"Moe"

Anonus

This is such a nebulous term. What is it, other than another word for "cute"?

DYRE

Anonus

For some reason I was distracted by her Cheeky Mouth.

Gelzo

DYRE

^^ Hm.

Anyway, though, as that clip may indicate, people really can't agree on what "moe" means.

But it usually has something to do with something (or rather, a character.  So, someone I guess) being seen as cute because of some weakness (and thus triggering a desire to care for the character).  But there are other things associated with it that don't directly fit that definition.  Like, various costumes are usually seen as contributing to moe (like maid outfits, serafuku, and other stuff like that).

^ The first "Moe, moe, kyun~!" scene is better.

DonZabu

^^ To this day, I wonder how anyone can watch that series and not think every character is a lesbian.

Anyway, I always defined moe as cuteness and vulnerability being sexualized.

DYRE

I think Yui is bisexual.  There's no evidence to support this, but that's the feeling I'm getting from her.

And Nodoka might be straight.  Maybe.  Since she doesn't have too much lesbian subtext involving her.

Everyone else is a lesbian.  There's no way they aren't.

Gelzo

Maybe they're just good friends.

*gets laughed off the internet*

DYRE

Very, very good friends.

And anyway, the yuri subtext is like half the fun of watching K-ON!
It is impossible for me to watch it without being in extreme yuri shipping mode.

inkblot

Why is it always a young girl? Is WALL-E moe?

Trash_Vortex

The K-On girls hands are smaller than thier eyes. This just results in thier hands looking stupidly small.

nohaynicklibre

^Hear, hear. I was watching this video the other day and I could only look at Yui's hands. They look so bad!

DYRE

Aw, K-ON! characters' ridiculously tiny hands are cute... somehow... maybe.

Either way, it's not really something that sticks out at me.
Though it is kind of disturbing when I'm actually paying attention to it...

Gelzo

What. They aren't even noticeably wider than her wrists.

DonZabu

Also, watching clips of K-On now, I can't disassociate it with K-On Abridged. I'm hearing Mio and Ritsu in their creepy male voices.

DYRE

Hm... it's a good thing I have no interest in Abridged Series.  Otherwise... what if the same thing happened with me!?

DonZabu

Skip ahead to 3:28. It'll be worth it, trust me.

Nyarly

What are you talking about, guys? Moe is a barkeeper in Springfield (wherever that is).

inb4. Someone posting this one Moe/Mio picture, which looks like a fake movie poster or something.

Hm... I just noticed that Moe's and Mio's names are a bit similar. And my brain, which seems to enjoy to torment me, just imagines a Moe/Mio shipping fic...

DYRE

I can no longer read the name "Moe" correctly.  I always pronounce it like the Japanese word.

ClockworkUniverse

^Same. Glad I don't know any Moes.

Gelzo

Really? Shouldn't be too hard, considering...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_homographs

Tnophelia

You people have no fucking idea what lesbians/bisexuals are, do you? They don't act that way, at all. -groans out of the need to give a lesson on feminine sexuality because younger males think that girls act like wish-fulfillment-based anime characters IRL-

In the midnight hour she cried- "moe, moe, moe"
With a rebel yell, moe moe moe, MOE MOE MOEEE (MOE) (MOE) (MOE)

Nyarly

...Huh?

DYRE

 

Gelzo

I never thought of sexuality as a very central part of personality. I just figured shit like being "camp gay" was just something cultural.

Super Lazuli

Moe's always struck me as a general aesthetic.

I am not attracted to any characters I know to be in said aesthetic, which is why all the bashing of it as sexual wish-fulfillment confuses me.

DYRE

It's hard to say there's no sexualization involved though when it's an aesthetic based on cute girls marketed to young men.

I mean, I don't think it necessarily always involves some sexualization, but that's often a part of it.

I don't particularly think there's anything wrong with it even if it is a sexual wish-fulfillment fantasy though...

Super Lazuli

I dunno.

I mean, I guess I can find the girls in say, LuckyStar, cute, but wanting to bone them? Uh, no. Sorry, they have huge heads and eyes, they look like aliens.

DYRE

Only... not really.  They look like humans.  Albeit, heavily stylized humans.  But due to how the human brain works, it's pretty easy to ignore the stylization to the point where you don't even notice it (or, you do notice the style, of course, but you still think that they still look, well, human).  Er... I guess some people don't, because, for instance, of the fact that you're saying that in the first place.  Still, it's not terribly hard to put aside the fact that objectively, they don't look like people at all.

Though, Lucky Star in particular doesn't generally make me think anything remotely sexual about any of the characters.

Also, relevant because this is the moe thread:  My torrent for K-ON! season 1 finally finished, so now I can watch it in 1080p.  Yay!  (I've already watched it a couple times before, of course, but I wanted a higher-resolution version)  (and actually I can't watch it in 1080p because my monitor doesn't go that high... >.>  But it'll still be better than what I had before)

Gelzo

Who wouldn't want to bone an alien?

Super Lazuli

I've never seen K-On. I still maintain the Lucky Star cast are either aliens or mutants. BUT the latter is probably more common in fan fiction.

^Well the sexy kind sure, but Konata=/=Sexy