Memes are more than just funny internet pictures or videos, they are ever evolving ideas which shape the cultural landscape. These can be anything from old fashioned political propaganda, mythological and religious concepts, pop culture, fictional characters, image macros, to simple catchphrases people come up with. Meme magic is the art of taking these ideas in the collective consciousness and using them to effect reality. This effect can happen on the meta-level, causing a breakdown in reality, or the memeplex-level, shaping culture itself. These effects can have far reaching consequences, affecting not just people’s lives, but the fabric of the universe itself.
The select few who can use meme magic are called meme magic users or meme wizards. Some are born with a natural talent for it, and others become adept through training. Memes stored in their memory are manifested as spell cards, allowing them to be invoked at will. These spells can cause destruction, heal, influence people’s minds, and even summon embodiments of memes known as meme monsters.
There are fourteen types that spells and monsters fall under: Beast, Air, Dark, Ethereal, Earth, Fire, Force, Holy, Ice, Lightning, Metal, Plant, Toxic, and Water. Those that fall outside these types are Typless. There are also six rarities of memes: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Super Rare, Ultra Rare, and Legendary Rare. The more rare the meme is the more power it has. Legendary memes can shape the very universe around it.
There are four components that determine the power of meme magic: Mindshare (how much traction/focus does the meme have in the cultural imagination), Resonance (how closely is this meme associated with an emotional, narrative or relatable story), Virality (how widely does the meme travel within networks or cultural ecosystems) and Propagation (how easy is it for a meme to replicate/exist).
Because of the proliferation of the Internet, it has become the source of more powerful memes than ever before. Memes are constantly being created, modified, and forgotten on a daily basis. What works one year could very well be useless the next, since the popularity of a meme influences it’s power. Sometimes if a meme is popular it can become so embedded in culture it becomes a foundation for later memes, creating a meme lineage. In these cases the foundational meme gains extra power as a result.
Organizations will employ meme magic users in order to combat other meme wizards or to control their online presence. There are factions of meme wizards throughout the world that wish to shape reality to their own ends, whether it be to spread misinformation or to push their version of a better world. There is even the Meme League that hosts competitions between meme wizards, the prize is money and recognition. Most users of meme magic will try and keep their skills a secret, but will engage in battles and competitions behind closed doors. Memes may very well decide the fate of the world…
