Persona Syzygy
Note: An Original Theme on Velvet Room MUSH! With a big thanks to everyone in the page credits for their hard work on the integration. Files were primarily written by Tsumugi Kujaku's player.
The Premise
"Only by discovering alchemy have I clearly understood that the Unconscious is a process and that ego's rapport with the Unconscious and its contents initiate an evolution, more precisely, a real metamorphosis of the psyche."
- -C.G. Jung
All of us have the capacity for dramatic change.
But very few of us ever actually reach out to claim it.
A great work is afoot. Innocent people are having their lives literally stolen. Rumors abound on the Dark Side of people reporting their friends, family and loved ones being 'replaced' -- that the people in their lives are not who they say they are. They look like them, sound like them, even have the same memories. But there's just something... off about them. Others claim victims of Apathy Syndrome experience a miraculous recovery, only to act like completely different people.
As is so often the case, these rumors are more true than they know: in the cognitive spaces known as Ateliers, a new and strange form of Shadow has emerged. Referred to as Homunculi, these Shadows make victims of those who grapple with the things they are and the things they want to be, hijacking their bodies and assuming control of their lives as fictitious facsimiles of the people they yearn to be in their hearts.
This has not gone unnoticed. This was not an accident. Destiny's wheel turns, and with its constant churn, new players in this collective game seek to change humanity's collective fate.
A great work is afoot. Change is difficult. But change must come.
So. Do you desire change?
The Concepts
Ateliers - A cognitive space that all people possess, Ateliers reflect a person's individuality relative to their bonds to others. A kind of mind palace, Ateliers vary wildly depending on the person (with those who have a weak sense of individuality having very nondescript ones, for example). They are all connected together in a layer of meta-reality colloquially known as the Fabric of Reality.
Fabric of Reality - The interstitial space on which Ateliers reside, the Fabric is also a space unto itself, connecting each Atelier in a vast network. Recently something has been darkening and warping the structure of the Fabric and spreading rapidly; potentially tied to the emergence of Homunculi, and exploring and attempting to solve the mystery behind the Fabric of Reality's changes is an ongoing element of the plot. Welcome... to the Forever Dungeon.
Homunculus - An unusual and unsettling form of Shadow. Not the Shadow of a person, yet not a Mindless Shadow either, a Homunculus is a kind of parasitic Shadow that can form in the Ateliers of people experiencing varying degrees of cognitive dissonance and displeasure with their place in life. Once formed, a Homunculus will seize control of the body of its host. If not stopped, this will eventually lead to the soul-death of its victim. Homunculi are not natural occurrences, but it's unclear just how they came to be -- or why.
Transmutation - A form of Awakening that is achieved by people who have undergone extreme change in their lives... or those who harbor a strong yearning to change themselves. Transmutation-style awakenings tend to occur in Ateliers and - as the name implies - involves a literal transformation in the individual: physical attributes in the Persona User change - sometimes wildly - in cognitive spaces in ways symbolically representative of their personality and background. It's a wonderful transformation sequence really. Some might say magical.
Cognitive Alchemy - Similar but more arcane than the concepts of cognitive psience, ***cognitive alchemy*** refers to a technique used to alter and transform the cognitive world in small ways. Members of Peacock Silk are users of this process.
The Players
The hand of fate has pit two groups against each other in the events surrounding Ateliers. They aren't the only ones who've taken an interest in the things going on in this cognitive space, but these two represent a very specific clash of ideals.
In Unizone - An unadvertised social club with an English name, In Unizone is the brainchild of Hazuki Nakao, a teenage girl with a strange destiny and a strong desire to connect with other people. Ostensibly a club to make new friends, it recruits those in the know about Ateliers to assist her in helping other people in need and clearing out problems in the supernatural space, among other more secretive things. The group could be called meddlers, as they are the type to go to extremes to help even in the mundane world, attempting to bring a semblance of kindness and happiness to those who have little.
Peacock Silk - Led by Tsumugi Kujaku, Peacock Silk's founding members represent some of the first to encounter Ateliers -- and to achieve the power of Transmutation. They've used these gifts to establish a formidable shadow empire of crime, but they seem to have grander goals than that. Espousing the necessary virtue of absolute freedom from all things, Peacock Silk has been taking an active and intense interest in hunting down Homunculi and seem to be harvesting things from the Shadows for their own purposes. The question is -- what, exactly, do they want them for?
(NOTE: If you're interested in applying for a Transmutation-style OC, while we definitely welcome people hooking into the things going on here, you're also totally free to have one that hooks into other groups and plotlines! Transmutation is - just like the other awakening styles - an open concept, and people can potentially awaken to them while being only tangentially related to the goings-on of the story itself here!)
The Vibe
Jungian alchemy meets Ikuhara-grade magical girl meets Zoroastrian dualism.
We're just trying to make things as weird as they can get. It's Persona! If you're not being weird and Jungian, what's the point??
More seriously: the themes of Jung's treatise on psychological alchemy form the major backbone of this theme. Transformation of ourselves and the world around us, for good and for bad, is the throughline of Persona Syzygy. The idea of dualism especially comes into play in this, and Zoroastrianism is a heavy influence on the theme. Those good ol' SMT dichotomies of chaos and law are especially active here, but dualistic forces, whether in contrast or in concert, are generally very prevalent.
That theme of transformation hooks in strongly to the central conceit of magical girl shows and their influences can be found in Syzygy most especially in the aesthetics of Transmutation's awakening, and the physical transformation the individual undergoes when they use their Persona in the cognitive world. Revue Starlight and the works of Kunihiko Ikuhara in particular are a great source of inspiration for characters -- even those that are not explicitly about the magical girl genre all tend to have themes of change in them, and Ikuhara's surrealist and metaphysical style in particular is a great influence on the theme. Just, in general. Utena is pretty great.
At the center of the plot however is a fundamental idea: selfishness vs. selflessness. In the age of the internet it's easier than ever to both connect to people and to completely isolate yourself in your own world. Persona Syzygy is a theme meant to explore that idea -- the strengths and dangers of individualism, and that of the collective. Syzygy is about the allure of solipsism, and the necessity of a social network. Ultimately, it is about one very simple question:
If you could live in a world free of any consequence for your actions -- would you?
The Personas
Syzygy-theme Personas can cover a wide berth that includes but is not limited to:
- Alchemy-themed sources.
- Zoroastrian figures.
- Fictional or nonfictional figures having to do with themes of change in general.
Gothic horror in particular is an especially frequent source of Syzygy-theme Personas, given how many of the stories in the genre have to deal with transformation (eg, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey, etc).
THE CONTACTS
If you have any questions or ideas you'd like to ask-and/or-pitch for the theme, feel free to reach out to any of these fine-and/or-dastardly people!
THE CREDITS
Big thanks to Saika Kikuchi, Yanagi Nagisa, Pernelle, Roger, and Hazuki Nakao's players for helping make this theme happen! Their ideas and contributions really helped make all of this a reality.
Writing Credits!