The Outsiders Dallas - Tumblr Posts
The Outsiders Drawings + Design headcanons :)
[Ponyboy Micheal Curtis]
-Palest of his brothers
-All the Curtis's have sunkissed cheeks, his are pretty moderate
-2nd most freckles out of his brothers, gets it from his mom
-Scars on his neck and chin
[Johnathan Andrew Cade]
-His hair is usually very unkempt because he doesn't tend to stay in his house too long in the mornings
-Has issues with sleep and very prominent bags under his eyes
-hooded eyes
[Dallas Tucker Winston]
-Omg GUYS THEY MADE DALLAS WINSTON WOKE 😨😨 /j
-Wanted to combine all 3 versions of Dallas
-Book Dallas traits : Sharp teeth, sharp jaw, sharp ears, platinum blonde hair
-Movie Dallas traits : Big eyes, big bushy eyebrows
-Musical Dallas traits : Skin tone, curly hair
-I gave him vitiligo because I like pale Dallas but I also like Joshua Boone's Dallas
-Lip scar because why not
[Keith David "Two-Bit" Matthews]
-Has a mullet and curly hair
-Messy, bushy eyebrows
-Almost perfect teeth somehow??
-Mickey Mouse tattoo
-Pretend you can tell his leather jacket is Mickey Mouse themed
[Sodapop Patrick Curtis]
-he has dimples
-Most freckles in the family - had even more than their mom
-Sunkiss usually borders on sunburn
-Straight, thin eyebrows
[Steve Jacob Randle]
-Horrendous teeth (we already knew that though)
-Birthmark over his right eye because why not 🤷
-Small bit of beard/stubble
-super hooded eyes
-Butt chin hehe
[Darrel Shaynne Curtis Jr.]
-2nd least sunkissed
-least freckled - takes most from his dad
-Somewhat beard/stubble, thinks it makes him look mature
-Big eyebrows
TW: Spoilers for The Outsiders By S.E.Hinton, Talking about death, Alcohol and Suicide
If you're familiar with S.E. Hinton's classic novel "The Outsiders," then you probably know all about Dallas “Dally” Winston, the quintessential bad boy of Tulsa who's always causing trouble and ending up in the cooler (jail). He's a complex character pivotal to the book's plot development. Recently, while listening to music and contemplating the parallels between Dallas Winston and to the songs I was listening to, I noticed a striking correlation. Specifically, McCafferty's songs "Trees," "Bottom," and "Beachboy" encapsulate the essence of Dallas Winston's character archetype This observation compelled me to write this essay, which delves into the thematic connections between McCafferty's music and the portrayal of Dallas Winston in "The Outsiders."
The First song I will be covering is the song ‘Beachboy’ Which is track 6 off of the 2014 Album Beachboy This song was the song that made me initially link Dallas Winston to the band. This song could be confusing and have a lot of different meanings but the interpretation I am going with is put best by the authors at Songtell “is about accepting change and making the best of the situation. It speaks to the idea of growing up and taking on responsibilities, even when it is difficult or uncomfortable to do so.” (Songtell) Overall the song has the vibe of an angst-filled teenager who you gave access to a guitar and a music editing software, but a few parts of the song stuck out to me in particular when I heard the song with the idea of it representing Dallas. The first quote that represents Dallas Winston is “She says, ‘Your lips tasted like they did way back in July’/ Headaches and overdose I Hope that we never die”. While it's never fully stated where Dallas lives. Lots - if not all of fan theories and fan fiction - believe that he lives at Buck Merrill's Barin a spare bedroom when he isn't crashing on Curtis’s couch. Buck, is stated to be a shifty character “Buck Merril was Dally's rodeo partner…and made most of his money on fixed races and a little bootlegging” (Hinton 52) Buck along with earning money dishonestly was a troublemaker similar to Dallas, stated in the same paragraph “he used to be bucktoothed before he had the front two knocked out in a fight.” Buck Merril was also known for throwing parties and all around not being a safe individual so much so that The main character of the book Ponyboy was instructed by both of his older brothers to not be caught WIthin the proximity of his Barand he was happy to abide “I was under strict orders from both Darry and Soda not to get caught within ten miles of his place, which was dandy with me”(Hinton 52). Ponyboy notes that some of the events at Buck's parties leaned to the more adult sides of things “I was remembering what usually went on in the bedrooms at Buck's parties…” (Hinton 52). It should also be stated that in Pre-Book events Dallas had a girlfriend named Sylvia. Sylvia was Dallas's girlfriend but while Dallas was in Jail for one of many reasons she cheated on him. Dallas says this Himself to Steve on page 13 of the book “‘You break up with Sylvia again?" ‘Yeah, and this time it's for good. That little broad was two-timin' me again while I was in jail.’”(Hinton 13) Knowing where Dallas stays his past relations with Sylvia and potential future relations with Cherry Valance and any other girl that Dallas will flirt with You can assume that he has taken at least Sylvia to Buck's place to party, this relates to the song Beachboy By McCafferty because the second paragraph has the line “She says, ‘Your lips tasted like they did way back in July’/ Headaches and overdose I Hope that we never die” The ‘She’ in this scenario could be Sylvia because Dallas has been thrown in jail so many times one could infer that they go long periods without seeing each other which explains why she cheated on him and could explain the line “Like they did way back in July” following up with that, knowing buck is a shady character known throwing parties you could also make the argument that “headaches and overdose” could be hangovers and poor decisions being made while hanging out with Buck and Sylvia.
The next set of lines off of Beach Boy that describe Dallas are the lines “And I know that you think that I don't care / About all the friends I left behind” which would make sense,If there is two words to describe Dallas winston it would be Cold and callous, Ponyboy makes that Exceptionally clear when describing him even if not those word exactly anytime Dallas is described in the book it is always made clear about his bitterness and hatred towards the world one example being “His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world.” (Hinton 10) and then in the same paragraph “the warfare is between the social classes… Maybe that was why Dallas was so bitter.”(Hinton 10) with descriptions like that anyone would assume Dallas Winston is some Unbridaled hate machine, another example being “One time, in a dime store, a guy told him to move over at the candy counter. Dally had turned around and belted him so hard it knocked a tooth loose. A complete stranger, too” (Hinton 22) Dallas is willing to hit a *STRANGER* so hard it knocks a tooth out However, it's stated that Dallas has a soft spot for Johnny Cade over any of the other members of the gang this is made clear after Johnny Scolded Dallas for harassing Cherry Valance and Marcia At the drive in “Dallas 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 a moment's hesitation. You just didn't tell Dally Winston what to do … But Johnny was the gang's pet, and Dally just couldn't hit him. He was Dally's pet, too.”(Hinton 22) All of this is to say that Dallas reminds me of this set of lines because Dallas goes even further to protect his friends than just not hitting them, Dallas is seen as a hardened criminal by the group, due to his time spent in the “Wild side of New York'' and his character all around, after Johnny Kills Bob the Soc Johnny and Ponyboy Run to Bucks bar to go to Dallas for help and without a second thought he helps them, Giving them a loaded gun and 50$ cash to buy groceries, on page 53 “Dally appeared after a minute. He carefully shut the door. "Here"--- he handed us a gun and a roll of bills--- "the gun's loaded. For Pete's sake, Johnny, don't point the thing at me. Here's fifty bucks. That's all I could get out of Merril tonight He's blowin' his loot from that last race."(Hinton 53) This is Major enough Dallas also gives Johnny and Ponyboy the location of an old church to hide out in Windrixville and on top of all of this Dallas lies to the police on their behalf to keep the cops from looking for them In Tulsa, or Windrixville Oklahoma “‘The fuzz won't be lookin' for you around here," Dally said, lighting up. "They think you've lit out for Texas…”(69) Now Dallas has had his fair run share of run-ins with the police before, and Johnny didn't Just pull some small-time thievery he killed a man, Dallas knew how much trouble he could get in for helping Johnny and Ponyboy out here, He was now an accessory to a crime but he still did it for them because he cared about them. While Dallas may have left the rest of the gang behind, literally when he killed himself via cop shoot-out at the end of the book he died caring for them he died because Johnny was the only thing keeping him afloat, he is also shown caring up until the end with his last words being “Ponyboy” He Died angry at the world yet in the same vein he died caring about his friends until his last moments. (1/3)
The second McCafferty song that represents Dallas Winston is Bottom, The 7th track off of the 2014 Beach Boy Album while the actual storyline of the song is about an unrequited love and is an an unofficial tribute song to another band of the same genre called "The Front Bottoms" there were two segments in the song that stuck out to me.The first lines that stuck out to me are the lines “I love the way your skin feels on my collar bones I know I stole that line” Along with being a general troublemaker Dallas is also known for going to the drive-in theater with the intent of flirting with girls there, we learn this early on in chapter one where he says "Speaking' of movies…I'm walkin' over to the Nightly Double tomorrow night. Anybody want to come and hunt some action?" (Hinton 13) after being declined by Sodapop Curtis and Two-Bit Mathews because they had other plans and Dallas makes his way around the gang until landing on Ponyboy and Johnny to go with him, though it is implied that Dallas will go to the Drive-in regardless if the guys are going with him. This line relates to Dallas because he is going to the Drive-in to flirt with what we can assume is malicious intent, we can also tell that he is super unoriginal with how he is trying to pick up cherry in the movie by saying “Are you a real Redhead… Are you real?” Not only can we interpret this line of the song as Dallas being at the drive-in attempting to make a cheeky remark but also blaming a failed pick-up line on the fact that he stole it from someone else most presumably to save face. (2/3)
.The Next Segment of lines in Bottom is "Can you pay for overtime?/Can you pay to keep my secrets safe?/Can you break my legs tonight?/Can you help me take away the pain?”This segment of lines needs to be broken down line by line, but I believe is the most impactful to Dallas’s character. The first line "Can you pay for overtime?” This line by itself may not mean much until you realize how many things in Dallas's life were cut short, either by his own will or the work of some higher power, overtime here could be interpreted as just more time with his friends in the gang, and Johnny specifically. While Dallas may not have any secrets that are talked about in the book the line “Can you keep my secret safe” can be equally impactful when you take into consideration that Dallas doesn't have a good relationship with his father and his mother is never mentioned, while it may not be an actual secret Dallas, just like everyone else has emotions and the “secret” here is more implicative of his emotions of wanting to feel comforted, cared about and even loved, but these wants have to be kept secret from the rest of the greaser gang because it isn't tough or “Tuff” to be emotional, especially as a male greaser.Moving on to the third part of this Lyric, "Can you break my legs tonight?” When it was written it was meant as an Innuendo, however, if we look at this line compared to The Outsiders We can clearly see that “Breaking legs” can be used for a second meaning, Dallas as stated previously is a violent young man, and would constantly get into fights that were just part of who he was even before he moved to Tulsa “In New York, Dally blew off steam in gang fights, but here, organized gangs are rarities–”(10)This was one of the many reasons Dallas would get hauled off to jail. But instead of Gang fights in Tulsa, they had Rumbles and Dallas wouldn't miss one of those for the world for example After being in the hospital for being minorly burned during the Scene where the church burns down, Dallas asks for Two-Bits knife, later says that he threatened a nurse to leave so he could be a part of it “Talked the nurse into it with Two-Bit's switch. Don't you know a rumble ain't a rumble unless I'm in it?" (Hinton 122)Dallas left a hospital using the potentially violent option against medical advice to join in an all-out brawl because he knows that's where the action is the line “Can you break my legs tonight” is also repeated more throughout the song then the rest of them, being repeated a total of 10 times in the 3 minutes and 45-second song, the repeating of these two line along with the line “Can you pay to keep my secrets safe?”Is the embodiment of Dallas just wanting to be seen and loved, but you can take this one step further, with the last line of the verse “Can you help me take away the pain?” This line is the cherry on top. This last line looking at it through the song is the equivalent of asking for something you really want more subtly “Can you pay for overtime?/Can you pay to keep my secrets safe?/Can you break my legs tonight?” He’s asking, "Can you make me feel better? Can you show me time and emotion” but then the last line is giving up and just asking bluntly for the thing you wanted to begin with “Can you help me take away the pain?” Dallas was just being a troubled kid, with a rough past who had a rough future ahead of him if he chose to keep going.
The last McCafferty lyric that represents Dallas Winston is the line “My dad is an alchie/I bet that he kills me” From the song Trees off of the Forest Life EP released in 2017 by McCafferty while this song represents Dallas the least While it does talk about The singer's father being potentially abusive it also talks about Religion and his mother in a lot of ways that aren't applicable due to the fact we don't learn anything about Mrs. Winston in the book However McCafferty's music is very similar to Dallas Winston in the way that you have to be in the mood to deal with it, for example, Dallas’s character is hotheaded and troublesome and most of not all of McCafferty’s songs On the slower and more depressed side of things
or movie, With that being said We do know about Dallas’s father in a smaller way, Similar to Sylvia, Mr.Winston is mentioned only on one occasion but it is in an extremely negative light. On page 75 Dallas states proudly “'Shoot, my old man don't give a hang whether I'm dead in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter'” (75). This is the final piece we need to understand Dallas Winston's character as a whole. understanding that he lived on the rough streets of New York is one thing and caring for your friends is just a natural part of life, however understanding that his poor home life was one of the main reasons to cause him to go down this path it's important. Ponyboy goes on to say “For Dally. He meant it when he said he didn’t care about his parents…Dally was of the breed that could take anything, because he was hard and tough, and when he wasn't, he could turn hard and tough. ” (Hinton 75)Dallas growing up in an unsteady home has to lead him to be able to lock into a state of high adrenaline and coldness because he had been hurt too many times before that, by what we assume is father, by Sylvia, by johnny being ripped away from him prematurely, Dallas has been betrayed by anyone and everyone causing him to be calloused.
In conclusion, delving into McCafferty's songs "Beachboy," "Bottom," and "Trees" alongside the character of Dallas Winston from S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders" provides a profound insight into Dallas's essence. McCafferty's music remarkably mirrors Dallas's life, capturing his rough upbringing, rebellious nature, and the universal themes of feeling misunderstood and searching for meaning and acceptance. Ultimately, this exploration demonstrates how literature and music intersect to address timeless themes that resonate with all of us, enriching our understanding of life on a deeper level. (3/3)
Random The Outsiders HC's
>not to be another fic/ HC account but feel free to send stuff in for requests n stuff, also for art ^^<
>This is my first post like this, some of these are more modern just roll with it ^^ < -Dally Dyes his hair brown becuase his father was blond -Darry knows how to play piano decently -Darry is also good at dancing: Swing, ballroom, tango probaly idk -Ponyboy would always try to get the gang to play DND but is shut down constantly (they eventualy give in) -Ponyboy defiently picked up a dark romance book on accedent poor kid was traumitized -Two-Bit has a mickey-sona (basically cannon) - Mrs. Curtis liked Spider Lily's // Mr.Curtis liked Red carnations - Two-Bit coaches hocky in the winter - Mrs.Curtis and Mrs.Mathews would defiently have "Girls Nights" - Two-Bit defientaly has some Irish blood in him - Follow up he defiently takes St.Patricks day Super seriously -Darry has bad knees and wears knee pads or braces a lot of the time -Dallas likes (Or at least tolerates) Johnny cash -Two-Bit calls Marcia Mar-Mallow (like marshmallow)
Send me the saddest, angstiest, depressing head canons & scenarios about any character/s from The Outsiders. Please and thank you:)
I think after the court Ponyboy would see Johnny and Dallas as hallucinations, and eventually, it would lead to him going crazy and/or super depressed and committing suicide
I would hope that he doesn't commit suicide, but I would understand if he did after all the trauma he went through. First his parents die, he gets hit by his brother for something he didn't mean to do, (I don't hate/dislike Darry for this though) he nearly gets drowned to death and has to go on the run with his best friend after said best friend kills someone for him. And then his best friend dies. After saving children. Then his other friend commits a suicide by cop. And he watched them both die. In the same night.
Yeah, I can imagine he would have some issues.
I seen the post where you wanted something sad about the outsiders so maybe like, once Johnny and dally dies he becomes sadder and sadder every day. He completely stop watching sunsets but every once in a while he will look at the them despite the heaviness in his heart. He stops playing track because the running reminds him of when him and Johnny had to run away and when ever he sees and leather jacket his eyes fills with tears because they remind him of dally. He blames himself every day of the deaths of his two best friends despite soda pop and Darry telling him it wasnt his fault. He locks him self in his room most the time and just stares at his book shelf no longer having the motivation to read the books. He reads johnnys letter every night and bowls his eyes out till he falls asleep. I don’t know what else to put so there ya have it😅
That actually sounds amazing. In a sobbing on the bathroom floor kind of way. Thank you!
live picture of me every time I remember that johnny and dally are canonically dead because I’ve genuinely forgotten and gaslit myself into thinking they lived
