Where did Cicada Block come from?

Japanese Twitter user Naruse Hatoh posted a four-panel comic on October 13, 2012, naming the pose Semi-Don. Tumblr user Rabulen130 attached the tag '#cicada block' to a Pokemon fanart on October 16, 2012, giving it the English name.

What does Cicada Block mean?

Semi-Don means 'cicada bam' in Japanese, a play on kabe-don or 'wall bam,' the shoujo manga wall slam. The 'cicada' part refers to the all-four-limbs stance that mimics an insect clinging to bark.

How do you use Cicada Block?

Typical use is fanart, in which an assertive character pins a smaller one in a corner using both arms and legs. Pokemon and Homestuck pairings dominate pixiv's 蝉ドン tag and Tumblr's '#cicada block' tag.

Is Cicada Block still popular?

Cicada Block peaked in October 2012 on pixiv and Tumblr, where dedicated tags filled with crossover illustrations. The pose is still catalogued on Zero Chan and Know Your Meme as a documented fandom format.

Cicada Block

Q: What is Cicada Block?

Cicada Block is a comedic pose where one person traps another in a corner by pressing both hands and feet against the walls, resembling a cicada perched on a tree. It is the English name for the Japanese joke pose Semi-Don (蝉ドン).

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Published November 3, 2026

Cicada Block, known as Semi-Don (蝉ドン) in Japan, is a comedic pose where one person traps another in a corner by planting both hands and feet against the walls, resembling a cicada clinging to tree bark. Japanese Twitter user Naruse Hatoh coined the name in October 2012, and within a week fans on pixiv and Tumblr were drawing Pokemon and Homestuck characters frozen in the four-limbed trap.

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Overview

The pose plays off kabe-don (壁ドン, 'wall bam'), the shoujo manga cliché where a bold love interest slaps a wall and leans in close over a flustered partner. Semi-Don takes that romantic beat and makes it ridiculous by adding both legs, forcing the aggressor to spread-eagle like an insect pinned to bark3. That setup reads as both intimidating and absurd, which fit the Japanese moe comedy the pose parodied3.

Fanart almost always casts a tall, assertive character pinning a smaller or more timid one. Pokemon pairs such as Lance over Lyra became common pixiv subjects2, while Homestuck fans staged the pose with the trolls Karkat and Nepeta3. Live-action attempts also circulated, including a photo of two men demonstrating the full four-limbed stance that was lifted from a Japanese tweet1.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter (Japan) / Tumblr and pixiv (viral spread)

Creator

Naruse Hatoh

Date

2012

On October 13, 2012, Japanese Twitter user Naruse Hatoh (@Maki0046) posted a four-panel comic that labeled progressively more elaborate variations on the kabe-don pose, ending with the full hands-and-feet 'Semi-Don' at panel four6. The joke drew more than 24,000 retweets and 8,500 favorites in its first week, boosted by Naruse's catchy insect naming3. The same four-limbed stance had appeared in a 2008 Omocoro web comic, but it had no name there and never caught on3.

How It Spread

On October 16, 2012, pixiv user Watacoto uploaded a Pokemon fanart of Lance performing the Semi-Don on Lyra, tagged with the Japanese label 蝉ドン2. Tumblr user Rabulen130 reblogged a copy that same day and attached the tag '#cicada block,' giving the pose its lasting English name3. Semi-Don arrived in Western Tumblr art circles overnight.

The next day, Tumblr user Fideo wrote a step-by-step guide titled 'If anybody's wondering where the meme came from,' which collected 14,300 notes in 24 hours1. deviantArt user Sanpincha followed with 'PGNC: Cicada block'd,' a strip starring Diego and Chel from the Pokemon Gijinka Nuzlocke Challenge4. User StainedBrain's Homestuck entry showing Karkat pinning Nepeta reached 2,400 notes the same day, while Fideo's live-action photo of two men acting out the pose gathered 4,500 notes3.

On October 18, 2012, art-sharing site Zero Chan opened a dedicated 'Cicada Block' theme page under its 'poses' and 'meme' categories, locking the pose in as a tagged fanart genre5. Pixiv's Japanese tag and the English Tumblr tag filled with crossover illustrations across anime and video game properties2.

Timeline

2008-03-10

An Omocoro web comic depicts the same four-limbed stance without a name; it does not catch on.

2012-10-13

Japanese Twitter user Naruse Hatoh (@Maki0046) posts a four-panel comic coining 'Semi-Don' (蝉ドン).

2012-10-15

Twitter user @flumpooler_bass posts an early live-action attempt at the pose.

2012-10-16

Pixiv user Watacoto uploads a Pokemon fanart tagged 蝉ドン; Tumblr user Rabulen130 reblogs it with the English tag '#cicada block.'

2012-10-17

Tumblr user Fideo publishes a step-by-step guide that reaches 14,300 notes; deviantArt user Sanpincha and Tumblr user StainedBrain post Pokemon Gijinka and Homestuck versions.

2012-10-18

Zero Chan opens a dedicated 'Cicada Block' theme page under its 'poses' and 'meme' categories.

How to Use This Meme

Making a Cicada Block image typically means drawing or staging two characters in a corner, with the aggressor's arms and legs stretched against both walls above and beside the trapped character. Common convention is to pair a tall, dominant character over a smaller, flustered one, often borrowed from an anime or video game pairing with existing romantic subtext2.