Round 2: 1. TheReturn vs. 9. Mound 10 VOTE!

[J o o k]

The New RSTL Rules and Regulations

VERSES DUE:Friday 11:59 pm EST. NO RECYCLING.

Verses posted after the deadline will not count! UNLESS you post your verse before mods close threads (for some odd reason), and your opponent agrees to let your verse stand.

VOTES DUE: Sunday 8 PM PST. 4 votes per participant, POST LINKS in your match. Each link not posted will result in a 1 vote deduction up to 4 votes obviously.

*Votes posted after deadline will not count in a tie or a close match, thus possibly resulting in a loss. GET YOUR VOTES IN.
You are also required to vote on the Championship, and Contendership match which will be included in your 4 votes.

If you are not in the league you cannot vote, unless you are an ex champion. Ex champions must vote on a minimum of 4 battles for their votes to count.

*Check-in (Posting in your match to show that you are aware the match exists) is encouraged but not required.

*Verses MUST incorporate at least one of the provided topics and must be at least 16 lines and must not exceed 64 lines.

*Anyone who does not post at least 4 lines, incorporating at least one of the provided topics, is considered a no-show.

*During check-in, you can ask your opponent to agree to a line limit (Minimum 16) and if your opponent agrees, Moderators will hold both participants to that limit.

*Posting between 4-15 lines is considered a no-show.

* EXSTENSTIONS will be granted on a case by case basis.

*If your opponent no shows you will still be held accountable for posting TWO VOTES.

*Votes must at least be 2 lines in length for each verse.

NO SHOWS WILL COUNT AS A LOSS.

Lastly: Moderators have FINAL say over all situations that arise.

Amendments

1. Mods can vote.

2. You're opponent automatically gets the same extension deadline.

3. You cannot win a championship by no show. You will become the number #1 seed, but you must win by vote to be a champion. This does not apply for defenses.

[TheReturn]

Yessir.

1
2
3

[TheReturn]

.

Since the dawn of our time, we've defended beliefs.
When really, it's only sin that we teach,
Calling another person's beliefs nothing but sensless and weak,
Is the reason God has killed more than any disease.
It's a business, just think,
Shouldn't two men fighting for God be able to end it in peace?
But instead we've killed and we've fought,
Overtaking the fields that we've lost,
Where the skills we were taught leave us ill and distraught.
All so our homes can be built on the rocks
Where the blood of a man was spilled from a cross.
Tell me what's so holy about the location of it
The place of death of Judaism's greatest prophet,
Christianity's son of God,
Literally a reincarnation of Him.
Tell me how before Christ, a place often defenseless
Is suddenly worth the millions of lives it costs to defend it.
Tell me how you thought for an instant
That these wars are justified over ones fought in the present.
Tell me how you Catholics can sit and confess
All the sins you regret,
While placing God on the same level as the men you elect.
And how you tend to neglect
The fact that the Crusades were senseless, at best
Yet the Pope never came to you to forgive him for that.
It's why I think religion is wack,
Why the Muslims will never be able to prove it's worth it,
Taking another man's life for a group of virgins.
It's just stupid, worthless,
Going through with a plan backed by ruthless murders,
Like Allah will only love you if you shoot a person?
And yet it's happened for years,
Terrorist attacks from the bastards we fear.
Not taking into account it's God's passion we share
While defending a land that is actually theirs.
A warzone that's been active for years
As history repeats itself among the ravishing tears
Of the innocent lives lost in the cities that we're ravaging here.
In this "Holy" Land,
Where they're strapped with bombs
And disguised as a kid with his Dad and Mom,
Hiding guns under the same clothes in which he asked Allah
To bless his mission of death for his Hezbollah.
In this "Holy" Land,
People beaten with stones and soldiers missing their eyes,
Whether sliced out with swords or disfigured by mines.
It's always been the same scene, just at differ-ent times.
People fighting for God whether they live or they die.
In this "Holy" Land,
Tell me, why die for a belief, when you can live for a cause?
Like there's some Golden Road to freedom, reminiscent of Oz?
Think about it...
One-ways to paradise, it's why people get killed for a God,
It's no wonder the holy wars are the biggest of all...

"If you kill them in war, they have to be your slave in the after life.”


So welcome to Heaven, slaves, here is your job
Go polish up the Pearly Gates...

Sincerely,
God

.

[Mound 10]

I will be posting tonight.

Best of luck to you.

- Mountain

[Mound 10]

The greatest fiction never written
By: Mound 10

Pocahontas gave me small pox disguised in a long kiss...
...She contracted it from a diseased blanket delivered by John Smith
So my travels are now taking me to see the Wizard of OZ...
...Following the yellow bricks, through blizzards and fog
Through the mist and over yonder, though my haste was scanty...
...In the middle of the woods, I arrive at a place made of candy
I knock, but to no avail, so I enter and raid the pantry...
...Fully stocked pack now, I start to leave so I don't further delay my prancing
I look toward the oven, and see the rattling of a pouring cup...
...And see two children inside, with it warming up
I free the children, we flee, and even trample a kettle...
...I asked their names, they replied "Hansel and Gretel".


...woah...

So on we trot, eating sweets that rot our teeth, we return to the path
But it's been a long day, and I yearn for a bath...
...We come to a cabin made of hickory and ply
With commotion, rumbling and a lot of bickering inside...
...The door is prompt open, I see a kid there
In front of a raging, ferocious big bear!
I tried to save the girl, but the bear said "one move and you're a dead man!"
So we made a deal,
...I take the girl safely, and give him the Ginger Bread Man
We leave fast, and hours later stop for a scenic look...
Then watch the Ginger Bread Man run past with an half eaten foot!
...My small pox were progressing, I needed to get to OZ fast
But now with 3 children it's hard to stay on task...
...For now we'll rest, upon the log splattered forest floor
So before bed I prayed to mother goose to ask what more's in store...


...At dawn we arose to a wood chuck - chucking wood,
And debated on how much wood the wood chuck, chucking could...
...Back to our journey, it's turning into a serene walk
Spoke to soon!
Out of the midst, stands a giant beanstalk...
...I tell the children to stay at the bottom near the bend in the flowers
And to leave without me if I wasn't back at the end of the hour...
...So atop the beanstalk I saw a furious giant protruding with anger
And a human in the distance eluding the danger...
I almost slid down the beanstalk, when the giant looked AT ME!
But then I was astonished,
That Jack from the beanstalk, was really Jackie...



...So down I slid, back to the kids, but the scene was strange
They were now accompanied by a scarecrow, who said he'd need a brain
"If only I had a brain,
I could solve any riddle, for any individual in trouble or pain!"
So on we went, but came to a humongous body of water...
...That we must cross, then I seen oddly, an otter
So this was an Ocean, and the Wizard was across it...
...I inserted a stick to check the depth, and surely lost it
"We must swim!" I exclaimed,
...Then Hansel asked why, "because if not we will die!" I explained.
The waves were crashing hard, we had to follow the roll...
...Then Moby Dick came .... and swallowed us whole.


Through the years...
These stories have changed much like the History books known for the selling of glory
Just remember next time you pick a book up, it's all up to who's telling the story...

[Got Life?]

TR - ok so I started reading this when you first posted it and walked away...I wasn't in the mood to read something "preachy" to an extent as I think I personally am rather familiar already with how you feel about religion...this piece showed your particular disgust with a few things here and there which took it away from an utter rant, but other than smooth mechanics, a good flow, and a nice rhyme scheme this was a topical that really didn't offer anything new on the subject matter...

Mound - at first this kind of seemed all over the place, but I have to hand it to you, easily one of the most creative pieces i've read in quite some time as it bounced between the characters and I love the way you correlated all of it together...the flow was smooth and the piece never really missed a beat, I also rather enjoyed the message at the end of it all.

To me, both of you had equally good mechanics, with TheReturn having the better flow, but the more creative and better piece in my eyes is Mound 10.

Vote = Mound 10

[Lucifa]

well I didn't see this coming ..

Return - this was a straight political statement kinda topical piece .. you weren't saying anything new or shocking or even really thought provoking .. but .. you didn't venture off topic or get real abstract or obscure with any of the content either .. the flow was smooth as usual and the vocab was a good standard .. it was a good read no doubt .. just not really something that's all that appealing to me (outside of bad mouthing muslims) .. I agree with the sentiment of religion and war .. can't really fault the content at all for the piece it is .. just on a personal level and my belief and more so my actual interest .. this wasn't grabbing me ..

Mound - you pulled one out the hat here .. you have been the dark horse for me for a long time .. consistency has been your downfall through the season .. you can go 2 or 3 weeks with passable, readable but not really astounding pieces .. then boom .. you drop something like this that screams for attention and appreciation .. now I don't want to overhype this piece .. it has it's faults .. for starters ~ anger does not rhyme with danger .. but the content and how you told this story was great fun to read .. it reminds me of the kinda creativity DAD uses sometimes .. a toned down creativeness that's surreal but not mind boggling or so out there it's almost "dumb" .. this was crafted and wrapped up to a very high standard .. props ..

Vote = Mound 10 .. shocker .. but yeah .. better verse here .. and it's not even a case of saying "Return dropped the ball" here .. cos he had his usual good standard of all the mechanics you need to present a solid piece .. even the content although not to my tastes was a good read .. but Mound just sucked me into his writing and I enjoyed the ride ..

[J o o k]

TR you gave a solid effort here, and of course your mechanics are very polished. The thing is, though we love political and religious sometimes rhetoric topical pieces, the downfall is they've been done before. So really it just doesn't do it for me anymore. Rikoshay used to do them but it was pretty dope the way he put them together. So in reason, when reading yours, not comparing or anything but it just seemed kind of bland. I liked the ending though undoubtedly. I think that was the strong point of your piece, the strong ending. I think you might have done what you thought you needed to do to get the win and Mound just came on his game bro. Overall this verse would have beat a lot of heads, but this week it just wasn't enough imo.

Mound 10 this has to be the freshest piece I've read in a very long time and for sure this season. This shit single handedly broke the monotony of the league. I don't want to gas you up and shit, because you're mad inconsistent, but if you wrote like this every week, you'd be a fucking beast. I like how you took childhood fairy tales and just made them into a story of one, but kept them all connected by you finding the wizard to cure you of small pox. Damn you even said John Smith brought it over in a blanket, that's some factual shit. The flow was choppy in my opinion, but the story was dope, and I think you didn't want to sacrifice story for flow. Great piece son.

Vote - Mound 10

[LDogg The King]

I donno.. Returns verse was good.. the theme of the verse was boring to read, but the lines still stayed pretty fresh, even though I didnt agree with what he is saying... and I think just because something with this god theme has been done before, it shouldnt be the reason for losing to a verse that in my opinion lacked everything but a good idea.

mounds.. sure.. ill give you a prop for having a good idea to write about this week, but the way you connected all the classic stories was just too simple, i donno... there was just nothing really creative about what you did in terms of writing the ideas out... and all the things you tied together seemed like other peoples creations which were carrying your plot..... and at the same time I was feeling like dam this dude gonna bring up this.. and only say this little part about it?... thats pretty much how I felt with all the connections you tied together.. they were just empty.. I would have liked to know why each perticular classic you chose to include was in there and would have thought this was truley dope had there been specific reasons for tying in the stories you did.. but you didn't and it just seemed like a bowl of shit that had pieces of good character themes from other peoples great minds thrown for the sake of tying your theme of everyone being able to tell stories differnt..

vote return.
if mounds would have been able to build on and tie everything together better (maybe spend more time of a few of the stories you chose instead of leaving all of them dry) and have the overal story say more about why each story was used in the overal of his verse, instead of just calling this random mix creative, I can see this being his win, but since he didnt, its too cluttered with topics of interest (the characters) who have already been created outside of this story.. and the ending is a cheap way to try an make sense of the randomness of this overal story.. just a bad use of the picture to me...I would feel disrespected being the writer of one of the stories where you used my character to make what u did.. sorry.

[Pent uP]

hahaha Headless is making it to the semis

[TheReturn]

lol...gtfo pent. SHIT IS FACTUAL

[J o o k]

Mound wins.