On the subject of Mindfang/Dolorosa
Because yet again I've glanced at the Mindfang tag only to see someone loudly claiming that the pairing isn't rape, and using Mindfang's journal line of her claim of love to be the reason why it can't be rape.
Here is the line:
and now please, follow the cut, done mostly in case of triggers. Triggers would include discussion of rape and sexual abuse of course.
First, I shall begin with the paragraphs in full, taken from page 005407. In plain text because fuck it.
And so not knowing, I take her will, 8ut leave enough of it to enjoy her response. Her hands are in my service 8ut they still shake. They unfasten the first 8utton at my jacket’s waist, clumsily. I have masked the line 8etween my puppeteering and her volition exquisitely, and her uncertainty over her own control fuels her fear. She unfastens the second 8utton, and 8etween the second and third, I make a casual remark to Dualscar, continuing our convers8tion. He does not respond. I look again at the face of my slave, imagining for a moment her mind is not an unguarded port to her every dread. I imagine I cannot feel her conviction that it’s not merely a matter of whether she will 8e put to the irons, 8ut how hot they will 8e if she fails to please. Poor thing. Her horns make attractive shapes and pair themselves pleasantly amidst her violent snarls of hair. Her fingers, which I have lost track of, to my surprise have come 8etween the petticoat and my skin. The heat of her touch tells me the likely range for the color of her 8lood. I wouldn’t have guessed it to look at her, not with her sign stripped. Her mouth opens slightly and I squint. Ah! Razor sharp, and none missing. Perfect. How disappointing it is to find quivering lips hiding dull teeth. I pause to consider. What will her fear 8ecome if I choose to show her mercy later? And even, in days, kindness? Will this 8e the red dalliance that 8ecomes fully flushed? Love demands my cunning just as my raids. If it is to 8e, she will never understand how thoroughly she was manipul8ted, her 8ody, her mind, her devotion.
Right there. The very first sentence has Mindfang saying "And so not knowing, I take her will, 8ut leave enough of it to enjoy her response". She takes her will, she uses her mind control to take control of the Dolorosa's mind and forces her to touch her, and not only that, let Mindfang enjoy the way she shakes at her actions. The Dolorosa is aware somewhat, that she is not fully in control, but cannot stop it, and in turn this leaves her in a state of uncertainty over her actions. "I have masked the line 8etween my puppeteering and her volition exquisitely, and her uncertainty over her own control fuels her fear". And Mindfang makes her strip her down, saying at one point that her fingers get between her petticoat and skin.
Serket's in general are often shown to use their mind control for their own whims. Mindfang does not only this, but in turn her trial where she turns the minds of the lowblood crowd into focusing on Neophtye Redglare, making them see her as the object of hatred and in turn using their attack on her as cover for her to escape. Vriska in turn, uses Sollux to kill Aradia, after Aradia gets ghosts to haunt her for hurting Tavros. And when Terezi tells Doc Scratch who has his cueball, and in turn gets Vriska's eye and arm destroyed, Vriska uses Tavros to gain control of Dragonmum and get Terezi to walk out into the sun and blind herself. Aranea, while less extreme (being a troll from Beforus, which was more peaceful then Alternia) still uses her abilities with Vriska to control the group of ghosts they are using as bait for Lord English. And doubling back to Mindfang, she manipulates others into touching her sexually, taking away their ability to consent, and forcing their hands.
But! Not only is the Dolorosa mind controlled to follow Mindfang's whims, she's placed in a position where she wouldn't be able to say no even if she had her control. She's a slave, that's what she's placed into after the Sufferer's death, and as a slave and a lowerblood, Mindfang is her superior, and in turn can decide her fate. And Mindfang can see her fear, that the Dolorosa is so sure that it's "merely a matter of whether she will 8e put to the irons, 8ut how hot they will 8e if she fails to please."
And Mindfang gets off on this. She gets off on the power and control she has over the Dolorosa. That's why she leaves the Dolorosa with some awareness, so that the Dolorosa can be fearful. This isn't just all an act for Dualscar (no in fact, I see it one of Mindfang's final attempts to get him to loathe her rather than pity her, to keep him in her black) but also for Mindfang's own pleasure.
And while yes, the next page goes on to recount both Dualscar's and the Dolorosa's deaths, with the line "Thus my heart was 8roken twice. I was fond of the slave. There was surely promise in her red investment." that doesn't mean Mindfang loved her. She calls her an investment. Pity and love are very different things, the Dolorosa could easily become a pitiful thing to Mindfang, with her lose of stature, of symbols and finally her loss of control. But Mindfang plans how to make the Dolorosa a pitiful thing, by not only mind controlling her as she is doing now, but in escense creating a stockholm syndrome/lima syndrome with her. While everyone is familiar with stockholm syndrome, where hostages develop and express empathy and sympathy towards their captors, often defending them, the term lima syndrome has been suggested to describe the opposite, captors developing sympathy towards their hostage.
I definitely see Mindfang developing this syndrome, as the Dolorosa is a thing to be pity, and I see her attempting to create a similar response with the Dolorosa. "What will her fear 8ecome if I choose to show her mercy later? And even, in days, kindness? Will this 8e the red dalliance that 8ecomes fully flushed? Love demands my cunning just as my raids. If it is to 8e, she will never understand how thoroughly she was manipul8ted, her 8ody, her mind, her devotion" Mindfang wants the emotional connection, but she also wants control of it, and plots to manipulate her to that point. However, we never see that happen because really there is like 2 days time between the first journal entry describing the Dolorosa and the one of her death.
But the point remains. The Dolorosa was not a person to love, but an object to use and manipulate. While I can see Mindfang seeing it as being something that could become a relationship, I very very much doubt the Dolorosa shared that view. It wasn't a relationship, it was abuse.
End of.
