Before yesterday, the Museum Of English Rural Life’s social media presence was understandably quaint. There were knitting workshop reminders, fun facts about hedgehogs, and five posts celebrating National Carrot Day. The English residents of Berkshire read them over the tops of their round glasses.


And then came the absolute unit.

The plump, fuzzy ram (seen above) caught fire with the help of glazed-over teens in pursuit of all things thicc. Currently, it holds more than 18,000 retweets and nearly 60,000 favorites. And, clearly attuned to the short shelf life of viral fame, the MERL (as it’s known) has now lost its goddamned mind, proliferating their account with more fat sheep content. (“Absolute unit” is, itself, a meme, based on a picture of a huge guy.)



They’ve also changed their name to the Museum of English Rural Units, while also digging into the history of its original unit, whom they’ve apparently named Steve.



By virtue of its virality, the account has also opened its digital doors to the kinds of people who proudly call themselves “lil swamp ass.”


And, as such, the need to beef up the rest of its limited catalog has set in.


And the tweets just keep on coming, which should make its overall-clad core audience very, very confused. Sure, there’s still info regarding the MERL’s “reading room” available, but one must cycle through numerous photos of fat farm animals to get there.


Somewhere, a single tear cuts through the soil-smudged cheek of a kindly Reading farmer. On the internet, meanwhile, there is great joy, and many thicc bois.

[via Mashable]

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