Five days ago JesseJames, shoot at Raptor, my RHM, and had a surprising gun malfunction resulting in his demise. This was a sad day for JJ and Chicago, and although I’m sad to see my friend died, I’m glad that my other friend survived.

With PizzaTheHut, underboss to JesseJames, having a well-earned nap, it fell to me, the only other Chicago leader around to take temporary lead of the city until all senior city members to have a sit down chat. The first step was the protection order on JesseJames family in which I stepped into the streets requesting this. I then authed EveValon, RHM to JesseJames and allowed her to set up in PizzaTheHut’s absence to ensure that JesseJames family could be safe, and to show strength in Chicago.

At this point, people were already wondering ‘What the hell is going on in Chicago?’ but Chicago showed a united front. Then a mistake was made. EveValon decided to name herself Underboss of Chicago. Despite being a lower rank then me, she decided she would be Underboss. And therefore make it so that if PizzaTheHut were to fall, she would step up. Of course, this would not have risen up as a major problem, unless PizzaTheHut died. Which with things being quiet would not happen; or so we thought.

Tonight, PizzaTheHut decided to retire several minutes before I had to go take care of some very urgent business. When I found out, I wasn’t too surprised but still saddened by the news, and I understood his reasons.

This then created an issue. EveValon was self-appointed underboss. I authed her and was higher ranked. So who should lead? Well EveValon decided is should be her. And took the shot. And missed. This was an act of war. A power grab. And eventually it would cost her life.

With this Slab has now been authed. With me as the city head of Chicago and Slab, we can start to grow again and regain its greatness.

I must say it's about time that we seen someone actually attempt to take power without it actually having just fallen in to their laps. It's quite refreshing really.

Congratulations on stepping up to the plate and acting out against an act of aggression and taking in my opinion, the correct course of action. It's kind of become a regular happening now where a city leadership has just fallen in to the lap of someone who has been around longer/stepped up to the plate without any talking, debating or even aggression from those that feel the mantel should be theirs.

So for that, you have my respect for what it's worth.


Good luck.

Well done, Boss!

Regain its greatness? We haven't lost it. We can only continue to work hard to REMAIN great!

Rest in Peace Chicago.

Long live Chicago. I am glad to see things are well at hand now.

Raises her glass to the City

Crazy crap happened tonight new orleans lost a great person Sneaker of the Civilans family (My sonser) but it was not Chicagos fault so R.I.P. to all the great men who died today

Chicago died? If not I do not understand a "Rest in Peace Chicago."

In my personal opinion, wanting to be powerful is good. But to be powerful, you don't necessarily need to be stronger, bigger, richer, better protected than every single human being on the planet. I'm sad that Eve didn't think she was worthy of a "mere" Crew Leader position. I'm sure her crew would have flourished and given time and rank, I'm also sure she could have eventually had her own city.

The only thing that could make sense to me is if this was a personal issue between the two Crew Leaders. Since I'm aware it's not my place to ask and it wouldn't be ventilated in here I just pose it as a rhetorical question.

I just hope that from here on forward we can ALL put the rebuilding of this place as our main goal.

Firstly, RIP to thos who have fallen, From JesseJames 7 days ago, upto EveValon last night. Many uneeded deaths. Secondly, it is good to see a leader come out so quick and explain the actions and stop the rumours. The dust has not even settled yet and the world is fully up to speed on what the fuck is going on in Chicago. Thirdly, Monet, good luck as City head from Chicago. I am sure you will do a great job.

Victoria Concordia Crescit

Congratulations Monet on becoming city head, I don't need to wish you good luck as I know you won't need it. You have a fantastic team of people behind you which will only make things easier to accomplish. I looks forward to seeing what happens in Chicago now.

Eve got greedy last night, and when you get too greedy, it never ends well, less than a week after being given auth, she wanted the city for herself. It's not a sad time for Chicago, PizzaTheHut wanted to retire, that's not sad, we should be wishing him well in his retirement. EveValon died after getting power hungry, that's not sad, better it happened now than later. Monet has been appointed city head, also obviously not sad. The only thing to be sad about in the last week is JesseJames' death.

It is very much a day of celebration than remorse, so once again, congratulations Monet, and also congratulations to Slab, I know you'll do great!

Firstly;

Thank you Monet. Its refreshing to hear someone stand up and announce whats going on. As Bullets have been whizzing past many of us this past week, we at least now know the reasons for it all.

Id also like to echo something mentioned by others: Often people are "given" their position at the top of the table. Now thats not always a bad thing, generally speaking these people are in line because of the good work they've already done to get there, it doesn't mean the road has been easy for them, like has been somewhat suggested by previous comments. Regardless of how someone makes it to the top, I would like to think we all know that to get there is an achievement in itself and that its never easy. Now, that said, its still exciting to see a fight take place for that coveted spot.

I have to disagree slightly with my friend Abel. If Eve believed she had done enough work to merit running Chicago, the city she has worked with for a long time, then its her choice whether to take the risk on that power play. Clearly it didn't work in her favour, but I would view moving to another city to take the position as a bit of a cop out really, as she had been with Chicago for quite some time and I would imagine it wasn't the position alone she wanted, but the running of that specific city itself.

Thats my two cents on the recent events anyway. May the fallen rest well and their children go on to bigger and better things. Also, congratulations to Monet on taking the position of City Head of Chicago, I have little doubt she will settle things now and bring Chicago back to the level we have come to expect of it.

Are cities not meant to be united? i find this quite disturbing to be honest, your former GF taking a shot at one of his CL's RHM then this with Eve "although i do admire someone making a power play you dont try and destroy your own city to do so".

A cities strength lies with its occupants treat them well and you will prosper it doesn't take Einstein to work that one out, so to say im shocked by recent events is an understatement. Monet i dont believe we have met but i wish you all the best in rebuilding Chicago and i truelly hope everybody who still resides there all work hard but most of all work together.

I am not gonna lie, the last week in chicago has surprised me and full credit to monet for stabilising the situation as much as they could.  Power is there to be taken as well as given and i think it was a ballsy move by eve, but i remember her blood lines actions when in New Orleans with Ghost so i am not the most surprised by her ambitions and after her work her way up and down the rankings after going into hiding(demote to bg up) i must admit i thought she would of valued the work more.

i must admit now watching LV by number being a stronger city then chicago makes the situation for solidifying the cities soon, and opening other cities could be a smart move to motivate people further, and reduce the hopes of conflict in an unstable world that adds some excitement as well as the tragedy of whats happend.  I guess will be interesting to see what the city heads plan next.

Well done Monet in bringing a semblance of stability to Chicago.

I have an alternative viewpoint I'd like to share, just playing devil's advocate.

JesseJames, god rest his little cotton socks, was godfather and EveValon was his RH. Surely, as RH to the godfather she was in fact second in command of the city while JJ was alive and de-facto leader of the city when he wasn't.

As has been said in many other discussions, the rank of the person holding these titles should not matter and that it is the position the person in that is of utmost importance. It seems to me that an argument could be spun the other way, that in fact Eve was trying to reclaim what was rightfully hers rather than usurping a recognised city leader. And that in fact using the argument of "I authed her and was higher ranked" is almost akin to a schoolboy threatening to take a football home because things aren't going his way.

As I said at the start, I am merely playing devil's advocate and attempting to promote discussion in terms of hierarchical differences at the point of Jesse's unfortunate demise.

With the recent problems within Chicago, we have seen that nothing is a certainty in our life. Who would have ever thought that Godfather JesseJames would have died pointing his own gun at one of his own? Who would have imagined PizzaTheHut taking a trip to the old folks home shortly after he assumed power? Would anyone have thought EveValon would have attempted to take control of Chicago by attacking what was then at the time, what many people saw as the most stable part of the city?

I know I didn't predict any of the above...

All that aside though, congratulations to Monet for stepping up to the plate and wanting to take the city on. We know you've all been through some testing times over there recently, I have every faith that you can pick up the slack and put your own mark on things. An ever present Right Hand at your side and the son of MrBrick taking his own family, it seems like you've surrounded yourself with the people you can depend on as their ancestors have done before.

It is an interesting case you make there though Liza, comparing the city numbers with Las Vegas. I'm sure we will see the numbers in Chicago nearing what they were before too long.
I shall be attending a meeting with the other city heads in the coming days, one of the topics I am keen to discuss is infact the future opening of cities and their future.

To return to the matter at hand with Chicago, I wish you all the best over there and good luck with rebuilding.

Besty, you do bring an interesting argument to the table, about who should take control of the city when a leader dies, the Underboss or the RHM. I guess this comes down to who the city themselves back. Lets look at a couple of points in this scenario we have had in Chicago recently:

1) When JesseJames died, the consensus was that the city, EveValon included, would unite behind PizzaTheHut as city leader. This therefore took out the argument about who should step up, RHM or Underboss, as the City chose the underboss. eveValon did not challenge this. Maybe this was because she was scared of PizzaTheHut's gun? Maybe because she realised that her 4/5 members had no chance against PizzaTheHuts 50 + Monet's 50? Then EveValon self-nominated herself as Underboss of Chicago. Without consent. And before yesterdays actions, PizzaTheHut, Monet and EveValon had not sat down to discuss the structure of the city. When PizzaTheHut left us, there was no rightful successor, as EveValon had lost her RHM to the GF claim when she let PizzaTheHut in. Rather then sit down and talk, she tried to take the city by strength. Despite having just a dozen members in comparison to Monet's 50.

Also, PizzaTheHuts members mainly tried to join Mont or leave the city, rather then join EveValon, she certainly did not have the backing of the city to become city head. Despite being former RHM.

2) Now we have the JesseJames actions. Taking a shot at a city RHM. He died. The question really should be 'should the RHM go down with his leader?' EveValon should of been grateful that she was not only spared death, but also offered a chance to set up by the leader whose family had come under attack. She should of been grateful, and keeping her head down. Not attempting to take the city at the earliest opportunity. Especially as it is likely she knew about, or even encouraged, JesseJames to attack the RHM. In hindsight, you could now perhaps argue that when JeseeJames died, she should of followed. Not been authed.

Animal, thank you for addressing my point of view and offering me yours.

I guess I'm naive or an idealist. What we do in each city, is pretty much what we could do in any other city. Every city has its perks and benefits, but Chicago's reputation is more related to the people that have ruled it more than the benefits of the city itself. So moving to another city could have even been a step up depending on which city she had chosen.

I have heard a few more pieces of the puzzle in these few days so my opinion about this is slightly different but I cannot really say what I think about all this without expressing who I think was wrong and why. And I am in no position to judge high ranking members let alone from another city.

I believe this series of events brings to mind a few of my thoughts on similar matters (and I will therefore twist these events to support my opinions).

1.) Yes, EveValon was RH to the Godfather, making her the de-facto GF when JJ was alive. HER power rested on the fact that HE was alive. When he dies, her rank is based entirely on the power she derives from her allies or herself. Clearly, she didn't have the allies she thought she did. I give Monet a thumbs-up for the power play. It makes me believe that there are still people working to advance themselves, in the face of the OOC relationships that plague our world.

2.) If Eve's rank brought doubt to the city of Chicago in her ability to be acting city head, perhaps demoting for BGs (a practice I detest) wasn't as helpful as it was originally?

3.) And now for something completely different. EveValon's "rank" may have been below that of Monet, but I believe in an internal hierarchy within crews (or cities), built out by the "Crew Structure" thread in everyone's HQ. Regardless of what rank each of the structure holds (Gangster, Goomba, Earner, Capo, whatever), their power rests in the internal rank given to them by their leader. However, this does still hinge on point #1, so in the absence of the crewleader, it could easily fall apart.

But I like to think a person's power is based more on the arbitrary rank within the crew than the one on everyone's profile.