About
[Clenches Fist] is an action cue used in online conversations to convey a sudden rush of intense and typically undesirable feelings, such as anger, resentment or frustration, in a manner similar to the use of the expression [Rustling Intensifies].
Origin
The exact origin of the action cue is unknown. On May 21st, 2005, RPG.net[5] Forums member StephenO submitted a thread titled “Clenches Fist‘Nooooooooooooo!’”, mocking a scene from the film Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith in which the villain Darth Vader clenches his fist and yells “No!” after discovering his wife Padme has died.
Spread
On November 18th, 2011, Steam Forums[2] member chaotic replied to a thread to complain about Valve’s new social features with the action cue “clinches [sic] fist.”
On the following day, Mirror Moon Forums[4] member AlextheLazy used the action cue in a reply to a post about the vampires in video games produce by the Japanese game company Type-Moon. On September 27th, 2013, DeviantArtist[3] DetectiveMar submitted a text post titled “Superhero meme yuuuuus,” which included the action cue “clinches fist dramatically.”
Notable Examples
On Tumblr
In October 2014, the action cue began circulating on Tumblr[6] in text posts featuring sarcastic responses to various fandoms, typically employing the phrasal template “Oh you’re into X? Man I love the way they just [clenches fist] Y.” On October 21st, Tumblr user That-One-Trashy-Weeaboo[1] submitted a post about the Japanese video game franchise Danganronpa with the “[clenches fist]” template. That same day, Tumblr user knneki posted a compilation of “[clenches fist]” posts. In the first 24 hours, the posts gathered upwards of 420 and 950 likes respectively.
Search Interest
Not available.
External References
[1]Tumblr – that-one-trashy-weeaboo
[2]Steam Forums – Add a friend
[3]DeviantArt – Superhero Meme yuss
[4]Mirror Moon Forums – Least scary vampire in Type-Moon
[5]RPG.net – Clenches Fist Nooo
[6]Tumblr – clenches fist