Yeah Darrow and Virginia spent around a year without seeing each other I know but the fact that she was so nervous and crushing all over him again is so cute 🥺
Darrow's beautiful, soft, yearning eyes & his sensual voice
I reread Light Bringer then Golden Son back to back... and I noticed a parallel that lead to (yet another) long winded essay... (spoilers for red rising saga up to Light Bringer) (its way too long im so sorry)(no im not)
“When you’re on your heels, you’re a liar. On your toes, you spit truth.”
She swings again. “Now spit.”
She hits my kneecap.
(Golden Son, Ch. 33)
First and foremost, can we appreciate that Virginia literally chases Darrow around his bedroom with a practice razor to make him talk about his feelings. Pro tip for ladiez dealing with emotionally unavailable men... have you tried interrogating him about philosophy while trying to take out his kneecaps with a blunt weapon?
It’s hilarious
but only mildly effective bc
Darrow starts to hit his ✨power off✨button. So Mustang pivots:
“Then her. The girl you lost.”
I say nothing. She’s never pried.
…
How stupid of me. How could she forget? How could it not linger there inside her, forcing her to wonder, as she lay with her head on my chest listening to my heart beat, if it didn’t belong to another girl, a dead girl.
“Silence isn’t the answer right now, Darrow.”
(Golden Son, Ch. 33)
Virginia corners him and what spills out is everything she’s never said. She’s always known about Eo (if not the full scope of the situation). She’s always wondered if there’s a part of Darrow she’ll never reach.
And Darrow wants so badly to say something, anything, but he doesn’t. He stays quiet.
It’s not malicious, but it is the same silence that will haunt their marriage for the next decade.
Now jump to Iron Gold. Years later. Married. MILF and DILF respectively. Survivors of ten thousand heartbreaks. And yet the same wounds are there. Ready to surface when they find themselves stretched to their breaking points.
“What is the point of this- marriage-if there’s no faith between us?” she asks.
“No trust? I know you love me. I know you love our son. But love isn’t enough. You can’t hide things from me just because I’ll disagree with you.”
…
“But maybe you think you’re meant to die. Maybe you think you’re supposed to follow her.”
I feel sudden pain for my wife. “This isn’t about Eo.”
“No, it’s about you praying for storms, believing that when they come they’ll bring you peace.”
(Iron Gold, Ch. 33)
When I read this fight I almost felt awkward for intruding which is why it’s brilliant. Because it’s not about who’s right…. it’s about how long these two have held onto insecurities and grief they never truly voiced aloud. Darrow still carries guilt and Virginia still wonders if she’s second. Still fears that part of him is trying to disappear.
“It’s like you want me to shut myself off to you. Is that what you want?”
She’s begging. And beneath the anger, it’s the same plea as back in Golden Son:
“Why do you pull me back if you’re just going to push me away?”
They are still asking each other the same questions and hoping the other will finally answer.
And then Light Bringer. After so much death. After distance, horror, regret and loss...
Darrow comes home. He’s broken, battered, and finally ready to stop hiding. He says to Virginia in their almost-reunion post Battle of Phobos
“I thought one last push would see us through. Numb myself. Put it all on me. Get it done. Then we’d get to live the life we’d promised ourselves. Experience the future we wanted Pax to have. […….]
But I know I tend to shut down. Sometimes for years. That’s not right. It’s not…the path I want to walk anymore. It’s lonely, and we’ve always been stronger together.”
It calls back the scenes in Golden Son and Iron Gold down to the wording! The boy who let Virginia walk away rather than tell her the truth finally confesses and confronts a fear he's been battling for YEARS: the way he shuts down to protect others. The way he shuts her out. The way he believes he has to carry it alone.
And now he doesn’t want to anymore.
But here’s the irony, the tragedy, the exquisite twist of the knife. Virginia says, voice strained with grief and tears:
“Darrow, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. The hardest thing—” My voice breaks. I fight back the tears. “Every morning you are my first thought. Maybe news has come as I slept. Maybe you’ve just landed in Agea…” I can’t keep the strain from my voice.”
And then she sends him away. :
“But we need you out there, beyond their siege line until you can return at the head of an armada.”
This is why I love them.
Because this isn’t a love story built on grand gestures and perfect timing.
It’s built on pain. On misunderstandings. On missed chances and trying again anyway.
Darrow’s deepest insecurities echo across six books.
Virginia’s carries them silently, always rational, always in control.. until she isn’t.
And they don’t learn to just forget about those deep insecurities, they linger, especially in dark times (Dark Ages? lol) despite all the self awareness and intelligence imaginable,
They both falter. They both withhold.
But they also learn. Slowly and brutally and truthfully.
From:
“You shut me off.”
To:
“I know I tend to shut down..”
It’s not resolution but recognition.
It’s love as a process, not as a performance.
They’re not perfect. But they’re real.
And that makes me love them more.
Me and my dad finished the edge of sleep. Neither of us are the biggest horror fans (me in particular being kinda squeamish) but oh boy, we enjoyed it so much.
I actually got a little teary by episode 5, but the ending shot for episode 6? That scratched some part of my brain I loved it to bits.
The changes weren't bad and I'm glad it's not a 1:1 with the podcast too, and it's interesting to see certain things visualized a certain way in the show. Also Dave, Matteo, Linda, and Katie? Love them.
They are called sundown towns and there are a LOT of them in the US.
https://sundown.tougaloo.edu/sundowntowns.php
This website has a clickable map where you can see suspected and confirmed sundown towns by state, as well as information about whether these attitudes are historical or current.
The homepage of Dr. James W. Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, Lies Across America, and Sundown Towns.
My obligatory addition to this every time it crosses my dash, because I know the link is definitely missing ones in my own (northern) state and there are some in this thread not on the above link either - thread by LeVar Burton with a LOT of replies from people naming the sundown towns near them:
theartofmadeline
annaxmalina
titsay
andulkaphoto
kianamaiart
izzy806
vaporwave
