thefourthvine: Two people fucking, rearview: sex is the universal fandom. (Default)
Keep Hoping Machine Running ([personal profile] thefourthvine) wrote2011-05-01 05:19 pm

No Heterosexual Explanation Moments

Recently, I was talking to [livejournal.com profile] frostfire_17, and the topic of the No Heterosexual Explanation Moment came up. (It will not surprise you to hear that we were talking about the Fast and Furious franchise at the time. There are few other franchises so thoroughly inundated with such moments, I think.) It is the moment when you try, you genuinely, seriously try to take off your slash goggles and figure out what the writers, producers, directors, and actors thought was happening in a scene, and you can only conclude that, no, they must have thought the same-sex pairing was doing it, too. (It can also be the moment that a non-slasher wanders in, studies the screen for a long moment with narrowed eyes, and then says, "They are so fucking each other.")

As far as I can tell, there are two major categories of No Heterosexual Explanation Moments. The first is where the plot only makes sense if the pairing is, in fact, a pairing; I tend to put the first season of Smallville (what I know of it) into this category. Lex's behavior is just, you know, really really hard to explain unless he is very hot for Clark indeed. And the second kind is where it's just not something people with a strictly platonic, UST-free relationship ever do. Like, for example, when one cop signs "I love you" to the other cop as he's being med-evac'd out on a helicopter. I am pretty sure they don't teach that in police academy courses on Effective Partnerships in the Law Enforcement Profession, is all I'm saying.

But Frost and I realized that, tragically, we just do not have the depth and breadth of experience to make a complete catalogue of No Heterosexual Explanation Moments. This is where I am hoping you all come in. What are the key NHEMs of our time? Of past times? Of all time? Educate me! Bonus points for links to clips, if they come from a visual medium.

F/F as welcome as M/M, of course. And, hey, if you've got any NHEMs for threesomes, lay 'em on me. The only key is that even a person struggling not to see the pairing will still say, "...You know, I just really think they're doing it." (Obviously, if it is an actual canon pairing, it cannot feature in an NHEM, because in that case there shouldn't BE a heterosexual explanation.)

ETA: Spoilers in comments, of course! And the more the merrier, in my opinion.
liviapenn: miss piggy bends jail bars (remains sexy while doing so) (Default)

[personal profile] liviapenn 2011-05-02 02:47 am (UTC)(link)

Oh my god, I never saw that episode! .... Is BMW on Netflix Instant Streaming? Wow.
ar: A closeup of a painting: a white girl with blue eyes, dark hair, and red lips looks at the viewer a little insolently, (misc - sophie gray)

[personal profile] ar 2011-05-02 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
You definitely need to watch that episode, if only for the part where they get into a fight and then apologize and make up and Shawn gives him a pep talk IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEDDING CEREMONY.

Shawn: (Being restrained by Jed and Jack) (Yelling with rage) He doesn’t care that we’re not gonna be friends anymore!!

Cory: (Being restrained by Alan) Why do you keep saying that, huh? Why do you have to keep bringing that up?

Shawn: ‘Cause you won’t talk about it!!

Cory: I don’t wanna talk about it! Why do you think I’ve been sending you everywhere?

Shawn: We have to talk about it!

Cory: (Like a child) I don’t want to…

Shawn: We have to!

Cory: (Breathes) …now?

Shawn: (has been releases, paces towards the altar’s side) (Almost crying) Cory, after you get married, things are gonna be different. And I don’t have a lot for friends, you know? (Sits on the altar step)

Cory: Shawnie, I… (Sits next to Shawn) I don’t know what’s gonna happen. What do you want me to do?

Shawn: (Pause) I don’t know… (Pause, meekly) Do you really like her?

Cory: (Smiles, nodding) Yeah, I really do.

Shawn: You sure?

Topanga: (Interjects, leaning her head between Shawn and Cory) Shawn, I really think I’ve been very tolerant. (Backs away)

Shawn: Okay… (To Cory) Marry her.

Cory: You giving me your blessing?

Shawn: (Sadly) Yeah, well… we gotta grow up sometime. (Cory smiles)


I don't ship it, because that would require actively shipping Cory with someone (ewwwwww /mature), but Jesus, it is ridiculous.
minoanmiss: A detail of the Ladies in Blue fresco (Default)

[personal profile] minoanmiss 2011-05-02 04:44 pm (UTC)(link)
... that's actual show dialogue? Not a fic?

Great googli moogli.
ar: "It's a lot easier to tell the truth usually." - Elliott Smith (Default)

[personal profile] ar 2011-05-02 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Actualfax show dialogue. :D The last two seasons of the show were incredibly weird in general--the characters mutated into funhouse mirror reflections--but yeah, the part where both Cory and Shawn were ostensibly straight was especially bizarre.

(Of course, you can go back to the earliest seasons and find plenty of evidence. At one point when Cory and Shawn are still in middle school and doing some kind of asinine project about families, Topanga wants to know why they don't just marry each other, and their answer is, "Because our kids would look like horses." So it was always there, just ratcheted up to no-possible-hetsplanation by the time the show ended.)
travels_in_time: (Default)

[personal profile] travels_in_time 2011-05-02 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
The slash is coming from INSIDE THE SCRIPT.
anotherveronica: a tree covered in pink flowers (Default)

[personal profile] anotherveronica 2011-05-03 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
I really need an icon that says this, omg.
starfishchick: (Default)

[personal profile] starfishchick 2011-05-02 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, show.
ar: Kira Nerys from DS9 flopped in a chair. (ds9 - kira hmmmm)

[personal profile] ar 2011-05-02 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
...And then I saw you were talking about the episode before the wedding one, not the actual wedding episode. DON'T MIND ME, I'll show myself out. ^^;
liviapenn: miss piggy bends jail bars (remains sexy while doing so) (Default)

[personal profile] liviapenn 2011-05-02 06:12 am (UTC)(link)

Well, they both sound amazing! I would hate to miss either one!