Melody Guthrie

This page is about the Phase 2 incarnation of the character. For other uses, see Guthrie Family (disambiguation).

PHASE 2

Melody Guthrie
Portrayed by Amelia Zadro
Codename:	Aero
Affiliations:	Generation X
Birthdate:	April 3, 2003
Journal:	xp_aero
Player:	Roy

”I ain’t hurt Sam, I promise you. Heck, I’m the best I’ve ever been in my life.”

A gifted aerokinetic and human glow stick, Mel is adjusting to her new life at the mansion and mutant powers after being run out of her home town.

Details

Character Journal: xp_aero

Real Name: Melody Grace Guthrie

Codename: Aero

Aliases: Mel

First Appearance: December 21, 2023

Date of Birth: April 3, 2003

Place of Birth: Cumberland County, Kentucky, USA

Citizenship: American

Relatives: Guthrie Family: Lucinda Guthrie (mother), Thomas Guthrie (father, deceased), Sam (older brother), Paige (older sister), Jay (older brother), Elizabeth (younger sister), Joelle (younger sister), Jebediah (younger brother), Lewis (younger brother), Cissie (younger sister)

Education: High school diploma

Relationship Status: Single

Occupation: Assistant to Hope Abbott, former florist, retail employee, dog walker, delivery person, barista, and camp counselor

Team Affiliation: TBD

Biography

Childhood

A child of the Guthrie family, Mel spent much of her early childhood learning to be self-sufficient. Even when her father Thomas was alive there was not much time for her as a middle child of nine siblings. Mel often went to her older siblings for help or attention instead of her parents. She had a tendency to sleepwalk and could often be found wandering the halls of the Guthrie farmhouse at night. After her father’s death this increased dramatically and a lock had to be placed on her door at night after she managed to sleepwalk out of the house and was found in the woods. M-day had little effect on her as anti-mutant sentiment was already strong in the area and she was still young when it happened. Her church insisted that mutantkind was against God and what had transpired on M-day was punishment.

Growing up she felt closest to her older brother Jay and adopted a habit for music as a way to spend time with him. She wasn’t the best student in school, but had a talent for writing in her English classes. Mel was a good runner and on the cross country and track teams. In school she was very social and was known to always have a boy she was seeing. However, Mel never had much luck in love. After graduating high school, she chose not to attend college and instead got a job in town working retail. When Jay revealed his abilities and Paige followed suit, Mel secretly wanted mutant abilities of her own. A few weeks later her wish would be granted.

Activation of X-Gene

With Jay now off at the mansion with Paige and Sam, Mel felt she had to step up more as the oldest child still at home. After a particularly bad storm, she went up on the barn roof to fix a leak. As she was repairing the shingles her foot slipped and she would have fallen to her death had her powers not manifested at that moment. She was able to float down unharmed, and was now the fourth Guthrie child to gain mutant abilities.

It was hard being manifested in Cumberland, but Mel didn't want to leave her family so soon after everyone else had left. She agreed to visit her siblings at the mansion for a long weekend, and had a great time meeting people and shopping. The high from her trip was short-lived as about two weeks later Mel was attacked by the Cabots at a bonfire. After a physical altercation, she acidentally revealed her mutant powers in an attempt to break free. This led to a gunshot filled chase through the woods where Mel barely escaped with her life.

Early Days at the Mansion

After being unceremoniously run out of town, Mel's siblings came and took her back with them to the mansion. Her first month or so was rough and angsty, filled with guilt from leaving and anxiety over what happened. One of her childhood quirks of sleepwalking returned, this time with the added creepy-factor of being able to float around. All this didn't stop her from being social though - Mel met a lot of people in her early time. One of these "friends" was Warren, who also happened to be both her brothers' boss. In an all-advised affair, Mel slept with him and later faced the blowback from her siblings. This caused Sam to confess much of his past to her and drew them closer together.

Hope Abbott really helped Mel find her footing. After bouncing around careers for a while, she was able to get a job at a florist under Hope's reccomendation. But not every person at the mansion was friendly. Her and Jono developed an antagonistic relationship after a few misunderstandings. This was only furthered when she found out he liked Paige, as Mel didn't think the musician was good enough for her sister.

Mel's first taste of danger at the mansion came from TILT, where she and many of her peers were kidnapped and thrust into life-and-death video game simulations by Arcade. She found herself paired up with Madin battling Nintendo characters in Super Smash Bros. This was her first brush with the perils of living at the mansion, and Mel became determined to hone her mutant talents and combative prowess. She began training with polearms under the tutelage of Namor soon after.

The flier continued to be friendly with many of her fellow mutants, and was driven closer to the Gen X group after another kidnapping incident. A group hike went awry in Something Slender's (Got To Give). Mel ended up in a nighmare world, being hunted down by her siblings. Only after waking up was she able to help the rest of her friends and escape. She ended up getting a tattoo behind her ear almost directly after the incident.

There is no rest for the Guthrie clan as an incident back home in Kentucky called all four back. Mel's younger sister Joelle had run off with a human supremacist cult and the four eldest, along with members of XFi, infiltrated the mountain base to bring her home. This was a deeply emotional time for all involved, as many traumas and deep resentments reared their heads. While Mel was the least scarred of her siblings, it was still tough.

Still, after a few months of various events, she persisted in her training and other pursuits once returned to the mansion. A newfound purpose revealed itself - Mel wanted to help people. This only hardened when she witnessed an overdose in the District X nightclub, Silver. While Xfi went on the case after things started to look suspicious, Melody did her own detective work and ended up swiping a phone from someone dealing the same drugs, helping to unravel the scheme behind them. After this she began to explore different avenues where she could make her goals reality at the mansion, trialing at a few different teams to find a good fit.

While all seemed well on the surface, Mel was trending on an downward emotional spiral. Her blossoming relationship with Madin imploded after self-sabotage on both ends at Thanksgiving of 2024. Soon after at Christmas of that year, she was fired from her job for being unreliable due to the many incidents since her time at the mansion. This was the last straw of many, and she told Sam that she was going to stay in Cumberland for the forseeable future to get her head on straight.

New Beginnings (Again)

A month on the Guthrie farm can do a lot of things to a person, and thankfully for Mel it just managed to get her head on straight. Just as her mother was not so subtly hinting she should head back to New York, Hope Abbott contacted her once again wanting to discuss a proposal in person.

Physical Characteristics

Mel is on the shorter side for her family and lean, with a bit of the awkward lankiness from her childhood lingering. She is a white woman with blue eyes, brown hair, and sparse freckles.

Height: 5’9”

General Build: Lean

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Brown

Other Features: Brown sectoral heterochromia in left eye, freckles

Powers

Mel’s main power is aerokinesis, which is what she derives her codename “Aero” from. She is able to fly and emits a yellow-gold light when using her powers. She naturally produces luciferin particles which rest on her skin. They are disturbed whenever she utilizes her aerokinesis, creating the glowing aura. The higher or faster she goes, the more she has to use her aerokinesis, resulting in a more intense light. She has limited control over speed and maneuverability. She can fly at up to 25 mph and up to 7,000 feet above the ground. Mel can only sustain flight for up to an hour and flying for too long can result in fatigue and in extreme cases may cause her to drop out of the sky unexpectedly as her powers short out. Overuse of her powers causes insomnia and increases her sleepwalking episodes.

Equipment

N/A

Trivia

Mel’s dream car is a 1955 Chevrolet 150 in Glacier Blue. She can yodel.

External Links

xp_communication posts

xp_journal posts

xp_logs posts

xp_generation-x

Plots

2024

TILT

Something Slender's (Got To Give)

Made You Feel Second Best

Case File: Feel the Rush

Meta

Player: Roy

Player Icon Base: Amelia Zadro

Meta Trivia

I love D-list characters and Mel is just that coming in at 17 comic appearances! She’s great, I love her vibes, and I’m excited to expand upon the canon crumbs in the game.