Happy Pride Month Guys

I have something to say about Soda, and y’all are not going to like it. But I have to speak my truth.

I absolutely love that as a fandom we’re starting to humanize him and recognize his character for more than just a comedic bystander. But sometimes it feels like the pendulum now swings too far in the other direction, and some of these takes have turned him into a completely different character.

Yes, Soda is more than just his sweetness. He’s got anger and recklessness and grief, too. But exploring and developing that hidden depth shouldn’t be at the expense of his compassion and good-nature, which are still fundamental parts of his character. The sweetness doesn’t stop existing just because he’s also capable of darkness. They can and should coexist: that’s the entire point of complexity.

I keep seeing posts that use Ponyboy’s unreliable narration to argue away Soda’s sweetness, and I’ll be honest, it irritates me. Ponyboy is misguided, but he’s not outright wrong about what he observes. Darry is hard and cold. Johnny is frightened and nervous. Dally is tough and mean. And Soda is reckless and compassionate. Ponyboy might miss the subtlety of motivation (Darry is harsh, but not because he hates his brother) but he’s truthful about what’s externally obvious.

And yes, Ponyboy idolizes Soda, but the cause of his hero worship is rooted in Soda’s kindness towards him. If Darry were more emotionally present, Ponyboy would likely idolize him, too. But Ponyboy’s hero worship doesn’t cause him to erase Soda’s flaws. In fact, he calls them out on multiple occasions—Soda’s recklessness, his academic failures, his inability to take anything seriously. Pony is even embarrassed by Soda when Cherry asks about him dropping out.

Similarly important to note is that Ponyboy isn't the only one who puts Soda on a golden pedestal. Darry is equally guilty of idealizing his brother, and it's because of the emotional labor Soda does for his family; not because Ponyboy has crafted a completely different version of his brother for the readers.

The fandom wants a complex Soda, and so do I. But complexity doesn’t equate darkness! His core traits don't need to be erased to prop up a version of the character that’s unrecognizably gritty and twisted. Soda is interesting because he’s kind. He’s interesting because he’s emotionally intelligent. He’s interesting because he listens. These things don’t make him perfect! They’re both his strength and his weakness.

Soda who lets himself be walked over. Soda who keeps the peace at the expense of voicing his honest opinion. Soda who hides pain with a manic glimmer in his eyes. Soda who holds it in until he can’t. Soda who explodes in grief or anger when pushed to his breaking point. Soda who can’t sit still. Soda who embraces his “stupidity” like a badge of honor to hide how much it hurts. Soda who nobody really knows, because he protects himself by focusing on others. Soda with a fear of abandonment. Glass child Sodapop. Beautiful and invisible. Slowly being killed by the pressure of a role he’s not strong enough to perform.

And yes, he's also angry. He's also reckless. He's also easily distracted and can't sit still and likes to fight. But good characterization happens when you explore these traits within the context of the other ones. The gentleness and roughness are not mutually exclusive; they can and should go hand in hand.

Instead of “oh I bet Ponyboy is lying, Soda probably yells at him all the time,” consider: what in Soda’s life would be hurtful enough to push him to yell at Ponyboy? Instead of “Ponyboy’s naive, I bet Soda drinks like crazy,” consider: what deeper motivation might keep Soda from drinking?

That's complexity.

Of course everyone has a right to interpret the character differently. And I'm not arguing against headcanons and aus—I just wish we could recognize them as headcanons, instead of trying to twist canon into supporting our own personal characterization. The dark takes are certainly interesting, and fun to toss around. But please, don't discredit the rich depth of his canon characterization as "not gritty enough;" Soda doesn't have to drink, scream, or be Dally to be interesting.

Make him go feral, please—but consider doing it in a way that makes sense for his character, and expands on who he is, instead of erasing it.

take all of darrel’s suffering, triple it, and give it to paul

jpc leaving isn’t okay. i’m not okay. i’ll be on the floor

My physical form can no longer contain my love for the outsiders. I must explode.

I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater

sodapop headcanons!

hi outsiders tumblr fandom!! i'm a major fan of the musical and got to see it over the summer, but i've had the honor of playing Sodapop in the play version this last fall! i just figured i'd share a collection of characterization/characterwork/headcanons (except to me it's kind of canon?) thoughts!

feel free to ask any questions! some prefaces about our production (mostly director's choices)!

we casted genderblind, our pony and darry were played by girls!

soda did get sandy pregnant.....it wasn't cheating

the year is 1964! (this one isn't insanely relevant)

the curtis house was two stories (this will make sense later...) so first are some random character thoughts (mostly canon)

100% a momma's boy (ex-momma's boy...)

sticking to canon that he worked at a stable when he was 12, rip Mickey Mouse

quite the caregiver, in the sense he is incredibly emotionally intelligent (especially when it comes to his family)

very lighthearted person, walks through life that way

adrenaline junkie, consistently trying to enjoy life and have fun

emotionally vulnerable, but puts others first out of fear if he opens up too much he might not be able to stop

violently passionate and loving, viscerally supportive. ultimate loverboy

he isn't stupid! he just struggles to learn in the format school teaches

much more street and people smart

prideful but definitely fairly polite

confident in himself! though he holds insecurity in being dumb, since he's only regarded for being a looker...many many instances where he's been flirted with at work but is so oblivious because the comments are so common

puts his cold bare feet on whoever is sitting with him. walks around barefoot a lot in the house.

would drop all of his pennies out of his pocket...

would likely be a musical theatre kid in the modern day. his favorites are Mamma Mia and Little Shop of Horrors

big fan of rodeos, play fighting and drag racing

BIG fan of darry's chocolate cake

not at all a smoker

really not a cracked fighter... i lost my fight in the rumble (just the way it ended up being with my fight partner but...)

fave colors are blue and orange! specific relationships notes:

sandy and soda have been together for 2 years! momma curtis loved her

so so SO in love with her tho, basically worships the ground she walks on. he doesn't get over her for a whileeeee.... but he still doesn't blame her

dates to baseball games were so common.

definitely danced together- in the kitchen or out in the rain, at a party? dancing always.

strong relationship with darry (played by one of my bestest friends ever), he understands her and helps where he can, loves her and respects her a lot- but is able to joke around with her without it being too serious

two-bit (also played by one of my bestest friends) and him are pretty close, her actor and i have a bit that two-bit and soda hook up and maybe get together a few years after sandy.....no comment

steve and soda are pretty close! not as locked in as in canon but...(context: we basically wrote steve into the script) they are locked into the grind at the DX and definitely go out to rodeos and races together

johnny and soda are lowkey not the closest but also in a "we are best friends" kinda way, soda's insanely protective of her (genderbent!) after the jumping

dallas and soda were a lot closer when they were younger, soda likely introduced dallas to the group, but they kinda grew apart as they got older and especially after the curtis parents died... soda doesn't really approve of too many of dallas' choices, but he's still family

cherry... she definitely has thrown him a few looks when stopping by the DX... me and her actor like to imagine maybe they've flirted and had minor crushes on each other at one point in time i made a playlist, containing more time period based music and music i just think soda would listen to! (i'm contemplating still updating it whenever i find music i think he'd enjoy):

some of the leads in the cast also made "get to know me" sheets as jokes so here is mine!

in the script, it mentions the returned letter, so i got to make that prop! i actually ended up handwriting the letter, so here is it on a doc plus pictures of the letter! she also gave me one, so we could trade! it was sandy's unsent letter to soda back in Tulsa after she moved. sandy's last name was picked as a reference to sarahgrace from the musical cast :)

Google Docs

Soda's Letter

Dear Sandy, I really miss you, and I hope you've safe. I love you too, I didn't get to tell you that today. I'm sorry for that. You left ton

i think this is the end! thank you for sticking around so long :)

I suddenly feel compelled to talk more about this (ty @qprpbj for this)

the CURTIS gang is only the curtis gang bc it’s sodapop CURTIS’ gang. It’s not Darry’s, because Darry isn’t in the gang. Sure he goes to rumbles, and hangs out with all of them but part of that is because 1. It’s his brothers friends and 2. he’s a greaser, what else can he do? It’s stated in the book and confirmed by S.E Hinton that Darry isn’t in the gang at all, nor does he want to be. He didn’t “go soc” in highschool, he just hung out with socs. Even if he was a greaser, he didn’t wear that title with pride. Soda fully embraced the title, wore it right next to his heart on his sleeve. I would bet money that the gang wasn’t even like, a thing until Soda kinda looked around at his friends and went huh. we’re kind of like a gang. and everyone ran with it. It’s also Soda’s gang because everything circles back to the kid. For example, I don’t think Steve would’ve voluntarily hung out with the rest of the group had it not been for Soda. Neither would Ponyboy. I also like to think that everyone met Johnny through Soda, even if it’s Ponyboy he’s closest with. I just have a feeling they were in the same class along with Steve. Not entirely sure how Dally got there, but it was probably Soda. Soda honestly could’ve just seen a kid his age chilling by himself and invited him over for dinner bc his mom makes GREAT spaghetti. Two-bit was just a neighbourhood kid Darry used to hang out with until high-school, where he got different friends and such, but Two-bit was still around and ended up mixed in with the group, not that he’s complaining. I don’t think they ever made themselves known as a gang but that’s how others saw them anyways. “it’s the curtis gang” “who’s gonna be at the rumble?” “the curtis gang” “that kids from the curtis gang.”

idk if this makes any sense but thank you for coming to my ted talk.

this 110%, especially after playing him in the play

unpopular opinion that “The Outsiders Musical” (2023) takes inspiration from “The Outsiders Play” (1990) by Christopher Sergel which were both adapted from S.E. Hinton’s 1967 The Outsiders novel.

The more references I look up of the Curtis house the more confused I am. I think Pony and sodas room has two doors, one to the kitchen and another the hall/ living room. Don’t even get me started on the complex mix of space that is the living room and dining room.

Been looking at movie photos and museum photos for help but at this point I need them to drop like the original floorplan.

whos gonna get me this for the Ides

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