Incompatible Orientation/Playing With

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Basic Trope: A character is attracted to someone whose sexual preferences exclude them.

• Straight: Alice is taken with Bob, who is already in a relationship with Charlie.
• Exaggerated: Alice is taken with Bob.
  • No potential couples in the show have compatible orientations.
• Downplayed:
• Justified: Bob had a traumatic experience that explains his lack of attraction to Alice.
  • Truth in Television.
• Inverted: Everyone Is Bi.
  • If It's You It's Okay.
• Subverted: Alice falls for Bob, but once he introduces her to his boyfriend Charlie, Alice and Charlie hook up.
  • Alice manages to make Bob and Charlie heterosexual with Applied Phlebotinum.
  • Alice gets a sex change.
• Double Subverted: ... But it turns out Charlie was only trying to make Bob jealous, and isn't really attracted to Alice.
  • ...Except it turns out they were faking it, and get the next ride out of town to get away from an obvious Yandere.
• Parodied: Alice is a Bob-sexual and Bob is an everyone-but-Alice-sexual.
• Deconstructed:
• Reconstructed:
• Zig Zagged: Alice is rejected by Bob, who tells her Sorry, I'm Gay. However, it turns out that Bob isn't actually gay and has just taken a vow of chastity. Alice is satisfied with a platonic relationship with Bob, until she finds out that Bob has been sleeping with Charlie. Bob apologizes and attempts make-up sex with Alice, who is now dating Denise.
• Averted: No Hugging, No Kissing.
  • Everyone is sexually compatible with the person they fall in love with.
• Enforced: The author created Alice and Bob as a way to inform the audience about sexuality issues.
• Lampshaded: "All the Good Men Are Gay."
• Invoked: Denise sets Alice and Bob up for a blind date, regardless of the differences in their sexual orientations.
• Exploited: Bob is in denial about his sexuality, so Denise needs to put him in a situation where he will realize he doesn't like women in order to get him to date Charlie.
• Defied: Alice avoids men who aren't straight or bi to make sure this won't occur.
• Discussed: "Don't feel bad that Bob doesn't like you; maybe he just doesn't like women."
• Conversed: "Poor Amelia, doesn't even realize that Brad is gay..."
• Played For Laughs: Alice is a Butt Monkey who never falls in love with a man who likes women.
• Played For Drama: Alice is heartbroken that her true love isn't capable of loving her back, and is so emotionally crushed that she swears never to love again.

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