folkmeme | Truth Meme

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truth meme

Truth Meme

Somehow, there is kirin on you.

Most likely, it is the fur of the kirin that was caught in the environment of wherever you’ve been; there is a stray hair on you because one was on the seat you sat on upon the train or because it blew onto the brim of your hat in the wind.

Or it may be because you met the kirin—a playful ungulate moose-sized spirit who prefers not to speak—and engaged with him and gave him a pat, or a scratch behind an ear. Maybe the kirin nosed or licked your hand because you made him laugh (it’s an adorable ‘keh keh keh’ sound).

Unfortunately for both you and the kirin (who had not meant to trouble your day like this, truly), this exposure to his dander has only one reaction, and it happens to 100% of Star Children: you are compelled to tell the entire truth. About what is less specific; you are compelled simply to announce things about yourself—your life, experiences, thoughts, opinions, feelings. No matter if it’s something silly and inconsequential, deep or secretive, life-altering or commonplace. Some may choose to do this by employing Foxi and their relic; others by finding people to exchange truth with to face to face.

When you have met the kirin’s subconscious desire for four hours, you will be free from the truth telling and the recipient of 24 hours of good luck. The good luck will be sometime in the next year rather than in the next day, and you may have no idea where it came from, but you’ll know a lucky day when you have it!

This meme is game canon unless marked otherwise at the start of threads! Threads can be used for spoons and application samples.
Assume all characters involved on this meme are affected.
Characters will compulsively state truths about themselves/their feelings on the network or in-person. Top-levels may include either/both options.
Please include prompts in your top level.
All questions will be answered with complete and total honesty. No special abilities, half-truths, or omissions can avoid sharing all of the truth.
Meme is open until the next truth meme!
After one month, you may use the kirin mechanic generally in game. It can be one-sided! All truth-telling characters must consent.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I enjoy being brought to a point where I am either too aroused or otherwise brought past my inhibitions and doubt where I can admit such things. Even if I feel I shouldn't enjoy it, which I also realize is a false judgement because I would not judge you in the same position. I understand what I feel and think do not make any logical sense, and that makes it all the more frustrating and embarrassing for me to come to terms with it all.

[ He allowed Quattro to push him back, looking at him with clear interest. ]

[ And immediately blushed when it's a knee-massage he gets. Still, he didn't complain. It did feel rather nice, the surrounding tendons stiff with the cold of the season. ]

I would tie you up, and do a great many things to you. But - as selfish as it makes me - I won't be able to bring myself to harm you intimately the way I ask for in turn. I apologize. Merely imagining it already has me feeling cold, and I cannot say why I am unable to give that to you as you do for me. I ... I don't know why. [ His lips twisted in frustration. ]

Emotions follow no logic but their own, and seldom make complete sense. I'm glad you'll allow me to do this to you, too.

[Quattro enjoys massaging Zechs like this- it's a very different kind of intimacy than sex, but still one he enjoys greatly. Especially when he can feel stiff muscles slowly relaxing under his touch.]

You are a kinder and more gentle person than I am. I do feel compelled to ask further because I wish to understand you more; Is it the idea of the pain I would experience, or the idea of causing harm. I would not mind trying things that cause pain in the moment with no lingering wound, but I have no interest in asking you to cause bruises or draw blood- outside of our fencing bouts.

I trust you. [ Simple, blunt, and without a shred of hesitation and embarrassment for that confession, either. ]

[ Zechs frowned. ] I don't believe that's true. And neither do I believe that - kindness or cruelty has any logical connection to sexual interests. You do not do those things because they are things I dislike, after all. It would be a kindness if I could perform as desired even if it involved pain. [ Logically, that followed to him. ]

I don't know. [ No - he thought about that and winced, it was immediately untrue. ] No. Imagining it ... it is the idea of the pain you'd experience. Which makes no sense, given what I know of my own self. I'm ... [ It's so frustrating. Why this contradiction? ]

I am certain it is true, even though I enjoy you thinking better of me.

[Quattro tips his head forward and allows his hair and sunglasses to hide as much of his face as possible, and focuses on the feeling of Zechs' knee beneath his hands, but it's not enough to stop him.]

I don't do these things because you dislike them, that's true. But I've never- no, I felt a little guilty about leading men on my own side into an ambush, but even shooting at unarmed civilians who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and simply trying to flee didn't bother me.

I don't allow myself to do things like that any longer, because that is not who I wish to be and not who I am. But caring about the fate of people whom I don't know... that is not something that came easily to me.

I think words fail me here, that I don't feel I can convey the difference I perceived between what it was like for me, and the guilt and pain I know others felt in similar situations but which I didn't feel.

[ Zechs was quiet for a moment. ]

If it's not something which comes easily to you - if you are still determined and resolved choose differently because that sort of man is who you do not wish to be ... that is what is admirable. It is challenging for you, and yet you persist. You are motivated to be better, not due to discomfort - but your own sense of what is right. That is all incredibly admirable, Quattro.

[ He sighed when a particularly rough knot of muscle is unbunched, and then continued; ] There is not an intrinsic good or evil in any of us. There are only our choices. You have chosen to be better, and that proves enough to me the sort of man you are.

By that logic, you must accept my admiration for your choice to turn away from your plan with Libra.

[The smugness in Quattro's voice at turning Zechs' own logic against him is clear.]

We're complicated beings, but just as there are choices, there are natural inclinations and preferences. I appreciate whatever it is in you, that is uncomfortable with the idea of causing pain to someone close to you no matter how much it might be wanted. To me, that says there is a gentle soul in there regardless of whatever you've been through that led you to violence.

[ Zechs blinked and then sighed. ] That logic follows. Even if I find it difficult to see myself in the same light.

[ And it’s even more difficult to see his own soul as gentle. For a moment, he closed his eyes. ]

It’s easier to acknowledge a preference, than trying to view my soul as gentle. I once had worked hard to rid myself of my gentle nature.

I have the advantage over you there, for I've seen the way others see me, both as an enemy and as a friend.

[Quattro continues to rub his hands gently over Zechs' knee even when most of the stiffness seems to have left the muscles surrounding it.]

There's no longer any need for you to keep that part of yourself at bay, so I hope you can learn to welcome it back, now.

Do you believe that it's possible?

It feels ... burnt out, a hollow sensation. [ Zechs tried to hold back, but the kirin still compelled him, even though they're not his words; ] ... shape without form, shade without color, paralyzed force, gesture without motion ...

[ He sighed. ] If I am not a lost and violent soul, I do often instead feel hollow, even as I attempt to fill my days here.

I do.

I think you allowed your goals to consume you, and in their absence, you feel lacking. The satisfaction brought by violence doesn't last long, and when it's gone, with nothing else to pursue...

It's fitting, I think. People looking to build something can admire what they've made. All we're left with is an absence where something or someone was, and it makes us feel empty.

[Quattro brushes his hands lower on Zechs' leg, still massaging.]

Filling my time with other people helps.

I find other people difficult. But … this is why I am trying to push past and grow beyond the sort of person I was.

[ Zechs sighed a little, a relaxed sound this time rather than a frustrated one. ]

You are not difficult for me.

Yes, you came across as a little frosty when you first turned back into yourself, when we first met.

[Quattro frowns at himself because that was rude, but he can't help but be very honest.]

I understand.

[Quattro's going to force Zechs to demonstrate his flexibility or lay back more by lifting the leg he's massaging enough that he can bend down and kiss Zechs' knee.]

I think it's easy because we are similar in so many ways, but not enough that it's unpleasant.

[ He wasn’t offended at all. ] Yes. I’ve been told that I can seem cold, or arrogant. Generally difficult to read.

We’re similar enough, at least, that you don’t hold that against me. It isn’t personal.

Cold, yes, and you speak a little more highly of yourself than I do; more than is polite even if I enjoy hearing your confidence and wish you would boast more often. I'd also enjoy hearing you brag about besting me in front of others.

[Quattro brings his hand up to cover his face even as the little wings beside his head unfold to cover the upper part of his face a little more thoroughly than his hair and sunglasses manage.]

Especially to other mobile suit pilots- just not Amuro and Lalah.

I don't see as someone who boasts often, yet now that I think upon it - you are incredibly modest, considering the skill I've seen from you. But if it does reassure you, I will certainly tell others of those times I beat you - since it is always difficult, and a challenge I relish and enjoy.

[ A slight smile. Zechs might generally be bad with people, but he can recognize; ] This embarrasses you, but know I do not think less of you for it. If you enjoy my confidence that much ... then I will continue to earn a right to boast by continuing to best you when we challenge each other.

[Quattro echoes the smile with a soft smile of his own]

I'd like that very much, Zechs. It isn't my enjoyment of your confidence that embarrasses me, I'd gladly admit to that at any time. It's my genuine desire to have others view me as less talented than you that embarrasses me.

I wish I could enjoy simply being myself without worrying about how others perceive me, but I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with that. And yet, because you and I are the same, I can be more myself with you than with anyone else here.

Very similar. I would not go so far as to say we’re the same. [ But he looked amused, even a little flattered, that Quattro thought they were so similar. That he saw his better qualities echoed in Zechs. ]

[ Thoughtfully, stretching his leg a little under Quattro’s touch; ] I think it’s often said that fear of being perceived by others is a common thing. If that is true, I would argue it isn’t embarrassing at all.

I also feel a conflict between wanting to be acknowledged for my talents, and wanting to simply exist as myself and not as the symbols I’ve come to represent to various people.

Not quite the same, but in so many ways, we are.

[Quattro manages to get the wings around his face to relax, and reaches up to settle his sunglasses back into place where they were knocked slightly askew. He has to concede that they aren't completely the same, even if in many ways they are the same.]

I feel bad for you, that you've been dragged out of whatever anonymity you had after Libra. I wish you'd been truly able to free yourself from the cage it seems your name and face have become.

A caged bird is merely a plaything for others. You deserve better, despite the fact that you seem keen on punishing yourself, and drag your cage with you even here.

I deserve to give back to the world I’ve so wounded, Quattro. The people demand justice, and I’ve escaped them even in my reality. It won’t be indefinite.

But I hadn’t intended to bring the cage with me. This place hasn’t let me break free of it. [ Zechs sighed. ] I am tired of speaking on it, in fact.

I don't believe there's any real justice to be had in such a situation, but anything you can give back to the world you've wounded won't be through your suffering.

[Quattro rubs Zechs' leg a little more, and slips his hand down to seek contact with scarred skin]

You use your scars as an excuse to keep yourself further apart from people. Their source haunts you, and I know the knee bothers you and slows you down- I'm sure you've noticed I press you in ways that take advantage of your knee often when we fence. I wish you could see yourself the way I do and admire only the result of your efforts to hone your body and your incredible resilience, but I'd be happy if you could merely look at yourself and not see terrible reminders.

[Quattro's most obvious scar is on his forehead, he could easily wear his hair in a way that hides it, but instead he shows it off to the world.]

It would be different if they were justly earned. These are the result of my mistakes in judgment, my weakness in character, and my failure to die.

[ Zechs sighed a little again. ] You’ve implied I’ve kept them on purpose. I honestly not thought of using some means here to be rid of them. It’s been an oversight on my part - and I cannot say why I’ve failed to consider it.

For the same reason you find it difficult to ask for what you want, or difficult to accept your own better qualities. I know what it's like to not want to be alone with my own thoughts, I'm not surprised you avoid thinking of yourself.

I am unfortunately not so selfish that I'll ask you to heal them because I want you to go to the hot springs with me, or the naked dance parties next to the river. As much as you indulge my selfish desires, even you must have your limits. I hate how I feel compelled to be honest that the reasons I wish for you to heal are not solely for your own benefit, although my belief that it will help you move past what you were and grow is genuine.

[ Wry; ] And here a moment ago we were implying I was thinking of myself far too much. [ Sigh; ] But I believe you're correct.

[ Blinked. ] I'd be far more inclined to visit the hot springs than a dance, regardless of the dress code. But there would be no harm in indulging those desires, Quattro, awkwardness never harmed anyone, even here. There is no reason to feel shame for having multiple reasons for wishing someone to improve and heal.

[ Zechs was frowning, however. He's bidden to say; ] I have difficulties asking for help.

You are more than talented enough to both speak of yourself more than is polite and not think of yourself as much as you should.

It's truly a pity you're not inclined to dancing. I'm certain with your physical prowess and grace that you'd be magnificent to see.

[Quattro gives Zechs a sad smile at his confession about his difficulties asking for help.]

Another area we differ; I remember when you thought I was injured and that I was lying about being unharmed. I thought your reaction was based on thinking of someone who would have lied, and not admitted they needed help. I've become quite certain since then that the person you were thinking of was yourself.

That is incredibly flattering, and while a stranger's compliment isn't that likely to persuade me - you are my friend, and you can sway me. [ A bit chagrined, because really? Praise him and he'll do as he asks, is that what he's essentially saying? ] I feel as if you're already armed with far too much ammunition against me, but here we are.

[ And then a small wince. ] I wasn't thinking specifically of myself - but I was thinking other soldiers were likely to behave as I've done, so perhaps the distinction is meaningless. I can't tell you why this has been a difficulty for me, but it's something I've been aware of long since before I arrived here.

Truth Meme

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