Ho Yay / Littlest Pet Shop (2012)

Sunil and Vinnie

• Sunil and Vinnie seem very close to some viewers. In the first episode, when Zoe introduces all the pets via song and all have their Establishing Character Moments, Vinnie accidentally falls on Sunil's behind and gives him a sly grin. Minka then proceeds to draw a picture of that exact scene.
• In "Blythe's Big Adventure Part Two", during the fashion show, Vinnie helps Sunil out in showcasing one of his magic tricks, probably due to Sunil's huge Performance Anxiety.
• After Sunil saves the day in "Gailbreak", Vinnie comes up to him and gives him a big hug.
• In "Russell Up Some Fun", they team up to prank Russell while giggling like a bunch of girls, and Sunil laughs heartily about Vinnie's lame puns afterwards.
• "Lights, Camera, Mongoose!":
  • Vinnie goes to check if Sunil's alright (like he did with Penny earlier). Sunil is so happy about being back in Littlest Pet Shop, he pulls Vinnie close and their noses◊ bump together◊.
  • In the same episode, Vinnie basically had a mancrush on Shahrukh, another mongoose that looks very similar to Sunil.
• Take a sip everytime Sunil and Vinnie cling to each other for safety in "Door-Jammed". They also do a Thriller parody where the two are in place of Michael Jackson and his girlfriend. Finally, it is also interesting to note that they accused all the other pets of being werewolves... but not each other. They also seem to spend time watching horror movies together.
• Sunil's Imagine Spot of being a doctor and operating on Vinnie (who lost his tail) goes from him playing real music instruments in the operation room (which results Vinnie into getting a peacock tail of all things), to Russell, Minka and an overjoyed Vinnie fawning over him. Watch it here.
• "Eight Arms to Hold You":
  • The two embrace each other out of reflex, notice and awkwardly let go of each other. During the episode Vinnie also keeps falling on Sunil as a Running Gag. When Sunil falls on Vinnie one time, he's happy things are "finally going his way".
  • Minor example: In one part of the episode, Vinnie asks Sunil to "rendezvous" in the hall at night to crash Blythe's party together. Sunil asks him about the meaning of rendezvous, and Vinnie acts perplexed. Since it can't be that he didn't know the meaning of the word as he used it in the correct context, did he realize the romantic connotation the word can carry?
• In "Heart of Parkness", Vinnie appears to panic most when he finds out Sunil is missing. He's even the lookout during the boat ride, hoping he can spot Sunil.
  • Similarly in "The Hedgehog in the Plastic Bubble", Sunil is the only one who shows concern when Vinnie is trying to get to Blythe through her bedroom window. He's also relieved when they stop Vinnie from falling to his death and playfully teases him.
• Mike Vogel, Vice President of Development for Hasbro Studios, commenting on their bromance on twitter.
• In "A Day at the Museum" Sunil and Vinnie get excited about watching a horror movie together. The being touchy with each other and hugging in fear from "Door-Jammed" makes a come-back.
• In "Blythe's Big Idea" they are taking a bath and goofing off in a tiny tub of soap water together. For the Pet Jet fantasy, they are seated next to each other just like a couple would be and hug once again in fright when they suspect they are going to crash.
• In "Commercial Success", they are sitting on the same chair while watching Jasper's commercial.
• In "Shanghai Hi-Jinks" there's a brief scene at the start where Sunil pats Vinnie's head and affectionately calls him "sweet, ignorant Vinnie". Upon hearing they are going to Shanghai, Sunil lifts Vinnie up and swirls him around. At the end of the episode Sunil specifically goes to Vinnie, lifts him up again and hugs him, while praising him for his "colossal footwork" while dancing. None of the other pets do that with Vinnie. Their expressions really sell how much they like each other◊.
• As of "Sunil's Sick Day", the writers aren't even hiding it anymore.
• Seems to be averted in "The Expo Factor", in which Sunil falls madly in love with the cat Delilah. This could either be the writers stamping the Ho-Yay out, or he could be bi.
  • Averted again in "Pump Up The Panda", where Vinnie sings about getting attention from female lizards.
• They briefly hold hands in "Sleeper", and Vinnie's line while he's doing it can take on a whole different meaning out of context.
  Vinnie: We can't let anyone know about this!
• In "Tongue Tied", Vinnie got all emotional by Sunil's speech.
• In both "What's So Scary About the Jungle? Everything!" and "In The Loop", Vinnie spends most of the episodes sitting on Sunil's head. The latter episode also has a flashback that reveals the two have been best friends since they were little.
• In "Feud for Thought", Sunil and Vinnie each became the koalas' Number Two.
• "The Very Littlest Pet Shop" takes this up to eleven. After the Pet Shop and pets are shrunken, Sunil gives a scared Vinnie a soft reassuring shush, and starts stroking him to calm him down. Even further when you find out the entire shrinking adventure was simply a fantasy Vinnie was having, think what you will of that. Then again... in fantasies the pets tend to interconnect their thoughts, and usually aren't figments of one single pet's imagination, (so unless Vinnie was imagining independently and the others simply watched as he was zoned out), Sunil may have been the REAL Sunil.
• In "The Secret Recipe", they stand close together while listening to Blythe's song.
• In "Winter Wonder Wha...?" Vinnie's tongue gets stuck to the ice, in which Sunil grabs Vinnie and tries to pull him loose, they spin out of control and crash into the wall, Vinnie's tongue wrapped tightly around them. While it was an accident, it still looks rather suggestive.
• "The Sister Story":
  • This dialogue:
  Sunil: If I win, you will have to clean all of my magic props.
  Vinnie: And if I win?
  Sunil: [smirking] You will have to clean all of 'my' magic props!
  Vinnie: Deal! ... Hey, wait a second...
  • While on the scooter, Vinnie proclaims he can jump and land on the runaway llama. He stands up, and Sunil grabs hold of his lower waist (almost holding his butt) trying to hold him back so he doesn't kill himself, but immediately lets go saying nothing. It doesn't help that the very next scene is a crotch shot of Vinnie standing over him.
• In "Night at the Pawza" Sunil jumps into Vinnie's arms, Scooby Doo style, when the shop is infested with ants.
• In "Two Peas in a Podcast", Vinnie and Sunil can be seen holding each other again when they cry. At the end of the episode, Sunil even lifts Vinnie while still hugging him as they cry again.
• In "Go Figure!", they're both wearing skintight superhero costumes. At one point, Sunil poses like a model and walks toward Vinnie◊ as if he was coming onto him.
• In "Paint a Picture, It Lasts Longer", Minka paints Vinnie and Sunil as nude Greek wrestlers.

Blythe and Youngmee

• Blythe and Youngmee in "Sweet (Truck) Ride". Especially◊ scenes◊ like◊ this◊.
• In "Blythe's Big Idea" Blythe specifically takes Youngmee along with her when searching for a kiosk and while going shopping together they are shown holding hands.
• At the beginning of "Secret Cupet", Blythe and Youngmee play with each other affectionately when the former writes a letter to Josh. It ends with the two of them locking arms with each other.
• A bit more subdued, but in "Tongue Tied", Youngmee agrees to teach Blythe Korean even though Blythe never gives her a specific reason, showing how much she trusts her. The conclusion she comes to is that just the two of them would go to Korea.
• The song "My Biggest Secret" from "The Secret Recipe" about Blythe deciding whether she should tell Youngmee about her ability to talk to animals could easily be taken out of context so she's confessing something else. Not only that, in the song Blythe gives Youngmee numerous Longing Looks and it's shown how much she loves spending time with Youngmee. And then the scene where Blythe imagines Youngmee getting to know her secret [of being able to talk to pets] where Youngmee holds Blythe's hand and meets all the pets (who all love her) all while Blythe is looking so damn happy about the whole situation. And at the end of that fantasy Blythe imagines Youngmee looking at her with an adoring look.
• In "If the Shoe Fits" Blythe and Youngmee walk into a party holding hands◊ the way a couple usually does.
• "Proud as a... Peacock?" gives us more instances of Blythe and Youngmee holding hands.
• "Game Of Groans" has the two of them hanging out at a Renaissance fair while the pets are in the animal area. Due to how playful they are with each other and the fact they're dressed like princesses, it's almost like a date.

Other

• Zoe and Pepper:
  • They basically have a lover's spat in "Dumb Dumbwaiter".
  • In "Frenemies", the two once again get into an argument on which party theme is suitable for Penny Ling. They make up by telling each other how great they think the other is.
• Blythe and the Biskit twins:
  • In "The Nest Hats Craze!" Brittany and Whittany suggestively lock their legs around Blythe when she wants to leave. They smile at her struggling. They also tie her up, complete with mouth gag.
  • In "Winter Wonder Wha...?" when they're all in the hot tub together Brittany and Whittany sit very close to Blythe even though there's more than enough room for all of them.
  • In "Door-Jammed", Brittany and Whittany seem to get friendly fast after being stuck in the bathroom together, and it's revealed that Whittany actually likes Blythe a lot, she just treats her poorly because Brittany doesn't like Blythe.
  • All throughout Season 4, Blythe and the Biskit twins seem to develop even more Ho Yay in their relationship with each other - acting like BFFs to please the Biskits' grandmother in "Senior Day", teaming up with each other in "Snipmates" after Brittany and Whittany were horrified at another girl's awful treatment of Blythe, Blythe tutoring the twins in "Guilt Tripping", Brittany dressing up as Blythe in "Two Peas in a Podcast", and the twins gushing over Blythe's supposed painting and demanding she paint a picture of them in "Paint a Picture, It Lasts Longer".
• Minka and Penny Ling:
  • In "A Day at the Museum" Minka and Penny Ling raise a baby dinosaur together and call it MinLing.
  • At the end of "Shanghai Hi-Jinks", Minka hugs and clings to Penny's face in her joy.
• Blythe's friend Sue admires Blythe a lot, and in episode 7, she comes off as a Stalker with a Crush towards Blythe by copying everything she does, right down to the shampoo.
• Sunil and Russell:
  • During the song about Paris in "To Paris with Zoe", Sunil gives a flower to Russell near the end (much to the latter's appearent discomfort).
  • In the short "Just Not Into It ", Sunil tells Russell he looks really good in his outfit. Then Russell asks if it makes his butt look big, as he outright shows it to Sunil. Just look at Sunil's face during the scene.
• Penny and Pepper go on quasi-dates in "Penny For Your Laughs". At least in Pepper's mind, that is.
• Both Shahrukh and Sugar Sprinkles seem to have cases of Even the Guys Want Him / Even the Girls Want Her. Penny especially seems to like Sugar Sprinkles, she licks Sugar's sprinkled head suggestively in Sugar's episode.
• In "Helicopter Dad", a scared Russell leaps into Vinnie's arms in Minka's Fantasy Sequence. In the same episode Minka's affection for Olive Shellstein resembles a crush.
• It's questionable if this even counts as Ho Yay, because at this point it seems to be canon, but Vinnie's crush on Bruce the Iguana in "The Big Feathered Parade". Vinnie is completely infatuated with him, calls him his hero and daydreams about dancing with him on the parade while red flowers fall from the sky. Zoe even teases him about him having a "reptile crush" on Bruce, with Vinnie smiling after that comment.
• In "To Paris with Zoe", Madame Pom kisses Zoe numerous times on the cheeks upon reuniting with her. Also, when Zoe says she has a boyfriend, Madame Pom is shocked. She admits it's because she doesn't want Zoe to be distracted from the competition, but it honestly looks like she feels threatened.
• In "On The Same Page", Russell stumbles into a pile and accidentally emerges wearing a dress, pink scarf, and tiara:
  Russell: What the— ?
  Vinnie: Is it just me, or has the day camp suddenly been taken over by girl stuff?
  Sunil: [with lipstick, rouge, and a pink, feathery boa] I assure you, it is not just you, my scaly friend.
  Russell: Sunil! What happened to you?
  Minka: Sunil! How am I gonna finish my "Lady Mongoose with a Pink Boa" portrait if you keep walking around the day camp? Now get back to the chair!
  Sunil: [dejectedly] Yes, Minka.
  • Later on, when Russell, Vinne and Sunil get fed up with the girls' stuff cluttering up the LPS, they move to the upstairs loft of the store to have their own personal "boy cave":
  Russell: [holding up a pink boa] Oh Blythe, if you're going back to the day camp, can you return this to the girls?
  Blythe: What are you doing with it?
  Sunil: It was part of my costume for Minka's "Lady Mongoose with Pink Boa" painting. [Sunil caresses the boa] Mm-hmm-hmm, good times, good times.
  Russell: We can't allow any of that girl stuff up here! [Russell takes the boa from Sunil] Blythe, please take it back.
  Blythe: Such a great color.\\

Sunil: I concur.
Russell: Well.... Now that you mention it, and the color and softness do add that little touch of something the boy cave is missing.
Vinnie: Yeah girl stuff isn't so bad— Ugh! Did I just say that out loud?
Russell: [nervously] No no no, you're right, some of it's not so bad, mmm-mmm-mmm, soft... [snuggles the boa; then he speaks sternly] But we can never tell the girls that, can we?
Sunil: Never!
Vinnie: Not gonna happen!
Russell: Ahh, so fluffy.
[Blythe walks away, leaving Russell, Sunil, and Vinnie to snuggle the boa]Check the clip out here

• Seems to be outright confirmed in "Secret Cupet", with Genghis and Tootsie who are shown as a romantic couple, but are both males.
• In the first short, "TALE-RAVE-IUM", L-Zard and his gang of dancing reptiles make a come-back, and oh boy does the short ooze Ho Yay between L-Zard and Vinnie, such as L-Zard somewhat suggestively shushing Vinnie when the latter has self-doubts, Vinnie and L-Zard showing their dance moves to each other in what can only be described as a "gay dance-off" and Vinnie being absolutely ecstatic to see L-Zard dance.
• In "What's So Scary About the Jungle? Everything!" after Mrs. Twombly and Tess are reunited they embrace and then hold hands at arms length looking at each other lovingly.
  • Mrs. Twombly seems to be a bit too excited about a visit from someone who's just a friend.
  • When Tess is scared by Sunshine Sweetness at the zoo, she glomps Mrs. Twombly as soon as she arrives and cuddles her tightly.
• Pepper and Mitzi in "Sue Syndrome" share a song together which involves a lot of hand holding and mutual gazing. Pepper even looks away bashfully at one point when Mitzi smiles at her, and at another point their tails form the shape of a heart.
• In "It's The Pet Fest! Part 2" Zoe wants to impress Heidi and the two share some mutual gazing when singing together.
• In "Seeing Red", Penny Ling tries to impress a red panda named Scarletta by acting rough and tough just like her. Scarletta even tells her to meet her at the "Tough Panda Club" in Downtown City Park at nighttime.

---