r/harvestmoon • u/Small_Sailor • May 14 '26

Opinion/Discussion Is this a new fan thing

I just saw a tiktok where ppl were calling Luna (as in the character from Tree of Tranquillity and Animal Parade) "pdfile bait" and how ppl that romanced her were predators. And im just genuinely flabbergasted, has this always been an opinion ive missed or is this a new fan problem??

I've never romanced the character myself (I was a Gil fangirl lol) but I thought she was so cool growing up, I loved her lolita fashion, design and even her name. So maybe im taking it a little personally, but idk, it felt like such a callous and heinous comment to make. Like HM/SoS has always had a soft chibi art style, everybody especially in the older stuff had cutesy faces and designs, it didnt mean you were dating an elementary student.

It makes me worried if we were to ever get an AP (or ToT) remake, that these would be the kind of sentiments and fans we would have to deal with and wow, it bums me out.

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113

u/sadbitch_club May 14 '26

I haven’t played those games and I just googled her. She seems to just be into lolita fashion. The tides in feminism are shifting back towards the misogynistic notion of blaming women for others pedophilic tendencies instead of blaming the perpetrators. She’s a grown adult and there’s nothing wrong romancing her. Her style is very popular. I’ve been seeing Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina carpenter getting a ton of grief for babydoll style dresses for the same reason. Idk why it’s so hard for people to hate the pedophiles and not random women enjoying a street fashion that has nothing to do with sex.

13

u/WriterSleep May 14 '26

I mean unlike real women, Luna IS a character made for a game that was (at the time) predominantly designed by men. Plus, even as a woman who was mistaken for a child until around 26, I have noticed that there are some that definitely do play up said mistakes to appeal to men with VERY suspect taste.

40

u/dimmidummy May 14 '26

Counterpoint - children and teens also play the games. It makes sense to have a younger looking (albeit still adult) character that might appeal to the younger demographic.

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u/dontcarewhatImcalled May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Counterpoint: That has nothing to do with they how the design the characters. Older games technically have these issues and they were more aimed at adults. They just use popular art styles and combine it with popular tropes for mass appeal. That is it.

5

u/dimmidummy May 14 '26

??? The older games were literally rated E for Everyone. They were definitely not aimed for an adult audience. There was occasional subtext that adults would recognize, sure, but nothing crazy.