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Narrative
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alt title(s): Les Yay 
Homoeroticism, Yay!
Any same-gender relationship that appears to be more than "just good friends." Primarily used for male/male relationships, partly because male intimate friendships tend to be more tabooed in conservative cultures and partly because it's more attractive to the kind of people who write fanfic. The female/female equivalent is often referred to as Les Yay.
Alternately, those moments of plot, dialogue, acting, etc., that draw attention to possible homoerotic Subtext in that relationship. Thank you, Dr. Freud.
The closest equivalents in anime and other Asian pop culture is Yaoi Guys and Schoolgirl Lesbians.
In the related trope called Foe Yay, even rivals or mortal enemies can get this treatment by fans and writers alike, especially if they have a more friendly past together, or one is inordinately obsessed with the other. In Fan Fic, this is the direct cause of many a Slash Fic.
In another sub-trope called Bro Yay, even brothers can get the Ho Yay treatment. Popular pairings include Sam/Dean (Supernatural) and Peter/Nathan (Heroes). Hell, even Frasier/Niles have their own fanbase. A sub-trope of this is Twincest.
And when the Ho Yay has definitive appeal to an LGBT fan base, it is called Fan Yay.
And yet another subtrope is No Yay, where you find yourself seeing sexual tension where you really don't want to.
A great deal—perhaps the majority—of Ho Yay is just wishful thinking. It is essentially a truism of fandom that any homosocial behavior, from Air Hugging to Faux Yay to actual homosexual relations, frees the characters who did it to be slashed together by someone in some corner of the Internet (For some, two characters being on the same planet is enough of an excuse). This holds for characters without canon orientations and even for those specifically stated by their creators to be straight. This should not come as a surprise to those aware of the "textual poaching" nature of fandom. Fandom/fanfiction uses several tropes of its own—some of which are fairly well grounded in the actual closeting/coming out experience, some of which are confined to fiction—to justify altering canon sexual orientations or interpolating where none are specified. If it's not wishful thinking and the Ho Yay fans are lucky, Ho Yay can lead to a Relationship Text Upgrade.
See also Heterosexual Life Partners, Lovely Angels and Romantic Two Girl Friendship.
Examples:
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