Luaudais, Melisse Tiane

[Melisse Tiane Luaudais]

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melisse tiane luaudais

* tell us a little about yourself.

Well just how do you all do? My name’s Melisse Tiane Luaudais, though most around these parts call me Lisse. I don’t mind that, it’s just one of those little nicknames you pick up over time. Makes things seem more personal, don’t you think? So what’s the story behind my name? It’s all down to my Mama and Daddy at the end of it all, it’s meant to be French- sounding at least. I’ve never had the time to look into the meanings, but I know it’s meant to remind me of home, of what you should never take your eyes off of. I’m not from Walten City you see. Throw me a mask and some Mardi Gras beads, I’m from New Orleans. The French Quarter if you want to be all exact, and home is modest to me, not some big fancy mansion that you see spotted along, but since whenever have I ever wanted to reach for the stars? Eyes on the prize Lisse, it’s why I have two jobs. Some people think I’m a bit crazy for doing it, but I’m a waitress at both a daytime café and a restaurant at night and sometimes I help with the kitchen work. I mean I am handy in a kitchen. Sometimes it pushes me, but in the end it’s all for chasing a dream, my dream and I’m not about to reach that just sitting all around on my little behind now. My Mama and Daddy had me just about twenty five years ago, and I just about reckon it sure as hell surprised them both that I just up and left to this Walten City without any little old clue. Back home some folks used to say I looked like some lady called Zoe Saldana, she’s an actress so they say and good for her. Maybe she worked for what she’s got, maybe she hasn’t, but I’ve heard she’s a beautiful person, I’d hope inside as well as out.

* what are some of your positive traits?

Oh don’t you just hate it when someone asks you o tell a little something about yourself? But I’m obliged to do so, so I guess I’ll give it a try, it can’t hurt, right? I’d guess from the word go I’d say my most obvious positive trait was my determination. I’ve been working pretty much for my whole life, even when I was younger. After school I’d do anything I could to get some money, mowing lawns, cleaning attics, there’s just that saying where every little helps, and I believe that. I am not one for quitting, no way. Once something’s been dreamt up you need to persevere and follow it through. It can break your heart when that said dream slips out of your little fingers but in the end you just got to pull yourself up, get yourself together and realise that a new day tomorrow means a new chance for chasing! Sometimes I think it’s all about which way the wind is blowing. You can work all you want, but maybe a little bit of luck just comes into play. Whether I’ve got that is another question all together, I haven’t had any so far, but here I am, still believing. Really it’s a godsend right? With two jobs like mine you’ve got to be hardy to put up with the shifts. It’s a mind over matter little deal and I got that down to a tee. I’ve been practicing ever since I was a little girl on my Daddy’s knee.

Now I would never, ever want to make myself sound like some kind of jumped up little madam, but I do think that I’m approachable. I wouldn’t say it was impressive, everyone talks to people, but some just do a better job than others. And me? Well I can just go about and enter a tirade of conversation even with a stranger. It comes from waitressing, I’ve always got an eye and an ear for those who look down in the dumps and with a little charisma and a smile is it so bad that I set out to turn those frowns upside down? If you ask me there’s isn’t anything better than talking to a stranger, because people are always different with fresh, new and exciting stories to tell. I don’t make a habit of just talking to every stranger, I’m not about to look at the world through sugar coated eyes, sometimes people just give of a nastier edge that anyone would stay away from, so I’m not ignorant to danger. I call it being a realist, viewing the world with logic and rationality, because at the end of the day, this is life as we know it, not some picture book come to life.

There isn’t a bone in my body that would ever laugh at another person, but sometimes I look at these people who get all up and flustered because their phones have no signal or that their internet has crashed and I can only laugh. People rely too much on what they know, like there, without a phone apparently it’s the end of the world. God forbid anyone go to drive and see anybody or even send a little thing called a letter. Unlike most I don’t lack resourcefulness; I’m pretty well equipped to get my way around hindrances, mostly anyway. I guess it’s because I approach situations calmly and can figure everything in front of me out. If you take a step back, most things look like a jigsaw, metaphorically of course, and putting them pieces together isn’t half as bad as you might think. Like one time when I was a little girl on Halloween, Mama couldn’t find her gumbo pot, so I just went ahead and carved out a pumpkin and used that in its place. You’d think it’s laughable, but somehow it worked, and for the better! That gumbo had never tasted as good!

* what are some things that you can improve on?

I think you’ll find most don’t think about their flaws, before you asked I’ve never even given that the light of day. But f you’re asking I guess I’ll have to delve. I guess I can agree on what others say. That I work way too hard, that I miss out of the world turning all around me since I’m just so focused on working and nothing else but that. I mean if you asked me I’d say I’d be fine that I work all the time, that I actually like doing it. But now that I think about that, it is actually kind of sad to think that everyone else goes around being social whilst I’m coming home to get ready for another shift, rather than just going out. You know hoe to make a woman feel satisfied with herself huh? So maybe I just don’t give myself enough time to be me, but honestly, I’ve always been working, I don’t know anything else. Push me into a frock and send me to a club and I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I just haven’t got time for dancing.

My Mama would say I just don’t make time for what’s truly important, that opening a restaurant isn’t the most important thing in the world. Of course I disagree; this is mine and my Daddy’s dream ever since I was young and in Old Orleans looking towards the Bayou. But she thinks what I need to go out and find some Prince Charming and rely on love. But the way I see it it’s all about priority right? What I want is to open up a restaurant in Walten City and actually keep it running this time, so that’s what I need as well, surely?

But sometimes, and this is a sometimes, I might work so hard but that doesn’t mean I’m gone and coming home all confident. It’s not just a social life I feel like I’m missing out on, but reality as well. I suppose that sounds similar, so let me just go explain what I mean. It’s like this. I wake up every morning with the thought that all this working will get me somewhere, but what if it doesn’t? The future isn’t set in stone, and I’m nowhere near being where I want to be right now, sometimes I wonder if everything I want is just being balanced to the point where everything’s just going to fall rather than rise in my favour.

Growing up my best friend in the entire world was always better off than me. But I didn’t care, because I never judged her. I’d love to say I’m not a judgemental person but really I am. Not to everyone, just to those who are spoiled and rude. Now I have ever believed in wishing on stars and being given everything you could ever want, but do you know how frustrating it is, to go out and meet someone who has what in my eyes is a dream and they shrug it all away because they have the money to do that? It’s selfish, and it’s not fair. I work and have worked so hard for everything and just seeing someone who could do all I’ve done in half the time? It’s not exactly going to go make me think that person lovely now is it?

* what's your biggest secret? we won't tell.

You better swear on your life. You have? Well okay then. I may just be a little bit in debt from back home, in that I’m paying back a loan. I’ll tell anyone I moved to Walten City because I needed a change, but the reality is it’s just cheaper than New Orleans. My dreams were way too big and I bought my restaurant with all I had but when it came to setting it up? I had no money, so I got a loan. I won’t lie, sometimes I had to shut off my phone or go without heating for a few weeks, I couldn’t tell my Mama I needed the help, it was my ‘dream’ after all. In the end I got out a loan and started using that to furnish the place, but then right across the street another restaurant opened, much fancier than my own, and I knew no matter how good my food, people in somewhere like crowded New Orleans were going to go for lights rather than a humble little side street restaurant. So I packed up, moved, and here I am in Walten, where everything’s a little cheaper and finally I can pay back that lone without forsaking anything in return. You got to promise me you won’t tell anyone though, okay? It’s not that I’m ashamed, I just think people around here might think I’m crazy for getting my dream, it failing, and now me wanting to do it all over again. But I refuse to think it won’t work out this time, I am never going to let this go.

* what does your heart want?

You really go all out when you ask your questions, huh? I don’t think any man would be able to put up with me, though that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want one too. I like men, though I’ve never really had any time for relationships, anything long lasting at least. When men figure out that I’m going to put work before my relationship, they tend to clam up and go all running away. See I don’t want that in a man. Sure, most girls would die for some Prince Charming who’d give them security and defend them at every turn, but I like doing things for me. There’s nothing better than the feeling that you’ve done something by yourself, and I just wouldn’t want someone who hovered around me, helping me when I don’t need that help. I’m just someone who values independence. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes a little help could be needed, but I’ve never needed it so far. So I want a man who would not only let me be me, but wants me to be me. Someone who would understand that I don’t need help, that I can do things on my own. And most importantly someone who could accept that I have my own dreams, and sometimes that’s going to come before a relationship. A man who appeals to me is humble without being showy and throwing around their weight, he should understand the situations of those worse off than him without being naive to others troubles and, most importantly, he should never be disrespectful. Because that just isn’t how I work.

* what do you do in your spare time?

Spare time? Now I know you have a sense of humour. The word spare completely evades me, if I’m not working, by nature I have to catch up on some sleep. Well that’s not entirely true, I do get some spare time and when I do I like to do the one thing I love. Cooking. Back in New Orleans it’s all I would ever do and here it’s the same. It’s good practice, for when I get my restaurant, knowing my dishes inside out. I cook religiously, in the top drawer in my kitchen there’s so many notes of paper where I’ve written out recipes it’s practically bursting. Reminds me, I need to sort that out. Some might call it slaving over a hot oven as some sort o chore, but there is nothing like seeing someone’s face just light up because of your food. That’s why I cook, for that one expression. Course I don’t eat everything myself, if I did no doubt I’d be piling on the pounds, so if you live anywhere near me, the chances are I’ve given you some of my batches of pastries or a few loaves of honey oak bread. I mean, what else am I meant to do with them?

* so what does your family life look like?

I grew up on the outskirts of New Orleans, we never exactly went without, but at school I was never the one with the brand new shoes or the latest gadget to show off. I guess you could say my parents instilled a sense of realism in me from a young age, that I don’t need a label to get me through. I never resented them, in fact I’m thankful, I knew people who got all they want and whilst I love my best friend, she can be so demanding! My Mama is a seamstress, one of the best, she had the opportunity to move to New York and help stitch together for fashion shows but then she was pregnant with me, I’m an only child you see. Her talent didn’t go to waste though; she began stitching for Mardis Gras, something she even does to this day. Then we have my Daddy. He’s not with us anymore, god rest his soul, but I like to think he’s still out there somewhere, watching me. Daddy wanted to be a chef, it’s him that’s always inspired me and when I was a little girl he’d come home and together we’d make food and he dreamed of his own restaurant where I’d force him to partner with me. We called it ‘Lisses Place’. Mama always said that I was my Daddy’s girl, since I dream even bigger then he did and picked up all his cooking know how with a few new things of my own. I loved and still love my Daddy; he always said I could do anything if I put in the work, something I still believe to this day. He was a police officer, though he’d always wanted to be a Chef and was saving so he could be, but then one day, well, he never came home. And I will never forget waking up to a knock of the door and crouching in the doorway as some man told my Mama my Daddy was dead. He was shot. I don’t know who did it. I wouldn’t want to know. But I will never forgive the man who took my Daddy away. I miss him so much. I’d give anything to have him back.

* what are the memorable moments in your life?

I’m not sure what you’d class as memorable, but I’ll go ahead and mention some things that just stick out. This is one that’s memorable for all the wrong reasons, though looking back it can’t help but make me smile. When I was a little girl, nine, somehow someone managed to convince me to go out into the Bayou. Now if you don’t know what that is, think swamp land and wilderness. Well, to cut a long story short I got lost, waited in one spot like they tell you in school and was attacked by a frog. Well I say attack, it was more the thing sitting beside me and just staring. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life; it even flicked its tongue out as though it wanted to kiss me. All it had to do was croak and I ran off screaming, was then found by my friend and I’ve been unnerved by the green things ever since. Of course that was when I was young and actually could just decide to do things such as going to the Bayou, then I found out about a little thing called money, and, well, that brings me to the next memory.

I was sixteen when I got my first officially paying job that didn’t include me cleaning houses and delivering papers. I don’t think I was ever a normal sixteen year old, I mean like the rest I got a job for the money, but I actually enjoyed my job. I worked at a little Café called ‘Cal’s’ just off the corer of one of the main streets in the Quarter so it was always busy. But I loved it when it was busy, so that I could breeze past every customer and just talk to them. Plus, once I’d been working there for a couple of months, the owner let me start making pastries to sell, which only bumped up my wage, which is never a bad thing. You know I kind of miss that environment, I’m still waitressing, but nowhere will compare to the atmosphere I felt at Cal’s. There was always Jazz music playing from a jukebox and he’d treat me like a little sister. Sure he might have laughed at my plans to open a restaurant, but he never ceased to make it up to me, and everyone was just so lovely. If there’s any job I miss, it’s that one.

At twenty I was on top of the world, one I was in a relationship but that’s completely overruled by the fact I got my restaurant. Well I did have it, and then as I’ve discussed earlier I lost it. But that one moment where I had the key in my hand has been the most magical moment in my entire life so far. It’s strange isn’t it, how holding what’s basically a key can make you feel all warm and glowing, but it did. The initial part of it, before the competition and finance, was amazing; the rush I got from phoning kitchen fitters and furnishing companies, just that feeling of living it out was indescribably. Plus I’ve never felt closer to my dad since he’d died; the restaurant wasn’t just my dream after all. Round that time I’d also been in a steady relationship. I think it worked so well because he was a musician, ordinarily I wouldn’t have gone for his type, but did have this lovely accent plus he worked a lot of hours meaning I could devote time for my restaurant. But sooner or later the inevitable came when I spent just too much time there, according to him at least, and I’d never put that away for a man and so I ended it. My mama wasn’t best pleased with that, and I found out from her that he’d been planning to propose. Surely the fact I’ve talked about my restaurant over him just shows what my answer would have been. Don’t get me wrong, I did love him, but I’m not going to sacrifice a part of myself to make another happy, that’s not me.

My final memory is so recent it basically a few months back. It’s that one moment where I got onto a plane to Walten City, and the moment where I stepped off. Initially it was nothing like the homeliness of New Orleans and honestly I was scared of just what I was doing here, but the journey that followed was just as exciting as being on a float at Mardis Gras. I’ve never seen myself as one who would seek out adventure, if you can call moving to another state adventure, but the adrenaline I got from just moving revealed that maybe I’m not so homely as I thought.

* so we've heard that you're a lot Princess Tiana

name: I found the name Mellissa when searching for names that had ‘princess’ as a meaning and when I found this one I knew I’d struck gold. It’s Greek, and the story apparently goes that the Princess of Crete was changed into a bee after she learned how to collect honey. I kind of thought it symbolised Tiana in the film thinking she could get her restaurant by kissing the Frog and being ‘punished’ in a sense by being turned into one herself. I chose a variant of Melissa, Melisse as I thought it fitted as a more French sounding name, fitting of the French Quarter of New Orleans. The surname I actually got off a Parish document I found online from New Orleans in the 1920’s, so it’s more fitting of the place than a meaning. And Tiane is just another way of the name Tiana, because I think it’s a beautiful name.
play by: It would have been easy to choose Tianas voice actress if someone wanted too, but I always envision Tiana to be a more classic beauty, which I think Zoe Salanda has down. Plus, it’s my own opinion that she suits better. I mean she still looks like she could walk down your road but she wouldn’t look out of place in that time period where the movie was set. In fact I’ve seen a fabulous photo shoot of her acting in that era as the theme and she looks phenomenal. Plus in real life she is so graceful, which I think Tiana is. If we’re talking features, maybe Zoe has lighter skin, but I think her cat like eyes are perfectly befitting of Tianas animated ones. Perhaps their looks aren’t one hundred percent matching, but then what play by will ever match a carton? Besides, I wanted to take in count things beyond just look, like I’ve listed, how they’d fit in the time of the movies setting and how they hold themselves etcetera.
positive traits: I think I’ve covered three positive points we see from Tiana in the movie, she’s determined, approachable and incredibly resourceful. I mean she was a frog, making swamp stew out of a pumpkin. Now I don’t know if a pumpkin could even substitute for a pot, but I figured it’d be a nice touch to throw some movie essence into Melisse, it just adds to the Disney personified charm, no? Obviously I’ve made her scarily determined the kind of girl who has a strong worth ethic and full heartedly believing you have to work for success, not that it’s handed to you on a plate. I’ve made her approachable and kind to most, as in the movie Tiana interacts effortlessly with her customers whilst waitressing, cleaning a child’s mouth and tugging smiles out of everyone without ever faltering due to shyness or rudeness. But I think she’s sensible, it’s not so much conveyed in the movie, but I’ve made Melisse pretty aware of a person’s character, and she knows who to avoid and who to welcome. Put Tiana in the modern setting and I’m sure she’s laugh out loud at that one girl who has a breakdown because she’s got no signal, girl knows how to get things done. Overall she’s so in control of herself.
negative traits: I saw it. It was only a second, but her face when she tells Charlotte not to wish on stars and then suddenly Charlottes dream came true just screamed confusion, which, to spice things up I’ve completely exploded to resentment towards those handed everything on a plate. It’s basically Tiana with Naveen, getting irritated at his lack of anything and driven to madness at the fact he views her as lowly and silly for working so hard. I suppose you could say she’s jealous of those with money, but it’s got moral basing due to just how hard she’s worked all her life. When in the movie they took away her restaurant, it’s here I’ve gotten Melisse’s uncertainty about her future, and whether she should try and fine love. Not to mention a life, she might be a fierce worker, but that’s her downfall as well. She’s got no time for herself, as one of Tiana’s friends said ‘I told you she wouldn’t come!’ is the story of Melisse’s social life.
orientation: Okay so some person might be clever and call her frgosexual because she fell in love with Naveen as a frog but that’s just silly. Even if he was a frog, he was male, so she’s straight. I mean did you see those beautifully animated expressions when she began to fall in love with Naveen? That was true romance.
turn ons: In the movie Tiana seemed far more concerned with getting her restaurant initially than even befriending the frog Naveen, so I’ve incorporated that into Melisse by having one of her turn ons as being attracted to men who understand the importance of her independence and space, she doesn’t want to be bound to a relationship where men expect her to devote herself to them. She’d value humility and respect, which in the movie Tiana scolded Naveen for not having due to his silver spoon upbringing.
turn offs: Likewise her turn offs is someone the exact opposite, who is clingy and would whine when she’s working rather than being with him. It’s the chauvinistic, showy men that are her turn off, since she can’t stand grand displays and ignorance in the opposite sex. But past that, oddly, she finds Prince Charmings a bit of a turn off too, since she doesn’t want a fairytale ending where she’s swept off her feet and is taken away to live in some palace never having to work for the rest of her life. She’s all for independence this girl, remember?
spare time: Well did you see Tiana actually doing anything other than working, but it’s clear that she enjoys food, so I’ve made that as a spare time, but, typically workaholic in nature, that same hobby she calls practice for when she opens her restaurant. You gain the sense that even in her spare time everything she does. Bless her.
family life: I think the family life reflects the film too well, mother being a seamstress and father wishing for the restaurant. But I made it so that her mother had a promising career in fashion but let go of it in favour of starting a family to highlight the moral message of the film that love is most important. I gathered in the movie Tiana’s father must have been an army man or something judging by the uniform in the picture she has of him, so I made him a law enforcement officer. In the movie he died, in Melisse’s case he got shot since in the movie I think it’s likely the same happened, though I can’t be certain.
memorable moments: I’ve tried to link memorable moments to the film as well, obviously. First memory at the bayou reflects the bayou from the film where they’re the sense of being lost plus the frog just staring at her is basically cementing the ‘I will never kiss a frog’ mentality Tiana in the film has. But here she’s just scared of them since that tongue flicked over to her. Ew. Memory 2 is basically her love for work, and the one place that felt like a home away from home. I put it there to cement her maturity above others her age would have had since Tiana struck me as being sensible and realistic about life, if not a little too over working. And the last memory is a mixture of getting her restaurant and being in a relationship. I know in the film Tiana eventually fell in love, but this isn’t Tiana, it’s Melisse, and work is her number one priority over everything, and will be as her character. It’s a strength and a flaw of hers. Plus if I ever want her to fall in love, it’ll provide some nice character development! And I included the Walten City arrival memory as a way to show that Tiana in the movie I don’t think ever thought she’d be adventurous and hopping around the bayou, but that she adapted and kind of liked it underneath it all. For Melisse purpose, it’s kind of a brief spark of the person she could become outside of work, someone a little adventurous maybe.

[JEN !!]

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