#lovelythoughts

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Ponyboy and Addiction

CW: mentions of drugs and alcohol abuse

For a fandom that really seems to like Ponyboy angst people don't really talk much about how the book very carefully but consistently planted the seeds of what could be Ponyboy's downfall in the east side, the main thing that could fuck up his plans for college or any sort of better life: Ponyboy has an addictive personality. The biggest evidence of this is, of course, his nicotine addiction and love of cigarettes which he is scarcely without throughout the book. Yes, all the greasers smoke, and yes, he uses it as a way to calm down in incredibly stressful situations, but the truth of the matter is that Ponyboy is a fourteen year old who cannot go more than a few hours without nicotine. Even after a cigarette lit the church on fire, even when he's recovering from a major concussion, he's still smoking in his bed, and not only a little bit either. Darry tells him he'd 'skin him' if 'he smoked more than a pack' when he's literally confined to bed rest. That's a lot of smokes (I know this is set in the 1960s but a pack a day for a kid who was literally being treated for smoke inhalation earlier in the book is still excessive). However, cigarettes are not the only evidence we have of Ponyboy having the potential for addiction to become a major issue. While it's mentioned he doesn't like alcohol, he does at one point self medicate with asprin, taking far more than the recommended dose-- 5 pills. In the same passage he also offhandedly claims this is something he does frequently, not to help with headaches or anything like that, but to help him fall asleep. Ponyboy is literally self medicating at fourteen with cigarettes and over the counter medication, to treat unrelated ailments-- and is actively hiding this fact from his brothers. It's not touched on far beyond these instances, but its very clear textual evidence of the fact that were Ponyboy to end up getting involved with the wrong crowd or trying the wrong thing, he could very easily destroy his life and any chance of getting out of the east side. In the end, it won't matter if Ponyboy decides to stay gold or not if he gets hooked on the wrong substance. "Oh but lovely, all the greasers are like this"- aside from Two-bit, no one else in the main seven is characterized as having a severe dependence on any sort of substance. Canonically, Soda doesn't drink, we never see Steve, Dally, or Darry inebriated on page, although they all do occasionally drink; and while all of them smoke, Ponyboy is constantly and repeatedly referred to as the 'weed fiend' of his family and to some extent the gang. Ponyboy Curtis and Two-bit Matthews are the two members of the gang with addictive personalities, addiction has the potential to be Ponyboy's undoing and I will die on this hill.

[thepicsamazing]

Really. That is love.🦋

[millyjoon]

getting drunk with my boyfriend while we watching the Mindy projectttttttt

[deviantlovethoughts]

You are my mind’s default. If I’m not thinking about something else, I’m thinking about you.

[zitases]

If anyone let God have charge of their live, the power and glory are amazingly demonstrated. #thoughtoftheday #thoughtsbecomethings #thoughts that makes sense #lovelythoughts begets #lovelife ! (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRJVJF3sO12/?utm_medium=tumblr

[beyourownboss-roshni-blog]

Kisi se dil lag jaye toh woh mohabbat nahi.. #lovequotesdaily #loveshayri #lovewebguru #lovelythoughts #loveyourbae #Lovewebguru #lovingthroughuraction#loveisintheair #love #relationshipquotes #relationshipgoals #relationshipmemes https://www.instagram.com/p/CEAZXNIHLZvkweOtb6QC7TU0WzRJ2tGQxwv_Fc0/?igshid=wglwuq0ljcp6

[thebeardmandesigns-blog]

Amidst all this, tonight my family witness a lovely #surprise by @renaissancemum they created heart using their hotel room lights. Thank you Renaissance Hotel for this wonderful gesture and a big thank you to all those working so hard to make it safe for us. #covid19 #happysight #beautifulgesture #heartdhaped #renaissancehotelpowai #coronaindia #lovelythoughts #goodnight #thankyou #kudos #mumbai #powai #powailake #stayhome #janatacurfew #stayhomebesafe #thankyoudoctors #thankyoupolice #thankyoumumbai (at Powai Lake) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-P6ka2lkl5/?igshid=1heyqcfxehqwt

[imranhussaini92-blog]

. “Each good morning we are born again, what we do today is what matters most” #goodmorning #lovelythoughts #wonderfulday #yellowshade https://www.instagram.com/p/BzHlXBsnFU_xJ356BkogGUOL42CKZXnulQm-Sw0/?igshid=1rfe0h2emtsp4

[bringmeanocean-v-blog]

I don't want someone who is perfect. I want someone who is so special, I have to fight for.

[alittlebitofloveliness]

In defence of Steve Randle

Listen guys, Steve Randle gets a lot of hate in this fandom and as much as it pains me, it's valid. Everyone has their own interpretation of the source material, and fandom is supposed to be fun, so it is absolutely valid and ok to hate or love any character you want. You can hate Steve for many reasons or for no reason at all! This is fandom! That's ok! The story is for you interpret and love and play with and hate on to your hearts content. HOWEVER, to say that Steve Randle isn't an important character to the novel is simply not true, and to say that he hates Ponyboy requires ignoring or downplaying some pretty key moments of the book. This is especially true for those of you who love Dally but hate Steve, because Steve gets a lot of hate for being kind of a dickhead (which lbr, a lot of seventeen years old are, especially to their friend's little siblings) while Dally gets less for doing a lot worse (harassing Cherry, jumping kids, etc). This isn't to say that either character is better- they're both great, nuanced characters who have done bad things, but the fandoms attitudes towards them when they share a lot of characteristics is really telling. Even Ponyboy's narration about them is pretty similar- Pony doesn't particularly like Steve, and he was canonically scared of Dally, but they're both members of his gang and he doesn't hate either of them. You don't have to like Steve as a character, just like you don't have to like Dally or Darry or Tim Shepard or even Ponyboy, but he is important- and he doesn't hate Ponyboy, nor does Ponyboy hate him.

A really important moment in the book is when Ponyboy and Johnny defend Dally after he harasses Cherry and Marcia.

"Dally's okay," Johnny said defensively, and I nodded. You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you're a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don't stickup for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang any more. It's a pack. A snarling, distrustful, bickering pack like the Socs in their social clubs or the street gangs in New York or the wolves in the timber."

This line here is super important. Pony and Johnny were willing to defend Dally after he sexually harrassed Cherry and Marcia- soc girls who they clearly liked and were intimidated by- in the name of being a good friend, because that is what's important to them and their gang. If they're willing to do it in this context for Dally, you'd best believe they'd do the same for Steve, and him for them. Steve can and will rag on Ponyboy within the gang, but he'd never dream of bad mouthing him to anyone else. Dependability is important to the gang, and Steve would never publicly shit talk Pony, and vice verca. Regardless of their squabbles within the gang, at the end of the day they've got each others backs. They're buddies. We see evidence of this at the end of the book, when Pony grabs the bottle and threatens the socs with it.

"You really would have used that bottle, wouldn't you?" Two-Bit had been watching from the storedoorway. "Steve and me were backing you, but I guess we didn't need to. You'd have really cut them up, huh?"

The important thing here is that along with Two-bit, Steve was backing Ponyboy, no questions asked. Sure most of it boils down to Pony being a member of the gang and that deep rooted loyalty to one another, but the context for this scene is that Ponyboy was sitting on Steve's car waiting for Steve and Two to stop flirting with some girls. The three of them were hanging out- without Darry, without Sodapop. It's their school lunch break. We know Ponyboy has middle class friend's at school, or that he could've spent time in the school library. It was a deliberate choice to hang out with Two and Steve. He wasn't forced into it. Canonically, Steve and Ponyboy hang out. Never alone, but they're decent enough friends to hang out together in a group. Doesn't everyone have friends like that? I do. This isn't the only textual instance either where they hang out without the entire gang being present. Early on, Pony offhandedly mentions that sometimes Steve and Soda will buy him pop and teach him about cars if he hangs around the DX.

"I had walked down to the DX station to get a bottle of pop and to see Steve and Soda, because they'll always buy me a couple of bottles and let me help work on the cars."

He could've just said Soda's name here but he didn't. Steve buys Pony pepsi and teaches him about cars, even though he gets annoyed with him when Soda invites him to hang around with them too often. And honestly, who wouldn't? I'd be annoyed if my best friend always invited her little brother along with us, even if I liked the kid. Wouldn't you?

Now, we do need to address the elephant in the room. I'm talking of course, about this quote;

"I'd never tell Soda, because he really likes Steve a lot, but sometimes I can't stand Steve Randle. I mean it. Sometimes I hate him."

I feel like very often people forget the context this quote comes from, and so it's magnitude is blown way out of proportion. Ponyboy has just been jumped and then immediately scolded by his brother who constantly makes him feel foolish and unwanted. He's already scared, embarassed, and defensive and then Steve goes and makes him feel even more unwanted. Of course he wants to lash out. Of COURSE he feels like he hates Steve in that moment. I did even reading it. But Ponyboy doesn't truly hate Steve. This moment is PEAK fourteen year old having a rough night energy, it's not truly representative of Steve as a character or of Ponyboy's feelings towards him. In truth, Steve actually kind of likes Ponyboy and is at very least protective over him. This is evidence by the previous quotes, but also when Ponyboy comes back from Windrixville, and is worried about the state placing him in foster care;

"'No, [Ponyboy said] 'they ain't goin' to put us in a boys' home.' 'Don't worry about it,' Steve said, cocksure that he and Sodapop could handle anything that came up. 'They don't do things like that to heroes.'"

It's subtle, and not immediately obvious to the traumatized fourteen year old who is used to Steve's cocky nature, but this is both a reassurance and a very bold claim. Not only is Steve trying to look out for Ponyboy the way the rest of the gang models- by treating him like a kid, letting the 'adults' worry about grown up issues in a misguided attempt to protect Pony- he is also throwing in his lot to make sure nothing does happen. Based on this quote and the rest of Steve's characterization throughout the book its not hard to infer that Steve would fight tooth and nail to make sure Ponyboy stays safe with his family. Sure, part of it is gang loyalty, part of it is his devotion to soda, but part of it is because he and Ponyboy are buddies in their own right, no matter how much they fight. They are friends- and Steve is an incredibly important character for many reasons, but particularly to add depth to Pony's character, to the bond between the Curtis gang, and to highlight how the Curtis gang differs from the other gangs in Tulsa. Steve is just as much an outsider as the rest of the gang, and it's disingenuous to say otherwise no matter how much you may hate him as a character.

[listen-away]

relieved

i love it. i love the feeling of not wanting, not craving, not wishing. i’m happy. genuinely. happy on my own. i am capable of being alone. i’m capable of being happy on my own. its sad because i can feel my feelings for you slowly dying. and this may sound insane - i think you wanted this. you wanted me to forget the feeling you gave me. the feeling of hope, the feeling of love, the feeling of desire, the feeling i would get because of your impeccable charm. i no longer crave it. i’m bored of the thought of it. sad love songs don’t make me think of you anymore. i feel pure. i feel rejuvenated. you no longer have control over me. now, i say all this but i have no ill will. i still care for you. you’re still my friend. but it’s safe to say i’m no longer wishing for something more. and i think you’re relieved to know that. but so am i.

[harveyster]

Not that they need it on a gorgeous day like today but it’s nice for us to be given Creme Eggs with homemade woolly hats! 🥚#appreciated #lovelythought #homemadegifts (at Portishead, North Somerset) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNAxIwNjCnehwenfkNGS5JgqFXMDs-EFNF1gGQ0/?igshid=1s0mqa0kv3bsq

[millyjoon]

im stressed and i need someone to tell me it’s going to be okay

[missfliss88]

“You were you, and I was I; we were two before our time. I was yours before I knew, and you have always been mine too.” ― Lang Leav, Love & Misadventure

Lang Leav Quotes (Author of Love & Misadventure) | Goodreads

Isn’t that just the loveliest little poem!

For me and Steve, you’d have say it’s true.

And I’m not being mushy just honest :)x

[lordtsarkastic]

So let's talk to the moon tonight. #romanticmemes #beautifulthoughts #thinkingaboutyou #lovelythoughts #lovelywords https://www.instagram.com/p/CdJWq-4oR88/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[molaxchopa]

Ok, so our last wreath must have bedn waaayyy too cheesy, as a friend sent us this! Very pretty, its stopped dripping water now :) #itsalive #ifyouknowyouknow #lovelythought #cutflowersnono #letshopeitdriesupnicefornextyear ;) (at London, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6VnxTbFsEeC7zVa_qUP7PKb4ewagqUxjaJDTs0/?igshid=1bugdxs0stlsl