So I want to be brutally honest here. So take a moment and prepare yourself.

That's it take a deep breath... Let it out slowly and carry on.

I should warn you that I will not sugar coat things for you. If you are easily offended you should have someone else with a stronger stomach come out and summarize it for you later.

Are we ready?

I am ready.

Everyone knows I am a huge fan of the vision RobOakheart and Mr Gato had. Most people by now will know that I feel we have reverted too far back and are doing nothing in the way that is best for the community.

We've got a power city, Chicago, that are likely to frighten people. After all when a Godfather takes a shot too soon when things are being sorted it leaves people to wonder if that is going to happen to them. Why do I bring this up? Because its good to recognize we have resorted back to fear.  Leaders will not wish to draw attention to themselves from Chicago.

In my line's time with Mr Oakheart we learned to question things. To push for better things and try to make those things happen. A lot of it was more focused on street discussions and getting people to get involved.  Now the question is, can people truly get involved now with those two dead? No. No they cannot.

Wait.. I know what you are thinking, "But the leaders said we could." They lied. Sure they will tell you that as long as it is not disrespectful but when it comes to honest observation so many pull out the disrespect card. I could not recommend people to speak honestly in the streets because it could lead to your head on a platter. So be safe, keep behind closed doors.

We've seen the apparent outcome of a staff meeting and we have seen them say they do not do certain things. But they do. You can see blatant bloodline comments spewing from leaders. But its just one person right? Wrong. It starts with one person and soon we will find ourselves back to where it is only the people who are the bestest of friends from the home land gaining anything.

So value of ranks and effort will diminish with time. You can pour everything into a family and never reach your own goals. Never be given that chance.

This is reverting backwards my friends. It starts small, and grows larger and larger until we are exactly where we started. Perhaps we can all take a look in the mirror and be real about it. Take out the words and analyze the actions that go with it.

You may wonder why I am bothering to speak up. Clearly I seek no family, no shelter, no safe place to call home. Locked down with chains is not the way I can see myself carrying out the vision that was started. Maybe my line will grow bored trying but for now I am here out in the streets. My next of kin will likely be out here in the streets with a discussion.

Just because there is no place for my line within the walls of a family does not mean I have nothing to offer the community.

A month and few ago, my Grandfather in LV, may his soul rest well, saw something was not right in pure numbers... He saw the number of active people of Chicago, measured it against the number in other cities, and marked his thoughts in his journal:

"Ok, not everything is always in sheer numbers. Sometimes a lot of personalities can make the difference with their influence, guns, and stuff...

But what I saw there, something was wrong, in those numbers. I predict a big war in the non free cities soon. I see two options: either CH attacks DT leaving maybe a district alive charging NY a week later. Or they attack NY directly for a higher ledge of thrill and difficulty, assuring themselves overall supremacy for quite a time..."

And he wrote all that ignoring the relations between main actors of the thrill, and before the famous three pillars were dead or retired... Now I ask myself why those such famous three pillars allowed such a situation develop? Why didn't have forced people to move?  Were they just ignoring numbers strength? Have they planned it all? Or just the one of the three?

WoonDa, the problem with tha theory is that Chicago didnt intiate any of the attacks. Aside from the obvious factor Deces killed Gato, that was only done due to the fact Gato was going to kill Senza. Its called defending yourselves. People can claim Gato had come to his senses and was negotiating truce, but we'll never know if that was true or not. He could simply have realised that Chicago wasn't going to roll over and do his bidding to allow a Godfather to die for the fake logs he received, perhaps he was then awaiting assistance from New York for a bigger attack? As I said, we'll never know.

As much as people like to talk about Rob and Gato as though they were heroes, they weren't. I really liked their visions, but they were no real difference from any other regime. Dizzi speaks as though fear didnt exist when they were around, it simply didnt exist for those her bloodline knew. Many others had to still live in fear with the vague nature of the system in place.

I'm not saying thats a bad thing, fear can produce good results and push people forward, but its a lie to pretend fear wasn't part of the life we lead then and suddenly came back now.

Also. Holy to fucking god enough with the constant crying about bloodline chats. People will remember what your mother and father said and how they acted. You dont' want that? Tough shit. I will never abide people being killed for who their parents were, but I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and allow people to pretend like some form of bloodlining is happening when it isn't.

Also, people can still speak in the streets as much as they like whilst doing so with respect. Lets not forget, Gato killed someone for saying the wrong stuff in the streets, just as the current leaders would. Gato and Rob pushed people to speak their minds and help the community grow, just as the current leaders will.

Dizzi doesn't believe this, fine. Thats Dizzi's right to have her view. Do I believe this? Yes. And thats my right.

But @Dizi, dont refer to me as a Liar. Because trust me, I'll call you on it.

I do remember some Gato's words in the streets at the time, Slash, just after the PH incident, and it did put some response from CH, indeed.

But it was like being too sure of oneself, and ignoring the numbers...

I must confess Dizzi that while I was impressed by the way that the late Godfathers encouraged activity in the streets, I was also put off by quite how free speech appeared to become. Our society became one of regular slur-slanging where respect for rank appeared to have been forgotten.

As a result, in my eyes at least, it became difficult to sleep at night - perhaps the favour system accounted for all of this somewhere, but outside of the dozen or so participants it all felt a little uncertain. Uncertainty breeds paranoia, and paranoia starts more wars than anything else in our community.

Today we clearly have one city that stands out as dominating population - there is no hiding from that fact. We are aware, I believe that over time there may well be some sort of transition - but in truth those details are above my pay grade...

I feel today that leadership is more stable. I believe that families outside of Chicago generally feel comfortable and as though they have a good footing. Take Don Slash for example who has taken on a prominent role despite being outside of Chicago.

Our community has rebuilt and responded to a housing crisis - from what I can see all cities have the opportunity to build and no one feels threatened. It feels like a good place to be and hopefully a place that will lead to sustained growth in our community.

The late Godfathers tried something special, it didn't work out on this occasion - perhaps requiring a larger community. May they rest in peace.

The councillor, who for the sake of ease shall be referred to as Mr. Mmkay henceforth, had had a hectic day of attempting to reconcile the differences between a pair of brothers who had adopted similar but somehow importantly to them,  different religious ideologies. One belonging to the Church of Christ and the other belonging to Christ's church. He was fed up with petty squabbles and tit for tat nonsense from these, what appeared to be, at least physically, adults.

Whilst walking home from his office, late evening time, he had come across another of his patients, Henrietta 'Dizzi' Biggle, wailing more of her favourite poems by Edgar Allan Poe.

He'd only had one session with her. He wasn't looking forward to having more, but he was paid to perform a task and by god if he wasn't going to attempt it with all he could.

" I should warn you that I will not sugar coat things for you. " Mr. Mmkay snorts derisively and mumbles something under his breath about how she'd only eat it if it was sugar coated anyway. Then realising he's supposed to help people not put them down, mentally he checked his 'tude'. He wasn't normally cold, but the previous session with this one had left him rather confused and he had no doubt by the beginning of this verbal assault into the open air he'd probably end up face palming himself and shaking his head repeatedly yet again... infact, he still had red hand prints on his forehead from their last encounter.

" Everyone knows I am a huge fan of the vision RobOakheart and Mr Gato had. Most people by now will know that I feel we... "

As far as he was aware, he knew nothing about how she felt or what she was a fan of, other than maybe frequenting graveyards at night and being emo and angry about how everything somehow conformed to something else. Mr. Mmkay took out his note pad, his pencil and began jotting down notes;

• Malignant Narcissism
• Grandiosity

The list continued, Mr. Mmkay realised he was probably going to run out of ink and note pad before he finished compiling the list. It'd never happened before, he had always made sure to have excess paper and ink to avoid that very occurrence.

even if he had brought more ink and paper in his brief case Mr. Mmkay simply lost the will to continue recording the various rambling that were falling out of the mouth of this raving lunatic. Mr. Mmkay had spent time in his office making it friendly and welcoming to his clients, and being self motivating for him as it was a trying profession at the best of times. One way of keeping his spirits up was by having a poster on his wall stating "nobody is beyond help" he knew, the poster had lied to him all this time. This one, clearly was. It was unclear to him why she kept ranting about how 'we' whoever the 'we' referred to, knew things about her. Or why she was associating her existence with that of ancestors that came before her. In his mind, it was no different than him spouting out loud about how he had salted Carthage.

" But its just one person right? Wrong. It starts with one person and soon we will find ourselves back to where..."

He had heard this kind of dangerous talk being used before. First it was being used to subjugate the freemen, formally considered slaves. The various races being given the rights to own properties across the five points. To suppress the gays from being out and proud and now, to oppress those poor tyrants who would wield their mighty power for malevolent purposes. He felt, as a good citizen, he MUST step in to put a stop to this hatemongering, but as he attempted to step forward into the crowd, someone else had seemingly beat him to it. A shabbily dressed man with long curly hair and a top hat.

He knew there was no need for further sessions with this member of society. He would write his recommendation to the judge that had obliged Henreitta to see Mr. Mmkay, and inform him that she needs to be sectioned for the safety of herself and society as a whole.

Woonda, I think it was more about allowing people to grow. Not smothering them so completely. I get that that city pretty much authed the usual people you would see but it was more of a benefit of a doubt thing. Would not have fallen in line with their vision to force things like that or to just go in shooting everyone because they grew too big.

Slash, was it fear though? Could it have been guilt? I mean people would know if they were contributing to the community would they not? If you are sat back and doing your own thing, that would be a clear cut sign that you have no care for the community as a whole. If you are never seen in it, then its safe to say you probably were not in favour. Did being out of favour really hurt anyone? There were still little take downs among the free cities but I would say it barely had an impact. I can't see how there is fear of a system that was not yet being enforced too strongly.

I am not sure the current leaders actually do. I mean I am sure they do as long as its not directed at them right? I'd like to see where most of them are actually encouraging people to speak up. I have seen two shut down conversations based on rank and bloodline. That hardly seems encouraging. Perhaps different experiences and knowledge play a part.

I wouldn't call Gato or Oakheart heroes but they genuinely did make a difference. Perhaps not for those who felt so much fear from them but those of us that were given a chance to better the community. To be a part of seeking out activity among our streets, our families and anywhere else that we felt passionate about. There was something they had that is currently lacking.

Respect for rank is a very tricky one Bonkers. Sometimes when looking to grow you need to get past the ranks bit or evaluate if the rank has value. Every leader promotes differently. Some promote extremely fast, others require much more work. But for someone of one city to know what another has done and earned is kind of unrealistic. We are meeting in the street now, we have no mutual friends, no ties to each other, and never crossed paths. I am not going to know what you have done in this lifetime unless I check out the community. (See here we are again where being in the community has a benefit). So if you have never appeared until now I would never know your face. Does that make sense?

I am not sure how people can talk about knowing what every city thinks. I mean I doubt all leaders know what every single one of their members thinks about everything. I wouldn't venture to make a guess on what everyone thought. I can speak of my own thoughts, my own experiences but nothing past that.

I do question stability. Is it more stable in your opinion because people can sit back and literally not participate in the community at all? They feel they are no longer pushed to become better or to show more? Or is it merely because they can house people that wish to be housed? I am genuinely curious about stability and its meaning. For everyone its a little different.

For me stability is about a community where good leaders can step up, build a family and introduce new faces to our way of doing things (hopefully for long enough for them to get a taste for it) without the fear that an aggressive superpower is permanently plotting their demise...brings me back again to the point in paranoia which makes wars inevitable.

Each leader then has the choice - wait in the shadows and be forgotten, or step forward and be heard...have your name goes down in history, or not even make the footnotes.

Needless violence or the implied threat of it doesn't achieve the above, it just shortens the cycles of power and prosperity.

On your point about identifying rank - sure, if you haven't seen me around these streets before then perhaps I am just a face. But look beyond the face, the snappy bold suit should give some hints - you should see the rags some of these guys wear fresh off the boat...

 Daria adjusted her glasses before clearing her throat.

Because its good to recognize we have resorted back to fear.  Leaders will not wish to draw attention to themselves from Chicago.

I take particular issue with this statement, as the events in Chicago over the past few weeks have shown that to not be the case. 

Speaking strictly in my personal capacity, we have just moved on from a most-unusual war that was perpetuated on fake transcripts; a war that would have gone down in the history books with the extremely unprecedented distinction of ending in a peaceful resolution.  Unfortunately, the remnants of New York felt otherwise; be it to defend their fallen Godfather or for other reasons known to them that now, frankly, I couldn't care less about.   

My city did wonderful work that evening, but my larger point and story would be criminally remiss if I did not mention the large coalition of other cities that came to Chicago's aid on that evening - which included the remaining leaders of Detroit, who my city fought and later made peace with.  Without this coalition, there is a hefty chance that I would not be here speaking with you today.  I am incredibly, incredibly proud of the collective work we did that evening, and the work we have accomplished towards rebuilding what we lost; to suggest that the city I represent is resorting to fear, or bullying tactics to accomplish those goals, is at best simply wrong, and at worst, a bait that divides the unity we have displayed in the past few weeks.  

One last point;  to imply that our collective community now no longer has an avenue for honest conversation or constructive criticism with the departure of two individuals displays a tremendous amount of pessimism and lack of good faith towards our community, and frankly does a disservice to the work that Godfather Gato and Oakheart accomplished.  Their leadership inspired many - perhaps you and your own parents -  to come to the streets to voice their ideas, criticism, suggestions and concerns.  Their impact on the world, and the lasting effect they left with the surviving members they left behind and the generations that followed from that war did not simply vanish with their deaths, nor did a curtain suddenly raise that prevented us from speaking our mind and voicing our opinions.

Your suggestion that you could not, yourself, recommend people to speak honestly in fear of death flies contrary to everything they set out do.  They dared to question.  If people care about those values, as myself and many others do, then I implore people to do the same - as that is how we collectively make progress in our world.  There is a balancing act, as with everything in life, with leveling criticism, sometimes harsh, while still being able to show respect and graciousness to the people that you disagree with.  That has never changed, even considering the previous era, and our rich history has shown that many have successfully balanced these two aspects with poise - and they will continue to do so, as they always have.

May those old pillars be respected for a long time and blessed. If you read carefully Dizzi, some leaders said they wished to continue theirs way, in some way at least.

Now, everyone has right to commit an error or two...

One last point;  to imply that our collective community now no longer has an avenue for honest conversation or constructive criticism with the departure of two individuals displays a tremendous amount of pessimism and lack of good faith towards our community, and frankly does a disservice to the work that Godfather Gato and Oakheart accomplished.

How does it do a disservice to them? They worked hard to provide that. I and anyone else who has been listening has seen leaders smashing that down in other conversations. To me, that would not be following to what they believed the streets to be for. That is laid down at the current leaders feet for allowing that to happen.

Can there be honest chats? Sure. With particular people here or there. It can't be said that it can happen with everyone in the community though so if that is pessimistic so be it. It's just an honest analysis of what is being seen so far.

I'd like to believe the community as a whole could be so much better than it's currently sitting at. I know everyone says that takes time and they are all focusing on themselves right now, but that is the problem. Those excuses will hold for as long as the community allows it. At some point you gotta come out from your own shell. Because you are comfortable now and want to stay in this state means you won't have anything better because you wont look past your nose.

I have no problem with people disagreeing with me. We all have our own experiences and interactions with the people to draw from that form our opinions of the state of the world. I question the community based on what I am seeing right now. Who knows what the future will turn out to be.

Snappy bold suit honestly doesn't do much for me. You are a person, I will speak to you as a person. I believe being civil will always go both ways Bonkers and neither rank nor status should change that.

Good leaders is fairly relative to a person's opinion said leader, their actions, their own values and views. So that is probably a topic best left aside but I thank you for sharing what stability is to you.

Snappy bold suit honestly doesn't do much for me. You are a person, I will speak to you as a person. I believe being civil will always go both ways Bonkers and neither rank nor status should change that.

"Unfortunate for you then that this isn't normal life, this is the mafia. Where rank and status really do matter and really must be respected. To claim to be above this just demonstrates a frankly bewildering lack of awareness for the world in which you exist."

I know you say that the leaders lied. I want to say this is not true. We do want people to speak out and up. The manner with which it is done is different. There is still order. We do not live in a world that is solely governed on free speech and dreams of the community. We live in a world that is shaped and driven by those individuals who dare to put their dreams to action. 

Dizzi, i believe you have so much to offer. As do so many of us. People fear the streets because they are afraid of being ridiculed or put down or ignored even. My personal fear is that of being ignored. If i engage in a debate and i am wrong, i will simply admit my ignorance and bow out. 

The last thing i wish to say, and this may sound harsh but i assure you it is not intended to be so, is that what you perceive as truth is not always the case. The leaders have not lied. You are not being shut down for speaking now. I have yet to see anyone else being shut down. 

I believe the broader community would benefit from understanding at what points do you feel leaders shut others down. Feel free to use me as an example if that is the case and if i agree i will no doubt make a public apology. 

For obvious reasons to some people Rob, Gato and Nakamura weren't the most popular of people for their ideals that they brought forward but they were a powerful group of individuals. If they were some no markers who nobody really cared about then they wouldn't have been able to shape the world as they could. For that system to have even started there needed to be some drive behind it, coming from a powerful person or group, in this case, The Pillars. Without that power, there can be no drive, as there's no motivation to get people contributing like there was with those three Godfathers.

This time around, there's no power pushing this kind of message or system forward and so people no longer need to fear of falling out of favour as they may have done previously, which then might lead them to think "Why bother?" when it comes to contributing on a larger scale.

Now the question is, can people truly get involved now with those two dead? No. No they cannot.

Of course people can get involved, they can question as many have questioned recently. My own man, Lucius has been out here this week questioning the way the leaders do things and leaders have responded back. Space-pole has also been out here, challenging the leaders. So with regards to that aspect of what Rob and Gato had going on, then that is very much still happening.

It's disappointing that you feel the need to discourage the newer generations to not bother coming out here, as you're going against everything your idols stood for. 

With regards to your bloodline comment, I assume you refer to your, or rather your mothers recent spat with BrotherHec, which was perceived by you to be a targeting of bloodline. I feel this has been a flaw to your families gene pool for a long long time now, being hell bent on playing a victim card when it comes to your bloodline, feeling like people are not judging you by your current achievements but rather your lines previous actions.

Prior to The Pillars management of this place we never really saw CL meetings, at least not for a while and so it's refreshing to see people come together and try and work together on the betterment of this society. It's not going to be perfect, as The Pillars themselves knew, nothing ever will be but this recent meeting for me is a step in the right direction and it's something that has been instilled in us from the previous regime and something that I hope to see continue.

I know you're upset with how things played out but it's time to embrace the now and by all means challenge the current leadership with your issues and if you feel like it, provide us with topics to bring to the meetings, but don't come out here having a shit fit because things aren't how you want them to be.

The slob-like HighPitchEric stares on dimly, looking confused and scratching his rear end against a lamp post.

Everyone knows I am a huge fan of the vision RobOakheart and Mr Gato had. Most people by now will know that I feel we have reverted too far back and are doing nothing in the way that is best for the community.

Garbled and high-pitched, Eric interjects

HOW WOULD WE KNOW THAT? YOU'VE BEEN HERE ONE DAY AND UNTIL RIGHT NOW HAVEN'T EXPRESSED YOUR OPINION ON THE MATTER. THAT IS UNLESS YOU ARE REFERRING TO YOUR MOTHER'S OPINION ON THE SUBJECT, WHICH IS ALL WELL AND GOOD, BUT WASN'T IT YOUR MOTHER THAT WAS OUT HERE ON THE STREETS THE OTHER DAY CHASTISING BOBBYMUNSON FOR JUDGING HER BASED ON HER BLOODLINE?

SO WHICH ONE IS IT? ARE WE SUPPOSED TO ASSUME YOU SHARE THE SAME TRAITS AND THOUGHTS AS YOUR ANCESTORS OR NOT? He

Kurgan makes his hay to the streets Stopping to thank his friends from Vegas.

Daaaaayum how dare Chicago defend itself the utter nerve of the city to stand united and defend Godmother Senza. As i said i hoped that Gato had seen the truth of the matter but to tell the truth i believe it was a smoke screen a ploy to get Chicago to stand down as the 2 people New York wanted dead was Senza and myself. 

I could not be prouder of this city and its members they pulled together and stood united through thick and thin.

Now, everyone has right to commit an error or two...

I can assure you Woonda the shots that killed Gato and Oakheart where very deliberate if Gato and Oakheart did not gear up for war things may have turned out different but they geared up Chicago may have shot first but we didnt beat the war drum first that fault is with Gato and Oakheart.

You know one of your cities godfathers said the shot was an accident as they had worked out the issue with Gato. So was it a deliberate war start or an accidental one?

 At this point what difference does it make? we had recieved intel they were gearing up for an attack so we responded in kind, so quiye frankly who cares who shot who first and whether it was an accidental shot or not it's not relevant at ALL.

You bang on about bloodlining and all your usual grievances but it seems funny how you always blame the same people regardless of the fact they have done nothing to have blame levelled at them, why don't you for once say it how it is and that is you don't like certain people and will cry and moan and kick up a load of shit to try and make everyone else look bad, there's an old saying in our world and that is "If you don't like something rank up and do something about it", you like to pick holes in everything but other than coming out to the streets every five minutes moaning "WHAT HAVE YOU ACTUALLY DONE FOR THE COMMUNITY?"