"Looks like they're determined to interrupt. Guess that kiss is gonna have to wait."
— Nero, Devil May Cry 4
It just may be the cruelest, most frustrating thing a writer could ever pull. Two characters are finally about to bring all their shippers' dreams to fruition. They're about to resolve all the UST and cross the Just Friends line, at last. They're staring mesmerized into each others' eyes, inching forward ever so slowly, less than a millimeter away from lip-to-lip contact. This is it, the fans scream in their minds. They're finally going to kiss! And then...
Were they interrupted by a crisis like a falling meteor? Did one of them remember the dead Temporary Love Interest they promised never to forget? Was the thought of a Relationship Upgrade suddenly just too scary? Did one of their friends pop in and ask them what they wanted for pizza toppings? Well, for some reason, no doubt connected to Status Quo Is God, they can't or won't go through with it. They may be giggling afterwards, or they may be crying a river.
The sad thing is, the Almost Kiss says as much as a kiss, anyway, since we can see they both want it. But this way, the tension and dreams of shippers remain for the writers to continue to take advantage of.
Sometimes referred to as a "near-miss kiss".
Study the Moment Killer for a larger concept. Contrast the successful Big Damn Kiss.
In shows aimed at a younger audience where a kiss is a big deal, there is usually a big relationship-sealing kiss saved for the finale, preceded by several "almost" moments during the earlier episodes.
This is a genre standard in Bollywood films. Kissing in movies was censored in India and it is still seen as racy, so filmmakers perfected the art of showing the leads caressing with lips oh-so-close to each other. Unlike in other instances of this trope, an actual kiss (or more) is usually implied to have taken place.
A similar variant can be found in non-Indian media where the two non-kissers are of the same sex. The depiction of same-sex kisses was banned in the Western media industry until a few decades ago, and, while LGBT+ activism has challenged and often overpowered the stigma, an explicit kiss is still considered too spicy in genres targeted towards social conservatives (like Action Genre works). Unlike in the Bollywood variant, these scenes don't usually indicate a kiss has taken place, and tend to revolve more around Does This Remind You of Anything? imagery intended to create a charged, homoerotic atmosphere for those willing and able to see it. Because of this "deniability", it can be considered a form of Queerbaiting.
noreallife
Example subpages
Other examples:
open/close all folders
Asian Animation
- Lamput: In "Wrong Date", the docs end up being kicked into the hole of a tree. Inside, there is a squirrel couple, and the female squirrel is about to kiss the male squirrel when they notice the docs and, being mad at them for ruining the moment, attack them.
- In Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: Joys of Seasons episode 92, Wolnie dances with Wolffy while they have Sparky sitting in their cauldron, ready to be cooked. Wolffy and Wolnie try to kiss each other after they dance, but Sparky shouts at them angrily, interrupting the kiss.
Comic Books
- In the first issue of Avengers: The Children's Crusade, Wiccan and Hulkling are about to make out when Speed interrupts them. The two have been dating since day one, so it's probably safe to assume that they've kissed before, but never on-panel.
- Birds of Prey: A violent example. When Super-villain Killer Shark brainwashes Lady Blackhawk into thinking she is Queen Killer Shark, she leads him to his grandfather's treasure. This causes Killer Shark to cry and to reveal that he had originally intended to kill her after he got his treasure, but has changed his mind. As he leans in for a kiss, Zinda subconsciously punches him, breaking his teeth.
- Beautiful Darkness: The troubling events of the story begin with Aurora and Hector’s kiss being interrupted by a dripping ceiling.
- Subverted in the Blue Monday Valentine's special, Lovecats. The UST between Clover and Victor finally climaxes in their first kiss, but their attraction goes straight back into the closet when their friends show up.
- Johnny the Homicidal Maniac was going to kiss Devi in a completely out of character moment... but realized how happy he was and snuck off to go back to his usual Crazy Kill Mode. Luckily, Devi beat the crap out of him before he could succeed, and to this day fans of the ship cannot read the scene without massive Face Palm.
- Journey into Mystery (Gillen): Kid Loki and Leah have one near the end of Everything Burns, as they're both about to be violently killed by Surtur. They get interrupted by Thor and his army, complete with a lampshade from Loki about how perfect the timing was. Sadly, it's one of the last moments Leah and Loki have together before everything turns to shit, which would have made this both their First Kiss and Last Kiss, had they actually been allowed to do it. While it's obvious they care deeply for each other, this Almost Kiss is the closest they get to expressing it.
- Red Robin and Batgirl nearly kiss during their team up when Ra's al Ghul tries to take out multiple members of the Batfamily at once. While they both very clearly still have feelings for each other Steph doesn't think she's ready to jump back into a relationship with Tim, and she points out that he understandably is still learning to trust her again after she let him believe she'd been murdered for two years and then betrayed his trust on Bruce's orders right after she got back.
- At one point in Day of Vengeance, Ragman and Enchantress are talking away from the others. They discover they have some things in common and then they fall silent. Then Ragman moves in, and Enchantress pulls away and asks him what he thinks he's doing. She than completes his embarrassment by announcing this to the others.
Enchantress: Rory tried to kiss me! He thought we were having a "moment"!
- Supergirl: In Supergirl Vol 2 #8, Linda Danvers -the eponymous heroine- and her date are about to kiss when Supergirl's hears someone is in trouble and she has to leave the guy alone.
- Ultimate Marvel:
- Peter and MJ share an Almost Kiss early in Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) after Peter tells her he's Spider-Man, before they get interrupted by Aunt May. May suspected that they were about to do the... other thing.
- Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra: Matt and Elektra are fighting, and get close to each other. Matt was about to make her hear to reason and kiss her, but she interrupted the moment.
- Several scenes in Whiteout, playing with the tendency of Unresolved Sexual Tension to crop up in buddy cop stories, according to the writer.
Literature
- In Adaptation (2013), Reese and David almost kiss several times.
- Claiming You Under The Blood Moon: Sapphire and Tyrone come close to kissing twice, only to he interrupted by Tyrone's five-year-old cousin the first and later by Ian, Tyrone's rival several months later.
- Beyond Thirty: While hiding from lions in the bushes, Turck and Victory's lips brush each other, exciting Turck.
- Don't Look Back (Jennifer Armentrout): Sam and Carson nearly kiss in the backyard treehouse after he reminisces to her about their childhoods and the time that they shared a first kiss when they were ten. He stops it from actually happening when he reminds her that she isn't his to kiss, as she's still technically a couple with Del.
- Full Metal Panic!:
- Kaname helps Sousuke out of a pond he was just pushed into. Upon realizing he's about to literally stumble into an Accidental Kiss with her, puckers up, she closes her eyes, leans into it, and... finds herself sorely disappointed when Sousuke simply stables himself on his own and cluelessly asks why she's making that face.
- Kaname almost kisses Sôsuke while he is asleep (after she finishes cutting his hair), and she has a hard time resisting planting one on him. However, she restrains herself knowing it would be wrong to take advantage of him in his sleep, and instead dunks his head in water.
- In Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, Beau describes Edythe as a magnet and himself as a helpless piece of metal. Several times, he unthinkingly leans in to kiss her, but Edythe backs away every time.
- In Maoyu, the Demon Queen asks the Hero to rest his head on her lap so she can caress his hair. Shortly after she's leaning in to kiss him, but then a horse's neigh at the stable interrupts them, and the Hero runs of to see what's going on. The Demon Queen is naturally dismayed.
- Happens several times in Renegades between Adrian and Nova, either because the rest of their team walks in on them or they suddenly get shy. It takes them locking themselves up in Adrian's basement and spending a whole day together for the kiss to finally succeed.
- Something to Talk About: Emma almost kisses Jo. As a result, Emma at last realizes she finds Jo attractive.
- Underground: Andrew has Robyn pinned against the wall, both of them staring at each other's lips, when Mike's motorcycle starts up and shocks them out of the moment.
- In Wolf Hall, Mary Boleyn finds Thomas Cromwell after Henry and Anne hold an unofficial marriage ceremony in Calais. She tries to kiss him, saying that they've earned their own recreation after all the work it took to get Henry and Anne together. Cromwell is initially hesitant, since Mary has been looking for just about any husband to get away from her family, but decides to anyway. Then a third figure appears in the dark courtyard and he instantly has a knife to the man's throat. (It turns out to be William Stafford, arriving late enough that Mary thought she was stood up. They end up getting married—and tossed out of court—anyhow.)
Pro Wrestling
- In the WWF in 2001, Spike Dudley and Molly Holly had a number of Almost Kisses. The funniest had a brain-damaged Perry Saturn popping his head up between them.
Radio
- Our Miss Brooks: In "Magic Christmas Tree", Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton almost kiss under the mistletoe. Unfortunately, Mr. Boynton sneezes, as he's allergic to mistletoe. Later, Mr. Boynton kisses Miss Brooks under the influence of the magic christmas tree. However, it turns out both the Almost Kiss and the kiss were All Just a Dream. The Big Damn Kiss doesn't take place under midway through The Movie Grand Finale, although Miss Brooks would steal a few minor kisses over the course of the series.
Roleplay
- During the Final Battle in Dino Attack RPG:
- Rotor and Cabin: shot down and stuck in an abandoned house with a few other people, got one such moment where they started to get intimate and almost kissed only to be interrupted by Mac on current events.
- Amanda and Rex had a number of Almost Kisses during their Wartime Wedding, with each kiss being interrupted by an attacking dinosaur. Fortunately, after these Almost Kisses, they finally got The Big Damn Kiss.
Theatre
- In the Takarazuka Revue musical Company, Takano and Aoyagi, while Takano is showing Aoyagi his idea for a new, gay production of Swan Lake, before Aoyagi pulls away at the last second.
- Marie-Antoinette (Musical): Marie and Fersen have several, before finally getting to kiss in their last meeting, when they have to say goodbye to one another.
- The 1996 Broadway revival of The King and I (starring Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips) added this between Anna and the King following "Shall We Dance?", just before the Mood Whiplash of Tuptim's capture.
Video Games
- In Demon Gaze, this happens between the Player Character and Fran at the fairy hideout if you choose a certain choice. She will eventually kiss you later after saving you from Lulu and after you slept together near the end.
- Devil May Cry:
- In Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, immediately after battling Lady, Dante leans in, Lady stares into his eyes... and turns her head away at the last second. Given Dante and Lady only knew each other for a grand total of 10–15 minutes in that game (and this is being generous), them not kissing was probably for the best.
- Even more frustrating in Devil May Cry 4 with Nero and Kyrie. The Big Bad has been defeated, the world is at peace, Nero saves the girl he loves... what better mood to lean in and go for it? Unfortunately just a few millimeters away, Nero pulls a gun at a swarm of demon baddies determined to interrupt, and ends up telling Kyrie that kiss is going to have to wait. You never see it. If one protects her competently during the credits, it's strongly implied that they go through with it.
- Earthworm Jim has Princess-What's-Her-Name get crushed by the cow that Jim launched in New Junk City just as she is about to kiss Jim.
- Ensemble Stars!: The choreography for the song "Trap For You"👁 Image
depicts Hiyori and Jun almost kissing each other at the beginning of the Music Video. - Final Fantasy:
- In Final Fantasy XVI after the event at Drake's Breath during a visit to the infirmary Clive unintentionally places his hand on Jill's, which has them both start leaning in towards one another... only to be stopped with their lips less than an inch from each other when Gav's races into the infirmary.
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has several:
- When Tifa is recovering from falling into the Lifestream, Cloud finally opens up to her about his memory problems. They lean in... and the moment is spoiled by an eavesdropping Yuffie whispering "Kiss, kiss!" on the other side of the door.
- On the Gold Saucer date, Cloud and his partner (Aerith, Tifa, or Yuffie) participate in the "Loveless" play as the lead couple. At one point, they lean in for True Love's Kiss, but are interrupted by the play's villain, played by Barret. Later on the Skywheel, the Aerith date has her falling into Cloud's arms. Their mouths are close with a few seconds of Held Gaze before they take separate seats. Meanwhile the Tifa date ends with a Bait-and-Switch with Cloud leaning in to merely embrace her... at least in the Standard version. In the Intimate version of their date, he lays The Big Damn Kiss on her.
- Jak and Daxter:
- Daxter does this to Jak in both Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and Jak II: Renegade. One was on purpose, the other, not so much.
- Jak gets back at Daxter by interrupting his kiss with Tess at the end of Jak 3.
- Subverted at the end of Jak X when Daxter interrupts Jak and Keira yet again, only to continue, "Will ya kiss her already! Sheesh!"
- A version sort of happens in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword as although they were never going to kiss, to the player it looks like they will. Near the start of the game after Link has won the Annual Bird Flight Ceremomy and has been given the sailcloth, Zelda says that, in what seems like an embarrased way, that there is "something else that they are supposed to do at the end of the ceremony...". Link's expression at this, and the options the player is given on how to reply ("Nope.", "Sort of...", "Uh-oh...") it's extremely heavily implied they are going to kiss. Just before it looks like Zelda is going to kiss Link, she instead turns him around and pushes him off the edge of the statue they are standing on as part of the final test of the ceremony.
- Love & Pies: A Running Gag has Joe and Amelia being interrupted before they can kiss, although they do manage to actually kiss several times.
- When Joe reveals to Amelia that he canceled his second date with another woman and broke up with her because of his rekindled feelings for Amelia, they almost share a kiss, only for Edwina to burst into the kitchen.
- After Joe proves that he was innocent of the fire by showing Amelia the picture his mom took of him and his dad at another restaurant that night, they nearly kiss, only for the pie in Amelia's oven to catch fire and set off the sprinklers.
- On their first date, Joe leans in on Amelia for a kiss, just when the real Joe comes home from his baker's retreat. He and Amelia are shocked by his twin brother Sam pretending to be him to seduce her.
- Joe and Amelia almost kiss after installing the toilet before they are interrupted by Yuka and Eve, who make fun of them for almost kissing in the bathroom.
- After hanging pictures in the "romantic date room", Joe and Amelia almost kiss before they are interrupted by Esme and Kate.
Kate: Eww, Mommy, were you going to KISS Joe?!
- Mass Effect:
- In Mass Effect 1, this happens toward the end of the game between Shepard and his/her love interest when Udina locks out the Normandy. The interrupter in this case is Joker, who lampshades the whole thing.
- The second game has the attempted romance with Samara. You actually get pretty far along in the romance, but when the time comes, she turns away. She makes it clear that though she feels attraction to Shepard as well, she's too dedicated to being a Justicar to get involved. Another character mentions how upset she gets after the incident.
- During the paragon dialogue path with Miranda, she requests more time to think before Shepard gets around to kissing her. The Renegade path is funnier.
- A lot of femShep/Garrus shippers were not happy that just when you think they're about to kiss... they don't (even though it's been made clear for two games that a human kissing a turian would cause both of them to go into anaphylactic shock).
- Then averted in the third game, where they have at least two big damn kisses.
- Metal Gear:
- The remake of Metal Gear Solid, The Twin Snakes, has Meryl and Snake almost kiss after the fight with Liquid; unfortunately they were interrupted by a codec call from Otacon. This isn't present in the original PlayStation game.
- Naomi and Otacon do some Bollywood-esque non-kissing in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, after which they hook up.
- Not infrequently used for Does This Remind You of Anything? between male characters, for whom having them actually kiss would enrage too many players:
- In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Otacon, who has been berating Snake for smoking for most of the game and previous entries, lights Snake's cigarette before his final mission in an intimate shot that resembles a kiss.
- Metal Gear Solid V has several scenes where Kaz gets his face right up to Snake's in closeup - so many that Kojima actually had to push for some of the shots against the wishes of his dev team, who found them too suggestive. There's also a scene where Ocelot lights Snake's cigar, with the dialogue and camera angle indicating it's a stand-in for a friendly goodbye kiss between two established lovers.
- Namco High: During Mr. Driller's route, he and Cousin almost kiss on the roof after Cousin gives them a Rousing Speech. Pac-Man interrupts the kiss by telling the two to get a room.
- In Sonic Adventure 2, Knuckles and Rouge share one after he saved her from falling to a lava pit followed by Rouge expressing ingratitude for the echidna's rescue, thus continuing their argument.
- A "deleted scenes" example here: At the end of Star Fox Adventures, Krystal, the love interest of Fox McCloud comes aboard the team's ship. Originally, Fox would have offered her a place on the team, with her replying she would only do so if he would kiss her. The rumored reason for this scene not happening is that Rare's animators couldn't convincingly portray the kiss (this is somewhat similar to the Chicken Run example). Unused audio of this scene can be found here.👁 Image
- In Tales of Phantasia, Artemis refuses to let the party see the moon spirit Luna, with whom they want to form a summon contract with, until Arche kisses Cless. As they are just about to do it, Mint pushes the two apart claiming it's "not right" to do this. Then Luna's voice interrupts further by telling Artemis to stop his prank and allow them to see her already.
- Uncharted: Drake's Fortune:
- At the end, Nate and Elena lean in suggestively towards one another, and are suddenly interrupted by Sully who disrupts the romantic moment. Nice going, Sully. He seems to do it on purpose here.
- It finally happens for real in Among Thieves, though.
- In Undertale, this happens between Undyne and Alphys in the True Pacifist ending before Toriel interrups them and said to not do this in front of the Fallen Child.
Visual Novels
- Ever After Academy: The Female MC and Nora almost have their first kiss in her route on a broomstick ride until the broom goes out of control.
- In Every Day's Different on Yoko's route she and the protagonist come close to cofirming their mutual feelings a few times, held back from actually kissing by their equally mutual nervousness.
- Ikemen Sengoku:
- In Yukimura's route, Yukimura and the female main character almost kiss at one point but the moment is killed by the kid they were looking after waking up and happily shouting at them, "Smooch!"
- In Hideyoshi's route, a friendly moment between Hideyoshi and the MC becomes heated when Hideyoshi realizes that he loves her and that he's standing awfully close to her and can't stop staring at her lips... before he pulls away and tries to go back to treating the MC like a sister, much to her disappointment and frustration.
- Lucky Dog 1: Gian and Ivan almost share one after an intimate scene, until Gian inadvertently ruins the moment by saying the wrong thing.
- Our Life: Beginnings & Always: While on vacation with their families in Roadtrip (Step 2), the MC can invite Cove up to the RV's loft at night. If they're crushing on him, the MC can attempt to kiss Cove; but at the last minute, he becomes so flustered that he jumps up, banging his head on the roof and waking up everyone else in the RV.
- Serre: In Chapter 3, during a tender moment, the player is given three options that are all variations of "kiss Oaxa".The two lean in... only for Oaxa to give Arlette a Bear Hug, while Arlette mentally berates herself for forgetting that of course Oaxa doesn't understand what a kiss is, lacking a mouth.
- Happens several times in SHUFFLE!
- The first is with Rin and Sia: When they get separated from their friends during the Beach Episode, they act like they've crossed into another world where they're alone and go for the kiss. Hilarious in that Primula walks behind them looking for seashells; both parties ignore each other's presence.
- The second instance is when Rin walks Asa home after the latter twisted her ankle. Both are sitting on her bed, and Rin is getting teased. When the poor girl stands up, she trips and falls on Rin, pinning him to the bed. She leans in for the kiss, but her mother comes home and goes up to the room; when she opens the door, we see the two separated, with Rin sitting at the desk (as is, of course, proper for a gentleman).
- Summer Rose Court: During Blake's Loyalty Mission, if the romance option is taken, Blake will almost kiss Ruby before they're interrupted by the fire.
- Sweet Elite: After the power goes out, Scholar and their LI are stuck in the chalet's basement while the situation is sorted out. While they're waiting, they have a conversation that leads to them leaning into each other for a kiss. They're abruptly interrupted by Raquel (if you're on Ellie's route) or Ellie (if you're on anyone else's) before they can lock lips.
- Villainous Nights: At the end of Lorelei season 2 episode 6, she and Monarch lean toward each other for what would have been their first kiss; the next episode, they're interrupted by Juliette walking in on them.
- In Yearning: A Gay Story, if you get left alone in the movie theater with Carlos as Adam gets snacks, Carlos will come close to kissing you until he realizes what he's doing. Since you're playing as a male character and Carlos is very deep in the closet, this almost-kiss causes him to panic and act very awkwardly around you for a while afterwards.
- The very first scene of YOU and ME and HER features two examples in quick succession: first Aoi tries to "get zappy" with Shinichi on the roof, only to be interrupted by Miyuki suddenly appearing. Then, when Miyuki proclaims herself to be Shinichi's girlfriend, Aoi requests that the two kiss to show her proof, only for Miyuki to get interrupted by Yuutarou suddenly appearing.
Webcomics
- Alfdis & Gunnora: The title characters have an entire page where they almost kiss.
- Dumbing of Age: In Book 15, Dorothy realizes, to her horror, that she is in love with Joyce, and Joyce realizes her feelings for Dorothy are more than just being friendly, which leads to them attempting to pull in for a kiss while Joyce gets ready for her big date with Joe. Dorothy pulls away before their lips can meet, though, because she's worried about ruining their respective relationships with other people.
- El Goonish Shive: At the end of the "Super Hero Science" arc in EGS:NP, Cheerleadra and Tedd are cuddled up on the floor after Cheerleadra loses her balance and falls on top of Tedd. They decide that an appropriate last experiment regarding "skin to skin contact" would be to kiss on the lips, which they then do...except it turns out to be a daydream, and they both decide to go find their girlfriends instead.
- Erika and the Princes in Distress:
- During the Floating Island story arc, Prince Egg-White is turned into a tree after eating a poisoned apple, and Erika is told the only way to turn him back is to kiss his face now etched into the trunk. She is hesitant to do so, as it would be her first time kissing someone, but before their lips actually touch, an enormous apple grows from the tree and falls, breaking open and revealing Egg-White inside.
- During the Terapia story arc, Prince Aurel must breathe the perfume of a flower that'll put him in a deep slumber, so that he is rid of his terrible breath, allowing Erika to kiss him and rid him of the curse placed on him. However, right before she is able to go through with it, Morphine reveals herself and steals Aurel's body right under her nose.
- Flight: The Tale of Two Sisters has one between Lilac and Parsley. They are cats, and it would be difficult to show what that would look like. They hold tails afterward.
- Girl Genius:
- Damn you, Merlot! The strip is even called "Smoochus Interruptus"👁 Image
in the archive... - Really, too many of these between Agatha and Gil to link them all. It finally ends with The Big Damn Kiss, though.
- Damn you, Merlot! The strip is even called "Smoochus Interruptus"👁 Image
- I Love Amy: In Chapter 12, Bibi and Amy's first kiss together is suddenly stopped before their lips touch.
- In Misfile, Ash and Em have their Almost Kiss moment right at the end of book one.👁 Image
Unfortunately for the shippers Rumisiel plays the Moment Killer and the aftermath is pure Belligerent Sexual Tension syndrome. - In Questionable Content, Marten and Faye almost kiss before she passes out on him, head butts him in the crotch, and then pukes on him.👁 Image
- ReBoot: Code of Honor: Bob and Dot almost share a kiss before Bob goes to confront the Big Bad, but Lens interrupts them.
- Used multiple times in Sandra and Woo between Sandra and Cloud, first here👁 Image
(although it may be better to see the whole sequence starting here👁 Image
), then here👁 Image
(again, it may be better to start reading from here👁 Image
) before they finally get their big moment right after this.👁 Image
- After all the teasing and shipping and angst that led up to it, Mecha-Maid and the eponymous Spinnerette finally work things out, finally realize they've both been going about it all wrong, finally get a proper date set up, and finally go in for the kiss... Or not — Friday cliffhanger and the last page of the chapter!👁 Image
AARGH!
Web Original
- The Academy of Magic: When Xavier and Dezi are about to kiss on Prom Night, Dezi is reminded of her previous boyfriend, Noah, and how he betrayed her, yells at Xavier and runs away.
- AstroLOLogy: In "Bumper to Bumper", Aries interrupts a kiss between Cancer and Leo as they are riding bumper cars.
- Dr. Havoc's Diary: Between Kim and Darren in the 1996 flashback of Episode 18, twice. The first time, they're interrupted by a ringing phone; the second time, they're cut off by Kim's shitty boss.
- In The Nostalgia Critic's review of Princess Diaries II, he and kidnapper Hyper get two, the second one confirmed by Doug as Critic getting stockholmed.
- Lampshaded by Thalia in Thalia's Musings as it happens to her and Apollo.
"The Almost Kiss. Such a classic trope in romantic comedy. The concept I am about to reveal to you may be beyond your mortal comprehension, so listen carefully: Romantic Comedy is what happens when my domain and Aphrodite’s intersect. The fact that she and I have never gotten along terribly well is the reason works in this genre so often fail at being either romantic or comical." A link.👁 Image
- Wolf Song: The Movie: Kara and Arrow almost share a kiss together when, as a joke, Chance jumps into a nearby pond, splashing them both as a result
Web Video
- In The Autobiography of Jane Eyre (episode "The King of Hearts"), Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester are flirting and being cute together. He's trying to record her and snap a few photos. Jane gets close and they end up looking into each other's eyes very intensely. They almost kiss, but Jane pulls herself back. Edward has to take a few breaths to recover from the moment.
- Classic Alice:
- Between Alice & Andrew, too many to count. From episode 6 on it was ONE BIG TEASE. They dance around kissing when they fight in episode 6, on the couch after the ball when he takes off her shoe, when she's hurt in a car accident, after Thanksgiving, after Halloween, just AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. So close. SOOOO CLOOOOSE.
- Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Penny and Billy are in the laundromat, looking deep into each other's eyes. It looks as though she and Billy are drawing closer, and closerrrr... and then she brings up Captain Hammer. Ouch.
- In one Dubbed By Strangers video, Finn is about to make Mr. Rude and Mr. Stubborn kiss, when Korri comes in asking what he's doing it. UHHHH-
- It's lampshaded in the The Guild music video by Felicia Day, "Game On" — lyrics: "Level up/Feel the bliss/Forward-slash/Almost kiss..." For those not familiar with MMORPG terminology, forward slashes are used for emotes (especially in World of Warcraft, which is The Guild's main source of parody). So /kiss would cause your character to blow a kiss to his or her target. Naturally, in the music video, they perform an Almost Kiss immediately after the line.
- Lovely Little Losers. In "STAY"/"PUNISHMENT", Peter tries to kiss Balth, who rejects him at the last moment, leaving Peter visibly devastated.