>>2092767Again, the core does not exist as it is different for everyone just a little. That is why there are countless approaches to achieving the same thing. A great example is clothing. Clothes change your perspective of a character by making you consider those elements into her gestalt. If she wears bright colors and frilly things, you may very well view her in a light that she is soft, innocent and is happy quite often. That may or may not be what you consider to be cute. Another end is jeans, low-cut tops, darker colors, sharper, more-defined shapes. That sort of thing in clothing. Those elements could very well convey a strong sense of independence, individualism, strength, boldness which could also be viewed in your eyes as cute.
Simple clothing often works very well because, I think, it is easier for the artist to put more emotion into the clothing when it is drawn/animated rather than being focused on all of the technical details and intricacies of the fabric itself, rather than simply being a part of the "gestalt" I keep referring to which is a part of the character herself.
To answer your question possibly a little more directly, essentially the core is that you want to protect her. To be cute instills the desire in the perceive to protect that which is cute. You will have to figure out and feel out how you want to portray your particular ideas on what cute means to you and then try to convey it best to your audience how you feel through your art.
There are many ways to balance a personality to where she can instill that feeling in a wider audience such as giving her that little sense of shyness or reservedness for those who identify and empathize with that particular element of being cute, but at the same time giving her a sense of confidence and being able to work through problems as she encounters them to appeal to those who appreciate a strong personality and find that cute.
