Aaron Stefflin (Classic Gerosha)

Aaron Stefflin is a character in the Ferris Access Channel and Dozerfleet Studios original miniseries Blood Over Water, part of The Gerosha Chronicles in Dozerfleet Comics. He was, along with his twin brother Mark, portrayed by actor (and later Detroit Tigers videographer) Zach Foster.

Character bio
Aaron is initially depicted as being the "younger" twin, constantly teased by Mark for being sloppy, disorganized, and frequently late. The two are able to maintain a high spirit with each other even amidst each other's put-downs, and they arrange to go fishing. Mark warns Aaron that he needs to check some levels in a pond somewhere, and does not elaborate beyond that. When Mark doesn't return a phone call the following morning, Aaron immediately suspects foul play and heads straight to Mark's apartment.

Aaron discovers the apartment ransacked, and discovers a "Confidential"-marked envelope hidden behind the mini-fridge in Mark's bedroom. He decides it must be important, and takes it home. Inside are redacted files, which Mark intended to use to expose the corruption at Sleet Mountain. Aaron narrowly evades capture several times, desperately trying to piece together what the paperwork references while not entirely understanding the danger he is in.

Eventually, he tries to impersonate his brother to learn the truth; and he nearly gets himself killed in the process. His constant reminders to Chris of what good friends they and Mark used to all be to each other provide the moral conflict that becomes Chris' turning point and near-redemption, convincing Chris to 0betray his co-workers Kyle and George.

In the process, Aaron and his heroic acts also convince Chris to spare Monica's life; a courtesy the other two conspirators would not have shown. Aaron decides to use the new lease he and Monica have on life to his advantage; so he discovers Mark's body and then tells the authorities everything. His fate afterward is left open-ended.

Personality
Aaron is portrayed as being a (usually) very laid-back idealist. He has a strong bond of family loyalty to his twin brother, as well as a firm sense of friendship loyalty with Mark's Sleet Mountain co-worker Chris. However, he also has a fairly firm sense of right and wrong, and is able to relatively reliably comprehend danger when confronted with it.

Aaron is contrasted with Mark; a stuffy office worker with very little known personality, who is shrouded in mystery. Mark requires glasses to see, unlike Aaron. The reason for this is never explained; but it is assumed that Mark's frequent computer work at Sleet Mountain has damaged his eyesight, while the more outdoors-oriented Aaron doesn't share that problem.

When frightened, Mark prefers to remain as calm as he can and take the rational approach. Aaron, however, is far more emotional in his responses; especially his responses to threats. Aaron has also shown himself capable of far more survival skills than his brother ever demonstrated. The two of them, regardless, are equally willing to throw themselves into dangerous situations to expose corruption. Aaron also appears to be good friends with scientist Monica Shelly, though their relationship is never fully explained.

Development
Nearly all of Aaron's mannerisms for this version were based on ideas that Zach had for how to portray the character. He nearly always described Aaron in terms of how Aaron contrasted with Mark in personality. Aaron was the "down-home, relaxed, somewhat-mistrusting-of-gays, otherwise friendly and relatable twin." Mark was described as the "stuffy-suited, aloof, and otherwise worldly twin." The novel would later take cues from these descriptions to flesh the characters out further.

Numerous tricks were pulled, especially with Photoshop, to create faked images of the twins together in some point in the past. However, they were never shown together in action on screen, since there wasn't a sufficient budget for Parent Trap-style actor-character doubling.

Trivia

 * Aaron was originally known in development merely as "Twin A," meaning, he was the "Alive Twin."
 * He eventually acquired the name "Alvin Monaco" for the Mountain of Cabal working title.
 * His twin "M" (for "missing") being named "Mike Monaco."
 * "Mike" and "Alvin" were renamed "Mark" and "Aaron" to appease Chris Wilson.


 * In the initial Remastered Recut of Blood Over Water, Mark and Aaron do not have listed last names.
 * Production of the first two cuts by editor Kyle Mayer listed Aaron's surname as "Stieffel," in spite the Dozerfleet founder's objections.
 * In addition to "Monaco," last names for Aaron and his brother have ranged from Sterplin to Stefflin.
 * In the final approved-for-cable release, Aaron's last name was changed back to Stefflin and Zach's real surname was masked behind a pseudonym of Zach "Finster."
 * For YouTube, Zach's real surname of "Foster" was listed properly in the end credits. This ending is retained for the 3D cut.
 * Aaron was staying at the rental home of 516 N. Michigan Ave. in Big Rapids during the events of Blood Over Water. This is because that was where actor Zach Foster was living at that same moment in real life.