What is Gently Holds?

Gently Holds is a Cursed Emoji showing a yellow, teary-eyed face with palms outstretched, captioned 'gently holds,' typically edited to cradle a character or animal the poster adores.

Where did Gently Holds come from?

The Emoji first appeared on Tumblr on March 6th, 2020, when user ayyyden-main replied to a sasmeo-bisaster post of two rats with the custom Emoji.

What does Gently Holds mean?

The caption signals overwhelming affection, with the watery eyes and open hands reading as 'I love this creature so much I need to hold it,' not literal sadness.

How do you use Gently Holds?

Users typically place a photo or sprite of a character above the Emoji's open palms and add a caption about wanting to hold or squeeze the subject, as seen in Bingus and Genshin Impact edits.

Is Gently Holds still popular?

By 2023, fandom communities on Instagram and Facebook were still sharing new versions, with a Bungou Stray Dogs edit on Facebook reaching over 8,500 reactions that February.

Gently Holds

2020reaction imageclassic

Published November 9, 2026

Gently Holds is a Cursed Emoji showing a yellow, teary-eyed face with palms held forward as if cradling something beloved, captioned 'gently holds.' First posted to Tumblr in March 2020 beneath a photo of two rats, the image traveled across platforms as users photoshopped characters and pets into its outstretched hands1. By late 2021, Instagram reposts of a Genshin Impact edit were hitting over 19,000 likes7.

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Overview

Users create versions by layering a subject, usually a cute animal or fictional character, directly above the Emoji's open palms so it appears to be cradling them. Posters pair the image with a caption of affection or protective obsession, and the tearful expression signals overwhelming fondness instead of sadness1. The Emoji belongs to a wider family of Cursed Emojis circulating on Tumblr and Twitter, and Gently Holds resembles Powercry, an earlier image by Twitter artist @okayroutt5.

Posts range from fandom-specific edits of anime or video game characters to generic pet photos, with the humor sitting in the extreme softness of the caption against the slightly off-putting, watery eyes. Edits often include additional text riffing on 'hold,' such as 'please let me hold him' or 'i wanna squeeze him,' aligning the tone with other 'protect this one' reaction images on fandom Tumblr and Reddit9.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Tumblr

Date

2020

On March 6th, 2020, Tumblr user ayyyden-main replied to a post by sasmeo-bisaster that featured a photograph of two rats, adding a custom yellow Emoji with teary eyes and open palms captioned 'gently holds'1. Sasmeo-bisaster followed up with a second comment showing the same Emoji edited to appear to hold both rats, which the thread credits as the earliest known use of the image1. Whether ayyyden-main actually drew the Emoji or simply shared an existing one is unconfirmed, so the artist of record stays Unknown5.

How It Spread

Within weeks, the image moved to Twitter when @baseokline edited the Emoji to hold K-pop performer j-hope on April 1st, 20202. The template reached Instagram on December 16th, 2020, with a cat.shitpost version holding Bingus, the chubby cat mascot, that hit over 22,300 likes3. Fandom communities picked it up through 2021, including a /r/Kirby thread on February 3rd that received more than 1,200 upvotes4.

On October 14th, 2021, Redditor RollerMill uploaded a Genshin Impact edit to /r/Genshin_Memepact that climbed past 2,000 upvotes6. An Instagram repost by genshinmemes the following day reached over 19,000 likes7. On April 25th, 2022, Instagram account frogeposting took the format toward frogs, hitting 10,800 likes8. By February 5th, 2023, a Facebook user uploaded a Bungou Stray Dogs edit that logged over 8,500 reactions and 1,400 shares within two months9.

Timeline

2020-03-06

Tumblr user ayyyden-main comments the Emoji captioned 'gently holds' under sasmeo-bisaster's rat photo, the earliest known appearance.

2020-04-01

Twitter user @baseokline edits the Emoji to hold K-pop artist j-hope.

2020-12-16

Instagram account cat.shitpost pairs the Emoji with Bingus, reaching over 22,300 likes.

2021-02-03

A Gently Holds post lands on /r/Kirby and receives more than 1,200 upvotes.

2021-10-14

Redditor RollerMill uploads a Genshin Impact edit to /r/Genshin_Memepact, hitting over 2,000 upvotes.

2021-10-15

Instagram account genshinmemes reposts the Genshin Impact version, reaching over 19,000 likes.

2022-04-25

Instagram account frogeposting edits the Emoji with a frog, hitting 10,800 likes.

2023-02-05

A Facebook user applies the format to anime series Bungou Stray Dogs, logging over 8,500 reactions.

How to Use This Meme

To make a Gently Holds edit, users typically place a subject, usually a pet photo or fictional character sprite, above the Emoji's outstretched hands, then crop or resize so the subject appears to rest in the palms3. Captions often expand on the 'hold' idea with lines like 'please let me hold him' or 'i wanna squeeze him,' matching the soft fandom tone of the original9.