With a frustrated sigh and roll of her dark eyes, Analise flings the days newspaper into the garbage. It lands with a sharp "thwap" as she continues down the sidewalk, mumbling to herself with a scowl on her face. As she stops at a street crossing, she realizes that she is near the city center and "soapbox circle." Crossing the street, words begin coming together and quickly forming a speech in her mind. Though she is quite young and as of now unestablished, she knows all too well the stories of her family members before her and how they were made to be almost like gypsies for being shuffled around from family to family so often. As she approaches the speaking platform, she is resolved to make her frustrations known and cares very little whether anyone wants to hear it or not.

People, I'm getting too old for this bullshit.

Pointing toward a younger kid carrying a package wrapped in brown paper, she continues.

You- kid- how many families have you been schleping crap for? You're what, 18 or 19? You've probably been through four crew leaders by now- not to mention the six your parents have had go through.

Waving him off, Analise looks around for a moment at the people milling around and walking by.

Christ, you people don't even realize whats going on, do you? You know, when my earliest ancestor came to the cities from Sicily, she was taken into a family that was established, well respected, and had been around for a long time. After she made her home there, the family thrived for even longer. She worked hard for the same family all her life; and when she died in a war, it was with honor in a long and drawn out struggle. Does anyone around here know what that feels like?

A few feet behind her, there is a fence post with a few bits of crime scene tape still blowing in the breeze. Analise gestures toward that and rolls on.

Just yesterday, Skorpeon stood in this very spot and asked us all what quality makes the best leader. Friends, whether a leader is charismatic or just organized is the least of our worries. I mean, if you really want to approach the heart of the matter, WHERE are the Godfathers? Frankly, I don't give a crap what crew leader wants to call himself the "head" of his city. Without the Godfathers or the council, we are essentially leader-less. This is what causes billion dollar businesses to go belly-up. There MUST be structure and the structure MUST be followed. Someone has got to have the authority make the final shot calls. Without a Godfather in each city, crewleaders are just going to continue these pissing contests that we call wars.

Shaking her head, Ana makes a disgusted face.

War. It is ridiculous that we even call these every-week occurances a "war." These are petty playground feuds where the bullies rise up and pick on the smaller kids and steal their lunch money JUST because they can. Worse, there is no one there telling them to back the fuck off. I mean, its no wonder we don't have any Godfathers right now. All these street king clowns are killing eachother before they've lived long enough to earn the title. I remember stories of the days when wars happened only once in a while- and when they did, they were long, hard fought, and well matched. A family or city didn't start a war just because they were powerful enough to take a smaller family out. A war started because there was real beef between two, equal-in-strength families and something had to be done.

Her frustrations have reached a boiling point.

I'm sick and tired of any old Made Man with a wad of cash setting up an HQ and calling himself a crew leader. Did he really earn it? We all know how quickly someone CAN get his button- but does that really qualify him to lead a family? There is a maturity level that absolutely must be reached before someone is truley fit to lead a family. I know there is no way of measuring that by any automated system- but folks, we have GOT to have standards. We MUST expect MORE from those in power. I don't want to see a crew leader taken out because he's got a small family. I'd much rather see a big-shot, loud mouth, bully with a huge family taken out. What happened to the leaders of my great-grandmother's day- who knew what it meant to "make his bones" and earn the respect of others long before he could even afford a head quarters?

She opens her palms upward and catches the gaze of a few people standing near.

Don't you want to know what its like to work long and hard for a proud, established family? Don't you want to hold onto the things that you have worked so hard to earn for a long time? And, should you die in a war, wouldn't you rather it be with honor in a fair fight than find yourself just slaughtered because your family was smaller than another?

Feeling as if she's poured out her heart on deaf ears, she shakes her head and sighs.

Cut the bullshit. Stop mowing eachother down and start building a legacy.

With that, Ana takes one more glance at the passers-by, then walks away.

I have a simple and short point to make. Godfathers aren't made over night. One must work hard, build a strong family, and take out the rivals in order to earn the Godfather position.

As if to show his disgust he walks away before even allowing a response.

WhereWasI sighs,

You're three days into our way of life, you're not too old for anything.

"You- kid- how many families have you been schleping crap for? You're what, 18 or 19? You've probably been through four crew leaders by now- not to mention the six your parents have had go through."

I'm currently head of the third family I've been in and I can guarantee both of the CLs before me knew that I only follow CLs I really care about, as I assume the majority of the population does.

"Christ, you people don't even realize whats going on, do you? You know, when my earliest ancestor came to the cities from Sicily, she was taken into a family that was established, well respected, and had been around for a long time. After she made her home there, the family thrived for even longer. She worked hard for the same family all her life; and when she died in a war, it was with honor in a long and drawn out struggle. Does anyone around here know what that feels like?"

The length of a Crew Leader's time spent leading doesn't indicate a legacy. It's their accomplishments, which are impossible to judge from outside of a family. I hate to break this to you, but not every leader has to do things the way your former leader did. I know that's shocking to a large number of people, but leaders aren't carbon copies of each other and this means we will see different leading styles. Some will be out for blood much quicker, others will be avoiding conflict to simply stay alive. Both are good methods in different situations, but each and every case is different, so don't pretend that you can judge every leader's actions upon what your former leader did.

"Just yesterday, Skorpeon stood in this very spot and asked us all what quality makes the best leader. Friends, whether a leader is charismatic or just organized is the least of our worries. I mean, if you really want to approach the heart of the matter, WHERE are the Godfathers? Frankly, I don't give a crap what crew leader wants to call himself the "head" of his city. Without the Godfathers or the council, we are essentially leader-less. This is what causes billion dollar businesses to go belly-up. There MUST be structure and the structure MUST be followed. Someone has got to have the authority make the final shot calls. Without a Godfather in each city, crewleaders are just going to continue these pissing contests that we call wars."

I couldn't help but laugh very hard at you when you made this statement. You actually want someone telling you what to do and how to do it for every little decision? That's happened before, and eventually their own cities turned on them. They accomplished something amazing, but like all good things it had to come to an end. You might not "give a crap" what CL claims to be a city head, but that person worked their ass off for that position in most cases (only counter example I've been told of was Kuklinski back in the day). The Godfather roles are highly sought after positions, sorry if it's too complicated for you to understand why people actually fight for them. As for your billion dollar business comparison, we're not a business, and quite frankly you couldn't be more dead wrong. When a business gets to that size they most likely have a set system, whether they know it or not, and any failures most likely come from failures in the system from not adjusting with the times or failing to punish failures the way they used to. The "pissing contests" are all done with justified reasons, otherwise every other one of these Crew Leaders you're too good to listen to will gang up on the ones that attack without reason.

"War. It is ridiculous that we even call these every-week occurances a "war." These are petty playground feuds where the bullies rise up and pick on the smaller kids and steal their lunch money JUST because they can. Worse, there is no one there telling them to back the fuck off. I mean, its no wonder we don't have any Godfathers right now. All these street king clowns are killing eachother before they've lived long enough to earn the title. I remember stories of the days when wars happened only once in a while- and when they did, they were long, hard fought, and well matched. A family or city didn't start a war just because they were powerful enough to take a smaller family out. A war started because there was real beef between two, equal-in-strength families and something had to be done."

When a full city attacks another full city, that's a war. Sorry if that's not big enough for you, but just because the British/American War of 1812 wasn't as big as World War I doesn't make it not a war. Each of these wars has also been followed up with justification, so it's not just big kids rising up to pick on the weak because they can. If they actually were picking on smaller people because they can, those smaller groups tend to get together to become a big foe as I previously stated and give that bigger group at the very least some casualties that knock them down a peg or two. As for you not remembering the little wars, let me help you understand why: Almost no one remembers smaller wars, because they're smaller and less significant. It doesn't mean they haven't always happened throughout the years. Also, just so you know, I have heard plenty of stories of CLs taking out other CLs because they could throughout the years. Hell that's reason enough to start war, whether you like it or not. If you have a problem with that, rank up and actually do something.

"I'm sick and tired of any old Made Man with a wad of cash setting up an HQ and calling himself a crew leader. Did he really earn it? We all know how quickly someone CAN get his button- but does that really qualify him to lead a family? There is a maturity level that absolutely must be reached before someone is truley fit to lead a family. I know there is no way of measuring that by any automated system- but folks, we have GOT to have standards. We MUST expect MORE from those in power. I don't want to see a crew leader taken out because he's got a small family. I'd much rather see a big-shot, loud mouth, bully with a huge family taken out. What happened to the leaders of my great-grandmother's day- who knew what it meant to "make his bones" and earn the respect of others long before he could even afford a head quarters?"

I set up shortly after getting my button, do you think I didn't earn it? If you haven't heard, it's customary for leaders to BG up their future auths in preparation for them becoming leaders. They then become leaders when it's best for their city. I was authed when my predecessor (RIP SpookzBoyToy) was gunned down in a war we weren't a part of to prevent his members from becoming homeless. Do you have a problem with that reason? I also personally believe I have very high standards for myself as a leader and just fyi, I knew and communicated frequently with a good number of the leaders and almost everyone in my city before I was authed, not to mention the fact I'm rather certain all of the current leaders but PoisonousJelly and DeadlySin (PJ's a city head now, and DS is one of those God Father guys you were crying for) were properly authed in the traditional manner by their city head and weren't just Made Men with Cash for an HQ.

In short; you're in no position to tell a leader how to lead, you have a problem with it? Then rank up and do something. I'd much rather ask you what you would've done in Cory's position, or any of the other City Heads who've mowed someone down, but the answer is you probably wouldn't have done anything and just been happy to be alive rather than strive to make this thing of ours fit the image you have of being better, aka leading.

Rank up and do something about it, if I can borrow that infamous line once again. Or follow the established Chicago stance and have someone else do it for you. Whatever floats your boat really. If those options dont suit you, purchase yourself hundreds of bodyguards, whine and cry to the right leader until they give you a crew, then create your own change. While I doubt youll create change, the false promises will draw in people looking for something more.

Heres even a better option, shut up and deal with it. For years you could hear a mouse shit in the corner. No one spoke, no one did anything but hold hands and make money. People where misserable beyond belief, now things are a bit out of control and bitching is occuring because of it. There is clearly no happy medium here.

I never knew we lived in a democracy, mmmhmmm. Where everyone was holding hands and hugging.

This is mob rule, the strong shall eventually rise, the weak will fall. Welcome to it... oh and.. hope you enjoyed your stay!

Though I think you presented a good speech, I think you have done it in the wrong manner. Coming out here and telling people what you solely think is right, or wrong on this matter is a little out there. Just because you feel this way, does not mean the rest of the people around here do.

Yes, its always nice when you can live a long and prosperous life, but unfortunately things don’t always work out that way and people get cut short. Is it fair, no probably not, but we steal, sell narcotics, and kill people as a means of living, is this by any means fair in the regular world to those who bust there ass for a 9 to 5 job?

My ancestors have been victim to unlucky certainty you are speaking about, and yes it can be frustrating. But as mentioned there is not much you can do about it, unless you want to rank up, figure it out and do something about it.

Things have changed quite a bit since the old era, there used to be people around that exercised that right if they felt there was something wrong with the over all picture. Now a day, people are lazy. Its to time consuming, or people might be simple intimidated. Really I cant tell you, what I do know is this might not change anytime soon till we have a leader that over see’s everything, and people simply cant fuck with him. But even then, there is ignorant jesters thrown there way, there simply is no keep every single person in this thing of ours happy.

I respect the above opinion but I would like to add , in this world , our world there are no 9 to 5 jobs so there is nothing to compare your sense of "fair" with.

On the other hand I totally agree!

Its true we live in troubled times where violence follows wherever people travel.    I regularly have received messages that my kin have met an untimely end often in their sleep no matter what city they live in but these are the risk that come with the rewards.  Unfortunately paranoia and pissing contests to bypass what others hae achieved will always exist in between and as usual it is to the detriment of many and not really tackling a problem.  I think the time of building has struggled for a long time as people get fed up of getting off the boat  and shot within days, no matter who is in charge.

I know personally i have lost 4 members of my family in a month so bang goes Falcons rank up and do something about it philosophy as for it being a chicago philosophy in his mind to pay people off, has been a tactic used in the past for as long as i remember when hitters never clamoured for shots.  As for the change needing to be from having a crew i feel thats a failure in itself, each step up should be about development and trying to change within as well but thats just my way of thinking however facetious the comment may seem to me

You slowly watch the frustration and anger build creating more violence and paranoia and the truth is the more violence and paranoia the more its fueled till as we see in the past people turn on their own as history has shown.  You look around and even the gun malfunctions leading to death changed, where went from seeing if Godfathers fall but i guess  thats just how it goes.