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Playing With / Ethical Slut

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Basic Trope: A character (usually speaking for a work) who believes that sleeping around is good as long as everyone involved is responsible and honest.

  • Straight: The character is presented as honorable, empathic, and pretty much uninhibited as far as sex is concerned.
  • Exaggerated: The character is presented as a morally perfect man or woman, exemplified in their frequent praise of (and acting on) Free Love.
  • Downplayed: Chivalrous Pervert.
  • Justified:
    • The character knows people whose lives were ruined by sexual repression or was one.
    • They're just a genuine Nice Guy at heart.
  • Inverted:
  • Subverted: A promiscuous character pretends to care about his sex partners, but he's really a selfish Jerkass.
  • Double Subverted: ... but he's actually a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • Parodied: A character that will have sex with anyone or anything, but is appalled at the idea that anyone he screws on sight might be in a monogamous relationship.
  • Zig Zagged: Bob refuses to see anyone else, even though Alice is fine with it, and won't let Alice go out with anybody either...except for girls. Bob later decides to "have coffee" with Charlotte, but Alice quickly becomes jealous...
  • Averted: Whatever the characters' sex lives, a character's beliefs about it and their overall morality aren't closely linked.
  • Enforced:
  • Lampshaded:
    • "She's such a nice girl... But not a big fan of monogamy. Just warning ya."
    • "I never sleep with anyone I don't love." "You love a lot of people." "Keep that up, and you won't be one of 'em much longer."
  • Invoked: Alice is a tramp, and she knows that Jerkass Bob is interested in her. However, she refuses to sleep with him unless he starts being nicer to people, and uses her wiles as "encouragement".
  • Exploited: ???
  • Defied: The character has a high sex-drive, but refuses to have a one-stand out of the possibility that the person they're sleeping with might be taken.
  • Discussed: "As long as she knows, they know and you aren't uncomfortable, nothing's wrong with an orgy!"
  • Conversed: "You know, treating sex as something you only do with one other person doesn't make any sense."
  • Deconstructed:
    • The character has had many relationships broken due to cheating and decided that the right choice was to have sex with anyone as long as it didn't hurt anyone in any other way.
    • Alternatively, STD Immunity is not in play. Venereal disease ensues.
    • The character is called out as a Hypocrite and ousted from his circle of friends.
  • Reconstructed:
    • A character understands all the flaws in human relationships and has decided that free sexuality doesn't necessarily harm relationships.
    • Alternatively, he heard about condoms, and it is a Serious Business for him.

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