Because I want my due, dammit
The history of the abbreviation HoYay!

"Homoeroticism, Yay?" was a thread originated by Jennifer Godwin (jengod) on the Mighty Big TV (now Television without Pity) Angel message boards sometime during that show's first season (1999–2000). The title was a nod to both the homoerotic subtext of the show, and Willow's infamous comment "Vampires, yay?" from "Lie to Me," Buffy Season 2. Clever one, that jengod. Another witty minx, Kate Bolin (dymphna), helped everyone keep track of the complexities by creating this classic chart -- Hee! Poor Cordy -- as well as the first organized Homoeroticism, Yay clique.

Cut to spring 2001. Angel was wrapping up its second -- and I still say its best -- season. Wesley was years from scruffy, Gunn wasn't a pissant, Angel the character was actually interesting, Cordy wasn't glowing or evil. My Pocket-Sized Boyfriend Lil' Lawyer Lindsey had just driven off in his pickup truck, and summer reruns were looming. Whatever were we fans to do? I, who was going by the username whofleck at the time, posted something like, "We should have a Camp HoYay for the summer." I can't find the exact post because MBTV gakked their boards unannounced in the fall of 2001.

One off-hand comment and that immortal abbreviation later, people perusing Yahoo Groups found the following: "Camp HoYay! is brought to you by the genius mind of Whofleck and the other deviants who hang out on the MBTV Angel boards, Homoeroticism Yay! thread." [NOTE: *I* did not write this intro; jenstall did. Unlike some people, I do not declare myself to be anything except evil. Although I must admit I'm breathlessly waiting for the moment when someone crowns me an "elder stateswoman of evil." Ha!] Jenstall decided to start a mailing list on May 5, 2001, and it all slid downhill from there. A fun, slippery slope it was too.

Content at the Camp included insanely amusing incident reports written by the hilarious spicedrum and the clever jennyo (among others), as well as some okay filk written by me. We had stories of the characters' first arrivals, and the cast of Buffy was right across the lake. We set up "cabins" and assigned counselors, eep1313 designed the rainbow campfire icon ::points to journalfen icon::, and we even had a T-shirt with the motto When subtext becomes text emblazoned on the back. At one point, I even drew a map. If I'd had the time, the computer savvy, and Internet access at home, I probably would have created a web page or some such. Alas, the lack o' Lindsey and the presence of Fred sucked (heh) any HoYay! on Angel dry. Luckily, Smallville came (double heh) along to fill the gap (triple heh score) with its own HoYay! thread, and the camp was slowly abandoned during the fall of 2001. Eventually jenstall decided to use the group for something else. However, the term HoYay! itself has lived on through the boards, Omar G's hilarious SV recaps, and the Internet.

I must admit I like the fact that the abbreviation is often used in place of the word subtext. It makes me giggle.

ETA katemonkey's significant contributions to homoeroticism in the Angelverse.