Monica Shelly (Cataclysmic Gerosha)

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Character bio
Monica Shelly (Cataclysmic Gerosha) 0 2370 60642 59024      2019-05-28T21:18:49Z IvanRider 3545644 IvanRider moved page Monica Shelly to Monica Shelly (Cataclysmic Gerosha) wikitext text/x-wiki  Monica Shelly is a character in the Ferris Access Channel and Dozerfleet Studios original miniseries Blood Over Water, as well as the novelization. She is a friend and ally to Aaron Stefflin, as well as a romantic interest for Sleet Mountain employee Vance Lingolin. She has a sister named Betsy Shelly and a niece named Annabelle Shelly.

In the 2009 miniseries, she was portrayed by actress Cassie Tyler.

Series history
Some time before the series, Monica started a family and got a job working in a science lab on a university campus. From there, she befriended Aaron. That comfortable existence was soon threatened when Aaron arrives out of nowhere, demanding that she test a sample of water. Before she knows it, two thugs from Sleet Mountain abduct her - and intend to have her executed. Due to Chris' moral conflict, she survives the ordeal. It is implied that she and Aaron work together to expose Clyde Spendelworth; but Monica herself is never seen again on screen after Part 4. In Part 4, she complains that she "has a family," and that it would be very wrong to kill her off. Kyle dismisses these concerns. However, she is never shown in the mini-series itself as spending any time with a family.

Novella history
Monica is a nurse's assistant at the local hospital, and is also studying forensic biology at the local university. She meets Aaron in a class, and the two become acquainted with one another that way. Her remarkable prowess leads to her being granted significant amounts of after-hours lab access. When the story begins, she and Vance Lingolin have been enjoying a friends-with-benefits relationship for quite some time. They consider becoming a serious couple, given that they are beginning to genuinely fall in love with each other. However, Monica is scared to do so since her mother and older sister both have set a bad example with their commitment issues. She decides to buck the family trend and get involved seriously with Vance anyway. When Vance goes missing, she misses her chance to inform him of her decision to date him officially. She decides to atone by investigating what she is convinced is a murder - even though nobody believes her at first. Monica, in addition to being Aaron's ally and Vance's lover, also has a sister named Betsy. She babysits Betsy's daughter Annabelle every now and then.

When police are initially reluctant to help Aaron out with his investigation into Mark's disappearance, Monica shows some concern. She agrees to use a new ink type separation technique to reveal redacted text on the Sleet Mountain "confidential" files, in the hopes of helping Aaron reveal what is underneath. She is also shown exercising caution on her way home one evening, concerned that Aaron may be right about killers being on the loose. After she is captured and nearly killed, she agrees to testify what she knows. However, she warns Aaron that he'll be on his own from that point onward in delivering the evidence they gathered to the FBI. She decides that as long as nobody else at Gleeful-N'-Young or Sleet Mountain besides Chris Kennal, George Lawence, and Kyle Tugrass knows about her family; she is not going to risk endangering her family any further.

After she was knocked out, Chris moved her to a location in the woods separate from where Aaron was left. This was intentional: he didn't want Aaron to know exactly what happened after he was knocked out. The fear that Monica is filled with upon finding herself in a strange location also keeps her from wanting to help Aaron out further. Otherwise, the novel follows the miniseries very closely in regards to how Monica turns out.

Death
See also: Sodality (series)

During the events in Sodality, the new Ameristani regime under Halal Affadidah has Monica as one of many who are at-random rounded up and sent to death camps. She was executed by beheading on the tenth anniversary of when Chris spared her life.

Personality
Monica is a dutiful, kind, but very timid woman who is very much in love with life and with her family. In the miniseries, it is left unknown just what kind of relationship she and Aaron have with each other. The novel, however, clarifies that the two of them became friends in a biology class. Her strong sense of justice compels her to want to help Aaron in the beginning. However, she has her doubts about doing anything that could get her in serious trouble. Her fears at first appear to be justified when Chris comes after her. However, she finds herself relatively free of harassment after Chris switches sides yet again.

Development
Originally, Cassie was going to play the role of Jessie Morcin in Kozerlen. When that idea was canceled, she was recast at the last minute for Part 4 as Aaron (Zach Foster's) friend Monica. Her last name was never listed in the end credits of a limited edition DVD remaster, nor in the miniseries proper. She is only ever referred to as merely "Monica." In the approved-for-cable version, the end credits identify her as Monica Shelly. Her real-life surname remains unmentioned in the miniseries, and is disguised by her request even on this wiki.

The novel expands a little bit on Monica, giving her a niece named Annabelle that she sometimes watches on top of everything else she does. She is given a backstory for how she met Aaron, given they took biology together. Most of these changes revolved around exploring elements of Monica's origins that were alluded to in the miniseries, but left vague in the final cut.