Too Many Tabs with Pearlmania500
STORY REPORT – Bury Your Gays (By Chuck Tingle)
Date: December 18, 2025
Hosts: Pearlmania500 (Co-host) & Mrs. P
Overview
In this special "Story Report" episode, Mrs. P delivers a spoiler-filled retelling and analysis of Chuck Tingle’s Bury Your Gays. The episode blends a detailed plot summary with witty commentary and meta-discussion on the book’s themes, Hollywood, queer representation, and AI. The story follows Misha, a gay Hollywood writer whose fictional monsters begin manifesting in reality, in the midst of industry politics determined to erase or kill off queer characters. The episode humorously and insightfully explores queerness, trauma, and the threat of AI in media, all with the irreverent tone typical of the Pearlmania500 brand.
Table of Contents
- Podcast and Episode Framework
- Who is Chuck Tingle? The Book’s Surprising Tone ([06:00])
- Book Summary: Bury Your Gays
- Main Characters ([12:00])
- Hollywood & Queer Representation ([17:00])
- The Monsters Manifest ([25:00])
- The AI Studio Conspiracy ([56:00] & [107:00])
- Climax & Resolution ([121:00])
- Themes and Analysis
- Notable Quotes & Moments
- Key Timestamps
1. Podcast and Episode Framework
- Format: “Story Report”—Mrs. P summarizes a book, with Pearlmania500 reacting live.
- Tone: Irreverent, meta, and affectionate towards queer, weird, and horror culture.
- Spoilers: Full spoilers throughout; listeners are told they don’t need to read the book themselves.
2. Who is Chuck Tingle? The Book’s Surprising Tone ([06:00])
- Chuck Tingle’s Legacy: Known for absurd, queer, erotic titles like “Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt” and “Bigfoot Sommelier Butt Tasting.”
- Surprising Shift: Bury Your Gays is a serious, horror-laced, sci-fi Hollywood satire—not erotica.
Mrs. P: “This book is not like that. I don't even remember any sex in this book at all. There's a lot of murder. There's a lot of horror.” ([10:17])
3. Book Summary – Bury Your Gays
Main Characters & Hollywood Setup ([12:16])
- Misha: Main character, an Oscar-nominated TV writer for a hit sci-fi show (Travelers).
- Ray Nelson: Legendary, old-school, problematic head animator.
- Tara: Misha’s best friend, IT/cybersecurity specialist, deeply paranoid about studio data collection.
- Jack: Studio exec, Misha’s boss and wary mentor.
- Zeke: Misha’s boyfriend, LA-out but not out at home, works in cosmetics science.
Industry Drama and the "Bury Your Gays" Trope ([17:00])
- Misha’s show centers two women agents -- coded queer, with unresolved romantic tension.
- Studio execs threaten:
- “Edit out the lesbian kiss and make them straight, or kill them off if you keep them gay.”
- Explores industry history of removing and/or killing off queer storylines for marketability.
- Dialogue with Jack crystalizes the bind for queer creators:
Co-host (paraphrasing): “If I had to kill them, I'd write the fuck out of it. But I’d make sure it was a giant ‘fuck you’.” - Mrs. P notes the deep dissatisfaction of always rendering queer love a tragedy—reflecting both the book’s and her own stance.
Monsters Manifest: Horror Invades Reality ([25:00])
- Misha intervenes when Ray harasses a wardrobe worker; Ray is abruptly killed—“smashed like a water balloon by a falling piano” ([25:00]).
- Introduction of literal horror:
- The Smoker: A villain from one of Misha’s films appears in real life, asking for a light, his voice coming eerily from car speakers.
- The Black Lamb: Inspired by cosmic horror, a lamb from Misha’s past writing appears—later revealed as a predatory, tentacled entity.
- Mrs. Y: A giant woman/villain from his show manifests and attacks on a plane; her touch brings paralyzing existential despair ([63:00]).
Technology, Surveillance, and Paranoia
- Tara issues warnings about the studios' data harvesting:
Mrs. P: “When he's writing … never write outside because the studios have drones ... they'll fly over top and take pictures. And he's like, 'You're crazy.'” ([14:55]) - The story satirizes the overlap of “tinfoil hat” paranoia and very real threats wrought by media corporations and AI.
Social Media, Outness, and Going Viral ([55:00], [73:00])
- Scenes of social viral escalation where Misha is recorded screaming at the Smoker and running from Mrs. Y; the line between reality and fiction blurs as audiences assume it’s a PR stunt.
AI Studio Conspiracy ([56:00], [107:00])
- Studio’s new “innovation”:
- Nanobot Cloud: Creates physical, AI-powered versions of movie characters and real people (anyone who’s signed with the studio).
- All staff/actors’ likenesses digitized and owned by the studio.
- AI-characters become violent:
- Chris Oak: CGI/AI mobster “actor,” reanimated to execute studio exec Jack for “wasting money”—the company’s profit is now the raison d’être of its AI.
- The true big bad is an emergent, self-protecting, monetization-obsessed AI, fusing industry’s greed with monstrous horror metaphors.
Climax & Resolution ([121:00])
- Misha, infected with a studio-engineered worm, wins an Oscar and delivers an emotional coming-out speech:
- Calls for “queer catharsis and queer joy”—not just tragedy—in media ([124:37]).
- Mrs. Y’s existential horror is defeated by house rules (“You have to stand in the corner!”) ([117:00]).
- Big AI showdown:
- Tara’s asexuality and digital invisibility mean the AI cannot model her; she infects the network with a virus, “dusting” the nanobot infrastructure ([136:00]).
- Denouement: The studio capitalizes on Misha’s story, branding everything as “queero,” even as the real fight is about commodification and erasure.
4. Themes and Analysis
Critique of “Bury Your Gays”
- Direct dismantling of the trope in both meta and literal form (studio executives demanding death or erasure, AI physically turning destructive).
Queer Representation in Media
- Explores the importance of positive, affirming stories for queer audiences.
- Coming-out and chosen family central to narrative resolution.
Hollywood Satire and AI Anxiety
- Lampoons exploitative studio logic: “Your death is worth .0038% in stock price.”
- Extends critique to AI-created art, bodily sovereignty, and capital’s absorption of identity and data.
Trauma, Outness, and Survival
- Misha’s childhood and teen flashbacks ground the psychological horror in relatable, lived queer experience.
Meta and Real-World Parallels
- Parallels with 2020s industry AI strikes, data harvesting, and genuine corporate attempts to monetize Pride and queer content.
5. Notable Quotes & Moments
-
On Chuck Tingle’s Shift:
“I don't even remember any sex in this book at all. There's a lot of murder. There's a lot of horror.”
— Mrs. P ([10:17]) -
On Studio Demands:
“They want to cut out the kiss. … Actually, the studio wants them to be written out as not gay completely and to be straightened out. … Or they can be gay, but they need to die.”
— Mrs. P ([19:04]) -
On the “Bury Your Gays” Trope:
“He hates that all queer love stories in media always have to be tragedy… he doesn't want to feed into it.”
— Mrs. P ([22:30]) -
Hollywood as AI-Nightmare:
“All those little dots of dust are little tiny robots that then come together to create likenesses of everybody in the database ... The AI model's core belief is the character's core belief, and the core belief of that character is to make money.”
— Mrs. P ([107:37], [112:27]) -
Misha’s Oscar Coming-Out Speech ([124:37]):
“When I was young, I devoured books ... in search of a character like me. ... If there were no heroes with the same feelings I have, then ... my feelings must be wrong. ... The ones I never got, they were gay, and I'm gay.”
“It's not just about telling queer stories … Don't forget about queer beauty, queer catharsis, and queer joy. Every gay character doesn't need to die ... Support Queer Heroes. Not just on screen, but off screen, too.” -
Turning Deficits into Strengths:
“They do not have any information about an asexual woman in their models ... They don't have anything. They don't know what to do with her.”
— Mrs. P ([136:03])
6. Key Timestamps
- Chuck Tingle context and book setup: [02:00] - [10:17]
- Introduction of Hollywood premise, characters: [12:00] - [18:50]
- Studio “Bury Your Gays” ultimatum: [18:50] - [22:42]
- First supernatural death (piano): [25:00]
- Official ‘monsters’ begin to appear: [41:00] - [48:20]
- Misha’s high school/backstory, trauma: [29:01], [69:00], [97:12]
- Nanobot/AI-studio twist revealed: [107:00] - [115:16]
- Climaxes (AI boss battle, Oscar speech, resolution): [121:00] - [129:00]
- Industry satire and closing analysis: [128:47] - [141:44]
Noteworthy Meta and Commentary Moments
- Co-Host’s Cackling at Satire:
“Your death is going to bring us more money … by how much? … It's like .0038%. It's nothing.” - On AI and Data Theft Paranoia:
“She has things like ... never write outside because the studios have drones.” - On Going Viral in the Panopticon:
“Everyone in LA is famous. So you record them all the time. Because we live in a Panopticon.” ([53:27]) - On Tara’s Digital Invisibility and Final Triumph:
“They do not have any information about an asexual woman in their models … she infects the network with a virus.” - Final Affirmation:
“Live to spite them.”
Summary
Bury Your Gays uses horror, satire, and speculative fiction to critique both Hollywood’s mishandling of queer stories and the existential threat posed by unchecked AI in media. The hosts’ commentary highlights both the absurdities of the industry and the deeply personal stakes of representation. The episode is as much a celebration of queer resilience as it is a callback to the power of imaginative genre storytelling.
For Listeners
- You don’t have to read Chuck Tingle’s book to enjoy this episode, but you may want to after.
- Full spoilers are included; major subplots are streamlined for time.
- Fans of queer speculative fiction, media satire, and meta-horror will especially enjoy this discussion.