Basic Trope: The underlying meaning in a work.
- Straight: Jeremy writes the historical novel Love and the Sea to include a very deep bond between the characters Arturo and Bruno.
- Exaggerated: Arturo and Bruno are said to "experience ecstasy in the mold of the Greeks" regularly.
- Downplayed: Arturo and Bruno are good friends, but no more so than any other coworkers who spend extended time together in close quarters.
- Justified: Jeremy is gay and draws experience from his own life.
- Alternatively, Jeremy lives in a country where homosexuality is unpopular, or punishable by imprisonment or death. The subterfuge is necessary if he wants to keep his career.
- Inverted: Jeremy writes Arturo and Bruno as an openly gay couple in the Regency era.
- Subverted: The gay themes between Arturo and Bruno were unintentional on Jeremy's part, instead being introduced into their relationship by fans and critics.
- Some fans just see Arturo and Bruno as really good friends, nothing more.
- Double Subverted: Jeremy's work is censored in some markets for its "obscenely erotic" content: the scene in which the main character and his love interest finally get busy.
- Parodied: "There are three layers of meaning in a work: text, subtext, and super-text."
- Zig Zagged: Jeremy waffles on whether or not Arturo and Bruno are gay—at least in private. Publically, he won't say a word either way.
- Averted: Arturo and Bruno aren't gay, just flamboyant.
- Enforced: Jeremy wants people to rethink their views on homosexuality by providing a subtle, nuanced portrayal of a gay couple as opposed to a flaming, in-your-face one.
- Lampshaded: Jeremy asks the readers what they believe to be true about Arturo and Bruno's relationship.
- Invoked: Jeremy rewrites Arturo and Bruno to be closeted gay men after his openly gay editor positively comments on the seeming relationship between the two.
- Exploited: Jeremy wants a gay audience for his readership, and uses the Arturo and Bruno angle to draw them in.
- Discussed: Jeremy heads a symposium on gay characters in fiction, where Arturo and Bruno are mentioned.
- Conversed: Characters in Love and the Sea frequently comment on the closeness of Arturo and Bruno.
- Implied: Jeremy mainly uses symbolic gestures to highlight Arturo and Bruno's relationship.
- Deconstructed: When all the evidence for and against is weighed, it can't be conclusively proven one way or the other if Arturo and Bruno are gay.
- Jeremy is accused of using gay characters for publicity rather than good storytelling, and is challenged to write openly gay characters instead of pussyfooting around.
- Reconstructed: Jeremy's writing eventually becomes lauded for the use of ambiguity in its portrayal of human relationships, as well as the notion that people may not be "all one" or "all another" sexual orientation.
- Played for Laughs: Arturo and Bruno provide the novel's gay jokes.
- Played for Drama: Arturo and Bruno provide part of the novel's pathos through their demise.
Head on back to Subtext. Or maybe you want to go here?
