The Rstl Chronicle.... A Stronger League, A No Show Extraveganza Tourney

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
BY DIC

RSTL DREAM TEAM
BY Tali Rodriguez

Tali Interviews Calloused… A Man of Few Words

TOP TAG 3 TOURNAMENT VERSES
BY PENT UP

TOP 5 RSTL VERSES
BY PENT UP

THE BEEF MAN?
BY DiC GeTs GuLLy







INTRODUCTION
By The Gully Ninja


After 1 round of the Tag Team Tournament, we're already at the Western and Eastern Conference Finals..... Aint that some shit?!?! Lmao, there were more no shows than there were people that actually showed, which is why I gave yall the option of pushing back the due dates..... Although it seems like more people are against this idea, you have witnessed who wack the league looks when over half of the people in the tournament don't show. Posting Dates of Saturday Night could highly improve the showings of the RSTL and regardless of how you think a person should be able to post their verse during the 5 day weekday period, it doesn't happen and this will ultimately aid in that. So, the real question is, do you wanna improve our league or would you rather watch it die from no show fatalities? The choice is yours to make, I'm just the one to electing rules to vote on, bringing democracy back to our league and enforcing the rules we all put in place, but it's your choice. Lol...... Vote Dic, he'll lobby for pro choice so you can abort the verse you conceived in the back seat of your Chevy and keep fucking a few days later.



Four Scores and Seven Dics ago, our ninjas brought fourth this league…..

We have an interesting match up for the finals though. In a surprising upset, Dic and Ribo are taken out by Pent Up and SteveThaGreat. Lol, aint that about a bitch. Congrats ninja, you earned it babyboy. Vern and Mac seemed to have forgotten or just didn't read the rules that there will be no no show wins so they were defeated by Black Beard and Yo Mothafuckin Momma. A lil something to savour the flavor of. Mmmmmm, taste like chicken. Speaking of chickens, lol, jk.... kind of, but Infinite Truth doesn't show to his match as many thought would happen when teaming two infamous no showers together, but InsaneVilly pulls off the V, beating Ufo and Brit Boi, some poetry friends of mine from way back and Street Poet and Shrug, also members of the formal PTL, I think? Vigil and Claus beat some new people I've never seen before in Effect and Nahlidge. Have heard good things about em though. Last, but nowhere near least, Atheist and Formal Logic take out Urizen and Profit C, I guess we all could of saw that coming, but I still think Profit C and Urizen deserve their props fa showing up since most people didn't.

Lets go over the no shows in this shit shall we, there's Nique and Brandon, guess her new husband can't match the Dic...lol, Tali and Black Jesus (damn vets), L Dogg and BMM (does that stand for Bitch Made Mothafucka?) just asking, Cereal Killer and Noib (who were supposed to take it all according to threads made last week), Pain and GotLife (probably too busy holding hands while walking on beach....awww, romance in the RSTL), Khoi and Flor and many other new names that I don't know. Guess my alias idea for having more people show didn't work. Oh well, shit happens.


On the brighter side of league business, nice writers seem to have heard about our lil ole home and have come to partake of some topical challenges. Fa shiggidy ninjas, so let's show the newbs what this league is made of so they just fiend more and more, reading their opponents verses in disbelief of fuckin dope it is..... that's wtf I'm talking about. An old legend of RSTL History has also come back to join us, no not Tek's wack ass.... I'm talking bout Mr. Bahfangooly the bear or whatever it was, The GOAT that loves eating lil kids for breakfast, Jowelz. Gotta welcome back that and if he shows up to his match, I'll have to get an interview with em? Holla back playboy, pm me.

After a long week of shit talking back and fourth between me and
Atheist, our battle was well expected to be a brawl. Well, I got my ass beat this time folks and I'm still picking pieces of leather lodged in my anal cavity out.

+



=

Doesn't seem like I chose a topic that people were feeling and Atheist's dramatic approach with dialogue won the hearts of many as they chant Atheist, Atheist, Atheist, Atheist in all their votes to shut down me and Gotlife. Good job champ, no shame in losing to such a fine writer. I still say I won our first match though, lmao. The league is looking stronger and we'll see what happens to improve it.

Side note: Members of the league should assist the tournament by voting in tourney matches. Since it's already at the conference finals, the remaining tournament teams will need votes from yall to advance.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

RSTL DREAM TEAM
By Tali Rodriguez

RSTL Dream Team (According to TaLi)

All of this recent talk about the U.S.A. basketball team got me to thinking:

If I were in charge of developing a roster for the RSTL Dream Team, who would make the cut? Furthermore, how would I justify my select.ions? Well, I've put on my Jerry Coangello general manager headband and put these thoughts into practice. So here we go.
select.ions
There is one thing I'd like to mention before I get into the rest of this shit. This is all based on my subjective opinion. I made these select.ions based on a combination of how much I liked these writers, how much the majority of people liked these writers, experience, as well as their actual documented accomplishments. There are writers who are right up there with the people who made this here team, but for one reason or another (a lack of any combination of those aforementioned criteria), they just didn't make it in here. There are only 15 spots for crying out loud. With only 15 spots available, it goes to say that there will be a good 50 people who feel cheated. Sorry about that. It's life. But look at the bright side of things; Michael Jordan got cut from his Freshmen Basketball team lol!

Actually, one other side note. The order of people within the categories are random to the extent that I gave them each a position. At times, I explain why I put them in a particular position, but I'm not ranking them 1-5, 6-10, 11-15.

----- STARTING 5 -----

Starting Point Guard: Vern Acular aka Doyen

This selection is self-explanatory. Mr. Acular is the captain of my RSTL Dream Team. He's the longer tenured member by a bunch. He has the most wins ever. He has the most titles ever. He's won a tournament. He's top 10 in winning percentage. Above all, he's done it in every era conceivable. He was there in the beginning, and he's won a title as recently as Summer 2006. Beyond all of that, he also did a damn good job moderating the league for a nice chunk of time.

Statistics:
98 Wins
20 Losses
.830 Winning %
10 Titles
1 Tournament Title

Starting Shooting Guard: Richard Corey

I know that his name is a bad word around these parts nowadays, but give the man his due. He's been in the league since 2003 and he's got 4 titles and he won the RSTL Champions Tournament. I think he's the best story-teller ever in the league and one of the best anywhere really. Dude's ability to develop a narrative and keep people interested is unmatched really. I can't say I've ever seen him mess with a topical piece, but why bother when you tell stories that well.

Statistics:
44 Wins
9 Losses
.830 Winning %
4 titles

Starting Small Forward: Tha Talent

This guy is the ultimate example of somebody who started out as an OK writer, and turned himself into one of the all-time greats. At one point, he was approximately 20-10. By the end of his reign, he amassed a 64-20 record. So, for all you folks out there, who get discouraged because you lose a match or two, remember this guy and his accomplishments. By the way, this dude had some sick topicals.

Statistics:
64 Wins
19 Losses
.771 Winning %
5 Titles
1 Tournament Title

Starting Power Forward: D.I.C.

D.I.C. lives for beef. If he has a problem with you, you will know about it. Since 2005, nobody has dominated the league like this guy. He's won 8 titles and he's the only person to have won two tournaments. This fellow is mostly a story-teller, but every so often, he'll hit us off with something topical. Richard Corey might be the best story-teller, but D.I.C. is definitely the most creative (and demented). He may not necessarily be the popular pick, but fuck it.
At his best, he's one of the best. Cut through the politics and its pretty obvious.

Statistics:

59 Wins

14 Losses

.808 Winning %

8 Titles

2 Tournament Titles

Starting Center: RIKOSHAY

Everybody pretty much knows what this guy brings to the equation. He's probably the most technically sound writer the league has ever seen. I could also make the argument that his rhymes are more advanced than anyone else I've seen signed into the league. Indeed, he is pretty much completely topical, but he does that as well as anyone has. He managed to swat away 18 competitors before losing his first match, so he was obviously doing something right. Then he signed back in as Runna Da Mille to grab another 4 titles.

Statistics:
RIKOSHAY Runna DaMille
18 Wins 29 Wins
1 Loss 6 Losses
.947 Winning % .828 Winning %
2 Titles 4 Titles
1 Tournament Title

-----

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

BACKUPS AND 3RD STRING LINE UPS

Backup Point Guard: TaLi RodrigueZ

It's always a little awkward to talk about oneself, but hell, I can't lie; I've done ok for myself lol. (Begin Third Person Mode) TaLi got his first two titles in the first year of the league's existence when shit was popping. He held the title that he won last year for 11 straight weeks. He's also the rat bastard who snapped Infinite Truth's 16-0 winning streak. His 5 losses are to combatants who have at least 2 titles each. Plus, he can flip a topic just as easily as he can drop a story so chew on that flexibility. Last but not least, he's done a thing or two to help organize this place over the years, so there. (End Third Person Mode)

Statistics:
35 Wins
5 Losses
.875 Winning %
3 Titles

Backup Shooting Guard: WWIII

His reign was relatively short but extremely brutal while it lasted. He was a bit ahead of his time in terms of mechanics and rhymes. While folks were still dropping 25 syllable lines, his pieces were flowing like hot gravy. Add those traits with his ability to use words to paint a vivid picture and you have a pretty deadly fighting machine. I have little doubt that his work would stand up to the standards that we tend to apply to shit nowadays. Only one person as beaten him, and allegedly, that was because he threw some half-ass shit up so he wouldn't have to no-show. I don't care if it was a legitimate loss; he still has a ridiculous record.

Statistics:
23 Wins
1 Loss
.958 Winning %
2 Titles

Backup Small Forward: Peril Eyez

This fellow pretty much owned the RSTL in the first year and a half of the league. All 5 of his titles were earned in that span of time, one which was arguably the most competitive period of time ever in the RSTL. I'm sure that he took care of at least 12 of the 15 people who made it on my final list. I'm also pretty certain that he was the first person to win the title two times. This guy's rhymes and flow were trend setting at the time and would still pass for damn good in nowadays league.

Statistics:
28 Wins
6 Losses
.823 Winning %
5 Titles

Backup Power Forward: Awedishin aka Mac Flow

Here is another fellow who has made noise in just every era that this league has had. As with most folks who were around from the beginning, Awedishin has a very strong foundation in story-telling. Furthermore, his rhymes were always outstanding and abundant. Lastly, this dude was one of the pioneers of writing rhymes that could actually be read to a beat with relative ease. This guy was never any fun to face though, unless gruelling battles are your thing.

Statistics:
57 Wins
23 Losses
.713 Winning %
4 Titles

Backup Center: Jowelz

Jowelz is my enforcer. He never really gave a shit what people thought about him, but you knew that every time you faced him, you were going to have to go all out to beat him. Then, if you ended up beating him, he wasn't going to congratulate you lol. All bullshit aside, this dude dropped some of the highest quality stories to ever grace the league. Now that he's back in the league, maybe some of the newer folks will get a taste of the nastiness that Jowelz used to bring back in the day.

Statistics:

63 Wins
21 Losses
.750 Winning %
5 Titles

-----

3rd String Point Guard: Infinite Truth

As I've said before, I need versatility and consistency out of my point guards. Over the years, this dude has been the epitome of both. For whatever reason, people either seem to love this cat's writing or they hate it. He's either underappreciated or overrated. I happen to subscribe to the former group of individuals. He could be a little out there at times, but 16 straight wins in the hay day of the league don't lie.

Statistics:

41 Wins

10 Losses

.826 Winning %

2 Titles

3rd String Shooting Guard: Black Jesus

This fellow did most of his dirty work back in the beginning, but in late 2005, he gave the newer folks a taste of what they were missing. Black Harold is probably one of the most overlooked multi-time champions that we have. Dude also made it to the final four of a tournament that had over 100 folks in it. As far as I'm concerned, he is the master of bring a battle type of wit into stories and topicals. He's also one of the more versatile writers we've ever had in terms of being able to write stories and topicals. Now if he'd only sign back in.

Statistics:

27 Wins

6 Losses

.818 Winning %

2 Titles

3rd String Small Forward: Atheist

Atheist was always on the verge of being one of the better competitors the league had seen. Holding him back were his mechanics (rhymes/flow etc). It was never a question of whether the guy could write. Over the past year, Atheist has begun to put everything together, and as a result, he's won another 2 titles to go with the one he already has from before. He is a straight up story teller, nothing more; nothing less. As with Richard Corey, however, when you do one thing so well, what is the need walking on someone else's territory.

Statistics:

40 Wins

11 Losses

.784 Winning %

3 Titles

3rd String Power Forward: Insane Villain

If you judged this guy solely on what he accomplished in his 2005-2006 performances, he wouldn't have made the 10th team. That said, IV pretty much owned mid 2003 into 2004. Throughout that period of time, he had a 37-5 record. He has two titles. He was widely considered as one of the best by his peers back when he was around. If he could get his shit together now, I think people would respect his genius a bit more.

Statistics:

38 Wins

8 Losses

.826 Winning %

2 Titles

3rd String Center: Claushouse

Before Opera Toonist, there was Anihilation and before that, there was Claushouse. The combination of the latter two have put together one of the more impressive runs in RSTL history. He won the very first tournament in where there were over a hundred competitors, including most of the folks on this list. More recently, he won his first league title and defended it for 6 straight weeks, giving him a firm grasp on second place all time in that category. Going against this fellow is never an easy task, and ones hope of a win is statistically miniscule.

Statistics:

25 Wins

4 Losses

.862 Winning %

1 Title

1 Tournament Title

-----

Alternates: AKA the best of the rest…

Patriarch

Anaphora

Pent Up (replacement of L Dogg by DIC *think Tali made a typo)

Dah Lohner

Edward Lake

Nique

Jook

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Tali Interviews Calloused… A Man of Few Words

By the way, I'm cool with doing interviews from now on...Anyways, dude was not easy to get to talk lol..but I tried.

TaLi: Hello Mr. Calloused. How is life treating you?

Calloused: pretty well

TaLi: How is the league treating you?

Calloused: It's alright. I enjoy the competition and writing. I
actually enjoy voting a lot as well. what I don't like is all the petty shit that seems to surround the league

TaLi: No need to be specific, but give the me a general idea of what constitutes 'petty shit'

TaLi: Unless you want to blow up spots and shit

Calloused: This whole recycling controversy and the way it's being dealt with by everyone involved.
Calloused: In general, the league seems to sensationalize things that could be dealt with in a more mature manner

TaLi: I understand that. That is the main reason I ducked out last time I was modding. I couldn't deal with people bringing up some issue EVERY DAMN WEEK. There was always going to be somebody who got the short end of shit. I agree though. I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't be recycling anything you've already used somewhere else, but that is just me. There is no rule in these new rules so in a literal sense, I'm not sure what else could have been done. Agree or disagree with that?

Calloused: I agree, which is why I believe that Got Life should be allowed to get the win, and the rule should be instated immediately.

TaLi: I leave all of that shit up to DIC. The day that a new set of rules is completely established and agreed upon is the day that none of this shit is even an issue really. As long as there is room for interpretation, there is going to be problems. Anyways, happy or sad that the league is starting back up in it's classic form as opposed to the new thing they tried out for a while?

Calloused: What was the new thing?

TaLi: With all the different points and divisions etc. Or did you miss that little debacle lol

Calloused: I missed it, but I believe the ranking system is pretty efficient right now.

TaLi: Probably a good thing that you missed it. It was a good idea, but it just ended up being too much work for folks to keep up with. What about the 64 line limit now instead of 60, make any difference to you?

Calloused: I think it should be longer, my last piece was cut short because of the line limit.
Calloused: the ending came out rushed.

TaLi: I can not tell you how many times I made it to 56 lines only to realize that I needed another 20 lol. What can you do though? If they get much longer, people are going to stop reading as closely, as if they aren't already skimming lol
TaLi: Is it easy for you to tell when someone hasn't really read your shit?

Calloused: I haven't really dealt with that situation. But as a
sidenote to the line limit, I plan out my verses based on how many lines I want to spend on each section, but last week I wound up going a little over on the dialogue section and was left with no room for the conclusion.

TaLi: If you hang around long enough, you'll encounter that little elephant in the room. So, I for one am sort of curious about something. Most folks don't just show up one day and write really nice rhymes. Where did you come from? When did you start writing? Were you ever in under any other name? Etc lol

Calloused: Well, I'm journalism major, and I've been into writing for a while, primarily some poetry and a lot of short stories. What I did was I came here a while back, and registered when they first put up the downloads section. I started reading a lot of verses, and getting the knack for writing with a rhyme scheme.
Calloused: When you read my verses, you get the sense of reading a short story with a rhyme scheme
Calloused: I really want to develop my ability with more abstract writing, and I want to improve my flow

TaLi: I really want to develop my ability to write like journalism
major. My shit is real conversational usually. But I like that short story way of writing that folks like you and Richard Corey do

Calloused: Richard Corey's the best writer I've read on this site. He's the one that I sort of tried to model my style around, but my flow and mechanics are no where near his.

TaLi: I agree with the first statement you made. It probably isn't the popular thing to say at this point, but he's pretty much the best rhyme writer I've ever read and right up there with anybody anywhere really.
TaLi: Who else in the league, present or past, catches or caught your
eye

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Calloused: Atheist and Dic are great, and Rikoshay had a very interesting and inimitable style.
Calloused: I enjoyed his verses, but I didn't fool myself into believing I could write like that
Calloused: plus, you are outstanding

TaLi: Aww shucks lol..I try dude..I still see a lot of places I can improve though

Calloused: Everyone can improve. Except me.

TaLi: I understand lol. Do you think you will ever attempt to make
tracks out of any of these pieces or would you rather just keep them the way they are?

Calloused: I'm a writer.
Calloused: God forbid me from ever entering a studio

TaLi: Haha..I have no problem with that. I've made some tracks with some rstl shit but the vast majority of it stays written. I almost feel like I'd ruin the shit by putting them in another form. Like making a movie out of a novel or something.
TaLi: Plus i'm entirely too lazy to record consistently

Calloused: it seems like a lot of work. I’m also pretty certain i'm incapable of writing to a beat
Calloused: it's beyond me

TaLi: No shame in that. What do things like records and championships mean to you?

Calloused: it's an achievement, a measurement of success.

TaLi: Would you be disappointed if you never won a title? I ask because I always get different answers. Some people it's everything, others don't really care much as long as they are happy with what they are doing. What, if anything, are you looking to get out of all of this?

Calloused: I'd like to improve my writing more than anything. I feel
that I'm probably not ALL that far from being a title candidate, but I don't care too much about it

TaLi: I'd say you're definitely capable. A lot of times luck factors into the equation in terms of who you face and how tough the contender matches are etc. Time will tell I guess. How long are you thinking about sticking around this time?

Calloused: probably not too long.
Calloused: school is calling.
Calloused: I will stay in at least until I lose.

TaLi: Damn. What year are you in?

Calloused: sophomore in college

TaLi: What are you trying to do after the degree

Calloused: As I said, I'm journalism major and I'd like to be a sports writer. Preferably basketball, but baseball would be great too

TaLi: I was actually planning on doing that at one point and then
somehow, I ended up getting sucked back into sociology and haven't
escaped since. I'm a sports fiend so I envy you on that. Any other
interesting sorts of things that people probably don't know about you
that you'd like to throw out there; some Calloused trivia perhaps?

Calloused: my favorite tv show is South Park.
Calloused: does that work for you?

TaLi: That works lol. I'm gonna wrap this shit up and toss it on over to DIC. Any last cheaps shots or anything that you'd like to administer before we go?

Calloused: nope.
Calloused: Conrad Bolston's a beast
Calloused: there you go

TaLi: Now I have to figure out what that means
TaLi: Thanks for the time man

Calloused: no problem.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

reserved For Top 5 RSTL MATCHES
By ME

DIDN'T GET DONE, OH WELL

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Top 3 Tag Tourney Verses

BY Pent Up

Topical or Story? That has always been the question, well collaberatively speaking the ideal situation would be a story right? One person is our main character, and the other is a narrator, or a different character, or something, right? A topical can't be as diverse in opinoin, you either agree or disagree right? well for the sake of
arguement lets find out from (my opinion) how detailed these collabs were.

In my Number Three spot, the left-fielded duo of Shrug and Street Poet dropped a story that was a smooooooooth read. The story revolved around a kid who witnessed his friend die in a hit & run accident and proceeds to run for consolation from his uncle. The Uncle tells him a story about why he should report the crime if he can, which he goes to do immediatly. Riding their loss (thats right, I chose a piece that lost because this shit is MY opinion) with great mechanics I personally feel that they got gipped out of a win. These two laced narration and dialogue with a natural and almost crisp-as-hell flow. The story itself was pretty interesting, nothing crazily twisted (which is probably why they lost, even though in my opinion IV's was done for shock factor and with the anti-climatical ending he provided it wasn't up to par, but once again, just my thoughts and observations you butthurt wankers), but it did have a twist so-to-speak that involved karma and unforseen mischief. Each writer took on the role of a character for the most part. Shrug was the Kid and Street Poet was the Uncle. there were a few other characters involved but they had like 2 line dialogue spots and arent worthy of mention. The part I liked most about this is they didnt just go 30/30 they went back in forth just as a real story would progress. This person speaks, this person replies, this shit happens

EAST: 3. Insane Villian and Infinite Truth -VS- 10. Shrug and Street Po

it was lively, constantly moving and crisp. Good job Fools, imo (not the
voters opinoins obviously).



So I guess thats one for Story, eh? In a way a story is harder to create, because you have to plot out shit, plan dialogue carefully, and make the transitions seamless right? hmmm...Well lets look on, as my Number Two Spot goes to Black Beard (correcting Pent's Typo.... lol, bitch ass *inside joke*)and Ratiko Malodic for the rap verson of Top Gun....or something of that nature. Led by Dic's almost agressive humor such as in this line

Vern and Awedishin -VS- 2. Dic and Moms -VS- Pestilence and 200Proof

There's one ya left and one ya right, but they're under my sight
So do whatcha do, you got the name..... "

"I know.... just come in their eyes" lol ninja

The flow was pretty hot, with some weird rhyme words on occasion but for what it was, this laid out to be a creative piece about a dogfight in the aiiiiiir. The transition betwenn dic and malo was nice too as they went back and forth about what was going on in the dog fight. People were getting shot, busting loop de loops, shooting down people who ejected from• their planes, nearly crashing, it was action packed. a very nice pace. When you got to Malo's verse he kept up (surprisingly) with dics structure and flow. He had little twists in his shit too, nearly dieing and shit, but ill leave the imagination to be enticed when s/he reads it. then they ended with personal reflections of the fight that had previously occurred to make you think that they had some connectivity to it, overall it panned out rather nicely. Both displaying a level of versatility that deserves a round of applause, or at least a golf clap.




So It seems that stories are dominant so far, however I want to remind you it is not the amount of stories that make my top 3, but which story makes my #1 slot

And the answer is none, it was a topical by Claus and Vigil. See the depth of this collaberation went beyond the depth of the stories presented prior, in my opinion. They tackled the same subject with the same types of similies, and kept the wordplay hard throughout the entire piece. The first stanza in particular was my favorite of the entire Tourney so far; therefore I will quote (bitches)

WEST: 3. Vigil and Clauz -VS- 10. Effect and Nahlidge

Three men can keep a secret if two are dead
Said the One Hundred dollar bills talking head
Invest in stock instead, stalking funds to hedge
In bed with execs following footsteps Enron treads
With none left breathless secrets rise into heads
The truth is money talks as Honest Abe lies dead
A momument left in his stead, as monetary gains ground
Compounded by annual interest in the portrait he mounds
Debt surrounds muff-divers as loan sharks declare gain
Takes two to Tango, & Cash bailed on Jefferson airplane

Very strong way to open their battle, had me instantly locked into their
verse, which they continued to do through a combination of pop culture
refrences, which refrence presidents and money scandals, and
presidential scandals/duels/shits. The back and forth effort was similar
to mine and steve's which is why, i guess, i thought it was great; a lot
more effort than just dropping your verse and having your partner match
topic. It shows an actual effort when the two scrypt writers go back and
forth rather than just agreeing what to write on. Therefore in my
opinion the better of the collaborative efforts in the tournament this
round.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Top 5 VERSES

5
Riding off writing into the fifth spot is calloused, who's story was MAAAAAD cliche, in my opion, however had better mechanics than most of what I see. His story, was more of an emotionally expressed topical, in what had a maniacal feel to it. It seemed to be a monologue that explained to his love ("goodbye my love" being the repition used throughout his verse.) why he felt what he felt and what he was afraid of in terms of the direction of their relationship, etc etc. if it werent for his CRISP rhymestyle, Fuild progression of story, and fairly nice emotional discharges, I probly wouldn't have put this up here, but thats like saying if half the country wasn't filled with dumbasses we'd have a better president, shit happens folks. Lol, calloused that wasn't meant as a lash at you, I'm just saying that these types of verses are easily duplicated and your abilitiy to make such a nice line-to-line is what got you here. WORD
4
sacriFICE stands on the #4 slot in my breakdown of people who wrote better then the people who wrote worse. This dude wrote a story that wasn't CLICHE, but straightforward in his approach to the topic. His topic was 'become a virus that spreads from person to person' and he tackled it well. I mean NOTHING you couldnt think of yourself but the wording of the verse was at a calibre meant for audio, speaking of which, heres a shameless plug because I felt the audio wasn't that bad

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/song...songID=4367340

There were instances of poor wording which, to me, broke the flow, but when it is your own work that is never the case (is it chums?), however this was all in the name of a just cause called RHYMING. And it came off smooth as hell; with fairly nice descriptions of what was happening complimented by intricate word placement. no doubt someone to look out for (and vote on his battle, say against me, this week, word)...
3
Falling back this week in comparrasion, Dark Nebula, who has signed out, recieves this spot. I feel bad docking him but I just couldn't get into his piece. It had all the right elements. Flow (which was kinda off this week in my perception, only for the first quarter), storyline, action, emotion, imagery, etc, but the story itself just didnt click with me. Maybe its because I dont run around in tribal-wear practicing my bow and arrow skills getting my village burnt down by like 6 dudes? That was my main problem with this verse, a whole village would have to be able to get at least one gun and cap the rest of the dudes....But I for what it was worth it was still a detailed and, almost of course, an action packed story, filled with gruesome details. This verse teetered on implausible as a horse saved the main character as a 'human shield' type, and a few other minor details i'd disagree with, if not for the aide of luck. Overall though a better quality verse than most in the league.
2
Adderall seems to stay progressive on my top 5's, and though I appreciated the last verse I rated for him more (the one about the symphony of destruction and shit). However this verse was still coated with a nice metaphor (as last time you heard from me) and portrayed a messege that was dope. The flow was crisp as hell, and the fluidity of the verse never ceases to amaze me. This verse was about the metaphor of a mask of an actor (i forgot what they're called) and how an introverted 'actor' acted around his peers. Some really deep shit with the emotion of the person being surpressed only to be let free by some chick. Sounds corny, but thats because I wrote the breakdown, read the verse and get amazed....


And Our number one spot goes to......Tekneek
HAH! PSYCHE! Atheist Gets it with another story that entertained me....The first topic athe used came straight at you, A little slow on the entrance but then BAM into dialogue-ish action. The father of the main character is a cop, the main character is being accused of committing murder. The meat of the story was dialogue really, but the true gem in this story is the twist, which plays off his second topic veeeeeeery cleanly. Probably the best twist to the topic this week (then again i can only recall one other person who used that topic). This verse's rhyming was VERY subtle, I recall not even being able to tell the rhyme from the read, i just intook the story as it went along, it kinda upset me that the rhymes weren't stand out, but I guess it speaks for the crispness of the writing, doesnt it? Still reigning number one (wait till we meet again hoe) Atheist is a force to be reckoned with at the moment.

once again, the league is growing, get your friends to join, unless you're tired of not seeing yourself in my top 5, then shank atheist.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

THE BEEF MAN?
By DiC GeTs GuLLy

I guess I've been labelled the guy that's over confident, arrogant and a severely loud texted individual that starts shit with everybody. Lmao, am I really the asshole that everybody thinks I am? Not really, but I am tactless in my approach to things and that may cause situations with various people. I just speak my mind freely without worrying about that though. I could shut up and just write like I did back in 2004 when everyone loved the Dic, but what fun would that be? A little beef is good for business I think so I'm more than happy to be the leagues most hated, taking the that title from Tek and Jersey Emcee. Somebody has to be the fall guy for everyone to collaborate in despising and I'm happy to take the job.

I've beefed with L Dogg, which lasted for so long I'm sure it annoyed people, beefed with Gotlife, is that worth mentioning? Probably not I guess. Beefed with Tek, Vern, Extreme Venom and even Jeff at one point during the whole Omen's a wack ass biter fiasco, but does that make me a beef starter? I often just react in ways that get people upset and make them want to wish a gruesomely bloody Death on me. Please just notify my momma (not yo momma) and my daughter and tell them I love em so much.....

I don't really think of myself as a provoker of these things though, but something tells me you'd disagree with that. I think all the shit started with me included in it though has made me look unfavorable to my fellow RSTLers though so I just wanna say, damn niglets. Hate me, love me, I'm here to assist yall though and help this place run smoothly so I hope you appreciate all I do and have done for this league. Being the scapegoat of hatred is not really something I mind unless it effects the voting, which it may have done, but it also shows my strength in fighting for what I think is right, which is why I continually fight for this place to be here and give you all a spot for competitive writing. If you hate me for everything else, fine, but at least love me for that much cuz the DIC is here for yall. Unselfishly so and I'll keep making this place better and better if yall want me to.

That's all....... just thought I'd clear the air a lil bit. I wouldn't do it if I didn't love you punk ass mothafuckas. Lol.

Beef, it's an essential part of my dietary requirements.

[Atheist]

i'm just picking out stuff as i read through this mag, so fuck it if it sounds all over the shop. i'm going to italicize the quotes.

Lets go over the no shows in this shit shall we, there's Nique and Brandon, guess her new husband can't match the Dic...lol, Tali and Black Jesus (damn vets), L Dogg and BMM (does that stand for Bitch Made Mothafucka?) just asking, Cereal Killer and Noib (who were supposed to take it all according to threads made last week), Pain and GotLife (probably too busy holding hands while walking on beach....awww, romance in the RSTL), Khoi and Flor and many other new names that I don't know. Guess my alias idea for having more people show didn't work. Oh well, shit happens.

jesus, didn't know that many people no showed in the tournament. that's a damn shame, because when i was reading that, i was jsut thinking how great the matches could have been, because there were a lot of great writers in there. as i said, it's a damn shame. but it's now up to the remaining teams to bring the heat.

An old legend of RSTL History has also come back to join us, no not Tek's wack ass.... I'm talking bout Mr. Bahfangooly the bear or whatever it was, The GOAT that loves eating lil kids for breakfast, Jowelz.

agreed. welcome back, j. you were one of my favourite writers way back in the day when i was starting off here, and i'm glad to see you ahve returned. hopefully you will show up, drop some tight pieces, and stick around for a while and show all the new kids how to do this shit.

After a long week of shit talking back and fourth between me and Atheist, our battle was well expected to be a brawl. Well, I got my ass beat this time folks and I'm still picking pieces of leather lodged in my anal cavity out.

lol, well put. and dic, i love your use of pictures. really hits the point home. yes, this week i think i wrote one of my better stories, content wise. as usual my flow and rhyme scheme weren't brilliant, but they were still decent. however, all that bickering from last week is in the past. you're a great writer and i always enjoy reading your stuff. i see you signed out, but hopefully you won't be gone too long, you know?

i also loved the 'rstl dream team' part of this magazine. it was a nice addition and was fun to read. vern, corey, talent, dic, riko, tali, ww3, peril, mac flow, jowelz, infinite truth, black jesus, iv, claushouse - these are all the great writers of the league; they are what new kids aspire to be. and for my name to be mentioned in there is a great compliment as my talents are being recognized, but also because it drives and motivates me to do even better. talent has been the guy i look up to since day one, and it was a pleasure to occupy the same site (a different one than rapmusic) as him for four or so years. ps, can anyone direct me to verses by ww3? i've only ever read one of his (it had the phrase 'dizzy sunday' in the opening line) and i'd like to read more.

TaLi: Probably a good thing that you missed it. It was a good idea, but it just ended up being too much work for folks to keep up with. What about the 64 line limit now instead of 60, make any difference to you?

Calloused: I think it should be longer, my last piece was cut short because of the line limit.
Calloused: the ending came out rushed.

i agree. i remember a while back there was a 100 line limit for championship and contender matches. 64 lines is usually good for me, but sometimes i need a little more to express myself. however, just because there's a line limit doesn't mean you always have to write that much. i know i should sometimes drop shorter pieces/work on other styles and techniques of writing etc, but damn, i just love writing stories.

Calloused: I haven't really dealt with that situation. But as a sidenote to the line limit, I plan out my verses based on how many lines I want to spend on each section, but last week I wound up going a little over on the dialogue section and was left with no room for the conclusion.

yet again, agreed. as you've probably noticed, i always have a lot of sections in my verses; stanzas split up by line breaks etc. i always plan how many lines i'm going to have per section, therefore allowing myself to plot out the content, as well as a reminder to myself that i must stick within the line limit allowed for the match. calloused, you're very similar to me, and i look more and more forward to our championship match this week, because this will be the first time we face each other.

Calloused: Richard Corey's the best writer I've read on this site. He's the one that I sort of tried to model my style around, but my flow and mechanics are no where near his.

for the third time, agreed. i don't care what anyone says, corey is the best writer i've ever read. his stories are phenomonal. tha talent is also up there as one of the greatest writers i've ever read on the net.

Calloused: Atheist and Dic are great, and Rikoshay had a very interesting and inimitable style.

thanks for the mention, man. overall, a great interview, and a great magazine so far.

Topical or Story? That has always been the question

it sure has, and i'd have to say stories are my cup of tea. i also liked the 'top 5 verses' section because it was right on point. calloused is a great writer, so he deserves to be there. sacrifice is a great addition to the league, and i look forward to reading his future pieces. dic, as always, is a superb writer with an amazing flow, rhyme scheme and content. adderal has really impressed me. someone said he was an alias, but who cares? the guy is fantastic to read. tehn me at the number one spot. thank you for the mention.

it kinda upset me that the rhymes weren't stand out, but I guess it speaks for the crispness of the writing, doesnt it?

that's what i like about my writing. it's basically a story first, a rap second. the rhymes are always there, but i want to make my con