DangerClose carefully wiped blood from his forehead as he approached the crowd gathered on the street before him. It had been a bloody day and DC hadn't even had time to head home to clean up. He felt this speech he had been tasked to deliver was more important and the people could not be kept waiting. They deserved an explanation.

"Good evening, everyone. It has been a while since my bloodline has had the opportunity to address you all like this. Happy to see you all here. What a time to be alive."

"To start I would like to say Rest in Peace to Godfathers Balls, Marston, Fenton, Ian, Stiffler, Malicious, Don Whiterun-Guard, SuperBee, ASimpleCivilian and their respective families. Please take the time to visit their funerals if you so wish. Today is a sad day for all of us who call this place home."

"I understand that many of you have questions about what has transpired in the last twenty-four hours. I appreciate your patience. This speech is my attempt to put any questions to rest. I will try to be a clear as possible about the transgressions you all have witnessed tonight. It was not done out of malice or hatred. These actions were not taken lightly or without a great deal of thought behind them. I can confidently say that no joy was taken on our part. What you are about to hear are the facts as we see them. They are not meant to disrespect or mud drag anyone mentioned. May they rest in peace."

"I am not going to dig into the deep past and pretend that this was a long held grudge against the past regime. There is no point in digging up long dead corpses to suit my own needs. Could I point to minor problems that I didn't agree with? Sure. Anyone could if they really choose to nitpick the past. This is not going to be one of those speeches painting the leaders of the past as monsters, deceivers, or anything of the sort."

"The first point I will make has to do with TheWanderingJew. As many of you remember, this Leader of Chicago recently chose to randomly attack Godfather Fluffy_Tummy. This attack was not random. In fact, our network picked up intelligence suggesting that TheWanderingJew was going to rogue before he took Godfather should he have the opportunity. These whispers were reported up to Godfather Balls and Marston and were promptly ignored. By all accounts, Fluffy_Tummy should be dead. Only saved by the good grace of a 1% fail on the part of TheWanderingJew. He was decidedly not saved by the people he was loyal to, Godfathers Balls and Marston. They failed him and were only bailed out by the grace of God. Why the Godfathers chose this course of action or rather lack thereof? We can only speculate. They were warned well before the shot that it could/would happen. They were warned against leaving TheWanderingJew being left to his own devices after the previous war where he was the sole survivor. TheWanderingJew did absolutely everything we warned them he would do, and our skepticism was met with apathy. Moreover, Fluffy_Tummy had already gone to extreme lengths to keep the Godfathers safe, and still his well founded worries were met with inaction."

"My second point has to do with Godfather Ian, formerly known as Curtis or Disorder. You all remember Curtis, I am sure. The moment Ian was revealed to be such, the community shuddered remembering his past transgressions. These worries were expressed by many prominent members of our fair community both deceased and living. Both locally and nationally voices against Ian were loud. Marston assured the wider community that Curtis would not play a prominent role in his administration. Then he became a hand. Again, the people were assured that Curtis would not go beyond being a hand. Then he became a CL, then Godfather. Still, we were assured that Ian would not be a problem. This is not an indictment on Ian himself. I know my own reputation precedes me and it would be unfair for me to sit here and throw shade. The indictment is on Godfather Marston for choosing to do his own thing instead of the promises he had made previously. I understand that lying, cheating, and stealing are integral parts of the Mafia. You can't expect people to forget easily either. Many voices were extremely anxious that Godfather Ian was being given the opportunity to repeat his brand of leadership once again and Marston lied because he knew best. Godfather Balls made assurances that he trusted Marston to keep him on the straight and narrow. He made assurances that should Godfather Marston ever meet an untimely end, those we were concerned with in New York would be dealt with swiftly to put the community's fears to rest. Godfathers Balls once again wanted to take his time to calculate his decision instead of upholding what he had agreed to, just like with TheWanderingJew. We were not about to let Ian or others have the same chance that TheWanderingJew had taken. These men were much more capable than TheWanderingJew. If given the chance would the dark days have returned? Thankfully, we will never know."

"I could sit here and point out the lack of communication and activity but that would make me a hypocrite in some ways. I think many of us here could call ourselves bored in these last few weeks and months. The previous administration started off strong, really seemingly inspired and grateful for the chance. As happens with many Godfathers hours dwindled, tasks went undone, and an era of status quo was enacted. Weeks to get back to mails. Weeks and months to make decisions. Again, this is not me criticizing the aforementioned. I understand that the dream world can be enticing when you have climbed the mountain to its peak. I am just saying this is one of the grievances that have been leveled against them. It is hard to have a lively community when you yourself aren't exactly lively yourself."

"My final point. We knew what was coming. We already knew that action against us was being floated by prominent mafioso. Discussions about what comes next being had. As I mentioned I understand the reputation that precedes us. We understand the reputation that precedes us. Many of us have played this game for a very long time and have gone through all these permutations before. The moment Marston died we understood the score, and the opposition knew the score too. For years now me and my lot have stood on the sidelines letting our leaders make their own decisions. Every single time it has ended in the ruin of everyone I care about. If our people hadn't made a move today, I assure you we would have been dead within the week, yet again. We already had heard that people were floating the names of Spiral, DangerClose, Fluffy_Tummy, Shoresy, and SpaceCowboy as the people who should be killed in wake of Godfather Marston's death. You can't even pretend like you didn't have these conversations. Was Godfather Balls going to let it happen? Maybe not. But for how long? Or would they just move against Balls, similarly to what we did, to kill us? I understand the difficult position Balls was in with Marston being his brother. I do not envy his position of being caught between the two sides, blood versus city."

"Again, none of these points are meant to drag the good names of Balls or Marston through the mud. They are good people. They should not be viewed as villains who perpetrated great crimes against humanity. These are not horrible monsters who should be slandered and maligned in history. Shortcomings? Sure. None of us are perfect. They should not be demonized. My only task here was to paint a picture as to why the actions you all witnessed tonight took place, not shit on the reputations of these men. Balls, especially, was in a terrible position, and it is highly unfortunate he died in this but there was very little that could be left up to chance. This is not a victory, but rather was just pure pragmatism for survival. There is no doubt that with inaction, we would be the ones buried in time and it could not wait."

This is rather embarrassingly still displayed on a notice near to your HQ.

"We pride ourselves on community, loyalty, and comradery. Nothing comes before this family and our fair city of Philadelphia and Godfather Balls. Sack City, bitch."

Clearly your own skin came before your godfather, a crew leader on the opposite coast was put before your godfather, you are an oath breaker and put 'yourself & your lot' before your family.

I can't fault you on a well executed take down, but the old adage rings true, once a snake, always a snake. 

Thank you for taking the time to come out into the streets and explain the recent wipe, DangerClose.  It seems like common sense and you explained it how basically everyone here already sees it.

When it's either you or them, you choose them. 

After Marston died there was no avoiding a choice.

This is well dressed up and put together, I'll admit that it is nice to see you still have the ability to come out and speak. Many people who have been around as long as we have lost the motivation and the ability to speak coherently. I'm not going to dig into your reasoning piece by piece, it has been well-designed to shift the blame off your shoulders and onto others. On the whole, it's a crock.

It was obvious to a few of us who know your people and their tactics that Illuminatiated was a setup. He didn't go rogue for no reason, but rather to isolate New York from Philadelphia and give a legitimate reason for you to push for their removal. If he was so upset about Ian, why not shoot Ian? No, a plan was formed in the old country reunion that would rid you of "undesirables" and pave the way to your takeover without coming out as the bad guys. It's a dirty play, but that's part of our world. Well executed. The plan was formed and executed perfectly. I can't say that I haven't expected something like this since the day Balls and Marston decided to place trust in your group. I'm not sure if you went so far as to try to get Balls on board or if you decided to just outright betray him, but that's academic at this point. They weren't around for the past decade or so to see things firsthand, and for them, that was a blessing and a curse. It was always going to be something like this.

Some on our side hesitated when presented with the theory of what was happening. We were unable to convince everyone of what, to us, was blatantly clear. You're absolutely right, conversations were had, and had we been able to convince the proper parties we likely would have moved first. We probably wouldn't have been able to do all that was necessary to win, but at least we could have gone down fighting. 

Marston and Balls were good men, who stood by their principles and ended the cycle of purging and bloodline hunting. They had a wonderful time at the top and I commend them for it. But unfortunately, now the wheel will almost certainly begin to turn again. The purging, bloodline tracking, address monitoring, and profiling will begin anew. Welcome back to the Dark Ages. Someone send me a telegram in the old country when they can see the light.

Instead of going line by line and dissecting what has been said I am just going to give another broad speech concerning the grievances held by what I assume are the deceased's kin.

I understand the reputation the precedes me. "Oh fuck me that's DoctorBoom! Run!" I get it. To think that I am the same man as back then wistfully ignores the seven years of history that have transpired since then. The countless times I have stood by and let events unfold to my and our detriment even though the outcome was clear as day to me. Still, those were allowed to happen. Eras of extreme bloodshed and cruelty were allowed to happen after. Eras of extreme fraud were enacted and carried on for months, ending with the bloodlines involved turning on each other, tattling on each other, and the Gods having to reach in and recoup billions of stolen dollars. Eras of extremely inactive and ineffective leaders were allowed to exist for eons simply out of a belief blind loyalty and fear.

The Wheel was mentioned. For years I have removed myself time and time again and let the wheel keep turning. Let the community decide what they thought was best. These are the regimes the community chose. This time, we chose different. Please keep your slights at my bloodline to yourself and reserve them for ancient history text books. My hands are much cleaner than most these days. I think most of you are only up set because won't get to perpetrate your crimes against humanity once again. As I stated early, we don't forget.

On  Illuminatiated. I had no knowledge of his plans before they happened. I did not attend this years old world gathering, and I haven't in years now. No plans were made in cohesion with Illuminatiated. From my understanding a faux pas was made during the gathering and Illuminatiated feared for his life. If there had been a long held plan, it would have made more sense to bring him in to shoot with us. We could have made it a clean sweep had that been the case. It is unfortunate that Godfather Marston met his end this way. There were no plans to move against him or Godfather Balls while he lived. We did not work with Illuminatiated.

Thank you to those of you who have shown support here and the many more who have sent mails. Your kind words do not fall on deaf ears and are not forgotten or taken lightly. Attack my character all you want. I understand some of you have nothing else. The simple fact that people aren't attacking my points made the the previous speech says more than I ever could. My conscious is clean.

On the back of DraugrDeathOverlords speech - which I have to admit,  despite your protests, makes the most sense about this whole situation regardless of whether your fragile egos want to admit it or not - I'd like to add my own twopenceworth before anyone listening is ignorant enough to genuinely start believing anything your preaching:

If he was so upset about Ian, why not shoot Ian? - By far the the most hilarious and stand out point anyone should take away from this.

The embarrassing death whisper in the ear of Marston comes in at a close and awkward second place.

Firstly you've used widely known and evocative facts about two other people in an attempt to elicit an emotional response from anyone who isn't already in the know, then added your own opinions about each of these facts in an attempt to try and make those opinions also look as credible as the actual facts. You've then padded those out with a fair few self deprecating comments - overcompensating much? - probably in an attempt to humanize the fact that you and your ilk just backstabbed the very people who vouched for you and gave you a chance when few others would - mainly because we all knew this outcome was set in stone from the moment you and certain other people involved were given the benefit of the doubt.

Throw in a few other lies, a few more baseless and theatrical opinions, a FUCKTON of irony, criticize an entire plethora (that means a large or excessive amount) of other peoples actions THEN deny criticizing anyone THEN demand that we don't judge anyone because that isn't what you are here to do, despite the fact you've just judged EVERYONE. Finally wrap all of that up with a bunch of voodoo mumbo jumbo fortune telling that seemingly justifies your actions without providing any shred of evidence to back it up and you've got yourself a poorly worded, half assed attempt at the olé tried and tested method of attempting to convince anyone currently on the fence into taking your side whilst absolving yourselves of the fact that you are in actual fact, despicable weasels.

Hey, now, don't get me wrong. If using deception, lies, manipulation and underhanded methods are what help you succeed in this thing of ours then be my guest, I'm all for playing both sides of the coin, but for crying out loud just admit the truth about what you are and the actions you took. Cut out all the bullshit and put some effort into jazzing your speech up a bit so we aren't bored to death listening to you drone on about how difficult it was for you to do the same scummy thing you've done numerous times to several people.

Illuminatiated making a fool of himself by proving to be a dumber rogue than TheWanderingJew SHOULD NOT have been the most entertaining thing about this entire episode of the 'whos fucking over who next?' and the fact that it is, is sad, pathetic and disappointing.

Lastly I think "The bigger kids wouldn't listen to us so we took their toys and beat them to death over the head with them" would have been a significantly more accurate title for your speech and would have saved us and you a whole bunch of time.

What a long drawn out unnecessary speech when you could’ve just said, me and my boys saw a golden opportunity and took it. I think the population at large wouldve respected that approach much more than what’s been presented here today.

Very good points and such I was well entertained I was sitting here thinking after listening to your speech it all makes sense but there is no mention a stiffler who helped win multiple wars with your families. who also had multiple members that are still currently alive in other crews but the current ones were killed?

Oh, a wildly verbose creature appears. 

Lastly I think "The bigger kids wouldn't listen to us so we took their toys and beat them to death over the head with them" would have been a significantly more accurate title for your speech and would have saved us and you a whole bunch of time.

Tell me, from your perspective, Mr. Sardonicism, what should have been done?

Should people have stood still? 

Was there not chatter to remove each other on both sides?

So what, sit still? Then what?

Yes, let's leave the boiling kettle on the stove and go out to see a three hour movie. Maybe it will be a double feature. 

Were there unfortunate casualties? Totally. Was GFC Balls in an absolutely horrible position? Totally. GFC Malicious? Totally. Stamina? Totally. Stiffler? Totally. Fenton? Totally. And many others. But if the whole purpose of the action was in fact caused by being faced with issues of survival, then risk must be minimized. Safelists are not exactly easy to predict the outcome of, and there was no room to allow for retaliation. Had we not shot many of them, they would've simply thought they were probably next anyway. Even prominent parties within the walls of Balls' crew were looking to kill us off with the aid of New York yesterday. Not to mention, if you are doing something without the permission of a city leader from their city or against their city (even to protect yourself), that like shaking a killer bees nest, especially considering the quality of the characters I just mentioned in terms of potential retaliation.

For example, would we really have wanted to chance having to go toe to toe with Malicious, The Giggling Gem of New York, for a week of proers and no sleep? I don't think so. Fuck that. Would he have sat still? I wish that was the case, but it is highly unlikely. Still, not something to leave to chance. Easier to avoid trusting the unknown.

"There never was a new prince who has disarmed his subjects; rather when he has found them disarmed he has always armed them, because, by arming them, those arms become yours, those men who were distrusted become faithful, and those who were faithful are kept so, and your subjects become your adherents. And whereas all subjects cannot be armed, yet when those whom you do arm are benefited, the others can be handled more freely, and this difference in their treatment, which they quite understand, makes the former your dependents, and the latter, considering it to be necessary that those who have the most danger and service should have the most reward, excuse you. But when you disarm them, you at once offend them by showing that you distrust them, either for cowardice or for want of loyalty, and either of these opinions breeds hatred against you." - N. M.

"Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge." - N. M.

But back to my point, step away from your own opinions and bias of the people that made the move and succeeded. Forget all the facts or issues leading up to the event. Even disregard the aforementioned unfortunate casualties, because in reality, it wasn't really about them. Just remember, it was an oil and water situation. Focus on the Ying and Yang of it. Be Objective. Be Be Objective. 

Several parties that had no business being in sister cities together in the first place... because they were vividly and vocally irreconcilable, and as evident here, they both knew it yesterday. They both knew something was going to happen and needed to happen yesterday. Likely, they both knew something was always going to happen. I do not think in good conscience anybody could say that was going to end peacefully. Bubbling oil or water, going to sleep last night on either side would have been a critical mistake.  

Now to summarize, if the shoe was on the other foot, we would not be bitching, because we would know it would have come down to this simply: who was quicker to the punch? We were this time. "Sedit qui timuit ne non succederet." 

If this result isn't your preference, I am sorry for your loss. 

"Be it known, then, that there are two ways of contending, one in accordance with the laws, the other by force; the first of which is proper to men, the second to beasts. But since the first method is often ineffectual, it becomes necessary to resort to the second." - N. M.

Starborn, it was by no means a golden opportunity. It was strategic necessity. But hey, you should appreciate someone actually talking for once, even if it's too wordy for you. 

The reality of the situation is regardless of the actual reasoning for why this removal happened, which itself is pretty much moot, it was bound to happen eventually. These were some of the oldest people around and sooner or later the bullet had to come.

All this backtalk and fighting is honestly boring, or at least I’m getting kind of bored with it, and I would know not to meddle my feet into the mess because it’s just not worth it as I soon found out. Honestly, it’s probably an excuse to throw a fuss as to avert boredom or the mental stress taken on by being wiped off the face of the earth.

All I can offer is the hope that those who have been struck down can find peace with their sons and daughters when they start anew. If anything, this takedown certainly brought some activity to the scene, and we should look forward to what comes next.

It was inevitable a cleanup was going to happen before the demise of Marston. The only questions floating around were who, where and when. Sometimes not quite 100% spot on with predictions but this here was close enough. Even down to the wire where dumb and dumber with a history of staying above dirt would move on. Surely Marston had to know he made enemies after the last wipe out he conducted. It was just a matter of time. It just so happened a "situation" prompted his death. And everyone knew once Illuminated was removed it was not over. 

The only question floating around is why no reaction from NY until it was too late. 

Curtis, Disorder, DoctorBoom. All dead for years, but only one should be ignored.

343 days of loyalty vs less than half of that before betrayal. Community, city and family first, right until they are second to "my lot" of cross-country non-familial friendships of course. You're right, Ian's the problem. 

Yin, Yang, Spiral dripping in someone else's bathwater with a knife in the back of the man who trusted him enough to be a hand. Community, loyalty, comradery (sp). Men of honour. Betrayal and loyalty. Oil and water. It's all good though, bro. If you ignore who we are, what we did and why we did it, we're the good guys. Just be objective.

All in all, it was a smart move that was made to ensure that with minimal executions, power could be maintained by one particular set of people. It is no secret that there are groups of people that can manipulate and manage how this thing works, it's really unfortunate that our world hasn't seen more mobsters land on our shores as we might see a difference there, but that is for another time and another conversation.

Ultimately, this happened because inaction lead to action. Anyone with an IQ above 50 could tell the Illiminatiated shot on Martson was a ploy. I mean, shooting Marston allowed for an instability to the connection between the cities. It removed the person who vouched for Ian. I imagine there may have been talks at that point that Ian would be trying to take over from the side of the current victors. It would certainly not be impossible to imagine Ian actually doing that given past exploits. I imagine Ian's side were doing the same too, with poor Balls in the middle of it all, not knowing which side would fuck him first.

The thing which struck me as amusing was that, this move was made due to actions of previous bloodlines, while announcing that the victors bloodlines and their actions were a thing of the past and that they had changed. I just thought that was something to have a good chuckle about, given that DangerClose shared his bloodlines actions will not be his own, despite doing what they usually do. Not that I judge him for that, I think it was a smart move. It was well played out.

I sometimes wish these announcements just came with the truth of what we all know likely happened. After all, this isn't a popularity contest, what can anyone do if you come out and say "Fuck it, I killed them because I could and because I knew I'd not have to look over my shoulder for the next few weeks".

I think times under Marston and Balls were one to strive towards for all regimes. It's something I'll be discussing in more depth for sure. 

Fluff had been sitting perched on a nearby roof giving him good vantage point and acoustics and he saw speech after speech. Some jumping on the soap box well respected and seasoned, some green as grass. Often they got so nervous of the response of the next speaker and crowd that they'd run off to a nearby alley and just shoot themselves in the head instead of face the reactions to their speech.

He mused on the things said, on his own memories and stories he heard from people he had spoken to. Both people still alive and people who deceased, and their kin who had told him things their parents never did.

I think overall the key theme to this is partition and strife, as many people have orated before in the streets since generations to be a leader of an organization or city you can't be friends or like all of your peers in other cities. Often times hostilities break out and nobody comes out because it was very clear and both sides never even pretended to play nice. Often that came with puppets narrating bizarre or insulting things in the street. Or just by leaders shooting anyone with a certain level of experience under their belt if they were not vouched for. There are plus and minuses on those practices, but the reason we now have a different discussion is that the men who kept the previous months in a stable but strong hold were also blood relatives in the old country. This allowed them to overcome massive differences, frustrations, and opinions that would have been unmanageable for leaders not being bound by blood. I have been witness to many of those fights, where at times they took only a few angry glances and supportive comments from outsiders to solve, but also days long arguments where other high ranked members of other cities would be extras and just kill their time doing paperwork while Balls and Marston hashed things out.

Now these 2 men were very well aware of having higher ranked officials in their cities that left to their own devices would not play nice, but their strong characters, personal relations and empathy navigated those testy waters. Still both couldn't keep everyone happy, grunts were given to both but none that caused open rebellion by any of their allies between each other. Knowing that in the end the brother's bond would stand through pretty much anything save Armageddon. Secondly, i will only claim this to be my personal view, is that none of the allies wanted the brothers to break their bond, and cause a rift that would carry over to the old country. Sure, I had some preference between their personal styles, but i respected them both for being unrelentingly themselves. Did it cause me to be mad at times, sure, but i was very well aware of where i had come from and what the brothers had meant to me in my early kitten days.

Did I believe that i had returned on their promise, did i do things that were personally not the best for me but show my loyalty to them, for sure. did i bite of my tongue for the sake of my loyalty to them, of course. But that is part of this thing of ours, omerta, respect and proper etiquette.

Now did i have any prior knowledge or information of don illumianated to go after Marston, no i did not, despite many will not believe that claim. I would not have stood for it, as much as the situation now is changed and i have less moments looking over my shoulder that I probably would have had otherwise. The man deserved the role he had, he fought long and hard to achieve it and did not make any action to the detriment of my city that i love and protect. Did he make choices I would not be in favor of, of course, but he might have claimed the same about my actions.

Did I think his brother made 100% correct calls, no, but Godfather Balls did many things correctly and never question my loyalty to him and his brother, nor did i ever worry about him or his brother making plans to attack myself or my friends in LA, despite some people having attempted to set their minds that way in the past.

So to all those who seem unhappy with last nights events and lost their ancestors, please look at your own image, did you think your ancestor was peace loving or would their leader whom they owed loyalty not be nervous of or potentially actively attempting to kill many of the leaders now in charge of the cities in this country?

Seems you got bored and decided to go bloodlining for nothing. 

The thing which struck me as amusing was that, this move was made due to actions of previous bloodlines, while announcing that the victors bloodlines and their actions were a thing of the past and that they had changed. I just thought that was something to have a good chuckle about, given that DangerClose shared his bloodlines actions will not be his own, despite doing what they usually do. Not that I judge him for that, I think it was a smart move. It was well played out.

I am so glad that I was not the only one that noticed this. 

To me it just reads like you were convinced NY were goin to attack, which they were considering definitely as shown by someone coming out here and saying exactly that. So a good move there.

The bad part is that you killed your own godfather and anyone loyal to the godfather with them, on the sole idea that maybe he wouldn't make that move himself. This being a man that protected all under his city including all of you who turned on him. So so give it all the musings and trappings of 'wr did what we had to do', but that much is only half true as I just explained previously in that paragraph at the start, the real truth here is 'we did what we had to do but really just what we wanted to do regardless of who we had to kill'

Anyone who would know Balls knows he is a person who will fight for his people til he dies and for you to just convienelty forget that the second you saw the opportunity to take over the game is a joke with no punchline that noone laughs at because it's bad.

A Smart move, but just because you are smart doesn't mean we are dumb to believe some of this stuff.