Here's the next installment of Doomsday Clock. You'll see that I decided to add a lot more characters from other properties this time around. Same thing with the Thunderbolt entry for Doomsday Clock, I just didn't draw attention to it. First is Queen Bee. I'd like to point out that Queen Bee still exists for DC and, in fact, the version that I'm not using is the primary Queen Bee, which is the alien one who is a Superman villain. The one that I'm taking is Queen Bee II, the one who is the Queen of Bialiya. This design/reimagining wouldn't exist for a while, so I thought it fair. The other thing I took from DC was the country of Tundi, which also won't exist for a while, though not for much, much longer. Next are Moord Nag and FAE, both of which are from Worm, which I will also be drawing from more in the future. Finally is Lady Nagant from MHA, which I felt would be fine to take from since it won't exist as a series for roughly 30ish years. I also just really like Lady Nagant. This entry remains unaltered from when I originally finished it in bulk, but I will soon be trying to go back and adjust the plot for Doomsday Clock to be more interesting and cohesive, as well as adjusting some of the characters listed and mentioned. This is with permission from Magoose, of course. I'll just leave it at here. I'll be putting up a couple of other pitches in quick succession before trying to hit the sack, although I probably won't be able to because my throat's fucked up right now and the pain is keeping from sleeping. I might go try and make some food instead since I've got some chicken that I've left out that needs to be cooked soon.
Charlton Comics Presents... Doomsday Clock Part 4
Writer: Jeff Rovin Artist: Geof Darrow
SET UP: In the year 2050, Earth is under the rule of the oppressive tyrant, Monarch. His rule is dystopian and the future is bleak for the people of Earth. Matthew Ryder, an expert on temporal studies and a scientist under the employ of Monarch, worked to develop his technology to travel back in time and prevent the tyrannical ruler from ever rising to power. He learned that in the late 20th century, one of Earth's superheroes had turned evil. They had gone on to kill all of Earth's heroes and villains, assumed the identity of Monarch, and began their rise to global domination. Because Monarch only ever appeared in a full body suit of armor, his previous identity was unknown to Ryder. Matthew Ryder succeeds in travelling back in time, 20 years before Monarch's massacre of Earth's heroes, in his desperate bid to find Monarch's true identity and kill him with his new powers before he can rise to power. Unfortunately, Monarch is not far behind and is determined to hunt Ryder down and kill both him, and anyone else who stands in his way. To face this unprecedented threat, Earth's greatest heroes and it's most sinister villains must work together to defeat Monarch and change the future.
In this installment of the Doomsday Clock storyline, after departing from the defeated Thunderbolt, Waverider tracks down the Peacemaker and peers into his timelines. He focuses in on a timeline where Peacemaker is recruited to work with the government agency, Irregular Intelligence and Defense, also known as ILIAD, in order to investigate a conspiracy by the name of Project Butterfly, involving an attempted take over of Earth by aliens through subversion and controlling the bodies of humans. Beyond that, he sees Peacemaker tangle with many other villains, such as: The tyrannical dictator of Bialya, Queen Bee. The international smuggler and pirate, Blackbeard. The South African gangster and arms dealer, Painted Dog. The African occultist, Moord Nag. The Concierge of Crime, White Widow. The eco terrorists of FAE. The technologically enhanced hitman known for his invisibility, Wraith. The brutal mass murdering dictator of Tundi, Mother Blood. And finally, the Soviet super assassin, Lady Nagant, along with others unseen. He also peers into various other versions of Peacemaker, many of whom have gone insane from his crusade. After viewing some of his various possible futures and various versions of Peacemaker, Waverider briefly battles with Peacemaker before defeating him in his drained state and fleeing to search for his next suspect, The Question, growing increasingly frustrated that he has yet to find the identity of Monarch and that his time is slowly running out.
Do y'all remember this game? I remember back in the day when this first came out and watching a playthrough of it. I have one super short, but vivid memory of the video I was watching when Henry comes across the teen girls and their stuff. I don't remember at all who I was watching, though I think it might've been Pewdiepie, can't be certain of that though. As you can see, this is intended to be part of the Charlton Manga line and was actually the first OEL pitch that I had put together, but like I said in my Peni Parker manga pitch, I didn't think y'all would appreciate it if I made Charlton start Amerimanga, so there we go. I intended to put out a pitch for the Charlton manga publication itself, with a few initial entries listed, before putting out any OEL pitches for Charlton, but I honestly just don't want to wait anymore. I initially broke it up into "Volume" chunks, but I'll be real and say that I have no idea of those lengths would be accurate, so take that with a grain of salt. Either way, enjoy!
Charlton Manga Presents... Firewatch Created by: Noelle Meinhardt
GENRE: Mystery SUBGENRE: Suspense/Thriller FORMAT: Original English Language (OEL) Manga SET UP: The story follows a fire lookout named Henry who works in Shoshone National Forest alongside his supervisor, Delilah. Over the course of the summer, Henry and Delilah appear to be menaced by unseen forces and have to unravel a years-old mystery.
In the spring of 1979, after his wife develops early-onset dementia, Henry Saxon takes a job as a fire lookout in Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming. On his first day, Delilah Schmidt, a lookout in another watchtower, contacts him via walkie-talkie and asks him to investigate illegal fireworks by the lake. Henry discovers a pair of teenaged girls, who accuse him of perving on them. On his way back to his tower, he comes across a locked cave and spots a shadowy figure watching him before disappearing. He returns to his watchtower to find it ransacked. The next day, Delilah asks Henry to investigate a downed communication line. He finds it cut, with a note apparently signed by the teens.
Henry finds an old backpack and a disposable camera belonging to a boy named Brian Goodwin, who Delilah explains was the son of Ned, a former lookout. Ned was an outdoorsman who drank heavily due to his traumatic experiences in the Vietnam War, while his son, Brian, enjoyed fantasy novels and role-playing games. Though it is against the rules for employees to bring their children to the towers, Delilah was fond of Brian and lied about his presence. Delilah claims that he and Ned left abruptly and never returned. Henry and Delilah plot to scare the teenage girls off, but when Henry finds their campsite ransacked and abandoned, they begin to worry. The teens are reported missing and fearing an inquiry, Delilah falsifies reports to say that neither she nor Henry encountered the girls. Two months after Henry starts his job, a small wildfire breaks out south of his tower.
Two weeks after the wildfire, Henry discovers a radio and a clipboard while fishing, with notes including transcripts of his conversations with Delilah. He is suddenly beaten unconscious by an unseen assailant and wakes up to find the clipboard and radio gone. In a meadow referred to on the clipboard letterhead, he finds a fenced-off government research area. He breaks in and discovers surveillance equipment and typewritten reports detailing his and Delilah's conversations and private lives. He also discovers a tracking device and takes it with him. Disturbed by this discovery, Henry and Delilah discuss destroying the government camp but decide against it. As Henry hikes home, someone sets fire to the camp. The next day, Henry uses the tracking device to find a backpack with a key to the locked cave. Delilah reports a figure in Henry's tower; when Henry arrives, he finds a Walkman taped to the door with an incriminating recording of Henry and Delilah's discussion about destroying the government camp. The next day, someone impersonating Henry calls another lookout and claims that Delilah knows the cause of the station fire, putting her and Henry more on edge.
Henry uses the found key to enter the cave but is suddenly locked inside by an unseen figure. Deep in the cave, Henry discovers the decayed body of Brian Goodwin. Determining that he died trying to climb in the cave, Henry escapes the cave and reports it to Delilah who becomes upset by the news. The next day, an evacuation order is given for all the lookouts, as the wildfire that Henry had spotted earlier has grown out of control after merging with the government camp fire. As Henry prepares to leave, the tracking device begins beeping. He follows the signal and discovers a tape from Ned Goodwin. Ned claims that Brian's death was accidental, and that the boy fell due to climbing inexperience. Unwilling to return to society after Brian's death, Ned secretly lived in the area ever since. Choosing to venture deeper into the wilderness, Ned warns Henry not to look for him. Henry finds Ned's makeshift bunker, along with items stolen from the government camp, the lookout towers, and the teenage girls, who Delilah confirms have been found safe. The government camp was simply studying wildlife; Ned had been using its radio equipment to ensure that no one was looking for him and to create transcripts to scare Henry away. Despite Ned's confession, Delilah blames him for Brian's death and leaves on the rescue helicopter. Henry goes to her tower, and he and Delilah say their goodbyes via radio before Henry evacuates.
I know I already made a Pitch that supported DC, and now I'm doing this one that would support Disney of all studios, but I can't help myself when it comes to shows that I loved to see and wished they could have lasted longer. The innovative creation, in my opinion, was just what the brand needed at the time, as it finally dared to step out of their previous sandbox and try for something truly unique and fun. It's just a shame that apparently people were just not that into them.
I think this can work better this time around, considering first that we are in the time where Cyberpunk and science fiction shows are on the rise, along with the creation of new shows from Disney that will surely make this a peer with DuckTales, if not in viewership, at least in time of creation.
Thus, I give you:
Disney Animated Show Pitch: Loonatics Unleashed GENRE: Action/Adventure/Comedy SUBGENRE: Science Fiction/Drama/Thriller
FORMAT: Animated TV Show
Set Up: Based on the Looney Tunes characters created by the former Warner Brothers Studios. In the year 2772, a meteor strikes the city-planet of Acmetropolis, knocking it off its axis. This cosmic event releases supernatural forces unleashing a new kind of hero...The Loonatics! Descendants of the old Looney Toons that with their new supernatural powers have been recruited to fight against said menace.
Animation: Disney Studios Series Director: Alan Zaslove Writer: Jymn Magon Length: 4 Seasons
Ace Bunny: He is the leader of the Loonatics. He is adroit, quick-witted, and loyal to his friends and teammates. Ace's weapon of choice is the Guardian Strike Sword, a collapsible sword revealed in the second season to be a Frelengian energy weapon. Other than the powers granted by the meteor strike, he is also an adept martial artist. Ace is the descendant of Bugs Bunny and his uniform has yellow accents.
Played By: Billy West Alternate: Charlie Adler
Lexi Bunny: She is an anthropomorphic rabbit, and the descendant of Lola Bunny. Before gaining her powers, Lexi was a student at Acmetropolis University who tried to join the school's cheerleading squad. The captain, afraid she was too good, did not accept her. Lexi enjoys playing video games, being the best at it, and wears a pink uniform. She leads the group alongside Ace Bunny and Danger Duck.
Played By: Kath Soucie Alternate: Mary Kay Bergman
Danger Duck: He is a descendant of Daffy Duck. He is the spotlight hungry, egotistical member of the Loonatics, and wears a black and orange uniform, a pair of blue eyes, and a small mohawk. Danger Duck, even though he doesn't prove it sometimes, is one of the strongest members of the Loonatics, since his powers evolve with time.
Played By: Joe Alaskey Alternate: Greg Burson
Slam Tasmanian: He is the group's muscle-bound heavyweight and wears a black and purple uniform, his eyes are red and are originally black before his heroic union. Slam is a descendant of Taz the Tasmanian Devil and most likely the Tasmanian She-Devil. While Slam is generally brawns over brains, he does show great intelligence when it comes to battle strategies.
Played By: Maurice LaMarche Alternate: John Kassir
Tech E. Coyote: He is the team's technician member and has superintelligence. He is a descendant of Wile E. Coyote. Like his ancestor, Tech relies on gadgets with the distinctive difference that Tech makes them himself, and that they actually work the way he built them. Tech does not have an English accent, as his ancestor did. He wears a black and light green uniform with a different button to his bodysuit.
Played By: Barry Gordon Alternate: Dan Castallaneta
Rev Runner: He is a head-spinningly quick character in more ways than one. He is the descendant of Road Runner. He wears a black and red uniform with turquoise eyes. Unlike his ancestor, Rev speaks English rather than saying "meep meep". Before gaining his powers, Rev was a delivery boy for Quick Wrap Sandwich Shack and an inventor who was always late, even while using the rocket skates he created.
Played By: Rob Paulsen Alternate: Townsend Coleman
Zadavia: She is the Loonatics' beautiful yet mysterious supervisor and possible benefactor. She often appears to them as a hologram (she rarely appears in person). When appearing in her holographic form, she usually contacts the Loonatics to inform them of a threat to Acmetropolis and dispatches them to contain it.
Played By: Nancy Cartwright
Optimatus: He is Zadavia's brother. He is a mysterious character who possesses similar, if not exactly the same, powers and abilities as his sister. Optimatus has a cybernetic eye due to an accident on planet Freleng which resulted in him getting caught in the heat of the jet Zadavia escaped Freleng with, for which she claimed to be sorry about.
Played By: Tony Jay
A.N.: I've decided to add just the core characters since now that the Looney Tunes are owned by Disney, it means they can try and add some Disney inspired characters here as well. I see this show being done at around 1985 or later, hopefully managing to last at least four seasons.
"Nope, still doesn't sound right." Felix Graves, co-writer of Dead Man's Gold, shook his head in annoyance as he held the headphones up to his ear. "I dunno, it just doesn't sound menacing enough for the pooka."
"Are you serious?!" A severely annoyed James Earl Jones, voice actor for said pooka, threw his hands up in the air. "I've been in that damn booth for the whole day, and it's still not enough?"
"It's not you, Jim." Francis Ford Coppola, the director of the movie, hurriedly assured the voice of Darth Vader. "You're knocking this out of the park, it's just that we're missing something beside you."
"Well, you'll have to find it soon, or I might not do any more lines for you." James retorted with a grumpy tone.
"The recording is already great." The ever-sensible and collected Ike Cullen, the other co-writer and Felix's best friend, pointed out with a shrug. "Why not just go with it? It's not like there's anything wrong with it."
"We're not going with it because it isn't as great as it could be yet." Felix replied with determination as he began to pace pace around the room. He tapped his head with his fingers, racking his brain for any ideas.
"Perfect shouldn't be the enemy of good enough." Ike stated.
"But it doesn't mean we can't try." Francis replied, and Ike held back an annoyed sigh. With how headstrong Francis had been rumored to be, and how headstrong Felix definitely was with his vision of how things should be, Ike had initially been worried that the two would butt heads. It had gone even worse than that, and the two had immediately gotten along like oil and fire.
The positive part of this situation was that the movie would be the absolute best it could be.
The negative part of this situation was that they would make that perfectionism everyone else's problem.
At least he wasn't working with Stanley freaking Kubrick anymire. If Francis and Felix were a nightmare to work with, Kubrick was the ugly sleep paralysis demon who forced you to stay awake until you got this single line just right after one-hundred and thirty-seven takes.
"Look, it's clear we won't get this done today." Ike spoke up after a moment, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "So why don't we just work on something else for now, and if we have time, we can get back to the thing regarding the pookas later?"
"...Fine." Felix begrudgingly agreed as he set the headphones down.
The next day...
"Where's Jack and Donovan? Where are our dynamic duo?!" Francis yelled as everyone got into their places to shoot the next scene, the tense interrogation and mental showdown between the dynamic duo and the cunning and beautiful witch Melodia. The lights were shining brightly, the cameras were focused and ready to capture, the extras were in their places, and everything was just right.
Except for their lead freaking actors, who had seemingly vanished into thin air.
"They're still rehearsing some lines by their carriages." Brendan, one of the assistants, helpfully supplied as he downed the last of his bottle of water.
"Someone get them to hurry up, please!" Francis ordered, and another assistant
You don't need to be so harsh on them, Francis." Felix calmly said as he stood next to ine of their cameras.
Tuning out the conversation between the two, Brendan let out a large yawn, streatching his arms up high and wide. After that, he began to walk away to throw his bottle in the trash. As he did so, something prompted him to just blow across the uncovered top of it.
Ffhoooo...
"Wait!" Everyone froze at the sudden outburst as Felix rushed over to Brendan, the poor man flinching at the writer suddenly rushing him like a man possessed.
"Do that again!" Felix demanded, and Brendan blinked.
"What, blow on the bottle?"
Felix's head bobbed up and down so quickly and vigorously that Ike almost feared it would detach from his neck. With some amount of confusion, Brendan slowly shrugged and, pursing his lips, blew on the bottle again.
Ffhoooo...
"That's it!" Francis suddenly shouted with excited inspiration, startling a sound guy beside him and causing Ike to sigh in resignation. "Quickly, someone grab all the bottles we can find! We've got a crap ton of recording to do!"
"After we finish this scene." Felix added quickly.
"After we finish this scene." Francis nodded.
One shot scene, some rushed recordings of blowing on bottles and flutes, and a little sound editing later...
As the newly-edited recording came to a close, the room was struck dumb by a tyrannical silence. Darth Vader would have to step aside, for there was a new king of intimidating voices on the block. Though, instead of an overpowering brutal voice who beat you into submission, this one was a wheezing, almost Lovecraftian creepy one that writhed and slithered its way into your soul.
After a moment of quiet contemplation of what they had just heard, Ike summed up everyone's feelings best with one remark.
"That's gonna be part of my nightmares tonight."
"And that's the goal!" Felix replied with a triumphant grin, his face beaming with victorious glee.
Author's Notes:
Since Dead Man's Gold is soon to be released(hopefully), I figured I would do something to help boost its quality or reception. I was inspired by Spiderverse's use of elephant noises for the Prowler theme, so I decided to do something similar with the pooka in Dead Man's Gold.
For those who haven't read my pitch, pookas are nasty little shapeshifting creatures who have helped many a king, prince, and lord protector of Ireland with assassinations and impersonations. It is considered taboo and criminal to hire them for their services. They have very raspy, wheedling voices in their natural form that metaphorically haunt the soul, and I figured mixing an already raspy voice with some other noise would be par for the course with Lucasfilms. Bottle blowing and flutes were the ones I went with.
This isn't high quality or anything, I just wanted to contribute to the quest more.
So, here it is, I guess. Here's the Undertale pitch, or rather, what I could salvage of it. I'll be real, I lost a lot beyond just the script. I did my best to salvage what I still had and to recover anything that I had missing, but this has been very badly neutered. Part of that means that the pitch has ended up extremely messy instead of the orderliness that I had before. Overall, I really hate how this pitch came out. It's messy, it lacks the script and omake that I intended, I hate the character descriptions that I was left with, it's shorter than it was meant to be, and I couldn't include anywhere near the number of pictures and videos that I originally had or wanted to include, along with other problems. This was supposed to be a moment of personal triumph, and instead, it's a black stain. I'm doing better, but I'm still very upset by it all. I don't want to talk about that too much though, since it's just going to depress me thinking about it. Instead, I'll try and stick to what I was going to originally talk about before everything was lost, which was my personal experience with Undertale and how much this game means to me. I know Undertale has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance lately, but my first experience with Undertale was actually a couple months after it first came out in 2015, in the summer of 2016. I remember that my first encounter with it was a Jacksepticeye playthrough of the game. I found myself instantly enamored with the game and went straight to buy the game for myself on Steam. Lucky me, the game was on sale, so I was able to get it for much cheaper. I remember that I pretty much spent the next few days doing pretty much nothing else but play Undertale, it was genuinely one of the greatest experiences I've ever had playing a video game and will likely be a core memory for me well into the future. I'd like to think that I had the pretty typical Undertale experience, in that I first played through Neutral, playing Undertale how I would normally play any other RPG. I remember that I killed every normal mob that I could and spared all the bosses and the mini bosses that I liked, like Muffet. The moment where Sans judged me genuinely shook me when he revealed what LOVE and EXP stood for. I was also equally shook when Asgore destroyed the MERCY button, lol. I had great fun playing through Neutral, and then I moved onto Pacifist. Pacifist is probably what cemented Undertale as my favorite game of all time. Like, I understand that there are better games out there on whatever metric you want to measure by, but it doesn't matter to me, because Undertale will always be my favorite game. Pacifist was truly an experience like no other and it was the first time a game has ever made me cry. And boy did I cry. I had to actually pause for about 10-15 minutes or so just to process everything. I honestly partly credit this route, and game in general, with helping to make me a more empathetic person and helping gain a new perspective on life. I'm much better now than I used to be, but I was not a good person and it's been a long journey moving past that, one that I'm still on, but that I like to think I've made significant progress on. The ending of the Pacifist Route was truly profound and I'll never forget it. I then moved onto Genocide out of curiosity, which I suppose the exact trap that they try to lure you into lol. I distinctly remember playing through Genocide in one sitting and I remember that day very vividly. My room was basically empty because me and Mom were re arranging things, with not even my bed in it. I also didn't have my desk in my room yet, so I actually had to play on the floor with my PC set up like that. I remember we had guests over, though I don't remember why. I think it was a birthday that some family friends were having over at our house, for some reason. I also distinctly remember how hot it was that day and how sweaty I was with my shirt sticking to me. I actually found Genocide pretty easy from a combat perspective, only really struggling with two fights, although I think that's actually intended, but I do remember that it was incredibly difficult to get through emotionally. That shit was breaking me. I had been befriending these characters for so long and for two playthroughs in a row before this, and now I had to kill them? It hurt, and it was all just out of curiosity, which I only bring up because that's explicitly something the game calls you out on as a player. Genocide Route was also one of the very few times that I've cried while consuming media. I'm just not the kind of person who cries a lot, so it takes a lot to provoke that kind of response from me. Although, I did have a moment recently while watching a film for my film class called Bright Star. When Charles Brown was yelling at Fanny over how he feels that he failed his friend, John Keats, as she poked at him for not being able to be there with him as he was dying, being a petty bitch, it got to me a little. I didn't cry at that, but it did make my eyes wet and my chest tighten. Moving on back to the topic, the only two fights that I struggled with were Undyne and Sans. Undyne was difficult, but manageable. Sans on the other hand? Impossible. I actually straight up had to download a software to slow down the game so that I could make it past his combat, because he was just too fast. When I encountered Flowey at the end, along with Chara, my skin was genuinely crawling. Overall, it's a little hard to translate my experience with Undertale through text instead of actually speaking about it, but it was a powerful and profound experience for me and one that will stick with me forever. It was the reason why I wanted share my love for this series with you through doing an actual script instead of just a pitch, but... Moving on from that, I've labelled this first Undertale film as Chapter 1, with the intention being to split it up into 3 Chapters for the three routes. This one follows the Neutral Route and is intended more so to be introducing people to the world of Undertale, while also being a more straight forward action drama along with the adventure and fantasy elements, as well as occasional scary moments like Muffet and Omega Flowey. Chapter 2 is intended to follow the Pacifist Route and is meant to be closer in tone to an action comedy, aside from moments like the True Lab, some brief contact with Gaster, and similar things. Pacifist route is generally supposed to be the lightest in tone, though still a mature film. Chapter 3 follows the Genocide Route and is obviously much darker in tone and incorporates a lot of psychological and horror aspects, along with a lot more explicit violence. I have a lot more in mind of things being done with this films and across them, but I think it's better to leave that to the Sidestory or if you have any specific questions. For the writer of Undertale, I obviously had Mavis write it, I actually initially created Mavis to first pitch Undertale, but as things dragged on, they kind of got a bit separate. Undertale is intended to be a deeply important and personal creation for Mavis, just as the game series was for me as an experience. I hope to showcase that in the Stay Determined Omake, which I thankfully still have fully intact. I knew that I needed to include a composer, given the nature of Undertale being created by a composer, and with help from @overmind, I chose Koji Kondo, who has done a lot of work for Nintendo OTL and whose work is both similar to Undertale music, as well as being able to lend a sort of video game quality to it. I also decided to add taglines, which I don't always do, because I think Undertale has a lot of really quotable and profound lines in it, like my personal favorite line of the game, "Despite everything, it's still you." For the voice actors, I chose Natalie Gregory for Frisk, who I chose because of her role as Jenny in Oliver and Company, which I really need to watch sometime. For the Narrator, I chose Laura Mooney, who I chose for her role as Princess Camille in Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. I honestly oscillated between the voice actors for Frisk and the Narrator back and forth a lot, making Mooney play Frisk and Narrator played by Gregory, and so on and so forth before ultimately settling with what I have now. Of course, before that I simply had both of them voiced by Mooney, but I decided I wanted to change that and make the voices more distinct. In case it isn't obvious, the Narrator is Chara, as is theorized for the actual game. Chara is also actually the human depicted in the beginning of Undertale when it's explaining the backstory and you can tell because that human has only one stripe on their shirt. For Flowey, I gave the role to Mark Hamill so that he could give a bit of that Joker energy to the role, but I also listed Ronald McDonald as an option. I know it's a very odd choice, but the voice of Ronald McDonald from around this time in the 80s put through distortion is actually the real voice of Flowey, along with being the source of his voice lines. For Toriel, I knew that I need someone who could project the kind of maternal energy and voice that she needs to have, along with being able to be flexible in regards to other moments with Toriel, like her battle. I chose Meryl Streep for this and Carrie as an alternate because I thought that they had great voices for it. Voice acting is also low commitment enough that I can imagine that it would be a good way for Carrie to remain involved with acting while still managing the kids along with not dealing with the demands of live action acting. Papyrus was a fucking no brainer. No one else could have taken the role other than Skeletor himself, Alan Oppenheimer. For his brother, I chose Bill Fagerbakke, who is the voice of Patrick Starfish. I also chose Patrick Warburton as an alternate because I feel their voices match what I'm looking for in a Sans voice. Mary McDonald-Lewis has been casted as Undyne because of her role as Lady Jaye, which I think shows that she can achieve a good voice for Undyne. Nicole Jaffe is being cast as Alphys, seeing as how her experience as Velma makes her more than capable of capturing what's needed for Alphys. Mettaton was another obvious one, seeing as how he was actually based on David Bowie, I decided to cast him as Mettaton with Freddie Mercury as an alternate. Muffet is being voiced by Russi Taylor, mostly because of her role as Minnie Mouse. For Asgore, I needed someone who could capture the fatherly energy he exudes along with his regality, all wrapped up in the kind hearted, almost bumbling dad energy he gives off, but who can be equally firm as needed. James Earl Jones, the one and only voice of Mufasa, was my pick. Monster Kid was assigned Christine Cavanaugh of Simpsons fame and Keith David is Grillby. Burgerpants is listed as having Bill Farmer as his voice actor, although I was fine with also Jim Cummings, or Nicholas Cage. Cage was obviously for his energy, while Farmer and Cummings for their experience as voice actors. Napstablook is voiced by George Carlin, mostly because of his role in Cars, where he had a sufficiently dopey voice, although I'm not fully satisfied with this casting and kind of had to settle. I wanted more depressed than dopey and a voice that wouldn't be too deep, but c'est la vie. For all the other monsters, I decided to have them be voiced by the human effect, Frank Welker, along with however many other uncredited voices for characters that he wouldn't fit for. For the Soundtrack Spoiler, I included a playlist of the actual, full soundtrack of Undertale, along with a playlist from a game composer analyzing Undertale music. I find him very entertaining and he has impressive insights just from listening to the music. Beyond that, I added some art that I think can be useful in helping y'all visualize for this film, although there is unfortunately a 10 image limit on any one post. I also included some videos to help people with imagining the voices for the characters and generally understand the ballpark of what they'd sound like, at least for some of the characters. Below that, I included supplemental material that is intended purely for your own enjoyment, although it includes a lot of things that I wanted to add video or image-wise, but couldn't because you can only imbed 10 images and 5 videos per post. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of them because of what happened, and I've basically been left with what I've ended up dumping here. I'll try and include more in the future, along with trying to find what I had before. I do encourage you to look through them though, especially the videos in the 2nd supplemental spolier, because they can help again with visualization, but also because there's a lot of great work in there that's loads of fun. I think that's everything I have to say for now? I know I want to say more, but I don't know what else to say right now, so I'll just leave it at that. I apologize for my failure to deliver on my previous promise, but I hope you can enjoy this pitch nonetheless. Please enjoy!
Animated Movie Pitch Undertale: Chapter 1 Written by: Mavis Kingsley Composed by: Koji Kondo Taglines:
Stay Determined
Despite Everything, It's Still You
SET UP: Long ago, two races ruled over the earth: Humans and Monsters. After a war broke out between the two races and humans won, monster-kind was sealed underground with a magic spell. Many years later, a young girl climbs to the top of Mount Ebott, a place that many say people never return from, and falls down into the Underground. Now, Frisk must travel through the Underground in the hopes of making it back to the surface, fighting battles and making friends along the way, desperately trying not to die, because in the Underground, it's kill or be killed.
Frisk: Frisk is a young girl from the Surface who searches for a means to escape the Underground after falling into it. Frisk's determination grants her the power to SAVE, heal at SAVE Points, and respawn at SAVE Points after death. This power emerged when Frisk first awoke in the Ruins. Frisk can reload the SAVE file to repeat events that occur after it, but not all NPCs' memories are not completely erased. Played by: Natalie Gregory
Narrator: The voice of narration for the film, it is the voice of a young girl. A constant presence, it often communicates things for both Frisk and the audience in ways that no other character can seemingly hear. Played by: Laura Mooney
Flowey: A flower who initially pretends to be kind-hearted, but is actually a sadistic sociopath who adheres to a "kill or be killed" philosophy. He once had the ability to operate outside the laws of the universe via saving and loading save files, like the player character. After killing Asgore and absorbing the human souls, he becomes a powerful, eldritch version of himself known as "Omega Flowey" and take control over the ability to SAVE and LOAD. After he is defeated and spared, he tells Frisk that he cannot understand her kindness towards him despite his threat to murder her loved ones, and gives her advice and urging on how to get a better outcome after resetting. He demonstrates meta knowledge of what occurs between SAVES and LOADS, often remembering what occurred in previous SAVES. Played by: Mark Hamill Alternate: Ronald McDonald
Toriel Dreemur: The former Queen of the Underground, she part of a powerful, goat-like species called Boss Monsters. Toriel split from Asgore due to his decision to kill humans to collect their souls and free the monsters using force following the deaths of their children Asriel and Chara, and now lives alone in the Ruins, looking after any humans who happen to fall. Toriel initially attempts to adopt Frisk as her child, but when she tries to escape, she attempts to prevent her from entering the Underground and falling prey to Asgore and fights Frisk. After the death of Asgore, Toriel reclaims her position as Queen of the Underground and makes a rule that any human that falls down will be treated as friends. She is an incredibly friendly and empathetic figure, as well as being quite maternal, having looked after each of the other children who fell down. She is incredibly disheartened by continuing to see the children be killed and does not wish to see the same for Frisk. Played by: Meryl Streep Alternate: Carrie Fisher
Papyrus: A skeleton known for his outlandish human-capturing schemes and boisterous, over-the-top attitude. Papyrus and his brother Sans function as a source of comic relief. Papyrus is egotistical yet incompetent, loves puzzles and pasta, and desperately wishes to join the Royal Guard; despite this, he is shown to be a kindhearted and genial character who believes that anyone can be good if they try. Played by: Alan Oppenheimer
Sans: A skeleton, just like his brother Papyrus. Him and his brother Papyrus function as a source of comic relief. Sans is a clever, laid-back slacker and trickster. He often pulls practical jokes and makes puns, something that he bonds with Toriel over their shared love of. Sans also sometimes breaks the fourth wall. Played by: Bill Fagerbakke Alternate: Patrick Warburton
Undyne: Undyne is the powerful leader of Asgore's Royal Guard. She is a humanoid with fish-like features. While initially presented as intimidating, her clumsy behavior in combat is heavily inspired by anime, which she believes to be an accurate representation of the human world. She possesses a small amount of Determination: a substance that makes humans far stronger than monsters and enables her to persist upon death. Compared to Asgore, who harbors remorse for killing others, Undyne holds a deep hatred for humans and will not hesitate to kill them. Played by: Mary McDonald Lewis
Alphys: Asgore's Royal Scientist and close friends with Undyne. She is a shy, nerdy, lizard-like monster with low self-esteem, and is a heavy otaku. She created Mettaton's robot body in order to make Asgore think she was capable of creating artificial souls to gain the position of Royal Scientist. She tries to earn the Frisk's trust by helping her "fight" off a malfunctioning Mettaton throughout Hotland, but he later reveals he was acting to make Alphys look better. She is the successor to W. D. Gaster, who served as Royal Scientist until he mysteriously disappeared. Played by: Nicole Jaffe
Mettaton: Mettaton is a robotic entertainer who is the Underground's sole celebrity, hosting various television shows and having products, brands, and a hotel in Hotland themed after him. He is an egotistical glory-seeker and wishes to take a human soul to travel to the surface and become a celebrity among the humans, and tricks Alphys into helping Frisk reach the CORE so he can kill her under the pretenses of making Alphys look like a hero. It is revealed through diaries in an abandoned house that Mettaton was originally a ghost who dreamed of creating a perfect body for himself. He achieved this when he befriended Alphys and she created his body in order to make Asgore think he was an artificial soul, but at the cost of abandoning his cousin Napstablook. He was modeled after David Bowie. Played by: David Bowie Alternate: Freddie Mercury
Muffet: Running a bake sale, Muffet is a spider monster who is the leader of the spiders in the Underground. She runs her bake sale in an attempt to reunite the spiders and rescue the spiders trapped in the Ruins, as they cannot get past the weather of Snowdin. She is often portrayed as greedy, stingy, intimidating and somehow hypocritical, although having a courteous and sweet way of speaking. Even so, she seems to have a quite malicious streak to her personality whenever she is crossed, something that is shown in her fight. During her battle, she also has a tendency to cite morbid or inappropriate things, such as commenting on Frisk's possible fate in being used to make food. Played by: Russi Taylor
Asgore Dreemur: The King of the Underground and the former husband of Toriel Dreemur, both of whom are members of a powerful, goat-like species called Boss Monsters. Toriel split from Asgore due to his desire to kill humans to collect their souls and free the monsters using force following the deaths of their children Asriel and Chara. Asgore is encountered late in the film and serves as the penultimate boss. Despite having a fearsome reputation in battle, he is actually a kind father figure, and is reluctant to go through with his plan to destroy humanity and feels regret for killing the six humans that arrived before Frisk. Flowey kills him when Frisk attempts to show him mercy. Played by: James Earl Jones
Monster Kid: He is an innocent monster who has an energetic attitude that pervades most of his actions. He is a bit naive, as well as a bit clumsy, as he trips frequently. Monster Kid looks up to Undyne as a role model. He first encounters Frisk in Snowdin, noting how both of them are wearing striped shirts, and therefore they must both be children. However, he do not seem to notice that Frisk is a human. Played by: Christine Cavanaugh
Grillby: The owner of Grillby's, a pub located in Snowden that is a favorite spot for many monsters, including Sans. He most often is found serving as it's bartender and sole employee, and although he doesn't speak much, he is a kind, if stoic and soft spoken. He speaks very little, to the point that he is often thought to be mute, though this isn't the case. Played by: Keith David
Burgerpants: A 19 year old orange cat-like monster who is an employee at the MTT-Brand Burger Emporium, a fast-food restaurant located inside the MTT Resort. He is a highly stressed-out service employee, who hates his job and his employer. He mentions that he originally wanted to be an actor, which is likely the reason he makes so many dramatic facial expressions. He can be sarcastic at times, as shown when he is annoyed. He maintains a cynical view of the world and his future, specifically about his interactions with attractive people. Despite this, he is still shown to be rather hopeful at times. He can be ecstatic and very opinionated when talking about certain topics. Played by: Bill Farmer Alternates: Jim Cummings, Nicholas Cage
Napstablook: Napstablook is Mettaton's cousin, an introverted and melancholic ghost, as well as a DJ. Frisk briefly battles him in the Ruins. Napstablook is a dour introvert with low self-esteem, even crying in battle. Played by: George Carlin
The Other Monsters
Played by: Frank Welker+other minor and uncredited talent
"Mommy, Daddy, where Wally?" Mary asked at breakfast while stabbing her pancakes with her plastic fork rather violently.
"He's with his family in San Francisco where Uncle Gavin and Aunt Susan live, Mary. Don't worry Mary, we'll see him before Uncle Gavin's wedding." Carrie explained.
"Want Wally now, need play Wally games." Mary protested, banging on the tray of her high chair, an early warning of the terrible twos next year.
Since becoming friends with the young Lucas boy last Christmas, Mary and Wally had been as thick as thieves and had developed a close bond over the filming of Empire Strikes Back, with the production having the two often play with each other on a near daily basis as their parents worked on the soon to be greatest movie ever.
However, after production ended things had changed as both families went on separate vacations, and the Lucas' in particular went to Skywalker Ranch near Petaluma to unwind and spend time with their family.
This presented a great disruption to Mary's schedule and the genius one year old who was not used to change was starting to get rather moody at the temporary loss of constant play with her best friend and only friend her age. Sure, she had a loving family and many other favorite people like Brandon Lee or Robin Williams, but to Mary there were some things she could only do with Wally and she didn't like not being able to do it whenever she wanted.
"Les go to San Francis-go, have Uncle Gavin wedding, see Wally." Mary demanded of her Daddy.
"We will Mary in ten days. You just have to wait, good things come to those who wait." Bruce said.
"wHy?!"
After a more normally heated than usual breakfast, Bruce and Carrie would discuss what to do cleaning up in the kitchen, while Mary's annoyances were temporarily forgotten with the distraction of Sesame Street.
"What do you think, maybe we should take some extra vacation before the wedding so she can see Wally? Not like I'm busy and it means more time with Gavin." Bruce suggested.
Carrie shook her head, "Maybe by a day or two, but Mary needs to learn that she can't have everything she wants or else she'll be spoiled." Carrie affirmed, something Bruce could nod in agreement with. He wanted to raise good little goslings, not rotten ducks.
"I think the more important thing is that she needs more friends her age. You heard Mary, she wants to play Wally games with him. She wants to experience stuff only people her age can relate and join." Carrie said.
"Well Cat's in LA now, so we can take her to see Bruce pretty often and she already idolizes Sarah." Bruce suggested in regards to his nephew and niece.
"I love that they're Mary's cousins, but she should start finding friends outside her family. Even Wally is technically her godbrother."
"Yeah." Bruce agreed with a heavy sigh. It was a difficult ordeal though when their street didn't have any kids Mary's age, most of their friends didn't have kids at all, and the old fashioned method of striking up a friendship in public was going to be difficult with Mary's parents, thus there being the chance that some people would only want to be Mary's friend to get to "Han and Leia".
This left them with limited options until Mary went to kindergarten, though by then Bruce and Carrie had decent hopes for their daughter considering her wonderful personality and extroversion. Plus at least by then she would have had four years with her baby brother or sister.
"How about we go to Coldwater after Sesame Street so miss cranky can take her mind off of things? Tomorrow we can go to Cat's so she can play with Bruce and Sarah and we'll brainstorm who we can set up playdates with Mary later tonight." Bruce suggested.
"Okay, sounds like a plan."
"Higher Mommy, higher!" Said the voice of young three year old Milly Kingsley as she was being pushed on a swing set.
Her mother Mavis smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm, "Are you sure, if I'm not too careful you could fall off."
"Is okay, I'll fly." Milly said rather bravely, as if it was a matter of fact. Mavis shook her head and continued to push her daughter with just the slightest boost which made Milly seem like she was going at a turbo speed.
When Mavis had just become a mother, life had all seemed rather bleak as the man she loved had abandoned them and she was overwhelmed with the responsibility of it all. She had been blessed to have such a supportive family, willing to travel to the other side of the country to support her dreams while helping to raise her daughter.
Even with such blessings, life had still been rough as right after getting her dream start at Hollywood, where Universal had shown itself to be a pit of vipers that didn't give a damn about her or her potential. Forced into humiliating roles and then thrown away as a sacrificial pawn as a spy, only to somehow find salvation from the little company that could, and given a chance at redemption. Now, Mavis was a proper storyteller in her own right, and with her professional life set she could spend more time with her pride and joy when things had been getting so distant for a while.
After a while of getting tired of the constant back and forth, Milly willingly jumped out of the swing bravely and landed on the mulchy floor with acrobatic flair. Mavis clapped politely at her daughter's display, pulling back the swing for if Milly wanted to go again, but it seemed that the little girl had other priorities.
"Doggy, kitty!" Milly yelled out in glee, rushing forward and leaving the safety of the playground for an approaching pair of pets.
"Milly, wait!" Mavis yelled in alarm, fearful that her daughter was going to make contact with wild animals or worse, the pets were used as bait for a kidnapping.
Mavis was only a few seconds behind, but thankfully when Milly made contact there was nothing horrible happening with the large Dalmatian simply sniffing the little girl in curiosity while a cautious orange cat with its ears weirdly down kept some cautious space. Both were collared but lacked a leash.
"Don't worry, they're friendly girls who won't bite." Spoke a rather rich voice that had Mavis frozen with anxiety. If such a voice belonged to the actress she believed it belonged to, then that meant..."
"Oh hey Mavis, I didn't know you came to Coldwater often, is this your daughter?" Asked Bruce O'Brian, one of the most famous people in the world and her penultimate boss.
Mavis looked ahead to see Bruce walk beside his wife Carrie, both of them holding the hand of their daughter and only child Mary. It was a picture perfect scene that briefly filled Mavis with jealousy, before the happy cries of her daughter turned her attention to the present where she was happily being kissed by the Dalmatian while the cat cautiously sniffed Milly.
Then, Mavis' emotions came full circle in a 180 as she was meeting her boss outside of work and Mavis was filled with irrational thoughts that somehow her conduct would cost her dream job right as Pacific Rim was entering its final stages.
"Yes, this is Milly Kingsley, the best little bundle of joy to enter my life." Mavis informed, motherly love overriding fears temporarily. "We don't live close to here Mr. O'Brian, I just like park hopping with Milly across LA, she likes to go to new places, it's like an adventure."
Bruce chuckled slightly, "You don't have to call me Mr. O'Brian in off hours Mavis, just call me Bruce."
The tiny Irish girl between her parents then sprinted forward on catching sight of Milly, "Hi, I Mary. This Doggy Natalie, that kitty Ginger." Mary introduced herself.
"I'm Milly, can I play with them?" Milly asked, even though she was petting and hugging Natalie already rather fiercely.
"Yeah, they best pets ever." Mary enthusiastically agreed. She then waddled to Bruce, "Daddy, throw tennis." Mary requested.
Chuckling, Bruce took a couple of tennis balls from his backpack and threw it into the nearby field with the pets and girls giving chase.
"Oh sorry, where are my manners. Carrie, this is Mavis Kingsley, she's a writer at Dreamworks who's making the Pacific Rim show I was telling you about." Bruce introduced.
"Nice to meet you, you have a very lovely daughter." Carrie greeted, with Mavis shaking her hand.
"Thank you, you do too. It's nice to finally meet Mary." Mavis said.
"Oh, you brag about our little girl at work?" Carrie teased Bruce.
"He has a lot of pictures of her in his office and whenever he comes over to Dreamworks, he likes to bring up her often when talking with Tomino or Don." Mavis informed.
"I knew there was a reason you wanted to get the wallet with picture slots." Carrie joked.
"It looked good and it was on sale." Bruce protested.
From there the two families would play together with the parents keeping supervision as the girls either ran around with the pets or played with their imagination using the nearby playground and other parts of the environment, with their favorite activity being to build sand castles and other structures in the sand box to have a fantasy adventures.
"I Ser Kermit O'Brian, Brave, save fawy pwin-cess Mommy wif Mary Dragon." Mary said, wiggling her trusty Kermit who often took the role of a knight on the Quest.
Milly then pulled out her two favorite toys from her backpack, "I'm Papyrus, and this is my brother Sans." Milly introduced, with two skeleton figures, one who was dressed like a dashing superhero, and a shorter one with a hoodie.
"Magic bone people?" Mary asked with interest. Natalie hovered over at the mention of "Bone", though with a quick sniff revealing them to be plastic, pranced away with mild disappointment.
"They my magic friends Mommy made. She gonna make movie with them on adventures." Milly answered.
"You Mommy tell stories too? Wow." Mary said with impressment. Apparently all Mommiess were good storytellers, which made sense. Aunt Cat wrote books and she was a mommy too. Must have been a mom superpower.
The two girls had many fun adventures on the playground together, so much that Mary didn't mind if Wally was in San Francisco for a while, cause she got a new friend with Mary inviting Milly the next day, and they would play together many more times in the future.
Genre: Adventure/Historical Drama
Subgenre: Edutainment
Medium: Sunday Morning Cartoon
Summary: Following the path of A Classical Tale, the TV show Liberty's Kids follows Sarah, James, Henri, and Moses–four fictional associates of Ben Franklin and members of his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette–as they navigate the events of the American Revolution, starting from the Boston Tea Party in 1773 and ending with the inaugaration of George Washington as the first President of the USA 1787. The series is designed to both entertain children and teach them the history of the USA, ranging from the widely-known Battle of Bunker Hill to the obscure stand for religious freedom by Moses Michael Hayes.
Director: Don Bluth
Writers: Felix Graves and Mavis Kingsley
Composer: James Horner
–Henri is no longer adopted by Lafayette as his son but rather as his younger brother.
–The children actually grow and age as the series progresses, with James, Sarah, and Henri reaching twenty-eight, twenty-nine, and twnety-two respectively.
–The series is expanded to fifty-five episodes to better develop the characters as well as cover more events.
–The hinted romance between Sarah and James becomes official here, although it doesn't become the main focus of the series and is more of a side thing.
–Derived from the real Joseph Plumb Martin's memoirs, Joseph becomes another major viewpoint in some episodes.
Sarah Philips–A fifteen-year-old girl born in England, she left for the Thirteen Colonies in order to find her father, who had disappeared on the frontier some years ago. A strong-willed and well-mannered girl unafraid to make her voice heard, Sarah is initially a loyal Royalist and oftens clashes with James over their political beliefs. And his lack of table manners. Over time, however, she begins to experience doubt and confusion as to her stance on the Revolution.
James Hiller–A fourteen year old boy, he works as an apprentice journalist at the Pennsylvania Gazette. Brash, stubborn, and street-smart, James is a zealous Patriot and tends to have a one-side view regarding the Revolution, which leads to many conflicts with Sarah at the beginning. Over time, he is forced to politically mature when he witnesses the less savory aspects of the Revolution. He greatly admires Ben Franklin and particularly appreciates his invention of the lightning rod, due to his own parents having died in a house fire caused bt lightning.
Voiced by: Brad Pitt
Alternate: Mark Dodson
Henry Richard Maurice Dutoit LeFevbre–A rambunctious and animated eight year old boy from France, he was orphaned during his family's voyage to the Thirteen Colonies and was forced to become a cabin boy by the cruel captain. Rescued by James and Moses, he now lives at the Pennsylvania Gazette with them and Sarah. He views life as "a huge party for his benefit" and often lands himself in trouble. His agility and quick-thinking, however, allow him to escape from said trouble just as much.
Voiced by: Dana Hill
Alternate: Katie Leigh
Moses–Born in Africa and sold into slavery, the thirty-seven year old man worked tirelessly until he was able to buy his freedom, eventually finding work at Dr. Franklin's Print Shop. He often serves as the mentor and guardian of the Gazette's apprentices, especially the shenanigan-prone Henri. Like Henri, Moses values his freedom over anything else and dreams of a day when all people in America, regardless of any distinction they might have, could be free to pursue the American Dream. His brother Cato was not so lucky, and Moses spends a good portion of the series searching for his brother so that he might free him to.
Voiced by: Keith David
Alternate: Denzel Washington
Dr. Benjamin Franklin*–The owner of the Pennsylvania Gazette and a Founding Father, Ben serves as a mentor to the apprentices and an explainer who can provide exposition when needed. An entire episode is dedicated to exploring Ben's life and praising his accomplishments.
Voiced by: Walter Cronkite
Cato–Moses's cynical younger brother and a former slave as well, he ran away from his master's plantation and joined the British in irder to regain his freedom.
Voiced by: Michael Clarke Duncan
Benedict Arnold*–A brave, daring, and rapaciius officer of the Continental Army, Benedict becomes a subject of admiration for Sarah, who views him as a noble and honorable man fighting despite his lack of promotion.
Voiced by: Dustin Hoffman
Joseph Plumb Martin*–A young and bright private in the Continental Army, he serves as a main viewpoint in some episodes to showcase the life of an ordinary soldier.
Voiced by: Johnny Depp
Author's Notes:
*All characters with asterisks are real people who actually existed.
I loved this show as a kid, and I still watch now and then. The protagonists are really likeable, somehow there's actual character arcs and growth, and it doesn't whitewash the ickier aspects of that period of history. Also, I think James and Sarah were my first ship before I knew shipping was a thing.
The show's cast was star-studded, by the way. Benedict and Ben are unchanged from OTL, Ralph Fiennes played Lord Cornwallis, Ben Stiller played Thomas Jefferson, Michael Douglas played Patrick Henry, Arnold Schwarzenegger was Baron von Steuben, Andrew Ranells as Alexander Hamilton, Yolanda King(daughter of MLK Jr.) as Elizabeth Freeman, Sylvester Stallone as Paul Revere, Charles Shaughnessy was King George III, Maria Shriver was Peggy Shippen, Annette Bening and Billy Crystal were Abigail and John Adams, Michael York was Lord Admiral Richard Howe, Liam Neeson was John Paul Jones, Whoopi Goldberg was Deborah Sampson, Russell Means as Joseph Brant and Cornplant, and Don Francisco as Bernando de Galvez.
Hell, NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF AND WARREN BUFFET were in this as George Rogers Clark and James Madison, respectively.
Big thanks to @Schehera Zade for allowing me to borrow Mavis as a co-writer for this pitch.
Having followed this closely for a bit, and getting a bit invested here in the story, I had 2 different pitch ideas for films, and this was one of them. I decided to settle on this one mainly because I think it's a fascinating story that doesn't get a lot of coverage in the media, and I was wondering if I could perhaps aid in the changing of that! So I present A Legion of Strangers! Also, my vote on the whole schooling matter is private, seeing as public schooling in America in general isn't...the best. Should also be noted that my cast list as of right now is WIP, so any suggestions would be fantastic!
Movie Pitch:
A Legion of Strangers
GENRE: War Drama/Historical Fiction
SUBGENRE: Drama/Biography
FORMAT: Live Action Movie
Set Up: The year is 1848. America is at war. In order to expand her territories in the West, and secure the newly created Republic of Texas as a state within the Union, America has invaded Mexico as a means of assuring it's power. Tens of thousands of young American men volunteer for service, including many famous American faces like Grant, Lee or Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. But our focus is on none of these men, but rather, a select group of Irishmen, and on their commander, John (or as he's known in his Spanish name, Juan) Riley. Defecting from the United States Army, he will go on to form the oft-forgotten but beloved Batallón de San Patricio, Saint Patrick's Battalion.
The beginning of the film shows some text on screen explaining the historical context (such as the Famine, America's tensions over slavery in new territories, and, mainly, the xenophobia faced by many Catholics and Irish immigrants). It ends with 'This film is dedicated to the countless legions of strangers, who fought for those who couldn't fight for themselves'.
The film then opens on a young Irishman named John Riley, who originally was born in Clifden, County Galway. John, now fleeing the Potato Famine of Ireland, attempts to find a new life in America [1]. When he arrives, however, he finds xenophobia and bigotry everywhere he goes. Offered a chance of land and a salary with the US Army, he takes it, and is shipped off to Texas to fight in the Mexican-American War. John is shown to be a skilled, but rough soldier, one who doesn't follow orders well [2], which compounds his increasing isolation from his fellows over his Irish Catholic background. Nativists attitudes make Catholics like him and another fellow Irishman and friend Patrick Dalton feel singled out often, culminating in his and Dalton's floggings alongside a dozen other Catholics for "desertion" only because they had traveled (without permission) to the Mexican side of the border to fulfill their obligation to attend Sunday Mass. Riley, Dalton and 14 other men then decide enough is enough, and defect [3].
Initially treated with suspicion by the Mexican authorities, Riley and his men are eventually given status within the Army, with Riley himself receiving the rank of Lieutenant by General Pedro de Ampudia [4]. Shortly after, Riley and a company of 48 Irishmen (mostly fellow defectors) man Mexican artillery at Fort Texas, where he shows great courage and even saves the life of his friend Dalton. It is during this battle too he meets manufacturer and German Mexican immigrant Martin Tritschler, who helps Riley recruit German-speaking Catholics for the unit using pamphlets and word of mouth [5]. It works, and many Germans defect to the unit.
The first engagement of the Battalion as an official unit happens at the Battle of Monterrey. At the battle of Monterrey, the unit proves their artillery skills by causing the deaths of many American soldiers, and even defeat 3 separate assaults from the US Army, including units from an (credited appearance of) officer named Braxton Bragg [6]. The vast majority of the immigrants soldiers that fought for the Americans during the battle can be shown later defecting to the unit [7]. Amongst the men who join or defect are Stanisław Bar, a Polish Catholic who immigrated to Mexico, Silus, a slave who flees his master in the US Army and intends to prove himself and Anthony Farley, a 16-year-old Irishman who Riley and Dalton take under their wing.
Following the engagement at Monterrey, the Saint Patricks are shown to have grown in number, reaching over 400 men by Riley's count [8]. At San Luis Potosí, they have their distinct green silk flag embroidered there, designed by Riley himself and raised by him and Dalton, together with several other soldiers. The men are then shown cheering as it waves in the air.
Following Monterry, the unit then marches northward to join a larger force commanded by Antonio López de Santa Anna, sent from Mexico City. During this march, Riley, Dalton, and several other young officers meet to discuss the unit's future and whether or not Mexico can actually win against the United States. Riley insists that nothing is impossible, though doubt creeps into his tone. That night, Riley dreams of death hanging over the Saint Patricks' head.
Eventually, the unit once again fights in another battle, this time in the Battle of Buena Vista. Here, Riley commands the artillery to support a Mexican assault on American lines. During this same battle, they later decimate an artillery battery directly opposite them on the battlefield [9]. The film then cuts to Zachary Taylor, who orders the 1st Dragoons to "take that damned battery" [10].
Riley's men eventually repel the charge by the Dragoons, though this costs the life of Farley, who is shot and killed by a dragoon while attempting to aid in repelling the charge. In revenge, Riley orders a small number of troops to capture the 4th Artillery's cannons. Led by a commander named Lombardini, the division gets close enough to charge the artillery battery, bayoneting whoever remained and routing the rest, leaving the artillery free to take as ordered [11]. The unit later covers a Mexican retreat and rides out the day in a costly artillery duel with several American batteries, which kills or injures roughly one third of them [12].
The battle, despite being thought a strategic victory by Mexico, is claimed by the Americans as a win. With neither side being confidently able to claim the battle as a victory, Riley's doubts about Mexico's potential victory grows, even after several of his men (including Farley posthumously) earn the War Cross (Mexico's second highest honor in the field of battle). Silus contends with Riley that, even if they lose, they'll have proved themselves as free men, not slaves to a country that seemingly hates them.
A significant time skip later, and the Battalion are apart of a larger "Foreign Legion", made up of French, Irish and German Catholics, though some including Mexican-American born, Polish (lead by Bar), as well Canadian, English, Italian, Scottish, Spanish, and even Swiss soldiers [12]. The unit is ordered to defend Churubusco, a neighborhood in Mexico City. The fighting scene is the largest of the film, with wave after wave of American attacks bravely repelled by the Mexican forces (though out-numbered and, asides from the Saints, untested on the battlefield). Casualties of the battle include Silus (killed by a cannon), Bar (shot by an American soldier while ordering his men to defend) and many of the Saint Patricks.
During the last of the fighting, a Mexican officer attempts to raise the white flag. Outraged, Riley and Dalton kill the man [13], and insist on fighting to the last. The Americans attempt to oblige them, however, they eventually demand the surrender of the remaining men, which, with reluctance, Riley acquiesces. Dalton is outraged, but doesn't fight Riley. The remaining men, less than 100, are captured and treated as traitors by the Americans.
The final scene of the film is the mass hanging of at least 30 men at Chapultepec. In the final moments of the film, Dalton is shown to be amongst the men to be hung. Despite raising concerns with treatment, he is hung, with the commander presiding over it saying "I was ordered to hang 30, I'll hang 30 by god!". Dalton is the last to be hung, with his last words being "Viva Mexico! God Bless Ireland!" [14]
The ending text states that 35 Saint Patricks were killed in Churubusco, with 85 taken prisoner (including a wounded John Riley, Dalton, and several others); about 85 escaped with retreating Mexican forces. In all, some 60% of the San Patricios were killed or captured in the engagement. The survivors were reformed before the Battle of Mexico City some two weeks later and were stationed at Querétaro where the Mexican government had decamped, with some 50 members serving as a body-guard for the commander-in-chief. The unit 'would not survive the war, being disbanded after attempting to aid in the overthrow of the Mexican government'. Afterwards, the film cuts to the commemorative plaque in Mexico City, with the theme of the song "Saint Patrick's Battalion" playing in the background.
[1] It should be noted that in real life John did not originally emigrate to America, having actually emigrated to Canada first, before settling in Michigan in 1845.
[2] John had previously served in the British Army, and so likely would've had some basic military training under his belt, here in the film, however, he's shown to be more of a rookie.
[3] So far as the research I had done for this, both based on One Man's Hero (the film this is somewhat inspired by) and by the life of Riley and the Battalion themselves, I can't actually find evidence of an incident like this happening. So both OTL and ITTL it's safe to assume it was created as a plot device for the film.
[4] Happened IRL.
[5] Also happened IRL, but I'm not sure Tritschler and Riley ever actually met face to face.
[6] This is true to history, with Bragg having lead a company during the battle, many of whose members would later defect to the Mexican side.
[7] See above.
[8] According to several estimates the actual number may have only been 200, though some counts put it upwards of 700 men, mainly immigrant Catholics and even some escaped slaves if stories are to be believed. Though the film will round it out to 400 to keep it somewhat balanced.
[9] Historically accurate, with it being noted by an observer "a strong Mexican battery ... moved ... by dint of extraordinary exertions ... [that] commanded the entire plateau". (Source)
[10] Historically accurate as well. Though the source for this won't be published until 1999, although it could be discovered earlier ITTL.
[11] Historically accurate, though the timing is changed to fit narratively with Farley's death and showing Riley's vindictive side.
[12] All true!
[13] The killing was done by common soldiers, and not by Riley and Dalton. This was changed to show how fierce but rash the two had become in their last battle.
[14] Dalton was hung separately in real life at San Ángel, but this is changed to have a more poignant ending scene and to be more cinematic.
John Riley - An immigrant, a soldier, a traitor. Many things can describe John, but one word above the rest is determined. Determined to escape the land of his oppression, determined to create a life for himself in America, and, once tossed aside by the United States, determined to carve a life for himself in Mexico. Riley will be characterized as a sympathetic, albeit complicated figure. A devout man who slays those he disagrees with, a believer in equality yet strict and sometimes authoritarian. A man who genuinely believes in creating a better life for himself, but one constantly betrayed by those around him.
Patrick Dalton- Dalton, the erstwhile comrade of Riley and one of his closest compatriots, Dalton is a combination of a few real life figures (such as the actual Dalton and one Captain Santiago O'Leary), and acts as sort of the perennial ally of Riley's, being trustworthy and mostly the voice of reason within the unit. A talented tactician, a smart man and someone with good, albeit bendable morals, Dalton's final death in the film is meant to be a poignant and tragic end for a man fighting for freedom.
[WIP]
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PBS Animated TV Show: American Girls: Felicity Merriman
A long time ago...well, more like in the early 2000s (Damn, I hate getting old) I remember that my sister tended to love this kind of books. At first I never gave it much thought, but one day when I had nothing to read I thought I'd give them a look...and I ended binging her entire collection. I don't know what it was, perhaps the fact that the characters never seemed to be childish but had depth to it, or that the main character was not a perfect little girl, but instead had her own flaws, her own strengths, as well as her own opinions while also showing her willing to learn and improve. Frankly, it was much better written than I expected.
It was not until later on I learned that it had been discontinued, which I still don't understand why. It was a really good story in my opinion, and the sidestories were also really fun. It was later I learned that the small books were only done to sell the doll collection that were created in 86'. But frankly, I think this could serve pretty well as an animated TV Show for PBS, sort of like what we did with A Classical Tale. Besides, we haven't done anything for girls exclusively lately, and this could help in tht regard.
I do want to make some changes though. The original story had the family owning slaves, but I think we can add a storyline where they can finally realize the hypocrisy and evil of owning another human being, eventually freeing them before the series ends, serving as a way to show the growth of not only Felicity but her family as well.
Thus, I give you:
PBS Animated TV Pitch: American Girls: Felicity Merriman GENRE: Historical/Slice Of Life/Drama SUBGENRE: Adventure/Family
FORMAT: Animated TV Show
Set Up: A series representing girls from various historical eras. Each character having a one season series that follows the girl in question through a variety of topics, among them include school, holidays, birthdays, overcoming challenges, etc., through a period of 2 years of their life. This season is set in English colonial America and the early American Revolutionary War period. Felicity Merriman lives with her family in colonial Virginia, where the movement toward breaking away from British rule is growing.
Animation: DreamWorks Studios Series Director: Don Bluth Writer: Valerie Tripp Length: 52 Episodes
Felicity Merriman: She is the daughter of Edward and Martha Merriman. Felicity is a daring and fiercely independent-minded girl. She is tomboyish, daring, adventurous, spunky, and both brave and foolhardy--she feels that if she can do something she will, despite the risks. She is very active for a girl her age, but is annoyed at her lack of freedom as a young girl and the ladylike things and personality that is expected of her. Felicity believes in fighting for what she wants and can be stubborn and headstrong; this helps give her a strong connection to Benjamin Davidson once they start to become friends.
Played By: Kellie Martin Alternate: Mary Kay Bergman
Edward Merriman: He is the father of Felicity. He runs a popular general store in town, Merriman's Store, with help from Marcus and Benjamin Davidson. Edward Merriman is a kind father to Felicity, understanding her high-spirited nature and affection for horses and outdoor activities where her mother does not. He treats his daughter like a fine lady when she comes to the store, much to her delight, and is a well-respected citizen of the town, even when he sides with the Patriots and refuses to sell tea before it is popular to do so. He is firm with Ben, but also kind.
Played By: Kevin Conroy Alternate: John Glover
Martha Merriman: She is the mother of Felicity. She is from a well to do plantation family--her father is the owner of a large plantation where she grew up. Martha is very strict and ladylike with a no-nonsense personality. She has had Rose working for her since before Felicity's birth. She is much more disapproving than Edward when it comes to Felicity's nature and unladylike actions. She does not approve of her hobbies when they are first discovered and would rather Felicity take interest in more ladylike pursuits such as stitches, cooking, and handwriting.
Played By: Melendy Britt Alternate: Marilu Henner
Anne "Nan" Merriman: She is the younger sister of Felicity. She is very prim and proper, in contrast to her older sister. She wants to be a lady and often tries to get Felicity to teach her what Felicity learned with Miss Manderly. Nan also loves fancy gowns and clothes and is fond of baby animals. Unlike Felicity, she is a careful seamstress even at her young age and enjoys helping with household duties. Despite their differences, Nan does look up to Felicity as an older sister.
Played By: Alison La Placa Alternate: Julie Dees
William Merriman: He is Felicity's younger brother, not quite three yet. He is an active little boy who likes playing in the mud, getting into mischief, and making messes. He enjoys following Felicity around and mimicking her actions, looking up to her sister's mischief and tomboyish ways. He tends to dislike wearing Breeches as he finds them uncomfortable, though he grows into them later on. He has a habit of forgetting his chores and going to play instead.
Played By: Nancy Cartwright Alternate: Christine Cavanaugh
Thomas Browne: He is Felicity's grandfather and Martha's father. He owns a large plantation, King's Creek with several enslaved people. He immigrated from England, along with his late wife. He is generous and kind to his family. He is a strict Loyalist and finds the Patriot cause to be foolish, the ranting of irresponsible scoundrels, and disloyal to the King; he is sure the colonies will be part of England forevermore. He catches an illness he does not recover from and dies near the end of the series in Willamsburg at the Merriman home.
Played By: Adam West Alternate: Lloyd Bochner
Polly Merriman: She is Felicity's youngest sister, born in the middle of the series. She is a rosy baby with sky-blue eyes and hair as orange as carrots. She was named by Felicity after Rose says she was almost born in the water like a polliwog. Polly is first mentioned technically when it is revealed that Martha Merriman is due to have a baby come the winter of 1775. She is born during a trip by carriage, where Felicity, Martha and Rose had to take refuge during a storm.
Benjamin Davidson: He is a friend of Felicity and an apprentice to her father. Ben is initially introduced as a quiet and shy young man who keeps to himself and sleeps in the loft above the stables. Felicity does not think much of him to start both because he is quiet and because due to his presence, she no longer is allowed to help her father and Marcus at Merriman's Store and so must go home and do housekeeping things she finds boring. As he gets to know Felicity and her family, he opens up and becomes a good friend to Felicity as she does to him.
Played By: Cam Clarke
Elizabeth Cole: She is Felicity's best friend. She and her family are originally from Lancashire, England. The Coles arrived to the American colonies in the fall of 1774, just before she and Annabelle start lessons with Felicity and Miss Manderly. Elizabeth's family are Loyalists and often she finds it hard to find her place among the colonies, though she believes in some independent notions that the colonies promote.
Elizabeth is quiet, shy, smart, and careful. She has a knack for sewing, as she's more patient, and she loves fancy balls and dancing.
Played By: Jennifer Darling
Annabelle Cole: She is Elizabeth's older sister. She is very snobby, proud, arrogant, and proper to a fault. She feels that everything in England is better than it is in the colonies which are wild, provincial, and uncivilized. She constantly belittles both her younger sister Elizabeth and Felicity Merriman, both in public and at their classes held together at Miss Manderly's. Annabelle is a fierce Loyalist and believes the Patriot cause is not only wrong, but foolishness. Despite this opinion, she develops a crush on Benjamin Davidson.
Played By: Renae Jacobs
Penny: She is a Thoroughbred Bay mare with a copper chestnut coat, dark hair, and a white blaze and stockings. Penny's prior owner is unknown before she is won by Jiggy Nye in a gambling game. Penny is mistreated by Jiggy severely, in large part because he cannot break her into behaving. Felicity takes an instant liking to Penny--privately naming her so-- and resolves to do ride her. Over the course of about five weeks, tames her enough to ride and rides her to her house to demonstrate.
Played By: Frank Welker
Jiggy Nye: He is the tanner in Williamsburg where Felicity Merriman lives, has no family since his wife died, and is the first owner of Penny.
He is initially a brash, mean drunkard and considered an unreliable, cold-hearted scoundrel who gambles and drinks away his money. He would rather abuse and destroys things than have them taken from him, and refuses to negotiate with anyone. He was good with animals before he became a drunkard. It is later in the series that he cleans up his act, enough that Felicity asks for help with Penny's delivery of Patriot.
Played By: Bill McKinney
Miss Frances Manderly: Miss Frances Manderly is the teacher of Felicity, along with Elizabeth and Annabelle Cole, and is a gracious gentlewoman. She is very ladylike and teaches young girls such skills such as needlework, tea service, and dancing; in other words, how to conduct themselves as young ladies. Aside from giving sage advice, she also helped her students get invitations for the Governor's Party, as well as gifting Felicity a journal to practice penmanship and handwriting.
Played By: Diana Muldaur
Rose: She is a woman enslaved by Felicity Merriman's family. Her specific age is never stated, but she has been enslaved and serving Martha Merriman since before Felicity was born, though she is often referred to as a "servant". Rose both cooks and is a maidservant to the family. Because of her position in the household and society, Rose does not speak back roughly to the elder Merrimans and refers to Felicity as "Miss Felicity." However, she is allowed to mildly discipline or correct the children in Mrs. Merriman's stead. She shows skills in spinning.
Played By: Ingrid Oliu
Marcus: He, along with Rose, is an enslaved man in the Merriman household. He primarily works in the store with Edward Merriman and Ben and helps care for the family horses. He also helps fix things in the home, showing skills as a repairman.
Played By: Bruce Weitz
William Yancey: A man who took in Anne after her parents died, as he had been a friend of her father's. Anne says he was not truly a friend and only wanted the money in her father's will for taking care of her. He and wife mistreat Anne, however, and forced her to address them as "Father Yancey" and "Mother Yancey." They make Anne steal for them during public events and beat her if she doesn't bring them enough. He lives on Nicholson Street near the jail.
Reverend Mr. Ullfers: The minister at Bruton Parish Church. Initially, Felicity and Elizabeth ask him about ghosts, because Felicity believes that Lady Margaret's ghost may be haunting their house. He explains that some people believe in ghosts and some don't, but he remains open minded. They also ask him about Anne's guardian, because the church has public records. He tells them her guardian is William Yancey, and he offers to pass a message to him. The girls thank him but decline so he doesn't realize why they are inquiring.
Anne: A girl who was taken in by William Yancy. She is a girl about Felicity's age with freckles and curly red hair, often wearing an oversized mob cap and a worn homespun dress; she also has bruises on her arms. Storms scare her because her father died on a stormy night. She's a skilled seamstress. She is often mistreated by him and forced to steal from others. Felicity eventually discovers this, and helps her escape him and get the help from her father (Edward Merriman) to get her a new place to live.
Mr. Whyte: A lawyer and friend of Mr. Merriman's. Mr. Merriman says he will talk to Mr. Whyte when he learns of the abuse William Yancey has inflicted on Anne. They will pursue charges against Mr. Yancey and help find another guardian for Anne.
Mrs. Whitehurst: She is Martha Merriman's dressmaker. Felicity remembers that Mrs. Whitehurst was looking for an apprentice who is hardworking, easygoing, and a strong seamstress. Mr. Merriman agrees to talk to her about an apprenticeship for Anne.
Mrs. Burnie: A laundress who's known for being very fussy. People find her peculiar and gossip that she's hard to get along with because she is so opinionated and dead set against change. She has vision issues that she tries to hide, but is eventually discovered by Felicity when she began to help her after ruining her laundry. The visits became more common to the point that Mrs. Burnie began seeing her as a friend, and accepts Felicity's offer of glasses, accepting that changes do not have to be bad.
Mr. Wentworth: A Loyalist man and plantation owner who is married to Mrs. Wentworth. He and his wife live on Oak Hill, a plantation near King's Creek Plantation. He is a guest to dinner with his wife, and dozes at the table, only waking to agree with her complaints passively. He and Thomas often go out to discuss the horses he has brought to look at, with Grandfather invites Felicity to come with them. For all his passivity, Mr. Wentworth has a passion for horses, the care and breeding of them.
Mrs. Wentworth: A Loyalist woman. She is very stout with a plump face, but with (to Felicity) sharp elbows. Mrs. Wentworth is a frequent visitor to the Merrimans both at their home in Williamsburg and at King's Creek Plantation; she and her husband have a plantation nearby named Oak Hill, and is an old friend of Martha Merriman. Felicity thinks that Mrs. Wentworth is the most talkative lady in all of Virginia and finds meals with her dull and that no one asks anything of her opinions. She and her husband do not appear to have children.
Caleb: He is the driver to Mrs. Wentworth's carriage. When the carriage crashes into the bank of a gully, Caleb is the one to inform them that the carriage is damaged and the horse is lamed. He then helps Mrs. Wentworth and Martha Merriman out of the carriage along with Felicity. He then leads them all to an abandoned house for shelter, starts a fire, and then--at Mrs. Wentworth's orders--heads back towards Willamsburg for help as she finds her clothes uncomfortable.
Fergus McLeod: A Scottish shopkeeper in Williamsburg, friend of Edward Merriman, and Fiona's father. Mr. McLeod is accused of being disloyal to the Patriots and summoned to appear before the Committee of Safety. He asks Mr. Merriman to testify on his behalf until the family receives a threatening letter from the writer of the accusatory broadsides. He is attacked by a mob and nearly tarred and feathered until Mr. Merriman steps in. He and his family choose to flee from Williamsburg instead of going to court.
Fiona McLeod: A girl who is a good friend of Felicity and Elizabeth Cole. Her family is Scottish. Fiona's father is accused of betraying the Patriot cause, she talks with the girls about her fears for his safety. Elizabeth, whose father had to flee as a Loyalist, comforts her and says she knows what it's like to miss a father. Their family leaves Williamsburg before his trial, and Felicity is not able to have a chance to say goodbye. The Committee of Safety rules against them and puts their house and store up for public auction.
Richard Capps: A business rival of Mr. Merriman and a member of the Committee of Safety. His apprentice is Walter. He has a short temper and is rude to both Ben and Mr. McLeod. Mr. Capps also refuses to pay back Mr. McLeod the money he owes. He frequently takes business trips to Portsmouth, and even though his store is struggling, he seems to always have a gold coin around if needed. He attempts to bid for the McLeod house when it is put up for public auction. However, he gives up against John Sutherland's high bid. Mr. Capps accuses Mr. Merriman of betraying the Patriots by selling goods to Lord Dunmore when it is him who is in fact selling to Dunmore.
Alexander Ramsey: A Scottish master printer of Williamsburg and a friend of Mr. Merriman's. He has a very busy shop and the broadside accusing Edward Merriman of betraying the Patriots was printed on paper from his mill. He successfully bids on the McLeod house when it is put up for public auction. It is eventually revealed that Zachary printed the broadsides against Mr. McLeod and Mr. Merriman, and Mr. Ramsey fires him. He replaces Zachary with Walter, Mr. Capps' former apprentice.
Clarissa Reed: A female master printer of Williamsburg. She is a friend of the Merrimans and publishes the Gazette, Edward Merriman's preferred newspaper due to its Patriot positions. Widow Reed has a son, Aaron. Mr. Merriman takes out an advertisement in the Gazette to defend Mr. McLeod from the accusation that he is a Loyalist. When Mr. Merriman is accused of disloyalty, Felicity takes out an ad in the Gazette to defend him and bait the "Mr. Puller" who is accusing him.
John Sutterland: A storekeeper and friend of the Merrimans. He owns a grocery store on Nicholson Street, is nearly bald, and carries a walking cane. He is friendly with Edward Merriman even though he competed with him to marry Martha Merriman. When broadsides accusing her father of treachery appear in town, Felicity starts to wonder if Mr. Sutherland is doing this because he maintains a grudge about Martha marrying Edward.
Walter: He is Richard Capps' general store apprentice and a friend of Ben's. Walter does not like Mr. Capps' attitude toward him, and he likes whenever he's away for a business trip to Portsmouth. When they suspect Mr. Capps of selling to the Loyalists, Ben and Felicity find a way to get him a letter so they can meet up. Walter helps Felicity and Ben find evidence against Capps. After Capps is sent to prison, Walter takes up Zachary's apprenticeship with Mr. Ramsey; he was not a fan of storekeeping anyway. Ben also describes him as "enterprising."
Zachary: He is Richard Capps' nephew and Mr. Ramsey's apprentice. He is described as a tall, yellow-haired boy with messy clothes and hair. Mr. Ramsey is impatient with him because he does sloppy work. His mother is Mr. Capps' wife's sister. Zachary is fired after it is revealed that he printed broadsides accusing Mr. McLeod and Mr. Merriman of treason, as well as opening and reading Mr. Merriman's mail. He is replaced by Walter in his apprenticeship.
Mr. & Mrs. Cole: They are the parents of Elizabeth and Annabelle Cole. The Coles are originally from Lancashire, England, and the family arrives in Williamsburg in the fall of 1774. Their family is portrayed as slightly wealthier than the Merrimans (seen by things such as their larger home and garden and the fact the girls had a governess when they lived in England.) Mr. Cole is arrested for being a Loyalist and imprisoned until Thomas gets him released. Following his arrest, he decides to head to New York and leaves his wife and daughters to look after their property.
Dawson: A young man from Yorkshire, England who has a thick accent. He's good at soothing a startled horse such as the colt he rides in the Publick Times races. He was hired to be a jockey and isn't afraid of spirited horses, as his father was a groom and he has grown up riding them from a young age. He worked for a while at the store, and was thought by the girls to be a thief, until the truth came out that he was trying to avoid the sailors who'd pressed him into service. The girls apologized and he accepted it. Though he still left as he still wants to work in the sea.
Mrs. Fitchett: A stout woman who loves to gossip. She is often seen first in walking into Merriman's Store, well dressed with a lady's hat covered in ribbons and feathers. She calls Felicity pretty and says that the lads will be flocking to her. She also asks Felicity if she is working on her sampler; when Felicity says she hasn't started, she replies that her two daughters were done by her age. Mr. Merriman says that Felicity isn't good at stitching as she lacks patience, and Mrs. Fitchett says that Felicity is high spirited and that she will find patience when she decides.
Mr. Halibut: A gardener in Williamsburg, seen working for Miss Manderly. Felicity has kept her spare shoes in a gardening basket in Miss Manderly's shed, and she panics when Mr. Halibut takes the basket to clean the garden tools before winter. Miss Manderly tells her that he also gardens for the Milners on Francis Street, so Felicity goes to their house and finds Mr. Milner there. He is surprised to see her run up to him with muddy stockings, but he silently holds out the basket for her to take her bag.
Mrs. Hewitt: An elderly woman who assists Felicity around the Merriman household while Mrs. Merriman is out of town. She is described as plump with gray hair and sharp black eyes. As a widow, she wears a black dress with black kerchief and white cap. When she was young, she used to cook for the governor at the palace, and she says she did it even as young as eleven (Felicity's age). Since her husband died, she has struggled with money, and she describes Merriman's store as too expensive for her.
Isaac Wallace: A free Black boy who is a friend of Benjamin Davidson and slightly older than he is. He serves as a drummer for the town's militia, and his family does laundry work; several times a month he comes to pick up and deliver laundry to the house. He tells Ben and Felicity briefly about his tasks as a drummer and shows them some of the various drumbeats he knows.
A.N.: So, I think we can start with this by next year, or the one after. So long as we do this before 86' then we should be fine. Hopefully PBS will be willing to accept another DreamWorks inspired educational animation story. Got to admit though, I have not read all the collected stories, so at best I will be able to put five of these pitches.
Ben wasn't sure about going to school. He liked being at home with Mummy. But Mommy couldn't always be there as Mummy needed to go to "work", which was somehow important. And he had babysitters instead. Even if they were Grandma, babysitters were less fun than Mommy. Grandma got tired quickly, and while she did things nearly right, only Mommy got his drink right. Mommy was also good at helping him play with the other kids at the park and stopping the too-big kids from hurting him. Grandma was okay, but some others were not good at it.
Still, he liked going to the park and playing games with the other kids there if they weren't too big. Kindergarten was supposed to be like the park except inside, and there would be a lot of other kids his age to play with, as well as toys that were different from home but had to share. He was supposed to learn things as well, like counting. Mummy wanted him to learn to count, but it sounded hard. Ben would try his best to learn and make Mommy happy. Mommy also told him to make friends and tell her about the toys and games he played there when she picked him up.
Ben was a bit worried. Some of the kids at the park were mean and not people he wanted to be friends with. Kindergarten might be the same. Ben also didn't see how any toy could be as good as his Batman toy. His father agreed and said Batman was the best. But Daddy was silly because Daddy was talking about the wrong Batman when someone called Adam West was Batman. Everyone knew that Bruce O'Brian was Batman,
Still with Batman in hand, he bravely said goodbye to his Mother and followed Miss Daisy into a room filled with brightly coloured things. And lots of other kids.
He found a corner to sit in and hold his Batman toy for courage. This place was not quite like the park it was inside and had different toys and there didn't seem to be any kids that were much bigger than him and likely to steal his things or push him into the sand. There wasn't any sand, just foam mats with lots of colours. Miss Daisy had seemed Nice, better than some of his past babysitters anyway. He was a bit scared, and then he saw the real Batman, come in and drop off a child, who was instantly greeted by some other children. Maybe she would be Okay?
----
"If you're so smart, why don't you teach the class?" Screamed the overwhelmed preschool teacher as she stormed out the door, leaving a classroom full of preschoolers looking at Mary.
Mary had only wanted to help Ben learn counting and maffs. She hadn't meant to upset Miss Daisy, but she kept repeating silly basic things like the Count did and not because she loved counting things like the Count did. Miss Daisy did it like she didn't think Mary understood or was able to understand. Like Mary was stupid and could only use real numbers and couldn't figure out how to work out abstract polynomials. The Count was obsessed with all numbers and got silly excited about them. Miss Daisy didn't; she just had that wrong smile like Nathans daddy when he was pretending to be taxman.
So Mary started calling out all of Miss Daisy's math errors and wrote the proofs to show Miss Daisy how to get better. Miss Daisy would understand that Mary could do maths, which is important. If Miss Daisy could be made to understand that Mary could do maths, then she could be made to understand that Mille was very good at stories, even if she wasn't good at talking. Or Wally was very good at pictures and movies even if he wasn't good at drawing. Or Nathan was good at wigging toys just right.
Now Miss Daisy had run away like a meanie rather than trying to be better. Mary felt her lip wobble as she fought back tears. Well, if the teacher was going to be a meanie about math's and go over boring things for babies like counting and the alphabet instead of easy things like probabilistic determinism and game theory then perhaps it was better that Mary did teach the class instead. This way Miss Daisy was only mean to Mary, not Nathan, Wally, or Millie.
So Mary needed to be a fun teacher, not a meanie teacher, find out what people were good at, and help them improve. She also needed to find out what they were not good at and help them get better at that as well.
She had learned some lessons from trying to teach Joseph and Sarah, and the main one was to make it interesting and fun, like playing dragon. Dragon was a good game for practising all the important things like drawing, talking, taking turns, and telling good stories. It was easy, with only a little maths involved.
Plan set Mary stood and spoke Cleary like daddy did when telling people important things. "I teacher now." She announced to the class. "Need help Mille, Wally and Nathan. We going to play Dragons." She was interrupted by Nathan's whoop of joy, which was followed by the excited looks of Wally and Millie. Intrigued, the rest of the class collectively decided to go along with what promised to be a fun game if the other kids were so excited about it. "Everybody sits in circle, and I get counters and dice, and we roll characters…"
"…Bug monsters jump out of the forest. What do?."
Various shouts of attack, run hide and try to make friends with it came from the group of small children. An assortment of wooden blocks, toy cars, action figures, and dolls that should have been left at home stood in for characters making up a very oversized adventure party. Two blocks supported a crudely drawn picture of a bug. Well, it was Wally's greenest scribble, but no child had any trouble picturing it as a bug monster. The specifics of the beast differed, but everyone agreed it was a bug monster.
"Not Shoutings. Hands." Mary insisted. The group obediently quieted down. "Attack? Four. Hide. Jack and Tiffany you say attack, and you say hide now. Choose. Can only do one."
"Hide then jump out and bite" Tiffany, A very primly dressed girl with hints of mud on her shoes, declared "It good plan". Toby, the scruffily dressed boy next to her, stopped picking his nose to nod in agreement.
"Okay. And talk? One. Steve. Okay party split and try to do different things. Most run to bushes. Steve have one talk turn then. Maby more. Need dice numbers, everyone Rollings time."
A cheer and a Bunch of varicoloured dice were thrown gently. Before being dived after by excited children who carefully picked up and put on their character papers for examination. Some dice were still missing after the first few attempts at throwing them, and the goal of reading the results had not been entirely understood.
"Okay, maffs time. Ready?" Excited nods ran around the group. Mary stood, and Millie rose along with her, entrusted with the official Ruler of Distance. They turned to the first person in the group on the left.
"Ben, you dwarf Stinkybeard Bathfoe the Third run to hide in bushes. Ready to tell me maffs?
"Six and four. StinkyBeard have afflet.. aff... runnings number of 5 so he go six and four and five far.
" Is how many?" Mary asked this was part of teaching, not just giving people answers.
Millie discreetly moved the ruler so it was easier to see and held her finger at the five. .
The crowd of preschooler held their breath while Ben counted six more to the eleven under his breath and then another four to the fifteen.
"Five-ten" he returned hopefully.
Mary looked stern for a second and then grinned "Yes Ben right. Fifteen" The group erupted into cheers the incredible maths display on Ben's part. "Millie see if Stinkybeard run into bushes."
Millie did so, walking over to the Batman action figure Ben had bought that was being Stinkybeard, and measured carefully to see if it was less than fifteen to the edge of the soft colored tile they where sitting on.
"Buthes" came the excited and Somewhat slurred reply owing to Millie speech difficulties. The group cheered again as the Batman figure was moved off the "road" and into the bushes "hidden" from the bug monster as Mary walked onto the next person to give them their turn…
It was an embarrassingly long time before the principal realized the teacher drinking in the lunchroom was supposed to be with a class and not just having a small pick me up between going back to the vicious little monsters they weren't paid enough to deal with. By then she had gone through so much alcohol that she was in no state to stand let alone walk and certainly not in a good enough state to teach a class. Why was she muttering about not only being sent back to but failing math kindergarten? Either way,not important right now, he needed to check on the children and see if he could arrange for a substitute, preferably before the little monsters injured themselves or worse destroyed valuable school property.
When he got to the class he was shocked to see how orderly the chaos was. One child stood at the front of the class with a pile of dice arranged into columns while the rest looked at them. As he approached, he could start to hear what she was saying.
… any more ways to make two dice say twelve? No. just two sixes. So getting twelve with two sixes dice hard like getting two because two dice sides good at adding up to seven but not good at adding up to twelve."
"or two" piped up another voice.
"Yes, or two. But twelve better for squashing bugs skills example. So if want to have best chance of succeeding skill check need skills value less than seven. Because happens most. Is called distribution curve."
A series of nods and the presenter looked up and caught sight of him.
"Hello Mister. Is Miss Daisy finished crying now and ready to learn maffs or can Mary keep showing Maffs tricks for Dragon game?"
"Err keep playing, children."
He carefully closed the door and sat on the floor outside the classroom. That was at least high school-level material that the kid was casually throwing around and the little monsters looked like they where LEARNING. Some of his teachers would have trouble presenting the material. If she was at that level now level as a kindergartener, who was he supposed to hire as her teacher to keep her engaged? Somebody from NASA?
Daisy had better not drunk all the alcohol. He was going to need some help to deal with this mess.
_____
When Ben got into the car that afternoon he excitedly told his Mother about his first public school day.
He talked about how a double heeded axe was good at squishing bugs and how two six sided dice liked being seven. How Mary was very clever and good at maffs and could even do the Count's laugh right. He had met a girl called Millie who was cool because even if she said words funny she knew how to do adding's and takings away on a ruler and how Daisy had run away crying when Mary had accidentally been mean to her with maffs and the principal had to get her back and given Daisy a juice to calm her down.
Ben took a little while to slow his excited babble long enough for his Mother to interject. She said It sounded like he was happy with Miss Mary as the teacher and would like to return tomorrow?
Ben instantly said yes, but Miss Daisy was the teacher who always drank that stinky juice like that babysitter who never came back, and Mary was a classmate whose daddy was Batman.
His Mother was suddenly far less enthusiastic about Ben returning to that school tomorrow. Ben was not happy as he had been looking forward to squashing more bugs tomorrow when playing dragon.
Why is having experts when educating a very intelligent three-year-old and her friends a good idea?
See above
So as implied
[X] Plan Goslingarten
Inspired by
[]Mary's First Day of Homeschooling: Your daughter is incredibly smart so she is going to be taught by you. It's not hard, you managed to tutor Brandon, how is teaching your little girl supposed to be any harder? DC (For Hilarity ???
After chaos.
That was a BAD idea you have a better one now.
-[X]Mary's First Day of School (Private): You are going to send Mary to a Private Preschool where she can be with other kids, but also so that she can be closer to home
