ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Savage Genitalia ability and also on a particular example of dark play that stems from a tabletop game. Savage Genitalia can ultimately be viewed as defensible when contextualised within the player frame. The players primarily process and filter experiences of dark and violent sexuality in their games through rules. From this reliance on rules comes the first defence for including dark sexual themes and concepts in play. In showing how Savage Genitalia was keyed in two different ways, the second defence is provided for the fourteen-inch barbed penis and insight is provided into how dark play can enter games without disrupting how players view their own ethical constitutions. To deepen the understanding of the incorporation of dark themes in play, it is useful to look at an example in which the rules of a game were used to exclude sexual violence from play. In examining this example, the third defence is also provided.
