The 'Cupcakes' meme, most famously featuring the wide-eyed Australian Shepherd named Stains, originated from an episode of the reality TV show 'It's Me or the Dog.' The scene features the dog staring with an intense, unblinking, and almost haunted focus at a plate of cupcakes, which viewers quickly interpreted as a 'thousand-yard stare.' It became a viral sensation often used to depict intense temptation, silent judgment, or the feeling of being completely overwhelmed by a specific situation. While the term 'Cupcakes' also appears in darker corners of internet fan fiction, the visual template of the staring dog remains the most popular way to express frozen shock or extreme anticipation in mainstream meme culture.