Quantum Dogwhistle. (genre) A style of writing that combines a dogwhistle with plausible deniability. In this genre, the author intends the reader to hear something, but will flatly deny its existence, often angrily, if a request for explication is made by those intended to hear it. This genre typically combines an intended message with a surface message that is aggressively opposed to it, and leaves only the faintest traces of the intended message that still allow it to be detected, without ever allowing its existence to be convincingly proved. No examples of this genre are known, at least none that can be proved conclusively, due to the requirement of plausible deniability that pretty much defines the genre. However, non-examples exist which would have been exemplary examples of the genre, if they had in fact been examples, and not non-examples, which they are. For instance, consider the following exchange. --- To: A From: B Subject: You can just do things. Dear old friend, Halfway through \[that book you suggested back when we were together, from about fifteen years ago until around ten\]. Bought a used cop car for cheap. Have a kid now. Live in \[City\]. This is my real actual car now and I can't stop laughing at how everyone avoids me in traffic. It's incredible by the way. Expected it to be a pain but maybe worth it, given the length and notorious difficulty of said book. Turns out it's maybe the most pleasant fiction I've ever read. Thanks for the recommendation in the ancient days. It's wonderful. -B (Attached picture shows a sticker that at first glance appears to be the eagle from the Great Seal of the United States, which on closer inspection is clearly a subtle reference to \[long difficult book\] mentioned above, the sticker being placed on the back of a car immediately above the "Police Interceptor" decal that came with the car, since that's the kind of car it is.) --- To: B From: A Subject: Re: You can just do things. I mean, of course you can. Look - I live in \[Other City\] now, which is like the nation's capital of doing whatever the fuck you want. An inflatable \[Cartoon Character X\] married an inflatable \[Mythical being Y\] outside of the \[Gov't Office\] facility a few weeks ago, ffs. There's a guy here who rides around town on a unicycle, in a \[Science Fiction Bad Guy\] helmet, playing the bagpipes ("The Unipiper"). For all its problems and how much it gets sucked in to our current batshit political discourse, at its heart this is a city of outcasts learning that they can be weird without judgment. I've been here nearly two years and so far it's been great. I can't speak for you, but for me it's never been about feeling free to do odd shit (hell, I just got a \[Obscure Reference\] tattoo in a fairly visible place that probably no one will ever pick up on)... it's about being able to do odd shit without feeling the need for people to approve - or worrying about the type of people who won't approve. Tying my sense of self-worth only to people who value my obscure jokes and references - using that as some sort of proxy for being "understood" - has been a recipe for isolation, ya dig? I've had to learn to get over that (for the most part, I just couldn't help myself with the one above).  Anyways, enough with the self-serving lecture. Instead I'll say: Hey! I'm really happy you're making a life for yourself out in \[City\], but I'm not particularly interested in reconnecting. Again, I can't speak for you, but I don't look on those "ancient days" with you with a particular sense of fondness. It took me quite some time to get past it all, and I see no reason to revisit any of it. And I will leave it at that. This will be the last time you hear from me; I'll be blocking this address from my inbox after I hit send. I truly do wish you a happy life with your family, and yeah! \[My Favorite Book\] is pretty fucking good, isn't it. Also, if you bought that car at a police auction, make sure to get it regularly maintenanced (I've been told they're treated pretty rough). Adieu! -A --- METACOMMENTARY Unbeknownst to all but the two individuals above, it is a fact that, at one point early in their relationship, the two ex-partners above had a secret handshake that involved the use of semicolons to say "I love you" to one another in public spaces like \[Popular Social Media App In Those Days\], after they fell in love, but before they were "out" in the open about their relationship, which was at the time a bit taboo, for \[Reasons That Won't Be Explained\]. The presence of a semicolon (which let's be honest, no one really needs in day-to-day written \[Language\]) was at that time a wink and nod to each other, intended to be invisible to any reader except the two of them; between the two of them, when reading each others public posts on \[PSMA\] and elsewhere, the semicolon was understood to be their own secret expression of love. It is also a fact that this practice was by no means insignificant in their relationship, it having led to a large (like maybe 200pt font) blue semicolon being printed out and taped up prominently on His bedroom wall, in which Her nights were spent, every night during that era. In summary, while this example was in reality _not_ an example of the genre of Q.D., if it had been, it would've been an awful good one.