Basic Trope: Homosexual characters with Plausible Deniability.
- Straight: Alice and Carol seem to be a couple, but it could be also interpreted as a very close friendship.
- Exaggerated: Alice and Carol are always nude when alone together, make out all the time, and sleep in one bed, but they still claim to be just friends.
- Downplayed: Alice and Carol exchange some meaningful looks and hold hands in one scene, but there's not enough material to be sure that the Homoerotic Subtext was intended.
- Justified:
- Alice and Carol are just as confused about their identities and the nature of their relationship as the audience is.
- Alice and Carol live in a homophobic society, and if they are gay, they have to hide it.
- Alice has a queerplatonic relationship with Carol, but since most societies lean heteronormative, the people who don't know aro/ace culture don't realize it and assume they're meant to be gay.
- Inverted: It's a Cast Full of Gay, and while Alice and Bob seem to be a token straight couple, their relationship is the only one left ambiguous.
- Subverted:
- This seems to be in play, but then Alice comes out as an asexual whose relationship with Carol is a one-sided alterous crush.
- After many suggestions and copious teasing, making all the fans think this trope is the case, Alice proposes to Carol.
- Doubly Subverted:
- ...but it turns out to just be an April Fools prank.
- ...but the proposal is to remain best friends forever
- Parodied: Alice and Carol are literally married and adopt a child together, but they claim it to be a "friendship marriage" between two good old gal pals.
- Zig-Zagged: Alice suggests affection for Carol tentatively, then backs away. Then Carol does the same. Then Alice tries to kiss Carol, who brushes her off — then Carol tries to kiss Alice...
- Averted:
- Alice and Carol are an openly lesbian couple.
- Alice and Carol are Heterosexual Life-Partners but are Happily Married, respectively to Bob and Derek.
- Enforced: The network won't allow the writers to depict an openly lesbian couple, so they settle for at least implying it.
- Lampshaded: "You're making out with Carol an awful lot for a straight lady, Alice."
- Invoked: Alice and Carol tell themselves they don't like the idea of overt sexuality, but they can't ignore their feelings for each other and they do not express them as subtly as they think.
- Defied: "Are we really doing this maybe-gay-and-maybe-not crap now? I'm a lesbian and this is my girlfriend! There, I said it! Get over it!"
- Discussed: "I know Alice and Carol say they're just friends, but they're so obviously gay!"
- Conversed: "The movie was cool, but I hate this queerbaiting bullshit. Just make them gay, it's not that hard!"
- Played for Drama: The story is set in an extremely homophobic environment where coming out is a death sentence. It's heavily implied Alice and Carol are queer and have romantic feelings for each other, but even if they are, they're both too afraid to admit it to themselves, let alone to each other.
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