What is happening here

Hiya! Name’s Mister Skeleton — though my pals call me Mr. S ... an’ EVERYONE’S my pal!

So I guess call me Mr. S is what I’m try’na say.

Anyways, if yer lookin’ for some fun trivias, then lemme tell ya: ya came to the exact right spot! The spot in question bein’ Mister Skeleton’s TRIVIA ZONE, that is!!

Are you a skeleton?

Only ’smuch as the next guy! Ha ha!!

Is the trivia all about skeletons?

Uff da, people are always askin’ me this! If my name was “Smith” or somethin’ then would ya be assumin’ all my trivias are ’bout smithery? A’ COURSE not!

So nah, the trivias are about kinda everythin’ under the sun. It’s usually pretty freewheelin’, just whatever’s on my mind ... associative’s a pretty good word to describe it, I’ll fess up to that.

But it definitely AIN’T just ’bout skeletons, don’tcha even worry ’bout that!

So uh, how does this ... work

If ya sign up, I’ll send ya two trivias most every day a’ the week, exceptin’ weekends.∆[[(Unless ya pay for the Saturday trivias! But maybe let’s hold off talkin’ ’bout that for a sec.)]]

My aim’s to send out twenty emails a month, an’ I try to keep up that pace for ten months a’ the year. (I like to take a li’l break in the summers ’n’ winters, which is why it’s only ten not twelve months.) I never did bother to do this math till just now, but by my count that comes out to two (2) trivias per email times twenty (20) emails per month ... times ten (10) months equals ...

FOUR HUNDRED (400) TRIVIAS per year!?!

Wowza!!

Pretty good deal for the price, eh?∆[[The joke here bein’ that the price is free, get it?]]

I heard there was a leaderboard

Yupperoo! I keep up a monthly leaderboard so’s ya can see how ya stack up against other folks in the TRIVIA ZONE.

Here’s the deal: each email’s got a link to a form for submittin’ your answers to the day’s two trivias. I score ’em like so:

• Got both trivias right? Nice job! FOUR (4) points!

• Only got one a’ the trivias right? Hey, still not too bad, why don’tcha take TWO (2) points for that?

• Ah jeez, did ya not get either trivia right? Uff da! But heck, no worries, I’m still glad ya submitted somethin’ at all. Matter a’ fact, I’m so glad ... I’ll still give ya ONE (1) point, just for havin’ a go!∆[[Don’t say Mr. S didn’t ever do nothin’ for ya!!]]

The leaderboard’s one a’ those optional things. There’s not really a reason to do it — like, I don’t got any kind a’ prizes to send out if ya win — but anyway some folks seem to like it so there ya go.

Can I give you money?

I mean, I won’t say no!! But my day job’s runnin’ this hole-in-the-wall restaurant near Micimec University, and it gets me by pretty fine.

OK, but will I get something if I give you money?

Sure! Ya get two main things:

• One, ya get access to all the archives, which is kinda fun. I think by default ya only get to see somethin’ like the last six weeks a’ trivias? Somethin’ like that, it ain’t too bad. But payin’ subscribers can dig all the way back to the very first TRIVIA ZONE email, which I think was back in like February 2023 or thereabouts.

• Two, there are special Saturday trivias. Usually they’re written by my pal, a spooky disembodied Halloweeny spirit named Curtis who inhabits my body so he can take corporeal form. (Otherwise it’s kinda hard for him to type out the trivias.)
  
  But these Saturday trivias don’t count for the monthly leaderboard, they’re just extra fun stuff as a kinda “thank youse guys for subscribin’!!” sorta thing.

Is it OK if I cheat?

What kind a’ question is that?? A’ COURSE ya shouldn’t cheat! Come on, youse guys!!

OK OK. But what even IS cheating, really?

This ain’t some kinda philosophy class, buddy! Who do I look like, Socrates?

... Maybe?

Ah jeez, ya got me there. The guy really did have a robust head a’ hair!

Why do you keep talking like you knew all these famous historical figures?

Ha ha, well! Ya been around for as long as I have, ya get to meet a few folks.

But Socrates has been dead for, like, over two millennia

I dunno what yer gettin’ at, I’m just a normal guy who’s definitely never been cursed to wander the earth for a deathless eternity! Just like the next fella! Uff da!!

Now, heck, we’re here to talk ’bout this li’l TRIVIA ZONE a’ mine, eh? Let’s try ’n’ stay on topic, please ’n’ thank ya.

Fine, back to cheating. What’s not allowed? What happens if I cheat?

I dunno youse guys, just ... don’t look up answers on the interwebs? I feel like that’s the main thing. I mean, it ain’t like I got cameras or anythin’ watchin’ ya

THAT YA KNOW OF!!!

Nah, just pullin’ yer leg, there really ain’t no cameras. But, same token, there ain’t no prizes, either. So I’m not too sure what exactly ya get outta it if ya cheat.

Anything else you want to mention?

I dunno, I guess there’s how my fancy-pants brother W. Skeleton-Boney sometimes shows up to ask a trivia or two; or how I’ve got this rival restaurateur in town, fella by the name a’ Captain Nemo Toad, who’s kinda I guess ya could say my mortal enemy. Oh, an’ on Wednesdays I usually throw some kinda wordplay into the answers, that’s always fun.

But when ya boil down the whole situation it’s basically just “Mr. S sends ya two trivias a day!” and that’s really basically the whole thing.

Can we just touch upon the “Are you a skeleton?” thing one more time

I’m 100% a real normal human being with flesh and blood and lungs and stuff, and definitely not a living skeleton that was animated by dark magic back before the dawn of history. How would that even work? It’d be totally ridiculous!!

Uh, OK then

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee