#1983 he-man

[generic-doomsday-villain]

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

[stew-skys-husband]

I KNOW PONY SAID "OUR FATHER WAS AN ORIGINAL GUY" BUT REALLY?? SODA AND PONYBOY. NO ONE NAMES THEIR KIDS LIKE THAT (NO ONE SHOULD)

YOU KNOW WHAT THOSE NAMES SOUND LIKE? THE KIND OF NAMES A 3 YEAR OLD WOULD CHOSE.

NOW IMAGINE, 3 YEAR OLD DARREL, HOLDING HIS FATHER'S HAND AS THEY WALK INSIDE OF THE HOSPITAL ROOM. HIS FATHER HOLDS HIM UP SO HE CAN SEE HIS MOTHER IN THE BED. HE HAD BEEN EXPECTING THE BABY FOR SO LONG NOW. AND HE SEES HIM, HIS LITTLE BROTHER, ALL RED AND SMALL IN HIS MOTHER'S ARMS. HIS FATHER ASKS HIM: "THIS IS YOUR LITTLE BROTHER, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO NAME HIM?"

AND HE SAYS SODA. AND WHEN IT'S PONY'S BIRTH, IT'S SODA'S TURN TO CHOSE AND THAT KID IS SO HORSE OBSESSED HE COMES UP WITH PONYBOY.

[your-unfriendlyghost]

Dallas flirting with Soda is so funny to me 😭 cus Steve gets all jealous, and Dally is just making fun of him going, “I’m gonna steal your girl” while grinning and trying not to laugh his ass off, while Steve gets all mad.

No fr fr- Soda plays along a bit too, she likes feeling fought over lol

[brat-pack-it-up-boys]

Imagine being dally going to check on pony and Johnny and finding out they’ve been playing hair salon

[r0seb100d]

🍒 🚬 ♱ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .

[jamandjazz]

I think that most of the gang can cook. Just not well. Someone will make spaghetti that by all accounts should be fine but is somehow… chewy? Like is it technically edible? Yes. Will it be absolutely disgusting and horrible to eat? Yes.

[dallasgallant]

You know something that could be a bonding moment between Dallas and Steve is that neither of them appear to know what’s going on at any given moment

Huh?

[prncssangel]

i think about dallas calling pony "sleeping beauty" at least three times a day

[star-stages]

I found a new bean

[broareweabouttoviberightnow]

the gang using Darry for big dog privileges n Dallas for rabid dog privileges. do we see the vision

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

[generic-doomsday-villain]

hi guys. its been a Hot Minute since i posted something motu related. Well besides the Singular Skeletor Userbox

[retroillustrates]

Fantastic 6

[your-unfriendlyghost]

for the character asks: johnny, ponyboy

Since I answered Johnny here, I’ll just do Ponyboy here :))

How I feel about this character

  Ponyboy is the best, man. He’s tough, he’s cool, Bryon thinks he’s stuck up but really he’s shy. He seems sensitive to us and his gang but to the rest of the world he’s a scary hood.

  He’s a dreamer. He carries a switchblade. He memorizes poems. He’s a good fighter. He loves movies, and Paul Newman’s tough while he’s not. He’s good-looking and doesn’t know it. He’s small for fourteen. He has a good build. He behaves himself. He’s buddies with Mark Jennings and Dallas Winston. 

He’s a list of contradictions and it makes him feel like such a real person. He’s a wonderfully written, incredibly believable character. And beyond all that technical stuff- he’s just a good, relatable, interesting guy. 

  I needa do another post sometime about the Outsiders and masculinity, because Ponyboy is such a great example of a masculine male protagonist who gets to be soft sometimes without being taken less seriously. The way he interacts with his own masculinity and presents the masculinity of the gang is no small part of why I’m mostly secure in my own now- bc lemme tell ya, back when I first read the book I definitely wasn’t lol. But I am now, and honestly I owe a lot (a pathetic amount really) of that to Ponyboy and SE Hinton.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

  Uhh I guess Cathy Carlson, his (offscreen lol) gf in TWTTIN. It’s a boring answer I know. It’s just the most grounded/relatable (to me!) relationship he could be in rn. I don’t see it as particularly serious, but I think they’d be happy for a while. They’re not Steve x Evie level high school sweethearts, but I can see a universe where Ponyboy helps Cathy feel like herself again after Bryon’s whole…everything.

  I definitely think Pony had a crush on Cherry Valance. I know that’s also not the most interesting take but c’mon look at her! Her only flaw to me is her poor taste in men (/hj), who wouldn’t crush on her?? That said, I don’t think it went anywhere. …But sometimes I like to imagine them ending up being…something after re-meeting far from Tulsa, in university somewhere. Ik some folks are freaked out by the two-year age gap, but idk I feel like if folks ship Pony with Johnny- who has the same age gap- then it’s no big deal to ship hypothetical-college-age-Cherry with hypothetical-college-age-Pony

  I also could theoretically see something going on with Pony and Mark Jennings, although I don’t think it’d be very healthy. It’d be Ponyboy unconsciously looking for ghosts of Dally in a person who’s uncannily similar looking, and it’d be Mark seeking the structure Bryon gave him in the form of someone who’s also smart and book-loving. I think they’d be solid friends, but terrible partners. Neither would ever measure up romantically, because Pony never liked Dally romantically and Mark never liked Bryon either. They’d irritate each other after a while romantically I think. But as friends they’d be okay still I think??

Important caveat- I don’t think Markboy would happen unless it’s a Soda-in-Vietnam timeline. I don’t think Ponyboy’s mental health would get quite lousy enough for pursuing Mark romantically unless he didn’t have Soda by his side.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

  Soda honestly. He says it himself- he loves Soda more than anyone. Soda gets him in a way others don’t. 

  And also somewhat Cherry. She’s iffier because of the whole Soc/greaser situation, obviously, but I really do love the idea of them being close someday. I mean c’mon Pony knew her for an hour or two and was already spillin his guts lol, they clearly clicked

My unpopular opinion about this character

  Not exactly an unpopular opinion, but idk I hate when fanworks infantilize Ponyboy. And I’m not fond of when they make him seem like a soft kid like they do with Johnny too sometimes- he is a greaser, and he considers himself a greaser. Sure he doesn’t like violence, but he’s known for being a good fighter. He’s more innocent than the others, sure, but not…really, I don’t think? I think the thing that gets me about Pony is that he knows how bad the world can be, but chooses to “stay gold”. Like he has every reason to get tough, to get cold, but he doesn’t. Not because he isn’t tough or because he’s naive, but because he wants to look at the sunset. He’s a deeper thinker than most people are, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t as much of a hood as the others. I think we forget that he’s probably lifted things from stores, that he woulda joined Dally in pestering girls if they were greaser girls, and that he carries a switch most of the time…I guess what I’m saying is is that to the rest of the world outside of the Curtis gang, Pony’s just as much a hoodlum as Curly Shepard. But he can still be sensitive and kind at the same time. That’s the point of the book really.

  Idk I sound like a real broken record, but I hate when folks soften Pony’s edges. 

  (Disclaimer again this is just my two cents, interpret everyone however you want b/c this is fandom and everyone’s takes on the characters are real to them!! This is just my preference lol)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

  I dunno, I’d have liked to see more of him in TWTTIN. But I think Pony ultimately served his role in the story well. He’s just such a wonderful character and I love him.

[brat-pack-it-up-boys]

Save me Spider-woman Angela and Mj ponyboy, save me

[jamandjazz]

“If you’re tough like me you don’t get hurt. You watch out for yourself and nothing— nothing can touch you.” What if I sob?