As I stood there listening to people debate about their dream hitsquads, my mind slightly wandered off. That isnt surprising, sometimes it occurs. I started to wonder, who's taught me the most during my time in this world. From the day I arrived on these sures until now, Ive had a variety of leaders. Ive taken pieces from all of them, stock piled it, and used it to become the man I am today. It left me wondering, and debating to myself, who did I learn the most from.

Was it Aurora and Tallien, the first to give me a shot a bold suit? I was green as green gets during that time. Tallien's patience was stretched to the limits during that time Im sure. I had more questions than common sense. He taught me alot, and gave me a diary he once wrote that contained many of the answers I needed to survive in this world. Or was it TheDean and his gang. I had a long solid run under him, eventually leading to a brief stint as Godfather of Detroit. It was during that time that I started to learn how to hit and to lead. He taught me some good lessons, of that there is no doubts. Maybe it was Cassi and Phil_Steak. Ive had the longest run with them, over multiple bloodlines. Phil has been tolerant of me as Ive grown and learned. Cassi has taught me compassion and understanding of others.

It's alot for me to ponder and deciede upon, but it leaves me curious to what others think. Who's shown you the proper way, taught you how to really suceed in this life. Maybe it was a crewleader, a hand, or just a strong member within your various familys.

Alexander, this is a great question. I'm very fond of looking back and giving due credit to those who helped me become who I am today; no mobster ever makes a success of their life by their own means alone.

My bloodline is particularly short-lived to date, but throughout my family journal, a few names pop up more than once.

In my own case, I would say that Renekton, Big Daddy and Sammo Hung all taught me a great deal during my early days, along with a number of others whom my bloodline has become acquainted with. I am also appreciative of the late Squidmaster's faith in me when he chose to make me bold, particularly as he gave this opportunity to someone whose bloodline had never led their own family before, and did so in the aftermath of inner city turmoil.

Our journal cites Alabama Worley as a strong influence in understanding the ways of our world, not to mention her descendant Tyrion Lannister, both of whom have shared wisdom with me on numerous occasions. Furthermore, I would give a nod to Major Tom who had the patience to explain quite a lot to my mother when she first set foot on these shores as a complete amateur.

There are many others, to be honest, but those are the names that first spring to mind, none of whom will be forgotten regardless of how far my bloodline might stretch.

Not much thinking on my part as I'm the first in my bloodline to enter this thing of ours. My current leader, Toby, as well as all the other old players from Dunder Mifflin Paper Company get the credit for me getting where I am today.

It is a good question GF Alexander, and same as GF LilacDelaney my knowledge dont just pop up on me alone, i learn from the journal of my father and fore father, and from their journal the person who though them well is in the line of Bruiser, Jade, Cruel, DeathKnight and many more. My bloodline never had reach the Bold Suits but they always have been given the chance to wear the slanted one. As for me, am very proud for my anscestor to meet such great people in our society.

A through provoking question Godfather Alexander. I'm not sure whether I love it being asked or curse it.

It's one I'm particularly struggling to answer. The truth is that we all learn a number of different things from a large number of different people, whether they be family or on the other side of a war. Trying to identify the one or two that made the largest impact becomes extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible.

Knowing that I'll forget some that deserve a special mention on the list, I'll still give it a try.

The first name here has to be Posti. In a time long long ago and in a land far far away, it was his bloodline that first introduced mine into what it really meant to be a hitter. The honour, respect, loyalty, dedication and absolute commitment to family needed for the role, he not only explained to my forefather but exemplified every day. If the journals are to be believed, this even lead to a situation where an attack was made on my forefathers life by the close friend before later terms were agreed with the leader in question who felt wronged. However just seeing the man being willing to do what needed to be done for his own family without question or hesitation left a huge impression on my ancestor that just grew that man's reputation.

In terms of leaders, I guess the early ones always leave a big impact on our bloodlines. The majority of leaders tended to come and go leaving no real impact, as happens today just as easily, but three bloodlines always stood out in this area in my bloodlines early days in this thing of ours. Whether they were leaders themselves or hands serving others, SunTzu (Jon), Scarin and Tiggy always shone in their roles and inspired others, myself included, to better themselves. Even as some of my ancestors were clueless idiots fresh off the boat, they were taken in, given protection, a home and enough training and encouragement to become far more than they ever should have achieved.

I could go on for days about various other bloodlines that have thought priceless and invaluable lessons, whether as friends learning together or as a subordinate or superior at times (names like Mikado, Lovehand, BillyBathTub, Sayyid, Hoopi, Kendra, Belle, Clause, Sprozza, Flash, etc all spring to mind), but if I did wander down that route it would take weeks to point out all the bloodlines that have left their mark and thought me more than I ever could have learned on my own.

My family were not present when Iris gave authorization for Marietta Rossi to set up in Detroit, however the years that followed that day were never forgotten by my lineage. She took in a young, immature vagabond who grew to reach heights which his family had never before him. Signora Rossi taught him all that he needed to know of our world, the tactics, the skills, the politics. The experience was worth more than any tribute he ever paid to Marietta.

Such was the length of time between myself and my father, the only notes and recollection I have on my fathers old contacts in this world was her name, Detroit and The Riot! Everything else is a blur and I have never found anyone from that history since.

People influence in different ways.

My bloodlines first real Crewleader after coming off the boat was Steeldawn, she taught my family so much about organisation, how to act as a leader but she also had a ruthless streak when she wanted that is an asset to any leader. 

TattoedZen helped my family grow up, the brash young punk that was my ancestor grew into a respectable Mafioso.

Kennedy taught my ancestor the art of killing someone in a coma, to which my family became addicted to for a while.

Two people on different sides of the coin taught my bloodlines a lot. Working with UncleNicky as my ancestors RHM taught me the difference between how a legend works and the regular members of our world. Looking as someone from the outside at the way FlyingPig worked I learned how you should always know what your enemy is thinking before even they do, it also gave me my paranoid streak.

I’m still learning and many people have taught me new things in recent times. My recent ancestry has learned from many people still alive today and I'll go on learning I'm sure.

Different people have had different influence on my bloodline and their teachings have covered different aspects of my education.

I believe that Miguel and Rumblefish were among the first two who took their time reaching me and correcting me whenever I messed up.
EB, External Link, NiNe, Mark69, NiNe, and Tony Salvatana, were also great teachers in other fields of this thing of ours.
Ganelon thought (and trusted me) with how to organize and run a crew, he was also the one giving me my first auth.
Father TeQ and Toaly were more of a role models, that "thaught me" by their doings.

Manny, FP and Premeir were the ones who thought me about the art - specially Manny.

I'm only the second in my bloodline but almost everyhing I know I owe to vincentvolaju, epsilon, condemned, and captious3, and lately whitey they definitely showed me how to get to where I am now

Gambit1, the fuck?

I learned different things from different people. I won't turn this into an ode to Tiggy-woviedovey, but that b.... lady has helped quite a lot. I do have a whole list of others... but I won't bother with it because I'll leave them blushing (Just look at tiggy now... that's blushing... not anger). As a side note, Marco's lessons were also very important. 

The next lesson I'm going to teach you is how to pull your head out of your own ass after I place it there kiddo!

She mutters...

As for those my bloodline has learned the most from? Wow, so many.. Probably too many to name to be honest, we've been a resident of the cities for what seems like aeons. I guess I can start the list with good ol' Secret Agent, The Incredible Drunk, Father Pat McGroin, Ganelon, some TeQ dude, a monkey loving Jono, my beloved Marco (Miss you dude and am still waiting for your Walker to eat my brain.), Satanta, the twerp that dared call me "Tiggy-woveydovey", Mister IzzyCreamcheese himself, my personal midget Brandi, Sal G, Manny, HOGgy, tita, Evsiepoohs, Ellis, Vendetta James, Uncle Nicky, Soultaker, Badchoice (Damn his name comes up a lot.), Brian Arao, Rasputin, and the list goes on and on. Honestly, I've learned something from everyone I've grown close to and some that were fleeting acquaintances. It is my belief that we all learn something from everyone we interact with even if we don't realise it.

Tiggy, no assplay in the streets. please. :P

Oh damn, I made it on that list.

You learned a lot from birday.

She raises an eyebrow..

I do believe you are confusing your fantasies for reality again dearest. Have you taken your meds today? I do fear you are imagining things again.

oh yes and SpikeSpiegel has helped me and taught me quite a bit as well. XD

Deadly hears Godfather Alexander bringing up an interesting topic in the streets, and walks over to listen before adding his own thoughts.

"My bloodline's very first teacher is best known as Luca. He taught me in the world before this one, yet when I found my way here he was not around. From there, my bloodline had to stand up on it's own two feet and take the bull by the horns with learning."

"To name a few of the people that I befriended and taught my blood along the way.. JudgeHolden, Jono, FCUK, Caius, Rianne, Kendra... I could probably go on with this list but I will be reciting names that pop into my head for days."

"I think like a lot of people in this world, I spent a good amount of time watching other people interact. Whether that was in the coffeeshops or the streets themselves, and picked up a lot of stuff myself from doing that. Listening to echoes from the past also serves us even now, as we can all still learn from the history of this thing of ours."

Deadly pulls out a cigarette and lights it before tipping his hat to Godfather Alexander and carrying on down the street.

It has taken me a while to get around to this poster as I was busy with other areas of our fair streets, but I wanted to give it the full attention it deserved.

My bloodline has been influenced by many people along the way, some are names that most people will recognise, some are names that nobody will recognise. I shall try to give as many examples as possible.

*My blood's first true influence most definitely has to be Rumblefish. Although the times we spoke were very limited, the way he went about his business with such ruthlessness was impressive (even if it did turn out he was cheating... I didn't know that at the time).

*Then along came a name that everyone here will recognise, Sir IzzyCreamcheese. Mr. Creamcheese was not considered a 'God' at this time, he was merely a mafioso like the rest off. The first person to ever make the rank of Boss and I believe the first person to be killed by an underground group (Black Hand.. who turned out to be a bunch of cheaters). Izzy was a saint, everybody loved Izzy except Black Hand. He had the respect of his fellow mobsters, hence his achievement of first Boss. Izzy taught my blood the opposite of what Rumblefish did... that you can have what you wanted in this world without being a ruthless killer.

*After that we skip past the original V-day to when SamTheAmericanEagle was in charge. There was a little known guy named CrossDeLena who took over the Czylharz family from DmitriCzylharz. Cross was and in my eyes after reading my ancestors transcripts one of the funniest men to ever grace our world. Cross taught me the meaning of TRUE family. Czylharz was where I first felt at home... obviously felt by a lot of others as their lineage's still carry the Czylharz quote today. The whole Czylharz family are worth mentioning here as my lineage has made some GREAT friends via this family.

*Once Cross passed away, my blood took a turn towards the underground, helping to setup a group named 'Ironfist'. Together with Striphe and Cav, we terrorised this world, gaining many many members to our group along the way. Striphe taught me that it was possible to influence this world from a low rank and that crewleaders could be slain by us mere mortals.

*During our time with Ironfist, my blood became more aware of the power of the streets. Two names spring to mind when it comes to who taught me how to gain attention through the streets. TheIncredibleDrunk and Dick_Gozinya. Ironfist at one point was at war with TID and his family but he was the one who eventually talked my blood out of the underground way of life (for a while :P). Those two taught me how to use the streets to your advantage.

*BrianArao. Well, I'm sure most of you will have heard the stories of "BA day". When a crewleader who was famed more for his jailbreaking skills than prowess with a gun wiped out more than half the crewleaders around at that time. Mr. Arao taught me that you didn't have to have a great gun from the start... it was possible to build it VERY late on in your life.

After BrianArao my blood had picked up most of the skills needed to be relatively successful in our world until not so long ago when 2 people taught me the value of not being such a hothead could have its benefits, so to my last major influences...

*AlabamaWorley and Squidmaster. Although Alabama never got to reap the benefits of my blood's change in persona, she was most definitely the one who started me off on this path. The feeling of guilt every time my blood let her down was huge, especially as Alabama kept taking my blood back in, believing that my blood could change when nobody else did. We owe this lady more than her ancestors realise (until now :P). Finally, last but not least, Squidmaster. The Squid didnt have a massive amount to say to me during my time, but put his full trust in me and that is what was needed at the time. He didn't listen to the nay-sayers who (probably rightfully) were telling him he was taking a massive risk employing me. Yet, here I am... outliving my own boss and hopefully doing his relatives proud.

There will be people who would have influenced me had my blood not already gained the skills we deem necessary to survive in this world, but we just ran into them a little later down our lineage so I cannot include than as an influence. :)

I have a lot of respect for people who take time to answer questions and teach new people about our way of life. I hope new people listening to this discussion see we were all new once and taught by others.

A long long time ago in a land far far away the first mobster in my bloodline worked for a woman most people know as SkyWitch. She was incredibly patient and thorough answering questions. My ancestor learned a great deal about respect, loyalty, honor and omerta from her. Those important values were taught by example in how she handled day to day business and interacted with adversaries. Business was just business, not personal.

It's hard to pin point one person who taught my bloodline the most. A few names that come to mind from over the years are Raoul_Silva's ancestors for teaching mine a lot about this world, Anita and UncleNicky for giving my ancestors tips and encouragement to train a decent gun and the amazing work of VendettaJames and her bloodline in the business districts showed my relatives bars don't just have to be for walking in and ordering a drink.

Chaos finishes listening to God father Alexander's speech.He pauses and puts out his cigar.

"Now this is a great discussion.From the journals and diaries dating back years and years I have seen some names stand out.I doubt I will even say all the ones I have learned the most from.A fellow by the name OptimusPrime when this world was different showed my ancestors the ropes it appears.And when the world slowly changed a few names are etched in the pages.Raptor taught my line quite a lot when I had disappeared and returned.Jim-Levenstein also showed me how a hand is to perform and do his duties.Not to mention a vast more amount of lessons.I also tend to learn from watching and listening to people and I remember learning a thing or two from Diemne.I can't forget about Flash-Fire and Iota and Tanda and a blood long friend Bruiser.Chade also sticks out to me and with the short time I dealt once with Ragnarok I learned some lessons as well.This world is ever changing and each time new blood is born a new lesson is learned.We live to learn.It is a ever turning wheel.I think everyone can say they will surely never know everything."

Lights another cigar and puffs.

"Now this is one of the best speeches in a while."

I am fairly new to this thing of ours as compared to most people here, but there were a few people that took the time and effort to teach me.  Even though I have made mistakes that should probably have warranted a more severe disciplinary action, they have instead, taken the time to explain what I did wrong in order for me to be able to correct them in the future.  Some of the people may not have been CL, but they are a big contributing factor to who I am now and I must give thanks to all of them as they helped me get addicted to MR!

Scarin (ParanoidFreak)

Shocker (MiseryLovesCompany)

Val (BlackWidow)

Tyrant

Jynx (Rhaziel)

Noc 

These people were the biggest influence in my MR life.

Neville had been leaning against a postbox, listening to the conversation unfold. In his bloodlines time on these shores, he had come across many, many people, most of which had taught him something. Now, he pondered, who had taught him the most?

When I first arrived to these shores, a long time ago. I encountered the bloodlines of Jono, Rianne and Deadlysin. From day one, Jono took me under his wing and taught me about our way of life, how things were done and indeed, how to do them. Rianne and Deadlysin were much the same and I knew i could always ask them if Jono was away. These 3 people had a massive impact on my teachings as they were effectively, the first 3 players i came into contact with on a regular basis.

Then as the years went by there were many more who taught me a great deal about our world, more recently the likes of Marston, Odin and Pratster and TeQ. Everyone I come into contact with teaches me something, even if it's as small as "Don't act like them, they're a twat"

I feel it would be impossible for me to comment on who taught me the most overall as there is no set measure for such a thing, a very interesting topic indeed though, Godfather Alexander, and one that has provoked many memories, good and bad!

Neville wandered off down the street to listen to the other debates and stories being told, not out of earshot of this one though