TOPICS WE DISCUSS: Why Hershey wasn't "blonde" enough. The original plan for the Snake character. Michele's car incident that almost took her life. Something really stupid I did in my past because I had no faith in myself. What is brotherhood, really?
Originally, I had Snake as a major character in the entire story, turning into a good guy, but living a life of regret, similar to the Apostle Paul. I wanted to see what happened to a genuinely bad guy if he went through a repentance, and lived the rest of his life trying to follow God, but remembering what he was like before he made that decision.
To make him more relatable, I originally wrote a flashback sequence when he had escaped and knew he was being hunted: In it, he is watching a deadly snake, considering whether to try and catch it.
You can download a PDF of that sequence here:
https://www.opendrive.com/file/NV8xOTI3NjMwNzBfazViRWI
The Snakeman’s memories are parallel to his interaction with the deadly krait. It’s as if it’s his soulmate-the deadly predator that no other creature can trust, and that will watch you with the intent of striking at the right moment to survive.
In Snake’s backstory, We find him lying beaten against a curb when an old man intervenes, teaching him not only to overcome his fear of poisonous snakes, but to catch them. To weaponize them.
This is a guy who has focused on his own survival since his childhood. Some people live their lives focused on seeking out pleasure, others live for honor and what’s right, but this Snakeman looks for opportunity. Nothing else matters. Other people have never been of use to him except as tools, because HE has never really experienced love. He sees a world full of vipers that will strike him when they see opportunity, so his attitude is that he will strike first. This is a character who truly doesn’t feel anything for anyone.
This Snakeman is very perceptive. He knows he barely got away from someone-but it wasn’t Vietcong. His best hope is going back to camp. He works out his story, wounding himself to get sympathy.
It was hard to lose this backstory. I really wanted to see him get saved and be better. Maybe that's the way God feels about us...