insantafe | Recollé ✦ Application

PLAYER
YOUR NAME: Ray #2
18+?: yes
CONTACT:

seolearo
CHARACTERS IN GAME: Leo Valdez
RESERVATION LINK: Here!

CHARACTER: CANON SECTION
NAME: Jack Kelly
AGE: 17
CANON: Newsies

CANON HISTORY:

Jack grew up poor, watching his father work at a lot of dead-end jobs and eventually ending up an orphan. Since losing his dad, he started working as a newsie for The World, a newspaper in New York, and living on the streets (or more accurately, a fire escape) of lower Manhattan. In the coming years he grows into the de facto leader of the area, with the other newsies looking up to him, but there were some bumps along the way - namely, a man known as Snyder the Spider, who ran a sort of prison for kids he catches on the streets known as the Refuge. Jack’s been in and out of the Refuge on more than one occasion, most commonly sentenced to a few months for stealing clothes and food, but he’s always managed to escape. One notable story is that he snuck into the back of Governor Teddy Roosevelt’s carriage and rode out through the front gates.

Despite being fixated on his dream of going to Santa Fe, Jack seemed comfortable enough in his role hawking newspapers until the day the prices went up ten cents per hundred, a steep change for newsies. Jack and the others refused to pay the price, and when debating what to do about it, were (mockingly) presented with the idea of starting a strike by a newcomer named David Jacobs, also known as Davey. Jack immediately latched onto the idea and formed a union with the other newsies on the spot. Their protest caught the attention of one Katherine Plumber, a reporter for the New York Sun, who wanted to cover the strike to get more recognition and “break out of the social pages,” so Jack invited her to witness the real beginning of the strike tomorrow morning.

When the time came and the newsies were questioning their decision, Jack tried to motivate them but because he wasn’t good with words, he failed until Davey stepped in. At his words, the boys rallied together until the protest was interrupted by the police and The World’s hired goons. Jack and the others fought back, but were beaten soundly. After watching his disabled friend Crutchie get dragged away to the Refuge, Jack blamed himself, deciding the strike was a terrible idea, and fell back on his plan to go to Santa Fe, hiding from the others in shame.

After receiving a letter from Crutchie, he risked a trip to the Refuge to see how the boy was doing. When Jack realized he was too hurt to even come to the window, he left to go see Medda, a friend and owner of a theater in the Bowery. As a goodbye, he offered to paint her another backdrop for her shows, though he’d never accepted payments from her before. Katherine, Davey, and his younger brother Les, however, found Jack here on their way to ask Medda to borrow the theater for a rally to talk about the strike with the rest of the newsies of New York. After some arguing, they managed to motivate him again, and so he made his way to the headquarters of The World to invite Joseph Pulitzer, the owner of the newspaper, to the rally. Pulitzer refuses, however, revealing in this conversation that Katherine was his daughter, leaving Jack feeling betrayed and cornered as Snyder made his presence known. After being offered a compromise - call off the strike, and all charges would be cleared and he would be given enough money to go to Santa Fe - Jack was taken to the cellar to spend the night as Pulitzer’s unofficial prisoner.

Because he didn’t want to put the newsies in danger again, Jack did as he was told and suggested the newsies back down from the strike when he arrived at the rally. When they turned on him in anger, he went back to his fire escape and found Katherine looking through his drawings as she waited for him. She expressed her disappointment in him for turning on them after stealing for the kids in the Refuge, with Jack arguing back about her turning them into her father. After a few rounds of back and forth, Katherine surprised both of them by kissing Jack, and asked again why Jack spoke against the strike. When he admitted to feeling defeated and not knowing what else to do, she suggested her own idea of printing a paper themselves to convince all the young workers of New York to strike together and shut down the city.

With the help of a janitor, they snuck into the cellar where Pulitzer had kept Jack to use the old, retired printing pressed stored there. Using Katherine’s connections, they worked through the night to get the Newsies Banner printed, and the newsies of New York set about distributing the papers first thing in the morning. Along with Davey and Spot Conlon of Brooklyn, Jack went to confront Pulitzer while the children of the city all took part in the strike, with Governor Roosevelt’s support. They reach a new compromise: the price would be reduced by half, and The World would buy back any unsold papers at the end of the day.

Governor Roosevelt ensured that Crutchie was released, Snyder arrested, and the Refuge shut down after seeing the revelations in the Newsie Banner and Jack’s drawings. Pulitzer even offered Jack a job doing political cartoons. Jack, however, was prepared to leave for Santa Fe, but Davey and Katherine had other ideas. With Crutchie’s help, they reminded him that New York is home for them, and they’re family, though Katherine promised to go with him wherever he went. He finally decided that they were worth staying for, and accepted the cartoonist job while remaining a newsie and carrying the banner once more.

CANON PERSONALITY:

The first thing someone might notice about one Jack Kelly is how absolutely cocky the boy can be. As leader of the newsies at age seventeen, he seems to think a lot of himself and likes to put on a devil-may-care attitude, swagger and all. To those who don’t know him (and even some that do), he may come across as an egotistical rascal who doesn’t care much for rules or how things are supposed to be done, opting for his own way simply because he can. He’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants, laws be damned, and frankly, that’s what makes him a good newsie - his willingness to lie just to make a dime - and he’ll even encourage others to do the same. As a poor boy living on the streets and struggling to get by, he practically elates in taking advantage of those who are better off. After all, they won’t miss a few cents that could feed a newsboy for a day or two, would they?

But it was that same lifestyle made him long for a better life, and somewhere along the line, Jack latched onto the idea of Santa Fe. As far as he knew, it was everything that life in the city was not, and given how bad it could be when you’re homeless in New York? That sounded perfect to him, and he wasn’t shy about letting his friends know about his aspirations. He never liked being just another nameless kid working himself to the bone for someone who didn’t care about him as long as they made bank, so he wanted something different. The idea of working in a smaller town, doing hard work but being rewarded with friends who became family and actually enjoyed each other’s company sounded like a dream to Jack, and for years he clung to that as motivation - knowing there was something better out there seemed to make it worthwhile.

The real question, though, is how much of the persona he wears on the streets is real and how much is just bravado he puts on for the boys. Deep down, Jack is afraid - afraid of being used and thrown away like his father was, afraid of losing his dream of going to Santa Fe, afraid of failing as a leader and letting the boys down, afraid of leading them into a situation he can’t undo and getting them all hurt, or worse. Jack tries to put on a show of caring only for himself, but the newsies of Lower Manhattan are his boys, his responsibility, and he fights for them more than his own sake. He’ll gladly break the law to get them what they need - like the many times he’s been caught stealing food and clothes for the children trapped in the Refuge, but far be it from him to admit that’s why he’s doing it. Though Jack has a strong Robin Hood sense of justice like that, if he feels they’ve already lost, he’ll give up. It weighs on his conscious to give into what he perceives isn’t right, but if it means they’ll be safe, Jack believes it’s worth it. Better to be safe and a little poorer than usual than to be beaten and broken, or stuck in the Refuge.

And when that happens, he won’t get back up on his own. If he believes the problem is his leadership, he won’t try to resolve it, he’ll try to run, and only the words of a close friend can convince him otherwise. Despite all that bravado, Jack has never really thought he was worth all that much, and constantly devalues himself and his skills until he’s convinced that he isn’t alone and that the fight is worth it even with all the bumps along the way. Thing is, one of the things he’s afraid of is letting people in and letting them see him in a weak moment like that. Addressing his feelings isn’t easy, and he’d much rather run away from the guilt, and the really scary things like falling in love with a girl way above his station. It’s easier to live life when he’s not tied down by things like that, or so he thinks until his friends talk some sense into him. While he is very slow to accept what they say, Jack eventually comes around to realize that anything worth fighting for won’t come easy, and that goes for everything from forming a strike to help out the little guy to more confusing things, like love and friends and family.

So he has a lot of layers, but when you get down to it Jack is still the kid everyone knows him for: the charismatic, street-smart, clever kid with a wise-cracking streak a mile wide. By the time the strike is settled, he’s mellowed out a bit. He doesn’t flirt with all the ladies he meets on the street (because he is very much in love with one Katherine Pulitzer), and he’s come to realize that being a leader isn’t always easy, but it might just worth it if you’ve got the right friends in your corner. Perhaps most importantly, he’s finally learned to appreciate what he has instead of keeping his head in the clouds and dreaming about escaping to Santa Fe, because none of that matters anymore if he doesn’t have the people he loves with him. After winning the fight and having a little talk with Davey and Kath, Jack’s matured and realized where his priorities really lie, and he’s happy to settle with that.

SKILLS/ABILITIES:

Selling newspapers: It doesn’t sound like much, but it would seem this takes a certain charisma that not everyone has. That, and Jack knows how to lie and sensationalize to get people’s attention. He will quite literally say anything to sell papers, and that’s made him the most successful newsie in lower Manhattan.
Leadership: As leader of the newsies, Jack is the one to form the union (at Davey’s suggestion) and start the strike. Jack perceived injustice, and immediately decided that they would fix it. It’s his speech that convinced the scabbers not to take their jobs and to join the strike, and his words that Katherine used in the Newsie Banner. He does struggle with his role as leader and the consequences his decisions bring, but with a little help, he grows into it more by the end of the show. He may not have all the answers, but Jack can recognize the right when he hears it, and he has the willpower (or stubbornness?) to follow through on it.
Art: Jack may downplay it, but his skill as an artist definitely gets recognized. Medda often asks him to paint backdrops for her shows because the audience seems to love them, and his quick sketch of Katherine when they met in Medda’s theater is one of the things that inspires her to write about the newsies in the first place.
Parkour: Of a sort - Jack has to be able to run fast to escape from Snyder and the police, and being in an urban environment, that sometimes means having obstacles in his way. He’s shown to be pretty good at dodging and running past whatever he comes across. In Recolle, this translates to his prowess in track.

CHARACTER: AU SECTION
AU NAME: Jack Kelly
AU AGE: 19
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES: None, he looks pretty much the same, just a little older.

AU HISTORY:

University student, studying journalism.
On the track team and somehow got a scholarship for that.
Roommate to David Jones! And loves to torment him. If you can help make David’s life worse please talk to Jack, he will love you.
Orphan - mother died when he was a wee babe, and father when he was around seven, so he’s been in the orphanage/on his own ever since it was legal.
Interns at the local newspaper.
Also works part-time as a waiter because the scholarship is great but he still needs to eat.
Couldn’t cook to save his life, though. He pretty much burns water.
Banned from working in the fast food industry after nearly burning down a McDonald’s. Anyone who works there has probably heard the story tbh.
Secret theater buff?? He doesn’t talk about it openly but he knows all the theater owners in town and will lurk in the theaters from time to time.
In his (limited) free time, Jack volunteers at the orphanage and other charity events! Even if it’s just something dumb like donating art or writing some fluff piece for a page in the paper that no one actually looks at.
Will happily fight you if you bully his friends or some kids within his line of sight.
Will also be super uncomfortable if you invite him to your house because family environments?? What do?? Please don’t bring him to meet your family (by which i mean please do.)
Lowkey adopted by all the older ladies in town because they like how he flatters them.
He’s a charmer!
And a hopeless flirt and a heartbreaker. Look out, ladies, Jack’s coming for you! And he’ll leave you again after a date or two.
Also has no sense of personal space, prepare for your bubble to be invaded.
Does freelance artwork on occasion for extra cash. And he’s good at it, but he will laugh at anyone who actually comments on that. He’s not gonna be just another starving artist, tyvm.
Has a history as a petty thief for stealing stuff for other kids in the orphanage when they couldn’t get something they needed.

AU PERSONALITY:

The most notable change with Jack is that he’s going to be more mellow than his canon counterpart. Though he’s still ready and willing to fight for what’s right, he’s a bit less willing to do so with his fists and will first seek to do so through more legal means - namely, the newspaper. An important thing he’ll need to remember (and will struggle to at times, as he’ll have to fight with his reckless nature) is that he stands to lose more than when he was growing up in the orphanage, the scholarship and internship being two very important things to keep in mind. As an athlete and representative of the local newspaper, Jack has a reputation to uphold, which means keeping a tight rein on the urge to punch someone for being a jerk. He already has a bit of a history, and he’ll have to be careful not to add more misconduct to his rap sheet.

After actually graduating and enrolling in college, Jack is also much more book smart than in canon. The orphanage didn’t give him much of a choice about staying in school, but it was his own decision to pursue a degree, and for once, he’s willing to put in the study time to make it happen. Why? Because he has aspirations for a better life, and he plans to achieve that through finding his way to a better job than working minimum wage forever. And if he can get a job as a real reporter once he’s through with college, he plans to use his words to fight for justice and bring attention to those in need.

He still dreams of getting out of the city and traveling the world, but it’s less to escape his old life than to see what’s out there, and see how he can help. His opinions of the upper class and their willful ignorance to the plight of the little guy remain, but his goal is to bring it to the forefront of the news so they can’t just keep ignoring it instead of forcing them to pay attention through sheer stubbornness.

He doesn’t have the leadership experience he does in canon, either, or the responsibility of anyone relying on him but himself. As a result, Jack may be leaning more on the cocky, young-and-invulnerable side of his personality for a while, and his guilty conscious will only stem from not being able to do more than write a few articles about current events - assuming the newspaper will even let him in such a junior position. He’s frustrated with his lot in life, but he plans to at least try to make it here. But since he’s just starting out, Jack hasn’t had to face many obstacles just yet, so he’ll have some growing to do before he doesn’t cut and run at the first sign of trouble. Until then, he’s young with high aspirations and a need to prove himself as more than just some poor boy with nowhere to go and nothing worthwhile to say.

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TDM thread with Davey