#breadee

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✨ Breadee's Origins ✨

-Born to a big family and raised in a close-knit village in Green Greens, Breadee was always considered a sweet boy, friendly and joyful if a bit... absentminded. He had a tendency to get distracted or startled easily, always wandering off for one reason or another (much to his family’s dismay). In fact, he got his name at the tender age of two, when he’d wandered away from his parent’s watchful eye and ended up taking a nap inside the hollowed-out crust of a bread bowl on their kitchen counter.

-In his youth, merchant caravans would pass through the village every other week, setting up stalls and trading goods from all across the land, something that always delighted Breadee to no end. One weekend, his wandering eye snagged on one wagon in particular, draped in bright colors and fancy lighting with the words “The Kawasaki Special” written along the side, set up like a cross between a mobile stage and a fancy kitchen. There, sitting on his mother’s lap in the audience that gathered, he saw his very first cooking show, watching slack-jawed and starry-eyed as the chef on stage prepared a series of meals with all the spectacle of a theater performer, slicing and dicing, mixing and mincing, leaving the square smelling absolutely decedent for hours after. He remembers chewing on a cookie he’d been given after the show, his body alight with an oncoming sugar rush and his eyes sparkling with wonder as the chef shook hands with folks in the crowd. "Who knows, little fella," he'd told little Breadee with an award-winning smile. "If you play your cards right, you could be a great chef, too, one day."

-From that day on, Breadee’s interest in food and cooking skyrocketed, becoming one of the few subjects that could hold to his notoriously short attention span. He read through all of the family’s old cookbooks and watched his mother - who'd used to work in food service - avidly when she cooked, listening to her ramble on about flavor profiles, cook times, the different between a pinch of salt and a dash of salt, and so much more. He learned how to properly wash and peel veggies, how to measure out dry and liquid ingredients, and what sides paired well with which dishes, becoming a regular sight in the family kitchen by the time he’d reached his teen years. Desserts quickly became his favorite things to make, especially cupcakes.

-Other than his culinary obsession, the rest of Breadee’s youth passed by rather uneventfully. He finished his homeschooling, helped out around the house, and grew into a fine young man, soft-spoken and caring if a bit scatterbrained (even bordering on oblivious depending on who you asked). He also developed a love of dad jokes somewhere down the line, much to the delight of his own father and the irritation of his siblings.

-One day in his adulthood, Breadee heard through the grapevine that a certain renowned chef had set up shop over in Peanut Plains and - upon checking the notice board in the town square - was currently looking for an apprentice. Not one to waste such a serendipitous opportunity (to the point of perhaps not thinking it all the way through), he grabbed his scooter - a reliable old thing he's had since he was a kid - and hightailed it to the neighboring region in record time... which was still a good hour or so away from Green Greens. He found himself standing before a small but lavish little homestead just before sundown, knocking on the door incessantly until a grouchy-faced old man in an impeccable apron and chef's hat finally answered. Standing before the figure who had inspired him as a boy, Breadee tried to contain his excitement, explaining his reason for being there and practically begging for the apprentice position.

-At first, the old chef was not impressed, implying that he'd had "plenty of hopefuls" approach him lately, many of "considerable culinary talent" - what made Breadee so special that the great Kawasaki should even spare him the time of day? Breadee hesitated a little under the man's snappish tone - he'd been so nice all those years ago - but he quickly shook it off, listing off his various self-taught skills, his years of practice in the kitchen, his ability to work under pressure and to improvise on the fly, even offering a sample of his own baking - a soft-baked peanut butter cookie - to prove his worth. The chef who’d changed his life remained skeptical, clearly ready to go on with his day and send the desperate young man home empty-handed... but a single begrudging bite melted his stern features into something almost surprised. Then, after a long, nerve-wracking pause, the chef sighed, deciding - to Breadee's immeasurable joy - to give the young baker a chance (at a more reasonable hour, anyway).

-Working under Chef Kawasaki Sr. was far from the glamorous profession he’d always imagined - the man himself being far less amicable than his showbiz persona had suggested - but it was still the most fulfilling year-and-a-half of Breadee’s life. He learned plenty under his mentor’s guidance, from the secrets of the spiciest curry to the exact taste of umami, even earning the title of Baker Dee in the process (though most folks still just called him Breadee). There were days where the grueling criticism or demanding instruction weighed heavy on his gentle heart, making him question his skills enough to want to put his hat away for good... but he'd always bounce back, his love for the craft more than enough to keep his enthusiasm high and his optimism bright. It certainly helped that most of his hard work was rewarded time and again with approving hums and almost-smiles. (He’d yet to land a joke with the ornery old chef, though, but that was fine. Can't win 'em all, as they say.)

-Towards the end of his apprenticeship, Breadee was instructed by his old mentor to "set out on a journey of discovery" in order to “expand your knowledge and perfect your skills in the culinary arts." It wouldn't occur to him until much, much later (and only after someone else pointed it out for him) that this miiight’ve just been a thinly-veiled attempt by Chef Kawasaki to get the annoyingly-chipper Waddle Dee out of his hair once and for all. At the time, though, all Breadee could think of was how excited he was to begin this new quest and how proud his mentor would be once he returned as a wiser, more competent chef-in-the-making. So, packing his bag and dropping a hasty note on the kitchen table, Breadee stepped outside, picked a direction, and started walking. Again, it wouldn't occur to him until much later that he probably should've asked where he was supposed to be going. At the very least, he should've thought to bring a map.

-It wasn’t a long trek - only a couple weeks at best - but it sure felt like one to poor Breadee, filled with all kinds of distractions and wrong turns and narrowly-avoided hazards across a good portion of what would someday be called Dream Land. His wanderings took him over rivers and up mountains and even above the clouds, where winding vines from overhead led him to the floating islands of Floralia and, eventually, the candy-coated landscape of Lollipop Land. He spent a good bit of time there, marveling at the naturally-occurring desserts and fields of sugary flora... before he stumbled into a licorice bramble and had to be rescued by a passing Waddle Dee with cute glasses and vines tattooed on her hands. They talked for a while as she led him back to civilization. She was the first one after his own father who actually laughed at his jokes, and her smile made his heart skip a beat. By the time his worried family arrived to bring him home, he and Medee had become fast friends, trading addresses and promising to keep in touch.

-Sending letters was nice for a little while... but hearing stories of his new friend’s life up in the clouds - combined with his recent and rather thrilling excursion out into the wider world - only made Breadee’s feet even more restless. He started wandering again, this time on purpose (usually), scaling the cliffs and cloudy ridges back up to the vine-lined edge of the Floralian islands, where he’d wave to petal-headed strangers and stroll through the verdant trails until, inevitably, he’d stumble into Medee. She’d always tease him for "getting lost again," and he’d apologize and crack a joke that would make her roll her eyes and smile. Then they’d walk together and chat until the sun went down, where she’d tell him all about the nature of pop flowers and the movement of the stars, and he’d share his dreams of opening a patisserie of his own someday. Over the years, he’d even start bringing gifts for her - little bags of checkered cookies or a big slice of apple pie (her favorite) or pretty-smelling flowers pressed between the pages of a book. In return, she’d given him homemade teabags, ointment for his mother’s joint pain, and an enamel pin in the shape of a cupcake that he still wears on his hat to this day.

-One cloudless night a handful of months later, where he'd brought Medee down to visit his family and see the sights around Green Greens, she’d taken his hand, halting whatever it was he'd been rambling about to her, fixed him with her starry, green-touched eyes, and kissed him, gigging at his starstruck expression and cracking a joke so bad he thought he might turn to stardust right on the spot. He's rather thankful that he didn't.

-Breadee didn’t fully understand the situation in Floralia’s upper echelon (he never was one for politics, least of all those of flower- and bug-folk who live on islands in the sky), but he could hear the worry growing in Medee’s voice with each day that passed, especially after he'd gone with her to see that fortune-telling fellow she apparently knew. He hadn't been able to make heads or tails of what the cloth-draped, incense-smelling figure told them, but Medee seemed to, and, when she later confided in him her concerns and fears for her family... well, how could he not do everything he could to help?

-They’d talked about moving in together before, pretty much since they'd started dating. Granted, it had originally been just about her moving in with him, close to his family but with enough space just for themselves... But now, thanks to the Floralia situation, that plan needed quite a bit of reshuffling. The did return to the village down on Popstar, and they did move in together close to Breadee's family... but so did much of Medee's family as well, making their close-knit little neighborhood even closer and more crowded (not to mention the rough transition some of them had going from high altitudes to low plains). Breadee personally loved the new additions to him home, getting to know all his new neighbors and future in-laws with his usual easy affability, finding much joy in entertaining the children. Though he could tell Medee missed her old home, the few relatives who'd stubbornly stayed behind, Breadee did his best to comfort her, to make their new life a happy one, to ensure she always had something to smile about (even if it was only a small one).

-In time, they married, had children of their own, built a little bakery and apothecary with the village’s help, and settled into the peaceful, uneventful rhythm that characterized the Popstar lifestyle.

✨ Breadee Fun Facts ✨

-Breadee’s cooking is legendary around the village, the highlight of potlucks and holidays and the welcoming of new neighbors. Bebebe and her son might be his most regular customers.

-Breadee doesn’t wander as much as he used to, kept busy with his business and a whole house of rambunctious children to take care of... but it doesn’t stop his attention from drifting on occasion, be it towards a bumblebee buzzing out his window or a pleasant tune on the radio or the surprise clap of thunder overhead. It’s usually up to his wife (or patient Eva if she's nearby) to bring him back to the present.

-Breadee jokes that he might’ve been born to be a father, taking to each new addition to the family with the utmost joy and affection in his heart. He can barely keep track of all the Dad Things™ he's accumulated over the years (mugs, hats, ties, fishing rods, fancy spatulas, you name it). He admits that it hasn't exactly been a cakewalk, rearing so many, and he certainly doesn’t mind passing them off to their relatives or neighbors when he and Medee need a break... but, for someone like Breadee, who's lived amidst the chaos of a big, extended family for pretty much all his life, there's nothing that warms his heart more than seeing all his little 'Dees play and run and laugh in this little haven they'e build for themselves. (Now, if only he could get Medee to see it that way...)

-Though fond of all his kids, his middlemost boy, Para, tends to stand out in his mind. Perhaps because he is a little microcosm of both his parents, full of big words and bigger worries and the light of the stars above reflecting in his glasses. Or maybe because he's friends with a group of kids notorious for their penchant for trouble. Either way, he's a good kid, kind and smart just like his mama. Breadee can already tell that boy's going to do great things one day, he can just tell.

-Breadee likes to “speculate” about what happened to Medee during her pilgrimage in the jungle, telling their children wild stories about how his wife found an ancient relic in an old ruin or swam through a magical swamp on a single breath or even came face to face with a deity of nature who gave her its blessing. She has about as much patience for these stories as she does for his jokes (which can be plenty or none at all depending on her mood, though this has yet to stop him either way).

✨ Medee's Origins ✨

-Born in the lush, rolling hills of Fine Fields way up in Floralia, she grew up surrounded by nature. She positively lived for the outdoors, going on hikes or picking herbs with her extended family of aunties and cousins, or peering into the gardens of her neighbors, the People of the Sky. The latter in particular captivated the young Waddle Dee, who would spend hours watching them tend to their flowers with magic that sparkled like starlight and smelled of spring rain and freshly-turned earth, wishing she could do such miraculous things, too.

-Tragedy struck when, during her teen years, a sudden sickness passed through her home and claimed one of her grandmothers, a family matriarch beloved by all, who'd taught the young Waddle Dee so much about life, nature, and the magic of the cosmos. The unexpected loss devastated her, struck her with a grief so vast it threatened to hollow her out and leave her numb. She found herself shuffling listlessly through her daily routines, past neighbors and still-living relatives, all quiet and uncharacteristically somber with collective mourning.

-Feeling lost, bitter, and maybe a little desperate, she consulted a local fortune-teller for advice, receiving some vague (and, frankly, overpriced) platitudes about life and death and finding purpose. At first, she was disappointed, this newfound grief making her more skeptical, more pessimistic, than she'd been as a child taken in by crystal balls and dramatic prognostications. As she spent the next week chewing her fortune over, however, consulting star charts and her grandmother's old divination books (which, her aunts had told her from birth, she was never to tell anyone about)... the hidden wisdom behind those unhelpful words began to seep through. It left her surprised, contemplative, exhilarated to the point of terror, and she eventually came to a rather abrupt yet determined decision.

-When her family awoke the next morning, they found her bed empty and her pack missing, with a note on the table explaining simply that she was “going to commune with nature” and would return “in good time.”

-The search for the missing Waddle Dee had been frantic but fruitless, and the family had nearly given up hope as the weeks turned to months. Then, one autumn morning nearly three months later, she returned, quietly and without fanfare, stepping through the door like she'd just returned from a grocery run... save for the way she swayed on her feet, her face filthy and fur mussed with leaves and twigs, her eyes heavy with exhaustion and now carrying a curious hint of green where before there had only been brown.

-She collapsed into the arms of her shocked and eternally-relieved family, given a hot bath and a warm meal and a variety of homemade ointments rubbed into the scrapes and cuts that littered her. She listened patiently, once lucidity returned to her, as her relatives bombarded her with all kinds of questions, some irritated at her sudden departure, some worried about her state of mind. She answered them all calmly and truthfully, though she remained curiously vague on the details. Per the fortune-teller’s “direction,” she explained, she'd packed a bag and travelled up to the island of Wild World, where she’d lost herself in the dense jungles and damp caverns, searching for something, anything, that might give her "purpose." And, eventually, she’d found it. When asked - after a pregnant pause - what she'd found exactly, she just smiled serenely, the new green in her eyes vivid and warm, and shook her head. “That," she told them, "is between me and the stars.”

-Once she recovered from her spiritual sojourn, she wasted no time in pursuing this newfound purpose of hers, which - she would go on to explain more plainly - was to become a healer. One who works with "the earth itself" to facilitate growth and recovery, who studies disease and bodily affliction alongside natural remedies so that she may "better keep them at bay." Her family - much versed in the healing and apothecary arts themselves - were pleased to hear her plans and did what they could to support her... though, they could not afford to send her for more formal training off-world. She assured them that she didn't mind, honestly couldn't imagine herself in working in the sterile, metallic confines of a modern medical facility. "Besides," she'd add with a bittersweet grin, "I'm well accustomed to figuring things out on my own. Grandmother taught me well."

-So life resumed in earnest for this driven, divinely-inspired Waddle Dee. She'd already learned so much from her aunts in her youth - how to prepare reagents and grind powders and mix salves for everything from paper cuts to poison oak - and consulted them often for advice and assistance. On her own, she read everything she could on her new field of study - herbalism, biology, natural medicine, even a bit of mindfulness and cosmic theology. She studied nature with a more critical eye and learned how to identify all kinds of plants and fungi both native and exotic, developing a particular fascination with the more... carnivorous ones. She even performed triage and field dressing on her old toys as practice for the real thing. By the time she reached adulthood, she'd earned a reputation as a skilled doctor and apothecary, even finding a name that suited her at last: Medicine Waddle Dee, or, simply, Medee.

-Beyond just practical knowledge and skill, Medee also sought other avenues in the ways of healing, specifically those known to the People in the Sky. It was quite the challenge learning magic from scratch, without even a Copy Ability to ease her into it... but Medee tackled it with the same patient determination as her other passions, reading, observing, and experimenting until the first feeble sparks of green twinkled at her fingertips. She never quite got the hang of the more complex spells, such as the ones for removing disease or mending broken bones, but she could manage those areas easily enough with potions and bandages. And, anyway, just mastering a handful of small spells - ones that allowed her to cool fevers, soothe chronic pain, and even close small wounds with just a touch - filled Medee with such an immense sense of pride and spiritual fulfillment.

-One day, on a small research excursion through the candy landscapes of Lollipop Land, Medee happened upon a Waddle Dee who’d gotten himself stuck in a licorice bush. After freeing the poor man from his sticky predicament, she learned his name was Breadee, and he was a baker’s apprentice from down in Green Greens. When asked what he was doing all the way up in Floralia, he proudly explained that he was on a “journey of discovery” - he said with disproportionate enthusiasm - traveling the land in search of "culinary knowledge" and "secret delicacies" and other nonsensical-sounding things that made Medee raise a quizzical eyebrow... except he'd gotten rather distracted along the way, took a few wrong turns, and, well, here he was, with his "head in the clouds," as it were. Medee smiled despite herself, both baffled and amused by this man's utterly blasé outlook for his strange circumstances. Eventually, she offered to lead him back to Fine Fields so he could call his people and return home safely, for which he was very grateful.

-Along the way, they got to chatting, finding common ground in talk of spices and mushrooms, even if they both had very different uses for each. When the young man cracked a joke or three, they were so hammy and groan-inducing that Medee couldn’t help but giggle. He didn't strike her as the brightest fellow, or the most observant, but he seemed sweet enough, charming in a clumsy sort of way, and he treated everyone he met with kindness and curiosity. There was something special about him, she found herself thinking, a brightness in his Soul that - though odd - seemed to resonate with her own. She had a feeling, seeing him off later that day, that this wouldn’t be the last time they crossed paths.

-In the years to come, Breadee would “get lost” on the various islands of Floralia several more times (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not), and Medee would find him without fail each time. Sometimes with the help of her grandmother's old tarot, sometimes purely by chance, but always a delight either way. She showed him around her home island or brought him along on trips to neighboring ones (though, she purposefully steered clear of Wild World for reasons she chose not to divulge). She introduced him to her aunties, who seemed to intimidate him at first, then overwhelm him with all their matronly cooing and fussing that Medee had known all her life. Even her plants took a shine to him after a while.

-It was a subtle thing, her falling for him. A small quickening of her heart with each freckled smile or awful joke or soft brush of his hand in hers. She would've been be hard-pressed to call him a... perfect match, as a partner or even as a friend, and she consulted the stars often in those early days just to be absolutely sure she wasn’t making a mistake in pursuing him... Still, she knew herself, knew her feelings, and she knew that she did genuinely care about this odd, kind, flour-dusted man who'd wandered blithely into her life. So, as she'd always done, she bore the rough patches with patience, clinging to those omens of joy and love they shared together, hinted at in the twinkling patterns dotting the night sky.

-Then, on the night of a waxing moon, when he’d taken her on her first trip down to the planet’s surface, when she'd seen the way the starlight danced in his gentle brown eyes, she made yet another impulsive decision and kissed him. She still thinks about his moon-faced shock, his freckled cheeks flushed dark and red, the laughter they shared as she made her best attempt at a joke cornier than his under that twinkling sky, so far from home...

-They were just starting to consider living together when news arrived from Royal Road of the newly-forged alliance between the People of the Sky and the insect tribe who’d long lived alongside them. There was much discussion and debate among their neighbors, a sense of curiosity mingling with nervous suspicion as the new arachnid rulers were crowned. Medee - sensing an ill-omen on the air - did what she always does in times of uncertainty and got her fortune read, bringing her partner along to steady her nerves. It was, as before, vague and esoteric and full of mystical nonsense... but the message that Medee gleaned from between those words seemed to spell out disaster, aligned so strongly with that she felt and what she'd seen in the stars and the cards that she nearly wept. It is the first of exactly three times in her life that her intuition proved genuinely premonitory.

-Convincing her family to move was no small feat. Some of them saw the writing on the wall as she did, others didn't know what to make of it. Even as the news grew increasingly ominous - the spiders gaining a more prominent foothold in their society, enacting new laws that began to restrict and divide - a handful of her relatives simply refused to budge, attached to the overgrown homestead that had belonged to generations of grandmothers and aunties and sisters long before them. "This is our home," one of Medee's more stubborn aunties had said, rubbing a soothing circle into the weeping girl's palm. "We will not tear out the roots we've planted here." It saddened her to know that only a few loved ones would be coming with her, shamed her to flee rather than stand firm like her neighbors chose to do... but the dread in her gut - the palpable weight of disaster on the horizon - was too much for even Medee's resilience to bear.

-The move down to Green Greens was tricky, cumbersome with so many people and their belongings making their way down to terra firma from high above the cloud line. The locals of Breadee's village were warm and welcoming, more than eager to help everyone get settled in, even building them a little house of their own... one that quickly became far more crowded than Medee would have liked. As much as she adored the verdant landscape out her new windows, taken in the natural beauty and abundance and magic of his land... she does still cast her eyes up from time to time, checking the lines between the stars, praying for the safety of those she left behind...

✨ Medee Fun Facts ✨

-Medee is typically viewed as a calm and intelligent presence, often sought out by those in need of a word of wisdom (maybe a tarot reading if she’s feeling generous). She’s one of the few folks in the village who gets on well with stoic Jojojo, and not just for his interest in plant life. That said, once the doctor hat goes on, she goes into full focus mode, no-nonsense and firm with her directions, almost scarily so. Her bedside manner ranges from stiff kindness to cold honesty depending on the affliction - and the patient - she’s treating. Very few have seen her lose her temper, but the occasional icy simmer behind her glasses has been enough to wither even the most petulant of souls.

-Medee reestablished her apothecary business alongside the grand opening of her husband’s beloved bakery, permanently gracing their side of town with the scents of baked bread or mint leaf depending on which way the wind blows. The greenhouse she keeps behind the building is absolutely packed with all manner of local and exotic flora - everything from the medicinal to the decorative, as well as some of... let's say "questionable" legality. Because of this, she handles all the plant care largely on her own (though will occasionally allow help from Jo) and insists that no one enter the greenhouse without her permission. Despite her many, many warnings, she's still had to pull many an overcurious child or delinquent teenager (not all of whom were Bow) out of the clutches of a reaching vine or a thorny maw.

-Motherhood has been... a very, very mixed bag for Medee. She'd had no particular desire for it, either in her youth or after meeting Breadee. Her affection she felt for him was just that - for him - and didn't seem to extend beyond that. When the cards began to suggest her path would be going in such a direction... well, she's never been one to question the wisdom of her beloved stars, but this time... it was hard not to feel conflicted. Is this truly my future, she'd wonder, all my ambitions set aside, my potential reduced to fit the family mold, forced into the shape of caregiver and housewife? Despite her... misgivings, she came to understand that family was deeply important to her sweet Breadee, and seeing his eyes fill with joyful tears as he held their first child... well, perhaps she could simply learn to live with it. That's just a part of life, is it not? A little discomfort, uncertainty.

-And, truly, it hasn't been all bad, growing their little family one precious little wanya at a time. They've blessed her with so many small moments of joy and affection - first words, stumbling steps, burbling laughter, scribbled drawings to paper the walls, little hands catching fireflies to show mama and dada, the glimpses of the people they might one day become as they grow and learn...

-Still, even the happiest moments in this new stage of Medee's life have been routinely eclipsed by the constant and ever-changing challenges of parenthood. She's found that she can't always muster up the patience for screaming or questions or demands for a snack. Wishing someone else would pick up toys and tidy up the house rather than assume "mama" will do it every time. Sometimes, her mask of professional calm will fall askew, and she'll snap at a rowdy little one or her well-meaning husband... always wincing under the guilt that inevitably follows.

-Sometimes, when she just needs a little time to herself, she sends her husband out on an errand and her brood off to some relative or another, then retreats into her greenhouse. There she finds a nice shady spot to sit and be still for a while, breathing in the heady scent of rich soil and dew-heavy leaves, feeling the more lively plants shift closer like loyal pets. Sometimes, she finds peace in these meditations, a soft reset to help her return to the life and family she does genuinely care about. Other times, she is... pensive, melancholic, thinking about the home and people she left behind, the decisions that lead her here. On bad days, she spends hours secluded in the misty foliage, curled up with her nuzzling snapdragons and flytraps, maybe nibbling on a special herb or bit of dried mushroom from her private stash... Those are the days when she can't help but think about about the jungle again, all the beautiful and terrifying things only she saw within its swampy depths, wondering in hazy despair if the stars were truly right in leading her away from it...

-Medee says she doesn’t like to pick favorites when it comes to her children... but something about her middlest boy, Para, captured her heart in a way none of her other children have. Bright as sunshine and skittish as his father, she's watched with great pride as his intellectual curiosity continues to grow, filled with a hunger for knowledge and understanding she'd felt at his age as well. If his interest leans more towards astronomy than astrology, it warms her heart to know there is at least some appreciation for the stars in him. (Now, if only he’d stop taking apart their appliances without asking first…)