soc_puppet: The original Gilbert Baker pride flag merged with the Philly pride flag, rotated ninety degrees, and ending in the Queer pride chevron at the bottom (Queerly Beloved)
[personal profile] soc_puppet posting in [community profile] queerly_beloved
Welcome back to Thursday Recs!

This week I'm going to rec someone you may already be familiar with: Chuck Tingle.

"Wait," you may be thinking, "the guy who writes the really weird erotica? Like 'Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt'? And was somehow a Hugo Award finalist twice for it?"

That's the guy!

Chuck Tingle does write a lot of really bizarre stuff, but everything of his that I've read is also very sincere and heartfelt. His storytelling motto (and possibly real life motto) is, "Love is Real". In fact, to make sure he was putting his money where his mouth is, he's written a good number of short stories that have no sex at all; there are so far two collections of "Not Pounded by Anything: Platonic Tales of Non-Sexual Encounters", wherein the protagonists don't have sex for various reasons. Sometimes it's to highlight consent, sometimes it's because the person who would be the romantic interest is actually a jerk, and sometimes, yes, it's because the protagonist is asexual (and possibly also aromantic).

Some things to be aware of going in: While Dr. Tingle's stories are all definitely sincere, they don't take themselves seriously. He frequently leans hard on the fourth wall, often outright breaking it to have written conversations with his characters—and at least once to go on a date with them. He's very fond of meta stuff. His work also tends to have a non-zero number of typos and even occasional formatting issues.

All that said, if you've got a few bucks to spare and are ready to read something that doesn't take itself too seriously, while still valuing the story it tells, you can definitely do worse than Dr. Chuck Tingle.

Want to give his work a shot but unsure about spending actual money on it? Have no fear, Chuck Tingle has you covered! When Covid broke out in 2020, Dr. Tingle released several short stories related to it for free, because he both wanted to write about important current issues, and also didn't want to profit off of a deadly disease. You can find them here, including one short story without sex: "Not Pounded by Anything While I Practice Responsible Social Distancing".



Do you have a rec for this week? Just reply to this post with something queer or queer-adjacent (such as, soap made by a queer person that isn't necessarily queer themed) that you'd, well, recommend. Self-recs are welcome, as are recs for fandom-related content!

Or have you tried something recced on a previous week? Do you have your own report to share about it? I'd love to hear about it!

Date: 2022-09-02 04:21 am (UTC)
mistressofmuses: Image of nebulae in the colors of the bi pride flag: pink, purple, and blue (Default)
From: [personal profile] mistressofmuses
I haven't actually read any of his stuff, though his social media presence remains a delightful bright spot when it shows up in my FB feed, haha.

Date: 2022-09-02 06:30 am (UTC)
vriddy: Cute dragon hatching from an egg (Default)
From: [personal profile] vriddy
I don't have any rec, but want to say this one is great! :D

Date: 2022-09-02 08:58 am (UTC)
adore: (sea air)
From: [personal profile] adore
My only encounter with his work was through Kennie J.D.'s video. However, I can entertain myself endlessly just by reading the titles of his works.

Date: 2022-09-05 02:15 am (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
In the same vein as Dr. Tingle, there was a podcast version of several of the stories being cold read aloud by various persons on the Night Vale network called Pounded In The Butt By My Own Podcast. So if you would like to hear some talented voice professionals WTF their way through some of the stories, that's a possibility.

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queerly_beloved: The original Gilbert Baker pride flag merged with the Philly pride flag, rotated ninety degrees, and ending in the Queer pride chevron at the bottom (Default)
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