I really don't think that anyone could ever say that Chuckle was 'unwilling' to write. The fact of the matter is when you are asked to tone something down or not mention a certain city at all, it really puts a stifle on the thing as a whole. No matter if the paper was serious, satire, or something in between, it doesn't have the same meaning when you have to handle one city with kid gloves.

It's unfortunate to see the Knuckle come an early end, but I understand where Chuckle is coming from. I just wish that people weren't offended so easily. Especially when there's finally something consistently entertaining to read on the streets.

I also think that someone should head up CrazyNine's OOC'itis Rehab Center. It seems there might be someone in here in dire need of it's help.

Wow. There goes one of the best publications This Thing of Ours has seen in awhile.

You and your writing will be sorely missed Chuckle.

I would say that a dark cloud has descended over our world, blocking out a vibrant, energetic and humorous publication which let`s be honest, was the only worthwhile sheet of cutting edge reporting this world has access to, whether factual or otherwise.

Our world is one of power, honour, greed, profit............and maybe a few other choice virtues we as a society may choose to label ourselves with. The fact of the matter is that we do need some form of diversion which allows us, albeit briefly, to let our thoughts wander beyond that to which we hold so dear, our beloved way of life. Chuckle  has provided us with a publication that has many readers, many admirers and a few who through their own admission, would aspire to similar feats of journalistic flamboyance. The publication itself is I`m sure, the end result of much preparation, research and midnight oil.

Many have come to these hallowed streets to offer their own thoughts with regard to the recent announcement by Chuckle. It is this place we all turn to in order to convey our own individual thoughts, and it is in the same manner that I say to all directly involved, with the utmost sincerity and respect;

Gentlemen, our world is waiting...............

After all, what would life really be like, devoid of a little chuckle now and again.

A date with a rather unappetising assignment has prevented me from addressing this further until now. I respectfully would ask for your patience, whilst I address some of the preceding comments within this discussion.

I find it surprising that you would suggest I need some sort of excuse not to write anymore, RoRoG. If I didn't want to write anymore, it would simply be a matter of, well, stopping writing. I have no requirement to attribute the reason to you and I wouldn't, unless that was the actual reason. I am a big boy, readily prepared to accept responsibility for my decisions and I am not in the business of making scapegoats.

I can completely understand your view that as a Godfather, you think it is unacceptable for someone to place your second in command onto a personal hitlist. I would never dispute that. However, as subsequent discussion has highlighted, the entire thing is plainly a joke. I have never killed anyone off the DWL, nor have I ever asked anyone else to. It is simply a way of bringing in readers, as I imagine X says to Y "Hey, have you read about this shitbag Chuckle putting you on the DWL?" and as a result Y trots off to read it. No more, no less.

Also, I would have thought the reasoning behind your second in command winding up on this list could not be construed as anything other than a joke. I mean, had I reeled off a list of damning characteristics that undermined her position or insulted her in some way, then yeah, I would feel you would be completely justified in your feeling towards it. Unfortunately, the view of it being anything more than in jest falls down when you consider the actual reasoning why Egwene was listed:

"We sat. We waited, our breath baited, our attention, fixed, waiting for the scene to unfold. All we got was "so there was this guy playing jazz flute...". Then? THEN?! You had to cough. You ruined it for all of us. What did we get instead? A poxy auth announcement. So what? Who cares about one slumbering giant walking from one city to another? That isn't fucking news! I want to know about this guy playing the jazz flute!

That's what people, really care about."

This stemmed from her 'coughing' in an auth announcement you gave. This hardly reeks of a desperate attempt by me to see her dead or even provide a plausible reason for someone else to act out my so called 'personal hitlist'. I do not harbour any grudges towards New Orleans and this merely happened to be a comment I believed I fashion a joke from. The whole 'death wish list' joke is constructed on the premise that an individual would never actually be killed for any of the reasons I list. For example, AlabamaWorley was listed for not inviting me to his organized crime, insane_killer for not finding my 'Chuckle Wagon' amusing and Raptor for (potentially) pickpocketing me - these are not valid reasons for a death and (I thought) transparently humorously intended. If you believe this makes you appear to be a humourless ass, when I have merely presented the facts and events as I see them, perhaps your self-drawn conclusion holds some validity. The slight, if it can even be called that, to New Orleans is so miniscule many people were left wondering where the censorship even sprouted from.

There are plenty of people I could think of here who deserve a spot on an actual hitlist, but that would make it a bit too much like a personal hitlist so I stick to frankly, idiotic reasons, in order to avoid people actually being offended. I omit anyone who I think could suspect I might be serious on principle, although it seems here that I misjudged the target, for which I apologise.

Despite this, I do still find it difficult to fathom how my inclusion of your second in command offended you enough to make an issue of it, especially when the person on the list, Egwene, commented in the #divinelunacy coffeeshop that she herself found that 'coughing' being enough to land you on the list funny. So, whilst I could completely understand you taking issue with my listing her on a personal hitlist, as this is evidently not that, I struggle to connect the dots between this and your dislike.

I think you will also find that your disagreement of it adding substance to the newspaper is a view very much in the minority. People read it specifically to see if they wind up on the list, some even deliberately seek me out and attempt to get themselves on it. I regularly receive mails from people requesting that I put them on DWL and some of the lengths they are prepared to go to in order to achieve the notoriety that accompanies the list are genuinely amusing. I believe it to be one of the most liked aspects of the publication in actual fact.

Next, the term newspaper is used extremely loosely, as I have never pretended that it is a serious news report. I think that regurgitating the news would be extremely dull to read and therefore by inventing an often ludicrous reasoning for events, I try to spice things up a bit to make people laugh. I would argue that the numerous responses I receive both within my mailbox and comments on the publications themselves, provide clear evidence that what I call a newspaper, is comfortably one of the most popular works here despite the intentionally inflammatory comments of your RHM to the contrary.

(OOC: If we treat this as OOC, we are a game that is played for fun and accordingly anything that entertains as many people as this evidently does should be supported, not handicapped. Whilst I am in complete agreement with your right as a Godfather to act as you want, as a player of a game, I'm seeking entertainment. This provides entertainment.

I believe that we should make allowances for where we are sometimes. We wouldn't shoot 1000 people and get away with it. We wouldn't have entourages of 50000000 people. We wouldn't talk in the Streets about our business. We wouldn't bust 100000000 people out of jail. Most of us would not be involved in narcotics. We wouldn't have Made Men who couldn't trace their roots back to the old country. We wouldn't directly be involved in the business district, we wouldn't be fortune tellers and we wouldn't be pseudo-journalists. Yet, we allow these things to let the game actually be a game.

Whilst we strive for realism, sometimes it just does not transfer into our genre and the medium through which we act that out, forcing us to forsake it to achieve better gameplay or enjoyment. I believe that whilst this is not strictly what we roleplay, it is worthwhile from an entertainment point of view.)

The inference that I simply looked for an excuse to cease producing this is completely invalid. I greatly enjoy writing and writing this in particular. I certainly would not stop if I was allowed to proceed as I had initially intended. I am greatly appreciative of the comments here and the mails I have received from people across the cities (including New Orleans) thanking me for my hard work and expressing their regret that publication has ceased.

I share the regret of the community and I dearly wish that I could continue gracing these streets with the Chuckle Knuckle. However I still believe that I am unable to whilst individuals take offence to very minor jokes. I would also not want to jeopardise the friendship between Chicago and anyone else unnecessarily. Therefore, until such as a time as attitudes change, I have to stand by my decision to withdraw the production for the foreseeable future.

~C~

Just to provide some clarity to one statement I have made:

I would argue that the numerous responses I receive both within my mailbox and comments on the publications themselves, provide clear evidence that what I call a newspaper, is comfortably one of the most popular works here despite the intentionally inflammatory comments of your RHM to the contrary.

Allow me to rephrase this as:

I would argue that the numerous responses I received both within my mailbox and comments on the publications themselves, provide clear evidence that what I call a newspaper, is comfortably one of the most popular works here and of an extremely high quality, despite the intentionally inflammatory comments of your RHM to the contrary.

I thought it would be implicit that the quality of the work was a fundamental reason for the popularity of it.

I have now made that belief explicit.

~C~

I believe we have a new CrazyNine. Bravo.

People take your knickers out of their twists! This is the best piece of writting I have seen in years! BRING BACK THIS PAPER!!!!!!!!!!!

This paper was an a true example of someone going above and beyond for the community.   The articles were all hilarious and put together with such care that it was impossible not to want to keep reading.   I am making this statement not to come down on those who wished the paper censored, but more as a plea.   Chuckle, until your printing press is back open for business, and there boys on every street corner yelling at the top of their lungs about the hot new edition of the Chuckle Knuckle.   This sad man right here, points to himself, will be spending the majoritiy of his time, bleakly beating the shit out of old woman and stealing their purses.

Please bring back this paper to bring joy back to our community!