abstract
| - Failing to see the difference between playfulness (or similar) and abuse can be annoying at best and disastrous at worst. This can take two forms:
* Type A: Something not abusive is mistaken for abuse.
* Type B: Something actually abusive is mistaken for something that doesn't need worrying about. In both cases, someone is likely to suffer because of the mistake. When Played for Laughs, the mistake is almost always Type A, and quickly corrected. When Played for Drama, however, a real victim might be denied help (Type B), a innocent person might get his life ruined with unfair accusations of abuse (Type A), or the designated "victim" (again Type A) gets stalked or outright oppressed by unwanted "rescuers". These helpers might even go to great lengths trying to force her to "realize" that she's a victim of abuse. And no, not the actual abuse that they are subjecting her to. See also Friendly War, Casual Kink, and Safe, Sane, and Consensual for non-abusive stuff that can be mistaken for abuse. Compare You Just Ruined the Shot, for cases where the "victim" was an actor in a movie rather then a participant in a sexual game. Contrast Romanticized Abuse (with the subtropes Bastard Boyfriend and Bastard Girlfriend) as well as Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On Male for situations that are clearly abusive but the audience isn't really intended to care. Warning! Expect unmarked spoilers, since this trope is about situations being revealed to be different than what they looked like. Examples of Abuse Mistake include:
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