shirley-will

[shirley-will]

The very best breakdown of what a microaggression is, how it happens, how to stop, and how if you've said these things, Chuck isn't mad at you, he's (we're all) here to prove love 💕

a moment to check the gears and cogs

feel like i want to talk a little on the message of a recent post because i think it is an important point. when i say that you do not need to QUALIFY OR DEFEND your love of tinglers or my work in general, i am pointing out an interesting social anomaly that happens with my art and with queer art.

as an autistic buckaroo i notice patterns, and on social media i see them a lot. little phrases that come up again and again with my art. ‘yes THAT chuck tingle’ ‘its ACTUALLY good’ ’my favorite author i have never read’ ‘so bad its good’. these are always added after a POSITIVE comment about me

they also all have something in common. they are trying to distance the posters SINCERE JOY and give them an out socially. it is very very very subtle, but they are all saying ‘yes i like this but here is a sliver of acknowledgment that it is also weird or bad or ironic. in not REALLY fully in'

essentially these are added because it means the poster can escape their very real joy if needed. try applying these phrases to any other popular author. its much more subtle with the first two: ‘i liked all fours by miranda july, yes THAT miranda july. its ACTUALLY good’. what does this imply?

the other examples are a little more blatant but lets try them with other authors anyway. imagine saying ‘youre my favorite author i have never read’ to stephen king. would you EVER say that to someone? what does that imply? how about 'i love your books theyre so bad theyre good'. horrifyingly rude

lets dive into saying 'CHUCK TINGLE is my favorite author i have never read’ sounds unusual when substituting other authors because theyre usually not queer or autistic or making outsider art. to be blunt, why CHUCK gets it all the time is because it really means 'i like chuck tingle but im not gay’

while we have mostly culturally evolved past the idea that saying ‘no homo’ is some kind of joke, that FEELING is still around. it has just burrowed a little deeper. honestly it might never go away, or at least take centuries. remember these people GENUINELY LIKE MY BOOKS but feel they MUST qualify

should also be pointed out that LEFT and LIBERAL people are the ones who say this stuff to chuck. they do not MEAN to harm, and if you ask them directly how they feel about queer or neurodivergent people they would not express the same opinion as their subliminal comments might imply

the final elephant trotting by is while some of this is homophobia and fear of a neurodivergent other, it is also just plain old IRONY POISONING. its conditioning from being raised on an internet where sincerity was ‘cringe' and loving something was a weakness or joke. these problems work in tandem

so whats the point? what can we do? first of all, just recognizing these patterns is a start. i didnt HAVE to write all of this today but i think its important to be aware and to look inward and think about the gears and cogs that churn behind the things we say. NEXT step is trying to push past it

if you have done these things in the past, i want you to know i am NOT AT ALL UPSET. i am not mad or hurt and i do not think any less of you. you can trot by my side any day and you are trying your best to prove love. we are ALL just tryin our best, just consider this a friendly chat between buds

proving love can happen in BIG WAYS and it can happen in SMALL WAYS that we barely see. just take a moment and think ‘WHY am i saying this? WHY am i in this pattern to distance myself from outsider or queer art?’ a little moment of consideration goes a LONG way buckaroos. LOVE IS REAL

[shirley-will]

all time power couple

[shirley-will]

lets trot

[shirley-will]

Ugh, domain names, amirite?

So, yeah, blog was down for a while. I don’t even know how long it’s been back up, lol. My truck lost a whole WHEEL on the freeway, and life was so chaotic for a long time. I now have a “new” vehicle that’s less than a decade old, unlike my former 2006 Toyota Tacoma. Good truck, but it’s now with someone who actually likes working on them. As for craft news, I just got my first PokeSanta hat…

[shirley-will]

Don't let "but her emails" work again

[shirley-will]

i am still kinda figuring out how this goodreads trot works but you can follow chuck there and PROVE LOVE IS REAL FOR BOOKS.

GOODREADS PAGE: https://www.goodreads.com/chucktingle

also apparently adding BURY YOUR GAYS to your 'want to read' shelf is a good trot SEE YOU ON THE BOOK SITE

[shirley-will]

we all know this classic way

[shirley-will]

😆😆

you know a books gonna be dang good when most of your edits are back and forths with the legal department. 'BURY YOUR GAYS' COMING THIS SUMMER

[shirley-will]

gatekeepers are never the heroes they think they are

also a time to reminisce on when chuck was ruthlessly harassed for exploring my gender trot by writing harriet porber and made fun of for being autistic. same as bisexual authors get harassed for not being out yet. REALLY wonder when the gatekeepers are gonna learn. time does not see you as heroes

[shirley-will]

just sayin preorders can make a dang good gift. preorder your bud 'bury your gays' THE GREATEST NOVEL EVER WRITTEN, just make the shipping address their house and print out this voucher HOLIDAYS SOLVED

PREORDER HERE

[shirley-will]

lets trot buckaroos plenty of room at the top. in fact, the space up here is endless

[shirley-will]

WOW. WHO REMEMBERS THIS SCENE? COINCIDENCE?

preorder bury your gays

[shirley-will]

work of jordan peele is BIG influence on chuck this is correct. there are quite a few similarities actually, especially when you consider both of us are coming to horror from place of comedy (i personally do not see tinglers as comedy but obviously this timeline has placed them there and i am perfectly okay with this trot).

we are both creating horror stories for our own historically marginalized groups and in particular, writing stories that are SPECIFIC to those groups.

for example when thinking about QUEER HORROR there is plenty of queer horror where the horror itself has nothing to do with queerness, or the queerness is subtext. for instance you could have a slasher where the main characters happen to be gay, but their queerness is not necessarily part of the fear.

on the other hand, CAMP DAMASCUS is directly commenting on a queer issue

BURY YOUR GAYS is directly commenting on a queer issue

by the same token GET OUT is directly commenting on a race issue

US is directly commenting on a class issue which is, of course, going to be wrapped up in topics of race and marginalization

it should be said that the other kinds of horror where issues of the marginalized groups is more in the SUBTEXT are not wrong. there is a time and a place for that. the book that will likely be chucks next horror novel is about bi erasure, but it is much more about the subtext and symbolism. there is a bi lead, but also a monster that does not seem to be about bi erasure AT FIRST. it is much less direct. so there is a time and a place for both kinds of approaches.

but i think the biggest thing that is similar about jordan and chucks approach (and what has been a big influence on me specifically) is that our goal is NOT: 'how HORRIFYING AND TRAUMATIC AND MESSED UP CAN WE MAKE THIS?'

we are doing something else

processing trauma by exposure can be a common goal for horror AND honestly i think it is also totally dang fine to make art like this. there are some incredible pieces where trauma and tragedy is the goal. however (and i will speak for myself here) when you are coming from a buckaroo community that has been through so much of this trauma in real life, i PERSONALLY find that goal to be a little too boring.

my goal is more like this: how can we use this genre of fear and tension that i love to comment and explore and say something new? how can i pull apart an issue and deconstruct it in a way that is cathartic and maybe even changes minds?

so i cannot speak for jordan but i feel like our approaches are similar in this way. i see a LOT of reviews that make comparisons between CAMP DAMASCUS and GET OUT and i am always very flattered

[shirley-will]

we all know this classic way

[shirley-will]

amazon editors announced YEARS BEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY LIST and picked CAMP DAMASCUS. i have been so moved by the reception of this outsider book and the support of autistic voices and stories. thank you to the new buds taking me seriously and the old buds who always did

[shirley-will]

I finished Camp Damascus in a single day. I don't think I've done that with any book, no matter how good, since high school. I can't tell you how deeply this book resonated with me, how meaningful and empowering it was. When Rose told herself she already knew the truth, but she wouldn't let herself say it -- god, how familiar that was to me, how often I told myself the same thing for years on end. Having that part of you hidden away because the world doesn't want you to see it, and finally, finally recognizing it is such a dangerous and wonderful thing.

I loved that Rose was explicitly autistic. I loved her little idiosyncrasies, how they reminded me of my wife, how Willow loved her not despite those things but because of those things, because they are part of who she is. I loved that Rose got to be the hero, not the useful tool or the one that gets dragged along and everyone thinks is a burden but are too "kind" to say anything, but the big badass hero who burns demons alive. Seeing her and Willow together, having them remember not just the good but the bad, and pushing through, letting themselves know that no relationship is perfect but they love each other and will literally fight demons for that love was so, so beautiful.

This book meant so much to me. Can't wait for Bury Your Gays. Thank you for what you write. Keep proving love.

wow this is so kind bud. i appreciate your words and i am so honored this story meant so much to you. i am moved by your way.

i will say this, i believe BURY YOUR GAYS will make hearts sing in the same way so i think the anticipation is well placed bud.

LOVE IS REAL

[shirley-will]