Ho Yay / Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Ho Yay in the Group Date Cafe

The Soulmate event in the second dungeon, Group Date Cafe, allows you to hook up with any of the characters, including the guys. Naturally Hilarity Ensues, but many of these M/M hook-ups contain surprisingly cute or heartwarming moments as well. And yes, there's so much Ho Yay there that it needs its own section!

• Teddie is all too enthusiastic about the idea of getting married. In P3's route, he even admits he'd been hoping he could marry the P4 Hero(!) but since he thinks it's fate goes along with wanting to marry the P3 Hero instead.
  • This becomes a Tear Jerker / Heartwarming Moment when you reach the end of either version of Teddie's scene and he ends up admitting to the player character that the reason he always latches onto the idea of romance is that he's terrified of ever being left alone again.
  • Also, Teddie wants to marry everyone.◊
• Shinjiro's destined partner event in the P3 side, the P3 Hero has some of the most...flirty responses he can choose compared to the other M/M destined partner events. Choosing "My heart's pounding" will even make the P3 Hero blush! Though considering the Fan-Preferred Couple for his female counterpart is Shinjiro, it could also be an allusion to it.
  • Shinjiro and the P3 Hero together evoke a lot of similar vibes with Persona 2's Tatsuya and Jun pairing option. Like Tats, Shinjiro is a tough cool guy who deep down cares for his friends. And P3 Hero is an androgynous slender boy who appears cold but has a sweet side that comes out around his companions. Both are also quiet, but seem to instinctively understand each other, just like the telepathic relationship between Tatsuya and Jun.
• Unsurprisingly, Yosuke and P4 MC conversations sound more romantic than the girls, it's like he was intended to be the Gay Option. He actually makes a love confession and proposal, and when you think they are going to kiss Yosuke just says "...Like I'd do that!" and crushes every Yaoi Fangirl dream.
  • You can watch the whole scene in its English and Yaoish glory here.
  • This is even more evident when you compare to the P3 MC and Yosuke soulmating and see how awkward and unromantic it is. When Yosuke realizes it's only him and P3 Hero, he just stares at the floors (probably disappointed it's not P4 MC) and acts annoyed for the entire scene. If you choose to say " It (The wedding dress) suited you." Yosuke will, surprisingly, not get angry! He will talk about how wearing women's clothing is his forte, and mention how he had to dress as a girl for Miss Yasogami's pageant and doesn't want to remember it. Yet for no reason at all, he mentions his partner also participated but in the end Teddie won. His line "...The fact that made me strangely frustrated for some reason made me even more irritated..." implies that he was rooting for P4 MC to win the pageant and this frustration made him irritated because Yosuke can't sort out his feelings. So yeah, Yosuke is marrying P3 MC and STILL manages to find an excuse to talk about P4 MC, how he dressed as a girl and how he felt bad for his partner's loss, all in one conversation.
  • His comments about the pageant actually answers some questions with P4 Hero. When Yosuke suspiciously says "Now that I think about it, why am I in the woman's position! If it were you it'd have been better..." followed by his "...Ahh, nevermind, I guess it's me." and "You wearing drag... it was pretty scary..." make more sense. Yosuke admits he looks better with the dress.
  • Just like P3 MC with Shinjiro, this is one of the rare times the P4 MC shows any emotion while answering, his answers for Yosuke are very unique and show how close they are, to the point he can mock Yosuke for "having ''that'' kind of interest" or tease him about the photo. In fact, Yosuke is the only character who actually believes A PHOTO OF BOTH HIM AND P4 MC MARRIED might be real, and acts surprised (and angry) it was all a lie.
    Yosuke: Wh-When did we!?
    P4 MC: Oh no... Is it from that time...!?
    Yosuke: "Th-That time"!? No way, when!? Did some Shadow...!? ...Is this a prank? You've got that serious look, but you're laughing inside, aren't you?
    P4 MC: *Hand Behind Head (Probably holding laughter)*
    Yosuke: Man...! I thought we did something like this when a Shadow used a confusion spell on us! Your jokes are too subtle, dammit! You need to be less deadpan about it!
  • The very fact that the game offers "slug it out at a riverbed" as one of the ways to confess how you feel about someone says a lot.
  • Yosuke wants to remind the MC that he is a dude and is ready to "expose himself if he has to!"
  • Yosuke will say "Um, well... This might not be the time or place for this... But listen to me partner. Don't do something you would regret!" but only if you marry another male character. He will not say this if you marry a girl. For comparison, if P3 MC marries a man, Yukari (his Implied Love Interest) will interrupt, and all other cases they will argue that a forced wedding is not a valid marriage. Yosuke apparently isn't against the wedding itself, but that you will regret marrying a(nother) guy, not to mention it sounds like he is going to confess...
  • If you say a person's sex does matter, Yosuke will say "Yeah I knew you'd say that," in a disappointed tone. And if you say the gender doesn't matter Yosuke will say "Yeah, it doesn't matter at-Wait what did you say!?" Considering how much he jokes about Kanji, Yosuke agreed really fast with the MC...
• In contrast the P3 and P4 Heroes are both quite cool with being declared each other's destined partners. Yu even says it makes sense since he sensed something special in P3 Hero, then panics a bit when he remembers that the Mechanical Voice said they are lovers.
  • Note that when you play with P4 and choose the option "If they do, I'll protect you" with the P3 hero, the latter will repeat what you say and try to hide his blush. You know, the guy that never shows any kind of emotion?
• Much like with Yosuke, the P4 Protagonist can convince Zen that the picture is real and from before he lost his memories. Unlike Yosuke, Zen doesn't figure out that it's fake and becomes more determined to regain his memories.
  Zen: I must regain my memories at once... for your sake as well.

Other Ho Yay

• Kanji and Yosuke accidentally kiss in the first dungeon. They get a Kissing Discretion Shot in the form of the MC's head.
• Akihiko and Shinjiro love to bicker◊ Like an Old Married Couple, with Ken as the kid who comments about "Mom and Dad are fighting again.".
  • Akihiko is offended◊ because Shinji only sees his as a sack of muscles, Shinjiro's excuse is because he "can't think any other compliment"◊. And more bickering...◊
  • Thankfully, Shinjiro◊ gets Akihiko's respect◊ Through His Stomach.
  • Some more general Ho Yay from Akihiko has him complimenting how muscular the Fast Guy and Nice Guy FOEs from the fourth dungeon are.
• Apparently, P4 Hero can call◊ Yosuke handsome◊ and get some shoulder massages◊ later.
• During their talk in the 4th dungeon, both Yukari and Mitsuru (especially Mitsuru) spend a lot of it blushing.
  • Even though Yukari wishes the 3rd years were more open with the rest of SEES, it seem she specifically wishes she were closer to Mitsuru. A lot of both her talk about Mitsuru and their interactions could be read as Yukari having a crush on her.
  • From that point on, Yukari and Mitsuru's interactions in battle will change. They're much more intimate with each other.
• There's a sequence in the 4th dungeon where everyone can take a brief break, and the navigators decide to turn the comms off for a minute... except they don't, and you overhear what sounds like Rise and Fuuka feeling each other up. Actually, they were squeezing each other's cheeks.
  • If you get paired with Rise in the Group Date Cafe, Fuuka protests, asking "Are you really going to marry Rise-chan?" in a tone that implies that she wants to do it.
• And let us not forget the two Wild Cards themselves. Who seem drawn◊ to each other.◊
  • Margaret does seem to refer to them as a beautiful harmony◊.
  • In P3 route, during one of the final stroll events, if the P3 Hero chooses, "You've got great friends," he'll smile warmly at the P4 Hero. The P4 Hero will agree, and say he's one of his friends now too. Teddie then comes up and says, "Hey you two! Don't go off into your own world!"
  • The Roundabout manga likes to play this up.
  • The P4 version of the PQ manga. No sooner does the P4 Hero start talking to the P3 Hero, people suspect the P4 Hero to be hitting on him.