Writing Prompt: Erotica Questionnaire

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 I discovered this while cleaning up old email.

(Mar 28, 2006 at 3:25 PM)

(H/T to [REDACTED] for the impetus to check old online accounts.)

This is a questionnaire I created back when I was writing erotica for women I knew online.

(NO, I will not write a story for you. But if you want to answer in the comments, go ahead. I might write a story ABOUT you! muWhaHaHA)

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questionnaire érotique

1. Are you in the story? (If so, what is the name of your character? How do you act? Describe yourself.)

2. How many people are in the story?

3. How many MAIN characters?

4. Who are the other individuals? (Use another sheet if necessary.)

    a. Name

    b. Gender

    c. Sexual orientation

    d. Race

    e. Age

    f. Background

    g. Occupation

    h. Appearance

    i. Other

5. Other characters? (Use another sheet if necessary.)

6. How do they meet?

    a. Location

    b. Do they know each other?

    c. Has either done this sort of thing before?

    d. Are there other people nearby? How many?

7. Are there any special techniques you’d like to see?

8. Any special equipment, clothing, food, etc. required?

9. Is the story more than one chapter?

    a. How many chapters?

    b. Which characters appear in which chapters?

10. Is one character dominant? Do they take turns?

11. Any special choreography or positions?

12. Anything else the author should know?

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A New York Christmas, in Nebraska

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When I lived in New York City (1997-2018), I worked retail, which meant that any vacation time between November 15th and January 15th was usually not possible. Much later, when I side-stepped to the home office, I'd take a ten-day vacation during Thanksgiving, using the weekends as bookends and only using three vacation days, as the office was closed on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

That was when I'd travel back home to Omaha, knowing that most of my family would be available at some point during that week. Mom was happy to see me, I could relax a little, and my agenda was simple: just tell me when and where I had to be, and what I should wear.

The Holidays? I'd spend it in New York, generally by myself. I'd socialize a little, usually on New Year's Eve, although there were times when I preferred to find a quiet corner of Central Park (I recommend Hans Christian Anderson) an hour before the fireworks and 10K Midnight run. I'd ruminate and marinate in my thoughts, and then be part and apart of everything around me.

That's one of the archetypes of New York... a little bit Marty, a little bit Holly Golightly... singular and single. Romanticized a little, even by me. "Hopeful romantic". I was social enough, but really, I perfected the art of social distancing years before it became a survival skill. I'd be happy to spend a Sunday in bed, napping, snacking, reading, surfing, my entire world defined by the kitchen, the bathroom, and my apartment. About once a week I'd meet friends, but I was...not content, but relieved in the routine of my life. Not happy, but accepting. (Then I flipped the script back to disquiet anger, gave a one-day notice to my employer, and a month later I was back in Nebraska.)

Christmas Day would be spent opening the box my mother shipped to my office a week earlier. I'd dress, grab lunch at the deli run by Yemeni immigrants, and take the subway into Manhattan. Now, in most of the country, cities are mostly closed on Christmas Day. Not New York. With the amount of tourists visiting and the large number of Jews in search of Chinese and a movie, a lot of the city was accessible, and filled with lots of pedestrians, no matter what the weather. The weather was usually above 30 degrees, the sidewalks were meticulously bare, and the City is one of the best places to walk. Density, intriguing shops and parks, and a subway station if you needed to go someplace far and quickly.

I'd be out among the teeming hordes, wandering, taking pictures to share online, making a small effort to celebrate the holiday and have a nice day off. New York is always a magical city, no matter if it's Christmas or August 12th. There's always something to be discovered, like wandering through a theater. Even if there's a ghost light on stage, you know there's narrow hallways to explore, props and trap doors and fly catwalks and little bits of history on the walls. But when there's a show on stage, all that spirit gets channeled onto the stage and out into the audience. New York in December is like that Broadway musical. The City puts on a show, with numerous Christmas tree lightings, lights strung across small town Main Streets in all five boroughs, window displays that rival the Met Gala, and of course all the areas of town you avoid the rest of the year because of the tourists, but tolerate because, yeah, you're a resident of New York, it's like living in a movie, but dangit, this time, it feels like a Hallmark holiday movie, and maybe you'll get that random Meet Cute that you read about in the Sunday New York Times marriage announcements.

It was Christmas, and I made the effort. When the City offers so much beautiful set designs, on the greatest stage in the world, you have to go out and photograph it, even if that camera is an old smartphone with a 5-megapixel camera and the screen is the size of a credit card. Unlike most tourists, there aren't any specific memories attached to those photos. Put them in a random slideshow, and I couldn't tell you when I took each photo. Something caught my eye, the composition was interesting, and in a small bit of empowered self-esteem, I figured others would enjoy the photos. They were my Christmas cards, randomly scattered, not addressed to anyone in particular. (Me, the hopeful romantic, used Valentines Day instead for personal missives.)

This is my third Christmas since moving back in the Summer of 2018.

This year, it's on hold. My German mother, probably for the first time in her life, which includes World War II) has not put up a Christmas tree. (We have a small fake tree in front of the garage, festooned with lights.) Tonight, we opened up the crates from the basement and did a little decorating, but it's more Winter than Christmas. (You can leave a wreath up until at least Lent, and maybe longer.)

We'll repeat the same procedure as Thanksgiving; dishes are selected, and my brother trades servings from his kitchen with ours.

Gifts...are mostly for the nieces and nephews. I've given up expecting anything specific, and I am sometimes surprised. But like I mentioned above, just tell me when and where I need to be, and I'll fulfill my obligations happily.

This year, my parents and I will be experiencing my New York Christmas. Staying at home embellished with a few decorations, opening a few gifts, talking on the phone, eating some fun food, and quietly anticipating the new year.

Yeah, there's a bit of nostalgia during the holidays. What I miss most about New York City is the discovery, no matter what neighborhood you might find yourself. I've taken photos of items piled on the curb awaiting trash pickup (and even schlepped home a few items). I've taken numerous photos of the abstract remnants of subway advertisements ripped from their frames, awaiting replacement. I miss the diversity, the opportunity, and the people. People I've known for years, and the people I know for a few seconds as our paths cross in opposite directions.

Will I be nostalgic for Christmas 2020? No. I don't think I'll ever be nostalgic for 2020. I'll remember it, just as I've remembered many other events of fortitude, where you boast of survival during adversity, because that's life. It's a sense of accomplishment and survival, like a smallpox scar.

I hope we can meet again soon. May 2021 be a better year, a year of progress and hope and opportunity. I keep hoping for that Meet Cute, although I'll probably not recognize it until I'm walking up the stairs. I guess that's why Hallmark keeps making movies...

Disney Investor Day: December 2020: Analysis

My notes from watching the Disney Investor Day presentation.

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First, here's the page, with an embedded video.
It's three and a half hours, just like the last Avengers movie! 

So, let's begin...  I'm kinda liveblogging...

3:38    86.8 million subscribers on Disney+  

Disney+Hotstar,  part of Star India, has 300 million active users. We'll see if they discuss this later in the broadcast.

3:45    "DTC-first business model"
Direct-to-consumer. Cut out the middleman. 

4:20    "One billion ... true fans"
A Disney army. "Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?"

Note the background slides. Star and National Geographic are shown, but Disney has yet to really promote those brands.

Hmm... no Twentyfirst Century Fox logos shown. That's a big chunk of legacy and property!

7:10    "...1957 schematic..."

(This deserves a separate post!)

9:10  "...coming launch of our Star brand..."
There it is... Disney streaming, outside the U.S.  "Hulu International"

10:15    Kareem Daniel

12:50    Disney is prioritizing DTC distribution. (No surprise there.)

13:45    Ten Marvel series, ten Star Wars series, fifteen Disney and Pixar series, and fifteen Disney and Pixar features.

It's like The Wonderful World of Disney, if it were on all five broadcast channels.
WHOA... new Pixar features on Disney+! 

Given the Pandemic, this is expected. Animation can be done in seclusion and isolation. Voice acting can be done in a closet, if the equipment is excellent. With direction via conference calls, it's not much different than if they are in a studio. 

Animation..that requires a more robust infrastructure. Not difficult to move workstations to a home office...but it does require a dedicated network to transmit loads of data for rendering.

15:10    Raya and the Last Dragon debuting simultaneously on Plus and theaters.

16:35    Rebecca Campbell

17:10    2024 forecast for growth, from 2019:

60-90 Million Disney+, 40-60M Hulu, 8-12 ESPN+
12/02.2020 numbers: 

86.8M Disney+ (30% are Hotstar (India) subscribers), 38.8 M Hulu, 11.5M ESPN+

137 million now, vs. 162 million goal.

18:55    22 European and Anglo-American markets. Plus a beachhead in Asia.

November 2020 launch in 21 Latin America markets.

"EMEA" = Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Eastern Europe, South Korea, and Hong Kong.

19:50    Michael Paull

More partners and access across multiple platforms and countries.

23:55    Expansion globally

India's example:
Star TV, Hotstar

Disney+ Hotstar

7 languages, cricket part of the service.

Indonesia is next. (Fifth most populous country in the world.)

Star is "Disney plus" in foreign languages.
In Anglo-American markets, Star is part of Disney+, one of six brand tiles.

Will Disney offer ala carte menus for watching foreign-language offerings domestically? Can I watch Coco in Brazilian Portuguese? Or Mulan in the original Mandarin?

28:00    Jerrell Jimerson

Star is the ADULT corner of Disney+! The Fox/Touchstone catalog!

30:50    Latin America strategy

The Star+ menu...  that's a pretty good user interface. I hope they offer filters for fans... "Show me only soccer matches available now."     

34:35    Kelly Campbell

Hulu

36:45    Hulu charges $65, and makes an additional $10 on ad revenue per subscriber.

39:45    ESPN programming available on Hulu at no added cost.

Will Disney offer ad-supported packages for the other services?

42:00    ESPN+ update

43:40    Jimmy Pitaro

SEC in 2024 on ABC and elsewhere.

Extra SEC games on ESPN+ next year.

Bundesliga. PGA.

A new "SportsCenter"-style show for ESPN+

Peyton's Places renewed for a third season.

 

51:25  INTERMISSION

Bob Iger

Interesting...  ABC is not a big brand. There might be some news programs. As a network, it's just a another way to broadcast media...much is produced by other divisions or production companies. ABC Sports' brand is non-existent...it's all ESPN now. 

Good Morning America can become a franchise, aimed at the New Parent demographic, senior citizens, and others. 

55:10    Sizzle reel!   (nope... edited out)

Dana Walden talks. What's interesting are the many television shows and series in the background. Disney+ isn't known for that... Netflix, Peacock, CBS, they promote that because they don't have a huge movie catalog. Disney's brand is family fare. With Star becoming the 18+ side of the service, Disney can mine that rich catalog of television shows.

Only Murders in the Building (no video) has a good cast!

The Dropout with Kate McKinnon!

Dopesick   When was the last time Michael Keaton was on television?

Nine Perfect Strangers

Season five of A Handmaid's Tale announced.

1:01:00    John Landgraf

FX.  Lots of high reviews on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes.

Four more seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 

Lots of ...

Y THE LAST MAN?!  A DC Comics title, at FX. 
WHOA. Drinking the milkshake.

Alien television series. Set on Earth.

Shogun. Paramount produced the 1980 miniseries.

1:11:25    Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy

1:13:15    Mandalorian Season Two re-view

Two new spinoff series!

"Climatic story event"?!

1:17:15    Stagecraft

Three new "volumes" being built in Los Angeles, London, and Australia. 
High definition virtual backdrops...an LCD screen replaces a greenscreen.

Star Wars Andor  spy thriller

Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Bad Batch  Dirty Dozen meets Clone Wars?

Star Wars Visions  animated anthology  ANIME

Lando!

Acolyte  Star Wars mystery set during the High Republic.

A Droid Story

Willow !!!

Indiana Jones!   July 2022 [but not the Fourth of July weekend... that's claimed by Black Panther II]

A new character!  Children of Blood and Bone adaptation

Star Wars theatrical

Patty Jenkins!  Rogue Squadron   Christmas 2023

1:27:55    Courtenay Monroe 

National Geographic

Cousteau documentary

Secrets of the Whales  James Cameron

A Real Bug's Life  micro-camera documentary

American the Beautiful   an F-15 flying at the speed of sound aerial photography!

Darren Aronofsky 
Limitless with Chris Hemsworth six-part series about aging

Welcome to Earth with Will Smith

1:42:00  Dana Walden in Springfield with the Simpsons!

Homer gives his thoughts on Disney+!

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers

Turner & Hooch
Big Shot  David E. Kelley! Private girls school, Basketball. 

Beauty and the Beast: The Prequel Series  ALAN MENKIN music!

Swiss Family Robinson

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Mysterious Benedict Society

1:49:55    Sean Bailey

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Productions

Hocus Pocus 2

Three Men and a Baby  2022 Zac Ephron     

Safety  True story from Clemson University

Greek Freak

Chris Paul memoir

Flora & Ulysses

Cheaper by the Dozen multiethnic

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild

Night at the Museum  animated!

July 2021   Jungle Cruise  Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt

Lion King prequel

The Little Mermaid remake

Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers live-action/animated hybrid   Spring 2022

Pinocchio  Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks!

Peter Pan & Wendy

Disenchanted  

Sister Act 3

Cruella  1970s punk rock London

2:04:55   Jennifer Lee

Raya and the Last Dragon   March 5,  2021

Walt Disney Animation Studios  original series

Baymax! as a nurse.

Zootopia+

Tiana longform animated series

Moana longform series

Iwaju !!!

Fall 2021    Colombia. musical. Encanto   Lin-Manuel Miranda

2:14:10  Pete Docter  Pixar

Soul
Burrow (Spark Shorts)

Inside Pixar

Pixar Popcorn

Dug Days (Up series)

Cars road trip!

longform animated series  Win or Lose  multiple points of view!

Luca  June 2021

Spring 2022  Turning Red

Summer 2022    science fiction  Lightyear  The ORIGINAL Buzz Lightyear, which is what the toy is based on!  Chris Evans

2:26:40  Kevin Feige

MCU

WandaVision

America Chavez appears in the next Doctor Strange movie!  March 25, 2022

December 2021  Spider-Man movie

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier six episodes

May 7, 2021  Black Widow

Loki series   crime thriller   THE TVA!

What If...?
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings   July 9, 2021

Ms. Marvel

Captain Marvel 2  Ms. Marvel will appear! Along with Monica Rambeau, the other Captain Marvel

Eternals   November 5, 2021

Hawkeye 

She Hulk

Moon Night

Secret Invasion

Ironheart

Armor Wars

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

I am Groot

Thor: Love and Thunder  May 6, 2002

Blade

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania  KANG.

Black Panther II  July 8, 2022

Fantastic Four 

2:47:25    Bob Iger

2:49:55    Christine McCarthy

Disney Media and Entertainment

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products

Disney+ guidance  2024

April 2019: 60-90M  

December 2020: 230-260M  globally

Profitable in 2024.

Hulu   40-60   50-60M 

ESPN+ 8-12M    20-30M

300 - 350 Million total global subscriptions (137 Million now)

3:03:15    Bob Chapek

Investor questions

A big chunk of subscribers are families without children

63 series 42 films   80% destined for Disney+

Cartoon Crossovers: The Official BBC Children in Need Medley

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Released in November 2009, the following video links most of the beloved children's characters from the BBC, along with some American characters who appear in the UK.

Most of these franchises are puppetry based. That's a rich tradition in British television, with The Thunderbirds best known in America.

For this video, most of the figures are animated using stop-motion techniques, with some "live action" video inserts (such as the Teletubbies and Thunderbirds).

The characters shown in the video connect directly to Scooby-Doo. 
This also features a rare cameo from SpongeBob SquarePants!

According to Wikipedia, here is a list of the many series and franchises shown in the video:

• Thomas & Friends
• Fireman Sam
• Bob the Builder
• Pingu
• Rubbadubbers
• Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps
• Postman Pat
• The Koala Brothers
• Roary the Racing Car
• Fifi and the Flowertots
• Raa Raa the Noisy Lion
• Little Robots
• Muffin the Mule [marionette, not counted]
• The Woodentops [marionettes, not counted]
• Mr Blobby
• Flower Pot Men
• Andy Pandy
• Pudsey Bear (the Children in Need mascot)
• Engie Benjy
• Paddington Bear
• Huxley Pig
• The Wombles
• Teletubbies [live action, not counted] 
• In the Night Garden... [live action, not counted]
• Peppa Pig
• Thunderbirds [marionettes, not counted]
• Bagpuss
• Ben 10: Alien Force
• Scooby-Doo [featuring Frank Welker and Casey Kasem]
• SpongeBob SquarePants [a rare cameo/crossover]
• Roobarb
• Fluffy Gardens
• Rainbow [puppets, not counted]
• The Sooty Show [puppets, not counted]
• Camberwick Green
• Trumpton

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me; or Love For Sale

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Serious thought experiment:

An alien lifeform appears in front of you.

It will allow you to travel with it.

However, you may not tell anyone of your departure. You might suffer injury or death while traveling.

To fund the travel, you must give it your most cherished possession, as the psychic emotional residue can be sold as a narcotic, and the object itself can also be sold. Do you go? What item do you give the alien?

What emotional connection does that object contain?

👽 🌌 ✨

"Do you know what 'love' is?" you ask Qyz, the Chief Extractor.

"We have studied your society, and have made crude analogies, but like your best philosopher-poets have discovered, it is mostly inexplicable," xhe explains.

"Well... since you can harvest emotional residues, I wonder what would happen if we recycled sex toys?"

Three months later, after the purchase of a small habitable moon orbiting a gas giant 15 light years away...

"Hey, Qyz...what happens if we use the Siphon to collect the Love directly from humans?" you ask Qyz, Chairman of UngaCreega, Inf. 

"We would need to create numerous fail safes, as well as explore the many variations of Love. Sex-Love alone has many variables...how do we find willing test subjects?"

"Let me make a few calls. Meanwhile, charter a cruise ship for... let's say...300 people, for Christmas next year."

"Will that be enough?"

"For now. Plus there's the crew. We should also start a foundation to fund research in emotional and sexual health. Why should we have all the fun?!"

Five years later, at the annual board meeting Qyz makes xir annual report...

"This galaxy, 162 light years away, recently acquired by our corporation, will be quarantined as a nature preserve, in the hopes that R&D might find new discoveries for us to offer our customer base.

"In the past cycle, we have expanded our emporia locations by 2.3%, including three new galaxies. While Earth itself is quarantined to ensure the safety of Galactic hegemony, we have been able to charge a premium for both direct and supplemental experiences involving humans throughout our territories, with other sentient species providing more accessible and affordable alternatives.

"Of the 459 known societal outbreaks directly caused by our presence on established worlds, only 97 will require direct physical intervention to preserve economic peace. Many conflicts can be readily resolved via the distraction of stimulation of base desires, which, of course, we excel at, and which further adds to our market dominance in the stimulation industry in each territory."

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Cartoon Crossovers: Animaniacs: Suffragette City

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As part of the recent Animaniacs reboot, we've seen many "Merry Melodies" spots where the characters sing. [And since these are the same characters from the original Animaniacs, they share the previous linkage to Freakazoid and Steven Spielberg!]

In this short titled "Suffragette City", Dot begins to celebrate the centennial of women's suffrage, but then quickly learns that she, a cartoon character, has no such rights. 
Thus begins her campaign to secure such rights for all cartoon characters!

If you'd like to sing along, here are the lyrics!

Cartoon characters which appear in this video (in order of appearance):

• Bugs Bunny [the Looney Tunes nexus]
• Foghorn Leghorn
• Witch Hazel
• The Flintstones
• Snagglepuss 
• Secret Squirrel
• Marvin Martian
• Gossamer 
• Babs and Buster Bunny (no relation) from Tiny Toon Adventures
• Sylvester James Pussycat, Sr.
• Speed Buggy [which connects directly to Scooby-Doo]
• Yakky Doodle
• Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy
• Ricochet Rabbit
• Elmer Fudd
• Loonatics Unleashed [Danger Duck, Lexi Bunny, Ace Bunny, Slam Tasmanian]
• Road Runner
• Pinky and the Brain
• Tasmanian Devil
• Wile E. Coyote
• Tweety Bird
• Magilla Gorilla
• The Great Gazoo
• Huckleberry Hound
• George Jetson
• Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo Bear
  
• Daffy Duck
• [various background characters]
• Penelope Pitstop
  
• Screwy Squirrel
• Porky Pig

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Cartoon Crossovers: The Master List

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A few weeks back, I introduced you to what I'm referring to as the Scooby-Dooniverse — a vast shared universe of cartoon characters, whose spine is built largely on the adventures of Scooby-Doo and Mystery Incorporated from over the years. 

This week, let's look at some of the many, many series and characters that are a part of this shared universe.