What Do We Want? (All the Things)

From a coming-of-age story to a short slogan

In Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh described trying to fix her adult life in one burst: paying bills on time, buying nutritious food, cooking and getting her home in order. From that story came a panel in which a drawn character shouts “Clean all the things!” The blog post appeared in June 2010; the following year the drawing was already being remade into online jokes, and soon the expression became a formula for a sudden urge to redo everything at once. Later, Russian-language remakes also produced a question-and-answer chorus. This is a different composition, built on collective rhythm, whereas a single shout preserves the personal impulse.

A pink character on a yellow burst

In the drawing, the pink figure has its mouth wide open and raises a thin black arm; sharp yellow rays spread out around it. Neither a list of tasks nor a specific object is shown. That is why the illustration works as an amplifier of emotion: the person seems to shout a decision across the whole room. A short gesture and a burst of color turn ordinary enthusiasm into almost physical noise. In Brosh's story this surge is tied to a specific wish to put her life in order all at once; here only the impulse itself remains, without a to-do list or everyday follow-through. The open mouth establishes the source of the sound, and the rays around the body turn the shout into a visual explosion. Since there are no words nearby, the viewer supplies the object of their enthusiasm: cleaning, a new idea or a sudden resolve. The drawing reads without any familiarity with the individual panels, but the link to Brosh gives it a story about how joyful planning can turn into overload.

From a personal impulse to a chorus

The English formula “X all the Y” leaves room for an action and its object: both the verb and the thing the hero is about to take on in full can be replaced. The word all pushes the idea to its limit: not tidying one shelf, but tackling everything. The shout looks determined, although Brosh's story shows the other side of such ambition: plans can quickly exhaust a person. So a caption can either support the enthusiasm or gently mock the moment when the scale of the task has not yet been realized.

The Russian question-and-answer variant introduces a different rhythm: the host asks about the goal, and the group answers with a slogan. Several lines allow first a loud announcement of the wish and then a questioning of its deadline or method. A single figure has no such conversation: it freezes in the moment of decision. These versions use the recognizable emotional drawing but give the author different room: a short personal call or a sequential dialogue with a comic payoff.

Invented captions

Invented caption: “Today I'm going to sort the box of cables, the downloads folder and the family photo archive.” The figure seems to have already made three decisions, though each item needs time. Another variant: “I found an old box of paints and decided to repaint the kitchen, the wardrobe and the bicycle.” One find sets off an excessive plan. Finally: “I bought a notebook for studying and planned my whole life through December in it.” Here the preparation itself turns into a project. These are new captions for the drawing; they convey a personal shout of enthusiasm without depicting a scene from Brosh's comic.