Chapter Text
Darrel Curtis Jr.
•Darry started going to his dads work when he was like 12 because the gang was ‘getting boring’(he really just wanted a break from basically having to babysit all of them since he was the oldest and the Curtis parents worked quite a bit) and he also just wanted to spend more time with his dad because he was a hardcore daddy’s boy. He actually really liked his dads job and was able to bond with a lot of the older guys there, especially his dads boss(because he’s goated like that) so when Darrel Sr. died his boss immediately offered Darry his position because he knew he could handle it and that Darry also really needed it
•Once Darry heard about life 360 it was over, the WHOLE gang had it and he even made Two-bits little sister(idk if she has a canon name I need to re read the book) download it because she came over to hangout with Pony a lot to be considered family. And the fact shes Two-bits sister let’s not forget that
•Darry actually isn’t really strict with Ponyboys phone or anything like that as I see a lot of people make him out to be.I will agree it’s funny when I see those modern headcanon videos and he’s like got Pony on a tight schedule but I can’t see him actually being like that. He knows that Pony needs to learn responsibility and learn from his mistakes, so if Ponyboy wants to stay up on a school night doing random shit on his phone then he can learn in the morning when he wakes up(because he WILL be getting up for school) that maybe next time he shouldn’t do it again. Darry is his legal guardian yes but he’s also Ponyboys big brother and has lived with him long enough that he doesn’t need to have a screen time or something, unless he’s staying up so often to the point where it’s unhealthy but they’ll have a conversation before Darry goes and does something about it
•Darry and Paul are dating and have a pretty good relationship but it’s long distance since Paul went to college. I think in modern Tulsa the town would still have Socs and Greasers but it they all really just joke with it and it wouldn’t be as extreme as it was in the 60s. I mean sure some kids separate each other by social classes but majority of them are smart enough to realize that it’s not anyone’s fault that their in the position of wealth their at now and in this economy it’s a fucking nightmare to be alive. Hell you even see some socs complaining about the damn gas prices and you’ll have middle class and greaser kids piping in with them, some kids also might use it as an excuse to bully but nobody sees it as a good one.(that one wasn’t really Darry related but I think the background info was needed)
•Darry and Tim were secretly dating each other at some point but they realized real quick that they didn’t click like that and stayed best friends, they both really love being best friends though and they gossip about EVERYONE like nobody not even their own family is safe. They are literally just gossiping wine aunts now like sweet Jesus if you need black mail from anyone these two would be some of your best options.
•Darry actually likes Curly, he’s known the Shepards for basically his whole life and knows he’s not really a bad kid he’s just toughened up from his family and the neighborhood he’s had to grow up in and knows that Curly would do anything for Ponyboy and that’s enough to win Darry over. He also really likes Angela, he’s always looking out for both her and Curly even if they don’t realize it. He sees a lot of the people in his neighborhood as family because 1. He has his door open to all of them and 2. He’s grown up with them and they’ve all had to rely on each other.
•Darry hates Mark with all of his life. If you made him choose between losing his job and house and letting Ponyboy date Mark he would let Mark date Ponyboy just so he can keep his house and job but Darry would be fighting for his life trying to make them break up. Whether that’s scaring Mark away for good or having to relocate Mark to Antarctica. A reason for this is because Mark is Dallys half brother and as much as Darry loves Dally he really just can’t trust his blood, Darry also knows that Dally and Curly get their drug supplies from Mark and Darry will NOT let Ponyboy get a lick of any of that (Ponyboy has gotten more than a lick of it that stuff though…)
•Darry and Pony can get along really really well when they feel like it(more so when their both not stressed about something). As shocking as that actually really isn’t to everyone, Darry has absolutely ADORED Ponyboy since he was added to his family and it was heavily reciprocated, though Pony adored both of his brothers as equally as a little baby could, wherever Darry went Pony followed and honestly vice versa. Darry and Pony have a lot of stuff in common, they’re both are really good at sports and love it too, they’re both really smart and take school seriously (Ponyboy a little less than Darry by the time he hit like 15) and Ponyboy got his love for reading from Darry because Darry would always be cuddled up next to Pony in his bed ready to read him a story. And they both like Arts + Crafts, Pony more so art and Darry crafts, there are some days where it’s quite for once in the Curtis household where nobody but Pony and Darry are home where Darry will be making something out of wood and Pony will be painting the trees or bushes on a canvas, their both out in the backyard just enjoying the silence and talking with one another every once in a while. This will be one of the rare times where Darry and Pony aren’t arguing because there’s just such a nice peace between them that NOTHING can ruin. They honestly have a lot more in common to bond over than either of them do with Soda (not to say they can’t bond with him) and sometimes if Darry and Pony feel like it they’ll take walks with each other just to step away from anything that’s bothering them. During those walks Darry tries to understand Pony but lord he’ll never truly be able to.
•On that note Darry will also just go on short drives with Soda to catch up with each other and check in, sometimes Darry feels like he forgets about Soda because he’s so caught up in work or trying to understand Pony and he feels guilty about it, Soda will shrug it off and says he gets it because there’s a lot on his plate but Darry makes Soda promise he’ll come to him if things are getting to hard no matter how much Soda thinks he has on his plate. Darry makes sure his brothers are his top priority and honestly he thinks he really owes Soda for how much that kid has had his back and made sure he hasn’t fell. Darry and Soda have things like knowing a bunch about cars and fixing stuff in common, they also have similar music taste and watch similar movies/shows but other than that they don’t have too much in common, it definitely does not stop them from hanging out though since if they can both hang out with just about anyone they can ABSOLUTELY hang out with each other.
•He reads smut, whether it’s online or in a physical book copy he reads it. It is not straight smut though that’s for sure
•The first time he got drunk was with Two-bit(obviously) and when he woke up the next moring he felt like pure SHIT, he thought he was dying like literally thought he needed to go to the hospital. Two-bit laughed his ass off at this and just told him ‘that’s a hangover my dear prudy friend’ but Darry wasn’t convinced but he was in too much pain to really care. He was also like 14 and was BEGGING Miss Mathew’s not to tell his parents because he didn’t want them knowing he drank under someone else’s roof (because the Curtis parents don’t care if their kids drink a little as long as it’s under their supervision) and she was just like ‘honey you’re a good kid to where I know this is a slip up and it won’t happen again, unlike Keith because he’ll be drunker than a skunk later today.’ safe to say Darry was forever in her favor after that
•He a lot of work buddies so he’s able to get real good deals on clothes,food, and other necessities if he really needs to because he knows a guy who knows a guy. He’s also just a really charming and good guy so a lot of people are willing to give him some pretty good deals on things
•Says he doesn’t smoke but the gang (except Ponyboy because he’s an unlucky bastard who never gets to catch Darry doing something bad for blackmail) has caught him smoking after work ATLEAST once, he has bribed them all to shut their mouths because he doesn’t want Pony to ever find out about him smoking
•He absolutely loved going hunting with his dad and brothers and especially loved going out to the countryside, he definitely wants to move move out to the country some day and take the gang with him and bring Paul out there with them too. (He asked Paul how he feels about the country and decided it would be in his best interest to just bring the gang)
•Is the Curtis brother with the sweetest tooth you’ll ever see. Darry loves sweet treats and if Ponyboy or Soda bake something Darry’s already eaten half of it before anyone else can
•He sometimes sees the gang having fun, or just a group of kids in general, acting like a whole bunch of kids and just gets reminded of his old football team/friends, he’ll get really quiet and just go to his room and just think back to the days before his parents died and think about how much fun he had being a kid, as selfish as he thinks it is, he just really misses getting to be a kid and hang out with his friends outside of the gang (he loves them to death but they need him to be the ‘’mother hen’ or they all would be dead by now) but by the time he’s calmed down about it enough to go back out he’ll see them all cuddling on the couch or getting him in on their silly fun and be reminded why he’s still here
•Sometimes Darry, Soda, and Pony have like picnics or camp out in their yard. I think before the Curtis parents died that family did like EVERYTHING in their backyard together, so the Curtis brothers do a lot of stuff out there together. Stargazing, gardening, water balloon fights, crafts, movie night, and anything they can think of really
•He’s a master at the grill, His mom taught him how to grill some killer food and he is the bomb at it. She tried teaching Soda but he didn’t like all the waiting and concentration he had to do so he just learned to bake from his mama, and Ponyboy made them lose their back porch(don’t ask how nobody knows) so she taught him how to bake and cook instead. But Darry absolutely loves their grill and would do anything for it, he makes killer food on it too. He hosts cookouts in their back yard for the whole neighborhood and there’s not a single person who doesn’t show up, they even have animals out there ready for a plate (much to his dismay Ponyboy and Soda feed the animals and sometimes try to bring them inside, he woke them up for school one morning and saw them cuddling with possum)
•Sleeps like the dead. He and Paul had a sleepover one time and Paul was just watching Darry sleep like the creep he is and swore on his life he thought he saw Darry stop breathing, so being an awesome bf, in Paul’s words, he shook Darry awake in a panic. Paul also found out two things that day. One being Darry is the most aggressive and agitated person he’s ever met when he’s awoken from him beauty and Two being you don’t want to have a punch thrown by Darry coming you’re way…
•I feel like he would love Pop music and Country music, it’s like just the vibe he gives honestly
•Not a dry texter really but will become an ELA teacher when he’s texting Ponyboy, and it’s Darry grading himself. He does NOT want to have his grammar correct by his kid brother(it will happen at least once a week)
•Used to high key be a party animal in highschool and got into some pretty crazy crap, but nothing too bad. Like one time he got so drunk that he hoped on a chandelier and started singing the song by Sia, someone(Bob Sheldon) got it on video and posted it on his TikTok, though he immediately took it down the next day when he say a hungover and pissed the fuck off Darry and Paul heading his way
• Him, Steve, And Two LOVE Mamma Mia, it’s like their favorite movie/musical of all time and sometimes when Darrys cooking and he has music on he just starts singing and dancing his heart out and if Steve and Two are there their gonna be matching his energy as much as they can (the gang loves watching them perform and Pony or Johnny record them every time it happens)
Honestly that’s all I got, I love Darry but he’s kind of hard to headcanon for me. If anyone has any of their own they want to share be more than welcome to and I honestly might add it to my list🫶