Kale strolled along the streets. She was just on the outskirts of listening to Godfather Ajani's speech. She must have gotten lost in her own thoughts on the matter because soon she heard another voice of someone she didn't entirely recognize. Asking a few people amongst the crowd who he was, she soon learned he was Godfather Curtis from Brooklyn. His words had earned her interest so she stepped forward once he was done.

Excuse me. I have a few thoughts of my own.

She heard some snickering in the background. Ignoring what she considered extra noise she concentrated fully on the topic.

If the purpose of bloodlining is to ensure that someone leaves this world of ours there is more than one way to see to that. For instance, the mere constant foolishness in coffee shops. The whispered comments of "Chowmein shouldn't be considered rogue if they killed that person," or "Chowmein deserved it" even after their line had done so damn well could be construed as enough to a lot to remove themselves from this world. It is the strong of heart (or will) that tend to stick around after being so brutally bashed.

So if that is the main intent in bloodlining, is it not fair to say that it can be done in more ways than just killing someone as soon as they join our world?

Kale looks inquisitively over at Godfather Ajani and Curtis. She was genuinely curious about each of their answers.

Tade. I agree with you. I wouldn't call what you describe as anything other than sensible observation. If you know a lineage has a track record of building threatening guns or has a habit of becoming formidable opposition, it would be foolish not to track them. On occasion it would be foolish not to eliminate them if they become too threatening. Watching potential threats to see if they begin to exhibit concerning actions or behaviour is just sensible. This is the nature of our work. That isn't bloodlining. 

 Bloodlining is relentlessly killing someone's line purely based on a grudge. Regardless of any potential threat being demonstrated or any rational strategy. Purely based on personal resentment and nothing else. That is  bloodlining and that is wrong. 

Eh, it's all bloodlining in some form. Bloodlining is a coverall term, Curtis. Bloodline tracking can be quite harmless though, I would know... I'm a bounty hunter! But yeah, it's naughty to kill someone due to personal resentment and all that. However, if they're a threat, like actually a threat, then they should be handled. Of course that can put you on the thought track of "Who's my enemy?" And that just gets messy, stay away from that. But still, bloodlines are something we have to accept as being taken into account in this world. There's no way around it. Your blood matters in some way to someone, for positive or negative reasons, hopefully, if you're known. 

The sad thing is when a person is forced to go incog. Personally, I don't believe in going incog. I feel that it's a weak way of side stepping things you've done in your past life, and you're better off being balls out. "Yeah, that was my dad." You should not be ashamed of family, because in a way, they're a part of you. But going incog, you lose something. You lose your true persona. Most people who incog stay quiet. Some create entirely new characters for themselves, as if reciting lines from a play or having an extended schizoid episode. I find that very weird, and disingenuous.

Generally, my own line has been known to hunt incogs. That can mean one of two things. Either I'm looking for someone's son or I'm trying to figure out who a person's parent was. They can be equally challenging, but if I'm asked to do such a job, there's are a few assumptions one can make about the person in question. One is that they're being looked for just to be tracked, completely superficially, for whatever reason. The other is that their father was a dick, and that they're gonna be a dick or we know they're gonna be a dick. Now that's where it's a grey area in terms of the whole bloodlining thing. We don't know if someone is gonna be a dick one hundred percent of the time, but we still have to keep an eye if there's a history in genetics. 

Most people who enter this world are in fact given a pretty fresh start, even if they're using family names. The people who really piss people off, in whatever way people manage to piss people off here, are the ones that have more of an issue starting over because either people treat them differently and/or they can't get over the past (either). That's the nature of this world though. 

That calls into the issue of the question of "Why don't we give the new lines more chances?" Well, we do... But realistically, wouldn't you be more likely to hire some chick whose grandmother used to sell your daddy a pack of gum and shine his shoes for a nickel every day for ten years? It's how things work. There's always nepotism. In terms of bloodlining (nepolining), if that same grandmother stole your daddy's gum and shoes, or just outright stabbed the fucker in the thigh, well fuck that bitch's daughter and granddaughter. 

In all seriousness though, bitterness is what causes super negative bloodlining, hatelining (copyright pending by SpikeSpiegel). If some of us could get over our egos.

Laughs

Okay, more realistically, that's not going to happen. However, one thing that permeates hatred or bad air, is a shut door. There are a lot of shut doors these days due to the over-talked-problem-of-coffee-shop-activity-and-the-like. Perhaps if that straightened itself out, more doors would open, and bad air would get out of the room because taking a match to it just ain't workin'. If the doorknob feels a little hot, get a cloth or something. LET THE FIRE INTO THE ROOM BECAUSE JUMPING OUT THE WINDOW ISN'T AN OPTION BECAUSE YOU'RE IN A CELL OF HATRED AND YOU CAN'T BREAK THROUGH THE BARS!

To be clear, I'm saying that bloodlining is generally seen as a coverall term in this time and age, based on my discussions with people who have been monitored for various reasons... It's innocuous most of the time, but to some people it's like wearing a "Hi, I'm XXXXX" button on your jacket, not a target sign though.

I'm saying that what is bad is my invented phrase, hatelining. To me, hatelining is very specific, very rare, and it is seldom for someone's line to be killed on sight for their daddy's actions. I am not referring to people being like, "Oh, my family got taken out of a war, do I need to be afraid because I fought back?" Those people don't need to be cautious or afraid whatsoever. I've found newer lines having that sentiment, and they should not. War is war, and usually totally separate unless you jump sides or do something "naughty," usually involving breaking loyalty. Even so, 99% of the time, those are forgiven sins. It really depends. 

For bloodlining (with my own definition), I consider people with this sort of attitude: "My father killed a hand. My daddy stealthed 33 BGs and his daddy did too! My mommy shared fake logs/intel to get that guy killed, and I'm gonna go after him too!" Usually those people are just watched though, nothing happens. People will consider those things about a person though. True hate is very rare. Killing someone for who their father or mother on sight never really happens, and even so those people with those aforementioned attitudes sometimes move on from their "roguish" or "sinful" natures to become great parts of empires. 

Mostly what I'm saying is that bloodlining is genealogical research which can include tracing and monitoring. I will say it has a more negative connotation because it's related to people with "sins" on their line or people see them as a threat due to skill or otherwise, but it is blatantly passive unless provoked by further infractions... scars heal though, on both sides. Forgiveness can happen. Forgetfulness can happen. Acceptance can happen. Incogging comes heavily into play in tracing because in a way, the action of hiding one's line, can often be an indication or implication of future negative actions, moreso than even what the person did previously, if they did anything at all. It comes down to attitude. There are people who just don't want attention, which is understandable. A lot of people invest quite a lot into their lineage, their lineage's personality. I find that incogs are dropping that investment, with an empty cup.

However, by my definition, hatelining is active hunting, not passive observation. The terminology has become clouded over the years; I feel that a more specific term should be applied for grudge killings, when people can't move on from past lives, and it becomes personal. It is a practice based on emotion, not strategy as Curtis was saying of bloodlining. Hatelining is completely unjust.

On the other hand, bloodlining, in my view is a strategic passive monitoring tool for potential threats due to previous dealings with genetically similar people. It is something that fades away over time. Hatelining's wounds rarely heal, and its vile hunger is rarely sated. It is quite sad to witness. I can say though just hating someone is normal; It just shouldn't transfer that way. 

But if I'm wrong on my time-warped/jaded/nouveau definition of bloodlining, then assume when I've said "bloodlining," I simply meant strategic monitoring, and then bloodlining would be hatelining and vice versa. I do feel that given that some of our lines have been around so long, we're all bloodlined in a way, traced. I also feel that if we aren't hated a little bit, we would be bland people... but I'm a jaded sardonic sarcastic cynical Spike (so I'm sorry if there was an unintended offensiveness in my previous rambling), still sharp though... maybe in a certain light. 

There's a way around hatred if egos can rise above it. 

No offence to anyone but if you're trying to reinvent the dictionary, change the definition of existing words, provide a new etymology and change our existing lexicon you can fuck right off!

Bloodlining has a meaning, you can't and won't change that.

Any of the things that are trying to be suggested as part of bloodlining that aren't killing a fucker for the acts of a previous generation aren't bloodlining. That isn't subjective, that isn't opinion, it isn't part of an interesting discussion with different points of view, it's just fact. If the terminology has become clouded that's because of idiots using it wrong. That doesn't change its meaning, it means idiots need a hard fucking slap. 99.9% of claims of bloodlining are complete and utter crap. It's rare, it's seldom seen and yet it does happen. What happens in most cases of claimed "bloodlining" is nothing more than a bloodline that is known to frequently fuck up fucking up once again.

A previous discussion was trying to suggest a similar evolution of the term. If someone is being watched for acts of a parent, that's watching not bloodlining. If someone is being bullied, that's bullying not bloodlining. If someone is being insulted, that's insulting not bloodlining. The English language is fucking terrific like that. It has more than one word and a single word doesn't have to be converted into a bullshit catch all that ends up meaning nothing at all.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go bloodline a sandwich. Bloodlining totally means both 'make' and 'eat' now too by the way.  

Alright, well, I was saying that bloodlining was related to those with "sins" in my later reply. My first reply was commenting on bloodlining being a coverall because well, most people don't know the nature of being truly bloodlined. Sorry, I got a little rambly and confusing, even to myself.

However, I think bullying has become a real problem, and that's why I was attempting to place a separate term for when someone is bullied (to death) because it sure does happen enough. 

But no, simple observation/monitoring isn't bloodline killing, obviously, since it's superficial. Anyone who thinks "I'm bloodlined wa wa wa" because they know people know who they are, can go fuck themselves. Until you've been killed for your genetics, you are not bloodlined. But, I will say that monitoring, in some special cases, has certain mortal implications, and that person might be very well bloodline killed. If that happens again, then yeah you're being or in the process of being bloodlined... Someone's bloodlining you. etc. If you were killed for who you were, and you know your son is being monitored... then yeah you can say you fall under that.

"Bloodlining is when you are killed for acts of a previous generation."

It is just that simple, but I guess my point previously stood with the concept that sometimes there are no "acts" in a previous generation, at least what someone might consider to be "sins." The term "acts" is pretty vague and can be left up to interpretation, for certain. Those killings are based on killing a personality. A personality is only known through speaking, which is an act, I suppose, but it does not have to be a "sin" even though it very well can be. Sometimes people just hate another person, and kill them repeatedly, which is based on hatred. 

The other thing I was considering was if someone committed a "sin" a long time ago in their lineage, and people just still hate them for that reason. That is bloodlining, based on the definition. But at a certain point, it also becomes bullying and harassment. 

But Setanta is correct, and I do stand by that definition as a be all end all. I am just considering alternate scenarios and if they are worth defining. In terms of hate/bully/harassment killing, over a period of time, I definitely think that's its own thing, hatelining, if a person is without real "sin." 

Batiatus, I think I know what that means. Try it in the shower rather than giving the laundromat extra business.

Bullying and harassment aren't our concern; instances of these things need to be reported to the Gods for a judgement call if it is outside the realms of acceptability. 

In certain "special" instances, Barry, but there are instances of bullying/harassment/etc that should be taken care of by mortal hands. 

Such as?

Person B doesn't like Person A because A rubbed them the wrong way. It doesn't really matter what Person A did. The point is that Person A did not commit a definable "act" or more accurately "sin." It could be something otherworldly that's not definable by Mafia Code, but also out of reach of the Gods. Anyway, Person B decides that he will prevent Person B from getting anywhere in game, and will attempt to bloodline this person based on "hatred" of that person. "I don't like him. He's a douche. Fuck him." Anyway, there are certain things the Gods don't get involved in or want to get involved in because it is too hard to define. It really depends on the extent of it. They do step in if it's blatant abuse, but usually that's solely otherworldly abuse. 

If you're getting killed repeatedly, the general conception is that your son has to build up and do something about it, or at least try to. But then again, if they do, they become a rogue! And then that in itself makes them fall under committing an "act." Even if they don't, most people doing the killing mask the reasons for this sort of thing with falsely attributed "acts" or "sins." I could tell anecdotes of friends in situations like this but hatelining is a very personal thing for some people so it's probably for the best I leave that to be their business. Let's just say it can get pretty dark. 

If it's bullying or harassment the Gods will take a view on it. If it's just someone being a cunt, which appears to be what you're saying, they won't get involved and that is down to leaders to sort out. You know, showing a bit of leadership. I'm not sure what any of that has to do with bloodlining though, that's just someone being a cunt and getting killed for it whether they're crossing the lines of man or god. In neither case is it 'bloodlining'.  

As for having to rogue? Bullshit. You can "do something about it" in a million different ways other than roguing. I'm not going to sit here and spell out an anarchist's playlist, thankfully most people are too dim to think of 99% of things they could do to cause trouble, but suggesting it's the only way it could be handled is a farce. 

I've decided to give "hatelining" a new definition, seeing as the definition trying to be attributed to it at the moment already has 'bloodlining' to describe it. To me hatelining is the hate I feel everytime I see the word 'hatelining' in a line. It's a terribly powerful emotion, as I'm sure all who have experienced hatelining can attest to. 

I'm gonna loveline you Setanta!

The reason I asked for a specific example of "bullying", is because I'm a Don in the Mafia and I'm not actually here to hold hands in the playground. If someone is being "bullied" they need to grow the fuck up and deal with it. 

I don't have much knowledge of this subject nor do I have the prestige and rank to act big on the streets; yet I will say that 'bloodlining' is indeed that happens in our world, and that grudges ARE a a driving force behind the armed clashed between mafiosi.