Post-Coital Collapse

"My God, I haven't been fucked like that since grade school."

— Marla, Fight Club

A scene begins, focusing on bed or surface when suddenly one or more characters collapse into it, being exhausted, panting for air, drenched in sweat, and with their hair in disarray, clearly implying they had just finished having sex. This is done to tastefully show two characters have just been intimate without actually having to show the act, and the scene will move on to the characters having some kind of pillow talk, such as wondering Did the Earth Move for You, Too?, proclaiming That Didn't Happen or gushing about how amazing their partner just is or how fast it was.

Sometimes this is preceded by an Establishing Shot of the outside building, where we hear the grunts and moans of the couple, before the camera cuts inside. A common, more risque variation is to briefly show one character on top of another before they roll off and collapse into bed. A woman can do a backward Hair Flip while arching her spine before rolling off her lover, as a tasteful way to insinuate she has reached her climax.

Since this is commonly done in an effort to make a suggestive situation tamer, camera tricks are often used as to hide any actual nudity, with the collapsing characters being shown only from the shoulders up or under a Modesty Bedsheet. If they collapse on their stomach, Toplessness from the Back may also apply. Sometimes the characters may also simply be more dressed than expected for the act.

This is the inverse of a Sexy Discretion Shot where a scene ends with characters starting to get intimate, although it can sometimes follow a Sexy Discretion Shot. It can also be what follows after an Instant Seduction. See Destructo-Nookie for when the coupling causes objects around the couple to collapse.

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Examples:

Advertising

• A 2011 Super Bowl ad for the mattress company "Sealy" showed many couples collapsing into bed in this fashion, each with their own Modesty Bedsheet wrapped around them.

Anime & Manga

• Negima! Magister Negi Magi: Robot Girl Chachamaru feels extreme pleasure from being refueled via the Wind-Up Key in the back of her head, which grows more intense as more magical energy is put in. Negi fails to notice it and enthusiastically winds the key while pumping way too much magic into it, and the ensuing Forced Orgasm is so intense that she collapsed into a panting heap on the floor while Negi remains clueless.

Comic Books

• In New X-Men, Emma Frost uses her telepathy powers to stimulate the pleasure centers in a person's brain. She used these powers to neutralize a hostile group of anti-mutant protestors, by "pushing their bliss buttons" causing a mass simultaneous case of Jizzed in My Pants so strong they all collapsed on the spot.
• Superman (Brian Michael Bendis): In Action Comics #1004, Superman and Lois Lane reunite after being separated for a while, and their reunion quickly leads to them hitting the sheets. In one panel we see a shot of the empty bed and the following panel has them both collapsing on it, exhausted from their second round of sex.
• A disturbing example in The X-Men and the Micronauts. When Professor X (Who's under the control of the Entity) he uses his telepathic powers to cause a Forced Orgasm on Dani Moonstar, who promptly collapses on the floor "in the throes of pleasure" with an orgasmic facial expression.

Fan Works

• Kaleidoscopic Grangers: Ron gently pushes so he and Hermione fall sideways into a cuddle after the sex.

Films — Live-Action

• All Cheerleaders Die: When Hanna has sex with Manny in the bathroom and reaches her climax, it causes Maddy, Martha, Lenna and Tracy to all experience a Forced Orgasm due to their Psychic Link and we see them all drop to the floor in ecstasy.
• In Art of the Dead, we see Dylan collapsing beside his wife in bed after they have amazing sex under the Lust painting's influence.
• The Foreigner (2017): We hear a a grunt as a man collapses into bed, sweaty and panting quickly followed by his lover Maggie. While he goes to the bathroom to clean up, she quickly searches his room, revealing she is actually a terrorist that seduced him for being a journalist that had info she needed to further a bombing plot.
• Hector and the Search for Happiness: We get this shot after Hector and Clara sleep together, with her being the one to drop on top of him, wrapping herself up in a Modesty Bedsheet and then rolling off him.
• Mastizaade: Near the start of the film, a rehab girl Sunny was having sex with rolls off him as they finish having sex, both covered by a Modesty Bedsheet.

Literature

• Dragonlance: In The Black Wing novel, the Villain Protagonist dragon (shapeshifted into a human in disguise) decides to sleep with one of her companions just out of curiosity of how sex feels like and the scene ends with a Sexy Discretion Shot and the very next chapter starts with them both rolling off each other post-sex.
  "Onyx and Led rolled apart at last and fell into exhausted slumber as the night sky began to lighten".

Live-Action TV

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.:
  • "Who You Really Are" has a scene with Skye and May sparring violently, with May throwing Skye to the mats, and the scene is immediately juxtaposed with a transition of Bobbi collapsing into bed after having sex with Lance.
  • In "Wake Up", when we see Elena and Mack having sex the first time, we get a quick shot of her back on top of him as she throws her hair backwards before rolling off of him. Their pillow talk gets interrupted by a text message requiring his presence elsewhere, meaning he's Not Staying for Breakfast.
• Angel. Lampshaded with the reveal that Wesley has started sleeping with Amoral Attorney Lilah.
  Wesley: You know that sinking feeling you sometimes get the morning after? It arrived early.
• The Arrangement (2017): The first time we see DeAnn and Mason in bed, the scene begins with both collapsing on the bed, exhausted and panting but each still carefully covered by their own Modesty Bedsheet.
• Better Off Ted: We see Veronica and Ted both collapsing on a desk after they conclude their "office affair".
• In The Big Bang Theory episode The Opening Night Excitation, Sheldon and Amy have sex (first time for both). Afterwards, Sheldon makes the observation that "that was better than I thought it would be." Amy, in contrast, is splayed out on the bed next to him, in a happy daze.
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: In "Why Is Josh in a Bad Mood?", when Rebecca and Greg have sex at the start of the episode, we see them start to make out. One Sexy Discretion Shot later we cut to both in falling in bed panting and covered by a Modesty Bedsheet.
• Desperate Housewives: In "Being Alive", Kat and Orson's conversation is interrupted when they years Bree's orgasmic screech that could be heard throughout most of the neighborhood. Cut to Bree collapsing in bed next to Karl, both sweaty and wrapped up in their own Modesty Bedsheet.
• Dollhouse: In "The Target", Echo is out hunting with the "Client Of The Week", and after some flirting while he teaches her how to hunt, we Smash Cut to them collapsing in his tent, panting for breath post-sex.
• Fringe: Olivia Dunham is introduced this way in "Pilot", complete with establishing shot of the motel where she and John Scott have met to hook up. They're interrupted by calls from their respective agencies summoning them to a crime scene where we learn that they work together, hence the secrecy of their relationship.
• In Plain Sight: In the "Pilot" episode, Mary goes to Raphael's house during a Heat Wave so she can talk to him about Brandi. He answers the door shirtless and their UST immediately starts up, but Mary is determined to just talk even as Raphael invites her in. Cut to Raphael's bedroom as we hear Mary's loud moan as they both collapse in bed panting and sweating.
• Interview with the Vampire (2022): After Their First Time in "In Throes of Increasing Wonder...", Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt collapse on the sofa while breathing heavily, both experiencing the afterglow from their orgasm.
• The IT Crowd: In "The Speech", we see Douglas Girl of the Week collapse beside him in bed after they're done having sex, with a Modesty Bedsheet covering them up to their necks.
• iZombie: In "Dead Air", Liv has a vision of one of Sasha's lovers collapsing in bed next to her in this fashion.
• Jane by Design: In "The Birkin", a scene begins with India rolling off Jeremy post-sex, each of them wrapped in their own Modesty Bedsheet.
• Justified: "Where's Waldo?" begins with Raylan and Lindsey collapsing in bed after a vigorous coupling.
• The L Word: When Alice sleeps with the legendary lesbian womanizer Papi, we cut to a breathless and exhausted Alice collapsing on her back after multiple orgasms, while Papi looks no worse for the wear, and just smugly tells Alice they're not done yet.
• Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail: In "Over the Mountain", Prudence and Ezekiel collapse into bed together when we cut back to them just as they finish having sex, with a Modesty Bedsheet tucked securely around both.
• Outsourced: In an effort to get her romantic rival Asha off his mind, Tonya puts Todd through a sex marathon that ends with her rolling off him on a desk at the office, while she's still wearing underwear.
• Private Practice: Many of the show's sex scenes are portrayed in this manner, including Modesty Bedsheets usually involving Addison. One notable example being when Cooper and Charlotte first get together after he invites her for a drink.
  Cooper: A drink. Not sex. Absolutely no sex.
  [Charlotte gives a reluctant shrug and a skeptical look]
  [Smash Cut to Charlotte collapsing in bed, panting and drenched in sweat followed by a smug Cooper]
  Cooper: Can I get you that drink now?
  Charlotte: Not yet. Ask me again in two hours.
• Revolution: In "Happy Endings", Charlie seduces Connor in Vegas and we later cut to a shot of her collapsing into a pile of hay after they're done, with her clutching a blanket to her chest while Conner is shirtless.
• Royal Pains: In "Something Fishy This Way Comes", when we cut to Hank and Harper as they finish having sex, we see them collapse in bed side-by-side simultaneously while breathing heavily and laughing.
• Scoundrels (2010): An episode has a scene that begins with Logan and Valerie collapsing side-by-side in bed after a bout of Victory Sex due to the Hope's Blackmail photos getting burned.
• Second Chance (2016): In "Palimpsest", we see Mary gasping softly before rolling off her lover, a billionaire Guy of the Week that is supposed to merge their two companies, with their post-coital pillow talk being them just talking business.
• The Secret Circle: "Loner" begins with both Melissa and Nick collapsing in bed wrapped in a Modesty Bedsheet after just finishing having sex.
• Shadow and Bone: In ""Show Me Who You Are", we see Jesper and the stablehand collaping post sex after a Sexy Discretion Shot.
• Shadowhunters: In "Original Scene", we see Magnus collapsing beside Alec after having sex, both panting heavily.
• Teen Wolf: "Superposition" shows a brief shot of Malia on top of Nathan from the back before she rolls off and collapses unto the bed. After gushing about how amazing she just was he tries to cuddle, but she's clearly not as into him as he's into her.
• Valor: Gallo is seen rolling off of his girlfriend Anna in bed post-sex, quickly followed by a Talking in Bed scene where she confesses she feels she's Being Watched at work.
• Veronica Mars: Several of Kendall and Logan's sex scenes are filmed like this, specifically in "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner" when Kendall cuddles up to him as a way of attempting to get money from him after finding out she's broke.
• Upload: In the opening scene of "Five Stars", we cut from Nora and Byron consenting to have sex to their sweaty bodies collapsing on the bed.
• Witches of East End: The pilot episode shows Dash rolling off Freya in bed after they have their "goodbye sex" before he leaves the country for a while, both carefully wrapped in a Modesty Bedsheet.

Music Videos

• In the music video for Passion Pit's "Carried Away," a couple keeps fighting, then making up with one another. One scene has the girlfriend angrily charge at the boyfriend only to cut to them slumping onto the bed, smiling at each other.

Webcomics

• Grrl Power: When Sciona sleeps with Deus, he proves to be so good in bed that she still can't move her legs long after they've done it. When they're Talking in Bed about their evil plans and he pisses her off, she angrily stand up, only for her jelly legs to fail her and she collapses unto the floor again.

Web Original

• Conversed in Asexuality Archive. The man who runs the site discovered that he asexual after analyzing such a scene in a movie. Namely, two characters fall back into bed naked and panting with the implication they had sex, but from their positioning, they wouldn't have been physically able to.

Western Animation

• Rick and Morty: Played for Laughs in "M. Night Shaym-Aliens!", as we Jerry collapsing on his side of the bed, sweating and exhausted after he had "the best sex of his life", implying he just slept with a Sex Goddess, only for the camera to pan over to a hologram of Beth that is completely immobile.

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