Spikey steps out into the streets and sees some bloodstains still left over from last week. He was out by a pool in Southampton, and has added to his already dark tan.

So, it seems that Shaggs, and BuddyBigPaw got murdered. Shaggs died like a whittle baby cwawless whobster. Buddy took it like a champ. Good run on him. Others died too. Damn. Why wasn’t pig proed?

Wasn’t me, but to whoever brought destruction: Good. Let’s see some shifts. Let’s see the blood flow. Blood means activity. Blood means opportunity. Blood means there’s desire. Blood means there was hunger for it. Blood means there will be more blood. Blood means that there’s a reason for all this effort. Either you get to use it or you don’t. It’s better to use it. Keep it flowing, and fill the streets with blood. Blood means purpose, and having purpose is one of the most important things in life. Without purpose, there is decay.

I see things. I am in the audience to this lackluster season. I also hear things.

The main thing I get told is that people are bored. There’s no communication from leaders. They lose the ability to do drug deals. Their private coffeeshops are dead. They have no direction or engagement. No goals. Of course, there are exceptions to this. There are a few leaders now who are putting in some effort… but we’re talking about like maybe three. Some with good intentions too maybe, like the SALT lackey Matty. But most of the engagement is around chasing rogues in the coffee shops, and of very little substance… Lately, I have seen some improvement on this, but that is not thanks to leadership.

So, outside of those few and far exceptions, while Richard-Harrow has his private channels, and does his maintenance routines with everyone in his direct network though, a lot of the populace is in the dark and unengaged or entertained…

So, I say this, and you might say to yourself: Well, you’re a bastard Spike. You’re a monster. You’re a purger. You bloodline. Go fuck yourself, you shouldn’t speak. Yeah, I am most of those things and do most of those things. But what’s the difference, between me and you…

The current powers that be are mostly a mix, in my own lingo, of SALT and their derivatives, Bjorn/Remus derivatives, and then Molson/Fuckerish/LaFrat/CP lineages. That’s cool. For what it’s worth, I respect some of them individually. But the main group in power is the first one I mentioned… SALT. They are the main ones dictating how the other cities handle things. How they arrange themselves, who they purge, and so on. Who’s excluded and who’s not. They are the dominant group, much more so now that the West was utterly smashed the other weekend. They are also a very insulated group.

So in regards to that dominant group, again, what’s the difference between me and you?

1. I’ve been told repeatedly over the last year that at least with my line, you know where you stand. If I don’t like you, well, at least you know? Maybe there’s room for improvement? Maybe. No promises. You can always try to apologize. But with this group and their collaborators at the moment, a lot of their dealings are at a distance and flatly facetious. We’re not purgers. We don’t bloodline. We’re going to the water park, and then a knife to the throat. Oh look, it’s a pizza and soda party, knife to the throat. Or oftentimes, just a smile, and a bullet in the head, skull and brain matter splattered in the playground. Do what you gotta do, but have some class. Some style.

My line has gone to great lengths to try to make sure my allies didn’t lie about their feelings for a member… Some situations being touchier than others of course and maybe failed, but there isn’t even an attempt in this era at just being honest. No WS Needed. Give a reason. Give a speech. Use your words. Explain why someone was killed or was a threat. Do more. You can argue this point, but I really did try to be up front and make others be up front. Do a war speech. Speak. Lazy.

This world is driven by exclusion. Don’t dance around it. Gangs vs. gangs on turf. You wearing the wrong color? I’ll cap yo ass. I say again, for the thousandth time, it’s about who’s on top, who’s on bottom. Oil and water. Black and white, in this sea of grey. This era is defined by a fake human resources politically correct attempt at covering that truth up; the purged and their corpses prove that. Who pushes who down, and who shoves upward. Be honest about it though. We’re all in a battlefield. Love is a battlefield. It’s all an elongated war, with some roots dating back over two decades or so.  

People are standing on opposing sides of a wall. Some napping. Some ready to fight. We already know you used a Trojan Horse, how does that end for the Greeks? Not so good. Olives, shitty wine, and cheap cruise tourist traps. You’ll never be Rome, but I digress. Right now, I can say, I’m not really trying any power moves. You might ask why? Well, in all honesty, my line is still drained from the other year, at least from leading. I have no interest in leading much of anything, and many others feel the same way. I am sure several people in power now may understand that. That doesn’t mean I am asleep though, and I love blood.

Aug 17, 20:23:24        You were transferred 1.00 credits by an anonymous benefactor. The note "take over the g*** already sheesh" was included.

I’m a brutal bastard. I don’t deny it. You don’t wanna fuck with me. My line will kill you if I think you’re a threat or more likely have you killed. This era isn’t so much different. Threats are assessed and killed. There has been some slippage, and surely, there will be more. But I see no attempts at even trying to start a fight. Aren’t you bored? I know my line was bored; building castles in the sand against the tide. But it also continuously tried to make my enemies try. Again, this is an elongated war, but your primary weapon shouldn’t be boring people to death.

2. I have seen very few attempts at engaging the masses. There are no weekly poker games. Maybe there’s a contest going on right now? When was the last time? There’s really very little activity of substance outside of chasing some rats for guns that many will never use, and others that will use their guns on the cattle. This is the only thing you care about? What’s the point of building a gun if you don’t use it? Make things interesting. My line hasn’t been that great at making events, but it at least encouraged others to do so, funded them, and helped where it could.

What are you even doing other than sitting in rusted thrones? Why aren't you working on stuff to keep people amused? Why aren't you investing in the people? I don't see you doing much of anything except sitting around, cleaning up here and there, and getting pissed when someone rogues. Don't forget about what I said about being a Ligambi. Don't be a Joe Ligambi. You can bodyguard up Goku though by accident if you want. Or randomly send a few hundred mil to someone. Whatever. But at least do something to encourage people to be active. Really communication is the most important thing you could work on. 

3. Another difference, my line doesn’t quit during exclusionary periods. I’m still standing, and I’m not whining like a bitch. You can kill my bloodline a thousand times, and I will not shed a whimper. Yet, focusing on the group, SALT, you will whine and play victim, just like you did over a year ago. Get hard bruvs. It’s called stamina. You did good taking it back, but before that many of you acted like wailing children in timeout. I want to go to recess! But you shit on Stacy’s desk Lil Timmy. Moreover, you totally cry when there’s retaliation. You bloodline someone like KW repeatedly and you get all turnt when his daughter slaps you? If that isn’t a bitch, I dunno what is. KW is a better leader than Richard and Shaggs combined.

The other month, I noticed the uppers had over twenty-three inactive hands. I have NEVER seen anything like that. And at no time in my lineage ever being in power would I have allowed this. It’s a stain on this thing of ours that the powers that be are not enforcing standards, but it is also part of their own M.O. They don’t even try to make it look better… Cycle people out… Do something. It’s okay to have one Ligambi, but not like a dozen of them. Tend to your farms. Whoever calls the shots, Richard? What the hell are you doing? Nothing. You need to whip people into shape rather than let it stagnate. You’re supposed to have influence. And if they’re not improving, they don’t deserve to be in uppers. Kill them or remove them from the position. Sometimes killing them sends a good message to everyone else to tighten up.

It’s important to note that the populations of our cities are not up and I won’t argue who had more or less… I’ll just say it’s about the same (even though it has been consistently lower in this era). It’s also about the same as it was during the time of Quiet over three years ago, and not much lower than the year before that really. You were supposed to be better (than us).

So, in closing, the current powers promised a better world; they failed to deliver it. It was a populist campaign speech. Nothing was made great again. They wanted some revenge and to be on top, but they didn’t actually want anything better here. The former being totally valid, but the latter being a plastic faced hair sprayed and makeup caked political move. And they’ve killed off many of their own allies from their original campaign. Really paid off for some of those guys, right? Now, those ex-allies’ children are making them pay for it, and will likely continue to do so. And they will cry and moan and whimper and snivel every time there’s a punch back. We’ll see how it all plays out. I’ll keep watching for now.

So, what’s the difference between me and you? I’m real and have balls. You talked a good one, but you aren’t delivering on it.

Spikey goes back on his travels, perhaps to eat some lobsters, cousins of Shaggs. 

P.S. To those not in the aforementioned groups, be mindful if you’re active and building. Some crews are now placeholders while they rebuild things. You should know if you’re in or out… And if you don’t know, then you are probably out. They’re watching you, and probably ready to toss you into the bin. They took a major hit last weekend, are paranoid, and want to maintain control. Matty in Chicago and center is a bridge from the East for control.

I'm going to gloss over most of the fluff here because I don't think anyone is interested in more discussion about your predecessors except for you, but I don't think there can be any denial of the fact that too much peace is almost as bad as too much purging. Activity and engagement go in cycles; there has been a low ebb lately. It'll improve. Ultimately, things need to happen to make it interesting. Part of the problem is that after a certain point there isn't anything to really strive for and therefore no real reason not to be allied because there is nothing to gain by the pre-eminent powers opposing each other.

You've also completely hit the nail on the head with this Matty power move observation. It is obvious that this is an attempt from the East Coast to steal control over the centre and position themselves to wrestle control from a weakened West Coast. Disregard what I said before about there being no real point in the established powers opposing each other, I've been sending furious notes to my boss making sure he's aware of the threat posed and how we should immediately respond by sending the mighty TextBasedMafiaRPGMan in to fight for The Loop. We are paranoid. I am actually terrified of Matty walking all the way into Los Angeles and smearing shit on the Hollywood sign. 

can someone tell me what the meat and potatoes are of this weird rant? my ears got tired after the first paragraph

SimonTheBastard it seems we might have been caught. It's so true that sending Matty to CH was a deliberate move to corner the game into a 104-week chokehold, instead of avoiding rebuild mode. I hate Matty so much! This guy made me recruit everyone while giving them a clean slate even when I wanted to purge and bloodline them, because it was "healthy" for our lifestyle to give second, third, and fourth chances. Ah yes, Matty. The same guy who seems to have given chances to more people than Bill Clinton has received oval office blowjobs. Matty, the guy who, along with Richard, has given more chances for auth than anyone else combined,

Yes. Let's throw a month's worth of rotten eggs at Matty & Richard-Harrow. Boo them for their valiant efforts at making sure our lifestyle is healthy & enjoyable for everyone.

Honestly, the amount of blind and clueless people who walk around these streets, ole spikey included, continues to amaze me every single day. The amount of things people forget or just flat out dont know that have led to the rogues, and the people who arent happy, the friday night shenanigans.

Fridays without incident: 0

How high will the ticker get? Only Jest truly knows.

You must've missed the poker game where I hit 4 of a kind.  It was a sight to behold

I shared a magical moment with Elijah_Yoder over some self-sustaining potato yeast just days before his tragic passing, so I can't help but think you're wrong, Meltdown. 

Thank you for your input, Mr. Swan.

“I don't think there can be any denial of the fact that too much peace is almost as bad as too much purging. Activity and engagement go in cycles; there has been a low ebb lately. It'll improve.”

This statement confirms the bulk of what I was saying. That said, it hasn’t been an ebb just lately, it’s been for a good long while. And promises of effort and change have not been upheld. Good on you if you can bring a change to how things are going, but personally, I don’t think you can. All in all, your line has indeed tried to do some positive things at least on the surface… Maybe even your heart is in the right place slightly (but you do purge, and bloodline or at least oblige to the east coast when they request it), but the follow through has been a bit trash. Perhaps this can be credited to you not really being the one in power and lacking the resources. We’ll see what happens when New York starts to put more pressure on you and yours.  

Yes, throw eggs at Matty, Michael.

Thorfinn, please indulge us on what we don’t know about last Friday. You should give us a speech about it. I’ll even start it for you: Easy and Nick’s ancestors got killed months and months ago, and wanted revenge and a little chaos last week. Richard had been hunting for them, but thought he had already purged their children off. They decided to shoot the west coast for “mysterious” reasons. Perhaps we shouldn’t talk about what Jest knows or doesn’t know, especially to Mr. Swan, the recently dead, or Richard.

Meltdown, tell me more about this candle. I doubt you can even count candles. You’d argue with a cake. You sure as shit shouldn’t work for the U.S. Census. What do you mean by “magical?” Just seems dull, sugar. Not like you’re remotely thriving. Your biggest enemy is your own head.  

Finally, one modification: "KW is a better leader than Richard and Shaggs combined," but not better than Mr. Pig, and he is stained by the atrocity committed towards St. Otis. Pig should be authed.

Spikey,

I feel like it's honestly been far too long since I've had to come here and point out the flaws in all your bullshit but seeing as I'm forever the loyal lackey, I'm happy to do the 'hard work'.

Although, in fairness, you do make it rather easy for me.

Lets start with what I think is the most insulting part of this entire rant, your claim that there are only "maybe three" people actually putting in effort. There are plenty of people doing work, communicating, building, managing and contributing. You may not see all of it or perhaps you simply don't want to but dismissing all of that because it doesn't happen in front of you is an incredibly convenient way of trying to make your point.

A few other things stand out that I'd be absolutely remiss not to mention.

You say there's no communication, yet there is plenty of it. I've seen it first hand in the New York backroom on a daily basis and I have more than enough witnesses who can back me up on that and I'm sure it's much the same elsewhere. Just because you're not sitting in every room where conversations happen doesn't mean nobody is talking.

You say "I see things. I am in the audience to this lackluster season. I also hear things." then talk about the destruction brought down last weekend without actually naming who did it, such an interesting interpretation of "use your words." Everyone worth mentioning already knows who did it, so either you know and don't want to say, or you don't actually know, neither really support the lecture you gave on honesty.

You complain that nobody is creating activity. Poker, contests, events, entertainment, whatever. Fine. Where are yours? If you're so desperate for activity, why are you sitting in the audience demanding that everyone else provide it? You seem to be confusing your boredom as an objective measurement of anything. Just because you aren't seeing the activity you want, apparently there isn't any and that's quite a convenient conclusion when you're deliberately standing on the outside for most of it.

And perhaps you should consider the calendar before declaring this place dead, It's summer in the Old Country, people disappear for a while, families go travelling, children are out of school, people take holidays, homes get neglected and generally half the population seem to vanish somewhere for a few months. Its hardly evidence that civilisation has collapsed.

You say the current powers promised a better world and failed to deliver it. Perhaps but there are more opportunities for someone to make something of themselves now than there were in the era you're comparing this to. Quite a lot of us actually seem to enjoy the company we keep, the friendships, the banter, the deals, the stories and all the little things that make this place worth sticking around and fighting for. Not everyone needs a corpse in the street every morning to feel like they're getting something out of it, some of us are perfectly capable of enjoying ourselves without turning everything into a bloodbath.

And perhaps the funniest part is you telling everyone else to stop sitting on rusted thrones while admitting you have little interest in leading anymore because your own line is tired. Apparently you're too tired to lead but not too tired to rant several thousand words from the sidelines telling everyone else how they're failing.

So which is it?

Are we failing because we're doing nothing, or are you simply bored because we're not doing things YOU find interesting?

Oh and as for the "a bridge from the East for control" comment.  I must have missed the memo about this grand appointment, because nobody seems to have told me and I'm certainly not getting paid any more for the role. Perhaps, just maybe, we simply saw an opportunity for me to do better, get more involved and contribute and that in my opinion is a damn sight better than sitting around telling everyone else how shit they're doing.

And before it evenn gets brought up, I note that you've actually since provided details of whodunit on the destruction front. My reply, however, was responding to your original rant, where you clearly knew what had happened but deliberately chose not to say who was responsible. The fact that you've since mentioned it doesn't really detract from my point if anything, it reinforces it.

TextBasedMafiaRPGMan, I would categorize that as dangerous and heroic. 

Archy sat outside a coffee shop, a newspaper spread in his hands. A cigarette rested between his fingers while a cup of coffee slowly disappeared beside it. As the debate carried on down the street, he occasionally glanced over the top of the paper, recognizing familiar voices. Spikey was lecturing the country, again... It all seemed perfectly normal. Eventually the coffee cup ran dry. Archy crushed the cigarette into the ashtray then folded the newspaper next to it and made his way toward the gathering crowd.

Spikey you never cease to amaze me. The pyramid is still behind schedule, several sacred objects from my inventory remain unaccounted for and yet somehow you've found the time to become an expert on leadership, politics and city management.

Archy shook his head slowly.

Before we discuss whether everyone else is doing their jobs properly, perhaps we should discuss why my laborer has spent more time studying geopolitics than hauling stones to build my monument. Due to continued delays in construction, your water and matzah allowance has been reduced until further notice.

That said, I do agree on one thing; the streets could use more activity. I think many people already agree with that. The difference is that many of us are trying to create that activity while rebuilding what endless rogues have demolished. Progress takes time as we all know...

As for the great eastern expansion project and Matty's relocation to a centrally positioned city... I suspect some people have been spending almost as much time on conspiracy theories as Spike has spent avoiding manual labor. During my time on these streets, the people back east have been good business partners, particularly when rogues were doing their best to wreak havoc in our streets. If their grand strategy all along was helping rebuild the damage and keeping things moving, then I suppose they're doing a rather poor job of being villains.

Archy then walked back to the table where he was having coffee, left a few bucks beside the empty coffee cup and tucked his newspaper beneath his arm before walking away.

I like Matty.

Matty is the best.

He has a sexy voice

and hair on his chest.

I like Matty,

He is soooo cool.

watching all the kiddies

playing in the pool

I like Matty, 

he is damn fine. 

someday i hope

he will be mine. 

Hope you are ok TenInchTim 

You are guilty of everything you accuse others of and your endless posturing is as old and tiresome as the debate you continue to regurgitate.

I can appreciate your play - PR speeches have their place in garnering support and disturbing the status quo. They have struggled in more recent years, but they still hold some value. There are plenty of ill-connected mobsters loitering the streets waiting for their political update. It gives people like you the opportunity to come out, offer a little truth sprinkled with some bullshit in an attempt to lure the neutral crowd into your own grip and against the leading power of the time. It's tried and tested. It works.

But this isn't it. 

So is Archy important or not?  I'm Kuku, so I need to know.  

Spikey should market himself as the cure for insomnia 

These speeches haven't changed in 10 years regardless of who is saying them. But it certainly is telling when the speeches have to be made by the common rabble who are shot dead every other day compared to those actually in power. Priorities shifted perhaps?

I'm old and tired, but what's more tiring is seeing more effort put towards the replies of speeches than into a situation summary to begin with. There's no question that it's been pretty boring of late. Aside from main events there hasn't been much chatter here. I'm not much of a talker but there's also not much to actually talk about until another pair of godfathers are killed every other week from various rogues. Maybe we can try to spice things up a little with something for everyone to do.

Archy had only just left the coffee shop when another voice from the ongoing debate caught his attention. He paused mid-step, glanced down at the newspaper tucked beneath his arm, and let out a quiet chuckle. Staying where he stood, he listened as the man shared his thoughts on the matter. Once finished, Archy gave a small nod of acknowledgement before finally deciding to add his own perspective. 

Well, we can all agree on one thing, rebuilding after repeated rogue attacks is not something that happens overnight. A great deal of effort is being spent replacing what was lost, restoring businesses, providing a shelter for the homeless and the children of the fallen, and helping our communities recover from losses that drained both manpower and resources.

Yes, the streets have felt quieter than usual since the recent events, but that is hardly surprising when entire organizations are focused on rebuilding their foundations. That does not mean people are standing still. Many are doing their part to restore activity, create opportunities, and build an environment where everyone's business can prosper in peace. Progress may be slow, but it is being made.

As for myself, I hope The House of Scarab can play its own small role in that effort. A lively city benefits us all, and I look forward to doing my part to help make these streets as active and prosperous as we all hope they can be. Anyway, if someone has a genuine idea for creating activity instead of simply discussing the lack of it, my door at The Golden Scarab is always open. Bring me a worthwhile proposal, and I would be happy to contribute to making it happen.