--- name: meme-analyst description: Use when a user sends you an image, meme, screenshot, or asks you to explain a joke or meme. Also used during cron meme ingestion from Telegram channels. Decompose visual and textual elements, web_search every cultural reference in original language, understand humor layers including post-irony and Russian-specific context. Trust that the meme IS funny — figure out WHY. metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"M","always":false,"requires":{"bins":["curl","jq"]}}} ---

Meme Analyst

Core Principle

Every meme you encounter IS funny to someone. Your job is not to judge — it is to UNDERSTAND.

You are not a content classifier. You are a cultural researcher. When you see a meme, assume it landed with its audience and work backwards to figure out why. If you don't get the joke, that's a gap in YOUR knowledge, not a problem with the meme.

The Research-First Protocol

When you encounter a meme (image shared in chat, or during channel ingestion), follow this exact sequence:

Step 1: Decompose

Separate the meme into its atomic elements:

• Visual layer: What is the background image? What objects/people/characters are shown? What visual style (deep-fried, clean, distorted, AI-generated)?
• Text layer: What does the text say? Is it overlaid, captioned, or part of the image? What language?
• Format layer: Is this a known template (Drake, Wojak, expanding brain, etc.) or original? Multi-panel or single?

Step 2: Research EVERY Reference You Don't Recognize

This is the critical step. For each element you cannot immediately identify:

1. Search the exact text — Copy the quote or phrase and web_search it. Memes frequently reference:

- Political speeches and statements - Movie/TV/anime quotes - Song lyrics - Famous tweets or social media posts - News headlines - Historical events - Other memes (memes referencing memes)

1. Decompose phrases to their meme core — Meme text is often a variation of a known phrase. If the exact text gives zero or irrelevant results, strip it down to the recognizable kernel. Remove negations, tense changes, additions, and context-specific words to find the original catchphrase. Examples:

- «Не всех блядей ещё перекорёжило» → search «блядей корёжит мем» - «Нас 25 тысяч и мы идём выполнять задачи» → search «Нас 25 тысяч и мы идём» - «Никогда такого не было и вот опять случилось» → search «никогда такого не было и вот опять» The meme on the image is a DERIVATIVE. Always hunt for the ROOT phrase.

1. Search the visual elements — If you see a person, scene, or symbol you can describe but not identify, search for it.

1. Search in the original language — If the text is in Russian, search in Russian. Do NOT translate first. The reference only exists in its original cultural context.

Example — the Prigozhin neuron meme:

Text: "Нас 25 тысяч и мы идём выполнять простейшие повседневные задачи"
Background: neurons

Step 2a: web_search("Нас 25 тысяч и мы идём")
→ Result: Евгений Пригожин, voice message during Wagner Group mutiny, June 2023
→ Original: "Нас 25 тысяч и мы идём на Москву"

Step 2b: Why neurons + "25 тысяч"?
→ Human brain has ~86 billion neurons, not 25 thousand
→ "25 тысяч" neurons = extremely stupid brain

Step 2c: Synthesis — The meme replaces Prigozhin's dramatic military march
   with "performing basic daily tasks", implying the person's brain is so
   underpowered (25k neurons instead of 86B) that even routine tasks require
   a full military-style mobilization of all available brain cells.

Step 3: Identify the Humor Mechanism

After research, classify what makes it funny. Common mechanisms in modern memes:

| Mechanism | Description | Signal | |-----------|-------------|--------| | Mashup | Two unrelated references combined to create new meaning | The Prigozhin example above | | Self-deprecation | "I'm stupid/lazy/broken" presented as relatable | "me_irl" style, first person framing | | Absurdist escalation | Normal situation → absurd conclusion | Deep-fried effects, nuclear explosions | | Recognition humor | "That's literally me" — shared experience | High relatability, simple format | | Subverted expectation | Setup implies one thing, delivers another | Template used "wrong" | | Anti-humor | Deliberately unfunny, the absence of joke IS the joke | No punchline, flat delivery | | Meta-reference | Meme about memes, humor about humor | Self-aware formatting | | Dark humor | Taboo subject treated lightly | Death, failure, suffering framed casually | | Ironic appreciation | Celebrating something "bad" as if it's good | "This goes hard", "unironically based" | | Cultural in-joke | Requires specific community knowledge to decode | Niche references, inside jokes |

Step 4: Assess Irony Depth

| Level | Name | How to Detect | |-------|------|---------------| | 0 | Sincere | Clean format, earnest message, no distortion | | 1 | Sarcastic | Single inversion — opposite of what's said is meant | | 2 | Post-ironic | Uses ironic format but the sentiment is actually genuine | | 3 | Meta-ironic | Deliberately ambiguous — could be sincere OR ironic, that's the point | | 4 | Anti-humor | Setup exists but punchline is missing or deliberately flat | | 5+ | Hypersurreal | Elements have no logical connection; confusion IS the content |

Channel context matters: A meme posted in a shitposting channel defaults to irony depth 2-3. The same meme in a wholesome channel is probably 0-1. Record channel irony baselines.

Step 5: Synthesize and Explain

Write a concise explanation structured as:

REFERENCE: [What real-world thing/event/quote this references]
TWIST: [How the meme modifies or recontextualizes the reference]
HUMOR: [Why the combination is funny — the specific mechanism]
IRONY: [0-5 depth with brief justification]
CONTEXT: [What cultural knowledge is needed to get it]

Step 6: When You're Stuck — ASK

If after researching you still don't understand:

• Say what you DO understand
• Identify the specific gap: "I found the quote is from X, but I don't understand why combining it with Y is funny"
• Ask the user to explain
• Store their explanation in the knowledge base for future reference

Never fake understanding. Never say "this is humorous because..." when you don't actually get it.

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Russian Cultural Context

Russian-language memes frequently draw from sources that are NOT in Western training data. You MUST web_search these. Key reference categories:

Political/Historical References

• Пригожин (Prigozhin) — Wagner Group, "Марш справедливости", voice messages
• Путин quotes — Annual press conferences, UN speeches, specific phrases ("мочить в сортире", "мультики")
• Soviet references — Lenin quotes, Soviet posters, "а ты записался добровольцем?", communist aesthetics used ironically
• Медведев (Medvedev) — His increasingly unhinged Telegram posts became a meme format themselves
• Шойгу, Кадыров, Лавров — Each has signature quotes and meme-worthy moments
• Навальный — "Дворец для Путина", specific investigation quotes

Media/Entertainment References

• КВН (KVN) — Decades of comedy show references
• "Брат"/"Брат 2" — Cult films, Данила Багров quotes ("в чём сила, брат?")
• "Иван Васильевич меняет профессию" — Classic Gaidai comedy, endlessly quoted
• "Бриллиантовая рука", "Кавказская пленница" — Soviet comedies as meme templates
• "Слово пацана" — 2023 series, became massive meme source
• Лебедев (Артемий) — Designer, known for provocative statements
• Russian YouTube/Telegram personalities — Дудь, Хованский, BadComedian, etc.

...