History Main / HoYay

In point of fact this term, an abbreviation of "Homoeroticism, Yay" originated circa 2000 on the comment boards of Television Without Pity, a TV recap site. (See: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Hoyay!) It was particularly popular in Smallville recaps, where much of the homoerotic subtext was intentional: one of the members of the writer's room was simultaneously posting slash stories on livejournal.

It is unclear whether most moments of ho yay occur with authorial intent, and cultural standards often make it hard to judge. The level of accepted physical intimacy between close friends and adult relatives is hardly constant across various eras and nationalities, so, for example, the hugs and kisses which seemed mundane for an antiquated reader may appear blatantly erotic in the eyes of a contemporary one. In particular, the concept of RomanticTwoGirlFriendship -- and Romantic Two-Guy Friendship -- highly intimate yet platonic, only began falling out of use in the latter half of the 19th century.

It probably originates from the old days, when the homosexuality taboo was serious enough that every gay pairing was considered a CrackPairing, so when authors wrote characters as very intimate with each other, everyone just accepted that they are just very good friends, and moved on, or when they wrote outright references to homosexuality, everyone just laughed at the sheer absurdity of the thought, and moved on.

With the emergence of {{Yaoi Fan}}s and {{Yuri Fan}}s, and the more open-minded writers, this changed forever. Nowadays, fans willingly interpret any interaction as potentially gay, even for characters without canon orientations and even for those specifically [[WordofGod stated by their creators]] to be straight (in which case the author will probably be ''very'' annoyed by the fans' insisting otherwise).

Cultural differences also have their say here. The level of accepted physical intimacy between close friends and adult relatives is hardly constant across various eras and nationalities, so, for example, the hugs and kisses which seemed mundane for an antiquated reader may appear blatantly erotic in the eyes of a contemporary one. In particular, the concept of RomanticTwoGirlFriendship -- and Romantic Two-Guy Friendship -- highly intimate yet platonic, only began falling out of use in the latter half of the 19th century.

With the emergence of {{Yaoi Fan}}s and {{Yuri Fan}}s, and the more open-minded writers, this changed forever. Nowadays, fans willingly interpret any interaction as potentially gay, even for characters without canon orientations and even for those specifically [[WordofGod stated by their creators]] to be straight.

For heterosexual versions, see ImpliedLoveInterest and ShipTease.

Cultural differences also have their say here. The level of accepted physical intimacy between close friends and adult relatives is hardly constant across various eras and nationalities, so, for example, the hugs and kisses which seemed mundane for an antiquated reader may appear blatantly erotic in the eyes of a contemporary one. In particular, the concept of RomanticTwoGirlFriendship, [[note]]There were also plenty of Romantic Two-Guy Friendships.[[/note]] highly intimate yet platonic, only began falling out of use in the latter half of the 19th century.

With the emergence of {{Yaoi Fangirl}}s and {{Yuri Fan}}s, and the more open-minded writers, this changed forever. Nowadays, fans willingly interpret any interaction as potentially gay, even for characters without canon orientations and even for those specifically [[WordofGod stated by their creators]] to be straight.

Cultural differences also have their say here. The level of accepted physical intimacy between close friends and adult relatives is hardly constant across various eras and nationalities, so, for example, the hugs and kisses which seemed mundane for an antiquated reader may appear blatantly erotic in the eyes of a contemporary one. In particular, the concept of RomanticTwoGirlFriendship, highly intimate yet platonic, only began falling out of use in the latter half of the 19th century.

** HoYay/{{Gorillaz}}

** HoYay/WilliamShakespeare

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* The purpose of SlashFics.
* ''[[Franchize/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon's]]'' Send Your OCs fanfic ''[[PokemonTakeTwo Pokémon: Take Two]]'' gives us a fair share of Ho Yay. And considering [[YaoiFangirl what the authoress is]]...
** ''[[UpToEleven Ry]]''. The boy considers all males his friends just because they're the same gender, for Christ's sake!
[[/folder]]

For the heterosexual version, see ImpliedLoveInterest.

With the emergence of {{Yaoi Fan}}s and {{Yuri Fan}}s, and the more open-minded writers, this changed forever. Nowadays, fans willingly interpret any interaction as potentially gay, even for characters without canon orientations and even for those specifically [[WordofGod stated by their creators]] to be straight.

No examples please.

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!!Examples:

%% This trope does not include genuine [[ShipTease ship teases]] or scenes of intentional HomoeroticSubtext between straight characters.

[[index]]
* HoYay/{{Anime}}
* HoYay/ComicBooks
* HoYay/{{Film}}
* HoYay/{{Literature}}
* HoYay/LiveActionTV
* HoYay/{{Music}}
* HoYay/{{Theater}}
* HoYay/VideoGames
* HoYay/{{Webcomics}}
* HoYay/WebOriginal
* HoYay/WesternAnimation
* HoYay/{{Other}}
[[/index]]

No examples please. Rule of cautious applies here.

----
!!Examples:

%% This trope does not include genuine [[ShipTease ship teases]] or scenes of intentional HomoeroticSubtext between straight characters.

[[index]]
* HoYay/{{Anime}}
* HoYay/ComicBooks
* HoYay/{{Film}}
* HoYay/{{Literature}}
* HoYay/LiveActionTV
* HoYay/{{Music}}
* HoYay/{{Theater}}
* HoYay/VideoGames
* HoYay/{{Webcomics}}
* HoYay/WebOriginal
* HoYay/WesternAnimation
* HoYay/{{Other}}
[[/index]]

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'''*AWAITING APPROVAL*'''

Cultural differences also have their say here. The level of accepted physical intimacy between close friends and adult relatives is hardly constant across various eras and nationalities, so, for example, the hugs and kisses which seemed mundane for an antiquated reader may appear blatantly erotic in the eyes of a contemporary one. In particular, the concept of RomanticTwoGirlFriendship, highly intimate yet platonic, only began coming out of use in the latter half of the 19th century.

''This trope does not include genuine [[ShipTease ship teases]] or scenes of intentional HomoeroticSubtext between straight characters.''

Cultural differences also have their say here. The level of accepted physical intimacy between close friends or adult relatives is hardly constant across various eras and nationalities, so, for example, the hugs and kisses which seemed mundane for an antiquated or local reader may appear blatantly erotic in the eyes of a contemporary or foreign one. In particular, the concept of RomanticTwoGirlFriendship, highly intimate yet platonic, only began coming out of use in the latter half of the 19th century.

Cultural differences also have their say here. The level of accepted physical intimacy between close friends or adult relatives is hardly constant across various eras and nationalities, so, for example, the hugs and kisses which seemed mundane for a contemporary or local reader may appear blatantly erotic in the eyes of a modern or foreign one. In particular, the concept of RomanticTwoGirlFriendship, highly intimate yet platonic, only began coming out of use in the latter half of the 19th century.

Cultural differences also have their say here. The level of acceptable closeness between friends is hardly constant across various eras and nationalities, so, for example, the hugs and kisses which seemed mundane for a contemporary reader may appear blatantly erotic in the eyes of a modern one. In particular, the concept of RomanticTwoGirlFriendship, highly intimate yet platonic, only began coming out of use in the latter half of the 19th century.

In the related trope called '''FoeYay''', even [[TheRival rivals]] or ''mortal enemies'' can get this treatment by fans and writers alike, especially if they have [[RivalTurnedEvil a more friendly past together]], or one is [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou inordinately obsessed with the other]]. In FanFic, this is the direct cause of many a SlashFic.

'''This trope does not include genuine [[ShipTease ship teases]] or scenes of intentional HomoeroticSubtext between straight characters.'''