Yeah, this kind of perspective is exactly why I found myself asking the question of “is this actually rape” in the first place. There is consent, but the victim was forced to become the kind of person who would consent.
Where do we draw the line between the legal status of someone who’s had their brain forcibly changed by way of a parahuman power, and that of someone whose had their brain changed in any other way – i.e. literally everyone who is capable of learning and developing as a person?
Hell, even if you only count cases where someone did it to them, it raises questions… Actually, I think it might even provide a good analogy for this situation in reality:
Take a victim of “mundane” (as in non-parapowered) psychological abuse and manipulation in a supposedly romantic setting, who has had their will and/or self-confidence torn down to make them believe that they need and/or love their abuser and that their abuser loves them back. Should that abuse victim be considered unable to consent, whether it’s with the abuser or otherwise?
Heartbreaker essentially does exactly that in an instant (or however long it takes him to use the power).
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