History Literature / MyDarkVanessa

* QuestionableConsent: The first time Strane and Vanessa have sex. First, he catches her off-guard--initiating it despite having ''just'' told her they wouldn't "go that far yet"--and hushes her protests with "reassurance." During and after, Vanessa is left feeling conflicted and hurt, and questions if it was really consensual even if she didn't outright say "no." Vanessa repeatedly describes feeling as if she's drifting out of her body when Strane touches her (even at the early stages where it was not explicitly sexual), a symptom of dissociation that signals that she's seldom actually giving consent. This continues when she's an adult.

* AnimalLover: Vanessa has a fondness for dogs.

* ConsummateLiar: Vanessa is shocked how easily she can lie, both to others and to herself. [[UnreliableNarrator This doesn't make her the most reliable narrator in the world,]] especially when it comes to her perceptions about her and Strane's 'romance.'

* AffablyEvil / FauxAffablyEvil: Strane zigzags between the two as the story moves along, there are times where he seems genuinely friendly while at other times, one can tell his 'kindness' is just an act.

* EvilIsPetty: When Strane learns from Vanessa that her old friend Jenny asked her if she was having an inappropriate relationship with him, he humiliates Janny in class, much to Vanessa's chagrin.

* QuestionableConsent: The first time Strane and Vanessa have sex. First, he catches her off-guard--initiating it despite having ''just'' told her they wouldn't "go that far yet"--and hushes her protests with "reassurance." During and after, Vanessa is left feeling conflicted and hurt, and questions if it was really consensual even if she didn't outright say "no."
** Vanessa repeatedly describes feeling as if she's drifting out of her body when Strane touches her (even at the early stages where it was not explicitly sexual), a symptom of dissociation that signals that she's seldom actually giving consent. This continues when she's an adult.

* AmbiguousSituation: Vanessa's college professor, Henry Plough, is shown to have poor boundaries at the absolute best: he hides the fact that he is married to a former student from Vanessa, and inserts himself into her life to an inappropriate degree. But how similar he is to Strane, and how much is Vanessa seeing Plough through a projection of her past and attempting to make him play Strane's role, is left unclear. Vanessa herself admits to this ambiguity.

* AmbiguousSituation: Vanessa's college professor, Henry Plough, is shown to have poor boundaries at the absolute best: he hides the fact that he is married to a former student from Vanessa, and inserts himself into her life to an inappropriate degree. But how similar is he to Strane, and how much is Vanessa seeing Plough through a projection of her past and attempting to make him play Strane's role, is left unclear. Vanessa herself admits to this ambiguity.

** Vanessa repeatedly describes feeling as if she's drifting out of her body when Strane touches her (even at the early stages where it was not explicitly sexual), meaning that even though she never refuses consent him (and the one time she does tell him to stop he immediately does,) she's seldom actually giving it. This continues when she's an adult.

* UnequalPairing: Strane tries to convince Vanessa that ''she's'' really the one in control in their relationship, but he subtly manipulates her into going along with his wants. Both in bed and out.

* VictimBlaming: Vanessa has a tendency to do this, both with herself and other victims. Part of her own downward spiral is because she feels complicit in her own abuse (because she can't fully accept that her "consent" to each stage was due to Strane's manipulations, and she continued to contact him long after she was an adult,) and she projects this onto other victims too, (thinking Taylor in particular is massively overreacting to Strane touching her knee) to the point that when stories of kidnap or abuse come up in either films or the news she defaults to wondering whether the victim was enjoying it on some level.

* AmbiguousSituation: Vanessa's college professor, Henry Plough, is shown to have poor boundaries at the absolute best: he hides the fact that he is married to a former student from Vanessa, and inserts himself into her life to an inappropriate degree. But how much he is NotSoDifferent from Strane, and how much is Vanessa seeing Plough through a projection of her past and attempting to make him play Strane's role, is left unclear. Vanessa herself admits to this ambiguity.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Vanessa is deeply attached to her old roommate, Jenny, and there are hints that her feelings may have been at least partially romantic. In high school, she mentions wanting to kiss a female friend who's moving away but "resisting the urge." The ambiguity is, it's implied, inevitable: Strane's abuse has made it difficult enough for Vanessa to sort out the basic facts of her past, let alone her sexuality.
* AmbiguousSituation: Vanessa's college professor, Henry Plough, is shown to have poor boundaries at best: he hides the fact that he is married to a former student from Vanessa, and inserts himself into her life to an inappropriate degree. But how much he is NotSoDifferent from Strane, and how much is Vanessa seeing Plough through a projection of her past and attempting to make him play Strane's role, is left unclear. Vanessa herself admits to this ambiguity.

* ValuesDissonance: In-Universe. Vanessa's relationship with Strane gets mixed reactions in the 2000-2007 segments. There are some who see it as predatory, such as Jenny, others who romanticize the idea of a TeacherStudentRomance and say they'd do it if the teacher was hot enough, or they have SkeweredPriorites and are angrier that Vanessa lied to them. Come 2017 more people see Vanessa and Strane's relationship as predatory and abusive thanks to the rise of the [=MeToo=] movement.

** Sometimes it's difficult for victims to admit they ''were'' victims. Some inadvertently build their lives around their abusers, so what does mean about them once they've admitted it? That they wasted so much time with this person? This is not helped by some of [[UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming societies attitudes]] towards abuse victims (sexual or physical), several character's outright ask Vanessa why she can't see Strane for what he is.

* QuestionableConsent: The first time Strane and Vanessa have sex. First he catches her off-guard--initiating it despite having ''just'' told her they wouldn't "go that far yet"--and hushes her protests with "reassurance." During and after, Vanessa is left feeling conflicted and hurt, and questions if it was really consensual even if she didn't outright say "no."

* AgeGapRomance

** Not everyone wants to have their story put out for the world to see. This is especially poignant in the [=MeToo=] era. It mean's inviting millions into your personal information for the world to see and judge, and not everyone will have the victim's best interest in mind.