[open] do you like starfruit?

[oathkeeper]

Sender: Sora
To: Everyone
Subject: Paopu Fruit

hey, did you guys notice the huge fruit tree that showed up near the new ocean? it's got big giant yellow star-shaped fruits growing from it that are called paopu fruit. they taste like a pineapple mixed with a pear. sounds pretty tasty, right?

there's also a legend back home about these fruits. i thought you might wanna know.

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what."

i've always liked that legend a lot. i don't know if it's true for sure but it's nice to think that if you share one with someone really special to you that you can always be a part of each other's lives. if that doesn't sound like love, i don't know what is. it might be nice to try it with someone sometime, huh? go for it!

Comments

[herewardbound]

There are deterministic properties to the universe. Cause, effect. This is a fairly uncontroversial statement.

But calling that 'destiny' as though there's some grand plan for everything asserted from on high personally sickens me, and the notion that it could be altered by the consumption of a particular fruit is frankly ludicrous.

[oathkeeper]

you're using a lot of big words to basically say you're a big negative nancy about all of this!

you know, it's not that bad to want to believe in things. it might be silly to think there's some grand plan or something but thinking that things will work out for you or your friends, in the end, isn't a bad thing. a positive attitude goes a long way, you know.

[herewardbound]

How nice for you to have lived a life where things just 'work out'.

Over here in the real world, things don't 'work out' unless you make them.

[oathkeeper]

[My guy, who hurt you.]

Haha, I'm not saying sitting around on your butt means things work out either. I've done plenty of things for the people I care about. Don't worry!

What I'm saying is believing in something and believing in your friends always helps. Wanting to think that destiny will reunite people or keep them together, always helps. That one person you want to be near might need those thoughts.

would you like a list

[herewardbound]

Let's say for the sake of argument that 'destiny' keeps people together

People change. What happens when 'destiny' arbitrarily decrees that you're going to be friends with someone who isn't who you thought they were? Or who became someone incompatible with you over time? Or even just have other demands on their time that mean they can't maintain the relationship right now?

Setting aside the completely asinine notion that happy thoughts will somehow help people because at that point we might as well abandon all logic and reason and declare that the universe runs on PIXIE DUST-

I cannot for the life of me imagine deriving joy or comfort from the idea that any kind of external force is dictating my social life.

[oathkeeper]

okay, lets back up for a second

i'll get to all that but i wanna make sure of one thing first

is this really for the sake of the argument? are you okay?

[herewardbound]

What?

Even assuming I felt comfortable discussing my mental state with a complete stranger (I don't)

What does that have to do with anything?

[oathkeeper]

i mean not everyone is going to start writing so much about how destiny makes them this mad. i thought maybe something happened to you that made you feel that way.

i'm sorry if it did. all i was trying to say is that sometimes when you're far away from someone you care about thinking about them can really mean a lot. that's why things like this legend can be a pretty nice comfort to think about.

if it's not for you that's okay too. you wanna be your own person, i get that. but if you need a friend to talk to, i'm all ears.

[herewardbound]

What followed was not a response, per se, but a curiously-shaped black blob.

Was it a sad face? Was it an avant-garde modern art piece? Was it perhaps two bears high-fiving? Difficult to say.

It definitely wasn't the result of someone's book having been thrown aside and knocking over an inkwell, whatever it was.

That would have been pointless and childish.