(Meme credit goes to EdenY_)

Chucks as a community has been around since late 2019, which means we've had more than our fair share of time to accumulate weird server quirks and inside jokes. Toss in a bucketful of ONC disappointment and a firehose of NONC hype, and you've got a recipe for weird emojis, reams of memes, several rogue goose gifs, and a whole lot more. 

This chapter contains a handful of the inside jokes you might see floating around if you join us from January 22nd onwards. This is to try to avoid excluding newcomers from the hilarity, because inside jokes are always more fun when you're in on the joke. 

1. Why is it called NONC?

In our defense, it started as No-NC. Because it rhymes. Get it? This quickly morphed, however, as hyphens became the first victim of internet shorthand, and the nickname for Chucks' new alternate-ONC event crossed wires with another inside joke in the server. 

Do you pronounce "ONC" as "Oh-Enn-See" or as "Onk"? This has been a topic of heated debate in Chucks since ONC 2021, when we discovered that the server was home to both kinds of people. The latter kind were vindicated by the rise of NONC, which was somewhat more difficult to NOT pronounce like you're making goose noises.

2. What's with all the geese?

See "goose noises" above  😂  

Chucks is also home to quite a few Canadians, and as you will probably soon learn about Canadians, we're all very happy to talk about geese. 

Because our geese are terrifying.

Anyway. 

The rise of NONC was swiftly followed by the commissioning and creation of our first NONC-ing goose gif, which led to goose memes, which solidified the goose as our unofficial NONC mascot.

3. The "cursed" and "elmorise" emojis

We can't live without them. These slightly unhinged emojis are a staple of day-to-day existence in Chucks and its sister server, the Literary Lounge (or LL for short). Due to high membership overlap, emoji transfers between the two is common... it's unclear who found which emoji first, but it's probably safe to say that a dual server citizen made sure it reached the other!

Why do we love them? Because there are very few emotions in writing that cannot be expressed or responded to with one of these two. Or the sunglasses-crying emoji. We use that one a lot, too. 

4. Why is the server called the Chuck Taylors?

Good question, friend. Good question. Since I first wrote this entry, I have been informed that the community got its name from the iconic sneakers—the Chuck Taylor All Stars—because it was a community of all-star writers. Before you judge us for this naming convention, know that this is the same community that produced a very serious, professional book club called Craft Cheese (because writing craft... we were reading a craft book, okay?) back in the forums days. So we don't really bat an eye at strange names. In fact, we're usually the source of them.

Which is to say, totally judge us; we're weird as hell, and we don't apologize for it!

5. The Brain Cell

A not-insignificant proportion of Chucks shares a brain cell. A single one, often stolen, and representing our only explanation for regular freak coincidences in anything from identical posts posted simultaneously, to highly parallel book ideas developed completely independently and also at the same time. Do we just know each other too well? Is there something supernatural going on? Who knows! We just know that the brain cell is very overworked and also never where it needs to be at any given time, at which point whoever needs it demands that whoever stole it give it back. Because there is only one brain cell and it's needed everywhere, this giving-back rarely occurs. 

This phenomenon is also known as the hive mind, or simply the hive, and is also represented by its own server emoji. Yes, this is common enough that we have our own emoji for it. Welcome to Chucks.

6. Charles the Cat

Charles the cat (less formally known as Chuck) is our unofficial server mascot. He is an orange tabby who likes to chuck things off high places (yes, that pun is also intentional) and cause general chaos, with plot-relevant results. He is also entirely fictional. The Charles-the-cat challenge involves people in the server trying to sneak Charles into their books, for no reasons other than a) fun, and b) messing with future readers in a "spot the dimension-hopping cat" kind of way. Our ultimate laugh would be to all get published and watch the conspiracy theories arise. 

How did this start? Also a good question. Primary credit goes to Wren (astrophile). Charles also has precedents in the bread challenge and the vanilla challenge within the community (similar in practice, different in origin), and Chucks is home to an absurd amount of cat people with a shared brain cell and a penchant for wacky ideas, so here we are. 

Want to join? Just write an orange tabby named Charles into any book of yours, and let the fun begin!

7. The "Nick" bot-trigger

At risk of spoiling this for anyone who might trigger it organically, posting the word "nick" in the #off-topic chat in Chucks triggers a gif that will make very little sense to anyone who wasn't watching the 2020 Wattys livestream. The man in the gif is Nick, a staff member at Wattapd HQ who was well-known back on the forums. He was also a co-host for the 2020 Wattys results. The gif was captured during his introduction for the Romance category, and immortalized by some blessed Wattpad user shortly thereafter. 

Why is the trigger there? Blame Cee. Yes, the mod Cee.

Carl (the bot responsible for this word trigger) also dispenses cookies, if you're interested. And lights a candle in memory of the forums whenever they come up. We like him a lot. 

8. #BlameAugust

Speaking of blame. When in need of someone to blame for anything (especially anything writing-related), blame August. This is just how things are. I think this one originated in the 2021 ONC, where August aka SmokeAndOranges was more than slightly responsible for ONC hype that lured several people into the ONC after they'd said they weren't intending to participate. Widespread infection of new book ideas—and especially large book ideas—after August got hijacked by a new epic series is also attributable to this effect. August is very okay with the blame (and in fact thinks it's hilarious) so if you see him getting dogpiled in the server, don't worry: it's just another inside joke.

(August is also writing this chapter, and so can attest to the accuracy of the above reassurance)

9. The Data Crew, aka WASA

The data crew is the unofficial name for a collection of Chucks members who are all mega data nerds, especially about anything to do with writing, Wattpad, and writing on Wattpad. In the Literary Lounge, this same crew has taken on the official name of WASA, or Wattpad NASA, an acronym reverse-engineered to mean "Wattpad Author Stats and Analysis." We deal in book launches (both failed and successful), attempting to take off and/or land amongst the [Wattpad] Stars, shouting into the void, and sometimes building ships. Our resident Romance writer is our Fleet Manager, as she obviously commands the most ships.

Anyone new who is also a data fan will be immediately and enthusiastically welcomed into this haphazard collective, and probably quizzed on their Wattpad stats without further ado. Don't worry, we're not looking to compare with you; we're just massive nerds.

This list will be added to as more additions arise! Because why not? It's great fun.