Gnomepill

Submission 22,412

Part of a series on Gnomes are Real. [View Related Entries]

About

Gnomepill and Gnomecore are slang terms which refer to a series of memes that humorously advertise gnomes' cozy, nature-appreciative way of life as a superior one. In memes, Gnomepill often constitutes a "good versus evil" dichotomy with Goblin Mode. "To gnomepill" has also been used in the meaning "to reveal the truth that gnomes exist," similar to Gnomes are Real memes.

Origin

On January 14th, 2021, an anonymous 4chan^[1] user posted a Schizowave-style edit based on pictures of gnomes from various books set to a synthwave remix of "Let Her Go" by Passenger^[2] in a Hyperborea thread on the /wsg/ board. In the following months, the edit was actively circulated on the board.^[3]

On March 4th, 2021, YouTuber^[4] Joohhnn made the earliest found reupload of the video to YouTube, where it gained over 18,000 views in one year (seen below).

Spread

Through spring 2021, the edit received spread outside of 4chan. For example, on March 14th, 2021, YouTuber^[5] Metal Gear reuploaded the video, with the upload gaining over 9,300 views in one year. On May 27th, iFunny^[6] user stank reposted the edit, with the post gaining over 340 smiles in a similar period.

In May and June 2021, "gnompilling" in the sense of "revealing the truth that gnomes exist" became a minor meme on iFunny. For example, on May 23rd, iFunny^[7] user Umyr posted an image macro that gained over 300 smiles in one year (shown below, left). On June 12th, iFunny^[8] user ShinyGyarados posted a GIF caption meme that gained over 350 smiles in the same period (shown below, right).

Starting in September 2021, content creator Thulean Nature started uploading Schizowave-style Gnomepill edits to YouTube and Instagram. For example, on September 24th, 2021, Thulean Nature uploaded^[9] an edit that gained over 21,000 views in nine months (shown below, left).

In May 2022, following the popularization of Goblin Mode memes, Instagram user secretxsnake started posting Gnomepill memes that constituted a dichotomy with Goblin Mode, with the plot of the memes often revolving around mushrooms. On May 17th, 2022, secretxsnake posted^[10] the first such meme, which gained over 750 likes in one month (shown below, left).

Multiple posts shared by the account received viral spread online through reposts. For example, on May 19th, 2022, Twitter^[11] user @jt_butthead reposted a meme posted by secretxsnake on May 18th,^[12] with the tweet gaining over 2,500 retweets and 21,300 likes in one month (shown below, center). On May 30th, Twitter^[13] user @I_make_music reposted a Goblinpill meme posted by secretxsnake earlier that day,^[14] with the repost accumulating over 6,200 retweets and 51,100 likes in one month (shown below, right).

Goblin Mode is a slang term initially used to describe a person or animal acting feral or the cowgirl sex position which later achieved more literal association with goblin-like, chaotically evil behavior. In February 2022, the virality of the phrase culminated in a photoshopped headline that showed Julia Fox saying her breakup from Kanye West was because West didn't like it when she went "goblin mode." This confused people who both thought the headline was real and didn't understand the term itself.