriend and everyone thinks he's crazy -- except Racetrack.

Slash set in 1899 can be a hard sell, since it wasn't exactly a time that was welcoming and friendly for homosexuality -- the word itself didn't even exist yet. This fic (which was one of the first in the fandom that I ever read, lo those many years ago, and I still consider it one of the best) approaches it from another tack, as an undercurrent between two characters.

Shuffling Cards

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Gen, with a side of Specs/Dutchy
Length: slightly over 80,000
Author on LJ: sea_shtick
Author Website: FFnet profile
Why this must be read:

Generally, if you say "AU" in the Newsies fandom, you're talking about a modern day story. This… is not that. It really is alternate, in that Racetrack and Dutchy have to cross into a strange, Dark version of New York. Things there are weird and eerie, and there's certainly magic, and a constant sense of danger -- but they're doing it to save Specs' life. Kez herself describes it as, "His Dark Materials meets Neverwhere meets Newsies meets film noir." It's definitely unlike any other fic in the fandom.

( Excerpt )

Epic

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack/Sarah, Jack/David
Length: ~2,600
Author on LJ: cycnus
Author Website: (or a link to where more of their fic is archived)
Why this must be read: FFnet profile

Veering back into AU territory for this one. Jack's dad is an interesting non-character in the movie: all we know is that he's in jail, and that Jack lies about having a much nicer family situation. So who knows what happened? Fics rarely do more than reference Jack's dad in passing. This AU takes a stab at him as a character -- one who can't deal with his son's sexuality, but without veering into the territory of abuse, melodrama, or other OTT homophobic clichés. It's a great look at how Jack could have turned out to be the kind of guy who'd date Sarah while fantasizing about her brother.

( excerpt )

Fooling Yourself

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot/Race
Length: 450 words
Author on LJ: harmonyangel
Author Website: complete fic list
Why this must be read: Spot/Race is definitely one of the most popular pairings in Newsies fandom. Though very often written as angsty, the pairing is mostly beloved for the chemistry between the characters -- the combination of a tough-guy leader and a wise-cracking sidekick works well. Fanon usually presents the two of them as guys who seem to do nothing but fight and annoy each other, with a lot of chemistry just beneath the surface; in less than 500 words, Harmony completely nails that dynamic and why it works, with characterizations that pretty much explode off of the screen.

Euphemism

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: none (gen)
Length: ~30,000 words
Author on LJ: falco_conlon
Author Website: FFnet profile
Why this must be read: Newsies the movie is set in 1899, but essentially an alternate version, in which street kids are all happy-go-lucky, clean, and no one minds the whole homeless, living-in-poverty thing. But it does leave a lot of fans wondering what it would be like for these kids in the real world. Falco uses a lot of history and really explores that.

In New York is set a few years after the strike. Spot deals in voter intimidation and control for an Irish gang, and is part of the Tammany Hall political machine. He's grown up, and grown darker, but still does what he does out of his pride in Brooklyn and his pride in being Irish. Aside from being a great Spot piece, this fic also turns New York itself into a character.

In my experience, gen fic often gets overlooked, so I wanted to really single this one out as a must read.

In New York

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Blink/Mush
Length: ~3,500
Author on LJ: project_lyse
Author Website: FFnet profile
Why this must be read:

Moving along from epic AU, here's a short, more canon-y piece. One of the great things about Newsies is that there's a lot of room to build with the characters; while a few are very well developed in canon, plenty of others have only hints of personality that leave authors open to play and develop. Blink and Mush (the boys flirting in my icon) fall into the later category: while they're almost always floating around in the background of the movie, they have only a handful of lines between them. Yet they're among the "main six" characters in fandom.

This piece demonstrates why. It's a lovely, quiet piece that does a lot with Mush's POV and the way he views the world -- and especially the way he views Blink, and the relationship between them.

( excerpt )

Seasons and Spices

Hello! I'm reccing for Newsies this month. It's a small fandom, but with a lot of great fics to offer; I'll do my best to show some of that off. Starting with...

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Blink/Mush, Jack/David
Length: 60,000+
Author on LJ: cymbalism219
Author Website: FFnet profile
Why this must be read: As previous Newsies reccers have mentioned, the fandom has a lot of very good modern day AUs. This has to be one of the best: the boys are all in a present-day college (and more specifically, marching band), but all are recognizably themselves: David is a slightly awkward new kid, Jack is a brash leader, Spot is grumbling and tough, Racetrack is wise-cracking... well, you get the idea. The fic is epic enough to sink your teeth into and does a particularly great job at developing the relationships -- both friendships and romances -- between all of these guys.

( Excerpt )

Sharps & Flats

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: gen
Length: 20k
Author Website: fanfic.net
Why this must be read: This fic is a true rarity in newsies fandom. It's gen, 1899 and deals with the aftermath of the strike. The characterizations in this are wonderful, and the way it deals with Jack's actions in the movie are incredibly realistic.

Rippling Out

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Gen
Length: one-shot
Author on LJ: queenitsy
Author Website: Underage Smokers
Why this must be read: While there are many excellent modern day AUs, there are also some amazing fics that focus on the actual canon. This piece, which as a Sarah-centric fic is a rarity in fandom, deals with how Sarah was affected by the strike and her encounter with Jack, so many years later. It's an amazing insight into a much-maligned character who doesn't get much attention in fic.

( Neverland )

Neverland

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot/Race
Length: one-shot
Author on LJ: cymbalism219
Author Website: Refuge Profile
Why this must be read: One of the things I love about Newsies fandom is that Modern Day AUs are as much a part of it as 1899 fic. There's something about taking the characters and putting them in situations that you couldn't get in 1899 that I love, especially when you get to see the original characters shine through as well.

Cymbalism wrote a great Meet the Family fic, and her Spot voice is excellent. Of course, her writing is always excellent, so that isn't a surprise. I love her Spot and Race in this, and even though it is an updated setting, you still see so much of the characters in them.

( excerpt )

Christmas in Killarney

Hi, I'm TSB, and I'll be driving the Newsies van this month. I'll start off with a fairly recent fic, but I'll also rec some of the fandom classics later on.

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack/David
Length: one-shot
Author on LJ: harmonyangel
Author Website: Fic on LJ
Why this must be read: This story was written for lgbtfest, and the prompt pretty much says why I love this story. Jack and David have been together for almost their entire lifetimes. Now that they're in their late 80s/early 90s (the late 1960s/70s), how do they feel about the rise of the public gay rights movement? What changes have they seen over the course of the 20th century?

I love fics that show the evolution of relationships, and that incorporate history. This beautiful and poignant story shows Jack and David dealing with the passing of history, from having to hide their relationship for years to finally being able to be openly together in San Fransisco. It's just a beautiful story, and one that I highly recommend.

( They were legends )

Legends

Hi there, folks. I'm amazingly_me, which is a tad self-evident, I suppose, and I'll be reccing Newsies fics for the month of January. You can expect a little bit of everything-- gen, slash, even a little of the notoriously hard to find Newsies het-- plus some Yuletide recs, which is exciting. :]

So! Without further ado...

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: none (gen)
Length: one-shot
Author on LJ: Unknown.
Author Website: fanfiction.net profile is here.
Why this must be read: Because it's a poignant, beautiful story. The narrative is almost serene, but it's never boring, and it's one of those pieces that will stick with you forever-- or at least, it certainly stuck with me. I first read it in 2005, but when I realized I'd be reccing fic for Newsies, I went running back to find it.

We Don't Got Religion is a study not only of Mush and his religion, but also of Blink, and of the other newsies, and of newsies in general, and have I mentioned I LOVE IT?

...Because I do.

We Don't Got Religion

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot/Race, with Blink/Mush and a handful of other pairings (slash and het)
Length: 230,000
Author on LJ: queenitsy and funkiechick
Author Website: The EYDW Universe LJ Community
Why this must be read:

There's no way I could let this month go by without recommending this story. This sprawling epic, set in the modern day, tells the tale of Tony Higgins (Racetrack), a recovering cocaine addict and high school student whose father just happens to be in the mafia, and his burgeoning relationship with foster kid Sean Conlon (Spot). But it's so much more than that. It's a story of love and friendship, a story of family, a story of music (the characters have a band), a story of pain and happiness and everything in between. It's very much an R-rated story, with copious references to drugs and sex and quite a bit of profanity, but none of that ever feels gratuitous. And, perhaps most interestingly and importantly of all, this is a story that is also a universe - an entire universe unto itself, a universe that contains the characters we all know and love from the film but that puts them in a setting so wildly different that the story itself feels completely original. And because of that, the story is able to expand beyond its borders. Though the fic itself is a complete entity, bits and pieces of sequels and prequels abound, most of them found at the community linked in the header. These girls created an entire world with their story, and it's a world that shows no sign of ever completely going away.

And, honestly, it's just a great, great story. It's well-plotted, the characterizations and dialogue are consistently spot-on, every original character is fully-realized and has an important role to play, and it touches all the right emotional beats. There's a reason that this is one of the longest and most popular fics in the entire fandom - it's just a great piece of writing, regardless of any other factors. And if you're in the fandom and somehow haven't read it yet, I advise you to do so post haste.

Everything You've Done Wrong

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Sarah, Jack/David (with Jack/Sarah references)
Length: 1,700-ish
Author on LJ: poisonivory
Author Website: PoisonIvory's Profile at The Refuge
Why this must be read:

By far, the most abused, neglected, and otherwise maligned character in the whole of Newsies fandom is Sarah Jacobs. She's the only teenage girl in the movie, and she's the character who ends up kissing Jack Kelly in the end, angering a good portion of the Jack/David slashers and Jack het shippers alike (as well as, inexplicably, a lot of the rest of the fandom).

But this author isn't content to ignore, bash, or dismiss Sarah, as many authors have. Instead, she puts us in Sarah's head. She lets us see how she views Jack and David. And she makes her more of a likeable, three-dimensional character than the movie even attempts to create.

This fic is set in the modern day, but it feels just like something that would have happened a few years after the movie, if the movie existed in a time when a gay couple could ask someone to be a surrogate mother. And that's what this fic is about - Jack and David asking Sarah to be their surrogate, and Sarah experiencing all the thoughts, memories, and feelings that accompany her decision. It's real and raw, and Sarah is far from good and perfect, but she's flawed in a believable, sympathetic way. Plus, the prose is lyrical and lovely, the bits of memory are beautifully rendered and fleshed-out, and the characterization feels spot-on for these three characters (as well as the rest of the Jacobs family). There is nothing at all that I can criticize about this story, and as an example of Jack/David fic that handles the Sarah question responsibly, sympathetically, and realisitically, it deserves to be read by all and sundry.

Watermelon

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Spot/Race
Length: 2,000-ish
Author on LJ: second_batgirl
Author Website: TSB's Fic List
Why this must be read:

The great thing about a fandom that happily accepts AU stories is that you can put the characters in pretty much any setting you want. Sure, you can just put them in a modern-day high school, but you can also make them Western adventurers or astronauts or dragon slayers.

Or you can make them mailmen.

This author takes that basic premise - Spot Conlon is a modern-day mailman - and weaves it into an adorable, humorous little story that perfectly captures the bitterness Spot would feel in that position. And, of course, there's also the slashy plot with Racetrack, here a bachelor stock broker with an angry dog and a perpetual smirk. Despite the wildly different setting, this fic captures the best of the fanon Spot/Race dynamic, with excellent voices and hilariously drawn one-upmanship. It's a great, fun little read, and I recommend it highly.

Blame it on the Dog

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack/David
Length: 1,000 words or so
Author on LJ: cycnus
Author Website: Shimmerwings' Fanfiction.net Page
Why this must be read:

A lot of the fic in Newsies fandom takes place in alternate universes, putting the characters in modern settings. And while a lot of that fic is fantastic (and much of it will probably wind up among these recs), it's nice to remember, sometimes, that great fic set within the universe of the movie - set within the movie itself, even, or directly after - also exists. This is one of those fics.

Catharsis finds Jack and David immediately after the credits roll, and deals - harshly, unrelentingly, and completely believably - with the unresolved tensions of their friendship and Jack's betrayal. The author uses Jack's perspective, which is simultaneously clueless and observant in all the right ways, to craft a ficlet of great power and intensity where actions speak much more loudly than words. The characters feel just right, despite the distinctly un-Disney tone, and it serves as a reminder that, however much Jack and David's attraction to each other may be evident to viewers with even the slightest hint of slash goggles, they aren't a pairing automatically destined for uncomplicated fluff.

Catharsis

Well, as it turns out, I get to do some Newsies recs this month! And since it's summer, I thought I'd start out with the best, and most popular, summer-related fic in the fandom.

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack/David, Kid Blink/OFC, Specs/Dutchy, and a whole ensemble of other characters and pairings
Length: Novel-length (almost 200,000 words)
Author on LJ: queenitsy
Author Website: Underage Smokers
Why this must be read:

Over four years and nearly 200,000 words, this fic became one of the mainstays of the fandom, and for good reason: it's a fantastic AU fic that has something for everyone. Slash, het, plot, humor, angst, hijinks, and drama: whatever you want, it's probably in this story. The author takes a very basic premise - a modern-day David Jacobs is forced to go to summer camp - and turns it into a veritable tapestry of plots and subplots in which nearly every Newsies character, as well as more than a few fully-realized original characters, is given the chance to shine. Yet despite the wide scope of the project, the story never loses its focus; David's character arc (and his love story with Jack) progresses beautifully, and every subplot reaches its conclusion. If you haven't read this yet, I highly urge you to give it a chance; it is, in my humble opinion, what every modern-verse novel-length Newsies fic should be.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack/David
Author on LJ: vampirespider
Author Website: An Ink Stain
Why this must be read:

If you ever wanted the story to keep going after the end of the movie, this is your fic. David's not sure how he feels about Jack's relationship with Sarah, or about his own relationship with Jack. The fragility and confusion of David's emotions stands out in perfect contrast to the solidity and sureness of the bond between the two boys.

"I don't know nothing about love, Dave. I mean...what's love? How do you know what love is?" Jack was staring up at the sky, as if the stars he couldn't see might have the answer to that.

"I suppose it's need. Trust. I...my parents, like that — trust in each other. Affection." David watched Jack's face, watched him stare at the sky, lips parted.

"Want," Jack added, looking at him without turning his head and David felt something bloom inside him, dark and rich and strange.

Having to Know to Understand

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack/Spot
Author on LJ: yeats
Author Website: lah
Why this must be read:

This is a really lovely mood piece, so much so that it feels more like a sunset than it does a fic about two boys watching a sunset.

He leans back on his legs and closes one eye, counting the smokestacks on the choleric steamships, the church spires in the distance. The sun is setting over Manhattan, spilling onto the water as it sinks below the edge of that island.

Train Under Water

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Gen, Spot and Racetrack
Author on LJ: sleeping_fish
Author Website: Arlene2
Why this must be read:

Through a series of card games, the history of Spot's and Racetrack's friendship and rivalry is revealed. This fic gives a fascinatingly probable backstory for two of the movie's most charismatic newsies.

“You ain’t welcome here no more,” Spot announced.

Race looked up at him sharply. That was new. He’d never been banished before. In truth, he would’ve rather been soaked. He made a lot of money in Brooklyn, not to mention he sold there a fair amount of the time. Of course, Spot knew all that and probably figured it would hurt more than a few punches.

“You made me do that,” Spot said a moment later, dropping his voice so only Racetrack could hear. It wasn’t an apology, it was a simple statement of fact. Race had never seen Spot regret anything.

“I know,” Race conceded. He had backed Spot into a corner, insulted him repeatedly and had done it in front of his boys. He deserved what he got, but it was worth it. He would have smiled if didn’t hurt so much.

Cut and Run