Not Everything Is A Clue – Ch 68-71

2 Comments

1. 

   FeepingCreature

   August 17, 2021 at 9:25 am

   Did I hear that right, red eyes in a gaunt face do not provoke pity and protectiveness? … You played Bioshock though, right?

   In anime, the characteristics of “Joonbait” is also called “moe” (pronounced, approximately, moh-ee): https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Moe , usually a cute defenseless innocent girl that the main character (and fandom) makes it their mission to defend.

   The visual design of moe characters is usually associated with neoteny, the state of retaining childlike characteristics into later age: proportionally large head, proportionally larger eyes. Similarly for their character attributes: naive, helpless, passive, usually in danger or suffering. So the character type partially hijacks our sense of protectiveness and attachment for children.

   This is one of the most widespread stereotypes in anime, due in part to its otaku fandom (stereotypically male, shut-in, awkward/anxious, few to no female contacts). Anecdote: famously, the character of Rei Ayanami (red eyes, pale face!) was intended as a *deconstruction* of moe, intended to show how the attributes of cuteness and helplessness necessarily lead to objectification and require a psyche without any sense of self. But of course, the fandom immediately objectified her even harder, and she’s now considered a hallmark moe character. So it goes.

   See also https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HurtComfortFic .

   See also https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWoobie for the western, less-gendered equivalent.

   Reply
   • 

     Eneasz

     August 17, 2021 at 4:58 pm

     Thank you! I’ll mention this to Steven

     Reply

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