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minugasakuranohana · 9 hours

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If timing is a metaphor about their ways to work it can make sense. But maybe just a little bit?

PM does illegal and dark things. Government creates laws and they must act according to it. And Einstein once said, darkness doesn't exist, there is only absence of light. Without laws about ability-users illegality doesn't exist. Without probability of punishment there's no crime, isn't it?

They doesn't do dirty work, but they clean that dirty. After fight between sskk and Fitzgerald Agency and PM go home and they celebrate and have fun. And it's Government's time to start playing it's role. They go to handle with consequences. And after Dead Apple. It's important for citizens. They says "don't panic, now danger has passed" because feeling of instability and uncertainty is a bad feeling. They are allowed to speak.

And Agency can use any ways of action, they are sometimes the most gray-morality persons. Director are ready to kill someone who could be dangerous for his "adopted children". Ranpo? Before sskk fight on the ship he didn't want to find Atsushi, "it's not his problem". Kids-from-the-port-mafia and Tanizaki siblings, okay, let's not look at them. Kenji is sunshine but do you remember that " If cow refuses to do as it's told, beat it with whatever comes in handy" Its cruel. He is kind but he is the one who uses violence as usual working method. Atsushi simply doesn't want to be not good. But he can be evil. Kunikida? There must be the reason why he has his ideals at all, I think. And in the beginning of manga it was "Will Government kill Kyouka? Yes, but I don't care"

As Atsushi said, " Compared to the mafia... The Agency is ever more terrifying and dangerous" They are between light and dark, kindness and evil, simply doing their work as they can do it.

Twilight isn't neither day nor night. It's both day and night. (The concept of constructing negation in English is difficult for me, sorry if there was a mistake)

It works not enough correct when they fight against each other, or when Government makes crazy things (Wasn't it a great idea to ask Shibusawa's help when it was Dragon's Head Conflict? Of course it wasn't) But it's more clear when Teruko speaks about hierarchy of violence. One theory about origin of the state says, Government is the only legal Mafia on the state's territory. Mori thought violence isn't the only Mafia method and Government uses all another more often. If there's no Government in the tripartite framework then it's probability of revolution in Yokohama. PM will not be in the dark if Government become a background useless thing. They will become a light mafia, a new government.

The tripartite framework sounds cool but it's functionally useless to everyone but the Port Mafia.

The Port Mafia going from the nightmare of the city to its protectors in the dark, is a cool idea.

It fuels Mori's motivation, it plays a part in Chuuya joining and it's an interesting stand to take for a criminal organisation.

That's it.

The Government do not protect Yokohama in the slightest. They either do fuck all or make things worse.

Ango is the only one who got the memo, he's doing everyone's damn job and deserves a raise. Also Tachihara now, he's the real lynch pin in this.

Everyone else sucks.

The Agency is just doing their jobs and it's not like it existed prior to Fukuzawa.

Natsume didn't come up with the Agency, he had no sway in its creation other than providing a buisness licence.

Also I'd argue that other that it's never been fully completly in effect. Because while the Port Mafia and the Agency have aided this city despite being rivals.

Other than Ango and Tachihara the government haven't helped Yokohama in the slightest.

Also the timings are werid like the Port Mafia working in the night makes sense.... But Natsume tf do you mean for the other two?

Twilight is the period before sunrise and after sunset... Which is vague as hell and why is the Agency only operational in the day?

And why can't they work at the same time? Clearly cooperation is beneficial to everyone but you made each one "rule" a random part of the day.

And what Natsume inferred when the Agency and the Port were fighting in the cannibalism arc but not when 2 government spies infiltrated the Port Mafia?

Nor when the Agency and the Port Mafia ended their alliance.

It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

#bsd port mafia #bsd armed detective agency #Bsd special abilities division #bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd natsume #the tripartite framework #bsd analysis

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minugasakuranohana · 24 hours

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this is not the final result yet, but it took a lot of time :"D I love them

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minugasakuranohana · 1 day

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Я удалила рисунок, на который угробила весь вчерашний день бляяяяяя как так можно было

Блииин если перерисовывать я начну зацикливаться на мысли это так же хорошо как раньше или нет это достаточно похоже или нет отвратительное чувство

Честно говоря пошло оно все к чертовой матери

О дарители тёмной немилости

Не тревожьте меня вновь

*Звуки активации порчи*

#bsd shitpost #shitpost #турумбочка #aaaaaaaaaaaaaa

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minugasakuranohana · 1 day

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Lovely by Billie Eilish

ATTENTION

If you see this you are OBLIGATED to reblog w/ the song currently stuck in your head :)

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minugasakuranohana · 3 days

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Котик Гоголь поздравляет всех с вербным воскресеньем!

Pussy-willow Sunday / Orthodox Russian Palm Sunday Nekolai Gogol :з

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #проза бродячих псов #бсд #турумбочка #bsd fanart #art #bsd nikolai #bsd gogol #cat gogol #bsd nekolai #orthodox #palm sunday #easter 2024 #easter #ortodox #orthodox christianity #you were my inspiration

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minugasakuranohana · 3 days

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Мне срочно нужна преканонная история о Гильдии, где Фицджеральд со способностью "Великий Фицджеральд", которая превращает его собственные деньги в физическую силу, сразится с О. Генри со способностью "Короли и капуста", которая превращает чужие деньги в овощи (Или репейники! Да, так забавнее. Я хочу видеть Фицджеральда с целым кораблём репейников! И горстку репьëв на его новеньком дорогущем костюме)

Двойной зелёный хд

I need a side story about fight between Fitzgerald whose ability turns his money into physical power and O. Henry whose ability " Cabbage and kings" turns someone's money into vegetables (No, better! Into cockleburrs. I wanna see Fitzgerald with a whole ship of cockleburrs and cockleburrs on his new and very expensive suit) Right now!

Double green 🤑

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #проза бродячих псов #бсд #турумбочка #bsd headcanons #bsd fitzgerald #o henry

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minugasakuranohana · 3 days

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Thinking about how Chuuya's father-son relationship with Adam plays into the metaphor of 'Child of Adam, which inadvertently proves his humanity and presents the Abel and Cain dynamic with Verlaine. Abel being the younger brother and a shepherd, (King of The Sheep) and them both giving offerings to God (Guivre and Arahabaki), but God only favoring one of them (Chuuya being able to in-part accept his humanity), and Cain killing him in response (Verlaine stripping Chuuya of his loved ones.) It also drives the point home when you think about the fact that Verlaine's kill signature is a white cross made of birch.

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minugasakuranohana · 4 days

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Почему я постоянно делаю опечатки?! Почти в каждом посте. Я устала их исправлять.

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minugasakuranohana · 4 days

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Представьте, что у тигра аллергия на мандаринки и директор приюта — единственный, кто знал об этом, а Фукудзава и Харуно как кошатники могут догадаться, что это возможно. Ацу не понимает, почему ему никогда не давали их есть, а добрые коллеги решают накормить Ацуши первым в его жизни мандарином, но тигр реагирует по-своему.

Imagine, tiger dislikes oranges, and orphanage director is the only one who knew, and Fukuzawa and Haruno can guess it. But Atsushi didn't know about it because he wasn't allowed to eat it. And now his friends wants to feed him oranges. Tiger hates citrus smell.

И на второй картинку Ацу сидит в уголочке не из-за самой мандаринки. Просто не легко принять, что кто-то, кто очень сильно портил твою жизнь, мог сделать и что-то правильное(

For Atsushi it's hard and hurt to realize someone who made his life terrible sometimes did right things

ちょっとまってください｡ Читается как "чëтто маттэ кудасай", дословный перевод - немного подождите, пожалуйста. Довольно простая и распространённая фраза.

ちょっとまってください｡ Rōmaji: chotto matte kudasai. まって = wait, ちょっと = a bit, ください = please.

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #проза бродячих псов #бсд #турумбочка #bsd fanart #art #bsd comic #bsd atsushi #bsd fukuzawa #bsd haruno #bsd naomi #bsd tanizaki #bsd kenji #bsd headcanons #bsd ada #japanese

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minugasakuranohana · 5 days

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Вечера перед тем, как уснуть я вспомнила, что не подписала ни один пасхальный арт, потому что это были просто наброски, которые вышли слишком хорошо, чтобы их переделывать. Сначала я даже не собиралась их публиковать. Блииииин... И вообще, по-моему, лишие надписи просто всё испортят в данном случае(

Короче, нельзя это репостить в другие соцсети не оставив ссылочку на мой блог.

Please don't repost my arts in another social media (especially Easter arts because it was doodles I didn't plan to post here but I did and I forgot to sign it) without credit.

#bungou stray dogs #проза бродячих псов #турумбочка

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minugasakuranohana · 5 days

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The day I drew this art I flooded the flat (it wasn't funny at all. Washing machine is fucking shit, and it's very bad idea to open it before you make sure there aren't any water inside) died but not physically (my mother actually killed me. I was like Aya who isn't strong enough to wrap the rag draining it 😭) and burnt my hand while cooking dinner (it was left hand, and today It doesn't hurt). Maybe I wanna die. I'm a loser, baby, a loser...

Pussy-willow Sunday is Russian name of Palm Sunday. It's the day one week before Easter. (In some other countries it's also this name instead of Palm Sunday. Why do I want to read it like plum?) It's the day when Jesus came to Jerusalem. The people greeted him with palm branches. In some countries pleased more northern the symbol of this day is pussy-willow.

When I was scrolling photos of pussy-willow I thought "Awww it's so fluffy and cute! I wanna eat it" But when I finished my art it was more like "Ew I don't want to see it for another year or more" 😅

The hanakotoba of pussy-willow is "Effort is rewarded" and Japanese name of plant is nekoyanagi like English cat-willow, pussy-willow. In Russia, it's "верба", [v'erbʌ]. Fluffy things on branches looks like kittens or tiny bunnies)

Fyodor is also pussy-willow. Earflap hat is fluffy like it and his clothes too. Will his efforts be rewarded? By the way, it's fem!Fedya on the drawing.

Well then, here's a quiz! Who also looks like pussy-willow? What's that, you say? It's Gogol and Goncharov? Thaaat's right~!

I wanted to draw one of them near Dost, but I changed my mind and they two become a three pussy-willow branches. Don't ask me why and how.

The hanakotoba for all willows is "obedience" (Goncharov) and "freedom" (Gogol). Gogol sometimes thinks and acts like Kirillov from novel "Demons"

Of all things Harukawa have ever drawn most of all I dislike Fyodor's hat. Have you ever seen earflaps looking like that? It could be more realistic.

Palm Sunday is the day then Jesus said: «Verily, verily, I say unto you, еxcept a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit». It meant his death saved many people. These words are epigraph to The Brothers Karamazov, the last novel written by Dostoevsky. I see parallels with his ability and philosophy and story in manga 🧐

It's also those words Odasaku and Gide recited in Dark era. And meeting in Lupin could be reference to Last Supper.

Вербное воскресенье / Palm Sunday

За тот день, когда я нарисовала большую часть этого арта я успела затопить квартиру (Это было не весело. Убирать мне пришлось), морально сдохнуть (вообще-то это мама меня убила), смертельно устать и обжечь руку, левую, об сковородку с моим ужином. Воскресите меня пж. Или убейте, но насовсем. 😵

Вербное воскресенье — это день ровно за неделю до Пасхи, когда Иисус прибыл в Иерусалим. Народ приветствовал его пальмовыми ветвями, но на Руси из символически заменяют ветви вербы.

Когда искала фотографии, чтобы посрисовывать, я думал: "Уииии! Верба такая пушистая и прикольная, хочу сожрать несколько таких штучек!" Но когда я дорисовала, это было что-то вроде: "Бе, я наелась, видеть её больше не могу" 😂

Кстати, на ханакотоба верба означает "усилия вознаграждаются", а японское название этого растения — ネコヤナギ нэко янаги, кошачья ива. Пушочки вербы похожи на маленьких котят, свернувшихся клубочками или крольчат!

Федя тоже верба. Ушанка пушистая, накидка пушистая. Чем будут вознаграждены его усилия в манге? (Кстати, на рисунке фем!Федя, потому что я так решила)

Внимание, викторина! Кто еще похож на вербу? Ииии правильный ответ — Гоголь и Гончаров! Вы угадали! Мои поздравления!

Хотела нарисовать кого-то из них рядом, но передумала и два персонажика превратились в три веточки, не спрашивайте, как. Возможно косичка Гоголя заслужила отдельную вербочку.

Верба — это разновидность ивы, янаги. А ханакотоба для всех её видов в целом — послушание (Иван) и свобода (Николай). Николай в арке Смерти Небожите��ей, кстати, сильно напоминает Кириллова из "Бесов". Не то чтобы он сильно изменился после, но я так вижу.

Из всего дизайна одежды Феди самая неправдоподобно нарисованная в аниме — это шапка. Вы когда-нибудь видели такую ушанку, как там? Я точно нет. Декоративная плюшевый фигнюшка. Стилизация (Харукава-сенсей, это, вероятно, единственная деталь в рисовке, которая меня расстроила! Окей, мы можем забыть о Пушкине, от него в шоке были, должно быть, все)

Вербное воскресенье — это ещё и тот день (если не брать во внимание то, что четкие временные рамки не установлены), когда Иисус сказал: «Пришел час прославиться Сыну Человеческому. Истинно, истинно говорю вам: если пшеничное зерно, пав в землю, не умрёт, то останется одно; а если умрёт, то принесёт много плода» Он имеет в виду, что его смерть спасет многих и только через смерть такой исход возможен.

Отрывок с пшеничным зерном Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский использовал как эпиграф к "Братьям Карамазовым", последнему и самому объемному роману писателя, оконченному незадолго до его смерти.

Это также тот отрывок, который цитируют Ода и Жид в Тёмной эре, а посиделки в Люпине можно считать отсылкой на Тайную вечерю.

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #palm sunday #orthodox #ortodox #easter 2024 #турумбочка #pussy willow #bsd dostoevsky #bsd fyodor #bsd fanart #art #hanakotoba #russian orthodox

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minugasakuranohana · 5 days

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Вербное воскресенье / Palm Sunday

Верба — это разновидность ивы, янаги. А ханакотоба для всех её видов в целом — послушание (Иван) и свобода (Николай). Николай в арке Смерти Небожителей, кстати, сильно напоминает Кириллова из "Бесов". Не то чтобы он сильно изменился после, но я так вижу.

Вербное воскресенье — это ещё и тот день (если не брать во внимание то, что четкие временные рамки не установлены), когда Иисус сказал: «Пришел час прославиться Сыну Человеческому. Истинно, истинно говорю вам: если пшеничное зерно, пав в землю, не умрёт, то останется одно; а если умрёт, то принесёт много плода» Он имеет в виду, что его смерть спасет многих и тольк�� через смерть такой исход возможен.

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minugasakuranohana · 6 days

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Mori, Elise: Vita Sexualis

!!To avoid confusion: Ogai is in reference to the author, Mori is in reference to the character, the works are in quotations and the ability is not!!

As a prerequisite, this is just my take on Mori’s ability and personality, if you disagree that’s perfectly fine, and it doesn’t make either of us wrong or bad. I love to discuss this stuff, especially with people whose opinions differ! Moving on to the main topic, Mori and Elise are parts of BSD that the fandom would rather ignore, and it’s a shame that they get this treatment, whilst I understand why they do, because they’re so important and need to be acknowledged when talking about many aspects of BSD. Mori holds an immense amount of power over a lot of characters and his influences are a vital part of the plot of BSD. With the way the fandom blatantly ignores Mori, I’m just waiting for him to spring something on the ADA and have the whole fandom in shock because they ignored him too much to realise that he was planning something (and I’m telling you, he is). Mini tangent aside, Elise is a very misunderstood part of BSD, and one we know nearly nothing about. She possesses extreme strength, speed, can fly and seemingly cannot be killed. We also observe her changing ages, and whilst a lot of the fandom assumes that Mori is in control of this, we have little evidence to suggest this. It’s not exactly a large leap to take, Mori’s actions combined with his ability name seems to be enough evidence to come to this conclusion, but when we examine both Mori and the works he is based on in more detail, Mori’s ability and the role Elise plays is not at all what the fandom seems to think.

Vita Sexualis and The Dancing Girl

When discussing abilities, I think it’s important for me to explain the lens that I am analysing the characters through, that being that I believe Abilities are a reflection of the purest form of the self. Insecurities, strengths, the users deepest and simplest identity personified. Considering some characters to support this; Kunikida’s notebook is a symbol of his ideals, something he considers a key part of his identity, Dazai’s ability isolates himself from the gifted world around him, just as he feels isolated from humanity, Akutagawa’s ability is something that allows the very clothes on his back to be both a weapon and a shield, reflecting his violent nature and defensiveness. So with that idea in mind, what does Elise and Vita Sexualis say about Mori?

“Vita Sexualis” is an important work not only for its contents but also the response of the public upon its release. “Vita Sexualis” is a semi-autobiographical story of a young man growing from childhood into adulthood, the protagonist, Shizuka Kanai, shares many similarities to Ogai himself, such as his studying abroad in Germany and marriage upon his return to Japan. A notable aspect of this story is that while its title alludes to eroticism, it is not an erotic story at all. Kanai is what we would understand today to be asexual, he rarely experiences any kind of attraction and all descriptions of sex and lust are clinical and without detail. Kanai never seems to truly want for a sexual relationship, although he does experience a bout of longing after a waitress in a café, whom he only ever describes as beautiful and never ventures into anything more erotic. In fact, Vita Sexualis is a philosophical novel the title itself alludes to that; “Vita” meaning life or existence and “Sexualis” meaning sexuality, together it roughly translates to “Existence as a Sexual Being”. Interestingly enough, this is something that Ogai through Kanai rebuts, the idea that humans are an innately sexual being that is controlled by their sexuality is something he doesn’t see as correct, instead he views sexuality as something to be tamed, like a beast to be controlled. Humans may reproduce through sex, making them something that is sexual at its core, but that doesn’t mean we must be reduced to that. Kanai spends a long time examining the role of sex in society, he describes things like erotic novels, sex workers, the growth from child to sexually aware teenager and how that impacted his own life. Despite the classification of this work as erotic, it is anything but.

Yet despite its incredibly tame contents, when “Vita Sexualis” was first released, it was nearly immediately restricted, an event that Ogai had anticipated. Any sort of erotic fiction was prohibited at the time, and although “Vita Sexualis” was not in that genre, it still received the same treatment.

Despite knowing that “Vita Sexualis” would be restricted, Ogai made the decision to publish it, sending a message to the authorities to show that sex and sexuality was always going to exist, whether or not it was a topic banned in fiction.

However the question then arises, why “Vita Sexualis”? Apart from it being one of Ogai’s most popular works, how exactly did this book form the character and why did Asagiri make the choices that he did?

The impact of “Vita Sexualis” on Mori’s ability and character is not well understood by the fandom, as many misunderstand the work and its intentions; indeed one impact we can see in BSD is the reasoning and result of its publication. Comparing the reasoning of Ogai and the character, there are some similarities in their actions, albeit dramatized in BSD. Within the story, Mori often does things that are illegal or immoral to accomplish a particular end goal, we’ve seen that some of his plans can be put into action several years in advance, similarly Ogai published “Vita Sexualis” with the knowledge that it would be restricted and would cause backlash onto him as a person, which did in fact happen as critics bemoaned the fact that Ogai appeared to be turning towards fiction that was discouraged.

Despite damages to his reputation and job, Ogai made this decision for the betterment of the world of literature, the ends justifies the means, which is a mentality remarkably similar to Mori’s.

However another connection can be made from within the novel itself, with the mentality of the protagonist Kanai and that of Mori being similar. Kanai observes sex, something presented as being innately tied to humanity, with a clinical, detached nature; it’s almost as if it is alien to him. Mori himself denies any attachment to emotion and humanity, his decisions are made logically and without any input from his feelings (or so he says). The precise, careful ways he pulls the strings and dissects human nature is similar to how Kanai examines the society he is in. Additionally, Ogai doesn’t shy away from any area of how society and sex collide; Kanai describes his encounters with autoeroticism, homosexuality and eroticism in both art and literature. Similarly Mori does not shy away from the things that are considered “bad”, he will use people, he will manipulate children, he will kill and torture and maim, he does these things with reason, but he does them all the same.

However to discuss the main impact of “Vita Sexualis”, first we must discuss another one of Mori’s works. After all, Elise is not from “Vita Sexualis” at all, but instead from “The Dancing Girl”, so why is she a part of Mori’s ability? Immediately the similarities between Mori and the protagonist of “The Dancing Girl”, Ota Toyotaro, are evident. Toyotaro speaks of human emotion with disdain, he has become a machine for his goals and feel emotions are not to be trusted, fickle as they are.

Toyotaro’s clinical view of the world and carefully measured interaction with it is something we also see in Mori. All of his actions are purposeful and he works to not allow his emotions to interfere.

This is possibly a glimpse into what Mori had been like, before we see him in BSD. Given that this is before Toyotaro has met Elise, and therefore before Elise would have been Mori’s ability, perhaps this is what Mori had once been, a poorly constructed machine who has yet to expel all his emotions. Really, he still is that failed machine, trying to ignore his own emotions and turn to logic, but falling victim to them time and time again.

As we learn in “The Dancing Girl”, Toyotaro lost his father at an early age, and thus was given the burden of representing his family. Toyotaro was successful and heavily rewarded, he was always spurred on by the want to support his family and establish himself. Indeed his family name and public image are things that he takes into high regard, similarly to how Mori is careful with his own image in the eyes of others.

Then when Toyotaro is in Germany, he finds himself allured by the country and the people, which is something he treats as a weakness, he doesn’t allow himself to enjoy the sights and the new experiences because this is for his work, for his family. Toyotaro’s ties to family are again a sentiment we see echoed in Mori, he repeatedly calls Elise his daughter, in BEAST he directly plays a fatherly role, he cares for children in the hospitals he works at, which is how he meets Dazai and Kyuusaku.

In Toyotaro we see that weakness that Mori sometimes exhibits, where he leans into his emotions; he keeps the suicidal kid he hardly knows alive without a proper reason, he allows Dazai to leave the mafia, he lets Yosano leave to join the ADA, he creates a relationship between Dazai and Chuuya knowing that it will be not just beneficial to the Port Mafia, but to them as individuals. Similarly, here Toyotaro approaches a stranger simply because she is crying, “without thinking” he comforts this girl and allows her to lay her head on his shoulder, lets her lead him to her home so that she isn’t vulnerable in the streets.

Here is where Elise comes in, and whilst she is physically similar in many regards to the character we see in BSD, with blonde hair and blue eyes, she is described as older, around 16-17. This is a rather stark age gap, considering that Toyotaro is 24, but the society of this time must be taken into consideration, and we should remember that this would not have been abnormal. Nevertheless Elise is the crying girl that brings Toyotaro to her home, and then to whom he gives his watch so that she may pay for her father’s funeral. Elise and Toyotaro build a sort of relationship, he teaches her to read and write, and Toyotaro describes feeling more human, less trapped than ever. But like a punishment from the universe, Toyotaro’s department head finds out about this and he is reprimanded and almost forcibly sent back to Japan.

However, Toyotaro fights to stay, fearing Elise’s reaction should he leave, despite the fact that staying will mean ruin for him and his family name, the things he had fought so hard to build from the very beginning. With the help of his friend, Aizawa Kenkichi, Toyotaro stays with Elise and starts a new job, one that Aizawa has found for him.

And yet when Aizawa later invites Toyotaro to Russia, he is forced to go, not by anything else but Aizawa’s expectations of him. Aizawa ridicules Toyotaro’s relationship with Elise, “how long could a man of talent and learning remain with a mere chit of a girl and lead an aimless life?’’, Toyotaro is convinced to give her up, because those close to him are the ones who hold the reigns, and as his friend Aizawa has a tight hold.

Aizawa’s words sow the seeds of doubt within Toyotaro and the mindset he had accepted is suddenly no longer freedom; he was made to be a machine.

What had once been his freedom is now his deathtrap and after months of convincing by Aizawa, Toyotaro returns to Elise in Berlin with the knowledge that he is going to end their relationship and go to Japan with Aizawa.

Upon his return, Toyotaro learns that Elise is pregnant, with his child, but despite her joy and excitement that they will be married and with a child, he leaves. And it breaks her. She regresses within herself, throwing anything that her mother gives her away apart from the clothing she had sewed for their baby, she sobs inconsolably and never seems to understand what is going on.

Now that we have gone over “The Dancing Girl”, how does it converge with “Vita Sexualis” to make Elise as Mori’s ability?

Mori and Elise

Elise is almost the perfect tool, despite her appearance, she seems to possess superhuman abilities that allow her to move incredibly fast and have an insane level of strength, as well as quite literally fly. She not only possesses the strength to casually hold Mori by the scruff of his neck like he’s a fucking wet cat but she also ripped the car door off with her BARE HANDS to get them out.

Again, she’s almost the perfect tool. Almost. Elise has certain behaviours that make her imperfect. She’s temperamental and throws tantrums, she complains about saving Mori and insults him, she insists on eating sweets and, in one situation, ripped off her dress and started running around Mori’s office in her underwear. She is, after all, a child.

Admittedly it is hard to pinpoint just how much control Mori has over Elise’s actions, he unfortunately hasn’t set out the exact perimeters of his ability in a plot convenient way, but this scene gives me a pretty good idea.

After dragging Mori from the exploding car, Elise complains about Mori thanking her, complaining that he “manipulated” her into saving him, to which he apologises, saying it’s because Elise is his ability. This dialogue tells me that Elise has some sort of autonomy, she makes her own decisions at least some of the time. Yet Mori is always in control somehow, he’s “the one who gets to set the scene”.

This is how “Vita Sexualis” and “The Dancing Girl” have made Elise. Because she is “Existence as a Sexual Being”, not because she is sexual in nature, but because sex is the root of humanity. Aside from being an erotic act, aside from sexual attraction, sex is the act of creating humanity. If we look at it the way “Vita Sexualis” does, through the eyes of an asexual man, Elise is all the parts of Mori that are human, his desires and wishes and regrets.

Regret is a strong theme for Mori, although he claims to have none. Elise carries a strong resemblance to Yosano, her bow harkens to Yosano’s hair clip, she insults Mori like Yosano did, she is resistant to his affection and care like Yosano was.

If saying Mori cared for Yosano seems absurd, I don’t blame you, after all he brought her into the military at eleven years old, and then tracked her down years later to bring her back into a different war. But Mori did try to care for Yosano, even within the traumatising situation he put her in. The best example of this is when Yosano first heals the soldiers and they crowd around her. She hates this and yells at them to back off, clearly uncomfortable, yet none of them do. In response, Mori threatens them, making them back away, and also creating a divide between Yosano and the soldiers.

They’ve gotten the message, don’t get close to Yosano, she’s under Mori’s watch, and by doing this, it prevents Yosano from getting too emotionally attached to the soldiers. Mori is minimising the impact it will have on her to the best of his abilities, seeing strangers wounded and dying is a lot less disturbing than people you know and care about, and as we see, when Yosano does get attached, it is devastating.

But if Mori cared for Yosano, why would he try and bring her back into the mafia? Because Mori is a lying liar who lies and an emotionally constipated idiot. It’s not difficult to imagine that Mori would feel regret for what he did to Yosano, he did truly admire her after all, but he could never admit that to himself. So instead he decides she’s still a tool that he can use and sets after her in earnest. And honestly? Yosano’s living situations aren’t good when he finds her. She’s unkempt and withdrawn within herself, even under Mori’s care she could hardly fare worse. Yes, Mori claims to Fukuzawa that he intends to use Yosano’s ability, but again, this man is a liar.

“An immortal regiment led by Yosano-kun is the best and only way”, no it is not, and Mori knows that. He saw the outcome of what Yosano could do, and maybe he would sacrifice his subordinates’ mental states to save Yokohama, but to destroy so many troops like that again? Mori isn’t so stupid.

Despite him saying otherwise, Mori has shown that he regrets what he did to Yosano, the main evidence being her influence on Elise, whether conscious or subconscious. The opening scenes of “The Dancing Girl” show us what the emotions associated with Elise are; regret, sorrow, loss, guilt.

It isn’t just Yosano who has impacted Elise either; more subtly, she has also been impacted by Dazai. We know from BEAST that Mori had wanted to help Dazai, and from his actions in Fifteen; he stops Dazai’s suicide attempts, he prevents him from taking harmful medications even if they won’t harm him, before Dazai met him he was likely living in Suribachi city (as evidenced by Dazai mentioning that the Sheep had offered for him to join).

As I will always stress, Mori doesn’t have a use for Dazai until that opening scene of Fifteen, he’s been keeping this kid around for a whole year, stopping his suicide attempts on multiple occasions, attempting to nurture Dazai’s knowledge of strategy, he’s behaving in an almost fatherly way (albeit he’s more like an unsure stepfather trying to connect to his new son than anything). Mori cared about Dazai, and that is reflecting in Elise’s behaviour. She no longer refuses Mori’s order but bargains with him, she runs away to mess with him, she throws tantrums and treats him with more disrespect. That is not behaviour that came from Yosano, that is the way Dazai acted.

More than just representing regret, Elise also represents desires. This can be seen with how Mori panders to her, he allows her to mess with his hair and tie it up in different styles, he buys her dresses and sweet foods despite her not being a real living girl. Elise displaying this behaviour shows the true depths of Mori’s humanity, because his greatest desire is a family. If we look at the way he treats children, it’s almost fatherly in some regards. It’s twisted by his duties and tendency to use people as tools, but he seems to take any excuse to bring children into the Port Mafia (not a good idea this one, he should probably stop doing it), he shows care about their physical wellbeing and health beyond what would be normal for a Mafia Boss, and as we see from BEAST, he is good at taking care of children.

BEAST is a different universe, yes, but all of the characters are the same at their core as in canon, what is different is the experiences that shaped them and consequentially the changes in their behaviour due to those differences. In BEAST Mori is given the family he desires, the children in the orphanage flourish under his care, Elise is not an adult because she reflects sexual desires, but because Mori’s desire for children of his own is no longer eating away at him. Remember, in “The Dancing Girl” Toyotaro leaves behind his lover and unborn child; although his love for Elise was questionable, his desire for family is always present. Indeed, Mori refers to Elise as his child and daughter many times throughout the manga, more than he ever calls her his “wife” (also that was a mistranslation so shush).

Which brings me to the crux of what Elise represents. She is humanity, the parts of Mori he attempts to shun, his regret and desires, but more than anything, she is a tool, a tool that he cannot help but care for. Mori is always using Elise; whether it be as a weapon, manipulating her truancy to his advantage, excusing his actions with her presence. We see this in chapter 16 with his interactions with Atsushi. Mori first appears claiming to be searching for Elise, who has “run-away”, and thus comes his reasoning for staying with Atsushi in Anne’s room, and therefore having Atsushi take down Lucy, who is a threat to Yokohama. While we have established that Elise likely has some autonomy, and so it is possible she could have run away, we never see her in Anne’s Room, and Mori is all too quick to use Atsushi in this situation, manipulating his appearance as a worried doctor to appeal to Atsushi’s caring disposition.

Additionally, during the Cannibalism arc, not only does Mori take Elise out shopping as a guise to search for the Gifted Assassin, but he also blames the exploding car on her, attempting to cover up the very obvious attempt on his life. Again in this situation Elise is an excuse, Mori is just shopping for his daughter, nothing suspicious here! Right up until the car explodes, which, again, Elise is an excuse for.

Elise is just like Yosano, just like Dazai, just like all the kids Mori brings into his care; she is a weak spot, something Mori pretends is a tool but really he does care for. He can easily excuse pampering her, he has to manipulate her into saving him! He can excuse her being so young, it helps keep suspicion off of her! She’s just a little girl, what harm could she do?

The answer is a lot.

Elise is a constant reminder of the people Mori has hurt, the child and lover he (possibly) left behind all the people he manipulates as tools, she is his humanity.

Both Mori’s ability and personality are affected by the works referenced in his ability, with his apathy, dehumanised nature and motivations coming from Kanai and Toyotaro, and Elise herself being replicated as his ability. As shown through the constant references to children Mori regrets using and his manipulation of Elise as a tool, it is evident that Elise heavily symbolises Mori’s guilt, wishes and humanity. How fitting that he would wield her as he would any weapon.

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