Heterosexual Life Partners/Playing With

Basic Trope: Two friends of the same sex have a very close relationship.

• Straight: Andy and Bob are intensely close best friends who do everything together.
  • Or, the same with Alice and Barbara.
• Exaggerated: Andy and Bob are inseparable, live together, work together, go on holiday together and, except for the sex, are to all intents and purposes a married couple.
• Justified: Andy and Bob have known each other since childhood.
  • Andy and Bob have known each other since before than.
• Inverted: Andy and Bob are a romantic couple who are never seen together.
  • Or, we are assured that Alice and Bob are gay/lesbian, but they are intensely close best friends who do everything together.
• Subverted: Andy and Bob are keeping up the pretense of their close friendship, but in actuality can't stand each other.
  • Or, Andy and Bob get a Relationship Reveal...turns out they were together.
• Doubly Subverted: Over the course of the story, however, they eventually build bridges and become close friends.
  • But they decide it's just too weird and they're Better as Friends.
• Parodied: Everyone — including the woman that they would be interested in dating — assumes that Andy and Bob are gay, much to their frustration.
  • Just showing the fan reaction would be enough.
• Deconstructed: Andy and Bob's close friendship is horribly co-dependent and somewhat unhealthy, and has a deleterious effect on any other friendship or relationship they might hope to construct, particularly of a romantic nature.
• Reconstructed: Andy and Bob's close friendship has been the one constant rock that either has had to rely on throughout the struggles, hardship and pain that has characterized their lives up to that point.
• Averted: Andy and Bob are friends, but not exceptionally close ones.
• Enforced: "Okay, so our two lead actors have really close chemistry, but we don't want anyone to think they're gay. We'll just call them really good friends."
• Played for Drama: Andy is emotionally abusive towards Bob, but Bob remains his friend anyway, because they've been friends for so long Bob can't function without Andy.
  • Andy's wife hates Bob, and Andy leaves her rather than break off his friendship with Bob.
• Lampshaded: Bob: "You know, I honestly can't imagine my life without Andy being around."
• Invoked: Andy is subjected to a Stalker with a Crush and to get her to leave explains that he and Bob do everything together, including making him a third wheel on a date and never having him leave their company.
• Defied: Andy and Bob realize that the only reason they have remained close friends is because they don't spend all their time together.
• Discussed: "You know, sometimes I wish we were as close friends as Bob and Andy are with each other."
• Conversed: "You know, I don't think there are closer friends in fiction than Bob and Andy."

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