RSTL Chronicle: NEWBS AND VETS LOOKING GOOD - WATCH OUT NOW!!!!

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Table of Contents

Introduction
by Dic

The Numbers Game
by Tali Rodriguez

Top 5 Matches of the Week
by Dic

Top 5 Verses of the Week
by Pent Up

Dic Interviews with Opera toonist

What Makes A Good Vote?
by Dic




Wassup fools.... This was an interesting week in the league as things seemed to pick up with more people showing to their matches and actually giving some nice writing to read and critique. Many of the matches this week were a little hard to for me to decide on and that made shit like it's supposed to be in this bitch so good shit yall...... that's wtf I like to see. Some tension was also stressed as usual and of course I threw myself into it and started more shit.... lol, oh well.. It's what I do, I guess? The beef instigator.....


From a rule that I didn't remember to update into the new rules about not posting in matches before voting unless it's your match with the consequence of your vote not couting in that match, InsaneVillian posted reminders to everyone to vote in the Tag Tournament. Oops, also my bad cuz I should of notified you of that too. Anyway though, Pent banned IVs votes to enforce a rule that should been there, but wasn't because of me and...well, BEEF was inserted in the frying pan and the shit got greasy. Some fuck yous were thrown around, IV went on a parade of that in the league and MC Hookups and I just had to get in it. Lol, itwas myfault though so I humbled my superego and apologized to both for it. My bad ninjas...... IVs votes were counted and the rule was updated and everything should be cool now. Oh Lawd, there's a 3 way Champ and 3 way Contender's Match..... fucking fuckety fuck fuck

Speaking of rules, we'll have 2 new ones put into effect this week that should help keep things flowing nicely. First one is no more recycling folks...... That's right, if you're caught reusing a verse that has previously posted within the RSTL before, your verse will not count and you will receive as loss as if you didn't show at all. The people have spoken. The second rule was tied because Ron Deau didn't show to his match and has no previous record in the league so his vote was found illegal because he's not a legitimate member of the league...... so I'm making a presidential decision to enforce the rule on behalf of the bettering the league of no shows. This rule will change vote and due dates by a day. Verses will be due Saturday night and Votes will be due Monday night, which means matches and ranks will now go up Tuesday, but I may still put topics up Monday. This should help out the no shows that always seem to hit everyone even those who didn't want to put this rule in effect...such as...........

Atheist seems to be busy or preoccupied as he barely misses the deadline in the Tag Tourney and posts a late verse, only 35 minutes after the due time. Damn close man, so I asked the partipants of the match to decide if it would count and they voted against it. Ironic to me as Atheist voted to not change the due date to Saturday for this very reason and then has to discount his efforts for a few minutes. That tough shit too though as I would have liked to see how that 3 way worked out between 6 great writers going blow for blow in a nice matchup.

With some new people in the league, David Lama, Disused hero, TheReturn, Sacrifice, SteveTheGreat and a few others, I'm nicely surprised to see that there's some good additional competition to look forward to in our lil ole league. These guys are coming in and doin their shit so look out cuz it's not gonna be many easy wins that I can see from any of them. As a matter of fact, the newbs are doing a lot better than the ones we welcome back with former champ and respected Vet, I guess, no showing once again in jowelz and a no shoe by Atreyu or something like who's also been in the league many times before. Why is that the Vets seem to be wasting our time? Hhhmmmm, aye vets, if you don't want your proclaimed image messed with losses from great writing newbs, then use an alias when you sign up so you can actually show up and not look like a wack ass, chicken hearted fuck up..... Wwwoooooooo, now that's some good advice. Ninjas might wanna take notes and shit.

Some great matches unfolded last week though with Pent Up Vs. Sacrifice, David Lama Vs. Urizen, Vigil Vs. Gotlife, Claus Vs. Adderall and tournament matches Me and Moms Vs Insanevillian and Infinite Truth plus Pent Up and StevethaGreat Vs Vigil and Claus were all some good reads and tough choices to call in voting. The league is looking nice and I'm feeling good about being a part of the shit. Aight, mag time mothafuckas

Please take time to vote in final round of the tournament. It will count towards your votes needed.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

The Numbers Game
By: TaLi RodrigueZ

Statistics can tell the truth, but they also have a tendency to be
damn good liars. So how do we establish when they are lying and when
they are telling the truth? Furthermore, is there a gray area? You
may also be wondering who in this world is qualified to make that
determination. Well, since I am the one writing the article, ME,
THAT'S WHO!

Indeed, the RSTL numbers game is a messy one to get involved with. As
a result, some people may end up with an overly blown sense of
smugness while others will feel like they are being picked on. It is
truly not my intention to ruffle any feathers. I will attempt to
present the optimistic and the pessimistic side of the points in
question. Don't take yourself too seriously and we shouldn't have
much of a problem as far as I can see.

A championship title is, perhaps, the accomplishment that lends itself
to the largest variety of interpretation. On the high end of the
spectrum, we have Vern Acular, who is the granddaddy of RSTL
championships. As I mentioned last week, the fellow has won titles in
every era of the RSTL's existence. The cynical side of me asks: In
order to have been the champion 10 times, wouldn't one theoretically
have had to lose the title 9? Obviously there are other explanations
such as signing out as champ (A certified bitch move in my opinion. I
understand if you have something else you really have to do in your
personal life, but as a general rule, I feel like a champion owes it
to the league to defend his or her title rather than just handing it
off to other people who haven't officially earned it). In the case of
Vern, one argument for his legitimacy lays in the fact that he is one
of very few to have held the title for 5 straight weeks, not to
mention that he's beaten just about everybody that this league has had
to offer at least once. DIC is another interesting example. Many of
DIC's titles have come after hard-fought journeys up the rankings,
which culminated in him beating the reigning champion. At the same
time, there were at least two times in the past year where the
champion at the time signed out and thus landed DIC into a title match
against opponents who may not have been there if they would have had
to battle through the contender match, which in my opinion, is usually
just as tough as the championship match. Either way, that isn't DIC's
fault lol. The case could also be made that he hasn't generally been
one to string together consecutive title defenses. That's a fair
enough point. However, again, I urge you to look beyond the surface.
What is a title defense worth? Take me for example. I defended my
first two titles a total of 1 time and my last title 11 times. Break
down the 11 times even further. One of my 'defenses' was a tie
against Riko/Runna. Should my streak of defenses really be 11 if
after three defenses, I tied someone? I don't know; maybe, maybe not.
However, that is the way the league works. Ties happen in
championship matches and we have co-champs. In another case, one of
my defenses was against Insense, who no-showed. With all of this
considered did I really defend the title 11 times or was it more like
3 times and times? Would it be more accurate to say that I held the
title for 11 straight weeks rather than calling it a defense record?
Am I going way to fucking in depth here? I think so, but you get the
point; shit isn't all black and white.

Moving right along…

Let us have a look at tournaments. The first few tournaments had
something like 100+ people in them. Over time, as league
participation has dwindled, so have the number of combatants in the
tournaments. Claushouse won the first ever tournament and I'm pretty
sure he had to beat 7 or 8 people to win it. On the other hand, the
last two tournaments have consisted of 4 total rounds each.
Obviously, it was a lot more work to win a tournament back in the
beginning, but does that necessarily translate into an advantage of
skill level if we were to compare, for instance, Claus and DIC? I
don't really think so. I think DIC could do just fine in those bigger
tournaments just like Claus could just as easily pull off a tournament
nowadays. To add a little more ••••e to the stew, Richard Corey won
the one and only Tournament of Champions, where only past champs were
allowed to enter. I wasn't a participant in that tournament. Does
that render the entire thing void (just kidding)? I really have no
idea how to make any sense of this other than to say that it is
awfully foolhardy to try to make blanket statements when comparing
various accomplishments because there are so many other things
factoring into the equation.

Another statistic that lends itself to scrutiny is the total wins
category. Tekneek has 69 wins and JOOK has 16. They both have two
titles. Who is the better writer? Nique has two titles and 25 wins.
Where does she fit into the equation? When combined with his Runna
DaMille account, Rikoshay has 47 wins. So does L Dogg; go figure.
Speaking of L Dogg, its funny how everybody wants to rag on the guy,
and yet he has two titles and a tournament championship. It seems
that in his case, numbers and accomplishments don't mean as much.
What is that about?

The topic of wins leads naturally into a conversation about losses in
the form of the winning percentage statistic. Basing a person's
writing ability on their winning percentage can be accurate in the
sense that people with higher percentages tend to be the more
successful members. However, comparing percentages to others in the
league can be a risky endeavor. JOOK is ranked 3rd all time on the
winning % list. Jowelz and Talent aren't even in the top 20 in
winning % and yet he has 60+ wins and 5 titles each. Now, I love
JOOK's writing. I was one of the first people to give him
encouragement and tell him he was definitely going to win and win
soon. However, I could never, with good conscience, put him up there
with Talent and Jowelz in any discussion about the best writers to
grace the league. At the same damn time, JOOK has beaten some of the
best writers, namely RIKOSHAY and I (sorry lol).

What in the hell am I trying to get at with all of this rambling?
Good question. I suppose my point is that I sometimes wonder if many
of us get a little wrapped up in numbers and accomplishments and lose
track of the overall purpose of this league, which is to write,
regardless of who it's against or what it's for. Trust me, I love
statistics. I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of moderating
again if I wasn't afraid that you all would basically do away with the
archives that a few others and I spent a good deal of time coming up
with. At the same time, sometimes I have to remind myself that there
is a difference between writing for the sake of writing and writing
for the archives and that the former tends to be a lot more fun and
much more fulfilling than the latter. But whatever, regardless of the
cup of tea you drink, just make sure you know what in the hell is in that shit.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Top 5 Matches

This battle of newbs gave us something to definately look forward to within the league. Showed me that yall better watch out cuz facing either one of them won't be an easy win for anyone.

5. Disused hero Vs. TheReturn


TheReturn had a very nice piece this week as he painted the field of war and the politics of it as well through a topical kind of story like rhyme sequence. The wording was great and gave the narration a good voice to follow which I liked. The character development was what I liked most of the piece as it was setup to be a game of chess where the rooks, the castles, where the most loyal of subjects. Interesting.... but I liked the way the pawn was developed the most. It gave truth to being the sacrificed lil guy that can be so crucial to the game as they manuever across the field and have great impact on the game if positioned correctly. Checkmate at the end.... although I've seen this done before with the chess scheme, I really liked how this verse was told because of all the different pieces having a character with the unfaithful queen, the bishop who also lost his faith and crooked knights. Good shit, pretty entertaining read all the way through. I thought the flow could of been done a little better maybe, but I still enjoyed it.

Disused Hero, man this guy had some great character development to his verse as her portrayed this lady with great details working through his piece to feel almost connected to his piece. The imagery was profound to me as it pulled me in with a colorful view of her depression which lead to her insanity. The way it was worded made the narration so smooth I read it easy and with great flow on top of that. The pictures that were painted with his words though, I know I keep saying that shit, but I was highly impressed with that, it was great writing in my opinion. Was kinda poetical at first with the descriptions of her beautifully written and the view of her mental state well displayed as well. Leading to the insanity of a flase persona as she's drugged to be a mood controlled freak on lockdown. The great character development is what gave this piece a strong connection to the readers I think and like I stated before, it's gonna be hard to face this guy in a match because his/her writing is high caliber shit. Watch out ninjas, we've got another black belt in the league.


4. Vigil Vs. GotLife?
9. GotLife 28-14 VS 10. Vigil 22-15

Hhmm, thought this would be interesting, but turned out a lot differently than I forsaw.

GotLife had a surprisingly very well written verse to finally put on some higher levels with some great descriptive shit. His character was weirdly built, but the way he developed it was nice. The flow is improving with mr lifeless and his word useage was nicely done as well, seems like he's growing folks. Our lil ole Gotlife is writing shit that we can enjoy reading now. Jk, kinda, this was good though. The crazy shit of the relationship between the guy and this girl was nice in the details and structure of the verse and the blam of it all was a terrific ending that surprised me so I gotta give credit when it's finally due. I might have to start reading your shit now that I can actually respect your writing. The girl being dead and the guy being a mortician turned it from nasty to understandable he saw her beauty through his profession. I could of swore he fucked the corpse though, eeeww, nasty ass, beastiality isn't cool.... lol, it was grotesque, but that's what we love here I guess. Yay on graphic nasty shit.

Vigil did his thing as well this week, kinda similiar to his tag team piece with claus, he writes a satirable piece on the government and political policies that are constantly used in causing horrible outcomes of the world. A piece reflecting the capitalistic views of our country's warfare, political agendas and armed forces just being bullies of the world really. The narration was filled with nicely flowing rhymes and well understood passages. The witty guy also places emphasis on making lines that are noticeable when read and make you smile a little whilst reading them. Then of course, breifly stating how the poor can't even afford to die type of shit was nicely worded and gave me more smiles whilst reading. Some of the lines were a bit long and coming from me, that means they even longer, but the flow made that overlookable as it kept a nice rhyme scheme. I think Vigil writes about this topic too often though and it may have some of his pieces sounding to closely like other work he's written. He may need a new concept to cover as we can all see he covers the government policies well and how corrupt the system is. This was well written, but I'd like to see him write on something a little more creative, maybe even see him try to write a story and develop his writing even more to be a more diverse writer.... just something to think about.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Top 5 Matches continued



3. Pent Up Vs. Sacrifice
5. Pent Up 34-13 vs 6. SacriFice 1-0

A nice match up here as a Vet of the RBL takes on our People Champ. Great lines thrown by both and nice verses with good flows as well.

Sacrifice gives a good narration of his take on politics of war and illistrates it nicely with a great sense of narrative voice and damn nice flow with inners and multies packed throughout. The old time RBLer exchamp is obviously looking to add a title from this league to his belt...lol, maybe not, but this was nice nevertheless. I liked the way this was written as it was a story from the narrative point of a character driven sequence of events, but topical line structures with wit of how grewsome war can be to all involved and a strong message displayed through it made it topical as well. Nicely written and like I said, the flow opened this up. There were some lines in there that I found impressive in the way it was worded. Welcome to the club ninja and good shit, keep it up.

Pent Up , man, this was nice as Pent returns to the type of topical writing that made him a people's champ as voted this year. He's always good with these kind of cynical approaches, did I spell that right?, w/e.... He put a theme of ignorant kids that was really amusing with talking of how the youth wastes their lives on bullshit, laughing from solar plexes playing fold up tetris and shit... lol, hd me entertained throughout the piece with lines like that. The narration kind of switched up towards the end and started getting real mature and shit, less entertaining for this verse I think, but still making the point and well done.

Great Match Here and good showing by both writers in a topical match off which I haven't seen too much of lately.


2. Pent up and SteveThaGreat Vs. Vigil and Claushouse
WEST: Atheist & Formal Logic V Vigil & Claus V Pent uP & SteveThaGreat

Whoa, this was almost the match of the week for real. Both teams came with a great display of flow in some nicely voiced pieces.

Pent Up and SteveTheGreat came with a great piece filled with violent imagery and twisted rhymes that were put together in great sequences through the verse as they wrote it like their mind truly morphed together to put themselves in this drug dealers sick ass shoes.... wow, that's a fuckin long ass sentence. Lol, I liked this piece a lot. From the start it displayed a great fight event in the bar with gorey details that I love when done right and they did it right. I was obviously into this from the jump, but it kept going as they narration kept with great flow and some nice scenes. The ending was weird and corny with the guy building a ••••e wrack after sniffing some shit...lol, wtf pent? I liked it though, interesting take on shit. Good job by both and I like collaborated stories. Much harder to write cuz the characters have to interact on some levels. Anyway though, good shit.

Vigil and Claus did a topical piece on the Liberties of our nation. The narration was well worded, mature and dignified in the format and very nice in it's message of being in a corrupted pattern in government politics. The voice of the piece was great with nicely worded lines and good sequences of topical writing. The way this was done was really nice as it kept a view of things that say exactly what we all think.... why are we more concerned with all these other countries while our own nation suffers from destructive acts and left to wash away as baron wastelands with what happened in New Orleans through Hurricane Katrina. Every line was pretty powerful in the message that this government is suppose to represent the people, but doesn't represent the majority as the majority minded people of middle class and poverty dies because the politics won't and don't assist in saving their lives, just taking their there through taxes and shit. Fucking capitalistic, pig faced dogs of shit. Lol, great writing fellas and I highly enjoyed this match.


1. Contender's Match:
Adderall V. Opera toonist
CONTENDERSHIP:: 3.Addderal XR 30 4-1 vs 4. Opera toonist 3-1 vs 4. Woe 2-1

A great match of all aspects from my stand point. Verbally sound, detailed lyrics and greatly displayed structures and formats gave both of these verses something to have a problem on voting and choosing a winner.

Adderall gave a nice personal touch as he let us into his world of thought with this piece by opening up the reasoning behind his name. His 'happy pills' seems to be where the name Adderall comes from, being a perscription name for a remedy of depression. His rhyming in this was well flowing and nicely formatted, but the content gripped my focus and didn't let go of my attention at all. As the character development of this opens up to a desire to want to liked and accepted, but then realizes the importance of staying true to your own personal characteristics that make you unqie is crucial in life. So he accepts who he is and says fuck what people think of me. Makes ya wanna cry doesn't it? We all go through this at one point in our life where we have to see that we are who we are and although its important to take others into consideration, you have to be yourself and be comfortable with doing that. Everything about this piece was nicely done and bringing the personal touch with mentioning the league and how this helps Adderall express himself, nice. I'm not gonna compare it to something Vern would write because he's himself, not vern and he's writing about his individuality as well, but it was on that level of writing to me.

Opera toonist gives a well described and graphically portrayed piece between Satan and Jack the Ripper as the serial killer starts off as a religious man asking forgiveness for his sins and the priest that he confesses to is Satan... interesting take on things. I've seen Jack the Ripper done many times along with Hannibal and other named imfamous killers of brutal force, but this one was different in how the dialogue opened up the character development and displayed a weird connection between Satan and Jack. Satan is the evil God of this and is accepting Jack as a worthy follower of his in the evil intentions of the madman murderer. Conversing back and forth with the devil seemed played when I first thought about it, but as I continued, I actually thought it was well done and not just some sloppy way to explain the demented thought patterns of one of the only serial killers to never be identified.... I think the zodiac killer is one of the other main ones, but jack was far more known because he killed hoes in alleyes and docks. Anyway, I liked the character developments of Jack and The Devil, I liked the dialogue and the details of their mental connections, but it obviously lacked a lil in creativity since neither character is directly created by My Opera toonist himself. Still nicely written and very entertaining piece to read.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Top 5 Verses of the Week

5
Sacrifice, a not-so-new up and comer who takes another step closer to his first RSTL title. Sacrifice dropped a peice that was half metaphor and half imagery
of either a misfit or just some kid with parents who were military-idealists who was sent off to the military or boot camp or something, that part was left
vague and to the imagination. What was NOT left to the imagination was a bonanza of vocabulary strung together in multi syllable lines that, weren't crisp,
but however did lead a line to line narration that would undisputidly sound like seamless sentances. Seamless except the minor grammatical error and
awkward wording, but hey who doesnt do that, most of didnt even graduate highschool....ahem I speak for myself on that though.

Sacrifice on the other hand seems to be the polar opposite of that. Anyways The metaphorical half of his piece was that of the demons and how he
signed his soul over(basically) when he was 'soldier,' but moreso his death was product of the killing he was forced to do. However, personally sac (im
saying this because I obviously couldnt drop a vote), I feel your wording was convuluted in places and your metaphor broken (such as you called yourself a
chained serpant and later reffered to yourself as a muzzled wolf). However congrats on the V

4

then Operatoonist must be someone named eddie, or dana depending. I can say this is one of the easier to read (for me either way) pieces that I've seen from
him. The wording up until the rhymes are for the most part very precise, and describe alot in alot less syllables then it would take to keep it in lamens,
but it doesnt subtract from the crescendo of the piece, as the further you get into the piece the ferocity of and vibe get deeper and darker. The piece is
pretty straight foreward if you know the subject, but if you know OF the subject only then the piece might come off as massively creative, which is common
with stories about a person thats already had a biography written about them; or is a current publicly known figure.
This was a verse about Jack the

Ripper,
however the read was on a more personal level as it wasn't a story about him doing what he did, it was a story of how he felt and what fueled him, almost

like a topical about him, lol. This verse hinges on blending god and the devil as one because he was thought to have an allegiance with the devil, but this

verse nearly contradicts that, while emphasizing it also (wtf? I know). A very well thought out verse that was upheld by decent multis, a smooth flow and a

seamless transition between dialogues, and narration. though there was little narration there wasn't much left to the imaginations, except of course the

amount of gore.

And contrasting Operatoonists' verse is SteveThaGreat, a new comer who will be leaving us shortly for personal reasons, (vacation shiiiit) in the
number 3 spot for his stripper girl fantasy. Haha, not so much; this was about a girl who was abused by her gaurdian after her father had died and
given custody to them. This was fueled by very cleanly placed multis that prolonged a very nice flow, sort of like mine (probly why I like it so much). I
might be partial to the story because he made his character partial to authors (maybe ill get some play? haha, as like as saaaaaay...

or Louis from family guy hehe) but the real reason, beyond any stupity I choose to credit him for, was his character development. Fused with that flow I
mentioned earlier he carried on a story and developed a character simultaneously. I'm sure that doesnt sound remarkebly hard but at the same time he does it

in a manner which makes me enjoy the read. I guess the end of the story could be more developed but I'm sure line limits have something to do with that, so I

hold no grudges. Sad that he wasted such a nicely crafted verse on a no show; if people like Jowelz would acctually man up to their rep that'd be dope. I'm

not tryna start shit, im sure Jowelz had a reason for NSing, but none the less how hard is it to drop a verse? let alone when your supposed to be...

Nevermind there I go. If Steve were to stick around I'm sure he'd get a title faster than most newcomers to this league. He is a fan of writing multis and
sensible stories, two things that are voter-friendly in this league. An imaginative writer with a nice niche for making you vibe with his narrative

descriptions. Word fool.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Atheist; I hear this is a recycled piece, or that might've been the one in the tourny that got DQ'd, either way, its my first time reading it, and I loved alot of it. I was particulary upset at your multi's this time around, and no I am not mistaken, some of them sucked, period. The beginning drew me in, about an ex-soldier that plays on the sidewalk with a tip jar. it was dope, the middle, the meat if you will, I didnt fall that much for, it was like a reminesence of war mixed with the emotions of the man, and in my opinion it didnt pan out well, but I did like the imagery of the trench bombing

Overall though still an atheist verse that was led by strong imagery, a little more emo (haha bastid!) than normal, as there was no dialogue to develop the
character, but atheist stepped outside the elements I see of him normally and forced that emotion upon you well. what particularly sparked interest in me was
his ending. Epescially the metaphor of the guitar and the clouds, and the similie of the well and the jar. The ending, people (i forgot this wasn't a critique for a second since it didnt recieve votes) was a very eloquent apprasail of the mans feelings and a perfect summing of the piece, in my opinion
anyway. Very nicely constructed story Athe, ranked high because of the ending.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaand.............

Insane Villain and Infinite Truth are making close chums with this guy:

because my ninja killed them this round. so in number 1 this week its Blackbeard and Momma.

This sparked off hot with momma's verse as a dude at a masqerade party whos chasing ass but is seemingly intimidating because of his costume and the wild west attitude to go with it. Momma's verse is basically a setup verse, where the opener is all foreshadow, and well done at that, and then the main body of his is basically description and dude tryna get pussy. but the end of his verse is where shit sparks and gets interesting for a minute. Then, almost without notice you are brought into the eyes of characters two (each person wrote on a characters perspective, which is what makes this collab so hot, its dont so that each person is describing whats going on in the event, and while one is fucking in a closet the other one is telling you whats happening outside). character two is the 'killer in question' and I wont spoil how this verse ends, but all the strings are attached in the web they weave, and I give'em kudos for making a story with equally ill flow, constant progression, and covering all elements of their surroundings while maintaining to progress the story and add elements of imagery and intricity. Not many verses hit all elements nowadays, most focus on emotion and imagery, or narration and dialogue, or just two basically main ones, but this is what sets them apart from the rest: DETAIL. which is also why SteveThaGreat was ranked pretty high this week. Overall this verse was almost, if not the, epitome of what stories, limited to 64 lines, should look like, I mean that from a vague standpoint. There are other ways to make dope stories no doubt, but this one was definately something to be reckoned with.

Once again, if you think you are getting the shaft in my top 5's, step ya game up, or if you think you know someone who would astonish me, get'em to join!
SHIIIT even if they wont astonish me, tell'em to join! that's all I can ever really stress, besides learn to use multis correctly; TE.LL YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN
Pz folks

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Dic Interviews with Opera toonist

DIC Gets Gully: Ready?

claus: hit me

DIC Gets Gully: *balls fist, but decides to throw beer bottle instead*
DIC Gets Gully: Lol

claus: lol
claus: as long as its not american beer ill take it claus: wiat should i be formatting now did we start?

DIC Gets Gully: I'm sitting up this bitch, smoking a cig and sipping on some champaigne, hollaring at this writing maniac mothafucka claus...aka opera toonist. Wassup ninjamatic
DIC Gets Gully: Yes, we've started
DIC Gets Gully: Lol
DIC Gets Gully: *bloopers music plays in background*

Claushouse: Yeah I go by a few names, Annihilation and Clawz, too lol, but I'm only one person (not mentally, at least). Pretty good, hungover, had a few too many bitch drinks in the form of cabana boy and parrot pay, class starting tomorrow.
Claushouse: *(well, maybe not mentally). God, I can't even make a coherent sentence.
claus: next question.

Dic GeTs GuLLy That's right, school's back ninjas.... I guess I can predo my rm code too. All gravy. Drunken ass ninja
Dic GeTs GuLLy who's the interviewer in this biotch again? I thought that ninja was me
Dic GeTs GuLLy anyway tho...... hurryin mothafuckas up ass, bleep bleep bleep... The league is looking pretty nice now

Claushouse: you're right, but i need to veil the illusion of my time being precious haha

Dic GeTs GuLLy after some hard work from me and my mod squad to improve things, the turn out is getter much better, people are showing with decent writing and votes and I'm loving it. What ur thoughts on how shit's working?

Claushouse: Yeah the league is definitely growing in terms of quality writers from both the old and the new, I noticed legends like Vern and Awedishin in the ranks this week as well as the formidable but in-and-out Thaumaturge, who is undefeated lifetime @ 10-0, which is a legit record and rather impressive (despite never winning the title) and interesting to see him pitted against someone else who is an RBL champ and made an impressive 8-0 run earlier this year in the form of Mr. Mynd.

Claushouse: Then you already had cats like Atheist, Adderall and Vigil in the league, and I've been impressed with newcomers from the PTL and elsewhere like TheReturn, Sacrifice and Disused Hero who all came with tightly scripted verses. I was skeptical upon my initial return; however, the current state of the league with the advent of banning recycling and the change in due dates from Friday to Saturday are going to help tremendously, and I think in terms of quality of battling the former is going to bring out better competition and the latter will dramatically improve showing, and is probably the best compromise between a No No-Show policy we had earlier this year which is too much work to manage & what was currently happening. People are against it now but just like when Pent uP lobbied for Friday due dates when they were Thursday, it will be embraced when they see the new policy in action.

Dic GeTs GuLLy: *Pats self on back* ooo, I got a pretty nice ass. I see why bitches always grabbing at my shit. Did I type that out loud. My bad... back to the interview, it seems like the Vets have less reliable to show in the past few weeks as Jowelz and Atreyu no showing, while the newbs are kicking some ass and impressing me. I like this disused hero guy and thereturn is cool too. Anybody new you looking forward to?


Claushouse: If I had to pick one I'd say I'm looking forward to seeing more of Sacrifice, who is actually already in the 'Contender Match' (Rikoshay informed me that Contendership isn't a word lol) and undefeated at 2-0. I found his mechanics and vocabulary to be pretty dope this week and enjoyed his verse, which held its own against an impressive Pent uP. Another reason I'm excited about this cat is that Tali Rodriguez brought this cat over to the RSTL and has lavished nothing but praise about him, and coming from a writer like Mr. Tali, that means alot.
Dic GeTs GuLLy : no, contership isn't a word. Lol, we've gone from a very shady looking league to a pretty nice one and I wanna thank everyone for that. I do what I can so yall can do da damn... feel it and lets keep this shit jumpin.
Dic GeTs GuLLy : with all the progress, I think it's making some Vets scared..... you're in another champ match, a 3 way one..... you scared? You got Adderall and Atheist to face... damn

Claushouse: The magazine is also starting to shape up nicely and returning to form. Yeah, a 3-way Champ Match with Atheist (whom I've actually never faced before) and Adderall is definitely going to be a tough one, they're both incredibly talented writers. That said, all three of us have been to the big show enough times to not really let it affect our writing, you just gotta put up a solid piece and either voters take to it or don't, it's really not in your control. You can come away with a win that on another particular week with different voters turn out completely differently, you have to just learn to shrug it off and keep writing.

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Dic GeTs GuLLy : yea, you got your work cut out for you. You gotta deal with me and moms in the final round of the tag tourney tooo. Damn, this is gonna be an interesting week. I'm putting in some new rules to help the league out. The new due dates and the no recycling rule.... I think both will improve the status of things. Any thoughts on that?

Claushouse: Yeah you're right, I'm actually more worried about trying to churn out two quality verses this week, one which I have to coordinate with Vigil in the Tournament finals, which is alot of back and forth cooperation between us to get it right and make sure we're on the same page, I think the results are worth it though. It was pretty disappointing to only find 3 votes in our Semi-Final after putting so much work into our verse. Hopefully alot of people vote in the Final this week to get a better sample from the RSTL population in declaring a winner.

Dic GeTs GuLLy : yeah, I should of notified everyone that they should support the tournament and vote.... I've addressed that as my bad... My bad yall. I make mistakes too... The Tag Tourney has not turned out as great as I thought it may have, but it was fun. Did you enjoy it? wish more people would have showed, but I can't help that

Claushouse: Yeah like I said, I really think the rules being implemented this week by you, Pent uP and Tali are really going to improve the league. Later due dates will keep more people in the league, who, instead of saying "fuck it" on a Friday, can wake up on Saturday morning or afternoon (depending on how you pick your poison) and write something, and the recycling issue will keep things fresh (I've read about 7 different writers for the second time, myself included, in the last 3 weeks lol) and prevent people from abusing verses they've already had judged and force people to be creative, work around topics posted and avoid the league becoming stagnant.

Dic GeTs GuLLy : cool, I can feel that. There's no more pussy in the league. I miss Nique. *wipes tear away* lol, I do though and other femcees like Erikah Caine, Roc C or Jai Z (her current name), Soular Dike, Lucifer Leviathon and them.. What do you think we can do to encourage more ladies to join? Curious

Claushouse: Well thankfully the No No-Show rule transfered over from the last tournament was put in place, and while the turnout was disappointing to an extent, we're quick to forget how this happens at just about EVERY tournament we have, especially with a tag team element (which many writers were forced to forego and write their verses alone). I think the spirit of the tournament was kept alive with mostly people who collaborated together moving on, and there were no freebie wins, as past tournaments in 2004-2005 had in conjunction with smaller turnout, which wasnt a problem in 2002-2003 because, in 2002 for example, there were 7 rounds you had to go thru, so no shows aren't nearly as crippling to the event's integrity. I think those who did show were veterans so overall it was still a success, albeit not a great one.

Dic GeTs GuLLy : we need a females perspective every now and then. Sausage fests doesn't work for the dic

Claushouse: So to answer you're question lol, yeah I enjoyed it, Ive been having fun collaborating with Vigil.

Dic GeTs GuLLy : cool, look up at the other question. Lol

Claushouse: Also MISSKEYdaQUEEN and Tha DQ are femcees worth mentioning

Dic GeTs GuLLy : ok, duly noted. Get em in here..... Dic needs more ladies to fondle with.

Claushouse: It's tough attracting females to compete in a genre that garners alot of pissing contests and testosterone-heated arguments and egos on top of the fact that Rap is currently institutionalized more towards men. Thankfully there's alot of prominent female rappers like Lil Kim and Missy Elliot making it alot more commonplace to have women being active participants in creating art rather than being the butt-end of stereotypical objectification that's so boring and commonplace even today, and I think even songs that don't have an overtly degrading message are still behind the times, overprotecting your "boo" and treating her right like the trophy wife you want her to be isn't much of an improvement over calling them bitches and hoes.

Claushouse: But the sample of women in the league will slowly reflect those in the population as, like in other institutions such as Education for example, women begin to fully incorporate themselves as equals. If you look a college enrollment, women now exceed men; the college I went to a few years back was 66% female; I sure as fuck ain't complainin' lol.

Dic GeTs GuLLy : Are you running for a political position at rm or something. Your answers are awfully pc..... all gravy though. Mr sophisticated. I think women fighting is some sexy shit though. Hhhmmm, put Nanijah and Jai Z in a tub of jello to battle, I'm there fa sho..... I'm just kidding though. It's nice to see a full spectrum of writers and that's what I'm looking for in the league. People say beef helps escalate things in here to keep it lively. For some reason, I'm known as the beef guy, do you think my beefs have assisted the growth in the league?

[DiC GeTs GuLLy]

Claushouse: I think there's a fine line between a beef that's enjoyable to watch unfold and one that becomes exausting to have to constantly endure. I don't anyones beefs, myself included, help. The reason is that the league is a competitive one that relies on objective voting as the scoring system and it's humanly impossible to omit subjectivity, it's a matter of minimizing it in the goal of attempting to achieve total objectivity. Battles go on, voting occurs, and votes in your battle from people you're beefing with are construed as biased, as are yours, further beef ensues in hookups/aim/matches, and it becomes a vicious cycle that transfers over into coming weeks, slowly tangles more people into the web and continues, until "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" syndrome occurs and suddenly you're best friends because of something new happening that puts you in that situation.
Claushouse: The nature of the league isn't propice to it, unlike sporting competitions or whatnot that are arbitrated by people NOT participating in the league.
Claushouse: That is the inherent flaw of these types of leagues, especially when the sample to population ratio is awful, it makes every vote crucial.
Claushouse: If you had a thousand people voting in every match beef would probably make things more interesting, but alas that isn't the case.
Claushouse: That said, I think most of the voting in this league is pretty good, when there is a clear winner in someones mind pretty much everyone votes honestly, when things are 50/50 things get a little blurrier and we all tend to rationalize a bit in terms of the quality of writer, if we know them, what their repute is, etc.. but that's life, it's not a big deal.
Claushouse: In terms of your beefs specifically, I think running the league and talking shit are probably asynchronous endeavors, and they probably have differing effects; some people are motivated by conflict, while others are off-put by it. Personally, the thought of your egotistical ass winning another tournament is definitely a motivator, moreso than winning another one lol.

Dic GeTs GuLLy : I agree that beef doesn't help at all and I take offense to being called such a beef causing person. I'm a kind hearted individual that just tries to give what I can and expecting some sppreciation for it instead of all the bitching and bullshit all the time.... voting seems to be getting better with certain people leaving, I think. Never really thought Forrester or Flor were decent voters... that may start another beef huh? Oops "dad dic", anyway... I think we need to encourage the good voting too. Can't really avoid hater votes anymore and shit seems to always happen in some matches.

Dic GeTs GuLLy : school just started though and you got a whole new pack of high grads in college... Are you a fresh meat preditor? Don't lie....
Dic GeTs GuLLy : hello?

Claushouse: Kids coming in tend to stick to their high school friends the first-year before actually broadening their horizens, and I can't deal with the bullshit tween drama most of these freshmen girls sport. I overheard walking campus today these three freshmen girls... I'll paraphrase the snippet I caught: "OMG, I'm so nervous about going to a frat party" "yeah, im TOTALLY not drinking the first time" "yeah me too" "I heard this one girl got roofied once". I hit it off with this freshman last year and we go back to her place and we're getting it on and she stops me and she's like "I'm not going past this on a first date just to make sure you're serious about me" I resisted the urge to pull out my cock and slap her in the face and just walked out and never talked to her ever again. If I want to date Cosmopolitan, I'll buy a fucking copy. Most of them aren't on birth control, or immature, or virgins, or get extremely clingy, I really think in general in terms of fresh meat Sophomores are the ideal choice and it weeds out the sorority whores who put on the freshman fifteen and sport a beergut wearing tanktops spreading herpes around to ugly, fat frat boys

Dic GeTs GuLLy : you know you're gonna go groping on some teenage asses and hump on some jean fillin freaks after that kegger tonight.... keep it real ninja.. Ok though, we're gonna play a quick game of is that ninja dope? I'm gonna name a writer and you tell me what you think of em. Ready?


Claushouse:hit me

Dic GeTs GuLLy : your good ole buddy Vigil

Claushouse: Vigil is more accomplished than most writers his age, he's still got some growth to do, especially in terms of focus and clarity. I think his strong point is his wordplay and imagination, he's a very good writer, but he often runs with those strengths into ambiguity and the topic or subject matter is hard to discern, you can find creativity and other writing niches within a structure, even if your thesis and supporting arguments aren't in your face they still need to be present in the verse, and so sometimes I'll be reading one of his pieces and be like "wow that was fucking dope... I have no idea what the hell he was talking about but it was a dope read". He does find himself centered at times and creates some terrific verses, hence a runner up in the last tourny and a league title.

Dic GeTs GuLLy : wow, that's a big response... Vigil is nice with it. what about Pent Up

Claushouse: Another good writer, I feel like his real life emotions spill into his progress in the league though, he was like the Phil Mickleson of the RSTL, ie, best player to never win a title until recently, and not for lack of talent but because they'd self-implode, he'll come into a champ match and just not give a fuck and throw it away. So when he is motivated and ready to rock and roll in real life, he's able to concentrate on his work and he produces material that's extremely polished, tight rhyme schemes and he's underrated in terms of people named as insanely creative (DIC, Cereal Killer, etc.), and the reason why is that you have to have read a particular verse on a particular week where he comes in with the right mindset. I think his long tenure as mod has led to a certain apathy which ALL MODS get doing shit that nobody fucking appreciates and he's been modding for almost 2 years when most burn out in mere months, so I think it's hurt him as a writer.