Quiz Bury Your Gays Chuck Tingle

Bury Your Gays Knowledge Quiz: 20 Questions for Fans

Plot & Sequence Questions (1–8)

  1. What does studio executive Jack Hays demand that screenwriter Misha Byrne do to his lesbian leads Lexa and Naomi?

    • A) Make them straight
    • B) Kill them off in a tragic sacrifice
    • C) Reduce their screen time
    • D) Replace them with younger actors

  2. In Chapter 1, a grand piano falls from a soundstage roof. Which character is crushed?

    • A) Jack Hays
    • B) Tara Ito
    • C) Raymond Nelson
    • D) Chris Oak

  3. What object does the stalker (The Smoker) leave on Misha’s bedside table to show he has been inside the house?

    • A) A matchbook
    • B) Cigarette ash
    • C) A torn page from Death Blooms
    • D) A black lamb figurine

  4. During the flight to Montana in Chapter 8, which character from Misha’s show Travelers manifests on the plane?

    • A) The Smoker
    • B) Agent Carey Lexa
    • C) Mrs. Why
    • D) The Black Lamb

  5. What substance do the monsters dissolve into when they are killed or deactivated?

    • A) Wood ash
    • B) Field’s alloy
    • C) Nanobot slurry
    • D) Cigarette smoke

  6. How does Misha finally stop the HBS algorithm in Chapter 19?

    • A) He shoots Jack Hays
    • B) Tara uploads a virus packet from her phone
    • C) Zeke destroys the server room
    • D) Misha rewrites the algorithm in real time

  7. At the Oscars (Chapter 17), what does Misha win an award for?

    • A) Best Original Screenplay for Travelers
    • B) Best Live Action Short for Little Mouse
    • C) Best Actor in a horror film
    • D) Best Documentary produced by Blossom Baker

  8. In the final chapter, what happens to the matchbook party favors at Tara’s watch party?

    • A) Misha burns them
    • B) Misha pockets one and feels no fear
    • C) Zeke throws them in the lake
    • D) Tara collects them as evidence

Character Motivation Questions (9–13)

  1. Why does Misha refuse to come out to his Montana family throughout the book?

    • A) He fears losing his inheritance
    • B) He is closeted due to childhood shame and homophobic trauma
    • C) His family has threatened him legally
    • D) He is not actually gay

  2. What motivates Zeke to give Misha a matchbook referencing Little Mouse (Chapter 6)?

    • A) He wants Misha to remember his first short film
    • B) It is a metaphor for Misha’s struggle between safety and authenticity
    • C) He hopes Misha will use it to light a cigarette
    • D) He is planting evidence for the police

  3. Why does Blossom Baker record the documentary about queer children who died by suicide?

    • A) To win an Oscar
    • B) To criticize the media’s romanticization of gay trauma
    • C) To honor her late brother
    • D) To expose Harold Brothers Studios

  4. In Chapter 13, why does Uncle Keith force twelve-year-old Misha to sleep in the cold car?

    • A) To punish him for watching gay porn
    • B) As part of a deal to keep Misha’s secret
    • C) Because the house is being fumigated
    • D) To teach him survival skills

  5. What is Tara Ito’s primary motivation for helping Misha fight the algorithm?

    • A) She wants a promotion at HBS
    • B) She is asexual and sees herself erased from corporate queer narratives
    • C) Jack Hays is blackmailing her
    • D) She is secretly in love with Misha

Theme & Symbol Questions (14–17)

  1. What does the black lamb represent in Misha’s story?

    • A) Innocence and sacrifice
    • B) The corporate ownership of his creative work
    • C) The homophobic bully from his past
    • D) Queer joy and liberation

  2. The matchbook is a recurring symbol. What does it ultimately come to represent by the end of the novel?

    • A) Misha’s unresolved trauma
    • B) Transformation of fear into reclaimed memory
    • C) The profit motive of Harold Brothers
    • D) The stalker’s calling card

  3. How does the novel critique the “bury your gays” trope?

    • A) By having the gay characters die heroically
    • B) By centering a gay protagonist who refuses that narrative
    • C) By showing only straight characters survive
    • D) By making the trope a joke

  4. In Chapter 18, Freddy Dewitt offers Misha a deal to produce only “queer joy” content. What is the hidden threat beneath this offer?

    • A) The algorithm will erase tragedy altogether
    • B) Blossom Baker will be harmed if she continues her documentary
    • C) Misha will be fired if he writes horror
    • D) Zeke will be deported

Synthesis Questions (18–20)

  1. Compare Misha’s two childhood betrayals: Richie punching him in Chapter 9 and Uncle Keith’s deal in Chapter 13. What do both events share?

    • A) They both happen in a barn at night
    • B) Both force Misha to suppress his queer identity to survive
    • C) Both involve Misha being physically injured
    • D) Both lead to Misha running away from home

  2. How does the novel use the concept of “genre roulette” (Chapter 16) to argue against tragic queer narratives?

    • A) It shows that Misha can punch The Smoker, proving genre is not fixed
    • B) It reveals that all horror endings are predetermined
    • C) It suggests queerness is mutable depending on audience
    • D) It proves that algorithms control all storytelling

  3. In the final chapter, Misha carries a ring box and considers proposing to Zeke. What does this scene suggest about the novel’s view of queer endings?

    • A) Happy endings are possible but require ignoring trauma
    • B) Joy and tragedy are both inevitable; the book chooses joy
    • C) Marriage is the only acceptable queer conclusion
    • D) Misha will never be able to commit

Answer Key

  1. B) Jack demands Misha kill off Lexa and Naomi in a tragic sacrifice. In Chapter 1, he says “start digging” when Misha calls it “bury your gays.” (Source: Memento Mori)
  2. C) Raymond Nelson is crushed by the grand piano. Misha confronts him for groping a wardrobe assistant just before the piano falls. (Source: Memento Mori)
  3. B) Cigarette ash. Both Misha and Tara find ash in the phone and on his bedside table, confirming the stalker is real. (Source: The Smoker)
  4. C) Mrs. Why. She touches passengers, causing them to collapse. Misha hides in the bathroom to survive. (Source: Mrs. Why)
  5. B) Field’s alloy. It is described as a semiconductor material that falls as ash when the algorithm’s creations dissolve. (Source: Sledgehammer)
  6. B) Tara uploads a final packet from her phone after hiding backdoor access. The algorithm tries to stop them but crumbles. (Source: Buried)
  7. B) Best Live Action Short for Little Mouse. Misha wins at the Oscars and gives a coming-out speech. (Source: In Memoriam)
  8. B) Misha pockets one and feels no fear. He realizes the matchbook symbol has transformed from trauma into a cute craft object. (Source: Season Finale)
  9. B) Misha is closeted due to childhood shame and homophobic trauma, rooted in the 1996 Dark Encounters incident and Uncle Keith’s abuse. (Source: Inspiration, 1996 and Inspiration, 1999)
  10. B) The matchbook is a metaphor for Misha’s struggle between safety and authenticity. Zeke knows Misha’s short film was about a little mouse finding courage. (Source: Nice Drive)
  11. B) Blossom criticizes the media’s romanticization of gay trauma. She tells Misha this at her birthday party in Chapter 3. (Source: To See and Be Seen)
  12. B) As part of a deal to keep Misha’s secret. Keith discovers Misha’s gay porn browser history and forces him to stay silent in exchange for avoiding punishment. (Source: Inspiration, 1999)
  13. B) Tara is asexual and sees herself erased from corporate queer narratives. In Chapter 19 she calls HBS “a multibillion-dollar valuation” that has zero ace heroes. (Source: Buried)
  14. B) The black lamb represents the corporate ownership of Misha’s creative work. It is a monster generated by the HBS algorithm from his own film. (Source: Lamb)
  15. B) Transformation of fear into reclaimed memory. In the finale, Misha no longer feels panic at the sight of a matchbook, calling it “a cute little moment.” (Source: Season Finale)
  16. B) By centering a gay protagonist who refuses that narrative. Misha repeatedly says no to killing his leads and ultimately rejects the tragic plot forced on him. (Source: Memento Mori and Genre Roulette)
  17. B) Blossom Baker will be harmed if she continues her documentary. Freddy Dewitt says she will “make herself very, very sick” after an edit fire and broken bones. (Source: Killjoy)
  18. B) Both force Misha to suppress his queer identity to survive. Richie punches Misha to hide their kiss; Keith makes Misha sleep in the car to keep the secret of his gay porn viewing. (Source: Inspiration, 2001 and Inspiration, 1999)
  19. A) It shows that Misha can punch The Smoker, proving genre is not fixed. Misha realizes he can change the tone of his story and reject the tragic arc. (Source: Genre Roulette)
  20. B) Joy and tragedy are both inevitable; the book chooses joy. Misha reflects that on a long enough timeline endings are inevitable, but so is joy. (Source: Season Finale)

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