What If, During Death’s At My Door, When Pony Says That Death Is Following Him, What If It’s Not

THEYRE SO OAHDALOSOAOA 😭😭 this should’ve been canon DC 👊

Even older Timkon art

PONYBOY SERIOUSLY GOT KO-ED 😭😭

NO WAY WOULD I BE GETTING UP AFTER I JUST GOT BODYSLAMMED BY DARRY 😭😭🙏🙏

the funniest thing about the outsiders movie is that they decided to have darry push ponyboy instead of slap him—he got flung across the room 😭😭

I WANTED MY BOY GINGER GINGER, BRING BACK GINGER TWO-BIT 🙏🙏🙏🙏😔😔😔

"Blond hair erasure Dallas" "Blue eyes erasure Dally" ok, what about Ginger Two-Bit erasure? The man was NOT Ginger in the movie

OH MY GOD IVE BEEN WANTING TO SAY THIS FOR SO LONG.

Two-bit is obviously emotionally intelligent, he can always tell when something’s off with Pony (in contrast to Darry), like when he was sick or when he was threatening those socs, and it’s showed that Two-Bit really cares about Ponyboy.

Two-Bit is probably one of the closest to Pony, even if it isn’t exactly said in words, it’s shown, like whenever Ponyboy is in trouble, Two-Bit is always there to back him up. (The drive-ins, when Randy asked Pony to talk in his car, at the end when Pony threatens the socs.) I mean, Two-Bit was even going to drive all the way to Texas just to get Johnny and Pony home.

Two-Bit isn’t just some funny knucklehead with nothing else going for him, he’s way more complex than that. He’s an alcoholic, he has an absent father and a single mother and he clearly struggles in school. Honestly, I think Two-Bit is too smart to be held back if he was trying, so I’m figuring he isn’t. I think he purposefully gets held back because he likes the constant of school, he likes that it’s something that doesn’t change.

Ponyboy mentions that Two-Bit fights for conformity, to be like the others, to not appear any different, which I feel is so interesting because it implies that he feels like he needs to fight and get in trouble to be like the rest of the group, much like Ponyboy.

That’s it, that’s all I have to add because I’m tired as hell right now LMAO 😻😻

A Rant about Two-bit Mathews

Listen. LISTEN. Two-bit Mathews is by no means my favourite character in The Outsiders but something about the way he is frequently reduced to being nothing more than comic relief by the fandom doesn't sit right with me. Nor does te fact he's commonly characterized/viewed as dumb. Yes, Two-bit is funny, it's clearly characterized as somewhat as a defense mechanism, and it's also not all he is as a character. And he's not dumb. I'm aware everyone is entitled to their own interpretation of the source material and the characters, but even among somewhat serious, non crackfics, I often see these ideas prevail- and I don't know why. Pony even praises Two in his narration quite a bit . Sure, he isn't quote on quote 'book smart', he's still a junior in high school at nineteen and a half, but he's street smart, he has to be, he's a greaser. But that's not the intelligence I'm talking about. Two-bit is socially and emotionally smart. He sees the fraught social dynamics between greasers and socs for what they are ("Two-bit sure put things into words good." / "He saw things straight and turned them into something funny.), he knows the greaser way of life is a choice as much as it is circumstance ("I couldn't just take it or leave it like Two-bit" / "Two-bit for conformity"), and it's something frequently brought up in the book. Two-bit chooses the greaser lifestyle, chooses loyalty to his friends, chooses conformity to following the way of life he's chosen. Consciously he chooses it, because seeing and understanding the world around him and the complex social dynamics that dictate it he recognizes that it is the safest/best choice for himself. I'm not saying he's a genius, but he's a lot smarter than people give him credit for, and I'd argue that the ways in which he is intelligent directly foil the ways that Darry- smart, high school graduate, boy of the year Darry Curtis- isn't. Two-bit's friendship with Ponyboy adds depth to pony's relationship with Darry because it provides such an interesting look at not only what Darry and Pony don't connect over, but why they can't get alone. Darry isn't particularly emotionally smart the way Two is. It's one of the reasons he and Ponyboy can't get along. Cheapening Two's character- even in fics, ESPECIALLY in fics exploring Darry and Ponyboy's relationship- doesn't just cheapen HIS character, but it cheapens Darry's and Ponyboy's and the rest of the gangs' too. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

STOP IM THROWING UP OVER THIS 😭 DEATH’S AT MY DOOR RUINED MY LIFE ISTG

no but the fact that everyone else is “we can get by without anyone but johnny” but johnny is “i can get by without anyone but ponyboy” just kills me so much like johnny is important to the entire gang but ponyboy is johnny's person, his best friend, he's the reason he killed bob, the reason he went into the burning church, ponyboy is the safe space, the home that johnny needs and johnny is the brother who listens that ponyboy wants, ponyboy and johnny are each other's entire world and johnny would go through everything again if it meant ponyboy would be okay

Negan gives off the same vibes as Alvin from Alvin and The Chipmunks. Look at that smug smirk, Alvin would definitely kill some people for fun. Same person I say. No one else ever agrees but I know in my heart and soul that it’s true.

White people jokes are so funny I don’t even understand how some people get offended. Like yes I cannot handle spice and that is hilarious.

i dont get offended at white people jokes even though im white because: 

i can recognize white people as a whole have systemically oppressed POC in america, which is where i live 

most people when they make white people jokes only mean the shitty white people and i am not a shitty white person 

im not a pissbaby

Happy pride month to the whole Curtis gang (and The Shepards) ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

OMG THIS IS THE BEST PURLY FIC IVE EVER READ 😭😭😭 EVERYONE READ THIS ITS SO GOOD OMGOMGOMG IM GONNA COMBUST

The Outsiders Prompt Fic #12- I didn't know where else to go

This is for @ramennoodlezzzao3 who requested prompt eight with Ponyboy. Sorry for the wait, I hope you like this. I wrote it sleep deprived after work and it's unedited so I apologiz wfor any typos.

****************

Tap. Tap. Tap.

When Curly first hears the tapping on the window he thinks it’s his beloved Princess Chunko, aka the raccoon he’s been feeding and attempting to train for the past six months ever since Tim told him off for feeding her- the poor thing was a single mom who worked two jobs and Curly wasn’t heartless. He wasn’t about to let his girl down, ok?- and Angela said you couldn’t teach a raccoon tricks because ‘they aren’t like dogs, dumbass’. Shows what she knows. Curly’s managed to almost get Princess Chunko to shake his hand on command (she’ll do just about anything for leftover fries from McDonald’s), and she’s only bit him like, three times. 

However, when he pulls back the curtain (thank god Angel’s sleeping at her new boyfriend’s place tonight because she would be beyond pissed to get woken at one in the morning) it’s not his beloved furry princess he sees, instead it’s his beautiful, very human and also male princess. 

Right. He’s gotta be cool about this. Smart. Suave. Pony’s never come here so late at night before. Curly isn’t exactly at his best right now- he’d been planning to shower in the morning so he still smells like the desperation of high school and whatever boozy concoction Ma had thrown at him earlier- but he isn’t gonna like, turn Ponyboy down if he’s come here for a hookup. He’s not that stupid.

Except when he throws open the window he catches sight of the pure misery on Ponyboy’s face and all impure thoughts fly out of his head. (Ok, maybe not all of them- he’s a simple man and Ponyboy is Ponyboy and he’s also right there-  but  Curly is again not heartless so like 98% of the impure thoughts are banished. Maybe 97%.)

“Hey Ponyboy!”

Pony runs a hand through his hair. He sighs, and the sound is so tired it could give Tim a run for his money.

“Hey Curly, can I-” his eyes get shiny but he blinks hard and they’re normal again, “can I come in?”

Curly doesn’t bother answering, just grabs his best-friend-maybe-boyfriend-but we-haven’t-had-that-talk-yet-but-also-kiss-and-stuff under the arms and half drags, half lifts him through the window. Curly thanks his unlucky stars that Angel’s mattress is under the window because this was not an elegant maneuver, and Pony landed right on top of him. Like, right on top of him. Curly isn’t exactly complaining because this close he can see the freckle near Pony’s hairline and smell his toothpaste and whatever shampoo he uses, but Pony also completely knocked the wind out of him, and Curly’s is also a fifteen year old boy and attracted to Ponyboy so if Pony doesn’t move soon a different problem is going to make itself known and Curly cannot let that happen or he’ll have to jump off a bridge.

He shoves Pony off of him as gently as he can without being soft, and leads him over to his own side of the room. Angel will already be pissed enough that he was on her side of the room, nevermind the fact it was just to open the window, and Curly doesn’t want to add fuel to the fire. Sure, he loves making Angela angry but she also took a razorblade to his favourite hoodie last week and Curly isn’t willing to risk her ire right now. Things with the boyfriend she’s currently staying with are slowly but surely falling apart and Angela going through a breakup is a dangerous creature. Even Tim steers clear of her as best he can during her anger phase, and then they both decide to be a little nicer when Angel moves on to grief. 

Pony sits next to him and Curly wonders if he should’ve put a bottom sheet on his mattress, then banishes the thought because it’s stupid and because he doubts there’s a bottom sheet anywhere in the house- angel bought her own and guards it viciously. Still, he can’t help the anxiety bubbling in his chest. Pony is in his room, sitting on his bed. In all the time they’ve been hanging out he doesn’t think Pony has ever been in his room. And they’ve certainly never been alone in his room- or in Ponyboy’s for that matter since Sodapop Curtis is the world's most annoying cockblock and one of these days Curly is really gonna slug him.

Fortunately- or unfortunately, he really isn’t sure- Pony seems oblivious to Curly’s internal turmoil. In fact, he seems kind of oblivious to everything, staring blankly at the wall and biting his lip hard enough it might start to bleed soon. 

Rude, Curly thinks, if someone’s gonna be biting ponyboy’s lips tonight it should be him.

It’s kind of worrisome though. It;s not like Ponyboy’s the more, well, present even on a good day, prone to daydreaming and getting all focused in a way Curly doesn’t understand, but this seems different, worse somehow. The misery is still written across Ponyboy’s face, but there's an undercurrent of anger there too, and beneath that, fear.

“You good, man?” Curly’s never been great with emotions, never understood his own or wanted to help with others. He wants to help Pony now though, he just doesn’t know what to say. “You uh, you need anything?”

“No- yes- I dunno.” Ponyboy shakes his head, curling in on himself, and no, nope, if he bunches up it’s like he gets even more stuck in his own head and Curly refuses to let that happen so he yanks him until Pony’s head is resting against his shoulder, his arm around the guy’s admittedly very nice shoulders. “I didn’t know where else to go, I just- I couldn’t stay there. Not tonight. Can I stay with you?”

“Of course,” Curly agrees immediately. There’s a whole host of reasons why and he’s sure some of them are good but the only important one is the thought of Ponyboy Curtis sleeping in his room with him, “why though? Didya finally get tired of Sodacan cockblockin’ us?”

He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, expecting Ponyboy to roll his eyes but snicker like he usually does when Curly makes a suggestive joke, but instead he just sighs, his eyes getting all sad again.

“In your dreams Shepard,” he says, “but nah, it’s nothing like that, just…Darry and Soda are fighting.”

Curly blinks. That’s what Ponyboy is upset about? His family fighting? If Curly got sad anytime people were fighting in his house he’d have died of heartbreak years ago. Shit, Ma hadn’t gone a day without swearing at them in years, and Tim had told him just this morning he was a waste of space. Last month, he and Angel hadn’t spoken for over a week after she tattled on him to Tim about his plan to get into Buck’s race fixing scheme. 

Then again, the Curtis family- even their gang- wasn’t much like his own. They weren’t soft exactly, but they weren’t cold neither, which was something Curly had got used to at a very young age. Ponyboy on the other hand…well, he doesn’t have much ice in him at all.

“They’ve been mad at each other for days, and tonight it’s like they just blew up,” Pony continues, “like a match in a powder keg. They’ve been yelling off and on for hours, and everytime they start to shout it gets worse. They hardly even noticed when I left.”

“Darry won’t be pleased you ran off,” curly points out. He’s not good at emotions but he is good at being practical, at least when he’s trying to think like Angela, and he knows Darry Curtis will be mad if Ponyboy comes home late or not at all. Curly thinks the guy needs to lighten up a bit. One murder wrap when Pony didn;t even kill the guy shouldn’t mean he needs to be supervised 24/7. Darry needs to lighten up.

Ponyboy rolls his eyes.

“Shit man, you sound like Two-bit. I left a note alright? And if they’re really that worried they can get over themselves and come and find me.”

“What are they arguin’ about anyway?”

That was apparently the wrong question to ask because Pony’s face shutters again.

“That’s the whole problem! I dunno! I can’t figure it out and I listened to them argue awhile. It got real personal real quick, whatever they started arguin’ about probably isn’t why they’re mad now.”

“I’m sorry man,” Curly says, and he is. Rarely is it that he feels any sort of sympathy for other people’s issues, but Ponyboy curtis is not just anyone. In fact, he’s maybe the best person Curly knows, and he doesn’t deserve his house to feel like Curly’s does. The Curtis’ are supposed to be better than that. Ponyboy is supposed to have better than that.

Curly knows there isn’t much he can do. There never is, and with his penchant for fucking shit up he’s rarely trusted with even meaningless things let alone important ones, so he’s not usually armed with the skills to help anyone. However, in this situation, Curly knows what to do because it’s something he wished for every day or his childhood, and something that was never really provided to him no matter how hard Tim sometimes tried. 

Tonight, he can keep Pony safe.

“You can stay here,” he promises, scrubbing a hand through Ponyboy’s hair as an excuse to feel how soft it is without grease in it, “whenever you want. Just show up.”

“Really?”

“‘Course.”

That earns him a smile, a real one, the kind that makes Ponyboy sort of glow and Curly kind of want to kiss him and combust and jump out a window all at the same time.

“Thanks.” Pony murmurs, and Curly feels himself grin when Pony settles his head back on his shoulder, exhaustion returning.

Curly lets himself grin as he maneuvers them so that they’re squished together on his lumpy single mattress. It’s not the most comfortable position- Ponyboy is half on top of him and not in a fun way, his bony elbow jammed into Curly’s ribs, and his hair tickling his nose, but Curly wouldn't change it for the world.

Ponyboy is already gone when he wakes up the next morning, but that’s alright, Curly expected it, just like he expected the call that came when he was making breakfast and the light that has returned to Pony’s eyes when he sees him at school.

The Curtis house isn’t supposed to be like his own, and it isn’t. Ponyboy wouldn’t ever look this relaxed if it was. 

Even still, Curly reasons, it can’t hurt to keep his window unlatched. Just in case.