Uwu smol bean

Synonyms:
See also:	babygirl, poor little meow meow, blorbo, woobie
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Uwu smol bean and various related descriptors such as Uwuification tend to be used in two broad ways, one where the perception of the description is more positive by the person using it, and one where it is decidedly more negative. The uwu comes from the emoticon (usually stylized UwU) which depicts a cute face.

Fan Use

When people use the term more positively, they are typically describing a character they think is some variation of cute, sweet, innocent or otherwise characterised in a way that encourages wanting to look after and protect them. In this use it is generally an expression of "I think this character is adorable/cute/sweet" or similar sentiments.

Whether that character is actually canonically characterised in the cutesy and innocent way "uwu smol bean" is used is variable, which often leads to the second, more negative use of the phrase.

When people use the phrase in a more critical or negative way, it is often in discussions or critiques of how some parts of fandom take certain characters or certain types or demographics of characters and make them into "uwu smol beans" in their headcanons or fanworks. It is typically associated with characters being out of character in fanon.

Some examples of critical discussions about how characters are uwuified include how villains are re-characterised by fandoms as being innocent and misunderstood characters who did nothing wrong or how some groups of characters, such as Disabled characters or trans characters (canonical or headcanoned), are reduced down to cutesy, innocent stereotypes regardless of their actual characterisations.

Examples of fan commentary and use

the smol boi troupe from any fandom that has a prominent teen or nice dude. i find It near impossible to read mha fics bc they all make Deku uwu smol bean that's nice to everyone and doesn't know what sex is. this dude is pretty much a child soldier who lived with the biggest perv on planet earth.

Spider-Man fics fall under the same thing, they make Peter an innocent little teen that doesn't know the horrors of the world, when Peter in canon is a struggling college student with nearly no family left and more trauma than even he can remember.

r/Fanfiction post, 'Tropes that infuriate you?' 

I don't know a specific example but I think Zuko tends to have the worst of this.

The way people write him as if he's some helpless traumatized uwu baby gets on my nerves so much.

Yes. He's traumatized. No. He isn't a smol bean. At least not to the extent some people write it.

(Not meant to offend anyone. Write and read whatever makes you happy)

r/Fanfiction post, 'Worst case of mischaracterization you've seen?' 

Oh yes. I'm not a superhero fan, but I see this in other fandoms. I especially dislike it when people make characters into "uwu smol autistic beans". As an autistic person, I find it very rude and infantilising.

r/Fanfiction post, 'What’s your favorite and least favorite parts of fanon in your fandom? ' 

And weirdly enough, despite being transmasc, I find myself avoiding most fics with a trans character. Partly it's because I've read too many a fic where the trans character is woobified into a poor uwu smol bean, instead of... y'know, a person.

r/Fanfiction post, 'What's something popular and liked among fanfiction that you think isn't for you?' 

Characters Often Subject to Uwuification

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

• Peter Parker from Spiderman