Fsjal

A simple drawing without a background

The image is a black-and-white outline drawing with no background or fill: a large round head, one eye bulging at the right edge of the head and looking up and to the side, the second one lower and also looking up. The mouth is stretched into a wide smile with a row of teeth. At the bottom, two hands clenched into fists are visible. The line is even and thick, so the figure reads even at a small size.

The character was created by the artist Brian Lee. According to reports, on March 27, 2008, he posted a comic on deviantArt where the character in this pose expressed joyful excitement. A simplified version without details appeared on the /b/ board on July 25, 2009, with a request to come up with a name for it. One of the replies suggested the word fsjal, and it stuck.

What the simple drawing expresses

The name fsjal has no meaning: it is a string of letters that simply caught on. That is why the meaning of the figure is read from the drawing itself. The clenched fists convey readiness and impatience, and the smile with divergent eyes suggests that this is not calm joy but anticipation mixed with awkwardness.

The comic effect comes from the mismatch. The face tries to look confident, but the gaze slips away, and the viewer sees a person who is trying very hard. That is why the figure was used for situations where someone is working hard to prepare for an event whose outcome they are unsure of.

The template that was redrawn

The key feature of fsjal is that it quickly became a template. According to reports, the first thread outside the board appeared on the League of Legends game forum on August 5, 2009, and on August 14 a fan page appeared on Facebook. Discussions then moved to other gaming and art forums.

On August 10, 2009, the author of the original drawing expressed dissatisfaction that his work had been called a 4chan meme without mention of his name. The authorship dispute began almost immediately. Meanwhile, on November 30 a template for redrawing was uploaded to deviantArt, and in December a group for such drawings appeared. Users changed poses, substituted other characters, and wrote new captions, so no single correct version remains.

Caption examples and how they work

Below are several captions. Each relies on one contradiction: a calm expression versus visible tension in the fists.

“Waiting for accounting to write that there's no bonus.” The smile suggests hope, and the clenched hands show that the hope is anxious. The joke is built on this gap between the face and the hands.

“My forecast for Monday: everything will go fine as long as nobody says the word ‘report.’” A grand plan and a modest request create contrast, while the figure itself does not change.

“Opening a gift that I picked out for myself.” The delight seems sincere, but the tone gives away that there will be no surprise, and the viewer sees irony in the gesture itself.

“Waiting for a call from the bank and not thinking about it at all.” Denying the anxiety emphasizes the very anxiety that shows in the sidelong glance and the strained smile.

How to use this template

The drawing suits short captions where you need to show impatient anticipation. It works better when the text points to a specific situation rather than a general mood. If you make your own version, keep the main features: the strained smile, the sidelong glance, and the clenched hands. Without them the character turns into an ordinary simple drawing, and the meaning is lost.