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Re-reading volume 4 and having thoughts about the way ruri's character is presented and handled Once again so I will put those thoughts here and try to make it sound as cohesive as i possibly can.

to all of us, as fans of the many formats in which durarara is presented, the issue of overtly sexualizing the female cast is not news. whether it is yasuda's illustrations, aogiri's manga adaptation, the anime and overall, narita's writing, most of the female cast is subjected to sexual remarks about their body that in, most occasions, come off as completely unnecessary and off-tone.

Ruri's character in particular, I think, is depicted in a way that conflicts with Narita's visions of her. Narita makes no sexual remarks of Ruri. The only instance of such is when in novel 8 Max confuses the leaked photos of the rituals and thinks they are from a porno, and in the end this is fixed by making fun of Max as a character, Ruri is not the end of the joke here.

It is weird that Narita pushes back with Ruri in specific. I don't want to take leaps and make assumptions that are not canonical, but the way Ruri's trauma is handled and experienced by her is very reminiscent of sexual assault/rape. Her reactions, inner monologues, and moments of panic, even the way Adabashi talks about her let one come to this conclusion. I say I don't want to take leaps because durarara is very straight forward, and it doesn't shy away from those subjects, so if it has been that way it would've been made much clearer, still, the missing pieces in Ruri's character can lead to one filling the gaps. Examples shown here

Now, how is Ruri depicted in these very intense and traumatic moments of her life?

I am not against sexual abuse being portrayed, well, sexually, because the adjective of something beng "sexual" is neither postive, or negative. Where i have to raise my eyebrow is at the tone of these illustrations. Aogiri's and Yasuda's are particularly criminal in that sense. Ruri, who has been denied autonomy for most of her life, is being depicted in the lowest moments of her life still as an object of desire, which does not translate the actual pain she is going through.

And this is a trope that many female characters, and even irl female victims of abuse, go through. The enigmatic tortured girl, the beautiful and sexy tortured woman. She is going through her own personal hell, being subjected to the most hurtful types of violence and being sex symbol and the pinnacle of beauty while she does it.

Enigmatic tortured girls are the intersection between The Madonna and The Whore. I have not seen every show in the world but from the way people talk about the trauma of female characters and how it is depicted I can think of a few famous enigmatic tortured girls: laura palmer in twin peaks, the lisbon sisters in the virgin suicides (most notably lux), alice palmer in lake mungo, a large part of euphoria's cast but most notably cassie, effy in skins. even irl personalities like amy winehouse, brittany murphy, and the most sexualized tortured woman that has existed, marilyn monroe. Now, a lot of these characteres and people have one thing in common: most of them are dead. The most beautiful thing the enigmatic tortured girl can do is die.

But that will not stop her hell, her objectification, her status as a sex symbol and icon of beauty. If anything, it will enhance it further.