#darry curtis character analysis

[darrys-laundry]

i’m so sorry, someone sent me an anon and i accidentally deleted it.

i was trying to do far too many things at once while i was at work, but i did read what you said! and i have thoughts!

darrel curtis’ self-flagellation is so important to me, because he loves his brothers. he does.

there’s a stretch of time following everything that’d happened in windrixville, bob’s death, johnny’s, dally’s, etc. that darrel would let either of his brothers tear into him. he’d think he’d deserve it.

pony blames himself for their parents' death.

…if he’d just gotten that frosting for darry’s cake.

darry thinks, i’m the one that killed them. they brought me into this world, and i’m the one that took them out.

in trying to celebrate me, and the anniversary of my birth, they died.

if pony needed to take his anger, or his grief out on darry, darry would let him. he’d think he’d deserve that too.

he’d be still. because he’d hit pony first, after all, back in the middle of the dining room. it’d only be fair. an eye for an eye.

there’s a song off the twisters soundtrack i really like, by jake kohn and wyatt flores:

‘the clouds start caving in, and these walls are paper-thin,

counting all of my sins, like it’s judgement day,

locked in a household war,

battleground’s the living room floor,

i’m not sure what i’m fighting for,

but i’m tired of trying to be who you need me to be’

(in case you want to know, later lyrics include, ‘let the rain come pouring down, i’m not afraid to drown, just hope you make it out before i do,’ which i think is true. we know darry feels like he’s treading water, we know he thinks he’s ready to throw in the towel, but for as much as he’d blown up in runs in the family reprise, he’d still get his brothers into the lifeboat first, you know what i mean?)

wyatt flores’ discography actually goes very hard.

he has a couple songs that remind me of pony and darry’s dynamic:

‘you woke from a dream last night,

thought we had had that fight,

i finally said goodbye,

like you think i will,

you saw it clear as day,

backpacks in a chevrolet,

i can tell by the look on your face,

it’s still killin’ you,

i hate that you wonder,

if i still love you,

well, i don’t say it all the time,

god knows i never say it right,

right now feels like a damn good time to start,

i’d rather drown in the darkest water,

i’d rather burn in the devil’s fire,

than to ever think of tearing us apart,

i’d rather break my bones,

than break your heart’

which, like, in the book darry is haunted by the fact that pony has nightmares. he’d hate to be the reason. he’d hate to know that all of those things he’d said in the heat of the moment continue to terrorize pony in his dreams. and he’d fucking take it all back if he could.

(also, like, the parallel of ‘i’d rather burn in the devil’s fire,’ and ‘i try to keep you from the fire, but it’s me who’s getting burned.’ darrel says that shit because he’s mad, because he knows it’ll hurt, because it’s this voice in the back of his head that he’s tried to keep quiet, because he won’t let himself feel a goddamn thing, and then boom. he’d never leave his brothers like that.)

wyatt’s featured on ANOTHER song that’s so fucking darry:

‘another day, another regret,

try to remember how the night went,

oh, this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me it didn’t go well,

lost a couple of my friends,

and in the morning try to mend,

can’t fix what’s in pieces for my selfish reasons,

tryna run from myself,

i let a lot of people down,

they’re not surprised this time around,

they say i’m a ticking time bomb,

way too fucking far gone to probably get some help,

take me as i come,

or don’t take me at all,

i’m gonna let you down,

i’m gonna lead you lost’

anyway, yeah.

i hope this finds you anon!! sorry i deleted your ask, but yeah.

those are my thoughts.

[dallasgallant]

Pony’s got a huge case of “I just turned 14” brain but something about how their parents die and he just assumes Darry woke up one day and chose to be mean.

They ‘used to get along just fine’ before their parents died, I imagine they used to be able to see the similarities between them more clearly too. He sees the change in behavior and how Darry has to become a parent instead of a brother but it doesn’t quite click as to ‘why’ yet.

That has to hurt so much. That your brother suddenly becomes strict and prone to get onto you out of the blue when you’re hurting.

It has to hurt too that you have to change the way you act, focus on staying together and alive — take on all this worry and have your brother not see that just that you changed? Thinks you chose to be wound up all the time?

How they both get along better with the middle brother but don’t see how it hurts him because he gets both sides?

The dynamic change must’ve been so jarring to all of them, Darry’s a more ‘logic’ and ‘serious’ guy but I imagine he was a lot more light hearted and goofy when he still had the opportunity to be. Now being a brother is something he can’t afford to be. He’s stricter than their parents ever was but who wouldn’t be with so much fear?

[alaska-yippie]

Darry is really one of the most misunderstood characters in the whole book. He had so many pressures put on him when he was barely 20, and I feel like a lot of people forget how young that is. A lot of 20yr olds I just getting into collage, still living with their parents and Darry had to become a parent the day his parents died. he took on the responsibility of not just helping raise two teenagers, but being their full time guardian and that’s a lot of stress. Yes of course they all have flaws, no one is without, but he’s labeled to quickly as mean boring or uncaring. He cares so much and the way he shows it is why he gets to be considered mean. He wants ponyboy to be able to get somewhere In life, to get the opportunity him and soda never really had. But he wants it so bad that he pushes to hard, in return stressing pony out. He doesn’t show the affection required for a relationship because he’s so focused on having him get raised up right. I think it’s so unfair that he gets the label uncaring especially because he cares so much, it says he got no sleep over the week ponyboy was gone, constantly looking for him and worrying. Justice for Darrel Curtis.

This is just something I was thinking about and decided to write down, sorry if it’s bad it’s midnight and I was just pondering fr

[sodapopboy]

we talk about darry feeling guilty about setting off the chain of events in the book by slapping ponyboy but consider dally. (i’m pretty sure you guys have)

when he asks “so this is what you get for helping people” after johnny dies, he isn’t just referring to how johnny dies after helping the kids in the church, but also how he helped them by giving them money, a gun, and a place that was falling apart to stay in

i’m pretty sure this is. common knowledge. but sometimes i feel like darry resents dally in the way that they both had their contributions to johnny’s death and dally’s own, he can’t blame dally and if he does he blames himself the same amount tenfold (it took darry months to even stand in front of the poor excuse of a headstone they gave dally)

but darry also relates to dally in a sick way. two men on the same, greaser side of town but opposite walks of life find common ground on one thing (even if they don’t know it), and it’s the way they take fault for the death of the most unfortunate member of their group.

[sparklingcid3r]

CW: discussions of suicide/suicidal ideation

Scorching hot take about to come in, but I think that Darry’s line about Dally killing himself because he “gave up” actually does fit the character that the musical made Darry into. I’m not saying it’s a good way to view the situation or even a message that should be imparted at the end of the show, but I think that specific perspective of what suicide is aligns with the Darry we got to know.

You don’t have to agree, but let me explain🙏

There are a few ways that a viewer can interpret Darry’s character. In my opinion, suicidal is one of them. Darry equates suicide with giving up because it’s what he would do if he ever gave up, if he ever lost Pony and Soda the way Dally lost Johnny.

But I also want to say that just because he equates the two in his head doesn’t mean they actually are synonymous. I mean, Darry’s not exactly someone whose word you take at face-value for a lot of the show when he’s talking about his feelings, save for a few vulnerable moments.

When he is being vulnerable and you know that these are his core feelings, undisguised by the need to be strong, it’s during “Runs in the Family” (very sparsely, but there are small clues), and “Throwing in the Towel.” Especially in TITT, he expresses what can be perceived as suicidal ideation, which we’ll get to very quickly.

Because it’s one line in RITF, I can’t really harp on it as much as I’d like to, but Darry says “I don’t know what them boys would ever do without me, and what would I do on my own?” Obviously we never find out what Darry thinks he’d be doing on his own, so you can really only make loose, debatable inferences. Because of that, you can take the fact that Darry is a very goal-oriented person, then take the fact that he knows he would not have anything to work for if his brothers were gone, and combine them to say that Darry might very well just give up.

Darry’s suicidal ideation comes out the most in TITT. He literally says “Maybe you’d be best without me.” He never specifies what “without him” looks like, he leaves that up for Soda (and the audience) to interpret, but three ideas stick out to me:

1. Him giving Soda and Pony up to a boys home

2. Him having never been born at all

3. Him removing himself from their lives permanently (suicide)

Whether he feels one, two, or all three, two out of the three express either ideation or blatant suicidal thoughts.

It also explains why Darry is so insistent on Pony just snapping out of his depression following Dally and Johnny’s deaths. He’s seeing his brother go through the same tired, despondent motions that he did in the beginning of TITT, on the road to giving up.

What Darry doesn’t understand is that Pony truly giving up looks different than Darry truly giving up (I have a feeling that Pony would turn towards drugs and addiction if he hit rock bottom, but that’s another convo for another time), and because Darry is projecting his own version of giving up onto Pony, he’s terrified of his youngest brother doing something so drastic and permanent. Even if that’s not the reality of the situation, it’s what he believes, so it’s what he talks about.

[kaytheday]

Maybe I’m over analyzing this a little bit, but it is interesting. How in Darry’s solo songs, he has no background singers. It’s just him and the soft instruments backing him. In contrast Ponyboy’s solo songs have a lot of background singers and noise.

This could symbolize the difference in how these two boys are looking at their world. Darry likely feels alone like he has no one in his corner, which is mostly true. He is the only member of the gang that is legally responsible for others and he has a lot of other responsibilities. He also feels like he has nobody looking out for him and that it is all up to him to keep their family together.

In contrast, Ponyboys songs have a lot of background singers. This is likely because even though Ponyboy and Darry fight, Ponyboy isn’t completely isolated. He has people in his corner, like Johnny, Dallas, Two-Bit, and Soda. While Darry feels like he has no one he can go to about his problems.

[brokenlovesong]

PARRY vs. CHETPOP

While Darry and Paul were already best friends and so them constantly around each other never raised any eyebrows from the people around them, Chet and Sodapop are supposed to hate each other (and sorta do) so the only time they see each other is in secret. That means they never really developed an actual friendship. Whereas Paul and Darry were once in love (and despite everything, still are), Chet and Soda are together because of lust and, while they both crave an intimate connection, they don’t know how to actually talk to each other like Darry and Paul, who knew absolutely everything about each other, could.

[purecommemasolitude]

Idk man I just think Musical!Darry must be so so lonely. He’s lost his best friend, he’s isolated from the gang and other greasers, he’ll never be accepted by the Socs, he never has any time to spend with his friends or family, the TITT lyrics imply the song is a reveal of his struggling mental state that he’s experienced for a long time but not shared with the person he’s probably closest to so you know that boy is not being emotionally vulnerable with anyone, his parents just died, he’s clashing all the time with one of his brothers and for whatever reason feels like he can’t confide in the other, he has no guidance and no help in what would be an incredibly challenging task for anyone, let alone a newly-orphaned 20 year old. No wonder he spirals so hard in RITFR and TITT

[curlyshepardconfirmed]

"Always the savior never the saved,"

And it's Darrel Curtis, the boy who had everything going for him and everything going so well, he had a future set up until his parents died and he had to step up his role in the house and throw everything away so his brothers could have food on the table. It's Darrel Curtis pouring blood, sweat, and tears into his family and the few moments he cracks from the stress he's painted as a villain in the mind of his 14 year old brother.

"Always the coward never the brave,"

Now fight me if I'm wrong, it's not Johnny, it's Dallas. Dallas, the boy from New York who hid from his issues, who acted brave as a facade his entire life when he was still a kid, he was still a kid, he was always just a kid because he never made it to adulthood, he died because he was scared he didn't die because he was brave.

"Always the artist never the muse,"

Will unfortunately remain Ponyboy, he could see the sunsets and the sunrises and he was canonically an artist, he liked drawing Dally because he would be able to get him down in a few lines. He was aware of the beauty of the world around him so much so that he felt disconnected from it unlike the way he could see the muses, his brothers, his friends, and even his enemies interacting all in real time, the incredible creation and destruction, the life and the death all around him, nature's green and nature's gold.

"So much to gain but much more to lose,"

And this one goes to Johnny Cade, the boy who wasn't born with much, the kid who grew up worse, and the kid who could've become like Dally but refused to stop seeing the gold in the green, and remembering that the green had once been gold and deserved to be remembered as such. The boy who could have gone so much further in life if he had a chance and even though he didn't, and even though he didn't make it, he had so much more than what was physically valuable. He had so much he could have gone to, but he had everything, friends, love, and life, and he lost it all in the end, when nature's gold turned to a green covered grave.

"Always an angel, never a god,"

You guys know me, there has to be some Two-Bit recognition in here somewhere. Two-Bit who could have had a lot and who did, just not what others could necessarily see, his wisdom that even Ponyboy hadn't expected, the way he saw things deeply but on the east side it wasn't understood, because that was just how things worked, yet Two-Bit knew how to put it into words and make it fly. But in the end is he remembered for the ways he knew the lay of every inch of the greasers walk of life? No, he's remembered as the alcoholic, the wise guy.

"Trying to love but told I'm too much,"

And it's Sodapop, the boy who loves both his brothers, the boy wearing his heart on his sleeve no matter how many times it's been struck, with the death of his parents, the death of his friends, Sandy leaving, Ponyboy running away. He still does everything he can, he still pours his heart and his soul into everything he does and he doesn't think that he knows how else to do anything other than live it, breathe it and revel in it.

"All that I have is falling apart,"

But it's Steve Randle, the boy doomed by the bias of the narration but small cracks of him peek through the bias. It's Steve Randle, tied to Sodapop but his pain is so obvious when Johnny dies and when Dallas dies. Steve fights for hatred, he fights for revenge, he fights for family, all of it falling apart within hours. He fights for his friends, he fights for the family he wishes he had because all he's ever had was a shack of a house with a worse shack of a man to guide him until he met Sodapop and he built his life, he built himself a family until it all fell apart, and he felt like he was falling too.

Always the Angel, never the God.

[johnnycakesswitch]

Sodapop’s Love Language- Physical Affection

Some moments from the book that show Soda’s love language along with some headcanons about it too :)

I personally believe that Sodapop gives and recieves love through touch and physical affection. He’s such a lovable character and has a very nurturing personality. First, here are some moments in the book that emphasizes how he both comforts people using touch and recieves comfort that way:

• when Ponyboy gets jumped in the very beginning of the book, Soda rubs his shoulder and hair to comfort him when Pony is visibly upset, successfully making him grin

• giving Darry back rubs and putting him to sleep because he thinks his big brother works too hard 💔

• with that, “Soda can put about anyone out when he sets his head to it” which leads me to believe he’s given others back rubs or massages too, not just Darry

• putting his arm around Pony and holding him closer when he thinks Pony is cold at night

• Sodapop was the first one to reach Johnny when he got jumped and held him once they found him and pushed his hair back from his face ☹️

• after running away, Pony thinks “I was sleepy and freezing to death and I wanted to be home in bed, safe and warm under the covers with Soda's arm across me”, so he obviously takes comfort in his brother being there at night

• Soda literally wrestles and tickles Pony awake in the morning for school

• Soda hugged Pony so hard and swung him around when the reunited after the church fire

• when he got sleepy at the hospital he put his head in Darry’s lap and went right to sleep

• just in general him starting to sleep with Pony after his nightmares began, offering his presence as comfort and protection for his little brother

• before the rumble Darry and Soda are messing around “Soda punched him in the ribs affectionately”, play fighting and roughhousing is definitely common in the gang and it’s yet another way that Soda shows love for his friends and brothers

• after Dally dies “Steve stumbled forward with a sob, but Soda caught him by the shoulders” 💔 he’s always holding people when they need it the most

• stroking Pony’s hair when he’s sick

• Soda was so excited to see Ponyboy once he woke up after his concussion that Darry had to tell him to settle down and “Soda had to content himself with bouncing up and down on the bed and pounding on my shoulder”

• I never realized that this particular hug isn’t in the book, but in the movie at least, the Curtis brothers having their group hug after Soda finally tells them how much he’s been hurting

So just based on little parts of the book, we can see how Soda both gives and recieves love and care through touch. Now, I have some headcanons based on that idea :)

• if Soda’s upset, he’ll start being really clingy as a way to soothe himself without directly asking for comfort. He’ll start being extra playful with the guys or following Darry around and putting his head on his shoulder. Luckily though, they all tend to realize this and will usually ask him what’s going on or give him a proper hug, because sometimes that’s all it takes to make this boy smile :)

• as a little kid, he was the biggest hand holder oh my. His parents, Darry, once Pony started walking you better believe Soda dragged him everywhere by the hand. Even as little ones in like kindergarten Soda and Steve would hold hands when playing at recess and did this up until like 3rd grade </3 and when they first met Johnny in school (because everyone always forgets Soda and Johnny were both 16 in the book, Soda 17 in a few weeks- and side note, it says Johnny’s birthday is in March and Soda’s in October, which would in fact put him and Soda in the same grade because he would’ve turned 17 later that school year, until Johnny got held back but we aren’t sure when that was) but anyway, when they first met Johnny, Soda held his hand and took him over to their house to play and Johnny liked the nice boy with the big smile right away

• biggest cuddler ever. If Soda starts to cuddle you you’re not getting up anytime soon. He’ll fully lay on top of you. Ponyboy wakes up crushed sometimes smh

• he looooooves laying in people’s laps or on their tummies, it relaxes him so much, especially if the person (usually Darry or Steve) starts playing with his hair or rubbing his neck. Sometimes if Pony is reading on the couch and Soda is bored he’ll stretch out and lay in his lap too and they’ll just relax in each other’s presence

• Soda is the type of person who just sits on people bruh like someone will be trying to do something, boom, you’ve got Sodapop in your lap. Don’t ever lay on your stomach across the couch bc bro will sit on your back

• because he both gives and recieves affection through touch, it can be really hard for Soda when someone doesn’t want to be comforted that way. For the most time it’s not a problem- the gang as a whole is very tactile and he’s always extra careful not to startle Johnny, but even he likes when Soda gets touchy and lovey. But who doesn’t? Dally. The most physical he and Soda will get is like wrestling or playing football. Dally doesn’t show when he’s upset much, but if he ever does around Soda, he really isn’t sure what to do sometimes because Dally doesn’t really care for being cuddled, not by him at least. But Soda is also a great listener. So on the rare occasions that Dally wants to vent, he’ll usually go to Sodapop, and it makes him happy that he’s figured out a way to help all his friends

• bro is a headbutter. Especially when his hair is wet after a shower. He’s like a cat, just knocking his head against people’s shoulders or backs. If you’re cuddling, he’ll definitely shove his head in your neck. He just loves being close

• when it comes to Stevepop, they are quite literally inseparable, all on Soda’s accord. Not that Steve minds whatsoever, but Soda is always the one who initiates it. He’s always holding Steve’s hand, the hem of his shirt, his belt loop, arms around his waist and following him wherever he goes. They are one entity at this point

• last but not least, Soda is the king of kisses. Always kissing the homies on their head or cheeks if he’s super excited. Two-Bit honestly really gets a kick out of it and lowkey started doing it too, he and Soda do that goofy little double cheek kiss as a greeting whenever they see each other now 😭 it’s very exaggerated and the others are just 🙄 when he’s leaving for work in the morning, he gives whoever’s in the house a quick little goodbye kiss on the top of their head if they’re at the table or something or on the cheek 💔 he just loves his family and friends so much. The only person who can escape the kisses are Dally bc he threatens Soda with violence smh but even he gets a smooch once a year specifically on Christmas, that’s what they agreed upon. Steve? Never not kissed by Soda. Hellos and goodbyes? Kisses. Just completed a task at work? Kisses. Soda’s bored for more than 2 seconds? Kisses. They’re like kissing fish. But Steve wouldn’t change a thing

That’s all I have for now yall. This is definitely a longer post so thank you if you read it! I love Sodapop so so much, so send me any headcanons or whatever else about him, I’m always happy to talk about this sweet boy

[chippedshake]

Different characters as a narrator

I haven't written from every character's POV, but I want to someday have done it, and for now I have Thoughts on the ones I have written about.

I've already made two posts about Ponyboy as a canon narrator (here and here), but basically he can and will misinterpret everything. Everything is warped by his self-esteem being absolute shit. Any look towards him is judgemental. Any ambivalent comment is derisive. No one loves him. Run-on sentences my beloved.

Johnny is slowly growing to be my favourite character to write from. Anyone who heard "nothing gold can stay" for the first time from the shitty reciting of a fourteen-year-old who's insecure as fuck (when you feel insecure reciting something, you're more likely to speed up because you feel stupid doing the right intonation) and immediately knew what it meant and that it was what he was trying to express is going to have an aggressively poetic inner monologue, which is exactly how I like to write, so he's fun. I feel like he thinks a lot about the world around him and I love metaphors, and it's actually so. much. fun.

Dally is in constant denial of any sort of human feelings. It's really funny to describe a common reaction to caring for someone and then say. Huh. That's a weird feeling. I must just be hungry. He is incredibly unaware of his own feelings. Dally is one of the heavier cursers.

Darry is... interesting. For some reason, Darry is the character I've gained the strongest connection to out of the whole book, despite being a teenage, female middle child with absolutely no strength. So writing him feels personal. He's also the character I've written about the most, especially from his point of view. He's also kind of shit at noticing social cues, like Ponyboy, and he has low self-esteem, but they aren't as interconnected as they are with Ponyboy. He just doesn't understand people and also feels like he's constantly messing up with his brothers. But these two things aren't cause and effect, they're two characteristics that coexist in one fucked-up guy. Darry is also one of the ones that curses the most because he is constantly stressed out. He has a lot of short sentences.

I've never written from Two-Bit's point of view because I find it mildly terrifying because he's funnier than me and also often drunk. I have never had a drop of alcohol, so he's a bit far from my reality. As for Marcia, I have written a bit from her pov, but I don't love it. I mainly made her insecure so I could relate to her on some level, because she's also much funnier than me.

Now, Steve... Steve is insecure, but not as much as Ponyboy and Darry. He's confident in his abilities mostly, but has grown insecure because of how he's always seen as "the other one", "Soda's friend", etc. I haven't written much from his point of view, but Steve's mom was Latina so he absolutely inserts random phrases in Spanish into his inner monologue.

Soda is interesting because I have written a lot about him, but not very much from his point of view. Mainly, he's insecure like every character I've written ever, but it manifests in the fact that he talks about everyone's feelings but his own. Until they're so overpowering they take over. Also, off-handed comments on his being stupid. There's a lot of noticing small details and piecing together another character's emotions.

[hailsbellsl]

I think a lot of misinterpretation of Darry’s personality comes from his strictness over Ponyboy. A lot of people probably relate that strictness to their own parents or other older people who are in charge of them. Then they base his entire characteristics on a person who’s in the 40s-60s range.

Like yes, Darry was strict but he was still only 20 years old. He had to do it to ensure his brothers didn’t get taken away, he had to take the parental role after his own died. And despite that he taught the gang aerobatics. He bakes chocolate cakes for breakfast. He participated in rumbles and so on.

Long story short; a lot of Darry miss characterization comes from people relating him to their parents because he had to put his foot down a few times 

[dallasgallant]

Darry is a part of the gang in that he’s a part of the friend group. After all they’ve always been more of a friend group than a gang (to Pony’s own admission) they’re not organized or named etc.

What differentiates Darry is he doesn’t participate in the crime aspect. Now again they usually don’t do anything organized/together but almost all the guys apart from Johnny(early on), Darry and perhaps pony have a bit of a record forming.

Now mind you it’s typically non violent and minor issues but it’s still “law breaking”. Darry has even more of an incentive to be “good” and do things by the books since he’s taken custody of his younger brothers, he’s petrified they’ll be taken away so he steers clear.

But pony implies he’s sort of always been this way. He doesn’t do anything himself but he’s always been “the guy to come to”. He guides the guys away from blowing up or doing something stupid- or if they do something he’s the one to hide them and talk through next steps. He’s the one who keeps everyone safe and at least tries to keep them out of jail.

That’s what gets to me particularly about Dally calling him. Is that he’s been the guy to turn to, the guys have blown up before and it’s even implied robbed a place before. But never armed. Never with the … intent… dally had. It’s that he calls for help, like he would any other day of the week but you know in this instance he doesn’t really want it just someone there idk its ough-

[socseptember]

Welcome to Soc September!

This is a blog that will only be active during September! In The Outsiders fandom we put most of our focus on the greasers. So this event is dedicated to all the underrated SOCs in the book, movie, and musical! It's not a contest or anything, just something to appreciate them all and have fun! If you want to participate please tag things with Soc September or tag this blog!

Here is how to participate!

Make artwork, headcanons, fanfiction, etc. of any SOC characters! Whether its more well-known ones like Cherry or Paul. Or ensemble members of the musical! Heck, even soc ocs you might have work! We accept just about everything! The last full week of September will also have a special event with prompts on the daily! We do accept ships including greasers but the greaser can't be the focus.

Prompts are here

Things that aren't accepted

We don't accept writing or art of the following

NSFW things about any characters, if its a bit suggestive that's different. But don't do anything blatantly NSFW. Also do not justify characters' actions if they are truly terrible. If you're writing in Bob's perspective of jumping Pony and Johnny and he's like "They deserve it!" that's ok since it's his perspective. But if you're doing character analysis and you're like "Cherry was evil for not saying hi to Pony and Bob was in the right to try and murder Pony!" that's a bit different. Blood and such is allowed just put a TW!

If you don't know the SOCs here they are under the cut

Cherry Valance- The redhead that Dally hits on and helps change Pony's perspective on SOCs. Marcia is her best friend and Bob is her boyfriend (or ex depending on how you look at it) She can be rather fierce and has an interesting perspective on things. She's kinda the main soc

Bob Sheldon- A curly headed blonde (or straight, dark haired) 18 year old. He's more villanized in the book and is killed in self-defense by Johnny. He's a mean drunk but is also a good leader and well-liked by SOCs. Cherry's boyfriend.

Randy Adderson- A dark haired 18 year old. Best friend to Bob and helps jump Pony and Johnny. He has a change in perspective after Bob's death and has a chat with Pony that helps humanize the SOCs. He's the boyfriend to Marcia though it is disputed on if they actually care about one another romantically.

Marcia M. Marcia- A SOC girl with shorter black hair. She is best friends with Cherry and is not seen outside of the drive-in scene. She is very witty and has a flirtatious conversation with Two-Bit Mathews. Many have begun to ship them. She doesn't have a set last name nor really a visible personality.

Paul Holden- An older SOC guy. Used to be good friends with Darry Curtis. Currently in college and skilled in football. Not much is known about his history with Darry but the fans have come up with a lot of it.

Chet Baker, Trip (Terrence Ib), Brill (Clark Brillsteen)- Musical ensemble SOC boys. Friends of Bob. Chet seems to have a crush on Cherry and may get with her after the end.

Beverly- Soc girl ensemble, dislikes the greasers. Melody Rose has given bits and pieces of her personality but she doesn't have any lines.

Melvin and Sergei- The soc boy alter egos of melody rose and sarahgrace. The best soc boys overall

Greg Parker- He's from the weird TV show and I know next to nothing about him

[sodapopboy]

darry and sodapop being two different examples of ‘ideal masculinity’ is something ponyboy loves (to idolize / model after) and hates (to envy / resent)

for example, soda is literally such an attractive person that people genuinely thought he was a soc at a first glance. this leads me to believing he was honestly kinda popular when he was still in school, despite his status as a greaser. ponyboy admires that— admires his character and definitely tried to style his hair like he did multiple times

i have a firm belief that maybe when pony & soda were in middle school, a girl that ponyboy liked kinda got close to him just to be in any vicinity with soda. he didn’t find out until she heard her talking about it with her friends and went home and crieddd. thankfully soda set the record straight and cut her off immediately

(tbh i can kinda see this happening with steve too. but that’s for another post😛)

ponyboy definitely did envy soda a little when he was younger— but it was superficial in the end. with brothers who have reputations like soda’s and darry, it’s a lot to live up to— i believe soda can relate to that, though.

when he got to high school, his teachers were expecting a mini darrel curtis. when they got sodapop curtis, a boy who was more interested in talking or moving around rather than learning.. it was underwhelming (FOR THEM!!! HES PERFECT THE WAY HE IS.) to say the least.

anyway, ponyboy curtis definitely goes to soda for help with girls (or boys) whenever he miraculously gets asked out to the drive-in, or needs help when one of his friends has a disagreement with him.

darry isn’t as ‘soft’ as soda is. he ‘doesn’t understand anything that’s not plain, hard fact’ and focuses on getting stuff done instead of sitting in his emotions for a moment longer than he needs to. ponyboy admires that about darry, not just his physical— but mental strength, having to bear the burden of raising two children despite being a child himself, and having the roles of pseudo-mom, pseudo-dad and older brother.

however, he definitely resents darry in the way that he can never really sympathize with pony until after the events of the book. as darry grows into a more guardian-like figure for the two, he sees pony’s sensitivity and naivety as weaknesses.

there’s always been a stark difference between the two— ponyboy has always had his head in a book, his hands littered with papercuts, and darry always had a football in his vicinity, his hands red from how hard he’d grip the rubber.

darry sees ponyboy’s way of living day-to-day as taking advantage of the things his brothers work to provide for him when he comes home late, making soda and himself worry themselves something awful, or when ponyboy might get a comment in his report card that he’s a good kid, but is always in his own head during class. he isn’t afraid to voice that, either.

and in response, ponyboy resents him. he downright sees his oldest brother as incapable of empathy and portraying him as such in the beginning of his theme.

in the end, ponyboy’s envy over soda’s natural pull over literally anyone melts into fondness— something to adore, even. he doesn’t mind it when soda approaches someone who just bothered his baby brother with the sweetest smile on his face before telling them off in the most vile way possible. just like how he accepts that darry had to be hardened at a young age to make sure that three of them could survive together. it isn’t a fact that he likes, but he accepts it. it isn’t unnoticed by the gang that ponyboy is the only person besides soda that can make darry soften like room temperature butter, either.

[horsegirl-curtis]

Do you have any really sad, angsty, I-wanna-throw-my-phone-at-the-wall-after-reading-this headcanons or character analysis for the outsiders lol

OHHH I very much think I do. I love to put this guys in scenarios or analyze the horrors of the scenarios they got put in by their creator.

While working on my fic I've been thinking a lot about post-canon Ponyboy and how he would struggle so hard to get up in the morning after all that. Because they'd probably make sure a funeral was held for those boys. He forces himself to go but he's screaming and crying all week before and after because he just can't keep himself together. He can't be tough anymore. The weariness from the sickness is suddenly vanished. He can't sleep good if he's not being held by Darry. Darry, Soda, and Pony all share a bed now because if they don't then Ponyboy just can't sleep good. They have to make sure he gets up in the morning and takes care of himself because the death of a loved one is a bitch, it leaves you feeling like you might as well be dead too. It leaves you thinking why them? Why now? Why not me instead? The gang as a whole obviously deals with the grief and similar thoughts, but I think it'd bother Pony the most because he feels like it's his fault. If he hadn't run off that night and dragged Johnny with him, they never would've been jumped. Never got near that church. Johnny and Dally wouldn't have died the way they did. And everyone has to periodically remind Ponyboy that it absolutely wasn't his fault and he had no idea all that would happen. I know Pony says it a lot because he just doesn't know how to deal with grief, he didn't know how to deal with the death of his parents and he doesn't know how to deal with the death of his friends. Two-Bit hangs out with him and takes care of him when everyone else works. Steve and Two-Bit take care of him at school and run off anyone who tries to ask questions.

Ponyboy is suddenly surrounded by a wall at all times. Always another greaser with him. They're always carrying a blade. Ponyboy doesn't go places alone much anymore and he doesn't want to. He's scared and he needs protection. Ponyboy Curtis is 14 years old, and stuck at the dead center of a horrible tragedy that could get better or worse, and he doesn't know which.