Darry having harm OCD that manifests into a deep self hatred because he constantly believes he has already hurt others both subconsciously and consciously is so true to me. It doesn’t help that when he tries to talk about it people are dismissive or actively start to distance themselves from him, so…
I like to think Mrs. Curtis had OCD or at least knew something of the sort ran on her side of the family through stories told of “strange relatives” or “neat-freak aunts”. Which, in turn, lets her help Darry somewhat through his compulsions. It gets to the point where he can have physical comfort without thinking he’ll strangle them (a majority of the time the thoughts are more manageable but still happens).
Then both of the Curtis parents die when Darry was at his best. With no one to turn to that he feels that he won’t hurt, along with the grief and new found stress of legally adopting his brothers he pulls himself away isolating himself.
Darry let’s himself get injured, lets his own wounds get infected sometimes if they’re hidden enough, and doesn’t try to ignore his compulsions, because if he doesn’t it’ll be his fault someone else is gone.
(I’m not even gonna get STARTED on what happens during and post novel in his head)
YO I’M TRYING TO START MY DAY ON A GOOD NOTE… DO YOU MIND/JJJ
Ok but I love the idea that Mrs. Curtis would also have OCD. Also I think that’s really beautiful that she would be so open and actually help him along with feeling less alone.
Like as someone from the south, I both see that a lot and see it very rarely. Yk, people might not have the words for things but they have figured out their own language, ways to manage, and try to help those they love do it too. Like you can’t help but try to help the people around you it’s so baked into southern culture.
But the same culture can mean someone sees someone struggling with the same thing, and tries that much harder to blow them off or try to get them to suppress it. Especially if the person is younger, people often think they can just catch it early and if they say “no” to it, it simply won’t grow. I could see one of these aunts desperately trying to convince him it’s nothing when he was younger as if telling a person to never open themselves up and address something they are struggling with means the struggle can simply go away without the attention to it.
Also I could see Darry’s sheer size as a person making his harm OC that much worse. Yk like he would shove around his brothers/friend and roughhouse, normal activities. But he was always taller and weighed more, so people really would get hurt. And notably worse when it was at his hands other than anyone else while playing fighting and such. It might not even be anything that serious. But that would often be enough for him to feel proven he could harm people even worse if they are too close to him. Or that people do teasingly go “ow” when he hugs them tight.
While Soda and Pony keep coming to him looking for comfort after their parent’s deaths, he can only try to keep them away for fear they might be next.
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