# Tell us about your favorite sexless love affairs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333 "2010-02-09T21:58:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/1 "2010-02-09T21:58:17Z")
Though I’ve never seen an episode of _Bones_ in first-run, I sometimes catch a rerun on TNT. Almost every episode I’ve seen ends with Booth & Brennan having dinner or fixing his plumbing or doing something else together, acting for all the world like a married couple still madly in love with one another, except for the bit about not having sex. I mean, for Zeus’s sake, they’re in frigging relationship counseling with Sweet at one point. It occurs to me that this is at least the second time David Boreanez has portrayed a character in such a dynamic; Angel and Cordelia were similar in Angel’s third season. Anyway…tell us about your favorite relationships between characters who, except for the fact that they don’t actually get naked, act as if they are married, down to the intimacy, the major dispute and minor arguments, and so forth. Which ones do you like best, and why? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/2 "2010-02-09T22:06:54Z")
I want to say the love affair between \*\*Skald \*\*and _LotR_, although I’m not sure it’s sexless. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/3 "2010-02-09T22:29:29Z")
Adama and Roslyn were a definite couple for most of the run of _Battlestar Galactica_, though they did eventually have sex towards the end of the show. I especially liked how he showed up at her bedside to read to her, whenever she was in sickbay. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/4 "2010-02-09T22:40:46Z")
John Edwards and John Edwards’ reflection in the mirror? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/5 "2010-02-09T23:03:36Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > John Edwards and John Edwards’ reflection in the mirror? The OP asked for “sexless.” ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/6 "2010-02-09T23:40:30Z")
Mulder and Scully, seasons 1-8 [and possibly 9, if you discount “all things” and the fact that they had a baby together…or something…I faded out by that point]. But whatever. Mulder and Scully. AND Pembleton and Bayliss from **Homicide**. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/7 "2010-02-09T23:44:38Z")
Fergus and Dil in The Crying Game. They truly loved each other but were stymied by their sexual orientations. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/8 "2010-02-09T23:50:35Z")
Stabler and Benson on **L&O:SVU**. They’ve never had sex, almost certainly never will, and yet each would gladly die for the other. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/9 "2010-02-09T23:57:48Z")
House and Wilson. Cuddy and House. Buffy and Xander. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/10 "2010-02-10T00:03:45Z")
Sam and Dean Winchester. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/11 "2010-02-10T00:04:40Z")
And here I thought this was going to be about real life… … this thread is only mildly disappointing, though, as there are plenty of examples that spring to mind. Bones & Booth, House & Cuddy, Raj & Wolowitz. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/12 "2010-02-10T00:05:13Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > House and Wilson. > Cuddy and House. > > Buffy and Xander. House and Wilson, definitely. The other two, not really. There was never a time when either member of those pairs was the primary emotional recourse for each other. Buffy doesn’t get jealous over Xander (though he sometimes gets jealous over her0. And while Cuddy and House certainly want to bone each other, she doesn’t trust him in any emotional sense (and would be a fool to do so.) ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/13 "2010-02-10T00:07:49Z")
The Doctor and Rose, from the first season of the new Doctor Who. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/14 "2010-02-10T00:08:09Z")
Castle and Becket, although it’s just sexless for _now_. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/15 "2010-02-10T00:34:16Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > The Doctor and Rose, from the first season of the new Doctor Who. I don’t think Skald defined his terms very well. I’m not sure if he meant relationships where one or more characters _wants_ to have sex but for some reason they don’t, or relationships that have many characteristics of a romantic relationship but not the sexual attraction. If you include both types of relationship, than just about every work of fiction worth the paper, celluloid, or digital storage medium its encoded on has at least one. Anyway, if it’s the latter type (like a romantic couple but without the sexual attraction), then I would nominate the Doctor and Donna. They had the fighting, the hugging, the crying, and everything. Heck, they were practically the same person at one point, but they were never a couple: never, ever, ever. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/16 "2010-02-10T00:40:17Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > I don’t think Skald defined his terms very well. The terms are purposefully vague. I meant pairs that act like a couple but aren’t having sex, whether one wants to or not. Angel & Cordelia count as much as Will & Grace. But Sam & Diane would not, because while there was obviously a lot of sexual chemistry between them, they did not act as good emotional support for one another even when they WERE a couple. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/17 "2010-02-10T01:04:40Z")
From [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crouching_Tiger,_Hidden_Dragon) (spoilering because it’s a great movie and you should see it if you have any desire to do so): Li Mu-bai (played by Chow Yun-Fat) and Yu Shu-lien (played by Michelle Yeoh). They had a number of very emotional, subtly-acted scenes in which their feelings for each other were achingly obvious, yet they were trying to be honorable people. At the end, with Mu-bai dying in Shu-lien’s arms, I was tearing up so badly. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/18 "2010-02-10T01:08:54Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > \ > > AND > > Pembleton and Bayliss from **Homicide**. Damn you!!!🙂 I came in to post that! ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/19 "2010-02-10T02:30:28Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The terms are purposefully vague. I meant pairs that act like a couple but aren’t having sex, whether one wants to or not. Angel & Cordelia count as much as Will & Grace. But Sam & Diane would not, because while there was obviously a lot of sexual chemistry between them, they did not act as good emotional support for one another even when they WERE a couple. Oh, well, in that case, the Doctor and a few dozen companions (but not all at the same time, of course). Not to mention Frodo and Sam in **Lord of the Rings** , **Sherlock Holmes** and Watson in the recent film (yes they were at odds through most of it, but you knew each had the other’s back when the chips were down), Kirk and Spock in the original **Star Trek** , and George and Mitchell in **Being Human**. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333/20 "2010-02-10T02:41:33Z")
Long term unresolved Sexual Tension: Mulder and Scully up through season 7 Booth and Brennen Short term unresolved Sexual Tension: Hatter and Alice (I can’t wait for the dvd to come out on March 2nd) Sookie and Eric _on True Blood_ (so far…) Other: Sam and Dean Dexter and Deb (seriously, if next season they said “well, we’re not REALLY related” I’d be okay with that) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-your-favorite-sexless-love-affairs/528333.md?page=2)