History Main / RelationshipWritingFumble

* ''Series/HannahMontana'':
** Miley and Lilly are just supposed to be best friends, but most fans think they have more chemistry together than with their actual love interests. Their relationship is filled with LesYay, and is often given a lot more focus than their romantic ones. In the first episode, Miley's afraid to tell Lilly she is Hannah, in a way that resembles someone being afraid to tell their childhood crush they like them. The Movie also gives a lot more focus and weight to their fight than to that of Miley with the BoyOfTheWeek, Travis. Lilly eventually gets with Oliver, but the show makes it clear that Miley is her most important relationship, and she chooses to help Miley over Oliver multiple times. When the two do fight it comes off to many fans like an old married couple. There's a good reason most fanfiction about the show interpret them as already dating.
** Miley and Mikayla are supposedly rivals, but their dynamic comes off more like BelligerentSexualTension to a lot of fans. When Miley first meets Mikayla she basically squees, and acts like a girl with her celebrity crush. Meanwhile despite not getting along with Hannah, Mikayla seems to adore Miley, and acts more affectionate towards her than towards her actual crush, Jake. Mikayla also hates Lilly and acts like a girl jealous of someone else being close to her crush.

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'':
** The relationship between Adrian Monk and his two attractive female assistants was certainly not an out-of-the-box relationship type. In spite of the obvious opportunities for sexual tension, there is virtually none of it, and the show is all the better for that. Overall, Sharona and Natalie are shown as feeling devotion and even love toward Monk, but in an utterly platonic, somewhat motherly way. Monk, for his part, was always dedicated to the memory of his late wife. However:

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': The relationship between Adrian Monk and his two attractive female assistants was certainly not an out-of-the-box relationship type. In spite of the obvious opportunities for sexual tension, there is virtually none of it, and the show is all the better for that. Overall, Sharona and Natalie are shown as feeling devotion and even love toward Monk, but in an utterly platonic, somewhat motherly way. Monk, for his part, was always dedicated to the memory of his late wife. However:

* ''Zero Chill'': Sky is supposed to be in an OfficialCouple with lead character Mac, with his sister Kayla being her best friend, and they do have a solid amount of ShipTease and build-up. However, once Sky and Mac actually get their RelationshipUpgrade, the LesYay that was already present between her and Kayla gets even more prominent. There's a climactic moment in the middle of the show where Sky has to choose between skating with Kayla and going on a date with Mac that seems a bit more charged than a normal FriendVersusLover situation, and after she finds out that Sky and Mac have gotten together, Kayla reacts with more jealousy than what would be expected. The triumphant emotional scene of the first season's finale is Sky choosing to skate with Kayla at her big skating competition even though this would disqualify her from competing and lose the respect of Kayla's instructor. It's also easy to forget that Sky and Mac are supposed to be together, given that they act more like good friends rather than a couple.

* The 2018 film ''Red Joan'' is about an elderly woman being outed as a Cold War spy - who first became one by entering a romance with a Soviet agent. Except the first scene establishing her past has her meeting a HardDrinkingPartyGirl who climbs into her room, has NoSenseOfPersonalSpace and is very friendly. This character Sonya just becomes Joan's friend (and eventual contact when she begins spying) but the scene is very much a MeetCute - making it look like Joan was actually a lesbian. Indeed some early scenes between Joan, Sonya and Leo make it look like a LoveTriangle is forming - with Sonya as the Hypoteneuse.

* ''Series/{{Legacies}}'': The writers and characters InUniverse have repeatedly stated that Hope and Josie are never going to get together, with their crushes on each other being very much in the past. However, a lot of fans feel that they still have far better chemistry than Hope and Landon. In the first season, Hope and Josie have a scene where they argue in the park that is framed and shot similar to a BelligerentSexualTension scene from a high school RomCom. In another universe, their counterparts are paired together for the sake of a joke (which comes off as far more tender than they meant it to). The second season tries to paint Josie/Landon/Hope as a love triangle, but it makes Josie come off like a kid with a crush, who doesn't know how to deal with it. When everyone's memories of Hope return, Hope refuses to return if it will hurt Josie (which leads to Josie telling her to stay while holding hands, as a soft romance song plays in the background). When Josie turns evil, Hope tries to desperately bring her back (even trapping someone who suggests killing her in a simulation), before jumping into Josie's subconscious where Josie's good half (disguised as a talking pig) tells Hope to try kissing her sleeping form to wake her up like out of a fairy tale. The chemistry between them is so noticeable that several of the show's actors, including Creator/DanielleRoseRussell (Hope) and Creator/KayleeBryant (Josie), have admitted to shipping them as well.

* ''Series/{{Legacies}}'': The writers and characters InUniverse have repeatedly stated that Hope and Josie are never going to get together, with their crushes on each other being very much in the past. However, a lot of fans feel that they still have far better chemistry than Hope and Landon. In the first season, Hope and Josie have a scene where they argue in the park that is framed and shot similar to a BelligerentSexualTension scene from a high school RomCom. In another universe, their counterparts are paired together for the sake of a joke (which comes off as far more tender than they meant it to). The second season tries to paint Josie/Landon/Hope as a love triangle, but it makes Josie come off like a kid with a crush, who doesn't know how deal to with it. When everyone's memories of Hope return, Hope refuses to return if it will hurt Josie (which leads to Josie telling her to stay while holding hands, as a soft romance song plays in the background). When Josie turns evil, Hope tries to desperately bring her back (even trapping someone who suggests killing her in a simulation), before jumping into Josie's subconscious where Josie's good half (disguised as a talking pig) tells Hope to try kissing her sleeping form to wake her up like out of a fairy tale. The chemistry between them is so noticeable that several of the show's actors, including Creator/DanielleRoseRussell (Hope) and Creator/KayleeBryant (Josie), have admitted to shipping them as well.

* ''Series/{{Legacies}}'': The writers and characters InUniverse have repeatedly stated that Hope and Josie are never going to get together, with their crushes on each other being very much in the past. However, a lot of fans feel that they still have far better chemistry than Hope and Landon. In the first season, Hope and Josie have a scene where they argue in the park that is framed and shot similar to a BelligerentSexualTension scene from a high school RomCom. In another universe, their counterparts are paired together for the sake of a joke (which comes off as far more tender than they meant it to). The second season tries to paint Josie/Landon/Hope as a love triangle, but it makes Josie come off like a kid with a crush, who doesn't know how deal to with it. When everyone's memories of Hope return, Hope refuses to return if it will hurt Josie (which leads to Josie telling her to stay while holding hands, as a soft romance song plays in the background). When Josie turns evil, Hope tries to desperately bring her back (even trapping someone who suggests killing her in a simulation), before jumping into Josie's subconscious where Josie's good half (disguised as a talking pig) tells Hope to try kissing her sleeping form to wake her up like out of a fairy tale. Their accidental chemistry is so noticeable that several of the show's actors, including Creator/DanielleRoseRussell (Hope) and Creator/KayleeBryant (Josie), have admitted to shipping them as well.

* ''Series/{{Legacies}}'': The writers and characters InUniverse have repeatedly stated that Hope and Josie are never going to get together, with their crushes on each other being very much in the past. However, a lot of fans feel that they still have far better chemistry than Hope and Landon. In the first season, Hope and Josie have a scene where they argue in the park that is framed and shot similar to a BelligerentSexualTension scene from a high school RomCom. In another universe, their counterparts are paired together for the sake of a joke (which comes off as far more tender than they meant it to). The second season tries to paint Josie/Landon/Hope as a love triangle, but it makes Josie come off like a kid with a crush, who doesn't know how deal to with it. When everyone's memories of Hope return, Hope refuses to return if it will hurt Josie (which leads to Josie telling her to stay while holding hands, as a soft romance song plays in the background). When Josie turns evil, Hope tries to desperately bring her back (even trapping someone who suggests killing her in a simulation), before jumping into Josie's subconscious where Josie's good half (disguised as a talking pig) tells Hope to try kissing her sleeping form to wake her up like out of a fairy tale.

* ''Manga/SoulEater'': WordOfGod says in an interview in the "How to make a deathscythe" guidebook that he doesn't plan to take any of the main characters' male-female relationships beyond [[PlatonicLifePartners "normal" trusting relationships]]. Never mind that the way they're written, many fans are convinced that Maka and Soul (for example) are already well beyond that point. A girl hugging a boy is a little [[ShipTease tease-y]], but overall innocuous. A girl hugging a boy while both are naked? [[SarcasmMode It's purely platonic, of course. Strictly between friends. Nothing romantic whatsoever]].There is also an arc involving the characters getting genderbent into the opposite sex. The basis for their appearances is their subconscious image of the ideal romantic/sexual partner. Soul looks an awful lot like Maka during this period, and is lampshaded as such. Black*Star and Tsubaki also look a lot like each other. [[SarcasmMode Way to stick to it, Okubo]].

* ''Series/ICarly'':
** Carly and Spencer had a vaguely incestuous dynamic similar to [[Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace Justin/Alex]] or [[Series/{{Chuck}} Ellie/Chuck]].
** The blatant Sam/Carly undertones. Although the fumble may have been deliberate considering Creator/DanSchneider and his penchant for including hidden HomoeroticSubtext in his supposedly teenage focused shows.
** Spencer/Sam. One episode had Spencer lean over and tongue Sam's ear so she could hear his pop rocks crackling, and a later episode stated that she had a crush on Spencer.
** A meta fumble, with the writers creating two opposing {{Shipping}} sects, with the JustFriends Carly/Freddie romance vs. the BelligerentSexualTension couple Sam/Freddie, and then pushing each in multiple episodes, only to turn around and tell the audience they were watching the show wrong.

* ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch:'' The [[PromotionToParent "I liked you better as a sister than a mom"]]-scene was a very late insertion in the film that replaced [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i2JLC6-mUk the bed-time story-scene]], since test-audiences kept confusing Nani for Lilo's mother rather than her older sister.

* ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch:'' The [[PromotionToParent "I liked you better as a sister than a mom"]]-scene was a very late insertion in the film that replaced [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i2JLC6-mUk the bed-time story-scene]], since test-audiences kept confusing Nani for Lilo's mother rather than her sister.

** Also in the [=DePalma=] version, there's an awful lot of LesYay between Carrie and Coach Collins, the only teacher who likes her. Collins' actress Betty Buckley stated she intended to portray her as a lesbian, but never specified whether she was supposed to be attracted to Carrie.

* There were a lot of things wrong with ''Film/MaximumRide'', but main character Max's love interest Fang suffered a total lack of personality or interesting features, and most of his conversations with Max involved him disagreeing with her or questioning her priorities. Meanwhile, Ari has a tragic backstory, is hopelessly corrupted, has a reunion with Max after many years, and Max constantly has dreams about him. If not for the film going on to express in a more obvious way that Ari resented Max, it might have run its course before viewers realized it wasn't going to be a love triangle. Even more awkward, it turns out that in [[Literature/MaximumRide the books]] most of the characters [[spoiler: are genetically related in some way due to being lab rats, including Max and Fang. However, Ari and Max share an actual father]].

** Several viewers thought that Tyrion had romantic feelings for Sansa in Season 8, and some felt Sansa may even have reciprocated them to a degree. Tyrion expresses admiration for Sansa and states they "should've stayed married", to which Sansa says it wouldn't work "because of the dragon queen" without giving any other explanation. Sansa also makes a point of telling him that of all the men she was betrothed/married to, he was the best. And then there's their emotionally charged moment while they're hiding in the crypts and could be killed at any moment. It doesn't help that Tyrion previously admitted to finding Sansa attractive but refused to act on it on moral principle. However, given Tyrion's later confession that he's in love with Daenerys, the writers apparently didn't intend for him to have romantic interest in Sansa.

** Carly and Spencer had an incestuous dynamic similar to [[Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace Justin/Alex]] or [[Series/{{Chuck}} Ellie/Chuck]].

* The creators of the infamous UsefulNotes/Atari2600 porn game ''Custer's Revenge'' claimed in response to criticism that the game was meant to depict a consensual sex scene where Custer seduces the woman. However, between the context of an American officer having sex with an Indian woman, the fact that other Indians seem to be shooting at Custer as if they're defending her, the fact that the woman doesn't move and is up against a cactus (implying her to be restrained somehow), and the lack of any story to imply seduction, with the back of the box saying "she's not about to take it lying down"... well, suffice to say the accusations that the game depicted a rape were hardly unfounded.

*** Terra has some ShipTease with any male character she talks to. At first, [[TreasureHunter Locke]] saves her, then [[PrinceCharming Edgar]] gives her a reason to fight, Banon welcomes her into the fold, [[BareFistedMonk Sabin]] helps her with her faith -- and even Celes (a woman) get to bond about their mutual ability to use magic and whether or not they can fall in love. Later she has a long talk about feelings with General Leo, and about not having feelings with [[{{Ninja}} Shadow]]. Her lover? No canon love interest.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In Volume 7, Clover, a charming Atlas soldier, is introduced as a supportive friend in a time where Qrow really needed one. While the writing itself makes it clear they're simply friends, changes independently made by the animators that were not asked for by the writers (most noticeably, a recurring tendency of Clover to almost flirtatiously wink at Qrow), and the decisions of the official twitter account and voice actors to play up their relationship into almost romantic territory to promote the Volume (especially with posts likening them to more canonical couples like Ren/Nora and Yang/Blake) made fans assume the two were meant to be seen as a couple in the making, especially considering the fandom was, at the time, hungering for some male LGBT+ representation. This backfired immensely when the Rooster Teeth crew was accused of queerbaiting by the end of the Volume due to what happened in the last two episodes, and they admitted that these changes were not a good idea when they never intended to make them a couple.

* ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'': While Phil and Lil's IncestSubtext in ''Rugrats'' is justified by ChildrenAreInnocent, this spin-off has them as preteens where there are several 'wait...what?' moments; the second episode has Lil asserting her independence, moving into her own room and playing it very much like a break-up (complete with an ending that features a BetterAsFriends resolution). Another episode deals with Lil growing breasts, and Phil's reaction to it is very atypical of a brother. There's another episode where Phil hits it off with a friend from the soccer team, and Lil didn't like that her friend was taking her brother away from her.

** Azula's interactions with Ty Lee and vice versa come off as romantic, to the point where even Azula's voice actress thinks Azula loved Ty Lee, but this was unintentional. Azula was manipulating Ty Lee for her own gain and Ty Lee was afraid of disobeying her. It's just that Ty Lee's default personality is to be upbeat and friendly to everyone and Azula's default FauxAffablyEvil personality, as noted above, is to act seductive towards everyone, so their interactions come off as friendlier than one would expect between a blackmailer and her victim. But that's why at the climax of "The Boiling Rock" [[spoiler: Ty Lee betrays Azula to save her actual friend Mai without a second thought]].

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'': [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick]] and Artemis probably were only supposed to come off as friends or siblings, but their banter winds up coming playfully romantic, he already knew [[spoiler:who her parents were]] but still trusted her, and then she outright straddles him in "Darkest." (ItMakesSenseInContext.) Canonically she's dating his best friend, and they have enough [[HoYay/YoungJustice2010 Ho Yay]] themselves that some fans just [[OneTrueThreesome ship all three together]].

* ''Film/TeenBeachMovie 2'': Lela and Mack are supposed to be friends and straight with boyfriends. However Lela begins the movie basically ignoring her boyfriend Tanner and seemingly pinning over Mack. When she finds Mack's necklace, Lela readily abandons her whole life, including Tanner if he hadn't followed, just to see her again. When first arriving in the real world, she's overly excited to wear Mack's clothes and model for her, while acting like a teenage girl in front of her crush. Lela hangs out with Mack to the point that Tanner gets jealous, and then refuses to leave her new life and seemingly Mack behind. Lela ends the film by throwing Mack her jacket and winking at her. For Mack's part, she seems starstruck when she sees Lela look "normal" for the first time, with her mouth hanging open. She encourages Lela to rewrite the movie, and in the alternate timeline is obsessed with the movie ''Lela, Queen of the Beach'' even more than Brady was with ''Wet Side Story''.

* In the third ''[[Literature/BookOfTheNamed]]'', Thakur thinks multiple times how unconventionally beautiful Newt is. [[spoiler:She turns out to be his long-lost niece, which was [[DramaticIrony obvious to the readers]].]] There was probably a better way for Clare Bell to hint at [[spoiler:their connection]].

* ''Film/TheIntern'': Jules and Ben's friendship is supposed platonic, but a couple of scenes do give the impression things are heading in a romantic direction. Namely when she passes out drunk in his arms and shows surprise at Fiona being in his house. Likewise their hotel room scene looks as if it's going to head for Jules making a pass at him. Nothing happens of course but the set up is curious.

* ''Series/The100'': The creators have said that Clarke and Bellamy’s relationship is supposedly platonic, but many fans see it otherwise. The two have a plethora of moments that could be seen as ShipTease, good on-screen chemistry, and develop an incredibly close and strong bond such that they’re willing to die for each without a second thought, and prioritize saving one another over far more rational goals. Overall, the entire relationship comes off more as UnresolvedSexualTension than two close friends.

* ''Series/The100'': The creators have said that Clarke and Bellamy’s relationship is supposedly platonic, but many fans see it otherwise. The two have a plethora of moments that could be seen as Ship Tease, good on-screen chemistry, and develop an incredibly close and strong bond such that they’re willing to die for each without a second thought, and prioritize saving one another over far more rational goals. Overall, the entire relationship comes off more as Unresolved Sexual Tension than two close friends.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'': [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick]] and Artemis probably were only supposed to come off as friends or siblings, but their banter winds up coming playfully romantic, he already knew [[spoiler:who her parents were]] but still trusted her, and then she outright straddles him in "Darkest." (ItMakesSenseInContext.) Canonically she's dating his best friend, and they have enough [[HoYay/YoungJustice Ho Yay]] themselves that some fans just [[OneTrueThreesome ship all three together]].

** At this point, in the middle of sequel ''Exodus'' and after over a decade since the original series, it is questionable wether it was this trope or intentional ShipTease. Kazuki is still as [[CluelessChickMagnet oblivious]] as ever and the series has not let up on the undertones. In fact, now they only look pretty darn domestic.

** The franchise as a whole has lots of glaring HoYay elements, many of which are [[FanPreferredCouple a lot more appealing]] than the official pairings, but the games rarely ever acknowledge them in the text, sticking to innuendo only. What makes it this trope is that male/male NotLoveInterest pairings are often much more developed, with Snake and Otacon having a long-term friendship and living together in a nuclear family [[HasTwoMommies with a child]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots by the fourth game]], and Big Boss's relationship with Kaz being much deeper and firmer than his relationship with his official love interest Quiet, for ''just'' two examples. Theories as to why this is are varied -- is it a [[ButNotTooGay attempt to write sincere queer love stories without alienating a straight audience]]? {{Queerbaiting}} a YaoiFangirl and LGBTFanbase contingent? An AffectionateParody of the buddy-focused 80s action movies that ''Metal Gear'' {{Pastiche}}s, or even a {{Deconstruction}} of that aspect of them? Or is it genuinely accidental?

** Romana was a very attractive woman (in both of her incarnations) and a Time Lord like the Doctor, thus removing the InterspeciesRomance issue entirely. She was his intellectual equal, and thus the usual mentoring overtones of his relationships with most other companions were absent and they came across more as (possibly romantic) partners. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward had a [[RomanceOnTheSet rather volatile real-life romantic relationship]] during their run on the show adding a large dose of RealitySubtext as well, which resulted in some Relationship Acting Fumble. In some episodes they come across as ridiculously in love and are clearly turning each other on a lot with their presence -- and in others they won't even look at each other and stumble through their lines in a contemptuous monotone. WordOfGod is that one can sometimes tell if the actors had had a falling out by how they interacted on screen.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', Jack and Arcee behave like they have ''something'' going on, despite one being a human teenager and the other being a fully adult transforming robot. Complete with Jack remarking that part of the reason he cares so much for her is that she was "his first" and Jack's mother remarking that Arcee "isn't the kind of girl I imagined him ditching me for".

* In the "Rebirth" trilogy of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', the relationship between Arcee and Daniel Witwicky is suddenly deepened, probably as a prelude to making him her Headmaster partner. Then at the very end of the final episode, Daniel tries to make what sounds very much like a romantic confession only for Arcee to shush him, saying she feels the same way.

** In every film in which Luna appears, there's at least one scene between her and Harry that can be taken as ShipTease, only one of which (him bringing her as his date to Slughorn's party) was in the books. Combine this with the fact that Harry and Ginny's courtship was [[StrangledByTheRedString seriously abbreviated]] from the books, and one gets the distinct impression the writers were only grudgingly admitting Ginny was the intended love interest. Interestingly, Luna was [[ImpliedLoveInterest sorta-kinda paired up]] with [[spoiler:Neville]] in the finale, which also wasn't in the books. In the books, they both marry other people (Luna marries someone who wasn't even in the books), prompting [[spoiler:Neville's]] actor to say in an interview that their relationship was basically a summer fling.