The (news)anchor and the tunafish

Is it too unreasonable to think that there's a little deeper meaning behind this "joke"?

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A tuna walks into a sushi bar and tells the chef "You killed my father!"
Chef says "That's my business, fish."
The tuna thinks this for a moment and says "Very well. Then I challenge you to a game of chess. If I win, you stop being a chef forever."
"And if I win?" asks the chef.
"Then you can feed me to your customers," says the tuna.
So they start to play. Now, tunas love to play chess so in a few moves the tuna has the chef checkmated. "Looks like I win," says the tuna. The chef nods and plunges his knife into the tuna's belly.
"But I won!" says the tuna.
"So did you father," says the chef.

Now my thoughts are:

1. The tuna: he's literally a fish out of water.

2. The chef: a man dressed in white, with a funny hat. I can think of another occupation that requires a funny hat.

3. The man in the funny hat killed the fish-out-of-water's father because it's his business. Both the fish and the Malk PC lost their "father" figure to a man (at least figuratively) in a funny hat, and both men say something to the same effect by way of an excuse.

4. The tuna challenges the chef to a game of chess. This is hardly the only reference we see to chess. And we know what happens to the "white bishop" in the funny hat if Malk PC wins the game.

5. I don't know of any ending in which LaCroix uses the knife against the PC, but it sure feels fitting that the reverse does occur.

Might "the tuna and the chef" be more an allegory than a joke?

Well, considering it's something that's definitely caused by insanity and casual usage of double meanings by oracles who were also considered mad, and that the Malkavians are a clan of mad oracles (some better than others, though it depends on which word is emphasized), it's more than coincidence.

Why do people feel the inclination to search for hidden meaning behind the most random things?  

It's just a joke. Nothing more, nothing less. The joke selected was deliberately violent to fit the theme of the game and deliberately weird because Malkavian. But that's it.

And the allegory doesn't even fit. LaCroix doesn't dress in white, he has a black suit. He doesn't wear a hat. He never stabs the player.

And while, we're at it:

I can't see the analogy either. Even if there is a fishtank in the Skyline haven. Ok, the Malk pc calls LaCroix a jester, that explains the "funny hat". But that's about it.

If the prince were mentioned at all as a figure in the chess game, he would be the black king.
Here's who I think the chess pieces represent:
The Pawn, no color mentioned: the pc, no doubt about that (the color, black for Cam or Ming, white for Anarch or lone wolf) is selected by the player
The White King: Nines, The white king moves to protect the pawn just before you go downtown for the first time
a Bishop, no color mentioned, but probably black: Grout, a Gambit is played, a bishop has been sacrificed for the king...
The White Bishop: Andrei, the timing of "the white bishop falls" matches one of the meatings with Andrei, and bishop is a Sabbat title, even though the color doesn't fit.
The Black Queen: Ming

And I have to agree with Dragatus: Sometimes people look too hard for connections, and if there aren't any obvious ones, they make them up.
Just as the saying goes: Don't trust any statistics you haven't manipulated yourself.

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Childe of Malkav wrote:

The White Bishop: Andrei, the timing of "the white bishop falls" matches one of the meatings with Andrei, and bishop is a Sabbat title, even though the color doesn't fit.

The colour does fit if we take "white" to mean "honest" rather than "good" or "ally". Andrei may be twisted and he does want to kill you, but at the same time he is completely open about it and doesn't try to manipulate you or feed you any bullshit.

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And I have to agree with Dragatus: Sometimes people look too hard for connections, and if there aren't any obvious ones, they make them up.

Exactly. The most meaning I'm willing to give to the fish joke is a general warning not to trust people.

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Just as the saying goes: Don't trust any statistics you haven't manipulated yourself.

Good one.

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Why do people feel the inclination to search for hidden meaning behind the most random things? Rolling Eyes

Maybe because speculation can be an interesting subject to promote conversation? Why is that kind of criticism even necessary? I don't nitpick the threads I find unappealing.

I'm not saying there has to be some special hidden meaning... I just thought it was an interesting idea to kick around.   And no, I'm not trying to lie or bend details--if I've gotten something wrong it's because my memory is patchy. Nor am I making crap up just to try to annoy everyone. Sheesh.

I'm all for speculation and kicking around interesting ideas, but there needs to be some substance to it.

And if you're going to make up weird connections because you find it amusing, that's perfectly fine. But you should make it clear that you don't seriously believe the nonsense. If you had done that I would've left you alone.

Dearest Dragatus... you never need an excuse to leave me alone.

I'll agree that the fact that I wasn't more specific might have been unhelpful, but I hardly find it worth pooping my party over or debilitating to someone else's capacity for civility. Unless you'd prefer I leave a disclaimer in my signature--"engages in unmarked nonsense, observe with caution"?  

Did I hurt your feelings that badly?

Eh, just forget it. This discussion isn't worth the time for either of us.

I hereby rename this Forum "The Mortal Kombat Pit"
Tournaments will begin soon.

Keep your head up, Ettinarius. I found your speculation interesting, even I don't buy it.
Draggy wanted well too. I think. But you know, he is a Tremere. They tend to be a bit... socially awkward.

Yup. Don't you worry about it Ett.

And like Feral said, Tremere are socially awkward. However, I've personally yet to meet one with good intentions. If they exist.

Sally, all Tremere have good intentions. The question is just good for whom.