Something To Believe In: Prologue Part One

Something to Believe In: Prologue Part One

Pairing: n/a, this section will just be a backstory for newsie!reader.

Prompt: Newsies inspired Seventeen fic

Warnings: Implications of child labor and unsafe/unfair working conditions. All is safe during the time of the fic though.

Release Date: August 30, 2024

Summary:

It’s 1899 after the infamous Newsboys’ Strike in which Newsies of New York City successfully negotiated fair prices of newspapers. Tensions have finally ceased between the higher ups of the newspaper company, The New York World, and the lower employees, the Newsies, who work for them selling newspapers all across the city. You’re the leader of a smaller newspaper printing company based in Gramercy selling newspapers for the Gramercy Gazette. You love your job there but since the big strike, smaller newspaper companies are combining with bigger ones like The New York World, and you fear you might have to change neighborhoods soon. Still, you continue to lead your group of newsies and do the best to protect them out on the streets of New York City.

Prologue Part One: Another Day Carryin' the Banner

You woke up on your cot to the sound of distant church bells chiming. Being a light sleeper, you always woke up to the first church bells of the day. The sun had barely started to show its bright rays for the day but a bluish hue lit up the room. As your eyes adjusted, you could see everyone else sleeping in the close quarters you all shared. Next to you were three of your closest friends, all cuddled up in a singular bed meant to fit only one of them. No matter how uncomfortable it got, they refused to sleep anywhere else, loving the comfort that closeness offered them. A little further away, sleeping atop some blankets set atop the hard wooden floor, were some of the newer folks who joined us right after the big strike in hopes of a place with better working conditions than the factories from which they came. Against the wall, you spotted the youngest of your group, snoring loudly. She was cute as a button, only 6 years old, but was a natural at sellin’ papes. Whether they’d been there as long as you, or had just started yesterday, you considered all of them your family. You considered all Newsies to be your family but these ones was special. You’d never had anyone else to call family for as long as you could remember so you considered the Newsies yours. You didn’t care who they were or where they came from. You were just there to sell papes and be there for them. Help ‘em out whenever they need it. And stand up for them if necessary. 

You sat up on your cot, dangling your feet off so they touched the floor, and stretched your arms up to the ceiling. Another day of work and everyone was counting on you to wake them up. 

“Alright Newsies, let’s go! Another day, another dollar! Winks! Peggy! Laces! I know you three bums want an extra 5 minutes of sleep but not today!” you called out to all your Newsies. “Gramercy is gonna be awake soon so we better get a move on!” 

You always made sure to keep your neck of the woods on a tight schedule. That way you could always be on time to pick up your papes as soon as they were released from the Gramercy Gazette, or the GG as you called it, and you could beat the other boroughs to the streets to make your coin. As long as you kept to a schedule and made sure that the GG was making plenty of money to stay in business, you could ensure you are being the best leader of the Gramercy Newsies that you could possibly be. You’d worked your way up in the ranks since you started with the GG and you’d finally made it to the top… the top of the Newsie ranks, that is. But you were happy with that… for now.

Everyone started getting up and going about their morning routines, some bathing in tin wash basins, others shaving their faces, others braiding their hair up and out of their faces. You made your way out to the fire escape where you’d hung your clothes to dry the day before and grabbed a pair of trousers and a shirt. You put them on and then laced up your boots and put on your cap, backwards like you always wore it. After a little while longer, everyone else was ready to go too, and you led them all downstairs to the printing facilities to buy the day’s papes. 

Another day carryin’ the banner. With the big election coming up, you expected the papes to be full of political news stories- a topic that was thankfully more appealing than the trolley strike from a few weeks back. You quickly scanned the front of the paper and confirmed that it was some news story about a local politician trying to make his way up in the ranks and instructed everyone else to buy extra papes for the day, knowing they’d sell them easily. You’d begged one of the other newsies to teach you to read and write when you were younger- skills that most newsies did not possess- thinking that it might help you in the future. Evidently, that was a smart move. Now as their leader, you could advise the other newsies on how many papes they should buy, depending on the story on the front page. Even after the strike, knowing the GG would buy the papes back that weren’t sold, it was more of a convenience thing than anything, especially for those who were younger. 

You stepped up to the newspaper distribution window first and were faced with Mr. Dimer, a kind, older gentleman who sold you your newspapers every day.

“Right on time, y/n,” he grinned. “I can always count on you for that.” 

“I’d never be late for you, Mr. Dimer,” you smirked. 

“And you can always count on me to make sure you all start your day on a full stomach,” he said, pulling out a basket of apples from behind the counter and setting them in front of you. “Pass these out, kid.” 

“Mr. Dimer, you really didn’t have to…” you say, though you knew the old man would always buy you and the other newsies whatever you needed. 

“Take them, I insist!” he told you with a smile. 

“Thank you,” you said, nodding your head and taking the basket. You instructed the other newsies to start handing them out while you fished in your pocket for some coins. You set a few on the counter, “I’ll take five stacks please.” 

He took the coins and gave you five bundles of newspapers but you noticed a sad look in his eyes. Your eyebrows furrowed. 

“What’s the matter, eh?” you asked him quietly, leaning in so that the others couldn’t hear you. 

“I’m not supposed to say anything, but you know I love you kids. I just can’t keep anything from you,” he told you. 

“What’s the problem? Whatever it is, we can fix it. It’ll be fine,” I assured us both. 

“I’m sure you heard about it by now, kid, but since the strike, tons of newspaper companies are getting taken over by The New York World and-”

“What are you saying? Gramercy’s getting taken over by them too? We’ll still be okay though, right?”

“I’m afraid this would mean the end of the Gramercy Gazette,” he told you solemnly. 

“What…?” was all that came out. Your mind became overloaded with concern. “What does that mean for us?” 

“Well, on the bright side, you kids will have it easy. You just need to get a job in a different borough. Say, I know a couple a guys in Brooklyn! We could help set ya up there in no time,” Mr. Dimer suggested. 

“I don’t wanna go to Brooklyn, I wanna stay here,” you told him, sternly. 

“You can stay here but you’ll be out of work with the GG. Your best bet is to get on the good side of the leader of a different borough and try to get everyone to transfer with you,” he sighed. “I’m so sorry, kid. I know how much this job means to you.”  

You sighed, thinking of how hard you had all worked for the GG. Surely this couldn’t be the fault of you and your newsies. You and the others worked so hard and you were certain you did well at your job. This had to be a problem with the higher ups. 

“How long do we have left here? How long until Gramercy is shut down?” you asked.

Mr. Dimer, look away from you, not wanting to meet your gaze, “You have until the end of this week.” 

Author's Note:

If you made it this far, I want to thank you!! I'm going to be completely honest, this part will probably be the most boring of all of them but I needed to set the story up somehow for my own sanity lol. I gotta get my ducks in a row when I'm writing ya know? Anyway, I will hopefully update soon so I hope you stick around or maybe you would rather come back in a little while after the fic is complete. It's all the same to me. Thanks again and I'll talk to you in the next one! :)

Masterlist

ot13

Doing wintery things with you

Something to Believe In

Vocal Unit

Nothing here yet!

Hip Hop Unit

Nothing here yet!

Performance Unit

Nothing here yet!

Seungcheol

Nothing here yet!

Jeonghan

Nothing here yet!

Joshua

Nothing here yet!

Junhui

Nothing here yet!

Hoshi

Nothing here yet!

Wonwoo

Nothing here yet!

Woozi

Nothing here yet!

Dokyeom

Nothing here yet!

Mingyu

Recital Day

Minghao

Nothing here yet!

Seungkwan

Nothing here yet!

Vernon

Forced Proximity

Dino

Nothing here yet!

Requests Open!!! :)

Seventeen doing wintery things with you

I tried to make this the least holiday specific that I could so that everyone can enjoy! :)

Seungcheol:

- would make sure you have all your layers on before you go out

- He does not want you to get cold🥺

- And then once you get outside he would keep checking to make sure you’re warm enough 

- He would also love to take you to a coffee shop 

- And y’all could sit in a window seat and drink coffee or hot cocoa and watch the snow fall 

- And tell each other about childhood holiday traditions 

- Imagine him insisting on reading a holiday book to you too

- He wraps an arm around you and reads it all dramatically 

- You’re just rolling your eyes the whole time but he’s knows you secretly enjoy it

Jeonghan:

- He would probably complain about how cold he is

- you would establish a “no snowballs in the face rule”

- He would proceed to throw a snowball directly in your face

- He wouldn’t even feel bad after

- After that you would not stop until you got your revenge

- Except every time you try to throw a snowball at him, you miss

- Ofc he just makes fun of you more for that 

- It gets to the point where Seungcheol has to hold him for you down so you can throw a snowball in his face

Joshua:

- You can’t tell me he doesn’t know all the present wrapping hacks

- His presently look the best and he wraps them so effortlessly 

- They’re aesthetically pleasing too 

- Like vintage, old looking, brown paper packages tied up with string type shit

- Also imagine this man taking you on an ice skating date 

- He would be so graceful like no way he’s falling

- Then if you fall or if you’re clinging to the side the whole time he would low key feel bad

- Or he would just try to teach you how to ice skate

- “I promise it’s not that hard! Here, just hold my hands. I’ll skate backwards. Just concentrate on me. There, you got it!” 

Jun:

- He would love to go sledding with you 

- He would be so happy just to watch you smile as he pushes you down a hill

- And he would insist on being the one to push you 

- Then you would ask him to sled with you

- “But I like watching you have fun.”

- “Please Junhui?” 

- “Okay fine.” 

- “Why are you grabbing another sled?” 

- “Uhhh because we’re going sledding together…?” 

- “Right. Together. With me in your lap.” 

- Imagine the blush on this mans face oh my god

- He would love it though

Hoshi:

- You would dare him to eat the snow

- He would absolutely do it

- Imagine his face if you jokingly told him it was yellow snow after he ate it too 

- This man would be mortified 

- The chaos that surrounds this man, I simply cannot

- Then he would be like “Well I ate the snow, now you gotta eat the snow.” 

- And you would refuse

- And he would keep trying to convince you and low key be mad

- But you would still refuse

- And he would probably pout

- Until you brought him inside and make cookies together or something

- And y’all could decorate them together

- But he would just keep decorating his as tigers

- Are we surprised?

Wonwoo:

- He’s got you covered with the hand warmers 

- Okay but imagine you’re out gift shopping and you realize how cold your hands are

- And as soon as he notices you rubbing them together he whips out his hand warmers from his own pockets

- And you’re like “But won’t your hands be cold.” 

- Then he slips one of his hands into your pocket, holding yours, and says “nope.” 

- Like you might look a little awkward but isn’t that adorable

- Honestly he doesn’t care that his own hands are cold as long as you’re comfortable

Woozi:

- Imagine he has you over at his studio 

- And you notice it’s not decorated 

- And you’re like Jihoon we gotta get festive

- So you suggest that you go get decorations and of course he can’t say no to you

- Off to the store you go 

- He only wants lights but you insist on buying it all: the lights, holiday knick- knacks, holiday pillows, ornaments, maybe a little tree, candles, blankets 

- And when you get back to the studio you decorate together 

- But the whole time he keeps insisting that decorating is not necessary 

- Of course you ignore him 

- And after he can’t help but notice how much more cozy it looks with all the decorations and you wrapped up in a blanket sitting on his couch with an “I told you so” look on your face 

DK:

- You can’t tell me that he’s not a fan of cheesy holiday movies

- Like the Hallmark ones

- You know when the holidays come around he always has the hallmark channel on

- Even if it’s just in the background

- They’re not even good movies but for some reason he loves them

- Imagine it’s a holiday movie musical too 

- You know he’s singing every song to you

- And he would probably try to get you to dance with him

- He would absolutely cry if it’s a sad movie

- Even if it’s only a little sad 

- Like imagine him crying over the Grinch

- He would have no shame either

Mingyu:

- He would definitely slip and fall on the ice

- Like y’all would just be holding hands, walking down the sidewalk

- And down he goes 

- He’d probably pull you down with him

- And you somehow always end up on top of each other

- This is almost bound to happen every time you go outside 

- He would feel so bad but also think it’s so funny 

- Then you would scold him about how clumsy he is and tell him he needs to be more careful

- And he would look at you with those puppy dog eyes and tell you that he probably has bruises from falling and he needs you to kiss them and make them better

- “You’re not getting any kisses from me until you start being more careful around icy sidewalks.” 

- As if the puppy dog eyes couldn’t get any bigger

- “But I need your kisses to make me better! I don’t even think I can stand up right now.”

-  “Then I guess you’ll have to stay here in the snow.” 

- He wraps his arms around you, momentarily trapping you there with him

- “And that means you’re staying with me….. Unless…”

- Then you kiss him on the cheek 

- “You missed.” 

- That little shit

- Then you kiss him on the lips and he releases you 

- He would make the best hot cocoa when you come back inside

- I’m sorry this one is so long, I love this man haha

Minghao:

- Picture this:

- You

- Minghao

- Evening time

- You’re outside and it’s snowing lightly

- You can hear distant holiday music

- There’s twinkling lights all around you

- Minghao puts his arms around your waist, pulling you in

- “Dance with me?” 

- You wrap your arms around his waist with the biggest smile on your face

- “If you insist.” 

- And then y’all dance together in the snow

- He twirls you around and everything

- Your head rests gently on his chest so that you can hear his heart racing, of course, because you’re there

- Then he softly kisses you on the top of your head

- It is perfection

Seungkwan:

- He would definitely have a snowman building contest with you 

- But no matter how hard you tried

- He would say his looks better 

- Even if it was a mere pile of leaves, a carrot, and a sad excuse for snow 

- He would also probably sing holiday carols to you while you build your snowmen

- Imagine if you kicked his over though

- He would be so mad

- This would probably result in a snow fight

- Or him putting snow down your shirt

- He would probably kick your snowman down too 

- This man is so petty omg 

Vernon:

- Unlike Josh, he cannot wrap presents to save his life

- Like imagine a simple box

- It takes this man 20 minutes to wrap it 

- He tries really hard too

- There’s a bow and everything 

- But like a really bad bow tied in an awkward knot

- And the wrapping paper ends up getting hella crinkled

- Somehow there ends up being tape all over that thing 

- And there’s still wrapping paper hanging off awkwardly on the side 

- His present wrapping: 1/10

- However, the gift: 10/10

- Absolutely listened to you say what you wanted when you were perusing some store

- Then he got Seungkwan to distract you while he bought you everything you said you liked 

- Even if you merely said something looked cute

- It’s now yours

- Thanks Vernon

Dino:

- Imagine you’re at the studio rehearsing something with Dino or watching him practice

- You know there’s a bit of a storm outside but you think you’ll be able to make it home fine

- You’re wrong lol

- Weather reports are saying that the roads are not safe right now 

- Essentially everyone is stuck where they are for the rest of the night (Please don’t come for me on the snow logistics, I spent most of my life in Florida.)

- Uh oh cLoSe prOxiMitY trOPe

- Dino is like hey it’s okay we can make little party out of it

- He goes to grab blankets and pillows that the boys conveniently stored there 

- And then you suggest that you make a fort to sleep in because you’re a little scared due to the howling winds outside

- He agrees and you make a huge fort with some chairs and your amazing fort making abilities

- At night the studio ends up getting really cold too so uh oh the only thing you can to do keep warm is cuddle with each other

- He’s kind shy about it at first too 

- But you initiate the cuddling because you’re freezing, wrapping your arm around him from behind and pulling him in

- Then he scoots back a little so you can feel his body heat which helps a lot

- Eventually you entangle your legs together and fall asleep holding each other

Something to Believe In- Masterlist

Pairing: newsie!svt x newsie!reader

Genre: Historical romace taking place in the early 1900s.

Warnings: Strong language, implications of child labor and unfair/unsafe working conditions, violence, and bullying. (I will update when I write more lol.)

Release Date:

Started: August 30, 2024

Finished: Still in progress

Summary:

It’s 1899 after the infamous Newsboys’ Strike in which Newsies of New York City successfully negotiated fair prices of newspapers. Tensions have finally ceased between the higher ups of the newspaper company, The New York World, and the lower employees, the Newsies, who work for them selling newspapers all across the city. You’re the leader of a smaller newspaper printing company based in Gramercy selling newspapers for the Gramercy Gazette. You love your job there but since the big strike, smaller newspaper companies are combining with bigger ones like The New York World, and you fear you might have to change neighborhoods soon. Still, you continue to lead your group of newsies and do the best to protect them out on the streets of New York City.

Author's Note:

This fic was a random idea that myself and one of my friends developed recently and I decided to take the reigns and try it out. As an avid theatre person and carat, I thought the combination of Seventeen as newsies would make for an interesting story. Like imagine Seventeen wearing newsie clothes and dancing in the streets. I would pay good money to see that. But instead of begging Pledis for something that's never going to happen, you can just pop open Tumblr and read my fic for free lmao. I have never done anything like this but I love writing and I love Seventeen of course so I will try to update the parts as soon as I can. I am going to start off with a couple of parts that get the story going and then it will split off into parts that ship the reader and the individual members. Also disclaimer: this is historically accurate as I can make it but I'm no history expert. It's just supposed to be for fun. I also apologize if there are mistakes or writing errors. Anyway, I hope you enjoy as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

Links:

Prologue:

Prologue Part One: Another Day Carryin' the Banner

Prologue Part Two: Welcome to Newsies Square

Chapters:

Seungcheol (Nothing here yet!)

Jeonghan (Nothing here yet!)

Joshua (Nothing here yet!)

Junhui (Nothing here yet!)

Soonyoung (Nothing here yet!)

Wonwoo (Nothing here yet!)

Jihoon (Nothing here yet!)

Minghao (Nothing here yet!)

Mingyu (Nothing here yet!)

Dokyeom (Nothing here yet!)

Seungkwan (Nothing here yet!)

Hansol (Nothing here yet!)

Chan (Nothing here yet!)

Vernon- Forced Proximity

Vernxnsfool this post is definitely not for you. <3 

Hello fellow Carats! This post is purely mind vomit so enjoy. Also I am open to suggestions for what happens next cause I have no ideas. Stay healthy and snazzy! :)

You were lucky you had a year’s worth of subway trips attached to the metro card you carefully tucked back into your wallet. You would hate it if you had to walk to every single open call audition you attended and the subway just makes your life easier, even if it is teeming with germs, sketchy characters, and most definitely no space to feel fully comfortable. Traveling from Washington Heights to the center of the city was a mildly long trip and you were always sure to have your pepper spray and taser close at hand in case anyone tried to fuck with you. Besides that, you always wore a glare on your face that you hoped would keep people away in the first place. 

The subway was quite full this morning with early morning business people with their coffee, plenty of tourists, the occasional musician that hopped on to play a song or two- it was New York City and nothing really surprised you anymore. When you first moved here after college, it was a bit of a culture shock but you’ve gotten used to it and even grew to love it. 

The subway came to a stop, not yours quite yet. You watched as some people got off and a new set of people got on, crowding up the subway cart even more. You held onto the metal pole in the subway as the voice overhead instructed, shifting in your Doc Martens- a signature choice for any audition you attended- as the subway lightly jolted you around. You were practically shoulder to shoulder with the people next to you, sharing the pole in front of you with many other hands, which agitated your claustrophobia a bit and kept you on high alert to the people around you. 

The subway passed through a particularly rocky part underground and everyone shifted with it, careful not to lose their balance. A lady in business attire standing to your left, having a loud and somewhat obnoxious conversation with an earpiece, lightly bumped into you but she didn’t seem to notice. You rolled your eyes at her and shifted your feet slightly away from her towards the figure standing next to you. Almost immediately, you felt them step on your foot and pull away after a half-assed apology, which annoyed you even more. What is it with everyone getting in your personal space today? You heard a phone ring to your right and the person answered. 

“Yes I’m on my way…. “ The deep voice sounded agitated, as if he was running late, or maybe he hated standing so closely to other people as much as you did. “Well tell him that it's not my fault he forgot his… Do you want me to get there even later than-” 

Out of nowhere, the subway violently lurched forward coming to a stop and you held on tightly to the pole catching yourself. The person to your right was not nearly as lucky. Having not been holding onto the pole at all, he put his hands out to catch himself, though it was not his hands that caught his fall, but your chest. Once he noticed where his hands were, he quickly removed them, as if he had just touched something sweltering, and his face went a bright red. 

It was only then that you noticed the young man standing in front of you. He was about your age, maybe a little older, with short brown wavy hair that was pristinely swooped out of his face and effortlessly flawless skin. How he had only just now come to your attention was so beyond you and you had to stop yourself from staring too long. 

“I am so sorry,” he said slowly, looking at you with sincerity in his large brown eyes. You both stood there, staring at each other like a pair of idiots, waiting for the other to make the next move. You felt your cheeks get hot as well, not just because of the accidental interaction but because you felt an aggravating yet obvious attraction to this man. 

“The subway stopped,” you said simply, your attention suddenly drawn away to the other obvious situation at hand. “Shit! The subway stopped!” 

You weren’t running late but you always showed up to your auditions early enough to warm up. Who knows how long the subway was going to be stopped and if you would even make it to your audition at all. The New York City subways aren’t the most reliable in the world. Commotion and anxiety started growing amongst the subway passengers stuck in the cart with you and everyone started looking around and talking amongst each other worriedly. 

“Are you okay?” you heard the voice ask. You looked him in his eyes again, your heart picking up pace for some ungodly reason. “I swear it was an accident.” 

“You know there’s a reason you’re supposed to hold onto the poles,” you said, colder than you intended. You didn’t mean to be rude to him but it sort of just flew out. “They announce it like a million times before the subway takes off.” 

“Yeah… I know,” he said, sheepishly, breaking away from your gaze and placing a hand above yours on the pole. 

“So why did you choose to ignore it? My chest isn’t a stable part of this subway cart, believe it or not.” You were coming off harsh, maybe too harsh to someone who claimed it was an accident. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t choose to ignore it… I- I shouldn’t have… I’ve just had a rough day so far. Um… Call it a lesson learned?” he stuttered, half smiling. He honestly seemed sorry about it but you couldn’t fully trust a complete stranger. Something about him did seem familiar though, like you’d seen him at an audition or perhaps on a billboard in Times Square. 

“Sure,” you responded. You decided to pull out your phone to text your friend you were planning on meeting at the audition that you might be stuck in a subway for a little while. You removed your hand from the pole and reached into your bag but only felt your music binder and an accumulation of dance shoes. You felt around a little more and found it while the subway simultaneously lurched forward back in motion again. Helplessly, you fell towards the young man who caught you in his arms with ease. You looked up at him, feeling embarrassed and hypocritical while he, on the other hand, was trying to hide a bit of laughter. 

“Sweet Jesus, I am so sorry,” you said to him, regaining your balance and latching your hand back onto the subway pole. 

“Call it payback?” he suggested. “Are you alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” 

“I’m Vernon, by the way.”

A NEWSIES INSPIRED SEVENTEEN FIC?!?! My hyper fixation from when I was 12-16 meets my current true love!! I have thought about something like this for so long, I even have a note in my phone from a couple years ago with who in svt I’d cast as what characters. I can’t wait to read it!

Yes haha! I totally feel you, it’s a mash up of my favorite things too!! And I also casted svt as newsies in a note in my phone lmaoooo. Theatre people turned Carats are crazy. I’m so glad you’re as excited for it as I am! I am starting a new job next week but I will upload the next part as soon as I can :))))