Leaderboard

If you are fimiliar with gang-culture on the West-Coast, you should be aware of the fact that a simple baseball hat can get you killed. Gangs are known to wear hats of certain teams to represent where they are from. I will list the hats, their respective "press-ratio" (The higher the press-ratio, the more likely you are to get banged on, or shot for a hat.) I will only be listing MLB Teams, there are way too many hats to cover, tho I might update this in the future. Feel free to add non-factor gangs I left out in the comments below. Atlanta Braves - Asian Boyz, Rollin Forties (Avenues) - Not that bad of a hat to wear, you might get banged on depending what area you are going through, tho mostly safe. 4/10 Boston Red Sox - All Blood gangs, Blocc Crip (BFG), Rollin Sixties (Brynhurst Cartel), Hoovers (Bay-Bayz), Barrio Eighteenth Street - This hat smells like cheap cologne and Newports, if I was you, I wouldn't even bother buying one, you might as well make a go-fund-me page. 9/10 Chicago White Sox - Rollin Sixties - The only people who will wear this a lot of are some Compton Crip gangs and Mexican gangs. If you are Hispanic, this might get you pressed. 5/10 Cincinnati Reds - Campanella Park Piru - Bompton niggas wear this, enough said. 7/10 Colorado Rockies - Grape Street Crip - On Beezy! If you in Watts, don't wear this one. The only other people that wear this hat are actuall Rockies fans, who are mostly middle-aged white men. 7.5/10 Detroit Tigers - Rollin Thirty Original Harlem Crip (Dirt Gang), Five Deuce Hoover, Rollin Forties (Darcside), Downtown Gangster Crip - If you can pull off a cool fit with this, you can get a pass depending who you run into, tho every gang-member will assume you bang something. 7/10 Florida Marlins - Inglewood Families, Rollin Forties, Five-Five Neighborhood Crip, Five-Seven Neighborhood Crip, Florencia 13 - IFz you wear THis you tHa JoiNt, you THiNk you NoT? 9/10 Houston Astros - Westside Hoover, Harpys 13 - This one screams "gangery" and "go-fund-me", if you want to live for another day, do not put this on, PLEASE! 10/10 Kansas City Royals - Kitchen Crip - Let's be honest, nobody even knows anyone who wears this hat, the only nigga you will see wearing this is a nigga from Kitchen Crip. 6/10 Los Angeles Dodgers - The City of Los Angeles - Even your momma can wear this hat. 0/10 Los Angeles Angels - Avenue Piru, Arbor Village, Athens Park - This hat is aight, enough said. 6/10 Miami Marlins - Mafia Crip, Inglewood Families (Manchester Money Boys) - If you wear this hat, you are a certified gang-member. 8/10 Milwaukee Brewers - Rollin Forties, Mafia Crip - This will have a lot of people trying to snatch your hat and beat you up, on my life. 8/10 Minnesota Twins - Rollin Thirty Original Harlem Crip - If you wear this, you look like a walking felony charge. 7.5/10 New York Yankees - All NeighborHood Crips, Asian Boyz (R.I.P Yankee), Neighborhood Piru - Naybood! 10/10 Philadelphia Phillies - All Piru gangs - You a real damu if you rock this, especially in bright red. 7/10 San Francisco Giants - Seven Foe Hoover, Family Swan Bloods - This hat radiates "I want to die today" energy, don't wear it. 8/10 Seattle Mariners - Rollin Sixties, South-Side Compton Crip - Where my hoodstas at? 9/10 St. Louis Cardinals - Black P. Stone Jungles, Village Stone Bloods - If you a civilian, do not even bother wearing this, unless you feel like catching back-to-back fades and get robbed in one go. 8.5/10 Texas Rangers - Eight Tray Gangster Crip, Rollin Twenty Bloods, Eight Tray Hoover - Your "naybors" not gon like you if you wear this. 8/10 Toronto Blue-Jays - Black P. Stone Jungles, PJ Watts Crip, Blacc Bandit Crip - This hat is alright to wear in certain areas and if you dress the right way. If you look like a gang-member and wear this, say good night. 6.5/10 Washington Nationals - All West-Side gangs, All Watts gangs, - Considering every West-Side gang member has one of these, you will get banged on, but not really anything bad is going to happen to you. It's aight to wear for civilians. 6.5/10

This is a basic guide/introduction to roleplaying around opioids and heroin. I'm not an expert on the topic and you should not view this as a gold standard to roleplaying around these drugs. I've just roleplayed around these substances quite a lot and I've noticed it's either misrepresented or people tend not to be confident in how they roleplay around/use these drugs. (Drugs effect everyone differently, some parts of this information is gleaned from Erowid, this is for roleplay purposes only.) The prevalence of Opioids Opioid painkillers, especially in the US, are both widely produced and easily accessible. Many people have used or taken opioid painkillers without really giving it a second thought. Codeine, Hydrocodone (Vicodin), Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet) are all widely available and have lot less of a stigma than heroin does. Depending on the character you're portraying, these opioids are either more than likely known to you or you've interacted with them a fair amount. Especially in the US, opioids are prescribed to treat pain and this can contribute heavily to addiction. This easy access to opioid painkillers and their recent popularity, especially Percocet and 'Lean' means that many people have been exposed to these painkillers. Some characters seem to 'pop percs' every day and think nothing of it and yet Percocet contains Oxycodone, an opioid stronger than morphine. This is fine, I don't want to tell people how to roleplay their characters but for those wishing to roleplay around drugs consistently, understanding how they work and what they do physically and mentally is incredible important. Who uses and why do they use opioids? As mentioned previously, opioid painkillers are hugely accessible and so it means a wide variety of different people would have access to them. Drug dealers, gang members, nightlife characters, celebrities, legal characters, LEO characters even. Almost every single character would have some sort of knowledge or access to these substances. Opioids are not relegated to the realms of illegal roleplay, a LEO officer might receive a prescription after an injury or one legal character might lend another some Percocet for their migraines. This does not mean every single character is going to become addicted and end up using heroin but it does mean that there are very real situations or opportunities for any sort of character to either simply interact with or possibly become a habitual user with these drugs. You don't have to base your entire character around it but roleplaying these things can be a solid part of character development. Effects of opioids Sedation - "This leads to the trademark "nodding off" effect seen in heroin users, where the head falls, the eyes close, and the user slips uncontrollably into momentary unconsciousness. This can lead to falling into microsleeps while sitting or standing up." Euphoria - "The sensation itself can be described as extreme feelings of intense physical comfort, warmth, and all-encompassing bliss." Analgesia (pain relief) One key aspect of opioids and roleplay around them is their sedating effect. Opioids can be taken at parties or wherever but they're not traditionally party drugs. They produce a calming, euphoric sensation that makes doing nothing feel amazing. 'Nodding off' is also common when using opioids and especially heroin, after higher doses you can slip into unconsciousness. It's not the same as passing out, it's often only for a very short period of time but it can be incredibly noticeable. It is important to note however that some opioids have different effects, Oxycodone for example whilst producing traditional opioid effects can also increase sociability. (Do your research on what drugs you're taking if you plan to roleplay around them.) Dependence and tolerance Opioids and heroin in particular are known for their addictive and habit forming nature. Opioids in general are less stigmatised and more widely used and many people may not even recognise they're dependent on these painkillers. Not everyone who uses them is 'addicted' but they may have some sort of dependence, they may not be able to function properly without them or they struggle to do so. They'll possibly go through withdrawals if they stop taking opioids cold turkey. Another important aspect of opioid use and addiction is tolerance. Opioids are notorious for how quickly your body builds up a tolerance to their effects. This means, even those who use them for legitimate medical purposes often have to increase their dose exponentially to receive the same effects. This means that they may use up their prescription or supply of opioids much quicker than required. They'll either have to source more of the painkillers OR suffer through withdrawals. Put simply, it's a vicious cycle that goes somewhat like this: You're prescribed 30 Vicodin for 30 days. > You take one tablet a day as prescribed for a few days. > You're hardly starting to feel your usual dose after a few days so you double it. > You have to triple your dose after a week or couple of weeks. > You run out of your prescription before the 30 days. > You either find more or have to suffer through withdrawals. This in turn can lead to addiction and dependence on these drugs and often times they're far more expensive than heroin. You're offered an alternative that's cheaper, stronger and easier to get hold of. Why wouldn't you try it? Addiction Addiction is more of an extreme case of dependence. Addiction to either opioids or heroin can be an incredibly rewarding roleplay experience. Not everyone who is addicted to heroin is homeless, strung out in the park, etc etc. Addiction does not discriminate and can be found in all walks of life. Whether it's opioid painkillers or heroin, roleplaying addiction doesn't have to mean you just /sit in the local park and ask people for money. Addiction simply means that you put the drug over anything else. You'll make enough money to feed your addiction and keep you satiated and then you'll make enough to buy dinner, pay rent, etc etc. For some people this isn't a difficult task, some addicts can function and cover their expenses without raising an eyebrow. Some characters on the other hand have a much tougher time holding down work or making enough to cover their addiction and bills. As your addiction progresses, your tolerance and the amount your using will also increase. Roleplaying addiction isn't just becoming a one trick character, it's simply about your character having new priorities, putting them in new situations, meeting different characters. It can give you more motivation for your characters, they have something they NEED not just want. Withdrawals Opioid withdrawals are known to be awful and in some cases the reason why people continue to use. The intensity varies from opioid to opioid but ones like codeine are a lot less intense whereas heroin withdrawal is considered one of the worst things to go through. Withdrawals tend to occur within 24 hours of not using the substance. It's described as incredibly intense cold and flu symptoms and many people have said it genuinely feels like you're going to die. Your body is unable to regulate it's temperature effectively and so you suffer from hot and cold strokes, sweating, muscle aches, cramps. Nausea, insomnia, vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms. These symptoms often make it hard to even function and can last from a few days to a week or two in the case of heroin. If your character has been using opioids for a prolonged amount of time they're undoubtedly going to go through some sort of withdrawal. Some withdrawals, even after prolonged use are bearable and simply uncomfortable. Withdrawals are often the driving force of addiction, knowing you have some sort of 'time limit' before they kick in becomes a motivating factor and the reason many users resort to desperate measures to secure their drug of choice. Overdose Overdoses can occur with any form of opioid but are much more common with the stronger opioids and especially heroin. Overdoses are often misunderstood and misrepresented in regards to drug roleplay and to be fair misunderstood in general. Overdoses are not the 'killing factor' but rather the cause of respiratory depression. Respiratory depression occurs with opioid use but is usually non-fatal. It leads to shallower or slower breathing. However, when too high of a dose is taken the user may lose their ability to breath properly. This usually occurs whilst the user has 'nodded off' or fallen unconscious and is unable to regulate their breathing themselves. Overdose are not always fatal and can be reversed. It's possible to simply wake someone up or get them to retain consciousness and control their breathing. Other times, medical help is needed or the use of Narcan. (which can reverse overdoses.) If someone isn't alone when they overdose they'll often be okay. Overdoses, though, are extremely scary events for both the person who overdosed and those around them. Roleplaying around overdoses, instead of having your character just 'die' opens opportunities for character development and roleplay opportunities. Heroin Dope, Smack, Junk, Brown, H, Horse. What IS Heroin? Heroin is a semi-synthetic opiate derived from morphine. It's considered to produce much more euphoric and analgesic (pain relief) properties than that of morphine. The drug produces an incredibly euphoric sensation and a sense of apathy to the outside world. Simply, it makes everything feel okay. It's incredibly addictive for a multitude of reasons and is known for it's horrific withdrawal symptoms. Heroin comes in many forms, from 'Black Tar' which is fairly famous and primarily used intravenously to 'China White' which is known as a pure white powdered form of heroin which is used primarily to snort. Heroin can come in all textures, colours etc but most commonly appears as a brown powder. How is Heroin used? Despite the common view that heroin is primarily injected, most forms of heroin can be snorted, smoked and IV'd (injected). Snorting - Snorting heroin is as simple as it sounds, it's very similar to the use of other powdered drugs. It produces the weakest effects and is considered one of the safer ways to use heroin. However, snorting heroin is fairly rare. Smoking - Smoking heroin is also incredibly common and most users begin with smoking before changing to IV. It's known as 'Chasing the dragon' and consists of placing the heroin onto aluminium foil, heating said foil and attempting to inhale the vapours produced. Smoking produces stronger effects than snorting but is known to waste a lot of the heroin. IV - Intravenous use of heroin is both the most common, strongest and most dangerous route of administration. It consists of placing a certain amount of heroin into a spoon/cap and mixing with water. The spoon/cap is then heated and the heroin is dissolved into the water. The resulting mixture is then drawn into a needle and injected into a vein. This process produces the strongest effects from the substance and also maximises the risks. "You must ALWAYS make sure the needle is in the vein before injecting anything. If you "miss", it doesn't just mean you get a little blister and it takes longer for the effect of the drug. Injecting heroin outside of the veins can be very dangerous, can cause abscesses, or other SERIOUS problems. It will burn like hell if you inject it outside of the vein and will swell up and turn red. This swelling may go down a little, but you may have a large, hard, painful lump for up to 2-3 weeks afterwards, which may require medical attention." Why would someone end up using Heroin? There are many reasons people may end up doing heroin, much of it stems from their background or how they've been introduced to opioids. Many heroin users are reported to have mental health issues or traumatic backgrounds, after a traumatic event or untreated mental health many people turn to other avenues of 'treating' these. Heroin is known for both it's euphoric nature but also it's 'blissful apathy'. This apathy is one of the key reasons people use heroin to begin with, they lose any sense of worry or care about the world and everything feels okay. It's a feeling they've been trying to reach their entire life. Some people are prescribed opioid painkillers for legitimate reasons, extended and constant use of these can very easily lead to dependence. People turn to heroin (or other opioids) as a cheaper and stronger alternative. For other characters, specifically those who use opioid painkillers recreationally it's as simple as a friend saying: 'I've got this drug that's cheaper AND stronger than anything else'. The stigma of heroin may lead to a character turning the offer down but for many it's a simple as this, it's cheaper and stronger. Most people don't immediately begin IV'ing and so see it as little more than snorting other drugs. Overall, there's plenty of situations in which someone may end up doing heroin. They might never do it again and that's fine and just a part of roleplaying around heroin but it's not always a simple as saying 'I'm not roleplaying an addict so I'll never touch heroin'. This has been an (incredibly) rough guide around opioids and heroin and how you can roleplay around them. I'm by no means an expert and I've probably got a lot of stuff wrong. I would have liked to give more in depth info regarding dosages and other more focused aspects but figured it would be better to give a brief overview of this area of roleplay. Hope it's interesting/informative to some people and feel free to give me additions.

Drug dealing/trafficking Guide for STREET GANGS Drug dealing and trafficking is one of the most popular things to get involved in when you're doing gang roleplay, but the issue begins at this specific point where people force people into drug dealing to prove themselves and treat their gang factions like its an entire Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) which is somewhat unrealistic in that sense as not everyone involved in gang politics in Los Angeles are also involved in the drug game. In fact you'd be quite surprised, a lot people want to stay away from the drug game due to the bullshit it brings with it and instead a lot of gang members resort to fraud, robberies, burglaries, etc. Now, there's a difference, in what I said as well... people normally stay away from large scaled drug ops in gangs but a pretty hefty number of people probably deal drugs on low scales such as dimebags, eighths, halves, etc. Main issue is when it comes to selling bricks and stuff, and since LS-RP has always worked with ounces; we'll use 3 or more ounces as a starter point for this then. Normally when people get involved in drugs inside of street gangs, it's selling petty amounts but deep inside normally lies a secondary foundation of big time drug dealers and trafficking (depending on the connections) within that gang. The reason I'm emphasizing this is important, because the moment you're brought into that side of the drug game a simple fuck up can land you six feet deep. Street gangs are already cutthroat to the bone as it already is, but when you involve yourself with big time drug dealers and potentially traffickers within your set then you're accepting an offer from the devil in plain sight. The reason I'm bringing this up, is because a lot of people who do large scaled drug ops inside of street gangs, tend to act like it's either the entire street gang doing it and operate like a full DTO or they ignore the realistic tensions that'd come with it. It's normally a clique inside of a gang with very few people that actually 100% know what's going on when it comes to large drug ops inside of gangs, because of how cutthroat it is and the lack of trust for people. The petty drug amounts that little homies are trapping with, probably come from big homies involved deep in the drug game and it's normally the best drug dealers that sell petty amounts that normally end up being brought inside of the gang's inner circle when it comes down to large scaled drug ops. Now I do want to say this, the drug game inside of street gangs is completely different to actual DTOs or OCGs, and tends to be a lot more grimey. Depending on if it's a Southsider gang or a African-American gang, there might not be any structure inside of the gang and the one with connections to the plugs might be the one that's "influential" at that specific time n place. This is important to remember, because if your gang has no structure and goes off of a generation structure instead of a hierarchy structure, then you could even roleplay having paranoia and trust issues with people because people can get knocked off over a female or some shit in gangs, so when it comes down to drugs it's twice if not thrice as bad as the before example. This guide might not look like your average guide, and might remind you of a mini book or something but I purposely wrote it like this so it's easier to take in everything at once. Credits: Freedom Fighter.

luv dis

One hundred, this!

As long as we can set up card games at our houses/backrooms of businesses, etc I'm happy.

We don't have to make people spend 72 hours IG while in prison, we can say that A person got sentenced 7 days which he can appeal, parole out or wait it out (doesn't have to be ig, time will still decrease) maybe make them roleplay %5 of the prison sentence IG for the sake of prison rp and prison factions, people underestimate the fact that most of the criminal underworld of California have ties to prison one way or another and prison roleplay is not boring, give it a shot. And doing this will allow the server to have an active court system with active DoJ and lawyers, what did DoJ in old LS-RP do other than handling a few extraordinary cases for certain faction leaders or key members of factions? This will allow people to actively roleplay as lawyers, attorneys, judges etcetra. This will also add a bit of spice to LS-PD and SD for the fact that everything revolves around a court system that comes with lenghty prison sentences. PD and SD detectives will have to have constant communications with attorneys for search warrants, arrest warrants and the list goes on. I don't see any negative effect other than "prison rp is boring" (which I don't agree). If you're roleplaying a criminal, prison will be a part of your life and it is the best place to build networks. Instead of 1v1 fights turning into a murder every time when one of the combatants are armed, this will force criminals to be smarter. You want to take out someone? You better plan it beforehand. This system allows a lot of things, going as far as from RICO cases to money laundering and IRS. Organized crime groups, gangs, police, they will all need to smarten up. DoJ will be active every day, people who'd like to roleplay as lawyers and such will have a chance to actively roleplay on the contrary to old LS-RP, if we want to keep it the same way it was like back in the day, it's all good, if seeing shoot-outs everywhere wherever you drive during peak hours is what you want with inactive DoJ, inactive prison is what you want to see. I belive that the roleplay has evolved to a point where it is more serious, if we keep things the same, it simply won't work out, we all had our fair share of shoot-outs with no consequences, if hard-roleplay is what we're seeking, this is the path we should take.

Weapons AR's https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/colt-m4a1-m203 + https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/weapon-attachments-pack + https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/textures-for-attachments https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/h-k-416d-tactical-modifications https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/ar-15-pack https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/new-ar-15-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/m16-a2 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/armalite-ar-18 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/ak-47-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/akm-pack-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/akms-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/aks-74u https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/ek-971 Subs/PDWs https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/h-k-mp7 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/h-k-mp5 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/ump-45 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/mp5k-a1 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/sig-mpx-dynspr https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/ingram-mac-10-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/imi-uzi https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/tec-9-jridah https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/cz-scorpion-evo-3 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/skorpion-vz-61-jridah https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/pp-19-bizon-animated Shotguns https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/remington-870 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/ithaca-37-sawn-off https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/benelli-m1-super-90 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/mossberg-500-black-grey Pistols https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/glock-17-gen-5 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/glock-18c https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/glock-19-gen-5-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/glock-22-gen-4-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/glock-30-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/smith-wesson-m-p-9mm-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/s-w-model-659-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/h-k-usp-compact https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/h-k-p30l-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/h-k-mk23-socom-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/walther-p99-flashlight-and-silencer-1-0-0 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/walther-ppk https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/fn-five-seven-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/fn-fnx-45-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/fnx-45-tactical https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/colt-king-cobra-357-snub https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/colt-king-cobra-357-magnum https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/sig-sauer-p228 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/ruger-sr40-animated https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/makarov-pistol-pm https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/tokarev-tt-33-pistol https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/norinco-m1911 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/beretta-92fs-jridah https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/beretta-m9a3 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/taurus-tx22 https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/cz-usa-75-sp-01 Misc wepons https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/30-cal-m1-garand-carbine-rifle-hq https://www.gta5-mods.com/weapons/smoke-grenade-launcher Clothing/ped https://www.gta5-mods.com/player/lspd-lapd-swat Vehicles https://www.gta5-mods.com/vehicles/as332-super-puma-la-ls-county-sheriff

This is a guide that is going to walk you through how to roleplay a tough guy, many people have this perspective on how tough guy's should be roleplayed, many get this from movies however, we try to be as realistic as possible. Initially, this guide was written for La Cosa Nostra characters, but you can use this guide as a way to help you in other illegal faction characters. "So this is the life you want, huh?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TALK THE MOTHER-F*CKING TALK To be a tough guy, you have to talk tough. You gotta bring your inner Roy Sassu out. Don’t curse, don’t scream, just look someone right in the eye and make sure there’s conviction behind your voice. The bum on 7th Avenue can scream about socialism and the apocalypse as much as he wants, but that recklessness won’t fly with a tough guy. Michael Corleone was the king of tough talk. His cool demeanor yet fiery stare was the ultimate vocal combination. So, when I run into some stunad who insists on breaking my balls, I never respond by yelling. I simply look in his eyes and calmly say: “I would appreciate it if you met me outside to further resolve this matter.” Only I don’t use that exact phrasing... TAKE THE PAIN P****! Tough guys play hurt, take the pain and know that complaining is only for cafones who crave attention. The respect that comes from enduring pain is a lot better than the sympathy you get from moaning about it -- take your old-neighbourhood maniac Natale Turrisi for example, everything was upside down, backwards and inside out at the same time! President Roosevelt gave a speech despite the fact that he had just been shot in the chest. Now you have guys taking up hospital beds with a bad case of hangnail. I’m not saying you have to endure as much as Teddy, but remember that complaining is a sign of weakness, and it’s definitely not a sign that you can be a tough guy! CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTS, DON'T PICK THEM! Don’t go out looking for a fight. If you want to be a tough guy, you shouldn’t have anything to prove. A tough guy can distinguish which fights are worth fighting. No one respects a man who can’t brush off a petty altercation. However, it’s also hard to respect a man who doesn’t know when it’s time to flex. The important battles are the ones whose significance exceeds the actual confrontation. If a guy bumps into you, it’s probably not worth it. But if a guy bumps into your wife, marone, you better act up!! If not, you'll end up like Ralphie -- you could've beaten Angie Schifino black 'n' blue, he wouldn't do jack squat! MORAL VALUES There’s a method that must accompany the madness of every tough guy. He has principles and morals that he won’t compromise. He’s not just out there for himself, but something bigger. Whether it is trust, respect or honesty, a tough guy has values that he’ll never tolerate being tarnished. Defending his beliefs is always justified. And if he doesn’t act in their defence, he knows he’s a justifiable coward. In our thing, we value loyalty over anything else. If someone breaks that loyalty, we break their legs. And Dame, if you’re out there, you can’t hide forever!! MAN THE F*** UP! There’s a common myth that tough guys don’t fear anything. Trust me -- we do. The trick, however, is to hide that fear. Never wear your emotions on your sleeve. That’s a stain the dry cleaner can’t get out. The boss once asked me to meet him by the old loading docks and, sure, I thought I might be the victim of the recent “company downsizing,” but I knew the importance of acting unfazed. Once someone smells your fear, they’ll see you as weak and vulnerable, something you have to learn if you want to be a tough guy. IN THE END!? If my tips still leave you wondering how to be a tough guy since you don't wanna end up like your average Bruiser Chiodo, take a note from The Don himself. As Johnny Fontane cried to Vito Corleone: “Godfather, I don’t know what to do!” The Don didn’t respond with: “Have you tried psychoanalysis?” or “I know this great anti-depressant.” The Don simply said: “You can act like a man!” That is my overall advice to those who find themselves falling into the pit of softness. I’m not saying we’re all made out to be a tough guy, and I’m not saying my tips are the only ones to follow. However, I do know it’s never too late to regain your manhood. So throw down your chai lattes and stand the fuck up for yourself. Stand up for your principles and don’t let fear bog you down. Talk the talk, walk the walk and god dammit, ACT LIKE A MAN! Wham Chin Theo