Hail to the King

Do you remember when I gushed about Firefly? It's a great series that I wasn't exposed to until just recently and I've been bingeing the crap out of it. Well, another series grabbed my attention that, strangely, I enjoy for similar reasons even though the two shows are nothing alike. I'm talking, of course, about the new, modern classic, Ash vs Evil Dead. 

Now, if you're a fan of the movies (Evil Dead 1 & 2 plus Army of Darkness) you'll know the basics of what we're looking at. Necronomicon ex Mortis. Deadites. Boomstick. It's all there. But it's been thirty years since the events of the last movie. Ash is old. Oh... um... Spoiler warning.

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Still with me? Good. So, here's why I love it. Realism. Now, when I'm writing The Paladin, I try to think of how real people would react to the situations my characters are in. I try to make things pragmatical... practical. I was drawn to Firefly (SPOILERS AGAIN!) because of scenes like Malcolm kicking a stubborn foe into his engine because he swore he'd track Mal down. I love Ash vs Evil Dead because the first thing our hero does when he realizes the forces of Hell have risen once more is... get the hell out of dodge! He tries to grab his check early from his workplace, load up his trailer, and put the pedal to the metal in that old Delta. Fast forward to the end of season one and the villain offers him a choice. Continue to fight her or leave her be, give her the Necronomicon, and she'll send him to Jacksonville where he can get drunk and have sex with coeds for the rest of his days. He totally takes the deal!

Now, I'm not imagining that my characters, like say, Reagan, would flip off the world and take the deal, but they'd be practical about it. If faced with a situation where a room full of vampires is waiting to kill them, Reagan might choose to walk away and cut his loses. If faced with the opportunity to research his next case and get an advantage on any would-be foes or sit and drink hard liquor with a beautiful woman, he'll probably take the latter. That's just life.

Sure. There are people like Superman out there. There are certainly boyscouts out there who will be a beacon to the world and display true heroism in the face of adversity. But those people are few and far between in the real world. In my world, The Paladin, hunting monsters isn't a noble pursuit for only the bravest souls, it's a 9-5. Er... 9-9? Like... it's 24/7 and all... Okay, I think this metaphor is getting away from me. Point is, real people rarely act like movie heroes. They do what they have to to survive and that's what hooks me in a good story.

Be Excellent to Each Other!