The proud streets of the underworld, usually a lively and busy scene amongst the many mobsters who roamed its alleyways, were soundless from their usual eminence. Apart from one's standard yodeler who appeared every now and then, the interconnections of the criminal world were one with tranquility. From the tumbleweeds bouncing across the Vegas desert to the waves crashing on the beaches of New York, from the frosty winter air piercing through the Chicago streets to the bell chimes in Philadelphia, and from the hilltop mansions of Los Angeles to the sprawling nightlife of Detroit, America was silently motionless within the dead of winter. PlagueGuy cleared his throat.

"If you're like me, who has noticed the current dropoff of narratives or accounts within our public thoroughfares, you've no need to doubt yourself. I could say most people recognize it. It's pretty perplexing, but I don't look at it more as as a problem as I do a simple dip in the interconnections of our world."

PlagueGuy took a deep inhale.

"I am by no means saying the streets are dead; in fact, they remain as lively as ever. Mobsters are usually reserved, but are by no means inactive. Things happen all the time and there's always things to envelop oneself in, people to rob, all the standard criteria for our way of life. Instead, I just view it as a transition towards a more interconnected group that we all share. We've gotten more close to one-another. And mostly, I see it that way because we aren't as forced to split each other apart."

"I think we simply just got used to the otherwise consistent output of news or sudden events or deaths or even family collapses. Of course, they still happen, as is the punishment for this business, but they are also by no means at the consistent rate they once were. Now, we're established within ourselves, and albeit the standard incident or occurrence every now and then, we've been able to focus on things a little more personal to ourselves now that we've been given the time."

"We aren't as pressured as much as we once were to fly through our noble bodies and histories to surpass those of our fathers. We don't have to worry about sudden takedowns occurring every other week. We don't have to worry about a good chunk of the constant tragedies we once faced. And that simply just creates the adverse effect of a lack of storytelling amongst ourselves; tragedy creates story. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes controversial. But it is still our own narratives that we decided to present forward, to fill our streets with chatter and discussion, bickering and arguing, laughing and socializing. It created an incentive, one some could take part in, one some may instead avoid. Now, that incentive has simply fallen to the waist-side."

"Coming to the streets simply to come and chat traditionally isn't the easiest thing to do. In fact, it's downright near impossible. It's much easier to come and respond to someone else, or socialize with those we know, or make jokes towards things we enjoy. Coming to the streets to partake in a discussion, no matter how known or obscure, remains a challenge for a lot of people. It's not a sign of laziness, there just isn't a pressing need for it."

"And that's okay! It's not easy to muster up conversations, especially with people you have had zero interaction with priorsome. Being able to do it is a good sign in of itself, and doing it constantly is a whole 'nother ballgame. Major commendations to those who can do that willy-nilly."

"The biggest question is that whether anything should be done to incentivize more people to come and speak their minds about whatever the topic is at hand. Things such as competitions or rewards, or simply even quick rants to pull some people out of their nests to come and jabber. Personally, I don't mind them. It's all for fun for the majority of the time, or, even better, for good laughs. It leads to some really cool stories amongst ourselves and often even better friendships. Incentives drive more people to the roads, but true stories come from within, from that self-motivation to get out their and open your mouth to the world. That's what makes our life worthwhile, aside from normal mobster things, like robbing Jeremy the postal worker for the 8th time this week."

"And maybe this is all temporary. Maybe it's just the off period until something, or someone, finds a reason to go on the hunt and pull us back into the grand spectrum of death and destruction. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe not. But until then, I'd say try not to think about that reality, and instead focus on the current time we do have to get some things started. How would you go about making our lives more interesting during our daily strolls? What stories do you like hearing about? What friends motivate you to get out there in the world?"

PlagueGuy smiles to himself.

"I like to think that we worked together to gain a peaceful time for ourselves, despite our fighting and wars. That's unavoidable. Let's try to use it. Not for our own gain, but for the satisfaction of others. That'll probably make you feel a bit better anyway. Head on down to that New York bar, take a gamble at that Los Angeles casino and cry when they rig it against you, attend that marriage ceremony, and definitely contribute towards some important discussion. Someone out there will be thankful for it. Really, there's nothing stopping you other than your own two feet. How should we plan to make them move?"

Great subject to bravely talk about here and I really respect your reply Ralf_Rangnick. There wll always be silly people wondering the streets - it happens but for those learning that is different. I agree on the $20,000 and I do send personal telegrams to those I hear that really impress me - something that might be adopted by most - reward the good and ignore any annoying white noise? In mu opinion this lies with crew leaders to mentor, encourage, practice in the HQ or back alleys and to have people in your family that wants to make a character defined in the streets too. This has to come from the leadership though, it's ok if a leader chooses not to speak that is theor choice, in my view what isn't s doing tat and allowing all your crew to say nothing too with encouragement and backing and practice. We need more people saying things to learn that healthy debate is great and what fires the belly's of many on here long lost, it doesnt result in death it results in a convo and peoples opinions - done respectfully. I read in family journals of the lengths gone to to mentor and encourage and practice and the crew leader and crews backing or otherwise of street talking. Sounds exciting. Imagine a world like that.

I'd be up for that as a nobody just adding support to the concept. Forgotten about them. Great idea and usually works well and we all get to find out a bit about the city, people and how organised they can be etc aside from the quality of the writing the participation is the important bit. As you say needs the support from our GF's and CL's to drive it but I am well up for that! Thanks for the reminder if nothing else!

The newspapers used be brilliant with some fantastic journalists over the years with real talent, most purchased one or sent a crew member to fetch one and comment on an article that caught their attention. Slight thing on that is that is does require a few attributes to make it successful: impartiality despite the crew or city you belong to, good with words, dedicated to time involved to deliver week / whenever they see fit, a bit of boldness and satire, level headed and I could list much more too. It used to be a mush respected role. I would love this aspect to become part of our lives again. I am not the right person for it sadly but I will say openly that I would full support someone that stepped up in this regard to make this world of ours more intriguing, fun, interesting and insightful that would certainly fill that gap between silence and knowledge to the general community. Others would interview leaders for example and it was a marker in the sand if firstly you accepted or declined which would be noted in the paper but often gave a really useful insight into their leadership that in no way compromised the safety of the crew or family. I would love to see a talented mobster run this again for sure! 

Ralf_Rangnick, I can definitely agree. I wasn't trying to indicate the streets were empty, more rather the current view of them seemed to be lackluster. As if something was missing from the usual way of the conversations within the streets. And, like you've said, mails or gifts or tips often serve as an even better bonus to an already good post!

Most of one's day is pretty quiet, and taking the time to send a mail to the friend that busted you out of the slammer or the guy who invited you to that art gallery heist often breaks up an otherwise monotonous day or routine action. It often can serve as a way to get one smiling, or, even better, brighten someone's day. It's always appreciated!

Victorious-Secret, the aspect of journalism completely blanked my mind! Those were always awesome to see and be part of, and they definitely helped the common mobster learn more about other cities and families themselves in a safe and collected manner. Especially when sponsored, they really put a happy tone towards the standard lives on the streets and also helped some people define themselves within our way of life. It even opened opportunities for people to express themselves much more, interact with fellow mobsters, and, as is the goal, have fun and enjoy themselves! Getting some ideas out on a broader level would definitely help, but we would also need some indication of a desire to start something up in order to spice up the streets again, or, simply even better than they already have shown to be.

Hi PlagueGuy - it is weird right it had slipped my mind too until this speech began, kind of says something in and of itself that I guess. For those that remember through journals or those that might be curious about what it means to have the interesting weekly read of a paper how about a call to arms? I am personally happy to support whoever feels they could fulfil this role just because it would add value to my time on the streets to collect a paper with my morning coffee. It takes time and dedication and I am sure some in this community understand that and would reward it too. It sadly isn't my strength, I have heard of brilliant ones of old, is there someone who would like this prestigious role to assist us all walking about the streets and making it more intruiging? Doesn't really matter your unofficial rank status by your family. Could the city heads hold a meeting and ask their families to nominate 1 or 2 and maybe make it a team effort. I certainly miss my paper with my coffee.

Victorious-Secret and PlagueGuy - I have been releasing short reports, rather than operating a full-scale newspaper business.  For me, an entire newspaper has been a challenge to my lineage.  That's why I funded the efforts of Dominic, and others.

I do think that a committee should be established to discuss what we need to make a thriving newspaper industry, here on the Streets.

I'm willing to do my part.  I wonder what the CLs of this thing are willing to do?

We could ask Dave, or CLO, or Le-Semois (a gifted speaker), or Enzo, or @Fleyja, or Flowah, or Sinaya, or Voodoo, or my boss, the wonderful SilverLight.

What we are asking is if you, respectfully and with omerta and loyalty and love, would help us special interest groups with an interest in controlling the media narrative of this society? 

Le-Semois sighed as a messenger boy came into his office disturbing him reading the latest intel reports from his offshore supply lines. He kept them around just in case Squirrelly would run out of his favorite brew again, the man had a thirst that was unrivaled. As he read the note, groaning when he saw the name of the youngster that had been shouting his name he decided to blow off some steam and march to the little square where the youngster was standing looking like she'd rival any mans stare and wondered how these youngsters seemed to forget that the role of a Godfather was busy as it was.

Listen up @sue_gray_gotti, for I shall be brief and only address you this once to avoid being dragged down the streets more after this point. Most meetings and discussions between the leaders of city districts are tedious, ceremonial and filled with useless details to youngsters like yourself. More often than not our beloved GFC will be off snoring in a corner, my RHM will be off dancing and seducing men by the dozen. Myself and the RHM of the GFC will be combing through boring and inaccurate reports trying to make sense of things, and after many hours of staring down the fine print adjusting some of our business strategies we just drink a whiskey until some other report comes in that needs attention.

Yet you are looking for action, for spectacle, and i fear those won't be found in a meeting of old men...

Yet do not despair, the great city of New York has been preparing for a week now, and soon the official start will be given to the New York Snowball Fight!! There shall be a day to day update by our (in)famous news reporter in the dailies that hopefully you shall be able to follow and root for your favorite participant in this competition. 

Le-Semois frowned, as the sun was starting to set, time for him to retire to his HQ and read the usual boring reports of minor squabbles hardly worth his time

Hey @Sue_Gray_Gotti I do hope others passing by are hearing. Love the energy in support, the only thing I might alter in your speech is that the most talented of old did not control the media narrative they simply reported it as was presented even sometimes to the negative theme of the city or crew but with the knowledge they had full support in their role too. It also gave that family or city a right of reply too or not as they deemed fit. It is a skill indeed and one I fully appreciate for those that can achieve this. Hoping voices are loud enough to reach important place for change to occur... 

Dave was enjoying a casual stroll down the street when he overheard the eager ramblings of the locals. Strolling the streets is one of Dave's favourite things to do but he never usually takes the time to really stop and voice his opinion on the subject formally. He usually enjoys the peace of the stroll, taking in what's going on around him without being too involved. This is only the second time someone had called out his name and addressed him. Strangely enough, it was the same person again. 

I think the problem we have here Sue_Gray-Gotti is that good people come here to speak and sadly it gets tarnished by individuals with ulterior motives. I actually quite like the idea of a newspaper but the ramblings of idiots of late has led me to believe that there is nothing positive to be gained in this right now. 

If we could improve upon the quality of the writers (and I don't mean their writing ability, I mean their motives and general ability not to be a dickhead) then I believe this is a concept that could potentially work in a fun way aiming to increase the involvement of all.

Dave continued on his way. Eager to get back to HQ and play touch-butt with Honesty-. He was sure he would have an opinion on this too. 

Thanks, Dave.  Valuable input.  Could you have one of your best people come and work with me on a newspaper?

A fellow Celt, Dave, perhaps we should be kinder to each other?

You have the human resources.  I have some talent.  We can get other talent.  I have $8m ready to pay for articles.

Let's work together? 

Would rather watch AGAIN the butt-touch competition and hopes can bumble past the numerous bodyguards with the usual promise of favours and treats to grab a seat in the HQ AGAIN 

Got to go folks urgent you know....important things need my attention.

Honesty was busy doing some paperwork in Vegas. New construction projects for a casino and some residential areas in Paradise had come upon Honesty's desk. In Paradise, Honesty was in charge of assuring the construction projects went to the right companies. In this particular case, the residential areas were easily tasked off to the right company, but the casino was a bit more of a headache. Three companies presented their plans and put up interesting numbers, numbers that Honesty would crunch himself to discern its legitimacy. After several hours of manipulating numbers, Honesty started to have a headache. He got up, stared outside the window and saw some local kids play in the street. This visual brought Honesty memories of days of old and he wandered off in his mind for a bit. After about five minutes of being spaced out, Honesty snapped back to reality and rushed back to his desk. "I know who to give the contract to!", he thought, and spent the next half hour finalizing the documents. Once they were done, he went to find PlagueGuy so he could double check Honesty's work, but saw his Right Hand teeter off towards the door with his coat on. Honesty asked where Plague was going to go and the latter only said that he had something on his mind. Honesty was intrigued, to say the least, and asked his friend if he could tag along, to which PlagueGuy happily agreed. And so they went off, found a place in the streets where PlagueGuy could openly speak, and Honesty sat on a small brick wall listening to him.

When PlagueGuy finished speaking, Honesty closed his eyes and started thinking about what he had said

"You know, I think one of the reasons why the streets are quieter than what they once were, as recorded by my ancestors, is because uppers have to be careful with what they say and when they are careful, it is often met by the belligerent rats of the mafiosi gutters, so uppers tend to avoid the possibility of mingling with such vermin and if we study the history of these streets, we can clearly see a correlation between time and street activity by uppers."

Honesty took a swig of his delicious maple syrup and let out a burp.

"You know... Most of my ancestors never took much part in the street activity, but I decided to change that pattern. I guess I've learned to love my creative juices and let them explode on the canvas that is the streets. To be honest, I'd like to see people let loose and joke around and have some fun, you know? I think we worry too much about how we appear and we forget to be ourselves, because the image we portray becomes blended with the colours that describe our true selves."

Honesty stilled his thoughts after this and just sat back and watched the other people join in the conversation, while sipping on his maple syrup.

Dave

Honesty sat still listening to the comings and goings of the people. Some of them participated in PlagueGuy's discussion and some of them walked by. Honesty swung his dangling feet, with his heels bouncing off the brick wall he was still sitting on. Honesty was humming a soft tune as the maple syrup coursed through his veins, the sounds of dialogue blurring out to Honesty's ear until it sounded like buzzing. That buzzing was violently interrupted by a sexy motherfucking voice that could only be Dave's. This dark, smooth and rich voice always melted in Honesty's ear and the Canadian always felt a little chub down there when Dave spoke. When Dave was finished speaking, Honesty rose to his feet and waltzed over to the handsome man. Honesty put a hand on his shoulder and whispered:

"Hey babe, I'm right here. Did you miss me? Did you perhaps come to this place in the streets when you heard me talk of my creative juices busting on a canvas?"

Honesty then stopped his whispering, but kept his hand on Dave's shoulder, and raised his voice to say:

"Dave has a similar mindset as I have and had similar words to say as I did. I mentioned gutter rats and he speaks of individuals that tarnish the words of respectable men and women. Two descriptions of a same concept. Who else would agree with us that the biggest deterrent to high ranking people speaking their minds is the filth that poison words spoken with venom-tipped tongues? Venom that chokes the vocal cords of the streets? Venom that stains the ink written down on pages?"

Victorious-Secret, newspapers and journalism are probably always welcome at any time. I'm sure any city leaders willing to knock heads and sponsor a person or group to start something up is all that's needed. The only requirements are motivation, incentive, and the plan for selection, whether it be through a competition or simple observation on the streets, with a positive response towards such a request. Incentive is probably the biggest one, at least in my opinion.

Honesty-, I can certainly see how a lack of a drive for upper mobsters to talk can result due to the constant tarnishing of most speeches or discussions with the tongues of otherwise street trash, justified or not (as up to oneself). It can ruin some key conversations or distract from an original talking point. But such meddling is an experience most mobsters are familiar with. It certainly won't be going away anytime soon, and is instead just replaced by another lowlife with some words to spew, continuing the cycle. The biggest factor, however, is how people, especially upper ranked mafiosi, handle these occurrences, whether it be by ignoring them completely, addressing it in their own view, settling it personally, or using it as an opportunity for further discussions or other activities.

But would common street verbal vomit be the primary cause of the lack of presence on the streets? To me, not really, and mostly for a variety of factors. Motivation/incentives are one, but these implications are not spontaneous either.

Dave, like with Honesty-, mundane rubbish will never vanish completely. It only arrives and recedes over time. It primarily just depends on how one handles it. Nobody should be subjected to such an obligation, but there often isn't a way around it. I personally look at it as just a slump of sorts. But like with a dip in a graph, at some point it will start going up, and any boost to force its hand often leads to better results in both our short and long term.

Granted, I personally cannot hold vendettas against people directly, regardless of whether others have had negative experiences with people or not. Despite some individuals being well deserving of discrimination at any point, I personally haven't had such experiences with essentially anyone and look at each person as a blank slate. The enemy of my friend might also be my friend, and I think that can lead to mediation despite the side-playing that might result from it. No two people are alike (usually, heh) and no two feelings are the same across the board. Sometimes being pulled into the streets, whether you want to be or not, gives you an opportunity to speak that otherwise wouldn't have appeared without taking the initial step to speak first anyway. Guided into the conversstiom, as you will. This does not mean I'd put aside immediate consequences of shrug off vile acts, but rather I assume good intentions within people until shown otherwise or given reason to doubt.

PlagueGuy tosses another syrup bottle to Honesty-, sensing his original flask is running low.