danteâs fraught ownership of himself and his body make me go crazy.
an ancestor signed away his eye long before he was born. his parents kept him sheltered and limited his activities. history obligates him to be the sun lord and take on a contract with the elemental spirit of fire that is emblazoned on his skin. (and, if he abandons either contract, he will suffer debilitating pain or death, which is cool)
all parts of him have either been under the control of someone else or are owed to solaria.
âAs long as I am powerful enough and live a good life, they [citizens of Solaria] all have the chance to live better lives too.â <- dante in chapter 9. extremely normal sentiment and healthy onus to place on himself. the vague standard of âpowerful enoughâ buries the lede so much. yeah dude, just be powerful enough to uplift an entire city in the desolate desert while the dead zone creeps closer and closer. shouldnât be too hard at all. just commit your whole life to this semi-impossible task
he frames this as selfishly as possible (âItâs all for myself, of course.â), but we know he cares deeply about the citizens of solaria and takes measures to ensure their safety, prosperity, and their rights. not only that, he feels guilty for all the wrongs committed by past sun lords and is committed to improving them. (see: his sunburst fever unit, among other things. also, the cowboy event)
we also know that he doesnât indulge much in terms of his personal life. he avoids spending excess money, limiting his number of personal outfits. (<- neon carnival pamphlet) when people try to adjust to his tastes (yakumo trying to use solarian spices or eiden trying to otherwise accommodate him), he dismisses the comforts.
dante is proud of his body, his form, his skills. but like??? is any of it his? his life outside of his obligations is so small; one could even say they are encapsulated in one loadbearing kitty (hi sooleyyy).
in his Icy Equilibrium unit, eiden tries to get dante to consider the virtues of âtaking a load offâ and âfree timeâ. to which dante replies:
âI won't tell others how to live their lives, but as for myself, when the need for urgent action arises, I use my time effectively regardless of my mood. Failing to consider the value of one's actions, only caring for one's own happiness...This world isn't as pure and innocent as you so clearly believe.â
he has not unclenched since his parents died. which. fair, given everything. after his parents died, dante began living for solaria. immediately.
and now, after many events loosening up his stringent views and weedling whimsy into his life, during his pirate unit, dante absentmindedly let go of the survival raft he and eiden made to escape the island they got stranded on, the island where he was relieved of all his duties and could just hang out with his closest friend. which could mean nothing
[clenches my fists] heâs so proud of himself and what heâs made. but can he enjoy it? can he relax? guy who is so proud of his body and has so much unearned confidence about his sexual prowess, but during his base sr h-scene with eiden, he states that â[i]n the past, [he] always wanted to get this sort of thing over with as quickly as possible.â? in his blood key unit, dante says his first time was with a master of etiquette hired by advisors?? (though he later says this was lie, it would be such a strange lie from him, especially since the âhired by advisorsâ part would hinder his hidden identity (eiden and him were playing truth or dare while undercover) compared to a more generic lie.)
