A Date with Rosie Palms/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Masturbation

  • Played Straight: Bob decides to pleasure himself. Pornography may or may not be involved.
  • Exaggerated: Bob spends so much time doing this, he starts to fall in love with himself.
  • Justified
    • Bob doesn't have a partner, for whatever reason(s), and needs relief.
    • It's a lot safer (in most cases, anyway) than sleeping around.
    • Bob is a narcissist.
    • It gives Bob pleasure, but it is a supplement to (not substitute for) sex with a partner.
  • Inverted: Bob has sex with Alice
  • Subverted: Bob receives a handjob from Alice
  • Double Subverted: Then gives himself one later, not necessarily because he's unsatisfied by Alice, but because it felt good.
  • Parodied: Bob literally has a Magical Girlfriend named Rosie Palms, but when he mentions having a date with her, everyone else is Squicked.
  • Deconstructed: Bob may feel like a loser if he isn't getting any from others, and some think what he's doing is somehow wrong and deviant, and/or that it's somehow cheating on his Love Interest. It could also be a problem if Bob is doing it compulsively, and it's getting in the way of his work/school life or social life.
  • Reconstructed: Bob uses it as a supplement (not substitute) for actual sex, and because he knows his body better, the sex is better. And he is (of course) discreet about it, and his Love Interest is okay with it (or even turned on by it!) He also does not care what others think; what he does in his own bedroom is his own business.
  • Zig Zagged: Sometimes Bob has A Date with Rosie Palms, sometimes he has sex with Alice.
  • Lampshaded: "Well, looks like it's just me, myself, and I tonight!"
  • Averted: Bob does not masturbate.
  • Enforced: "We need to show that Bob is a nerd with "needs" who can't satisfy 'em!"
  • Defied: Bob refuses to masturbate, on grounds that it is against his religious beliefs, not as satisfying as real sex, etc.
  • Discussed: Bob talks with a psychiatrist about his chronic masturbation.
  • Conversed: The Moral Guardians of your local newspaper warn parents against seeing this movie because Bob is shown masturbating.
  • Played For Laughs:
    • Alice walks in on Bob while he's masturbating. Bob is embarrassed, and tries to deny or hide what he's been doing even though it's patently obvious. Hilarity Ensues.
    • Bob is not masturbating, but is caught in a compromising position where it looks like he is. His attempts to explain only make things worse. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Played For Drama: Alice walks in on Bob while he's masturbating. Bob is embarrassed, and Alice, worried that she's not able to meet his sexual needs, feels hurt and betrayed. The relationship suffers.
  • Played for Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow: Alice walks in on Bob while he's masturbating... and decides to join in the fun.

Now that you're done playing with yours- I mean the trope, you can go back to the main entry.