In Red Cowboys, we are introduced to Silver Wing Psychiatric Hospital. It houses a spectrum of mentally ill patients on both sides of hallways spanning three floors. The ground floor is mostly for storing patient records and proceeds to become more security-conscious above and further into the building.  It sits on a vast grassy lot, far from the road. It looks very old. Because it is. Used as a home for the criminally insane, it is now a respite lodge for mentally ill people needing care and patients who will live the rest of their days there. Silver Wing has been operating as “Silver Wing” for at least the last decade and is not well-known to many outside the area it’s situated. Like a prison, it’s located a considerable distance from regular civilisation, down a long road away from the nearest town.

Silver Wing has a team of staff, orderlies and a chief administrator named Dr. P Cole.

When it was first willed into existence with a pen (approx 2003,) it was called Brighton House. The name seemed to suit the building, kind of old, posh-sounding and classic. I just did a quick internet search as I’m writing this; “Brighton House” seems to be a hotel in Australia at the moment. Move along, nothing to see here.

The treatment of people mwpitals and you’ll probably find a wealth of real history, strange photographs of procedures that aren’t practised today and a tonne of ghost tours. My research, and also personal relationships, have meant I (unfortunately/fortunately?) have experience to draw from in this realm. The array of emotion associated with being a patient, employee, or a visitor in these places is definitely worth describing.  I wouldn’t say the delve into Silver Wing in Red Cowboys is deep…but it gives room for people to wonder what goes on behind closed doors in similar facilities.

Why “Silver Wing?”

Authorwise-  Why not? Artistic license 😉 There are many interesting names in the Darkrose Universe. This one serves as a cool name but also sounds more futuristic than the former name. Cos…reasons 😉 It’s better suited now.

Mythos-   The name was changed after the new administration took over the practice and they (I guess) wanted to give it a new look/sound so anyone in the vicinity knew the place had a new life. It was also chosen because, like many places of adversity or struggle, they are named after things that are calming or positive instead, almost ironically. A silver wing could be…a state-of-the-art plane soaring above the town? An exotic and rare bird? A strange ghostly-sounding instrument? Or an asylum where medical practises and methods that have been canned elsewhere may still be practised.

Silver Wing also features in both the long and short Red Cowboys trailers as dark hallways with patient rooms on both sides.

 

 

 

TLDR:

*Silver Wing is a mental health care facility/asylum in the upcoming book Red Cowboys

*Visiting, being a patient or a physician in places like these makes for good stories.

*The Trailer for Red Cowboys will have reference to Silver Wing.

*I like psychological thriller/horror

 

Asylums in recent things I’ve seen: 

Briarcliff Manor in American Horror Story “Asylum”

“Girl Interrupted,” based on the book by Susana Kaysen

“The Experiment” movie (more a jail but the effects on psychology are interesting)

Dirty John (Betty Broderick story)

 

 

 

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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.

 

There is a Russian Roulette scene in Red Cowboys. Technically this isn’t a spoiler…it probably would have been a snippet in a trailer if this was a film. I think. I knew when I put it in the first drafts nearly two decades ago that it was already kind of cliched, that a lot of movies and television shows have used it. I’ve seen some brilliant takes on it in the last few years, and I never tire of how a different director or an author sets it up. They are always interesting scenes. The films/TV that come to mind right now: an old episode of the (original) X files, and a movie called “13.”

It’s mesmerising as a scene, even when it’s not artistically presented. There are so many questions and potential storylines in the lead-up and the comedown after someone wins or loses or escapes. How did the character get into that situation? Why are they doing this? What if they are the unlucky participant who ? The narrative possibilities make me salivate. It’s such a great scene to play with because of the variables and reasons.

There are many emotions and thought processes shunted together in way that juxtaposes all the importance of a human life into a scenario that doesn’t fit(if you hold traditional values on the importance of a life.) It’s a short game involving chance, fear and abandon-either wanton or forced-for the one thing that people think is the most important thing. Oh, the drama! I don’t think I’ve ever watched a scene where the character is participating in a game like this because they wanted to be.

Which is something that also adds to the Red Cowboys situation…

Technicalities in a story: If I know how to choke you unconscious in seconds. I’m not going to give you an instruction manual on how to do this. Often, I hear people talk about unrealistic scenes in a movie where there is fighting or gunplay/swordplay, surgery/operating procedures etc. Your friend is sitting beside you, the resident guru on said subject, and pfffting and sighing at the miserable attempt to be realistic. I get it, you get it. But you aren’t watching a documentary…it’s a fictional piece.

This requires discernment that seems to only come with experience in writing many types of things. Some books get a little crazy with what a small character is capable of physically for eg. You are allowed some artistic license but if it doesn’t fit the genre it doesn’t help the story. I also wouldn’t expect a fictional film to depict an overly-accurate way to kill someone (some do though and they’re quite graphic.)  Usually because;

1. A fictional book is about things that happen to some fictional people, not a technical guide on how to break people/yourself. Sounds like you need to download TOR for your journey 😉

2. I’m here to tell a story, not teach you how to load a particular weapon, unless that is the (fictional) RavenEye. 😛

3. Time constraints/flow. I know that I have begrudgingly read technicalities of some sci-fi contraption and wished it didn’t run longer than the full page I’ve already had to read. I’ve done this for a section or two of my own books. It happens. We get caught up trying to make someone understand things we think are important but are things that would end up on a cutroom floor.

4. They just don’t know what actually happens and are relying on the first version that came to mind.

SO, as mentioned here and here, research is intense. Then out of that wealth of information…you use only about three lines and keep moving. I forget the majority of what I learned about snipers, even though I was exceptionally proud to have busted my ass learning. What’s needed is what ended up in the pages of Red Cowboys and the story rolls on.

There isn’t too much to go on with Russian Roulette unless you want to go deep…and doing that sometimes leads to things you wish you didn’t see. There is a lot of speculation and some mathematical minds trying to work out the odds and whether or not it’s better to spin or leave the bullet where it is but aside from that. The scene in Red Cowboys, like every other Russian Roulette scenes I’ve seen, is more about what happens either side of the game and the revelations during. The emotion and apprehension is very intense and if it’s done correctly and really makes for an involving experience with the audience/reader. I intend to write more about the scene when the book has been released to save people from spoilers but it’s a very interesting part in the story.

 

 

 

 

TLDR:

*Red Cowboys has a Russian Roulette scene

*I like to see different directors and authors do this scene in all their different ways

*This scene is cliched and arguably used too much but it’s always intense and generates a lot of storylines before and after.

 

Some links:

https://www.rbth.com/history/332732-history-russian-roulette-game-origins

https://www.bestcasinosites.net/blog/russian-roulette-history.php

 

 

 

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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.

This is a fluffy post that I felt like writing. Enjoy.

We’re living in something like The Walking Dead universe. You’re in a group of people who have survived the initial outbreak, the violence and the loss of civilisation as you knew it. You’re on the roads, on the dusty outskirts of town and you’ve hidden from the dead as they roved past in their hoards. You’ve even learned how to kill them if you have to. You’re down to eating the past-usedby date, dented cans of baked beans you’ve found in destroyed service stations along the way. You smell like shit and your hair looks like you’ve fallen out of a garbage can.

The day just got worse…

You. Got. Bit. –

Now you’re in a 3…er, (*updated) 4way fork in the road. Which do you choose and why? The main options I’ve seen in movies etc are the following, and each comes with a lot of thought but the decisions are made fast in a script. Any one of these paths would make a pretty good 3 part tele-series. “From Bit, to Ending it” would be a good title. *looks at Hollywood* juz sayn.

The psychology behind the decision would be interesting to explore. Why did the character choose this? Was it something about sacrificing for the greater good said by a parent or guardian when they were a child? Maybe a pet had to be put down because it was in pain and it taught you that you need to stop something suffering. Or you trained in a dojo and know what it means to “have heart” and push through the discomfort to get the job done and build character, but now you’re finding yourself turning into a zombie and you’re a threat to your friends.

Option 1. KYS 

You don’t want to transform into a monster and accidentally hurt the group. What if you said nothing and then changed into a flesh-eating, murder machine while everyone is sleeping and unable to stop your rampage? There are kids and adults you have saved with your own two hands! One of them waking up to you gnawing half their face off would be bad. You don’t want to cause trouble for the people who have been through so much…Maybe this is survival of the fittest, and your fatass just didn’t run fast enough. This is the new evolution…

You could always take one of their guns and walk off somewhere, they wouldn’t miss you for at least a few minutes…Maybe you could find a quiet spot and just punch your own card and get out. You’d be the one making the final decision, having the control and a say on how you go out. There aren’t many things inside your control anymore. And you wouldn’t be forcing one of your friends to do the job and traumatising them, or even worse, adding to the dangerous undead out there…just wandering and hungry for human flesh…

Option 2. Hide it as long as possible

…while you try to help the group and spend your last living moments with the people you love because you can’t bear to leave! I’ve been in a gym where (obviously) if you’re sick, you’re supposed to stay away. It’s a damp, sweaty place with lots of close contact so if you have a cold or think you’re getting sick, you don’t come in because it can spread easily. I personally have never flouted this rule BUT I have partnered with someone who I could tell was sick a few times. People say that it’s just allergies/hayfever and that’s why they’re sniffing and their eyes are red and watery. A few days later I mysteriously get a cold…The same thing happens in zombie films/tv. The victim says the bite is actually an injury from something else…but we know better. The audience is jumping up and down screaming at the TV and hating on the character who tries to conceal their plight, but they just roll with it. Would you make this decision? Is it selfish or is it that you really want to help your new family until your last (human) breath?

Option 3. Get a friend to put you out of your misery. 

You can’t do it yourself. You don’t want to turn, so you find someone you trust to end it all. They’ll understand, and this is a good way to make sure you don’t hurt anyone else if you carry on. Something about it makes you feel in control because you’ve instructed someone to make this happen, but you’ve also given them the responsibility so that you can’t back out.  It also means you won’t be hiding the bite and you can show people that you will sacrifice yourself for the safety of the people you’ve survived with. It might even be an inspiration that the group has to do what they can to ensure the rest are okay.

Option 4. Be set free to wander the land forever

…until your body rots or someone living takes you out with a machete to the skull. You’ll become a brainless, empty vessel once you turn but…you’ll be walking around? Who knows what zombie adventures you could find yourself in! :\  Will you notice your clothes become more ragged as you trudge past rusty nails and rip holes in them? Will you remember anything from the past? Maybe you believe that nature is supposed to take its course and every creature should roam wild and free to whatever fate awaits them. You think that your eventual resting place is going to fertilise the trees around it…from dust to dust etc. It’s actually poetic, your life was never perfect…and now you’re free to feel as empty as you did in life…

LOL! Which would your character choose? I have 4 options here but it was originally 3 because in the movies it’s often: hiding the bite, shooting oneself or having someone do it for you.

Why that decision? Would you choose one of these/ is there one I haven’t thought of? How long would it take for you to make that decision? I think I’d ask my best friend to put me out of my misery but it would be cool to also wander forever and maybe on the off-chance eventually eat someone you didn’t like from your previous life.

 

 

TLDR: 

*I was bored and thinking about zombies since I’ve stayed out of the zombie world for years due to every man and his dog being into them. (Yes, I owned TWD comics before they were cooool mannnn.)

*If you were bit would you kys, hide it, get someone else to yeet you, or wander for eternity?

*It’s content, on a bad week. Gimmee a break. 

*Sign up to the newsletter. I will launch it eventually. It will be a couple of the last blog posts and some pics from the insta or something all in one place. Plus updates and giveaways. 😀

 

 

 

 

 

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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.

 

 

So I made a GAB profile.

Difficulty: Easy, but learning it seems tougher, especially if you don’t have a lot of time. It looks like Facebook.

Time spent: Not much time spent using it so far. I think it’s still hammering out the way it’s going to run so I check it sometimes but I don’t know enough on how to use it properly yet. I’ve seen some hilarious memes etc

Reasons to get a GAB account: I heard it was an alternative social media platform by people who believe in free speech and privacy. No adverts every 4th story in your newsfeed. Memes memes memessss memes! Some of my favourite content creators are here.

It still seems a little wonky and apparently it was hacked a few days ago so I’m just chilln and putting up some blog posts. It’s my hope it’ll become one of the most-used platforms in the near future because the principles (from what I see so far,) make sense. I used to be able to promote posts elsewhere (that were about my books to make them easier to find) and now I can’t use the word “gun” in a keyword description alongside war, secret agency, conspiracy fiction, fiction, thriller, female lead etc. They’ve gone a little mad in their quest to nerf the world and make sure no one ever has an original thought. The “gun” tag is important because the RavenEye is a futuristic weapon that isn’t like anything on the market and is important to the story.

Facebook, Twitter and others are dying platforms. They used to be places where people could express themselves and stay in touch with their own page/profile. In the beginning they wanted YOU, a product to barter with and sell on and sell to so it was free and you could sign up easily.  That’s okay, it’s a business and you consented to it (if you actually read the Terms and Conditions) in the early days. But as everyone is finding out, the Ts and Cs change. Yours truly has never signed up to the official Facebook messenger because of the flimsy language in the agreement that gives them all the rights and you the right to STFU and be spied on.

Some social media platforms have become overly-political tools and psy-op cesspits. There are voices being silenced in favour of the same comments and content spouted by people who are establishment-preferred. When a person of a certain political opinion says something and the other side says exactly the same thing but is run out of town in response, that’s a problem. My disdain for the MSM has also grown(if that’s even possible) because I feel like I have no horse in the race really, apart from always wanting Normies to wake up through access to information, but I’m constantly bombarded with what I “should” think by agenda-driven or paid-off sources.

Certain hashtags are allowed to “trend.” Others are taken down, “interpreted” as offensive or advocating violence…and then you see the same platforms allow hashtags about (literally) murdering certain politicians. Known terrorist organisations and people involved in the child pr0ns still have social media accounts, but people holding different opinions to the biased-mainstream are yeeted off the face of the platform. The blatant hypocrisy is laughable, and probably only until recently mostly unnoticed(by regular people) because a lot of people have short attention spans from the influx of new technology, blue light and the celebrated throwaway, instant culture so we don’t remember what happened past a three day news cycle.

I don’t believe in the argument “Well, it’s a private business so they can do what they like.” These platforms have deliberately dominated the digital town square by letting people think they can build their own page and space, and are now silencing people that don’t fit an agenda. When CEOs donate to political campaigns or take aim at anything that counters establishment ideas, it’s time to pay attention. And this section of the post is not in support of a particular individual/s but something to consider as I’ve written about here.

Some ideas aren’t good ideas. Some arguments are silly. Some people talk poop…but people have the right to listen to all of them and make their own

personal decisions. They don’t need a tech giant with agendas to tell them WHAT to think, and certainly not HOW to think. The only way a bad idea is countered properly is with a better one that makes more sense.

GOOD IDEAS DON’T REQUIRE COERCION OR FORCE.

So you will not get my vote, my support, my compliance by doing that.

I appreciate debate, and the presentation of ideas. I also love a good echo chamber on this topic (ngl.) Here’s hoping I get some laughs out of GAB and maybe find some people who would like to read about Agent Darkrose and her Deep State life.

 

 

TLDR:
*I made a GAB.
*I like memes and free speech.
*Not written in support of anyone in particular, just observation.

*Red Cowboys is coming

 

 

 

 

 

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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.