#I am also simple woman

[pterosounds]

Chappell Roan @ The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA - 11/14/23

#chappell roan #chappellsource #chappell outfit series #her and valeria............. #also sorry not sorry for two back images i am a simple woman. #midwestprincesshq #dailymusicqueens #my post

[angel-archivist]

It's so interesting and so exceedingly frustrating how agab is being utilized now within the queer community as a way to isolate and sort nonbinary and genderqueer folks into binary boxes that determine their moral purity levels, and their authority to do and write and exist.

The way nonbinary writers are being put under accusation of fetishizing gay men while their AGAB is continually brought up in a way that feels like queer-space-approved misgendering.

The way feminist circles that are supposedly trans-inclusive will use the word AFAB in a way that implicitly but intentionally isolates nonbinary people who aren't AFAB from joining. It's for women*.

The way the language is already flawed and leaves out intersex folks from the conversations while focusing on a binary of sex that isn't truthful.

The constant obsessing over whether someone is AFAB or AMAB and whether or not that gives them the privilege to join, do, write, or be present in certain spaces really really concerns me. How are we supposed to dismantle a binary system of gender if we can't even move past forcibly assigning and focusing on people's genders assigned at birth?

#and yes i understand! that agab language can in some circumstances be helpful in inclusive language and in the medical world but ultimately #is misgendering and unnecessary it should be up to the person to disclose their agab not an expectation of them to give up freely #I think that inclusive language shouldnt be misgendering in nature and agab as far as i can tell should only be used in select discussions #and certainly not as a way to frame a nonbinary writer as a “biological woman” but in a way where the queer community will nod along and sa #“oh they have a point” because you used the word AFAB instead #honestly afab is the term i see used most frequently and most harmfully towards other nonbinary people who don't identify w the label #to exclude trans women and amab nonbinary people #to frame nonbinary people as “still women” because of their assigned gender at birth #also i understand its not as simple as “not using” these terms bc they still serve a purpose and are important #but as they leave the queer community and as they enter the hands of cis queer people they become weapons #i wish i could like manifest my thoughts super clearly but i really cant bc its a difficult situation #its just another example of misogyny and bio-essentialism creeping into the queer community #because the patriarchy impacts all things including our discussions of trans oppression and gender we need to stop viewing it #as a strict binary of male female and oh sometimes we'll mention nonbinary people but we're all afab and amabs at the end of the day <3 #like flames literal flames #if you wanna like chip into the conversation just shoot me an ask or respond to the post i'd love to hear other peoples perspectives #im not infalliable so if i said anything you view as incorrect especially in regards to intersex folks and how you all would like to be #included in these discussions as im not intersex but am aware of how agab is a subject that leans into the idea of a binary of sex #so yeah rant over <3 #retro.bullshit #rant

[cryptiduni]

…i just saw this poll and my unevolved brain gel wriggled inside my cranium like a feral fish:

idk how you look at his official art and call him conventionally attractive. my man looks like a wet dog and has eyebags for daysss. face full of pox scars, skin pale af, and those shaggy ass hair & a rugged beard hanging from his flat long face.

he is pretty *to me* but like dude???

—not exactly a heartthrob boy band material is he?

obv I wouldn’t call him “misunderstood baby uwu” if we are talking a little more seriously —but to be fair jean is having possibly the worst week of his life. the car? fucking sunk. case? unsolved. not to mention his close partner (who is also an ass mind you) doesn’t even remember him, already running around with a new one.

yeah he is absolutely foul and aggressive and degrading harry but like i said before (in my tag essay lol) judit also makes ableist comments and i don’t see people hating her because she’s outwardly nice—

and respects harry as her superior. her BOSS.

(also a friend with benefits? /nope, it’s just him harassing judit/ as well but not as a complicated relationship compared jean and harry’s brötherbund. only a few months of acquaintanceship.)

plus it’s highhlyyy likely that harry is not the only one substance abuse. —look at jean’s rudolf-looking-red-ass-nose. a drunkard’s sniffers. probably had few lines with him late at night… when your lifetime partner is an alcoholic it's hard to say no.

about the left for dead thing, they left because harry told them to fuck off. tbh harry is nightmare to work with esp pre-bender. (and am saying as a pathetic little unmedicated neurodivergent woman.)

but when the second time they left revachol was not jean’s fault, and it was judit’s suggestion anyway. the squad probably thought that since harry had someone a little more responsible looking after him. it will be fine when they come back. the tribunal was absolutely unaccounted for.

yet despite all of these things, he will try to come back to make sure he is ok and accommodate harrier to the best of his abilities which is wearing very thin. look at him trying to make up to our harry boy:

anyways am incapable of writing coherent thoughts (even though i want to talk about it for hours) that make sense so go look at sygneth’s jean psychological analysis instead. it is an excellent read. please go read.

#op might wanna get their eyes or head checked lol. they looked at a little too much fanart. #+do not interact with the original poll. don’t look it up. it’s not worth it. don't give it traction. don't attract drama. #am sure op is just a troll. prob barely spent any time playin/readin DE. not that i am that much media literate but still... #i am sure there are things i left out. oh well... #i know that you need high EDC build run or lotta reading to understand so his “lore” so is kinda gatekept-- #but it’s frustrating to see shit takes like this lmaoo #also don’t get me wrong i like judit. she is a tired working woman w/ a pathetic husband + 2x children. she just wanna grab jean & go home. #p.s stella as in stella from ‘‘helluva boss’’. idk didn’t like its S2 i think she coulda been more complex character. #but not everything needs to be deep and meaningful i guess. simple villains are ok. #her anger is justified towards her husband’s infidelity but she’s kind of a dumb royal brat. esp in s2. just calls of his assassination rig #heron vs secretary #angry bird vs angry bird shit fr beuh #disco elysium #jean vicquemare #jean posting #jean heron vicquemare #loyal is the he… #no. am not tagging HB or stella. #kinda long #longish post #cryptid rambles

[thesokovianaccords]

#steggyweek23 - day three - aus and crossovers

"i'm not the queen, you know. you're allowed to touch me."

or...a steggy bodyguard au

#steggy #steggyedit #steggyweek23 #steggyfanevents #listen...I am a simple woman with simple needs #and p much all of them are fulfilled by powerful women and the handsome men who'd die for them #no I'm not posting these late and out of order mind ya business #also no this will not be as sad as the actual show bc I refuse to do that to them and to me #but the DRAMA OF IT ALL - the ANGST THE REPRESSION #I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED

[katierosefun]

actually as much as i love mike and harvey together. i feel so sad for rachel zane because imagine falling in love with your coworker and then you learn that your coworker is a fake lawyer but not only that, your coworker is a fake lawyer who would literally do anything for his boss. he'll literally leave you at the altar to go to prison for his boss. he'll try to quit his job multiple times but keep coming back because his boss asked him to come back. he'll move to seattle with you, and you'll breathe a sigh of relief because it means that it can finally just be the two of you, but then you learn that he's inviting his stupid former boss to join them. and his stupid former boss agrees. you smile because your husband is so stupid happy at the idea of working with his former boss again, but you've seen this film one too many times before, and you are going to be subject to watching your husband choose his stupid former boss-slash-friend over you again and again and again and again and again and ag

#caroline talks #suits #LIKE? ? ??? rachel zane babes i love u but i hope you've divorced mike ross by now <333 #like i'm so sorry girlie!!! your husband loves u i'm sure but also he's been playing stupid chicken with this guy he's been in love with #for YEARS NOW!!!! #it's also like. uh. you KNOW that harvey wouldn't do anything with mike while mike's married to rachel because of ALL THAT BAGGAGE HE HAS-- #and i don't think mike would ever do anything to harvey because HE knows how much baggage harvey has #like. in my head. yeah they're all living together in seattle and rachel's just like ':/// i need to divorce this man bc we could move to #literally antarctica and mike would still find a way to drag harvey along. #and the crazy thing is that harvey would probably FOLLOW HIM.' #like. the way i'm not even exaggerating what happens in the show too?? ? ? #like we have literal scenes of rachel crying and begging mike to just LET HARVEY GO #and to just CHOOSE HER #and mike is always just like '!!! HOW DARE YOU TELL ME TO GIVE UP ON HARVEY' #and it's like. ilysm mike u crazy silly man <333 but also like. i think it's fairly reasonable of the woman you're marrying #to ask you to choose her over your boss slash buddy. y'know? #like. it's not even like rachel and mike are a cute simple girlfriend-boyfriend. #they are literally ENGAGED and they are literally supposed to START A LIFE TOGETHER-- #and mike is still going ':((( i can't leave harvey behind' like actually rachel babe i am SO SORRY

[camellia-thea]

And these——the dreams—writhed in and about, taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the echo of their step.

Edgar Allen Poe, the Masque of the Red Death

lighting study from episode two of the fall of the house of usher

#the fall of the house of usher #the masque of the red death #verna #art #my art #feather draws #been a hot second since I’ve painted anything but verna…. I am but a simple gay. I see pretty morally dubious woman and I fall in love #the lighting in this scene is a lot but it’s also so pretty

[safyresky]

#dani speaks #also this #cackling. GET HIS ASS #the santa clauses #olga #magnus antas #mad santa #plz excuse the shitty screenshots lmao. i am a simple woman #i use my mouse and my snippy app #tscs

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Gosh I hope Frida's new design means we'll get to see her having a Kaisa parallel arc. I hope we see her building her magic and her confidence like they're one and the same. I hope whatever happened to Kaisa to make her so repressed and insecure, happens to Frida so she gets to take the exact opposite path. Now that she saw what happens when you grow up worried about disappointing the person who raised you and not living up to the expectations of those around you, I hope we see her letting it all go and choosing herself. God, I hope she takes Kaisa's "I'm not the witch you taught me to be" and bends it into "I'm the person I want to be" with her own bare hands. I hope for it so hard.

#remember when Kaisa was literally positioned as Kaisa's shadow in the s1 opening and we thought nothing of it #Fools that we were #this is obviously also brought to you by me overthinking waddles' colour post #I am a simple woman. I see a meta that I like and I let it grow inside my mind like a bacteria culture #this one is resistent to penicilin and everything. growing healthy like a MRSA sample #chaos coven #hilda s3 #kaisa hilda #frida hilda #the librarian hilda

[xoxoemynn]

I recognize this shouldn't be my takeaway, but the way Kraken!Ed shouts NEXT! is fucking hot.

#devastating and troubling and concerning? yes #hot? also yes. #I am a simple woman #ofmd #Edward Teach #emynn.op

[redundantz]

Bro I'm gonna be honest...

I haven't played Baldur's Gate 3 yet but my TikTok's been swarmed by Astarion content and your doodles of him have firmly pushed him into the blorbo pathetic meow meow of a man I luv him category and I am now going to get Baldur's Gate 3 for two reasons:

So I can boink the Mindflayer and torment my boyfriend with 'I fucked Cthulu good' jokes (a joke between us is that I'd diddle Cthulu).

Astarion.

these are all the correct reasons

its almost sad how fast i went from oh i guess there is a cool new game out ..

to

I NEED TO PLAY THIS RIGHT NOW.

#im a simple woman #i see silly goofy vampire who can also be sinister i am done for #ask #redundantz ask #bg3 #baldurs gate 3

[tiktowafel]

y'know how some people in 1a have costumes designed by the same people? like Bakugo and Uraraka or Kaminari and Jiro? bc i was wondering whether some 1b characters could also share costume designers.

for example i think that Kendo's and Rin's costumes could be designed by the same person! they both take inspiration from chinese clothing and have similar slanted collars, maybe it's a thing the designer includes in all of their costumes, similar to how the Kami&Jiro designer always uses black leather jackets in theirs

Honenuki's costume looks very similar to Sero's costume so i think that they also share the same designer, along with Kirishima. on the other hand i wouldnt be surprised if it was the Iida designer instead (though i still think the resemblance to Sero is a bit stronger with the visor helmet and black + warm color palette which is also shared with Kirishima)

Mina's, Tsuyu's, Momo's and Mineta's costumes are also made by the same designer and from the 1b costumes i think Setsuna's is the most likely to be also made by them, because it's skin-tight, like all the mentioned costumes, and made of DNA-infused fabric which i believe is a trait shared by Mineta's suit (otherwise it would stick to the balls). it also features a mask similar to the ones Mineta and Mina wear

#yeah thats it i cant think of anything else #tell me if you have any other ideas #i also considered kuroiro sharing his designer with tokoyami #but tokoyamis costume is so simple that i prefer to think he made it himself #class 1b #bnha #tikto's textposts #tikto's headcanons #honestly its both #ah yeah i forgot to tag the characters. what a smart woman i am #itsuka kendo #hiryu rin #juzo honenuki #setsuna tokage

[pandolfo-malatesta]

#this man is living rent-free in my head #Karl Weissman #Charles Whiteman #Bodies Netflix #also this cap ticks many boxes for me: #classic cars; lens flare; dark-haired man in suit #I am a simple woman

[the-eyes-of-andyserkis]

This moment.

When Kino looks back at Cassian I've always felt that he was saying: "Ask me one more time."

#this show #this SHOW #this FUCKING show #how many guards on each level #never more than twelve #also that LOOK #absolute goosebumps #the whole thing #kino loy #cassian andor #andor #andy serkis #diego luna #also because i am nothing if not a simple woman #his NOSE #😭

[strywoven]

in this , the month of love , i come purely to mention that kaen - for as much as they seethe in HATE & CONTEMPT - has their roots steeped in this overwhelming need to love and be loved. kaen truly is an example of someone who is fit to bursting with love and absolutely nowhere to put it ( don't you dare suggest they turn it onto themself , that's silly-talk ! ) . i want you to understand that kaen is sentimental and a natural romantic in EXTREMES ; they take these things SERIOUSLY . and they tend to feel things rather deeply , managing to fall in love easily and quickly , thus always getting their heart broken without meaning to.

kaen , too , is what one may call a "simp" , for femme-presenting / female persons , specifically. they cannot help but feel inclined to praise , to show off , to try and charm the socks off of any lady they see ( with varying results , of course ) .

#❧ ⸺ ch. kaen | headcanons ❞ #am i outting them rn? #yeah - yeah i am #kaen's simple joy is making women laugh/smile #they will not hesitate to jump on the simping bandwagon i'm telling you they're SO STUPID ABT IT #kaen is a chronic woman-enjoyer and i will forever remind you of this fact #singing to women? making them food? performing feats of valor for them? oh bet your bippy they've DONE IT ALL #and will continue to do so #kaen also just loves love #it's actually tragic--

[ot3]

As important as i think it is to understand that not everyone at risk of an unwanted pregnancy is a woman, and use appropriate language to reflect that, i also think it is really critical that we do not let trans-inclusivity stop us from understanding or articulating that overturning roe v. wade is an act that is intended to harm women categorically. 

It’s not all-encompassing. obviously there are plenty of women who can’t get pregnant, regardless of assigned sex. obviously some people who get pregnant are not women. But we do need to discuss the fact that it’s legislation designed to harm and control women, because the desire of the christian right always has been and always will be to make women (and by extension, people they view as women) second class citizens.

and if we can’t find a way to recognize and talk about the ways in which women as a social category are still at risk and being specifically targeted then we de facto cede the entire feminist movement to violent transphobes. which i really really do not want. regardless of any personal identity politics and pontificating about what it does or doesn’t mean to be a woman, there is still a cultural concept of who and what women are that we do not have the luxury of fully opting out of even if we’d really like to. we have to be able to simultaneously discuss macro-scale gender politics And individual identity if we want to have a trans-inclusive feminist movement, rather than just a trans inclusive movement Or a feminist movement.

#if this post starts to pick up at all i am just going to delete it #need to get this one off my chest but i do not want to deal with the discourse it will inevitably bring if it breaches containment #but like. if you see some well-meaning cis woman say 'its a scary time to be a woman' she's not wrong and not necessarily being transphobic #just because it is also scary for people who Aren't women doesn't mean we can categorically abandon women as a marginalized class of people #who are worth discussing as a whole. #because yes it is a scary time to be a woman. #and that includes trans women! because obviously as much as the christian right likes to claim they view them as men they categorically dont #discussing the positioning of trans people in the eyes of a cultural force that refuses to recognize them is insanely difficult but #it is work that Can be done without us filling in 'afab' whenever they say 'women' because its just not that simple #the cultural politics of gender will not line up with the intra-community politics of gender for a very very long time

[blurglesmurfklaine]

omg I need to hear your thoughts on teachers!Javey because that makes my brain go BRRRRRRR

OKAY OKAY OKAY SO. I can already tell this is going to be long winded so. apologies.

To understand why Teachers!Javey has a grip on my two brain cells like a dog has on his chew toy, we must first understand the types of students they are.

---

Jack Kelly is never really the stereotypical "good" student. He's a ward of the state, probably has some sort of undiagnosed learning disability that all his teachers attributed to him being a poor student with lousy attendance. Reading and writing is difficult for him from an early age, and he's okay with math until they introduce fucking word problems--what is that about? Why are they putting reading in math?

Every teacher from first to fifth grade he has can see that when Jack speaks to his peers, he's intelligent. He's a natural born leader and trend setter amongst the students. It's such a shame he's wasting his potential. It's such a shame that he never finishes his exams on time, and chooses to waste time doodling in the margins instead. It's such a shame he's only ever at school half the time, the other half out and about doing God knows what.

It's such a shame that every single teacher he had for the first eleven years of his life just assumed his failure was a deliberate choice.

But he finds solace in arts and craft time in elementary, and then is delighted to find out he can have art class every single day, for an entire period in middle school.

Teachers get meaner in middle school. Jack's smart mouth gets smarter--or dumber, according to his seventh grade History teacher, who loudly announces that Jack has the lowest grade out of everyone in his class. Jack stops showing up to History after that, but manages to scrape by with a C by convincing this girl, Katherine, to do his work for him, and he'll finish her art project she needs to get her Fine Arts credit.

(They date for a while and ofc decide they're better off as friends)

He meets Miss Medda his freshman year of high school, because the counselors screwed up his schedule and put him in Theatre instead of Art for his elective class. He needs remedial English Language Arts and Reading classes, both of which are during the only Art classes his stupid school offers. But Miss Medda is kind, treats him with respect, and after Jack accidentally leaves his sketchbook behind, offers to let him do backdrops for her plays instead of having to act in them.

Jack really can't afford to make time for this kind of long-term project--he's got to walk his little brothers (who aren't... legally his brothers, but... it's easier to just call them his brothers) home from their school, and then helps them with their homework best he can because he's not going to let them struggle the way he does and Tony is starting to get in fights, which is really, really stressing Charlie out and--

Miss Medda offers to let them stay in the theatre while the younger kids work on their schoolwork and Jack on his paintings.

It's an excuse to stay away from the Refuge an hour longer. It's an offer Jack can't refuse.

It's Miss Medda who first suggests to Jack he might be dyslexic. Jack's never even heard that word before, but it sparks a light of hope in him. He's not stupid. He's just--wired differently.

A diagnosis is not easy to come by. Jack has no legal guardians who can request testing from the school on his behalf, and Mr. Snyder sure as hell isn't going to shell out the money to do it third party. Miss Medda says she's doing it to streamline the testing, but when Snyder calls him in to say she's requested to foster him, Race, and Charlie, it takes every ounce of Jack's willpower not to cry right then and there.

School was never easy for Jack, and it still isn't, but it's amazing how much easier it becomes when he's got something that resembles a home. A soft bed, with clean sheets. A diagnosis. A family.

College is a possibility. It becomes a reality when Medda helps him submit his application to NYU.

Even though he's an art major, he's got to take basics. A computer that can read his assignments to him helps get him through with flying colors.

Medda assures him he doesn't have to do this for her. He's not. He's doing it for the fourteen year old Jack who needed a teacher like Miss Medda--and now, one like him.

---

David Jacobs is the stereotypical "good" student. Math, Science, History--it all comes incredibly easy to him from a young age. But especially Reading and Writing.

He finishes assignments early for the sole purpose of having more free time in class that he uses to read. Six years in a row, he's the top reader in his entire district, even beating out kids in high school starting from the seventh grade.

Students adore him, teachers love him, and his parents are proud as they could be.

Most kids are impressed. Some think he's doing it to show off, but he does it because there's nothing else he'd rather be doing. No amount of parties or dances can measure up to the way the ending to Of Mice and Men broke his heart, or the way Jodi Picoult's Leaving Time put it back together.

He loves analyzing the worlds he's being sucked into, highlighting passages that make him feel a certain type of way, and analyzing them to understand what makes them so powerful. He loves the power authors give their readers--to escape this world, to find meaning in theirs.

When he gets accepted to Colombia, it just makes sense for him to be an English major.

And he loves every second of it.

He loves writing papers and sticking to the most outlandish interpretations of Kafka, joining the campus newspaper club--even all the terrible peer reviews he has to do. He adores it all.

And then he graduates.

Magna Cum Laude, of course.

And David's not really sure what to do.

And a few months of crashing on friends' couches until he can get something published turns into a year turns into eighteen months turns into "Don't sweat it, you'll find something," and "Hey, I know a guy at The World who'd love to have you write columns," and if one more person tells him about the twelve publishers who rejected Harry Potter, he is going to pop a vein.

And then he's working for a Tax Attorney's office as a secretary and he hates every stupid minute of it, but it pays the bills for about a year before the office downsizes due to an actual fucking pandemic and decides he's the first to go.

He crashes with Sarah until quarantine is over. Then he spends another year working odds-and-ends jobs to help her with rent because he is not a freeloader with an English degree, for fuck's sake.

Sarah sends him a listing for a teaching position at a district in Brooklyn. Alternative Certification paid for by the campus. Eleventh Grade English.

It's a steady income, and he has an entire year to get his teaching certificate.

David applies for the position, not expecting to even really be considered, but in this teacher shortage--all the school is looking for, really, is a warm body.

David accepts the job.

He's always been good at school.

---

There's a weird, lanky looking guy who comes into Jack's class unannounced, accompanied by the academic dean, who informs Jack (with absolutely no heads up) that Mr. Jacobs is their newest English teacher and needs three more hours of live Observations before he's allowed to begin his classes.

Jack is less than thrilled at being observed for the last half of the day, but Mr. Jacobs smiles awkwardly and waves and that’s the end of that. Jack is instantly endeared by this guy who is way in over his head.

The academic Dean leaves, and Mr. Jacobs retrieves a binder and notebook from his messenger bag. As Jack resumes his lesson, the newest teacher takes fastidious notes throughout.

Jack has to actively try not to smile when one of his students goes to Mr. Jacobs for help with a guided practice warm up sketch. Mr. Jacobs seems surprised, but easily answers the questions best he can.

At least this new guy seems to care.

---

At the end of the day, David gathers his things into his bag and heads towards Mr. Kelly, extending his hand. “Thanks so much for this, Mr. Kelly. I really appreciate it.”

“Call me Jack.” He takes David’s hand.

“David.”

“Nice to meet you, Davey.” David’s stomach does a funny little flip at the nickname. It rolls off of Jack’s tongue so casually, so easily, that David doesn’t even feel the need to correct him. “If ya have any other questions, lemme know.”

David digs a pen out of his front pocket and extends it to Jack. “No questions, but could I get your signature on my observations sheet?”

“‘Course.”

The pen passes between their hands and with it, a bolt of electricity David wonders if he’s imagining, but hopes he isn’t.

He is not ogling the muscles of Jack’s hands as they sign the papers, and he’s definitely not noticing the way Jack’s smock hugs his waist where it’s tied behind his back, or the way his rolled up sleeves seem to broaden his shoulders.

“I noticed you have pictures detailing the steps on each of your assignment packets,” David says, redirecting his train of thought towards something work-appropriate.

“Reading ain’t so easy for all kids.”

Jack says it like it’s the simplest explanation in the world, with a shrug and an inherent understanding of this demographic that David lacks.

He hands the pen back to David, along with the paperwork, now donning his signature is messy script letters.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. I’m down the hall.” David has never been particularly boy crazy, but even he is not immune to the charms of Jack’s radiant smile. “If you ever need anything, Davey.”

It’s an offer for mentorship, not a marriage proposal. And still, color rises to David’s cheeks, despite his best efforts to remain cool.

“I’ll uh, see you around.” The words come out high and strangled in his throat, eliciting the widening of Jack’s already knee-weakening, cocky, shit eating grin, but David still hopes there’s truth to them.

It’s clear he has a lot to learn from Jack.

---

Jack pops in to Davey’s room once during his own lunch, and is delighted to find out Pulitzer High’s newest addition has the same period off.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Davey is smart as a whip, he’s passionate, he’s organized (which comes in handy on a Teacher Work Day. Davey spends some time helping Jack organize supplies, and Jack hangs up art and decorations he’d made for Davey’s room).

He finds out that teaching wasn’t always in the plan for Davey, it was just something he sort of fell into. And still, Jack can see the effort he puts into his lesson plans, the quick way he’s learning the ropes and never makes the same mistake twice.

Jack knows teachers who’ve been doing this for years, and don’t have the dedication to self-improvement that Davey has.

And not that Jack is into the habit of checking out his coworkers, but Davey sure as hell ain’t ugly.

He's got a smile that makes you feel like a winner, if you've earned one from him, and he's surprisingly strong (as Jack found out on the aforementioned Teacher Work Day, his mind sputtering and stalling like a dying car when he saw Davey haul out three huge boxes of art supplies from his closet).

Lunch together becomes a regular thing. Which means Davey has words to say about Jack's typical lunch--or lack thereof. One day, Davey unceremoniously presents Jack with a Tupperware of latkes.

“Eat,” he orders.

Jack side eyes him. “I got lunch right here.”

“Cup-O-Noodles is not a meal.”

“Lunch doesn't have to be a meal.”

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Oh, so you've never heard yourself speak?"

"Shut up and take the damn potatoes."

They're heavenly and damn delicious.

In return, Jack brings him a tub of spaghetti the next week.

"Eat," he mimics. Davey gives him a withering glance and Jack clarifies. "It's my ma's recipe. You won't regret it."

"Ah, so you can be a functioning adult," Davey teases. "You just choose not to."

Because Jack's got exactly two brain cells, and both of them are focused on Davey taking an uncharacteristically messy bite of the meal Jack's prepared for them, he says, offhandedly, "I choose to, for you."

Davey nearly coughs up his spaghetti, but doesn't mention it again.

Other than that, things at Pulitzer High are great. Quiet, even. Easy.

And then they get The Memo.

---

“I honestly don’t see what’s so bad about becoming a charter school.”

“Davey,” Jack hisses. Even though Jack seems upset, it doesn't stop the warmth in his stomach at hearing the nickname. “Davey, Davey, Davey. Charter schools get public funding, but they get to decide which kids stay and which kids go. Those signs that say 100% passing rates of standardized testing? It’s because they kick out anyone who can’t meet it. Including kids with LDs and 504 plans. It ain’t right.”

“Shit, I didn't know that. That's fuckin' awful."

"On top of that, you don't have to be certified to be hired."

"I'm not certified," Davey points out.

"Yeah, but you enrolled in one of them ACPs--so you will be. Charter schools don't require the year grace period because they don't require certification. Look, I'm not saying that every teacher in this country is perfect, or hell, even at this school. But it takes a lot of effort to get certified--even if it's not a perfect system--and I don't think it's something we should bypass. If Pulitzer goes Charter, Admin determines your hours, not the board. And kids with lower income households and undiagnosed LDs are gonna bear the brunt of these so-called higher standards. They'll fall right through the cracks, and ain't nothing we can do about it."

A tense silence falls between them, and Davey isn't quite sure how to respond. He doesn't disagree with anything Jack's said, now that he's informed, but he's at a loss regardless.

"I... Sorry, this sorta shit just gets me all worked up. I feel so... so stupidly helpless."

"No, no," Davey says quickly, reaching across the table to clasp Jack's hand in his. It comes automatically, before his brain has the good sense to cross it. Jack looks down at their twined hands, lips parted in what Davey thinks (hopes) might be a breathless gasp. "I get it."

Clearing his throat, he tears his hands away and tucks them beneath the table. He faces away, training his gaze to the creepy portrait of their school's namesake that's hung in the Teacher's Lounge and--

Shit.

Davey has an idea.

A big, stupid, risky idea.

A big, stupid, risky idea that might just be big and stupid and risky enough to impress Jack Kelly, who almost prides himself on being all those things.

"You know about Joseph Pulitzer?" Davey finally asks.

“Yeah, wasn’t he some big time publisher or something?”

“He was. He also tried raising newspaper prices for kids who made a living selling them.”

“Sounds like a real sweetie. Taking advantage of a buncha kids like that.”

“I mean, they did fight back. Gotta give them that credit.”

“They fought back? Against a giant like Pulitzer? How’d they manage that?”

“Well.” Davey turns to meet Jack’s gaze. “They went on strike.”

#javey #javid #jack kelly #david jacobs #newsies 2017 #newsies #I have…. more thoughts #livesies #so there might be a part two to this???? #or I might turn it in to a full out fic lmao lmk what y’all think #bc this is just kinda *waves vaguely* there #no beta we die like men #also sorry ive never written javey before so dont be mean pls #i havent written anything except klaine in like. ten years lasdjfhdjfsd PLS BE KIND I AM A SIMPLE WOMAN-ADJACENT PERSON