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this thread.
(Aside to Mods: I tried looking for it by searching for "moe" in the title, but I didn't get a single hit. Had to search by user; if I hadn't known about that thread beforehand, I probably wouldn't have found it. I think it's that the board software has trouble with three-letter-word searches; another board with the same software [though not necessarily version] didn't allow 3-letter searches at all.)
For me, moe is more about attitude and behaviour. There has to be some sort of spark, at least, if not a bushfire. I'm a cynic, and I like seeing people hold on to a more optimistic attitude. But it can't just be mindless or oblivious. There has to be a sense of awarenes, a sense of decision. So it's definitely not babies for me. It's more about a sense of loss, and trying to hold on to what's there, or regaining it. This can go in very different reactions: Tooru (A-channel), Yomura Kirika (Noir), Kuronoma Sawako (Kimi ni Todoke), Isurugi Noe (True Tears), Sawatari Fuu (Tamayura); all very different characters, but they give me - at heart - a comparable feeling.
It's got nothing to do with sex, nor has it anything to with wanting to protect. It's more like wanting to root for something I can't really believe in. It's like re-discovering my inner flame, even if only in fiction.