Casual Fling is a 2021 comic published by AWA Studios-Upshot, written by Jason Starr with art by Dalibor Talajic
Tropes
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Zig-Zagged. It’s made very clear that Jennifer, and the other women she goes to see, all had sex with Miles because of the emotional connection they developed with him, since he stalked them for weeks in order to figure out their interests, as opposed to being attracted to any bad boy qualities. However there is some elements of this trope when it comes to the act itself, with Jennifer and the other women all having different opinions and reactions to when Miles brought out his mask. Some, like Jennifer, seemed to have enjoyed indulging his supposed kink suggesting it did make him appear more attractive, some didn’t care, and at least two saw it as a warning sign with one attempting to leave after he pulls it out. Jennifer later thinks of Miles and his mask while having sex with Matt, with it being implied through the video that she enjoyed the more passionate and aggressive style of sex she had with Miles over what she has with Matt. However despite this it's made clear she genuinely loves Matt and she sees her time with Miles as nothing but a mistake even before he tries to blackmail her.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Matt often asks Jennifer whether she feels guilty because she had an affair or because she was blackmailed by her one night stand and had to confess. She noticeably never gives an actual answer.
- Both Sides Have a Point: After realising that Miles has done this to other women, it becomes a minor disagreement on whether Jennifer is a victim or just a cheater. Matt earlier said that this wasn't a Me Too situation and tells her to admit that she was a cheater, but later refers to the other women as victims which Jennifer and Sensei call him out on. By the end Matt agrees that Miles was a predator who took advantage of her by filming her without her consent and then blackmailing her, but Jennifer also admits that unlike the other women Miles took advantage of she chose to cheat and therefore isn’t completely blameless for what happened.
- Business Trip Adultery: Jennifer tells Matt that she needs to work late before going to see Miles.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Miles and his wife are arrested as there is photographic evidence of them raping unconscious women, and Jennifer and Matt feel confident they can move past all of this.
- Emasculated Cuckold: Averted. While he consults IT Matt has pretty much become a stay at home dad who takes care of the cleaning and the cooking while Jennifer works as a lawyer, contrasting him heavily with the more business like Alex Miles who Jennifer connects with. When Matt finds out about the affair he’s furious and demands to see the video, with him getting angry and throwing his laptop after seeing it. Also when talking with Sensei she implies that while nothing excuses Jennifer’s choice to cheat, it can be explained by how Matt got too wrapped up with taking care of the kids to tend to Jennifer’s needs suggesting it was still his fault. However he plays a key role in exposing Miles and his wife, and his determination and ability to forgive Jennifer helps get them back together, and he doesn't fall into either examples of the trope.
- Female Misogynist: Miles’ wife Brooke is involved in what he does, helping him pick out women to seduce and ruin their lives while also drugging women. It’s implied that this is mostly her fantasy as well that Miles is just happy to go along with.
- Hidden Depths: Despite seemingly being a stereotypical Nice Guy and stay at home dad, Matt is friends with a hacker and becomes determined to find Miles without any encouragement.
- Innocently Insensitive: Sensei appears to be a friend of Matt’s and wants to help, but she doesn’t appear to have a filter or awareness that what she’s saying will hurt his feelings, such as pointing out how much Jennifer clearly enjoyed the sex with Miles and commenting on how flexible she is.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Sensei's real name is never given.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: It’s eventually revealed that Alex Miles and his wife sometimes drug women and rapes them. Finding a photo of this is what gets the police to arrest them and stop them from raping another women.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Jennifer tries to have Miles arrested for blackmail and stalking, the detective reluctantly points out that she doesn’t really have a case against him. He wore a mask in the video meaning there’s no proof it was him, her claims that he’s stalking her are that she saw him at two very public places, and without either of those she can’t have him arrested for supposedly owning a video of them having sex. It’s only when they find a photo of him raping a woman that the police do anything.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Downplayed. Jennifer isn’t sympathetic despite being a cheater, because her reasons for cheating are rather shallow and she acknowledges that unlike the other women she’s not a completely blameless victim. However, her one night stand recording her without her consent, blackmailing her for money and planning to send it to her colleagues, friends and family to ruin her life does make her sympathetic since she doesn’t deserve that.
- The Unfair Sex: Brought up in the ending as Jennifer admits that if the roles were reversed she isn’t sure she could forgive Matt. Sensei also implies that some of the blame is his for what happened.
