Melody Lake (from War of Joy)

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Melody Lake (65)

Project: Nighttime soap (War of Joy)

Known as: No nicknames

Real name: Melody Jane Lake

Group affiliation: Lake family, Dulac

Physical description: Melody is a young (recent college grad), attractive woman with long, straight red hair. She has striking blue eyes and a modern fashion sense.

Personality: Melody is a bit of a contradiction. She is very strong on social issues including feminism. She is among the first to stand up for an underdog, lead a protest march, or start a writing campaign. She came back to Dulac not to just support the family business but also because she believes that toys influence children and she wants more progressive designs.

On the other hand, when it comes to competing, she tends to exploit every advantage she can find. She believes the world is fundamentally unfair (especially to women – and of course she is right). As a result, she is not above some unfair behavior to balance the scales. For example, she is currently considering whether seducing Clive Cooper might not give Dulac an advantage it needs.

History: Melody is Joy and Thomas’ oldest child. Unlike the prior generation, this did not mean that Melody was targeted from birth to one day run the company. On the contrary, Joy wanted to give Melody a choice the she (Joy) felt like she was never given. Thomas was hoping that he might have a child with his artistic interests. Melody managed to subvert expectations – something she made a life of.

Melody always had a strong sense of justice and felt the world was unfair (it is possible the Lake’s victimization by the Coopers contributed to this). This made her stand up for the underdog and do many noble acts even as a youngster. Still, she favored the more aggressive side of activism and was a firebrand.

Her parents anticipated she would go into politics or become a full-time activist. She surprised them both by focusing on business and applying for a job at Dulac. Joy tried to talk her out of it (projecting her discomfort at being forced into the family business) but ultimately hired her as the best applicant (at the insistence of her second). Thomas was a bit disappointed that she didn’t show an artistic bend but was mollified a bit that she ended up heading the design department.

Melody presents quite a challenge for Joy. Left unchecked, Melody would aim for projects aligned with all issues: reusable materials, favorable labor conditions, designs with positive images for disadvantaged groups, boycotting of stores who have taken the wrong political stance, etc. Joy admires and agrees with Melody’s views, but also feels a little moderation is acceptable if it favors keeping the doors of Dulac open (Joy wants to move the ball; Melody wants it in the end zone yesterday). This causes some direct conflict with Melody (making Joy take positions she doesn’t completely agree with) and internal conflict for Joy.

As Melody’s passions and openness to “balance the scales” can sometime get the better of her, she is also engaging in some corporate espionage against Spring Toys – and may be being used in a similar way unbeknownst to her.

Some secrets and points of drama we may or may not encounter:

• She may end up under investigation for cheating at her university.
• Melody will ruin a business relationship with a key retailer who owners have a different political stance from her – jeopardizing Dulac’s future.
• There may be a fire at a key Spring Toys location – and Melody will be a prime suspect.
• She will have a dangerous flirtation with Clive. She will be deceptive and manipulative, feeling she is just using Clive’s unfair tactics against him. Clive will be surprisingly vulnerable to this, thanks to his unspoken and projected feelings for Joy.

Role in the narrative: Principle vs. pragmatism is something I ponder a great deal. I admire the purely principled (who inspire and drive change) but also people who take a pragmatic approach (who are quieter change agents). Really, I’m trying to show how two good people can still end up in conflict with one another. I also gave Melody a dark side, as this is a drama and Joy is pretty close to being too heroic already.

Abilities: Melody is smart, passionate, and an expert manipulator. She did inherit her father’s artistic side (she is quite the drawer), but hides this from everyone.

Inspirations: It wasn’t on purpose, but the name is pretty close to Melody Pond/River Song from Dr. Who. I was looking for a character that was a bit of a mix of our two extremes (Clive and Joy). I also admire change agents, but some personalities walk a dangerous path when their righteous fury can become merely fury (plus, she might be a little boring for a soap if she were merely heroic). So, my stab at making something of a contradiction.