Connor_McManus - "what gives me the right?"  Well, as you pointed out, I am the Leader of the Streets.  That gives a certain amount of leverage and latitude to speak my mind.  More than that, I understand, better than the ordinary, simply people, what it is that's needed to make these Streets flourish.

And thirdly, and most obviously, this isn't a Sci-Fi convention, it's the fucking mafia.  So why are Sci-Fi nerds being given the same platform as me?

Regarding not having the same funds as my father, you are correct in this.  City Hal recovered all assets belonging to the Kuku lineage, and it was a substantial estate.  Most of it was, I'd argue, obtained legitimately, but some wasn't, and that which wasn't was tainted by that which was.  I'm not complaining.  I'm just saying, for now, for a little while, you and I are arguably, in some ways at least, on kinda the same level.  Of course, in short order, I'll be more successful and famous than you, and I'm already wittier and more intelligent, but for now, we are on a similar economic footing.  

Daniella knew that the virus was causing illnesses everywhere, she didn't know however that it was causing people to literally lose their mind. The ramblings of CommissarKuku were terrifying. He demanded that people who's speeches he didn't like were to be killed by their crew leaders??? She hoped they could wrangle him in and put him in the straight-jacket he so well deserved until his body finally expelled the virus.  

As she looked into her journals, she saw a history of family mental illness in the KUKU line.  So, this wasn't virus related, he was just mental with a God Complex. That made her feel a little better. At least it wasn't catching. 

“Comprehension clearly isn’t one of your strong suits. What I stated is that you’re the self proclaimed leader, as in handed yourself that title. Most of us certainly don’t agree with that but have no desire to interact with the way you belittle and degrade. You really aren’t worth the effort but when you cross the line and begin calling for people’s heads, something needs to be said to knock you down a few pegs.”

Connor_McManus - let me break this down:

“Comprehension clearly isn’t one of your strong suits. What I stated is that you’re the self proclaimed leader, as in handed yourself that title. Most of us certainly don’t agree with that but have no desire to interact with the way you belittle and degrade."

Who is us?  How do you know how the population feels?  That's quite an arrogant attitude, isn't it?  I base my title on my record, my support, my vision, and the encouragement of large numbers of very important people.  What do you base yours on?

"You really aren’t worth the effort but when you cross the line and begin calling for people’s heads, something needs to be said to knock you down a few pegs."

You are going to quite a lot of effort, and I am constantly trying to get you to pay attention to the important matters.  The failure of comprehension is yours, son.  And how do you feel you are doing at knocking me down a few pegs?

“Clearly the fact that you like to gloss over most of the replies here all stating the same thing shows I’m not the only one who feels this way. You seem to have a short memory when it comes to those that don’t agree with you. You are a sad, disrespectful person. As of right now, you’re just a lowly, loud mouthed gangster. If you had actually changed, like you’ve said oh so many times, we wouldn’t have to listen to this. You’re god complex is showing again and it’s not a good look.”

Connor_McManus "... I’m not the only one who feels this way. You seem to have a short memory when it comes to those that don’t agree with you. You are a sad, disrespectful person. As of right now, you’re just a lowly, loud mouthed gangster. If you had actually changed, like you’ve said oh so many times, we wouldn’t have to listen to this. You’re god complex is showing again and it’s not a good look.”

I am truly sorry that my presence here upsets you.  But ask yourself, should you be involved in organised crime, if you are so easily upset?

Is what I am asking *really* that much of a threat to you?  I simply ask those that wish to involved themselves in stories of fantasy to do it away from these Streets.  This being the mafia, I did, with largely rhetorical flourish, suggest that they should also be murdered.  But you, Connor_McManus, retreat into some little tear-filled trench, and blame me for your upset.  

Grow up, son.  Don't be an emo; be a mafiosa.

SHIFTY nods in agreement at the back of the crowd.

Hear, hear. 

CommissarKuku this is the first bit of sense you have spoken since the City Hall released you wild once again. I guess if you throw enough shit at a wall, something does stick. To that end I say thank you, here's $20k towards your Competitive Writing Community prize fund.

Fantasists save the stories for bed time and books, if I wanted to be bored to death I would join the priesthood - or better yet - shoot myself in the face.

Whatever your personal thoughts on the Commissar are, you can't doubt what he's saying. The stories are ridiculous. There is very little interaction between other speakers, the sole purpose is to try and impress the Gods so that they give out the currency known as credits. That is it's sole purpose. The stories aren't for the ears of the masses, they are to exploit the Gods and the way they judge how credits are given out. It's a complete exploitation and a complete lack of respect for people who actually deliver good quality stories out here in the community.

Werewolves? Witches? I feel people are arguing with CommissarKuku because of who he is, rather than the point he is making. There is no logical explanation as to why there are werewolves randomly popping out to the gym.

"You off out to get your flea collar Chris?"

"No Dave, just popping out to the gym m8. Gotta look buff so I can be the alpha"

Shambles.

Sean enjoyed walked through the various cities and hearing not only the various street performers, but also the various people who had the balls to stand on their soap boxes ,and indeed podiums, to voice their opinions on what was going on in this thing of ours.  He understood that since several picture houses had been closed down at the turn of the century, people needed a play to tell their stories.  Many of the business districts were not yet up to scratch.  And having seen a fantastic performance by Lugosi, in a fanastical feature movie in Detroit, he'd been eagerly awaiting a performance by a new guy, a Mr@ScottMcCall.

"This seems to be an age old discussion, ladies and gentlemen.  Apparently, the creative folk get some kinda underhand payment if they perform in the streets.  But certain people think this is wrong, that they should rebuild the theatres and reading rooms and stick to their own part of town.

"And yet it's also rumoured that those fellas who are shouting the loudest to get the creative guys moved away are also getting paid, quite handsomely as well.  So my question is this, can one survive without the other?"

Well, if all of the "creative folk" died, I think the others could survive yes.

There are other ways to be creative, I recall mobsters such as Scarfo and Keats who knew how to captivate an audience and did it with an idea of including the community, not to exploit a system. A true story teller, not this new age of drivel.

Sadly, I have received a mobmail from the "werewolf" known as Scott, that he does this to get credits. It's quite disappointing to be perfectly honest.

SHIFTY - thanks, you made good points, as do you Fidd.

SeanCallan - I can survive just well without them.  Sad thing is, if they used their talents and drive to enter the writing contests, they could do well.

"CommissarKuku," Isadora who held in a pencil in one hand and a notepad in the other raised her pencil high enough to be seen over the rest of the crowd, "Isadora Esposito with Organized Crime Weekly.  Nice to meet you.  It's been asserted that you believe people share their stories in the streets to gain 'credit' from City Hall.  Some sources have asserted that individuals standing on street corners bitching and moaning about what others do with their time is also a cheap grab for attention and credits.  Now, you've asserted here that you don't need such credit... my question is this:  Will you be giving up your treasured VIP Status in protest of the abused credits for words system promoted by City Hall or will you continue to benefit from the system you decry?"

Zapata was heartbroken by all of this dissent towards his favourite supernatural stories and authors. He held his precious writers notebook closely against his chest, knowing that he would have to burn the contents of the book and shield it from ever entering the public realm, at least until public opinion swung in his favour again. He opened it, one last time, to read his favourite of the unpublished stories, one that he hoped - no, that he was sure - would have impressed his dear friends Sully, Sally and ScottMcCall, perhaps even leaped to the forefront of their literary canon:

Hello everyone, my name is Zapata and I am a Goomba with The Grin Gang. While I may appear on the surface a hot teen with a mysterious past, what you may not know about me is that I am a very spooky Frankingstein.

In our crew, there are also people like Elodin, who is a teenage mummy (and I'm not talking about babies). He is a very hot and scary high school monster, and so pensive too. Sometimes it can be awkward for him being a 4,000 year old teenager covered in papyrus wrapping but it makes it very easy for him to draw personal fouls for our basketball team, of which he is team captain. 

Zoom is another member of The Gang but he was kicked out of the HQ on account of being a super yucky toilet-ghoulie. There are many other creepies and crawlies in our crew, including Goldust, a filthy morlock, CommissarKuku, a puddle-slurping oompa loompa, and KevinChiles, a Mr. Potato Head. It's so hard for all of us to be hot teenagers sometimes, but especially for me, as a Frankingstein. I am so sad and pensive about whether I will ever feel like I truly belong in this really cool and hot teenage world. 

The scariest monster of all is our boss Grin-07, a masturbating homunculus who lives inside the cupboard. We call him The Cupboard Man. Spine-chilling! He is the only one of us who is not a hot teenager, I guess that's why he's the boss. Sometimes we are tempted to open the cupboard, but you do not want to do that. Anyway, he also rides a motorcycle, when he is out of the cupboard. Very cool! But also very pensive. 

We are all on the lookout for hot teenage ape-men or swamp things, as they would be good additions to our group, and especially our football team. I am hoping to become the crew homecoming king, despite being a Frankingstein, but I think they will probably give it to those two werewolves who like to fuck by the tree. 

Zapata slammed the book shut. It was too painful to read, knowing he could do nothing to prevent his shame from relegating one of his finest works to the firepit. 

Do not worry about what they think Zapata! I completely support your outbursts of pensive creativity! You should totally let it out to the world, preferably in a 450 parts book series, all published in a 1 minutes window. That's what the world wants and desires the most: a tsunami of the lesser known part of your creativity! 

After all, we all need to step up our credits thievery skills nowadays, especially if we want to see new marvels like Chateau Capone.