Subtext

Subtext is the underlying motivation, feelings and emotions behind a character's actions and speech in any creative work.
A common visual used to describe subtext is that of an iceberg. The part seen above the water is the text, bu the much larger part that is underwater is the subtext. 
Subtext, this "reading between the lines," is content in canon and fanworks that can be inferred by the original creators of a source text as a way to add interest. 
Subtext can also be created due to the practical limitations of telling a story, such as carelessness, lack of continuity, lack of budget, lack of time, or simply disinterest.
 
Fans looking for evidence of relationships or motivations can also use their translations of subtext to bolster their opinions and headcanon. When a subtext is recognized, understood, and utilized by many fans, it can become fanon.
It can be a way to send a message or evade censors. In a February 1992 interview, Bob Justman confirmed that the subtextual message in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" (1966) concerning the 1960s' massive anti-war protest movement was intentional.H. Bruce Franklin, Star Trek in the Vietnam War Era.
==Decoding Subtext ==
Body language such as facial expressions, tone of voice, physical proximity, long gazes, quick gazes, and casual body contact are all ways to create subtext. These things also have cultural implications as well as assumptions about neurotypical audiences. It can be an area where autistics can have difficulty eliciting meaning, and may need to have some things spelled out in more detail. 
Dialogue is also a source of subtext. This includes perceived throw-away lines, off-hand comments, and things characters didn't say. 
Setting and descriptions can also contains subtext. An example of subtext in canon are the twin beds in Spock and Kirk's room in the episode, "City on the Edge of Forever." One is covered with equipment, and the other looks slept in, causing some fans to speculate on their sleeping situation.
==Subtext and Authorial Intent==
In dramatics, subtext does not necessarily have to be deliberate on the part of the author. There have been many debates over whether certain subtext exists in canon whether or not the writer intended to put it there. K.M. Weiland argues that subtext must be intentional in order to be subtext in the first place. The Only 5 Ingredients You Need for Story Subtext, Sept. 12, 2016. But in The Fanfic Symposium, fan author Shomeret argues that subtext is "a level of interpretation that is almost always unintended by the writer. When you write a story, you intend to communicate certain things. Being told about something you didn't intend may be alarming or infuriating." from The Subtext Anxiety by Shomeret (1999) }}
==Subtext, Shipping, and Relationships== 
In fan discussions, subtext most commonly refers to canon that is felt to imply a romantic relationship or unresolved sexual tension/attraction between two same-sex characters, or to hint at a character's sexual orientation. 
Slash fans point out elements of art direction and photography as well as acting that they feel make the "obvious" point. 
When the term subtext is used with regard to canon, an argument is often made that fans are seeing sexual relationships or attraction where they don't really exist. 
In film and television, especially in dramatic or suspense genres, just as in real life, two men or women looking intensely at each other or even touching does not mean they are sexually attracted to each other.Early Star Trek fans saw James Kirk and Cmdr. Spock's wordless exchanges as evidence that they were developing a kind of intuition or telepathy common to people who work closely together, rather than a sexual connection. Kirk's becoming telepathic was a subplot in Claire Gabriel's The Thousandth Man and a major plot point in later episodes of Jacqueline Lichtenberg's Kraith series. However, showrunners and producers who point this out, may be accused, rightly or wrongly, of Queer Baiting.
==Subtext and Queerbaiting==
Canon creators have used subtext as a way to gain consumers, and queerbaiting is just one of the hooks utilized. Inferring that a gay or queer relationship will never be be canon or shown, is a way to get spark viewer interest, which translates to dollars, and may give viewers a vague sense of "progress." 
 
==Subtext, BDSM, and Kinks==
White Collar is a fandom that has a lot of subtext.
The canon relationship between Peter and Neal contains subtext some fans have interpreted as part of a D/s dynamic. Kink fic featuring a BDSM relationship between Peter and Neal, or among Elizabeth, Peter, and Neal, is common in the fandom. Unlike in many fandoms where kink dynamics often have to be written into the characters' relationships without much overt canon support, some White Collar fans interpret canon elements like Neal's ankle monitor, or scenes where Peter exercises control over Neal's behavior, and transform the subtext into overt depictions of a kinky relationship in much the same way slash is often based on existing subtext in the source text.Isagel. Watching White Collar 1x07..., posted 5 Dec 2009. (accessed 26 Feb 2010) Just like the show itself, many fanworks that are not labeled as kinky or containing D/s elements can be interpreted by readers in that way. It is possible that some fans are developing kink goggles in the way some fans have slash goggles.
==Subtext and Pre-Slash==
Some stories may be perceived as pre-slash by some fans and gen by others, and fans may debate whether slashy subtext in a story is intentional or not, or if intent matters to the reader.
 
==Subtext and Femslash==
===Xena Fandom===
In Xena fandom, "subtext" refers to the implication that Xena and Gabrielle are meant to be understood as a lesbian couple.Xena - The Subtext FAQ for alt.tv.xena, Version 1.08, updated 1998. (Accessed 26 December 2008)
A "subtexter" in Xena fandom is someone who is a fan of lesbian subtext. Here, references to subtext links, subtext reviews, subtext fanfiction, subtext virtual seasons, etc. are usually referring to a lesbian interpretation of the source, like for example in CN Winters Xena Subtext Reports. 
Xena fandom is dominated by f/f fanfiction, due to the canon's focus on the close friendship between Xena and Gabrielle. At times, the show deliberately brought the queer subtext as close to text as it could getValerie Foster, Yes Lucy, There Is Still a Subtext on Xena. Posted October, 1999. (Accessed 30 November 2008.) without crossing the line; at other times, the show seemed merely to be titillating the viewers with faux-sapphic scenes. Either way, the Xena/Gabrielle relationship was meaningful to a lot of people because it was the closest to showing a sapphic relationship as an epic romance that most X/G fans had ever seen on TV at the time of its original airing. (Arguably, this remains true today. While the representation of sapphics on television has improved, female action heroes with female friends, female sidekicks, and woman-centered plotlines remain rare.)
See more at Subtext or Text?.
 
==Fan Comments==
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==Meta==
* The Subtext Anxiety by Shomeret (1999)
* Subtext and Slash: Having Your Cake and Eating it Too by Julia Houston (1999)
* Why Subtext is Better than Text by Janis C. (2004)
== References ==
Category:Relationships Glossary