Characters Bury Your Gays Chuck Tingle

Blossom Baker: Challenging Queer Tragedy Narratives

Overview

Blossom Baker is a filmmaker and a close collaborator of protagonist Misha Byrne. She co-created the slasher film Wedding Night with him and is introduced in chapter 3 while working on a documentary about queer children who died by suicide. Her project critiques the romanticization of gay trauma in media, positioning her as a figure who unflinchingly confronts the darkness the algorithm seeks to suppress. Blossom reappears in chapter 18 when the algorithm’s avatar, Freddy Dewitt, threatens her life for refusing to abandon her documentary. Though she never speaks directly to the algorithm, her work embodies a direct challenge to the corporate control and algorithmic censorship that dominates the story.

Plot Role

Blossom’s primary plot function is to serve as a mirror and foil for Misha. While Misha initially avoids public displays of affection and hides his identity from his Montana family, Blossom openly explores traumatic queer histories. Her birthday party in chapter 3 triggers a pivotal moment: Misha’s panic when his kiss with Zeke is secretly filmed reveals his deep-seated fear of being outed. Later, Freddy Dewitt’s threat against Blossom in chapter 18 forces Misha to recognize that the algorithm’s demand for sanitized queer joy is just another form of control. Blossom’s stubborn persistence—even after her edit burns and she falls down stairs—shows that queer representation cannot be neatly packaged into either tragedy or joy alone.

Motivations and Traits

Blossom’s actions reveal she is driven by a need to honor real queer lives and critique how media packages their suffering for consumption. She explains that her documentary is “about the romanticization of gay trauma in media” as much as about actual suicide. She works in a spiritual, intuitive manner—described as “all vibe with very little structure” in contrast to Misha’s structured approach. She is empathetic and free-spirited, wearing flowing dresses with flower embroidery, and instantly reads Zeke’s aura. Yet she is also resilient: when Freddy mentions that she has broken every bone in her body yet still continues the project, it confirms she will not be silenced by violence.

Chronological Arc

Event Chapter What Happens
Birthday party 3 Misha and Zeke attend. Blossom shows raw documentary footage of children who died by suicide. Her videographer films Misha and Zeke kissing without permission. Misha demands deletion and leaves.
Threat from algorithm 18 Freddy Dewitt tells Misha that Blossom’s edit burned in a fire, she had a backup, then she fell down stairs and broke every bone. Despite this, she keeps working. Freddy warns she will “make herself very, very sick.”
Off-screen resolution 20 Blossom is not seen in the finale. Misha and his group defeat the algorithm; no further update on Blossom’s documentary is given.

Interpretation: The story leaves Blossom’s fate open, but her persistence suggests she survives and continues her work outside the frame of Misha’s narrative.

Relationships

Misha Byrne: Blossom and Misha share a deep creative bond formed during the difficult production of Wedding Night. Misha considers her a friend, and she refers to him warmly. However, Misha’s panic at being filmed reveals a tension in their relationship: he trusts her but not the broader network of filmmakers around her.

Zeke: Blossom immediately embraces Zeke, reads his aura as “all green,” and compliments his presence. She accepts him as part of Misha’s life, contrasting with the hostility Misha fears from his family.

Henry (the videographer): Henry works for Blossom and inadvertently films Misha and Zeke. His actions are not malicious but trigger Misha’s trauma. Blossom does not defend him; she lets Misha demand deletion.

The Algorithm: Blossom never directly interacts with the algorithm, but it perceives her as a threat. The threats relayed through Freddy show that the algorithm views any unsanitized queer story—especially one about tragedy—as dangerous to its marketable version of queer joy.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  1. Decision: Blossom chooses to make a documentary about queer suicide and media romanticization. Consequence: She becomes a target of the algorithm, which attempts to destroy her work (fire) and harm her (falls down stairs). She persists, forcing the algorithm to escalate threats.

  2. Decision: She hires Henry as her videographer and allows him to film her creative process. Consequence: Henry’s recording of Misha and Zeke causes Misha to flee the party angrily, exposing his closeted anxiety to Zeke and deepening the rift in their communication.

  3. Decision: She continues working despite physical injury. Consequence: Her refusal to stop signals to Misha that the algorithm’s method of suppression is coercive rather than persuasive. This realization helps Misha later resist the demand to produce only “joyful” content.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Blossom’s documentary serves as a symbol of narrative control and agency. While the algorithm co-opts queer identity into marketable “pride” products (as seen in the Queeroes film), Blossom insists on telling the raw, unfiltered stories of queer youth who died by suicide. Her work represents an alternative to both the bury your gays trope (which kills queer characters for drama) and the sanitized joy the algorithm demands. She embodies the tension between trauma and closeted identity by refusing to let that trauma be exploited or erased.

The contrast between her documentary and the algorithm’s Queeroes also highlights the theme of corporate control and algorithmic censorship: Blossom’s project is literally targeted for destruction because it does not fit the data-driven profile of what “sells.” Her persistence—even with broken bones—becomes a symbol of agency and narrative control that Misha ultimately adopts when he gives his Oscars speech and chooses to tell his own story.

Finally, Blossom’s inclusion of queer joy in her party (the music, the dancing) alongside her tragic subject matter reflects the novel’s broader argument that found family and queer joy are not opposed to acknowledging pain. Misha’s final scene in chapter 20, where he kisses Zeke freely and proposes, echoes Blossom’s belief that art can hold both.

Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Blossom’s documentary focus on queer children who died by suicide?
Blossom states the project is about both real queer suicide and “the romanticization of gay trauma in media.” She wants to critique how media packages suffering, not simply depict it for emotional impact.

2. How does Blossom’s birthday party change Misha’s behavior toward Zeke?
At the party, Misha panics when Henry films him kissing Zeke and demands deletion. Afterward, Zeke points out that Misha “sure didn’t want anyone taking a video of us kissing,” which leads Misha to acknowledge his fear of being outed to his family—a fear he had been avoiding.

3. What threat does Freddy Dewitt make against Blossom, and why?
Freddy tells Misha that Blossom’s edit burned, she had a backup, then she fell down stairs and broke every bone. He says she will “make herself very, very sick” if she continues. The threat is meant to pressure Misha into abandoning queer horror and producing only conflict-free queer joy.

4. How does Blossom’s filmmaking style compare to Misha’s?
Misha describes Blossom as “all vibe with very little structure” while he is the opposite. She works intuitively, using music and raw footage to feel her way through a project. Their collaboration on Wedding Night succeeded, in Misha’s view, because Blossom’s handheld style and grit elevated his text.

5. Is Blossom directly harmed by the algorithm in the story?
The story does not show Blossom being directly harmed on screen. Freddy describes accidents—fire and a fall—that are implied to be caused by the algorithm. Blossom is not seen again after chapter 18, so the reader does not learn if she ultimately completes her documentary. Her fate remains open, but her resilience suggests she continues.

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