for no clear reason whatsoever,

Not true, AZ clearly stated that Lucy was pulling top 10% rewards for bashing the platform that was rewarding him.
This was his stated reason for the flags.

I don't know how shepz1 got involved, I haven't put much effort into finding out hoping it would blow over.

I like the content of both of those accounts.

Maybe some of the devs and whales are simply unaware such practices are being employed against unsuspecting targets.

Or, maybe it is a no win situation for them and they just stay out of it as much as possible.

I'm glad that you will be staying, and I suspect the #steemicides will continue in their normal progressions.

Hive is a social platform small enough for everybody to know everybody, though not all do.

Kudos for speaking up, consensus can be reached no other way.
Without dissent there is no way to know if you aren't just fooling yourself into believing what you want to believe.