idk man, didnt the show runners have to outright come and tell us that all the stuff they did for each other was in fact because they were gay, and that they were gay in the end? Right after the show had just ended?
Yes, because during production, gay marriage wasn't even federally legal iirc. They had to be subtle about it because it was a different time, and those relationships weren't as accepted in cartoons. I think only Adventure Time was able to plant a more blatant seed with Marceline/PB in s3