#ponyboy curtis hc

[ghstsrock]

Dally is Irredeemable

! 🗯 ⋆ in which i persuade you into believing dally is irredeemable

( a/n : this is based off that poll I posted a while ago asking for help deciding what I should write my persuasive letter about. this the result of that. enjoy! )

Dear Reader,

My name is Jeremy, I’m a loser who runs a tumblr account. I am writing to you as someone who likes analyzing characters to express my views on the character of Dallas Winston.

Dallas Winston, one of the main characters in S.E Hinton’s iconic novel, The Outsiders, is often seen as a complex and intriguing character by many readers. However, his actions throughout the novel raise questions about his intentions and motivations. In this letter, I aim to present evidence and argue my belief that Dallas Winston is ultimately an irredeemable character, whose actions and choices cannot be excused or forgiven.

For context, Dallas Winston is described as being one of the older members of the book's main group. He’s mean, cold, tuff, and the most hardened and violent. He spent most of his life living on the streets of New York, getting into so much trouble that he was first arrested at the mere age of ten. While this does not define a person, it certainly does him.

This is the first reason I believe Dallas is irredeemable: Johnny Cade. The relationship and dynamics between Johnny and Dallas is nuanced. Despite their differences in mental and physical characteristics, they have a strong bond between them. Dallas constantly shows special treatment towards Johnny, which is evident in the second chapter when they are at the drive-in theater. Dallas is making inappropriate comments toward a soc girl named Cherry. While both Ponyboy and Johnny were uncomfortable by this behavior, Johnny is the only one who intervenes. “Dallas just scowled for a second. If it had been me, or Two-Bit, or Soda, or Steve or anyone but Johnny, Dally would have flattened him without hesitation,” (Hinton). This highlights the deep connection between the two characters, but how good can that really be? Johnny is seen idolizing Dallas throughout the book, this stems from his troubled relationship with his parents causing Johnny to feel the need to earn Dally’s approval. Dallas, on the other hand, uses this power imbalance to his advantage, lashing out at Johnny when he tries to assert independence. This relationship highlights the toxicity that has existed throughout Dally’s life.

Continuing that, I bring you to my second reason: Dallas has known nothing but a life of crime and hatred. Now, I know what you’re thinking. People change, right? Well, Dallas is a different story. He has allowed his upbringing to define who he is in the novel - his abusive dad, absent mother, numerous run-ins with the law, and other traumatic experiences have shaped his negative outlook on life. For example, in Chapter Five, Dally, Johnny, and Ponyboy are in Dally’s car outside a Dairy Queen. When Johnny asks Dallas if his parents have asked about him, Dallas gets rather upset at Johnny. “You think my old man gives a hang if I’m dead in a car wreck, or drunk, or jail or something’? He doesn’t care, and that doesn’t bother me none,” (Hinton). By saying this, Dallas shows that he has internalized the neglect he experienced from his father to the point where he has become desensitized to the feelings of others who have different ones. It also shows one of Dally’s biggest defense mechanisms, violence.

My final reason is that Dallas Winston is weak. When I say weak, I’m referring to Dally’s mental strength rather than his physical strength. I’m sure that boy is malnourished, lactose intolerant, and can’t handle gluten. But, I digress. Despite being portrayed as a strong character, his behavior shows nothing but weakness. He’s weaker than Johnny mentally. He’s weak with how he handles serious issues, relationships, and his own life. He recklessly deals with issues and his reaction to Johnny’s death serves as the perfect example of that. “Why can I take it when Dally can’t? And then I knew, Johnny was the only thing Dally loved. And now Johnny was gone,” (Hinton). As this iconic novel comes to a close, we witness two major character deaths, the first one being Johnny’s. As previously stated, Johnny and Dallas had a special relationship. Initially, Dallas doesn’t seem to react much to Johnny’s death, but as the moments pass, he becomes increasingly unstable, unable to cope with his emotions. He runs out following a moment of melodramatic whimpering, later we found out he robbed a magazine store with an empty gun. The way he handles his grief by resorting to violence, ultimately leading to his death, highlights his weaknesses. “Dally didn’t die a hero. He died violent, young, and desperate. Just like we all knew he’d die someday … But Johnny was right, He died gallant,” (Hinton).

Some individuals who hold an opposing view to mine believe that Dally is redeemable based on his loyalty to the gang and his good treatment of Johnny. However, Dallas has no actual sense of loyalty. He has a tendency to double-cross others for what appears to be his own amusement contradicts this viewpoint completely. The best example of this would be Dally’s on-and-off again friendship with Tim Shepard, the leader of a different gang in town. This is first brought up in the second chapter by Two-Bit Mathews when he says, “That’s why I came over. Mr. Timothy Shepard and Co. are looking for whoever so kindly slashed their car’s tires, and since Mr. Curly Shepard spotted Dallas doing it … well … does Dallas have a blade?” (Hinton). The fact that Dally’s tendency to betray people is a joke to his friends undermines any argument that attempts to redeem him based on his loyalty. Additionally, the incident where Dally lashed their tries and his lack of remorse for engaging in such petty and destructive behavior further demonstrates his lack of a moral compass.

I urge you to never find yourself in a position where you can actively sympathize with the man that was Dallas Winston. And that, if you do, you get the help you desperately need.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely, Jeremy

﹙📦﹚ request inbox thing is open ﹒zᶻ

[gre4zerz]

PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one who hasn't seen this:

I'm fine with that answer. (He probably gets decent tips)

[fortheunsungheros]

This might be my favorite hc of all time

[decentishoutsidersthoughts]

Modern Ponyboy would def be in one of those trauma candy salad videos.

‘Hi my name is Ponyboy and when I was thirteen my parents died and my brother had to take custody of me and then about 8 months later he hit me for coming home late one night and I ran away, and while we were outside these dudes tried to drown me and my best friend murdered them so we had to hide out in a church and eat nothing but baloney for a week and then we caught the church on fire which killed my best friend and then that caused another one of my best friends to commit suicide by cop right in front of the rest of us….and I brought the gummy worms :)’

[dearsnow]

Can you do the outsiders reacting to you doing the orange peel theory (asking them to do a small task you can do yourself) I love your writing‼️

THE ORANGE PEEL THEORY

- in which you ask the greasers to complete simple, unassuming tasks that you can easily do yourself. (the outsiders x gn!reader, fluff)

a/n - this is so cute omg 😭 the orange peel theory is so trivial but it’s a very neat concept and i love writing things like this. and thank you!!

includes: johnny, ponyboy, dally, sodapop, & darry

“Oh shoot, I dropped my pencil. Could you get it for me, please, JOHNNY?”

Johnny does it without hesitation. He doesn’t question it, even though the pencil is way closer to you than to him, and he has to bend at an awkward angle to pick it up. You could ask him for almost anything and he’d try his best to do it. He lives and breathes to help you.

“Yeah, I got it.”

//

“Hey, PONY, can you flip this page for me? My hands are real tired.”

Ponyboy is a bit confused, considering your hands are resting on the sides of your book already. However, when he thinks about it, you might’ve hurt your hands somehow or maybe you just don’t have the energy to complete a task that is seemingly very simple. In any case, he’ll put his thoughts aside and do it for you.

“Sure. Are you okay, though?”

//

“DALLY, could you peel this orange?”

He snorts and asks if you can’t do it yourself while taking the orange from your hands. He throws it from hand to hand over your head, and when you reach to take it from him, he’ll pull it back and peel it. He’s not bothered by it, but he will take half of the orange for himself as compensation.

“Done. Need help peeling off anything else of yours, now?”

//

“Wait, SODA, would you wipe the frosting off my cheek?”

When you ask this while making a cake with him, Sodapop assumes you’re playing around. He licks it off your cheek instead then bounces away before you can berate him for being gross. He would also do pretty much anything for you in his own way- as long as you don’t get too pissed at him.

“Hah! You can’t get mad, you asked for it.”

//

“DARRY, can you cut my hangnail for me?”

You ask, handing him a pair of nail clippers. He’s confused, astounded, and mildly amused by your proposition. He asks you if you can’t just do it yourself, but halfway through talking to you he changes his mind and gently grabs your hand. He’ll act annoyed, but secretly he enjoys taking care of you in these little ways.

“Can’t you… fine, fine, give me the clippers.”

[sodapopboy]

i forget which one of you said that ponyboy was a premature baby but hear me out.

darry being a stone faced kid, literally never crying as a baby even IF he was hungry, and fooling the curtis parents into thinking parenting was gonna be really easy until they had soda, who was a screecher and squealer and the world’s most reactive baby (but that’s besides the point)

when ponyboy wasnt born yet, darry was one of those kids to place his head onto their mom’s baby bump and talk to their sibling. soda did it as well don’t get me wrong, but would probably get distracted when steve comes over and starts hollering over toy cars and one he took apart out on the front porch (darry shushes them both, using the excuse that he was ‘trying to hear the baby’)

soda definitely was the cause of the name “ponyboy” due to his love for ponies (that and he genuinely thought his newest sibling would just be an actual pony), but i feel like darry was the one to (unknowingly) pick ponyboy’s middle name. he kept bugging his parents to name ponyboy ‘michael’ and they gave in, just not in the way he expected

ANYWAY.. when ponyboy comes a little earlier than expected and they all clammer into the curtis family’s beat down truck, darry hasn’t ever seen his father so stressed in his life as he bounds down the streets.

and, as they sit in the hospital lobby and darry overhears some of the risks the doctors list to mr. curtis, who tries to get them away from the conversation— he cries. for the first time in his life, he actually starts bawling. it’s not like darry was forced to bottle up his emotions or anything, he just never felt a reason to actually cry— unlike soda, who cried over every small inconvenience at the time (which darry doesn’t dislike, he just doesn’t relate to it)

so when he hears that his mom, arguably his most favorite person in the world— is in critical condition alongside his new brother, who was definitely going to be one of his favorite people… he literally can’t stop crying about it. soda has to comfort him this time and just hugs him.

tl;dr darry curtis loves ponyboy and sodapop but they’ve been scaring him to death even before they were born

[poop7969]

Ponyboy: “Dallys the toughest guy in Tulsa!!!”

Dally:

[outsidersheadcanons]

whenever ponyboy goes to the doctor he always turns to Darry whenever they ask him questions

[claritys-silly-things]

Fresh hc time people

- If pony is ever by himself while he’s sleeping (not often) he’s clinging onto the nearest pillow like it’s a person

- Ponyboy will forget to eat cuz he locks tf in to whatever he’s doing and then later in the day he’s like “why tf am I hungry” and that’s why he eats like a horse at dinner. You need to physically pull him away from his daily tasks and force him if you want him to eat before 6 pm

- Pony doesn’t know how to function in public *cough cough* autistic mf *cough* so he just stays with Darry and soda and clings to them when he’s nervous or unsure what to do. If someone asks him something he just stares until Darry answers for him

- The closer ponyboy is, the more anxious he is. He’ll subconsciously follow whoever he’s with at events and stuff so he’s not left alone. They walk away and he notices and like a minute later he’s walking after them

- “Im losing my fuckin TOUCH on reality, gang!” - ponyboy curtis, probably (this is a thing I thought to myself and was like omg ponyboy core)

- If anyone gets too loud/stern with Johnny while he’s having an especially shitty day, he has an episode and kind of just retreats into his mind and starts hyperventilating and has a breakdown. The only people that can ever calm him down are pony and dally. Basically Johnny has ptsd from his parents (I’m gonna kill them)

*ahem* sorry mb gang back to the silly stuff

- Soda has NOO sense of personal space. If he’s talking he’ll get really close to you. Just in general he hovers (me core). He also has no sense of like, other’s privacy. Like pony will be in the shower and he’ll open the shower curtain like “do we need smth from the store” and ponyboy just screams

- Soda is very audhd 👁️👁️

- All the Curtis brothers are autistic 😟

That is all I have stored for now ✌🏽😗

[fandomkingdom18]

some silly little headcanons i have specifically for my au of the outsiders that i felt the need to write down all in one place.

after their parents died, darry made a deal with the state that he could keep his brothers as long as they're able to support themselves

so darry got three jobs, roofer, contractor, and uh...yk what.

two-bit who was almost 18 started working at a grocery store cause i said so

dally managed to get a job as a bartender at bucks

and ofc soda and steve work at the dx

johnny and pony don't have jobs yet cause the others don't want them to because they're "too young"

(when really they're 14 and 15 and are in fact old enough)

when everyone else is at work, johnny and pony stay home and watch movies. like binge watch.

they once thought they could handle horror movies.

they couldnt.

they were latching on to darry when he got home.

dinner at their house is chaotic.

they're yapping over each other and darry's trying to get them to settle down so that people don't report a noise complaint on them.

how to bribe the curtises?

not money.

not gold.

these big backs only listen when there's dessert involved.

even after a 12 course meal, if they're hungry in the middle of the night and sneak out to the kitchen, there will most likely already be someone there

steve and soda used to share a room.

keyword: used to

they would stay up all night giggling and shi

same thing with pony and johnny.

so steve and pony swapped rooms.

darry regrets it cause now soda and pony cant stop giggling, but he can't stop it so he just gave up

so therefore dally and two bit share a room.

dally isn't thrilled

two bit yaps

dally needs sleep or he'll be grumpy in the morning

but two-bit contradicts him saying that dally is gonna be grumpy either way.

and then dally comes at him about still living in the house as an adult and then teases him for his lack of ability to pull

dally would try to find a way to get darry to let him sleep in his room if darry weren't such a heavy snorer

(dally snores too)

(but he refuses to accept it)

darrys the type to need his morning coffee before speaking to anyone

dal just doesnt want to speak to anyone

ponys a night owl.

they'll tell him to go to sleep and pony will be like "just one more chapter"

but he keeps reading and suddenly the birds are chirping

johnny tried to protest this once back when they shared a room

to say he'll stay awake too unless pony goes to sleep

he fails and ends up falling asleep.

pony gives him a pat on the head and continues to stay awake until the sun shined through the window.

pony then proceeds to sleep the day away

(same)

[ghstsrock]

Ponyboy hateful headcanons rn. He might be a silly little guy but he's kinda pisses me off

Ponyboy Curtis Headcanons (HATER EDITION)

! 🗯 ⋆ hateful Ponyboy Curtis headcanons

( a/n : this was actually a bit harder than I expected | please consider arguing abt my last take in the comments )

✶ A little bitch

✶ Reminds the teacher to hand out homework or that that the homework is due

✶ Unreliable narrator

✶ Outed Dally after he was killed AND insulted him

bro really said “oh great, he’s dead - he was fruity for Johnny btw” (ik it had a deeper meaning but stfu)

✶ A hater and for what?

✶ unnecessary judgmental, too

✶ Literally wrote out Steve’s entire personality

and the rest of the gang, too - pony is a bad friend

✶ Cries about EVERYTHING

✶ let Johnny talk him into going to a known criminal for guidance after getting tied into a murder

✶ Shows failure to empathize with the people around him

especially if they’re dumber than him

✶ Can’t make a good insult yet is 13 and in high school

✶ Invented lung cancer

✶ Eats off the floor

✶ Thinks face piercings are a sign of mental illness

✶ Says “no” when someone asks for a pencil knowing he’s got like 50 of them he’s stolen from other people

✶ Phobic.

✶ Ginger.

even a drop is too much

✶ Runs away at any minor inconvenience

✶ literally responsible for Johnny and Dally’s death

✶ Savior AND victim complex

✶ Unbelievably picky eater

either that or he unlatches his jaw to suck up food like a vacuum

✶ thinks salt is spicy and his carb intake is probably insane

✶ Scared of bees

✶ Superiority complex too, this bitch got issues

✶ Doesn’t think before doing anything

✶ Treats women poorly

everyone keeps saying he’s gone you like a queen, but I just don’t believe that

✶ Talks the most heinous shit about all his friends

✶ Certified yapper

✶ He’s also a cancer

✶ Too idealistic to the point its delusion

✶ Only writes in cursive and will make fun of you if you can’t read it

✶ Pathological liar

✶ Fake blonde

✶ secretly a bully

✶ also terrible taste in men

✶ Also hates children

and, my final hot take

✶ Team Jacob

﹙📦﹚ request inbox thing is open ﹒zᶻ

[walmartbrandwhatever]

Whatever you do don't think about post-book darry accidentally setting out too many plates after a real long day and his mind is just utterly exhausted. Everyone looking at him all confused because they didn't have that many people left and soda having to softly remind him that Johnny and dally weren't alive. Weren't coming back. Darry just softly responding with 'oh..sorry' as he remembers that they weren't coming back.

[pbjhellyeah]

curtis bros hcs because I'm locked out :(

- soda is so insanely good at chugging drinks, darry will get him a glass of smth, turn around for five seconds and it'll be gone.

- darry has such a fascination with little trinkets like tins or lighters. he has a collection of them in his room.

- pony once found a spider in his hair when he was 9 and ever since has been paranoid that they've always been there. sometimes steve will mess w him and pretend he sees spiders and pony hates it so much.

- soda has such a natural feeling of rhythm and time involving music. because of this he's an incredible dancer and no one knows where he got it from. this also means he's throwing a lil dance step into everything he does, it may not even be intentional, but the guy was just born to move.

- when darry was around 12 he went through a phase of wishing he had a rlly outlandish name like his brothers did. but he got over it after a few months bc he was so proud to be named after his father.

- (kinda canon but) whenever the gang would play football pony INSISTED that darry was on his team and if he ever even made a hypothetical point of switching teams then pony would straight up dip and walk off in a huff💀

- soda has the biggest habit of eavesdropping on strangers' conversations and will always add his input even if only he can hear it. "Can you believe he said that-" "that's outRAGEous" as he struts off thinking he's a comical genius.

- when darry went on that gymnastics course all the instructors absolutely adored him. they loved how down-to-earth he was and they just knew he would be able to do anything they taught him. he kinda became the golden student and was constantly being used as an example of perfect form and all that.

- pony has attacked soda in his sleep so many times. he's the type to move around alot in his sleep so he's always accidentally smacking soda in the face or kicking him as he's changing sides, and everytime soda complains about it he denies it without fail.

[decentishoutsidersthoughts]

Headcannon that Darry and Soda talk shit with eachother. But they don’t just shit talk, they psychoanalyze people they don’t like. They will spend hours deconstructing somebody’s entire personality until they know why that person did what they did. They like talking shit with Ponyboy too, but there’s just something about Darry and Soda’s gossip sessions specifically that hits different.

Darry is also definetly the type to say, “I’m not one to judge…BUT” and then absolutely rip into somebody in the most vile way. These two have had so many moments where they realize they both hate the same person and absolutely go to town.

[mister-mickey]

HALLOWEEN HEADCANONS (modern au) (Tw- drinking)

Darry

- wasn’t going to dress up because he was focused on other things, but pony and soda convinced him to dress up as Superman and he really enjoyed it

- he spent the early parts of the night handing out popcorn balls to trick or treaters, but later on he went to a Halloween party with Tim and Twobit

- At the party he got super drunk and ate a bunch of peach rings. Tim had to drag him home (which was insanely difficult for many reasons)

Soda

- dressed up as a cowboy, he actually took a long time getting his costume how he wanted it. He def goes all out for Halloween

- he helped Darry with the trick or treaters, but left early to go to a different party with Steve

- At HIS party, he didn’t really get drunk, but he had the time of his life babysitting Steve. At some point, Steve passed out and soda just sat next to him in the floor and ate chocolate and drank punch

Pony

- he wasn’t going to go all out, but soda wanted him to. So pony ended up dressed as a werewolf

- he and johnny went around town looking at peoples costumes and giggling. Later in the night, they got scared by Dallas who chased them through a field with a knife

- when Dallas was done harassing them, he gave them the candy he stole from some kids and disappeared into the night, pony and Johnny went home and watched scary movies with their new candy

Johnny

- Johnny dresses up as the same thing every year: himself. However, this year soda got out some fake blood and made him a little greaser vampire, and Johnny was giddy

- he hung out with pony most of the night, not trick or treating because they both felt too old, but just soaking everything in. Dallas chased after them with a knife, which was scary but he gave them candy so Johnny forgave him.

- all in all, it was a great Halloween for Johnny! He ate chocolate and watched Carrie with his bff and he’d do it all again

Dallas

- you might think he isn’t the type to dress up, but you would be wrong. He’s the type that LOVES to buy a cheap ghostface costume and scare girls, and that’s what he did

- he chased many, many, MANY people, ending with Johnny and pony because he couldn’t resist. He went to a few parties, but they weren’t wild enough for his tastes. He made fun of Tim while Tim was trying to drag Darry home, but regretted it when twobit tackled him

- he spent the rest of the night at the Curtis house eating candy and drawing on everyone that fell asleep

Twobit

- he took his sister trick or treating dressed as a wolf (she was little red riding hood) and guilt tripped many houses into giving him candy as well

- he got Tim and Darry to come to a Halloween party with him and they had a good time until he and darry got too drunk for their own good. Tim (also drunk) was roped into being the babysitter. When dally joined the group, twobit decided he deserved to get tackled

- when tim finally got them both at Darry’s house, twobit immediately started in on his Halloween candy and ended up getting incredibly sick. He passed out sometime after three am

Steve

- he did NOT want to dress up but soda made him and Steve ended up as a a bottle of mustard (soda was going to be the ketchup but he forgot so Steve is just mustard by himself). Steve came to the Curtis house to pick him up for the party and they had a blast!!!

- soda didn’t drink, but Steve did. He ended the night with his head in sodas lap while soda ran his fingers through his hair (Steve was too dizzy to stand)

- eventually, Steve woke up in sodas bed with him, both of them still in their Halloween costumes. Steve went straight back to sleep with a smile on his face

Tim

- Tim is the one that REFUSES to ever dress up. The last time he dressed up he was like seven (he was a pirate). He hasn’t trick or treated since then either because he thinks he’s too old for it.

- he made sure curly and Angela had plans for the night and then left to go to a party with Twobit and Darry. He proceeded to get absolutely shitfaced and was having a great time. Until he and his bros didn’t really want to stay any longer, then he realized that navigating a party (with two guys taller and heavier than you, and drunk) while you’re drunk is… difficult. He managed to get them outside when Dallas started making fun of him. They all ended so going to Darry’s house

- Tim passed tf out and woke up on the kitchen floor with a marker mustache

Angela

- she dressed up as an angel (obviously) and went to a party with her friends. She lied to Tim about it because he didn’t want her going to any parties.

- she was having a good time until she saw Tim at the party. Even if he was totally wasted, she was NOT sticking around and snuck away. She got home and hung out with curly

- her and curly ate candy and watched children of the corn

Curly

- he dressed up as Batman because I like to headcanon that he really likes Batman. He didn’t trick or treat, he mostly just harassed little kids all night. He egged dallys car and decided the night was over when he almost got run over

- he went home, poured his candy out on the coffee table, and ate it while watching tv. It wasn’t until Angela got home that they put something in to watch together. Curly have never seen children of the corn, but he was freaked out fs

- he woke up warm and cozy on the couch with Angela

[sodapopboy]

darry curtis, who sits at his parents’ graves on some of the nights where everyone’s at the drive-in

darry curtis, who sat in the church hours after the funeral was over

darry curtis, who blames himself for what happened to their parents, since he was the one who was supposed to be using the car at the time

darry curtis, who wishes it was him instead of his mom and pop whenever things get too rough because “they’d know what to do. they always did”

darry curtis, who didn’t get a moment to grieve. after enveloping pony and soda into a bone crushing hug, he was off to sorting out custody issues, preparing the funeral, and making sure the lights stayed on, the water ran cold and hot, and that there was food on the table

darry curtis, who not only gets angry when ponyboy doesn’t care much for his academics— but also scared since he knows his brother is meant for more than working at a register or roofing houses

darry curtis, who doesn’t let anyone into their parents room besides himself and his brothers

darry curtis, a man structured with bones of steel and hands sculpted to protect— to give and to never take