But contrived UST in TV shows just really annoys me, usually related to the crappy trope Can't Have Sex Ever. Note: spoilers for the following TV series ahead:
- Dark Angel
- Legend of the Seeker / Sword of Truth books (kinda)
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer
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So, in Dark Angel, there is UST between Max and Logan for a very long time. A lot of it seems to be because Max is too interested in being a detached badass, because if I recall correctly, Logan falls for her pretty quickly, though he hides it, of course. Then there's also the fact that he's in a wheelchair, so he can't physically have sex with her anyway. Eventually, they do fall for each other, and Logan's paralysis is cured, only for Max to be infected with a very specific virus that will cause Logan to die if they ever touch each other. There is one episode where Max finds a temporary cure for the virus, which would mean they can finally have sex, but too many other things happen in the episode, and their window of opportunity closes.
In Legend of the Seeker, Kahlan is a Confessor, which means she has the power to "confess" someone, which would make them entirely devoted to her and do whatever she wants them to do. Which sounds awesome except for the part where she can't have sex with someone, because during that moment of ecstasy, she'll lose control of her powers, and confess her partner, which would turn him into a mindless slave. For a majority of the series, Richard is in love with her, and she with him, but they can never be together because Richard has an important role to play in the ongoing war, and if she confesses him, life as they know it will be doomed.
Then in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel is a vampire with a soul, which means despite being a vampire, he is a good guy, and doesn't want to just go around killing people and sucking their blood. However, the curse that gave him the soul has a catch to it - if he ever experiences a moment of perfect happiness, he will lose his soul and go back to being Angelus, the bad guy vampire he was for many years before being cursed by gypsies. Buffy, who is a vampire slayer, obviously falls for the good guy vampire (good job there, buddy) and he falls for her. They know they shouldn't be together, and Giles looks condescendingly on their relationship, but they do it anyway. Not knowing about the curse, they both have sex, only for Angel to wake up and be evil, and do a lot of bad things. Buffy ends up killing him, but he comes back, only he has his soul again, and now they can never be together ever again in case he goes back to being evil.
What really annoys me with this trope is that it equates love to sex. A lot of the time, the characters bemoan that they can't love each other, when what they really mean is that they can't have sex with each other. For me, love involves things like being happy when the other person is around. Being willing to do things or sacrifice things because the other person needs you to. Caring about them, and what happens to them. I feel that way about my family, but I definitely don't want to sleep with any of them! I feel that way about some of my friends, and again, don't need to have sex with them for me to feel that way.
I understand that for most monogamous relationships, sex is tied in, because you tend to only have sex with your significant other, but I personally have the view that you can love someone even if they need to get their needs fulfilled elsewhere. And again to the topic of cancer, if I had breast cancer, and had to get them both removed, and maybe I started to get plague sores and would look really ugly, I would hope that MrMan5.5 could still love me and want to be with me, despite the fact that the sight of me would possibly be a horrible boner killer. I would if the situation were reversed. Well, I can easily say that now because it hasn't happened, but I would like to think that I would.
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But back to regular UST, I wonder if the people who are experiencing it know about it. I think it's really hard to tell if someone has feelings for you, because you're too close to the situation. It's a lot easier for an outside party to pick up on the signs. So if they don't know about it, should I tell them? A part of me doesn't want to, because then I miss out on my live action soap opera, and then there's the fact that the UST is part of the fun. I just really like that nervous feeling you get when you're around someone that you like, but they don't know about it. Plus, I am trying harder to stay out of other people's business!
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If you are curious about what happens in those three shows: Max and Logan's relationship dies to the show being cancelled. Richard and Kahlan get together, and they realise her powers don't work on him because he's already in love with her. Angel leaves Buffy and Sunnydale behind and moves to Los Angeles.
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