#Darrel Curtis sr

[curtis-brothers-hug]

Mr Curtis used to call Dally by different Texas city names. Austin. Houston. Everything except Dallas. El Paso, San Antonio, and Galveston were the most ridiculous, but Dally’s least favorite by far was Irving.

[dallasgallant]

I’m ill

We should talk about him and Karen more, they really were something.

[mikahsstudio]

Darrel walks into the quiet Curtis home. It was 12am and all Darry wants to do is collapse into bed and sleep for hours and hours, but he couldn’t quite yet. He walks into the kitchen looking at the dishes in the sink. He looks to the living room noticing the dirty coffee table. He sighs to himself as he got to work as quietly as possible to avoid waking his brothers.

Thirty minutes later Darry finally cleans to the point where he’s satisfied. During these moments, he couldn’t help but think amount of times his parents had to do this; how they made it look so easy; how they never would complain; how they were always patient with the boys. What he’d give to understand. What’d he’d give to have a conversation with them. To say goodbye.

He walks down the hall to his brothers’ room quietly cracking the door open. Sodapop has his arm draped around Ponyboy, and they’re both dead asleep. The rise and fall of their chests some how calms Darry. Since their parents death, Darry was always worried. Always. He was terrified one day a police officer would show up on his door step one day, and tell him of a new loss. Just like that fateful night. The night of his 20th birthday.

He shakes away the memory. He shakes the memory of having to identify them. He shakes away the image of his dismembered parents. He shakes away the memory of telling his brothers that their parents were gone. He shakes away the sound of desperation tat came from Pony’s mouth, and Soda’s arms wrapping around himself. He shakes away the memory of the funeral. He shakes away it all.

He walks into his room, throwing off his work clothes and climbing into bed. His back aches and his muscles are sore. It seems like he’s in a constant state of pain all the time. He stares at the ceiling, his mind racing. He forces his eyes closed and sleep eventually consumes him. The only bright side to bee exhausted all the time was how easy it was to fall asleep.

A few moments after drifting off he feels his eyes open, but it wasn’t an awake kind of feeling. His back didn’t hurt and he didn’t want to immediately crawl back into bed. He was also in a different room. It was Pony and Soda’s room. It was his childhood bedroom.

He sits up, standing from the bed as he walks to the door, which was cracked open slightly. The house smells how he remembered it. Before everything happened. The house feels quiet, but not barren. He walks into the living room and he feels his breath hitch, because there, sitting in his father’s chair, was his father.

“Dad?” Darry’s voice sounds small and soft, as if worried that his father would disappear, or run away.

Then, his dad stand up turning to him; taking a step forward. “Junior,” His father smiles. “I’ve missed you, have you been?

Darry takes another tentative step forward “I miss you.”

“I know son.” His father stands in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder “You’re doing so well”

Darry knows it isn’t real, but he wants it to be. It all feels so real “I’m really not. I’m nothing like you and mom. I have no idea what I have no clue how you two did it. I don’t know how to do this right. I feel like I’m failing them — failing you.” Darry has no clue where all this is coming from, or why he’s ranting to something that so clearly doesn’t anywhere but in the confines of his own mind.

“Oh, my son, youve always been too hard on yourself. You’re doing your best. That’s all me and your mother could’ve ever hoped for.” His father moves his hands to hold his face

“It’s not enough. I feel like I have no idea about anything anymore..”

“Do you think your mother and I did? We were just as clueless, but you boys.. It made it worth it.”

Darry is speechless at his fathers words. “Really?”

“Yes, Junior. We are so proud of you all. We’re so proud of you. I am proud of you, son”

Suddenly, Darry jerks awake with tears streaming down his face. “Dad?” Gosh, when was the last time he said that expecting a reply?

[girlishwhimsies]

“it’s just a girl humming to a fan”

no it’s not. it’s darry staring at his ceiling in his parents bed, wondering what his life could have been like. imagining paul next to him in a better world where they were in love still and went to school together. he is imagining his parents in the bed instead, his mom kissing his forehead again and telling him that she is gonna love him no matter what and he believes her with every ounce of his being. it’s his father bringing him to work, showing him off to the other workers and bragging about the fact his son doesn’t have to follow in his footsteps. he misses his parents and he misses paul and he misses the old version of himself as the fan whirs above him

[yourmusicmuse]

Okay so I found this picture of Pinterest and highkey. It has me CRYING. And let me tell you why!!!

Both Soda and Darry are compared to their dad in the book, and while I can't really recall at the moment if any of them were compared to their mother, I'm gonna go at the personal headcanon that Ponyboy was compared to her quite a lol in a similar way to Soda and Darry being compared to their dad. But see here- their mom is blonde. Soda in the book is blond, but I feel like it's an entirely different ballgame when Ponyboy bleaches his hair. When Darry and Soda reunite with him and after the pure joy and relief that he was alive...I just imagine a sense of unease. Seeing him with the blond hair- the comparisons to their mother hadn't completely clicked until then. It makes them feel...a lot of things. But above all, there is a harsh mixture of grief and love. For both their mother and Ponyboy.

[made-my-peace-with-all-the-bad]

I’m thinking about little Darry. About how he was probably five years old when he first really found out what football was. On Sundays, his dad would sit and turn on the game. It wasn’t until one specific day that Darry came up and sat next to him. And he started asking questions. That’s how he first got into it. And Darrel Curtis Sr was thrilled. Because his first son, his little boy, wanted to watch football with him. That was something he loved sharing with Darry.

So when Darry said that he wanted to start playing, Darrel Sr taught him everything he knew. He had Darry up and running drills early in the morning and passing a ball at night. And Darry loved it. He loved the sport, but he also loved bonding with his dad. And he was good. He was really good. So, he went on to play in high school. And became a captain. And then he got a scholarship. When Darry got that in the mail, the first person he ran to was his dad. Because his dad was the reason he had this passion, this talent, and this joy, so he had to be the first to know.

The first Sunday after his dad died, Darry woke up and went to go turn on the game, only to realize that he’d be watching it alone. He would never watch another game with his dad ever again. And the same was true when he pulled out the football he’d been throwing with his dad for a decade. Suddenly his go to toss partner wasn’t there. But life carries on. Football still gets played. Balls still get passed. And every Sunday, for just a split second, Darry forgets. For just a moment, he can imagine he’ll walk into the living room to the TV playing a game, food being made, and his dad’s joyous smile that his son wants to enjoy this with him.

[claritys-silly-things]

It’s that time again yall

Headcanons! It’s a long one this time

Emetophobia tw

- (I think I can classify this as modern) Rip sodapop curtis you would’ve loved saying “I’m just a girl 🎀”

- Soda never liked haircuts. When he was a small feral child his long hair would get tangled a lot, but he’s tender headed as FUCK so he would scream and cry when his momma brought the brush out. Darry put sodas hair into braids sometimes just for fun and soda didn’t mind bc it kept his hair from getting tangled, and then it didn’t hurt to brush. He’s always had really soft hair and it grows super fast.

- Jealous little soda asksjks (this was about soda being jealous over pony getting attention as a baby but I don’t wanna edit the original ramble I wrote down)

- When ponyboy was born he just kind of STARED. No crying or anything just 👁️👁️. Even Darry cried when he was born. Soda cried a lot.

- Adding on, Darry and pony were pretty quiet babies. They still cried for food and stuff sometimes but not a lot. Soda was a LOUDDD crier, and a frequent one too. It was the type of crying that sounds like it hurts the baby’s throat cause they’re shrieking their head off. Also soda would cry for, like, the first year of his life if he was ever handed to his dad.

- If Johnny survived the fire and got a wheelchair, he’d be running over people’s feet. Constantly. Just because. Or bc they asked for it. Either way, the moment he gets a hang of that wheelchair it is OVER for yall. And probably before that too.

- Ponyboy gets the same. Goddamn. Thing. At EVERY restaurant. Partly because it scares him to order anything else, partly because he’s picky asf. He makes sure it’s there on the menu and has his order memorized by now. “Chicken tenders, fries, and a Pepsi please.” He’s tried to ask for other things in the past like eggs, cuz he likes those, but the moment they asked him “how would you like them done” he just stared at Darry because he didn’t know what all the different types of eggs were, and now he’s scared bc he’s taking longer, and the server is still there, so he just got sunny side up eggs and they were slimy and he wanted to go home and cry (based on a true story sadly)

- Basically pony has anxiety and probably autism (so me)

- Ponyboy likes avocado. That’s it that’s the headcanon. It’s like one of the only healthy-ish things he’ll eat.

- Soda gets suuuper nauseous really easily, and pony gets carsick on occasion. So the first time pony went to a theme park, his family was scared that he would throw up like soda. They go on a ride and he’s like “yall im fine dawg.” Soda is jealous bc pony can go on rides unaffected (soda will still go on rides anyways, he just throws up afterwards)

- Pony is the most PALE ASS BITCH you’ve ever seen. He burns soo easily. His face gets red really quickly, no matter what’s going on. The only time he gets the slightest bit darker is when he burns and tans. Two-bit has been like “you ain’t white you translucent” multiple times because in the right lighting you can see pony’s veins. It’s even worse because soda and Darry tan so wonderfully, and pony looks like he had an allergic reaction if he doesn’t reapply his sunscreen when he’s supposed to. I feel like Mrs Curtis is the reason for this, she didn’t tan. Mr Curtis did tho.

- Pony has mild (severe) ocd

- Marcia’s last name is smith she is white-Hispanic on one side and Native American on the other thank you for coming to my TED talk

- Marcia is Cuban and Native American

- Marcia’s full name is Marcia smith that’s it that’s the end

It’s funny cuz I listed these things like three times and just forgot about the other two

- Twobit is Brazilian end headcanon

- Mr Curtis had autism and Mrs Curtis had inattentive adhd

- Mr Curtis was half Mexican on his mom’s side and half Irish on his dad’s side. Mrs Curtis was full Italian-American.

- Darrys the typa guy to make pony and soda turn off a show or movie if it talks about possession or like demonic stuff/soul stealing stuff

- (Modern au) Darry will get a text from ponyboy about something, like “can I go in your room rq” and he sees it but doesn’t actually open the text message until later and like, two hours later he’ll just respond “no” and thinks it’s the funniest shit ever

[specific-dreamer]

my baby, my baby (you’re my baby)

Summary: darry visits his dad and rants. he also cries. </3

Darrel loves each of his kids (and stray kids) equally. No matter how hard Steve tries to pry it out of him, he does not have a favorite.

He loved when Johnny came over for dinner and he’s able to convince the kid to spend the night, he loves when Soda and Steve came home with new stories about their day at the rodeo, he loved when he came home from work and Ponyboy would rush to tell him about the book he’d just finished, he loved attending Ace’s recitals, and he loved when Dally comes over just to sit in their company when he could’ve been causing a ruckus around town instead.

He is, however, a little more partial to his first born than the others. No hard feelings, he still loves his other kids, but Darrel Junior was his first child; the reason he’s the father he was a father, so he’s always going to have a soft spot for him no matter what he does.

Besides, it doesn’t hurt that Junior is the only one who visits him and Karen on a normal basis. Darrel huffs to himself has he sits on top of his grave. Since dying, he’s somehow gained an internal watch, so he knows it’s 3:47pm exactly; when Junior visits it’s usually around 4pm.

Junior’s early today though, Darrel thinks to himself hearing footsteps approaching. There’s not much else he can do but wait for Darry who bends in front of Karen’s grave and leaves her a flower first. If he were alive, Darrel’s heart might’ve clenched. Karen’ll be sorry he missed Darry, but she’s watching over the other boys right now; it’s alright though, Darrel will fill her in when she gets back.

Darry’s head was bent too low for him to get a good look at first, but now that he’s turned towards Darrel’s grave he can see the tears streaming down his face. If he still needed oxygen, he’s sure his breath would’ve caught.

“Hi, Dad,” Darry’s says taking a seat on the ground. Darrel can’t help but notice he’s got his knees pulled to him like he’s trying to protect himself.

He frowns and pulls himself to join Darry on the ground. Hey, kiddo. What’s the matter? He knows Darry can’t hear him, he learnt that the hard way a while ago now, it still brings him a little bit of comfort though.

Darry sniffs. “I don’t know how you and Mama did it.”

Did what?

Darry gestures in the air, “This parenting shit- stuff, I meant stuff, sorry.” Darrel laughs a little; his baby’s twenty years old and still apologizing for cussing.

If he’s honest, Darrel isn’t even sure how he did it. It was in large part thanks to Karen, of course, she kept him steady whenever he floundered. Junior also helped too, though. He doesn’t like to throw the word around, but for all intent and purposes, Darry was a perfect first child.

“The other night,” Darry continues. “I guess Ponyboy had a nightmare or something, I don’t know, but I heard him asking Soda why I hated him.” His voice breaks at the end and Darrel is forced to watch as Junior sobs into his arms.

It’s futile he knows, but after a moment of watching he hugs Darry anyway. Almost as if he could actually feel the hug, Darry stiffens before looking up and staring straight through Darrel. Spooky, he thinks.

“I don’t hate him, I promise.”

I know you don’t.

“I love him a lot, but it’s like he purposely grates my nerves. He knows I’m stretched thin and it’s like he’s trying to see how long until I snap. And that’s not fair! I don’t know how to be a parent, I don’t how to raise a fourteen year old!”

Darrel isn’t sure when it happened, but a flip was switched as Junior started to rant angrily. He doesn’t leave the cemetery too often, but when he did he noticed the two often riled each other up; it was never one sided. He can’t exactly correct Darry though so he hums instead.

“Daddy, you know when you first, um,” he winces. “left, Pony didn’t talk for a week. Okay, that’s fine, I can handle that, but he stopped eating too. I tell him, ‘Pony you have to eat something, you can only go so long without eating before you die from starvation.’ And I kid you not the only thing he says to me that entire week was ‘You’re not dad, Darrel, you can’t tell me what to do’. I never said I was! I just didn’t want him to die too, is that so bad?”

Darrel blinks. That was a lot, and he’s not really sure where to start processing it. He sighs airlessly, It’s not bad. You were worried about him and had his best interests at heart I get it. Is he eating now at least?

Just as fast as it came, the anger seems to leave Darry all once as he lies back on the grass with his hands over his face. “I don’t even know if he eating for real, yet. I’m not home enough to know; I eat my breakfast in the dark, go to work, come home when everyone’s asleep, eat dinner in the dark, go to bed, rinse and repeat.”

Darrel winces. Even he didn’t work those kind of hours and could’ve handled them. Darrel liked his solitude every now and then, but not Darry. No, not his Junior; his Junior is a people’s person through and through, there’s a reason he won boy of his year.

Rubbing Darry’s ankle he says, I know you’re working your ass off, but I’m real proud of you, baby. I know it don’t look it now, but it will all pay off.

There’s a pause, and if he wants he could trick himself into believing his boy heard him, before Darry says something so quietly Darrel has to strain to hear. “I know it’s wrong, and I try not to, but sometimes I wish I let them get taken. I love them, really I do! But Soda wants to drop out of school and Pony hates me and he thinks I hate him back, and don’t even get me started on Dallas— I don’t think there’s a been a weekend where we haven’t haven’t argued or he hasn’t been in jail. I’m trying my best, but I keep screwing up and that’s not fair on them.”

He breaks into sobs again, this time so strong his whole body shakes. Darrel can’t even do anything to comfort him, his stupid ghost body isn’t corporeal. The best thing he can do is stroke Darry’s hair and hope he knows his daddy is here for him. He hates seeing his kids cry and he’s never been more angry that he’s dead.

Between sobs Darry says, “I wanna leave. So I can’t mess anything else up.”

No, sir. You’ll get the hang of things soon enough, it’s a new adjustment and y’all’ve just gotta find your footing. I know it’s hard, but y’all will find it.

“I’m not gonna,” Darry protests. His baby is red in the face and breathing real hard, but Darrel is thankful is eyes are finally starting to dry. “I want to leave but I don’t want to leave them.”

So, what are you gonna do, Junior?

“I don’t know,” he answers. “I wish you were here, you’d know what to do.”

Darrel winces. Actually now-

“Well, never mind. You wouldn’t be dumb enough to get in this situation to begin with.”

Harsh, but he’s probably right. Darrel watches as the gears turn in Junior’s head. He loves all his kids equally, yes. But Darry’s always been his favorite to watch because when he isn’t focused he wears every emotion on his face. He can see exactly when Darrys made his mind up long before he stands up and dusts off his pants.

“You drive a hard bargain, but fine I’ll stay.” Darrel barks out a laugh as Darry checks his watch. It’s 6:29pm, he’s been here for nearly three hours. “Shit, I said I’d make dinner.” Somehow, when Darry looks up he’s staring Darrel in the eyes. “I’ve gotta run, but I’ll see you later.”

Alright, stay tough out there. I love you, kiddo.

Darry’s eyes widen a minuscule amount and he grins as he ducks his head. “Yeah, I love you too, daddy.”

[brat-pack-it-up-boys]

Curtis brothers looks/genetics headcanons

Darry-

Looks the most like their dad, same gray-blue eyes but with a hint of green from their mom, the exact same hair as Darrel Sr., in color and texture, and the same basic build too; he has his mom's nose, though, and her smile.

Soda-

A mix of his parents to the point of not looking directly like either of them, similar face shape to his dad when he was younger but still pretty different, he’s got his mom's hair even if it’s a little dirtier, his eyes are the real mystery though (as someone who headcanons him as having blue eyes), their mom had green eyes, their dad’s were a dull grey-blue, and then Soda has these bright blue eyes that no one can figure out where they came from.

Pony-

I like to think he looks the most like their mom, same laugh, similar face shape, same nose and smile too; his figure is more similar to one of her brothers (another headcanon that Ms Curtis had/has a big family) than to their dad, the only thing he really got from their dad was the hint of grey in his eyes and his hair color, but even then it’s lighter and warmer than Darrel Sr.’s and a closer hue to their mom’s.

[curlyshepardconfirmed]

I feel like above all else Darrel Curtis Sr. was a girl dad but then they had Darry but he girl dadded so hard that they had Sodapop

[wassupmygays]

thinking about how darry curtis was "the spitting image" of his dad. his namesake.

thinking about how, growing up, he couldnt go a month without hearing "kid, you look just like your dad!"

thinking about how that statement used to fill him with so much pride, but now it just fills him with guilt and longing and fear that he wont ever be able to live up to the man that was Darrel Curtis Sr.

thinking about how, as the years go on now after that fateful winter, he hears that statement less and less. because less and less people remember his dad now that he is gone

[curtis-brothers-hug]

Look, Dally knows that Mr and Mrs Curtis always took in strays, no matter how delinquent or plain no good. He oughtta know, he was the most no good delinquent of them all. If the Curtis parents saw him as just a kid in need of some good parenting, there probably wasn’t a kid on earth they wouldn’t see that way.

But this ain’t earth. When he reunites with them in the goddamn afterlife and sees they got not just Johnny with them, but Bob fucking Sheldon, that’s a step too far.

[dallasgallant]

Once again proposing Soda as an absolute menace on family hunting trips with their dad.

Darrel sr. , Darry and the dog out in the brush still as a statue and dead serious.

Sodapop and Ponyboy a few feet behind shaking horribly just like

Soda: “Ay Pony, I’ve been workin’ on my duck call. Wanna hear it?”

Pony: “Really?”

Soda: *cups hands* “cmhere duck.”

[damthosefandoms]

whatever you do, don’t think about the fact that darry never got to watch a single super bowl with his dad.

[girlishwhimsies]

SODAS SCHOOL YEARS YALL BUCKLE UP

he would LOVEEEEEEE pre k and kindergarten!!! idk if he would actually get to go to pre k since yknow. 60s. but he would be so excited like wdym he gets to go to school with all of his friends and they get to do crafts and get read stories! highlight of his school year.

thennnnnnnnn it all starts to go downhill. 1st grade. when they are all expected to really start reading and writing and they keep telling him to write with his right hand and his handwriting is too messy even with his left hand and all the letters just feel wrong and no one gets it. he would keep getting in trouble for just refusing to do his work and “acting out” and he would always be taking off his shoes cause they just feel too weird and he doesn’t get how everyone else can adjust so easily!!! although whenever he gets in trouble or has a meltdown he gets sent to darry’s classroom since he is in 5th grade (@damthosefandoms my absolute angel has an entire timeline for what grades all the greasers would be and it is my saving grace) and he loves that. just ough he is not doing well

2nd grade is even worse!! darry is in middle school so he doesn’t have him anymore and now they are doing even more reading and writing and math and he just doesn’t get it. he thinks it’s so unfair that his brother was able to do well and since he is darry’s brother they are so confused on why he isn’t doing as well as darry. he can’t focus on any of it and he just has so so much energy and so all the teachers label him as a trouble maker (read undiagnosed adhd) soda legir SOBS in the morning begging not to have to go. his teacher is mean and he doesn’t like his classmates and he feels so alone. mrs curtis’ heart breaks every time she has to get soda to the bus cause he just looks so sad

the rest of elementary goes about the same and suddenly he has homework and mr curtis tries to help him every evening but soda is just crying and can’t focus and just wants to go to bed and not worry about school anymore. he asks his parents if he can drop out but bro is legit like 10 he cannot drop out lmao. pony does so well in school too like darry and soda doesn’t get what he is doing wrong. why is he the dumb brother

middle school he just fully commits to being the class clown. if you can’t be smart then you gotta be funny in order to distract from the fact you flunk every single test and all of these new subjects are so stressful that you can’t even think half the time. he is counting down the days til school ends. he doesn’t cry before school anymore but he is so nauseous every morning and can’t even eat breakfast cause he knows it’ll just be another day of teachers look at him disappointedly and he has to act like he doesn’t care!!!! he doesn’t even do the work half the time anymore what’s the point. they force pass him.

high school is more of the same, he really starts giving up at that point. he can feel his parents worry and disappointment radiating off of them, and every time he sees darry and pony get honor roll he secretly breaks a bit more inside. why can’t he be like that. so he keeps making people laugh, starts skipping when class gets too hard, and plans to drop out. another drop out in a long line of greasers who did the same. he can’t face telling his parents the fact he is going to drop out so he keeps going. after their death he finally does it, it’s not like they are around to hold him after he fails another test or wipe his tears away after a hard day anymore. so he drops out

but he does Not tell darry. he keeps going and just sneaks back home after he goes to work. he can’t admit it to him yet but ofc he finds out. darry doesn’t even know what to say, but he has to let soda make his own choices. but he won’t let pony end up the same so he constantly makes sure pony does his homework

soda with adhd and dyslexia i love you so much you deserved SO much better

[poptartcat]

Ponyboy never remembering his dreams after his parents die. Ponyboy only remembering his dreams when Johnny and Dally die