Cottagecore emerged as a dominant internet subculture and meme aesthetic around 2018, gaining massive popularity on platforms like Tumblr and TikTok during the 2020 global lockdowns. It celebrates an idealized, romanticized version of western agricultural life, focusing on themes like gardening, sourdough baking, and vintage craftsmanship. In meme culture, Cottagecore often serves as a form of escapism, contrasting the stressful demands of modern capitalism with the tranquil, slow-paced existence of a forest dweller. Common tropes include the desire to 'live like a hobbit,' an obsession with frogs and mushrooms, and the recurring joke of leaving one's professional career behind to simply pick berries in the woods.