History HoYay / Literature

* Invidia Aquitaine spends most of the last two books of ''Literature/CodexAlera'' working as TheDragon for [[spoiler:the Vord Queen]]. This involves wearing [[SpyCatsuit absolutely skin-tight armor]] at all times, having "[[UncannyValley cute]]" little tea parties, trying to explain human culture and emotions, particularly love, and being her only confidante. [[spoiler:Her Imperial Bugginess]] also seems to trust and respect her despite [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder heaps of evidence that this is a bad idea]], and isn't even bothered when Invidia inevitably attempts to turn on her, ''still'' offering to reward her if she switches back (it's just [[ItsWhatIDo what Invidia does]], she says). And [[spoiler:the Vord Queen]] [[InnocentFanserviceGirl never really got the hang of clothing]], so while Invidia is in her [[PaintedOnPants painted-on clothes]], she's naked. We may well have a one-sided crush here.

* Rather obscure, but the narrator Emil Sinclair in Creator/HermanHesse's ''Demian'' waxes poetic about the title character. Became pretty bizarre, though, when Sinclair ended up falling for Demian's mother (who's said to look a lot like her son).

* Another novel of Creator/HermanHesse's, ''Steppenwolf'', has some interesting vibes going on between the protagonist and the jazz musician Raul, including an invitation to a threesome and Raul tongue-kissing the protagonist while the protagonist pretends to be half-asleep and mistaking him for Hermanie as his excuse for why he kissed him back.

** [[UpToEleven Roran and an Urgal strip down and fight covered in oil]] in the third book.

** UpToEleven in ''Literature/TheNakedSun'':

* ''Literature/ALittlePrincess'': There are hints of this in Sara's relationships with Becky and Ermengarde. (especially in the 1995 version).

** Happens a lot in the ''Shannara'' books. Particularly the ''Heritage of Shannara'' series. Ho Yay, Bro Yay, and quite a bit of FoeYay thanks to an obsessive villain who practically magic-rapes the hero.

** Happens a lot in the ''Shannara'' books. Particularly the ''Heritage of Shannara'' series. Ho Yay and Bro Yay thanks to an obsessive villain who practically magic-rapes the hero.

* I read "Literature/TheMurdersInTheRueMorgue" before even hearing of the terms "Ho Yay" or "bromance," but I still raised an eyebrow when the {{narrator}} recounts moving in with Dupin (in the same paragraph where they first met!): "Our seclusion was perfect. We admitted no visitors. ... We existed within ourselves alone. ... Had the routine of our life at this place been known to the world, we should have been regarded as madmen -- although, perhaps, as madmen of a harmless nature." Did [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Holmes and Watson]] ever go this far?
** Yes. Yes they did.
** That... that ''can't'' be subtext. That ''must'' be text-text. (Wasn't it Poe who refered to homosexuality as "The most harmless perversion" or some-such?)

* In Creator/IsaacAsimov[='s=] ''Robot'' novels, human detective Elijah Baley and his {{a|rtificialHuman}}ndroid partner R. Daneel Olivaw have an insane amount of this, especially for characters appearing in novels written mostly in the 1950's. Interestingly, it often seems that the main obstacle standing in the way of their relationship turning romantic is the fact that [[InterspeciesRomance Daneel is a ''robot'']], not that Daneel is anatomically male.

* In ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', there are homoerotic vibes from the relationship between Boxer and Benjamin. Ben is described as being "fond" of Boxer, the two live in the same stable, and the only time Ben actually does something is [[spoiler: when Boxer was sent to the slaughterhouse]]. Also, after [[spoiler: Boxer dies]], Ben becomes depressed. Because YOU wouldn't if your best friend [[spoiler: was shipped off to be turned into glue by a totalitarian regime?]]

* The ''Literature/BloodyJack'' series has quite a bit of tension between Jacky and Clarissa in book two which becomes FoeYay in the 5th book ''In the Belly of the Bloodhound'' when taking advantage of a diversion to look for possible escape routes they hear someone coming, and Jacky grabs Clarissa and plants a passionate kiss on her in a FakeOutMakeOut scenario and Clarissa seems to like it. Jacky even notes that she's "been kissed by worse."

** The former is a CowboyCop SexyPriest, the latter is a TallDarkAndSnarky [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire-equivalent]] [[VillainProtagonist who is everything anathema to the former's religion]]. The FoeYay is rampant from the moment they first meet. Doesn't help that they become something like FireForgedFriends in the later parts of the trilogy, dipping into SnarkToSnarkCombat and FirstNameBasis terms. [[spoiler:Vryce even literally [[ToHellAndBack goes to Hell]] for Tarrant!]]

** Also, in a non-FoeYay vein, the almost-all-male team that develops later in the book is pretty much emotionally polyamorous, if not sexually-- and everybody is awfully concerned about how everyone else is holding up. Van Helsing gives Dr. Seward a speech about how much he loves Arthur and Jonathan (and Seward, of course) along with Lucy and Mina.
** There's actually serious scholarly argument over whether Stoker intended to portray Dracula as a DepravedBisexual. Almost all the critics agree, however, that he was deliberately given predatory, heterosexual FoeYay with Mina and Lucy, and that the female vampires had the same predatory attitude towards [[LesbianVampire everyone in sight]]. (Stoker was writing at a time of social and sexual liberation, and heavily opposed said liberation, so it's not surprising his villains are EvilIsSexy personified. A lot of scholars take the entire book as an {{Anvilicious}} appeal for traditional values.) There's even a theory that Stoker himself was bisexual. He was Henry Irving's personal assistant and had an enormous crush on him; the reason why he created ''Dracula'' in the first place was as a vehicle for his muse. Perhaps he saw himself as Jonathan Harker...

* OlderThanDirt, and proof that some things never change: In ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh'', literally the Oldest One in the Book, there is considerable sexual tension between Gilgamesh and his [[WorthyOpponent best]] "[[DefeatMeansFriendship buddy]]" [[FoeYay Enkidu]] -- something which is clearly acknowledged by the scribe who wrote of the story, with clever word plays hinting at Enkidu's homoerotic charm. In a slightly less subtle moment, Gilgamesh dreams about having sex with Enkidu as an axe, which he "loves like a woman." Both characters also sleep with women over the course of the tale, but their bond with each other is much more prominent.

** More notable than the abundant Ho Yay between Alex and his friends, though, is the FoeYay between him and the prison warden. Warden Cross has sat with him in bed, caressed his hair, held him by his chin and said he wouldn't allow Alex to die, because Death couldn't take what belonged to him. Multiple times through the books Alex confesses he might end up giving himself in to Cross, but what makes him truly afraid is the fact that sometimes he enjoys the idea. Of course, in book, this just means Alex is afraid of becoming the warden's mindless slave, but… [[DoubleMeaning That doesn't sound good either.]]

** Plus, Artemis... [[ThatManIsDead I mean]], ''[[MeaningfulRename Barrabus the Gray]]'' is once more indentured to an egotistical non-human with a penchant for open-chested vests, except Alegni is more of a SmugSnake and takes a many-layered glee in reminding Barrabus of his place. May also count as FoeYay, though they're ostensibly on the same side.

* Alright, so [[ToyShip neither of them is over 13 years old]], but there sure is a lot of this between Red and Fletcher in ''Half Moon Investigations''. It starts off as FoeYay, but by the middle of the book people are making mocking comments on how they "should get engaged". And Fletcher seems to like going on about how charismatic and magnetic and generally attractive Red is.

* ''Literature/{{Havemercy}}'''s high levels of Ho Yay is not helped by its virtually all-male cast or that the main romance is between two men, one of whom is canonically gay. This likely makes the frat dynamics and interactions (which, face it, are homoerotic enough already) of the Dragon Corps (an elite-trained airforce consisting of fourteen men) written very intentionally with underlying subtext. Most notable of which include Rook and Thom, where even though they are [[spoiler: revealed to be long lost brothers]], it doesn't change the massive amounts of FoeYay that carried through the book.

* In ''Literature/{{Crescendo}}'', Nora ends up in a {{catfight}} with Marcie, during which point Marcie [[FoeYay straddles Nora while she's on the floor]]. Following this, Vee licks Nora's arm (she'd spilled Cherry Coke on it) and comments that Nora tastes delicious. Erm...

* Christopher Paolini's ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' has plenty of Ho Yay, even though the hero's obsession with an unattainable elf girl supposedly indicates that he's straight. Despite this, he travels and becomes EXTREMELY [[{{Subtext}} close]] to his half-brother Murtagh, and starts getting vengeful and sulky when Murtagh turns out to think he's an annoying little twerp. Additionally he never notices the sexual characteristics (read: breasts) of the she-elf, but he spends a LOT of time ogling his master's muscles, "port-red lips" and long flowy hair, and starts staring intently at the guy's "hairless groin" during a naked bath scene. He also ogles the "hard and lean" muscles of his crippled [[FoeYay ex-nemesis]], and even drops his underwear in front of his cousin to show a very intimately-placed bruise. Oh yeah, and he spends a lot of time fondling, rubbing and stroking wooden staffs, swords, and other fun phallic weapons.

* ''Literature/TheLineageOfTellus'' has this in spades between Finn and Tristane throughout the first book, where it begins with FoeYay. At least until the end, when [[spoiler:it's established as canon that the two are falling in love with one another, subverting the earlier LoveTriangle trope established with heroine, Ashei.]] Then, in books 4-5, Aedan and Niall are in denial about the nature of their feelings, while Sage and Aedan also have a strong FoeYay relationship [[spoiler:consummated in book 5.]] So you could say the whole thing is filled with Yay of all kinds.

* Though it involves younger characters, William Golding's ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' centers in large part around the close, pseudo-jealous and possessive FoeYay relationship between Ralph and Jack. Evil Jack just loves his hunting spears.

* ''Literature/TheSchoolForGoodAndEvil'' features a Les Yay vibe between main characters Sophie and Agatha, with Sophie elevating it to FoeYay after she becomes a full-fledged witch, and going to varying degrees of MurderTheHypotenuse between Agatha and Tedros, the son of King Arthur. She then arranges a dark version of DanceOfRomance where she waltzes with Agatha held to her to convince Tedros that Agatha has betrayed him. Later, however, she engages in a fair bit of RedemptionEqualsDeath when she takes a fatal blow meant for Agatha, and with her last breath says [[DyingDeclarationOfLove "Agatha, I love you."]] ( [[UnexplainedRecovery She returns to life shortly afterwards]].) The novel ends with Agatha and Sophie fading from sight as they are returned home, held in each other's arms.

** Happens a lot in the ''Shannara'' books. Particularly the ''Heritage of Shannara'' series. Ho Yay, Bro Yay, and quite a bit of FoeYay thanks to an obsessive villain who practically magic-rapes the hero.

* The French children novel series ''Literature/TobyAlone'' and its sequel Toby and the Secrets of the Tree has this between [[FoeYay Toby and Leo]]. [[EvilFormerFriend They are extremely close in their childhood]]. Not to mention they even have a canon ship name...

** In ''Breaking Dawn'', after a long time in which Edward doesn't smile at all, his face expressing only despair and mourning, ''Jacob'' is the first person who makes him smile. And it is quite weird since [[FoeYay they hate each other's guts]]. And he is going to be sucking face in ten years or so with a girl that looks EXACTLY like him just with Bella's eyes...

* ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'': Shay gets awfully jealous whenever Tally gets a boyfriend. This arguably becomes FoeYay later on as Shay becomes more and more villainous.

* Jander Sunstar and Strahd von Zarovich in ''Vampire of the Mists''. For pity's sake, Strahd pretty much takes Jander as his date to the burgomaster's ball. And the scene where they play music together, oh my. Since Strahd is an {{Expy}} of {{Dracula}}, this isn't really that surprising. [[spoiler:Also a case of FoeYay.]]

** And the protagonist kisses Demian ON THE LIPS, granted, to give to his mother, but seriously...

* Quite a bit between [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship Ana and Kate]] in the ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' trilogy. Ana often makes rather detailed, gushing descriptions of her beauty and physical appearance with similar terms she uses for [[LoveInterest Christian]] (and Kate isn't the only woman she does this to), they start out living together and consider each other the most important person in their lives, if either of them are upset or in trouble their first instinct is to go to each other, they rather casually talk about their sex lives with each other (Ana is in fact disappointed she can't share more with Kate due to the NDA) and Kate goes into full {{Tsundere}} mode if she thinks Ana has been hurt or endangered in some way.

* ''Spindle's End'', the retelling of ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' by Creator/RobinMcKinley, has its RomanticTwoGirlFriendship between Rosie and Peony. They're described repeatedly with "two halves of one soul" imagery, at one point Rosie outright says "I love you" to Peony, and [[spoiler: it's ultimately Rosie who takes on the role that corresponds to [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Disney's]] Prince Philip, fighting and killing the evil fairy to rescue the sleeping Peony, then waking her with the all-important kiss. On the lips.]] Their romances with their male love interests feel almost like an afterthought by comparison.
* If you're looking for homoerotic subtext in Creator/StephenKing novels, look no further than ''Literature/TheLongWalk.'' [[TheHero Hero]] Ray Garraty gravitates to [[DeadpanSnarker McVries]] almost at once, and the two take interest in each other on the eponymous Walk, becoming fast friends. Each one saves the other's life more than once, not to mention [=McVries'=] winks at Garraty and lines like "Just go on dancing with me like this forever, Garraty, and I'll never tire." At one point the they even discuss another character's suspicion of their being "queer for each other," with [=McVries=] humoring the possibility, and then asking Garraty if he'd ''let him jerk him off.'' And when he objects, [=McVries=] says he won't even let him know whether he's joking or not. Slash fangirls, you may go wild.

* The ''Literature/GemmaDoyle'' trilogy: There's already canon lesbianism with [[SchoolgirlLesbians Felicity being in love with Pippa]], but given that [[ImprobablyFemaleCast most of the major characters are female]] (and often ''really good friends'' with each other), there's no way these books wouldn't be rife with this. Name two female characters, any two female characters, and you can probably make a pretty good argument for it, especially if [[LauncherOfAThousandShips Gemma]] is involved. The part in the first book after the girls get drunk for the first time. Felicity seemed really happy to show Ann how to "be intimate", complete with pulling one of the sleeves of her dress down to the point of seeing her..cleavage. She also kisses Gemma while drunk in the first book, and Gemma is hardly bothered by this.

* The ''Literature/WarchildSeries'' features plenty of canon slash for a western series. But there's also a lot of UnresolvedSexualTension between former childhood best friends Jos and Evan. Granted, Jos claims to be (and for the most part acts) {{asexual|ity}}, but he's also fallen asleep in Evan's arms and cried on his shoulder. Of course, he then panics about every one of these lapses, but the feelings are there. And Evan's one-sided crush is confirmed canon.

* HoYay/MoDaoZuShi

* HoYay/TianGuanCiFu

* There is a strange amount of subtext like this in ''Kit's Wilderness''. John Askew seems to have very little respect for Kit's personal space, and Kit frequently notes the "yearning" in his friend's eyes. Askew makes many ominous comments about how he and Kit are [[NotSoDifferent just the same]], and Kit reluctantly agrees that they're "closer than anyone could think". When Kit then suggests that they could be friends, Askew stomps off in angry outburst. At one point, Kit, who has learned about John's terrible home life, watches him and thinks that he is someone who should be given love. ''A lot'' of lines can, when taken out of context, be interpreted like this, with amusing results.

* Agatha Christie example: There was subtext between Miss Cook and Miss Barrow, Literature/MissMarple's bodyguards in "Nemesis".

* [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Croup and Vandemar]] of ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' seem to get this a lot. Probably not helped by the fact that [[spoiler:when Croup is sucked into the vortex, Vandemar calmly looks back at Richard, says "Bye", and lets go of the doorframe, allowing himself to be sucked through as well]].

* E.M. Forster. Being a real life StraightGay, his novels were full of homoerotic subtext: ''A Passage to India'' is certainly on a level with ''Literature/BridesheadRevisited''. And as for ''Literature/{{Maurice}}''... ''Maurice'' is about the eponymous character's search for Mr. Right! Pretty damn groundbreaking, seeing as it was written maybe a decade or two after the turn of the century... or it would have been, if publication hadn't been postponed until after his death in the '70s. Forster was all about needling the stuffy types, but he wasn't ''suicidal''. Especially depressing because the overt gay content wasn't what made the book unpublishable, it was [[spoiler:the fact that the book has a happy ending, thus making it "incitement to crime" at the time. If Maurice had hung himself it might have been okay.]]

* ''Literature/WomenInLove'' by D.H Lawrence has so much Ho Yay between [[spoiler:Birkin and Gerald]], that it's pretty much text. To name one example, in Chapter 20, they [[spoiler: have a naked wrestle. Said naked wrestle is described in such sexual terms that one can almost imagine Lawrence saying "This is them having sex-uh, I mean wrestling. Yup, just wrestling."]]

* Creator/AgathaChristie's ''A Murder Is Announced'', Miss Hinchcliffe and Miss Murgatroyd. So much subtext it's practically a LampshadeHanging - the shared home, the butch/femme dynamic, [[spoiler:Miss Hinchcliffe's "utter devastation" when Miss Murgatroyd is murdered]], et cetera. Considering that gay-friendly works were still getting banned for indecency up to the late 1970s, the fact that Christie managed to [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar publish a story with not one but two sympathetic lesbian characters]] in 1950s Britain is mind-boggling. The 2000s television series with Geraldine [=McEwan=] dropped the 'sub' entirely and made them a canon couple.

** The book has Grantaire's rather unsubtle unrequited love for Enjolras, which is quite popular in the fandom and was almost certainly intentional. Enjolras is the one thing Grantaire allows himself to believe in. Moreover, he's ''only'' in the revolution because of his love for Enjolras. The description of the Friends of the [=ABCs=] has Grantaire being attracted to Enjolras and not knowing why and in the next paragraph relates their relationship to a number of other couples. They are also compared to a number of mythological figures who were in same-sex relationships (a common way of GettingCrapPastTheRadar at the time) and [[spoiler: die HoldingHands.]]

** When narration switches over to Murphy she just as focused on women beatuty as Harry. And in Literature/PeaceTalks when a Valkrie hits on her defense is being Cathlotic not straight.

* HoYay/GoingClear

* In ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'', Winston goes on at some length about O'Brien, the deep connection he feels at a glance, and the man's marvelous physique.