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Sep. 30th, 2005 08:01 pmI wish I were smart enough to have coined the phrase Deus ex hypothermia but I was not the person who coined the phrase. I don't know who did and it's probably someone reasonably famous in some fandom or other who's going to come out of the woodwork and kick my sorry ass for using it without credit... but anyway.
Today's post was GOING to be about interest rates and your 2006 Roth IRA contribution but due to audience demand, we're going to discuss Deus ex hypothermia instead. As all good little liberal arts wonks are aware, the phrase literally means "god from the machine". To grasp the riff, note that the phrase deus ex machina has been extended to refer to any resolution to a story which does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is so unlikely it challenges suspension of disbelief, and presumably allows the author to end it in the way he or she wanted. (Source is the wikipedia article, which has nice examples and stuff if you're still feeling confused.) Anyway, in slash fanfic, deus ex hypothermia is used to get two people naked and propinquitous enough to get off on each other when they do not have any reason for being like that together because they're maybe straight or mortal enemies or total strangers or blood relatives or whatever. You make them (one or both, doesn't matter) terribly, horribly cold by virtue of a blizzard or falling through the ice or forty-and-raining exposure or whatever you have that's convenient. And then you get them more-or-less naked, y'know, for body heat. And then they're there and together and in really close proximity and at least partly naked. Voila, deus ex hypothermia. :) Having t3h s3x0r at that point is practically required by the expectations of fangirls worldwide. Tell a story often enough, you know, and it becomes true.
( Baby, it's cold outside. Click for supporting materials... )
Today's post was GOING to be about interest rates and your 2006 Roth IRA contribution but due to audience demand, we're going to discuss Deus ex hypothermia instead. As all good little liberal arts wonks are aware, the phrase literally means "god from the machine". To grasp the riff, note that the phrase deus ex machina has been extended to refer to any resolution to a story which does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is so unlikely it challenges suspension of disbelief, and presumably allows the author to end it in the way he or she wanted. (Source is the wikipedia article, which has nice examples and stuff if you're still feeling confused.) Anyway, in slash fanfic, deus ex hypothermia is used to get two people naked and propinquitous enough to get off on each other when they do not have any reason for being like that together because they're maybe straight or mortal enemies or total strangers or blood relatives or whatever. You make them (one or both, doesn't matter) terribly, horribly cold by virtue of a blizzard or falling through the ice or forty-and-raining exposure or whatever you have that's convenient. And then you get them more-or-less naked, y'know, for body heat. And then they're there and together and in really close proximity and at least partly naked. Voila, deus ex hypothermia. :) Having t3h s3x0r at that point is practically required by the expectations of fangirls worldwide. Tell a story often enough, you know, and it becomes true.
( Baby, it's cold outside. Click for supporting materials... )
