We live in an age where information is at our fingertips, but I probably don’t have to tell you the top results of a Google page aren’t necessarily what you’re looking for. Those are often paid-for placements and full of either fluff or what the mainstream media and others want you to read first to form your initial opinion of a subject or object.

Sometimes the first few pages are about news and current affairs that happen to contain a keyword you typed. So when you look for something like, “what does it feel like to get shot in the ass cheeks ?” you probably aren’t going to find your answer until you’re 16pages deep, reading 450 comments into a thread on a forum you’ve never heard of. You can stop at page two on Google/Start page etc. and get an official doctors point of view/textbook likelihoods of the type of damage or blood loss, subsequent surgery, but it’s not until you’ve dedicated time sifting through the trash that you get the good stuff.

This is (of course) if you’ve never been shot in the ass and it’s all ya got. I would also suggest that even if it happened to you,  yours isn’t the only way that it’s been experienced so you should also spend time learning about other people’s experiences and how their medical treatment went etc. Sometimes it’s someone else’s account, a witness testimony, some medical/surgical info from an official site and your own artistic license and imagination. Sometimes it has to be enough. But it’s your job to make it enough. Spend time getting that information. (see here lol)

I’ve mentioned it before, those novels where the MC is female, short and frail but she takes down a room full of giant men with her perfect headkicks. Have you tried to do that? Have you seen a person do that anywhere except a Hollywood movie? “

Here is one (of many) times I wanted to see what it was like:

1. The first time I fired a gun was over a decade ago. In my country, we aren’t allowed to do anything fun if someone, somewhere, at some stage had an accident or committed a crime relating to a certain object or activity. This means the only people who seem to have firearms are police, farmers who use them for pests and to put down animals, gun club members who frequently have to sit qualifying exams to make sure they’re legit etc. and of course, criminals who don’t care about gun laws.

When you go to a gun range in this country, it is shit. Bad selection, mics and cams in your booth, booth has a locked door and the gun is attached to a metal pole that you pull up our of the desk in front of you as well as raising the gun. The gun is fitted to the pole and cannot move more than a few cm left or right. I guess this is to prevent someone turning it on themselves or someone else?

I didn’t expect much, I just wanted to feel the weight, (I’d handled weighted training weapons and unloaded etc before though) of a live firearm. I wanted to hear it and feel the resistance on a Beretta trigger because that was what my MDS CA agents were using at the time. I’d built it up slightly, in my imagination this was going to be a life-changing experience where I’d see that some of my research was wrong, or I was about to discover something that I hadn’t been told or read about. But nope. It was boring AF.

The worst part of the day; I wore army/camo pants and probably looked like a pretentious idiot.

The best part of the day: I’d gone with a friend who knew nothing about weapons and after the initial instructional talk (mandatory,) she was still confused. She asked me later if we had to “pull the cock back,” on the gun. *cue incapacitating laughter*

 

TLDR:

*Research, research and research some more, get an official explanation but the truth always lies with people who have lived it.

*Never just rely on the first page of a search engine, you lazy fuck!

*Try and get some experience in the subject you’re hoping to write about. But don’t wear camo pants trying to fit in with the theme. (*I’m still kicking myself over that one.)

*I also tested another gun out, which I can’t write about atm because it’s a spoiler for Red Cowboys! Yes, RC research is also the reason why I chose to fire the other gun. RC has been drafted many times over many (too many) years. 

 

 

 

img: worthpoint.

 

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers for King of Spades*

What is NovaRose?

It is an airborne, sometimes pyrophoric biological weapon that attacks membranes of organs and dissolves them when inhaled. It produces a thick white smoke when used with a detonator and dispersed. The aim was to create something devastating that could be contributed to MDS munitions capability. NovaRose borrows properties from the mostly-banned White Phosphorus used as weaponry and also borrows from results with radiation exposure and effects on organisms and the nervous system.

“His flesh was thick melting sludge, dripping something between a liquid and solid. Decaying. “ Chapter 42, King of Spades

Why did Agent Trent Starr create NovaRose?

Agent Trent Starr is a kind of a genius, common trope when it comes to sci-fi/male leads in many novels; the male lead character is a good looking, smart, nice guy…(so original.) But Trent Starr was different because I liked his inability to see his own impact on people. He was just good/skilled at some things and the right people noticed. He was mostly clueless regarding the fact women found him attractive and he also barely realises how his tolerance for civilians is something exceptionally rare within the MDS. So, he is a genius and pretty cool, but he is also a dumbass.

MDS works in layers, clearance levels and areas of expertise. Trent Starr was not a bioweapons specialist but was poached and commissioned to invent something from the agents in the outskirts (considered meatheads though exceptionally talented in “combat.”) Number One wanted to rival the inner, even higher-classified realms of MDS with some sort of weapon. Trent Starr created NovaRose to win favour with his, then new, superior and boss, Number One.

What does “NovaRose” mean?
Trent Starr took part of Agent Cleo Darkrose’s surname, found a word that meant “star” to represent his and smooshed them together because he was young, in love and stuck for time to create a cooler one.

Does Agent Trent Starr like using NovaRose?

Absolutely not.

“She remembered Agent Starr’s face changing from excited, proud to delight Number One, to being covered in regret she never saw leave him when he spoke about NovaRose any time since. “  – Chapter 6, King of Spades.

What does NovaRose look like?

“NovaRose came in a pale mint-green liquid and evaporated to gas when exposed to the air. Cleo saw the bioweapon in action on test subjects in the early days, pigs and mice meeting a demise worthy of a horror film. It agonizingly stripped flesh and devoured bone from the inside, attacking the nervous system and causing targets to experience panic and confusion. Then they would bleed from orifices and sometimes empty bowels while they died. The effects differed for organisms within radiuses of the initial detonation or spill. All results were unpleasant and most fatal.” – Chapter 6, King of Spades.

Which books does NovaRose feature in?

King of Spades and Red Cowboys. Also in the rough drafts of a future novel that will most likely be in the 7th novel. Yes, they are coming. 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

Now send me Bitcoin.

 “A week in the life,” posts are incidental musings, pictures, memes I mined and things I’ve bought. Why? Because it’s content and nothing I wrote for today made the cut. Welp, enjoy!

Going to work my slave gig, everything in the station is like we are going to all die.

Trust me, the least of your worries is getting Corona-d from a drink fountain in this place. I’d be more inclined to bet on Hep B or some kind of scabies.

There are announcements stating that “In line with the Covid-19 precautions we ask you to remain 1.5 metres from each other at all times.” The announcements were recorded by someone with a very heavy Indian accent. With all the noise and hustle and bustle, it took me at least three repetitions to understand what it said. The good thing is that there are barely any people around so there is no queue to board the escalator, there is no line to wait to get onto a train or into an elevator so you don’t have to worry about being too near anyone.

The trains have been cut,  running only every half an hour (I believe?) and this was done because not enough people were using the public transport but yet they have signs inside the train instructing everyone to stay 1.5metres apart. Even though more people will be in one train car now. Like many things regarding the Corona Boogeyman, the instructions are nonsensical.

Things I like about it:

There are finally people wiping down escalator handles and touch screens with disinfectant.
IMO this should be done anyway after peak hour or randomly through the day at busy stations.

A limit smaller than the one stated inside elevators. At the moment only two people are allowed in some elevators I have been in. Usually the max is 36 or something written on the panel inside and people had to wait a long time to even be able to squeeze in one.

You Got Game?

I bought (and returned) an indie game I didn’t like. My personal opinion on Convenience Store was that it gave me a headache and was wasting too much of my time with no running feature so your character is trudging along to do anything. I like indie weird games and will usually give anything a try if I’m not in the mood for fast-paced shoot-em-ups but I’m sorry to say, this one didn’t do it for me. Also, the images are scary;

I also bought a Jurassic Park game, the type where you construct buildings and then raise dinosaurs and run a park that you take insurance out on for storm damage etc.  The only problem was it wouldn’t let me move onto new stuff until I placed paths exactly right and watched a lot of cut scene crap. Then I was made aware that you had to buy new dinosaurs if you didn’t want to raise the three that came with the game, you had to pay for and download a “herbivore pack” and “carnivore pack.” It wasn’t for me. Back to Shane and Star Dew Valley I go. LOL!

I Saw Your Organism!

Today was my morning off and I slept in. When I woke up, I had a few panicked messages from a friend. They were about spam which claimed their phone camera was turned on remotely and they were seen doing naughty things. They were now being told they had to send thousands of dollars of bitcoin to an address. OH, and the blackmailer had a special code so they could tell when their email was read and the countdown was on. 😉

I’ve seen this episode of Black Mirror, next.

Allow me to send you my own experience with this one:

In my life online, spam has gone from “hot, sexy girls in your area” to “penis enlargement pills!” to the saddest of all…Spam about finding jobs in your area and being able to make millions…

And now to using people’s perversions or private business to get digital currency. Ah, how times change.

But it’s not all bad,

this week I did manage to work on revising Red Cowboys. These notes are common. I do nerdily research if the nomenclature is still relevant and acceptable in the grammatical context it’s placed in. With no one crammed next to me in a tin can on the way to my slave gig, I can write and make notes now. It’s on its way. My health has picked up a little and we are back in business. Red Cowboys is coming…I promise. One day I may write about the things that stopped me keeping on track with this book but right now, all I can say is that it’s coming and Trent Starr has sexyface.

Finally,

Take the time to see something you don’t usually.I’ve said it before…you see flowers while you’re speeding past trying not to be late for your appointment. But you didn’t see them.
I saw a flower in my mum’s garden the other day.

Here it is. No filter. Why this is a cool pic that stands out in my week filled with selfies/random pics of playgrounds and cats is because it was a hard day. This week has been…hard…and I got to stop for a minute and try to appreciate something I would have just walk past and never had the opportunity to know existed. My mum’s garden is awesome.

 

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.

“A literary trope is the use of figurative language, via word, phrase or an image, for artistic effect such as using a figure of speech. The word trope has also come to be used for describing commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés in creative works.” – wikipedia

I like tropes.

A lot.

I don’t just mean the loosely-moulded ones eg: random boy meets girl but they aren’t really suited so it’s hard for them to match each other’s lifestyles…cue a bunch of crazy drama and a ROM-COM stamp on the Netflix release.

I mean the ones that are remakes of a tale we all know too. Think, Romeo and Juliet (and all it’s versions) and things like CINDER (Marissa Myer) and, it can be terrible and no one else in the world can like that version, but I will probably enjoy reading it. If the interpretation is different, or strange, even better. I like someone else’s interpretation of art or traditional/pop culture. Motifs and themes are the same but the intricacies of someone’s life and experience make it different enough for me to enjoy.

Isn’t it interesting how your background, culture, experiences, sexual preference, diet and other can dictate your opinions and interpretations?  Your likes and dislikes can manifest in the way of creating fiction based on your perceptions and what you think might be important to showcase.

The general attitude towards tropes seems to be that they are for lazy people and “the less imaginative.” I think it’s the opposite! History repeats, human are predictable and I think we’re always going to come across similarities in any story – fiction or real life. I think it’s harder to take a well-known notion and twist it enough to entertain an audience in an entirely different way.

KOS has tropes. *shrugs*

If you’re creating a book or movie, it’s probably difficult to come up with something truly original. I  didn’t think about how I’d make my novels different, they would be anyway, because I did it and there is only one of me (insert some ‘be yourself/one in a million’ BS here.)

I didn’t think the Darkrose Novels were totally original or break-through…Come on, it started as a story about a kick-ass woman who did stuff and she wasn’t written as a sex symbol type. That seemed different enough at the time and was born of my frustration growing up. When I started writing Cleo, there weren’t too many female leads that I was aware of who didn’t have their ridiculously-sized racks out for any reason…and I digress, but to me the fact Cleo didn’t and that she was a capable person was all the difference I needed.

Two main tropes I see a lot recently:

Female MC trope; Now it seems Hollywood is really pushing “strong females” who are so strong they have to shove it in the audience’s face every ten seconds and remind them through bitchy digs at the male gender or reiteration on how said female lead doesn’t need anyone’s help. *BTW Where was this culture when I was growing up angry at a PE coach making us suddenly play “touch rugby” only because I was a pubescent girl in a team of boys? Where was it when I first wanted to watch MMA but it was just me and a group of 20 men at the bar, and their bored and bewildered girlfriends in the corner whispering about me? LOL #angst #timeschange.

It’s good to have a range of heroes and main characters of both genders -don’t get me wrong- but it’s not being groundbreaking and original. The only thing that might be is to have a female lead who doesn’t draw attention to the fact she’s a female or throw shade at everyone else who isn’t.

The sexual tension trope; will they/won’t they dynamic wasn’t the primary focus in KOS because it wasn’t very important to the story at that time but it does have that going on. The dynamic Starr and Darkrose have is not original either. It just flowed better than others they could have had in KOS. We all want a subplot or two worthy of being spared when you “murder darlings.” That type of subplot excites and makes me want to know more because there are so many obstacles that people like Agent Starr and Darkrose would have to deal with to have any sense of a “normal” relationship. There are a lot of avenues their subplot adventures could take and…*spoilers* those have already been chosen for those characters but…there’s always a chance for a twist.

TV dramas tend to have the will they/won’t they vibe between main characters of the opposite sex because it drives interest and stretches things out for longer… 

Oh no, there’s no murders to solve in this episode, let’s make them kiss and then fight about it! That’ll tide us over for two eps.

It’s kind of like when the ratings are tanking so some lady gets her rack out and more people watch for a few weeks.

I don’t think Cleo will get her rack out for ratings but maybe when she is drawn as fanfic/comic-style because that style is awesome. Hint, hint, yes. Somebody draw me something! 😛 

*I’m going to time myself for 1 min and see if I can come up with types of tropes you can probably identify in movies and books and without a degree in English Lit:

“The Chosen One – Matrix Neo, normal person falls ass-backwards into a huge destiny” 

“Luke I am Your Father, your family is evil AF but you didn’t know.”

“Virgin in a horror movie who runs but then trips over nothing and gets caught.” #disposableteen.

“Geek to chic – the ugly duckling becomes the hottie and teaches all the mean people a lesson”

“Star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet – these people shouldn’t be together but they are.”

“Vampires are regular people and they’re 438 years old but they fall in love with a 17 year old from present day who they have nothing in common with.”

“Someone returns to their small town and discovers something and fights people and saves the town.”

“Messed up guy who meets a crazy-fun girl who makes him see another side to life.”

“The Noble Savage, some otherworldly race of aliens whose leader understands humans/some guy who lives in the bush and helps people who are lost.”

“Robot, angel, puppet, alien or monster wanting to be human and have the human experience.”

How many can you come up with?



TLDR:
*Tropes can be satisfying, exciting and funny.

*It’s almost impossible to come up with a book or movie that is 100% original.
*Don’t make the lead female get her rack out for ratings, Mr Television Producer, it’s boring now!

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

In StarDew Valley.

Starview Valley is a game that was released a few years ago. CC recently bought it for me (“let’s do some chill-ass motherfuckn farming,” ) and it’s taught me a lot of things about the state of my mind the last few weeks and the lessons that I’ve learned but forget to exercise.

(If you don’t play games etc, don’t worry this isn’t a post about the game per se.)

I was apprehensive. The game’s gfx (graphics) looked very retro, and doesn’t “farming sim” mean those shitty little games for phone “gamers?” BUT it’s been fun the last few weeks. With the whole world in either necessary or virtue-signal quarantines and lockdowns, it’s not the worst thing one could be doing.

The game makes you choose a character and appearance and then you get farmland and a few tools to start. You get an axe, a hoe (lulz) and, when you meet an old sailor, a bamboo fishing pole. Your character creates fields to grow crops and walks around town, meeting various people and personalities who reward you for completing their tasks. They also become valuable because they gift you things you need for your farm. There’s a mine to explore and you can collect rare gems, gold ore, and you can also slay monsters…and there’s a beach to collect items from while you juggle raising poorly-named  animals and watering your shitty crops.

I started a farm with CC and let CC do the hard stuff because I didn’t know how to play. That was the first lesson I had reiterated to me…

I was too scared to be embarrassed or to make mistakes.

IKR. Someone who performs, has produced art for exhibitions etc. for decades…yet I had that fear in a game. I wanted to do well because we were a team and I didn’t want to be useless, so it freaked me out. I did menial tasks that didn’t achieve much and stayed close to the buildings where I knew my way around, watering crops and chopping wood while CC went off exploring and making the big money. I put everything else in the hands of someone I thought was better at ‘life’ than me right now.

I was even so nervous that, as we rolled up on a very expensive merchant CC said, “Okay, now be careful what you click here cos-“
AND I CLICKED SOMETHING and accidentally bought expensive seeds we didn’t need. I could give a bunch of other examples from my regular life but let’s stick with Star Dew;

You make more mistakes when you’re nervous about trying not to make any.

Learning to fish is frustrating when you’re first starting out and, yes, there are mods you can get which change it to be automatic but I like to learn the real way. The sound of me losing the catch due to being uncoordinated to the point where I could barely reel it in was embarrassing because CC could hear every time I failed. Now I’m an expert, and if I ever play another joint farm with CC or other, I know what to do so it’s fine…but when your head is focused on trying too hard and worrying about perceptions people may have of you, part of you is dedicated to thinking about that, even if you believe you’re 100% focused on the task at hand.

Now onto Shane…Ah, Shane…my depressed drunk idiot husband. Let me tell you our tale of love…

It begins with getting my own farm and learning other valuable lessons, like to click the X at the top of the screen and shut everything off before going to your farmhouse bed so it doesn’t save all the stupid mistakes you just made. 😀  My farm is cool and I have several animals, a fish pond, 80,000 gold and a fucking fedora to hoe in. *finger guns*

My animals are Cunter the cow, Smacktalka the cow, Panties, and the unfortunately named for a female cow, Gary.

My chickens are: Cack, Fakumo, Bash and  Mangina

My goats: Mr Nibbles and Mr Balls

…annnnd Schmuck, the duck.

Sometimes you need to let your personality/crazy out or you will name a 2D goat Mr Balls.

This told me I needed a fucking break. Corona rules had me staying home and gaming. My personality needed to seep out somewhere and no one has a smile on their face anymore since the Corona Boogeyman stole their shit tickets.

I giggled to myself when I saw the names of my animals pop up at various places in the game after I’d forgotten about them and there was no one else around to see it, but it was funny to me. That snort of air through my nose was worth it. You need to take time to have a laugh and not be too serious. Yes, Star Dew’s a game but it was a reminder that there has to be some fun somewhere in your life and you’re allowed to be an idiot, even if you’re the only person to witness it. (It’s even better that way sometimes.)

Because I was running my own farm,  I could (and can) do whatever I want. I wandered around the town centre really late at night, mostly because I was getting lost all the time, and I’d see drunkass Shane leaving the town saloon. During the day, he’d walk by and only talk to me if I initiated. All, and I mean ALL his quips, interactions and sentences were insulting and rude and other townspeople hinted that Shane was drinking a lot, but I’m Aussie…so what’s “drinking a lot” though really? Probably just some exaggeration to make it interesting for the game…right?

I got a kick out of trying to convince Shane not to be a total butthole to me. You can give people gifts to start friendships so I did this a lot with him. He’d tell me my gifts sucked, asked why I’m bothering to talk to him and he would generally say depressing, angry stuff. Some of it was actually really funny because he was so fucking mean.

I saw Shane alone on a dark pier one night when I was lost again. He said some super depressing, deep and profound stuff…and the next day, I was all about him because he came across as a thinker I could converse with. After a short period of dating and him sending me stolen food from work, we were married and all the townspeople were in attendance.

Then it hit me, as soon as we got home from the wedding, that this clown would be living in my fucking house. Forever.

Look before you leap…

Every action has a reaction and nearly all have consequences. Sometimes they will suck. If you rush into big decisions, particularly one that change your life, you’d better at least have contemplated the downside.  I wanted to add another element to the game besides trying to milk my moody fat cows and making duck egg mayo (I didn’t know that was a thing but it nets you about 400G when sold!) I probably should have been more wary, but I just married Shane, cos why not?

I didn’t realise he was going to stand outside in the morning doing nothing and make comments about whether he’d like a cider or a beer today. I didn’t know he would also add a man cave onto my bedroom, without permission, where he has a TV, permanent muddy footprints on the floor, food wrappers and some other shit I haven’t looked at yet. He quit his job too and then just made food with my supplies and money and stayed at home until 12 when the saloon was open. He is not who I thought he was (they rarely are, ammarite? ;P) 

…but don’t worry too much because most mistakes can be fixed.

Panic set in. I swing violently between wanting to play a game the way I would act IRL (in real life) and also being gun-ho crazy because meh, it’s a game. One morning I was out doing farmer stuff (hoeing in my fedora) and I found him in the woods like this:

Then he started telling me he hated everything and then ended up in a mental ward.

Maybe it’s one for the Memoirs of Ever Eden, but I’ve been down this road before…and playing the game started to make me uncomfortable. I married this dude in game because he was interesting and he had a story. Now he was about to throw me off my farm work, goals, derail everything because of a problem he refused to take care of despite my support. The whole town knew his rep and gave me warnings and I thought they were wrong and I’d make up my own mind…They were right…BUT I found out I could divorce this guy for 50K. So…

Every fish I caught, any ore I mined was all about saving up to get this guy out of my life…

Right now we’re still married because I’ve had the money a few times but other things always come up that need paying…and he has cleaned up his act since I found him in the woods. He even waters the garden sometimes and milks Gary. He is safe for now and he still has a place to stay…even though I’ve moved on to trying to woo a writer type behind his back (shhh.)

Sometimes people don’t want to be saved.

I wanted to prove people wrong, put my money where my mouth is, at a detriment to myself. It made me think of being able to exhaust yourself chasing someone or trying to make them feel better and then get thrown aside anyway. Shane hasn’t done that to me, but a few people have. In the game I go about my farming business and chat to my husband, Shane, a little but I have no interest in meeting him at the saloon to watch him drink for four hours and risk getting home late and unable to do my tasks the next day. It’s okay to go out on a limb for someone, especially if you care about them but if it continually interferes with your life and your own mental health, sometimes you need to let go. 😉

 

 

 

 

TLDR:

*I played Star Dew Valley and it reminded me of some life lessons.

*If you play it, don’t marry Shane. He sucks.

 

 

 

All content is no copyright infringement intended. All posts are opinion only and are subject to change due to experience, kicking ass and learning how to adult more effectively. If you don’t like it, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. Elements of original content may be reproduced with expressed permission from Ever Eden.