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[bakedapple]

Hey, everyone. It's... been quiet. I know it's sort of a complicated question, but... how is everyone?

[ As usual, Link's presence in Communion is humble and mild. Where he would normally be accompanied by the smell of morning dew on grass or the sensation of cold wind pricking one's cheeks, today is different — it's warm, like you're sitting next to an indoor fireplace, and there's a strong scent of expresso mixed with a hint of dusty paper. ]

Something has been on my mind lately. If you don't want to talk, you can tune this out now. It's fine.

[ Link usually does not manifest a physical, visual image in Communion, but there's a slight, soft imprint of the ridges of his fingerprint scraping against the edge of a sheet of paper. ]

Have you heard of "fate" before? Um, I guess most of you probably have, but it was sort of new to me. Not something I ever really thought about until I came to Kenos.

It's this idea of... everything that has happened, was always going to happen. And everything that will happen in the future has already been decided on, and can't be changed.

Do you think it's real? And what about... "destiny"? Is it different from fate, or the same thing?

Comments

[sterngaze]

Hello, Link.

[It has been a long time since Liem and Link spoke much at all. Perhaps the Hylian might not even recognize the quiet presence that slips in when he opens his mind up to communion.]

There was such a concept, in my own world. It was presided over by a god known Aroden; the fulfillment of destiny was one of his areas of concern. He was heavily associated with prophecy as well—the foretelling of fate—but specifically with the fulfilling of such prophecies, rather than the foreknowledge itself.

[bakedapple]

[ No, he recognizes Liem. Even after all this time, he'll never forget how Liem saved him in Alenroux, all those months ago. ]

Fulfilling them? How would he go about doing that, exactly?

[settingup]

[ Atsumu actually gives this one a little thought. He knows what he always considered before this world ending events that brought him here, but he hasn't really sat with his own convictions on this particular issue for awhile.

To his surprise, he finds after a moment that his feelings on the matter haven't changed at all. ]

... Nah, I don't think any of that's real. Shit happens all the time, but we're the ones that make things up as we go. Nothing's predetermined or anything like that.

[bakedapple]

I see.

[ Link certainly isn't going to try to argue with Atsumu, or anyone else, on this topic. He really just wanted to hear what other people thought about it. ]

Is that what you think about both your old world and Kenos?

[appeale]

[ like the last time they briefly spoke, Ruby's mind is cold and detached; and there's no specific hostility directed towards Link, despite her previous scorn. ]

Sure, I believe it's real. Not every single action, but I think some people are fated for certain outcomes no matter what they do. Destiny's just another word for the same thing.

So is "blessing" or "curse."

[bakedapple]

[ ...Ah. It's that woman... Set's "wife." Or, priestess? Whatever she is.

There's a moment of hesitation as Link recognizes her, and he's honestly a bit surprised to hear her answering his question so neutrally. ]

I hadn't thought about it that way before. Blessing and curse... But I think fate and destiny is something you'd usually think of as coming from god. A blessing or curse, that can just be magic. Right?

[kaientai]

Nah, I've got no use for any of that. What's the point in believing we're all just acting out scenes in a drama someone else wrote for us? Why even be alive?

[ Ryouma feels strongly about this, but waking up in a world that hasn't changed for the better has rekindled some of his old fire. These are beliefs formed when he was living in a time and place where the class one was born into could determine someone's fate, and he had given everything he had to destroy that system.

He also keeps running with this drama analogy: ]

In real life, everyone builds a stage that suits their own character, little by little, and then acts out their own drama on it. The circumstances of one's life might affect how long it takes to build it or how grand it is, but no one will build it for you.

In my mind, those circumstances are what destiny is.

[ It's hardly the first word he's decided to redefine. ]

Destiny is just potential — when the circumstances favour a particular outcome, but it doesn't guarantee it. You still have to make your own way, no matter what.

[bakedapple]

Hm. I... think I understand...

[ This is a heady topic for someone like Link, but he's earnestly trying to wrap his mind around it. Ryouma said something that's close to what Link might have said in the past if he were asked this, but instead of "what's the point of believing in fate," it would be "what's the point of caring one way or another"?

But with everything he's learned about himself and his world since coming to Kenos, that question has become very important. ]

I don't think I'd call that destiny, though. Potential isn't really what most people are talking about when it comes to destiny...

Destiny is something... unavoidable.

[a_noble_flame]

[Par usual Alice's communion is invitingly warm. There's no fuzzy mental image this time around. It's always quite simplistic and open just as she herself is.]

In my own world "fate" and "destiny" largely mean the same thing. I believe perhaps as far as older stories go "fate" has more of a poor outcome than "destiny" perhaps? They are two paths on a similar road though. As a child I read many such stories though and "fate" always seemed the worse with people fated to kill parents and such. 'Destiny' was braver, something like becoming a beloved king or a heroic knight.

[As to whether it's real? There is a long moment of silence on Alice's end as she mulls over it.]

I believe people need things to help them keep the will to fight against life's troubles. If believing in a "fate" or "destiny" helps them in that then I see no harm in it. If it holds them back or keeps them from moving forward then I would rather they didn't believe in any of it.

For myself? No, I don't believe in it. In deciding the course of my life I believe one day death will claim me in some way -- age, illness or the blade. Until then I will fight.

[bakedapple]

[ Link can definitely relate to that last part. There's a sensation of him smiling slightly, but then it's gone. ]

That's an interesting way of putting it. Some of what I've read has said a similar thing... in a certain sense, the fate of living things is to die. No matter what happens to us, we're always going to die someday.

[punkisntdead]

[Chloe’s usual brash mental presence and attitude seems to simmer down when Link actually gets around to the topic he’s got in mind. There’s a tenseness clinging to her, and a little bit of guilt she can’t quite wrangle into hiding.]

Yeah, I think there’s something like it. Fate, or whatever label you wanna slap on it.

[She would have thought it all bullshit over a year ago, at least outside of the occasional bitter thought that life always had to suck for her. And then reality started breaking around them all because a friend wouldn’t let Chloe fall victim to the “fate” that seemed out to get her, and, well…]

Doesn’t mean we can’t give it the middle finger and do what we want anyway, though.

[bakedapple]

[ Ah... This person is new. Link doesn't recognize her. He pauses for a moment, considering what to say; he doesn't even know whether she's a Meri or a Zenite. ]

So... defying fate, then. But if that's possible, then would fate even be a thing?

[dreamflowers]

[Jade doesn't even hesitate when she says:]

Nope.

[Tempted to leave it at that, but she decides to add more.]

I've always felt that the kinda people who go on about things like "destiny" are the type who just accept whatever happens because they think some divine force has decided it for them. Becomes quite the convenient excuse for those with cosmic levels of hubris at their disposal.

[Ironic, coming from one who is called "the Prophetess"... buuut it's not like Jade chose that name for herself in the first place.]

[bakedapple]

[ The answer is so blunt, and cuts to deep against Link on a personal level, that there's a brief blip in their Communion, like he's wincing or pulling away from her. Of course, this stranger has no reason to know anything about Link or why he's asking about fate. He shouldn't take her answer personally, even if it feels pretty personal. ]

...That's a little harsh. I don't think that believing in destiny makes you... "accept" everything that happens at all.

[fursuit]

Big questions on the mind today, huh, Hummingbird?

[ Tezcatlipoca is drawn to these questions, but that's no surprise, considering the conversations he and Link have already been having. In fact, he has a guess that this is perhaps coming from those conversations. It's why the sense of him is almost leisurely and he doesn't exactly answer them right away. ]

Kenos makin' you think about fate is probably a net positive, yeah?

[redsoil]

[ the immediate way set KICKS tezca's mind!!! don't call link hummingbird, he doesn't DESERVE IT ]

[bakedapple]

Yeah. I guess so.

[ Link doesn't question the nickname anymore... Actually, he might even like it (just a little bit) every time Tezca calls him that. Not that he'd admit to it. ]

I know that destiny existed in Hyrule... but Kenos could be different. I didn't know what to think for a long time. But if you're still capable of seeing the future in this world, even if it's more difficult... I mean, isn't that proof that fate is still a thing here?

[damnpire]

[He really hasn't fed since rising from the long slumber, so what comes in isn't the chilly and calm demeanor that's typical of D. It's more akin to an iron door rattling and vibrating with an unrestrained dark and powerful energy behind it, begging to be let out, freed.

The stoicism is in front, attempting to mask it, but sensual, glowing red eyes bore into Link's soul from the shadows of the mind.]

Is there a reason you're thinking of all of this?

[bakedapple]

...

[ Link doesn't recognize this presence. They've never spoken over Communion before — but even if they had, he probably still wouldn't recognize it. That barely contained hunger, dark and luminous at the same time, mixed with the prickle of an opposing Advocate Aspect, is something he'd remember if he'd felt it before now. ]

Who is this?

[leicesters]

I never believed in fate, no. Plenty of people in my world put stock in gods guiding things or preordaining events, but relying on them wasn't for me. Making a difference in your life, or the lives of others, has to be the result of your own hard work.

I still believe that, but there's someone I met that helped convince me that maybe fate really does play a part in certain things...

[He trails off, pauses like he might consider elaborating, and then decides not to. Subject change!]

How about you? Sounds like you're giving it some serious thought, but have you made up your mind?

[bakedapple]

[ Oh, Claude! You just can't dangle a carrot in front of Link like that. Now he really wants to ask. ]

I don't know. I know the answer when it comes to the world I came from, but I don't know what to think about Kenos.

If fate exists here, then... it would mean that whoever wins the Oracle War was always going to win. It would mean that Cyrus and Yima were always going to get murdered, and we were always going to be in the situation we're in now...

But if fate doesn't exist, and something horrible happens, it means I could have stopped it but didn't. [ pause. ] Is that... worse?

[eightfoldfiend]

[Yuber's presence, normally a cold and oppressive one, feels more quiet and pensive; a small flame threatening to become an inferno.]

I've seen humans think of destiny as a potential they must fulfill and fate as the cold whims of the gods forcing their lives down preordained paths.

Destiny seems like something humans just made up to feel special. Fate is real.

Why?

[bakedapple]

[ Well, Yuber's answer is clear and straightforward, which is something Link appreciates. Maybe that's what to be expected from the jizz sword guy. ]

Destiny is something that existed in my old world. More recently, I've started wondering whether it exists in Kenos. When I started looking into it, I came across this other concept, "fate"...

A lot of people seem to think they're the same thing. But you don't think so?

[escardos]

Sure, I’ve heard of them. They’re tropes that have been used a lot in all types of media.

[ games, movies, books… the idea of a predetermined future is basically the backbone of many popular pieces. ]

How come you’re asking? Are you having a psychological crisis after being asleep for over a hundred years?

[ he says this so cheerfully… ]

[bakedapple]

Tropes...?

[ this uneducated medieval elf doesn't know that word :') ]

Um, no... no crisis. I think.

It's something I had been reading about before we fell asleep, to try to understand the way it worked in my world. And with everything that's happened, I started thinking about it more again. Like, what if we were always going to sleep for this long? If this was always going to happen? That sort of thing.

[sheezit]

[ Link is first met with a wave of nostalgia, followed by a presence that should still be familiar despite the century-long nap. ]

I used to know someone who was a firm believer of fate. They would call us 'partners in destiny' and all...

[ And then nostalgia gives way to sadness, and an equal measure of resignation; the ache in his chest, thankfully, would take another Advocate to pick up on. ]

Butas it turned out, that destiny they wished for? It just wasn't something I could accept, and I didn't. So, I guess that's my take on it. No matter the odds, I'll fight for the future I wish for to the very end.

[bakedapple]

[ Their time together during the Advocate Oracle did so much to defuse Link's hesitance to interact with Shez. If it weren't for that, he might respond to this with more resistance, or even hostility.

Instead, he thinks for a moment, a quiet and calm breeze blowing through their shared mental space. ]

What if you learned the odds weren't odds at all? That it was rigged the whole time?