[MAG] The Tribune Vol.3 : DF Issue 4

[Quriosity]

The Tribune: Volume 3, Divisional Format Issue 4

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. Weekly Poll
III. Ode to Vern
IV. Lead by Example
V. GL's Breakdowns
VI. The Loose Cypher
VII. Divisional Ranks & Matches
VIII. Q's Predictions
IX. The Great Sacrifice
X. Eye-Rime's Profile
XI. …Of the Week
XII. Conclusion


I. Introduction

Firstly, I would like to say that I enjoyed my first week back.

Though my competition was the exact opposite of fierce, I was able to witness near record breaking numbers in completed matches and nearly all good matches at that. Many have stepped their game up and other new comers are writing at levels that I would have never guessed. Some old names have resurfaced as well and are neither rusty nor ..er, what's the word I'm looking for here, washed up.

Almost synonymous in meaning, but quite different when related to the ability to form a rhyming story. Rusty, in this sense, would mean hopeful. A once great, or good even, writer who is merely out of practice. Washed up on the other hand would mean there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Someone who will never be able to rekindle the once glory associated with their name. Honestly, neither term applies to the current old schoolers with Vern Acular inching closer to his original greatness and Atheist constantly wowing the voters.

That is, until the return of Tekneek. Don't sweat it though.

I guess we will see if this fact remains by the end of the week.

Without further adieu, I would like to extend a warm invitation to those who disagree with the way I write my magazines, or to those who may disagree with my views or the way I express my opinions, or simply to those whom may just want to help and have a sincere concern for the future of this league. Please feel free to email me at usadesigns1 @ gmail or instant message me at joekraq. I am always open to suggestions and help from those who are truly interested.

[Quriosity]

II. Weekly Poll

Last Week’s Poll

“Are you happy that Quriosity (Eye-Rime) is back?”

Results: Yes, 10. No, 1.

My Opinion: Obviously I'm happy to be back and even more happy that you're all happy that I'm happy to be back.

No, but really, I only posted the poll because I was rushing the magazine and had no other ideas or knew of no other immediate concerns. I am happy however that you all missed me and respect me as a competitor and the feelings were mutual. I respect you all as writers and as long as we can keep it mature, I will respect you all as individuals as well.

This Week’s Poll

"Should the standard for new sign-ins be lowered?"

[Quriosity]

III. Ode to Vern

A man of many faces.. well, recently at least.

Quite possibly the most decorated of all veterans of RSTL's past as well as the strongest of those still doing it. However, his reputation was slightly tainted during the Nah Son Unveiling fiasco and just before it. The 'life_support' alias left Vern's honor on just that.. life support. After wowing the voters, guesses arose as to who exactly was the man behind the alias. I believe I was the only one to guess accurately, as well as the only one to defeat him 2 weeks in a row during this time period. This led to a frenzy of bitchiness followed by a tag team duo between Jook and Vern Acular, banding together in gayness to ruin the name of the league. A miserable failure to say the least.

After constant moaning, onlookers were either disgusted or turned on by the manly moans of the homo brigade. Needless to say, I was the former.

But, and what a fortunate but it is.. Vern has recently redeemed himself not only in talent but in action. For this, I publicly commend him.

The last I saw of Vern was an outlandish call out thread to a pink slip, hoping to rid the league of its most active moderator.. though it was widely known that I would be leaving regardless. Nevertheless, I am appalled and equally ecstatic to see his return to his former self. Looking back, the entire Nah Son incident was just humorous and I assume both were just looking for some form of entertainment.. or at least this is the theory that I choose to believe.

Vern Acular is now writing at a level closer to that of what we have grown to expect. He is also posting at a more mature level and I fully accept his notion to squash any prior beef that we may have had.

Jook, however, has done little. The whole MSPaint a Got Life? Picture was the most corny and yet catchy fad since fading signatures. It was also a sad attempt to save face. Nevertheless, though he has made no public attempt to reconcile beef arising from Nah Son's unveiling, he has shown a certain level of maturity that I can dig. That, and the fact that me and Jook were cool before have allowed me to look past his previous homosexual tendencies. He hasn't quite redeemed his RSTL reputation and I probably would never be seen with his type outside of this screen, but his internet persona has somewhat prevailed and he is cool in my book.

He's also a fellow moderator and has been for quite some time, so I try not to beef with other moderators. I prefer to practice what I preach.

In conclusion, don't consider this an attack, but a mutual handshake. All is well.

[Quriosity]

IV. Lead by Example

With arguably the best verse of last week, Atheist has came back to take the RSTL by storm. Few can contend against such precise storytelling and I predict even fewer successfully will.

With that said, I did not opt to write this article in a lonely attempt at cybermasturbation with Athiest's verse. My intentions rather are to use Atheist as an example to those who are in need of one.

Overall, I do not agree that his story broke any new ground and it is doubtful that his story even won this match.. though he clearly had the better story of the two. But, what was more impressive was the actual manner in which he told the story.

Precise and concise with a strict rhythmic pattern that never once used content as the sacrificial lamb.

What was unique to many should have been seen as simply good storytelling skill. Atheist has been a flashlight for those in the dark. Many have neglected the actual telling of a story and have instead focused on flow, mechanics, and surprise endings. But while doing so, these same people have been unaware of their lack in actually telling a story. Atheist reminds us of what this means.

I do not mean to condemn those writers who have developed their own styles. In fact, I encourage it. But few are so strictly reliant on actually telling a story rather than being able to rhyme through multiple lines or find compelling metaphors and grotesque descriptions or maybe the most cliche in unveiling some cheap surprise ending. When combined, all of these can make for a great read. But oh how refreshing it was to see someone focused less on these attributes and more on the story.

Clearly not the best by any means, but a great writer nonetheless. However, I hope that you don't take from this what most of you will.. that Q enjoyed Atheist's verse last week. But rather that we should all get back to telling stories and let the accessories play their part accordingly.

If anything, it was definitely a reality check for me. I know very well that when time is cut short, I rely on my mechanics and ability to rhyme in order to make a fan friendly verse.

Congratulations Atheist for being my pick for verse of the week.. as well as nearly every participant in the league.

[Quriosity]

V. GL's Breakdowns

Fourteen fucking matches…are you kidding me? Four straight weeks of 11+ matches. 32 people in the league this week. Only ONE, I repeat ONE MOTHERFUCKER no-showed!? Voting at an all time high. I’m sold; this is the best league by a mile.

Due to time constraints I will use the opinions of other writers who I consider as credible to help me write up the breakdowns in regards to matches that don’t stick out in my memory to save myself from having to re-read them a second time.

Also, they’re a little more opinionated this week as I’m in a more opinionated mood? I unno…read on or jog on…fuck it.

Jimmy Eles vs RICO

RICO doesn’t vote and his verses are always late and they suck so fuck giving him any breakdown. Jimmy Eles on the other hand wrote something or other about a paparazzi figure and something about the mind state. The piece wasn’t really developed all that well and there were several grammatical and simple oversights that showed he didn’t put much effort into this and so the same effort he gets back in return.

DaAlmightyDolla vs nom de plume.

Well considering that there are quite a few sexual deviants and a few alcoholics in the league I’m sure they quite enjoyed if they read Dolla’s account of a lesbian sex fest…personally I found it quite amusing. Not in the “that made me laugh way” but I was like…”arite, I can fuck with that”…the piece didn’t hit the note of actually catching the sexual tension in my book, but it was pretty well written although still slightly on the overly simplistic side. Now those who know me know I normally really can’t stand what Nom does and his overkill of every “poetic” piece seemingly the same with a few different details and just different wording, but this week he even made a believer out of me. His piece about Hermes was worded perfectly and carefully, each linguistic selection had purpose and the piece shined because of it. There was just too much to this piece for it to fall short to DaD, even with most of the readers in the league not catching the depth of it.

Atheist vs _KDP_

Umm…Atheist is a fucking beast. There’s a reason he’s one of my top all time story-tellers and you fucks found that out last week. This piece was brilliant on so many levels and if it wasn’t picked for verse of the week it’s a fucking outrage. Nothing more need be said about this, you should go read this immediately if you haven’t yet. KDP’s verse was nothing to sleep on either though, put against many other people he definitely would have had a close match, I know he’s new on the scene, but mark my words, kid is no fucking joke. This verse was pieced together as he noted, but while you read Atheist’s verse also check out the first 10 bars of KDP’s.

tbone vs Eye-Rime

This was a joke of a battle and everyone knew it coming in. Everyone’s favorite copycat tbone who ironically failed to vote now that his borrowing has been exposed is pretty much as bad of a writer as can be. When you match someone that far down the totem pole against one of the better writers since the league’s re-birth it’s nearly impossible to expect a different outcome. Q definitely gave us a chore with his verse though, a lengthy piece that wasn’t worth the time spent reading it tbh. I vaguely remember the piece having something to do (by Q’s account) with “Laika” the first dog sent into space on sputnik or something or other. The story, much like Q’s rhyming and drawn out votes was very forced. Almost like he’s forcing himself upon us…wink wink…anyway, rape jokes aside, Q raped tbone who wrote an absolutely atrocious self hype open mic rap that would make Chase Murda scratch his head twice and squirt his water gun in the air out of frustration.

Scatterboxx vs Got Life?

So IT and I faced off for the third time in 5 weeks and for the second time in 3 weeks I feel like I got robbed. Sure both matches were good and all, but people in this league have gotten awful screwy. IT wrote a verse about, well…it’s about something only IT knows what he wrote about since he told me on aim yesterday that absolutely no one got his verse. I don’t know, there was something about ghouls and demons and phantoms dancing and doing drugs. Something about a family getting hung, I unno, I really couldn’t be bothered to read the whole thing through as the subject matter doesn’t interest me at all and IT’s pieces are overly dressed up because there is no content to show for. The other thing I noted in this match is that people can’t fucking read…Just hope you don’t wake up one day…note the “you don’t” because in my piece the guy/me doesn’t actually kill his wife, he just has the thought. The picture added in there for emphasis, but apparently everyone took that as my character decided after all of this to chop her to bits. Trust me, if he did, I would have made it gory as fuck and would have had him contemplating how to get rid of the body with the same nervousness with which he approached everything in all the other segments. Learn to read you savages, blah!

Vern Acular vs Saga

Story vs Topical, which ones wins? Well if you’re name is Vern and you’ve won something like 120 matches and more titles than you can count unless you’re wearing sandals it doesn’t really matter now does it? Saga actually wrote one of his better pieces in days, one which Q found to be the better piece, but like the cheese…Q stands alone. Anyhow, Saga’s verse was about a man who finds his wife cheating on him with what I gathered/recall to be his best friend, he then kills his wife and injects his friend with some kind of drug that convinces the friend that he in actuality killed the wife. In the end vengeance is had, but the piece was a little jumbled with the development parts rushed through and slightly unclear. Vern on the other hand went the topical route in terms of God. This is a subject which has been and will be debated probably until the end of time, but the piece regarded as to what happens when we die, at the end leaving us with the note of be patient, once you die you’ll find the fuck out. It does not preach to us as to how to live life or anything along those lines, but rather defines this idea to be something beyond human comprehension. Personally this is something I agree with and wish that more philosophy majors would agree with as well because it would have saved me many a headache during my undergrad at Rutgers.

[Quriosity]

Continued...

TheReturn vs .:Pain:.

TR tried to refute the fact that Pain has been his kryptonite as everyone’s favorite steel plated manchild was dwarfed by the bad guy, don’t give a fuck former pothead pill popper who has found guidance in the form of a girl. On a more serious note, Pain wrote about a girl and her struggles. It seems to be a note upon which Pain hits better than most writers, capturing the true emotion from the female perspective. I’m not sure why, but dude knocks that out the park. This particular piece turned the young girl Jane into a girl who seemed to fade from her pictures and from memory as she was outcast and mistreated. TR on the other hand wrote a piece which was one of the more creative ideas seen in a while, a criminal fantasy league during the draft. I’m sure it was inspired by his recent fantasy football drafting however I was impressed with the idea none the less. The only problem; execution. When it came down to it the piece crumbled as the piece just wasn’t strong enough to get executed properly.

MetaSin vs -Atreyu-

One thing you can take away from this battle or well two things. Atreyu seems to be out of the loop with the crowd these days, his pieces seem to be coming out of left field with a lack of connection to the audience which is clearly what happened here with his piece that correlated with number obsession. He promises part two this week and personally I’m not sure how well that is going to carry over as maybe 5 or 6 people read part one and not one of them really liked it. I unno, I’m almost willing to predict Atreyu is a cyborg or something as his writing feels very sci-fi/robotic. Meta on the other hand tied in his topics pretty well with the scientist bit and the assassin plot. It was nothing really over the top, but he narrated it smoothly and produced something with substance which has definitely been lacking in weeks prior.

Bonnie Bathory vs Lucifa

This was a shame on two accounts first off, had Lucy won I’d be facing him again, but I haven’t faced him since round 1 of the season 2 play-offs, instead with Lucy’s loss I face Bonnie for the second time in three weeks, yay. Anyways, Lucy apparently got his warrior princess on as people were throwing bricks through his windows and threatening the life of his son. While he wasn’t that he dropped part of a verse about a girl being born which was then to lead into something or other which it obviously never lead to because he didn’t have time to finish his verse. Bonnie saw this and acknowledged what she had to write in order to suffice the win and pretty much did just that. She certainly didn’t overkill this by any standard, but she did put together a decent piece that pretty much vaguely gave us an overview as to how she ended up locked for the last 4 months and why she wasn’t gracing us with her presence. All in all this match should have been a whole lot better than it actually was.

Lotus vs SacriFICE

Shrug vs Source4Rhymes

Neither of these two voted, so fuck ‘em. I will not waste my time and break down a match that was actually pretty decent and got a decent amount of feedback. More feedback than it deserved.

Sound vs prophetional

Same story here as the match before it. These guys didn’t bother to vote and they barely even remember to show. Let it be known, I will not spend my time breaking down your match and giving you any mention if you don’t take the time to vote and be a productive member of the league.

Cormier vs MC Guttso

For those that hate PR and what not and think everyone there is a joke, I’d suggest you not sleep on Corm. He doesn’t have the flare and flash of a 3-PGay, but he seems to be getting a little better with each verse he drops. It’s not the actual quality of the writing, but the story that’s been capturing us for two weeks straight. This week he recanted a tale of a mother and son that loved each other dearly. At the son’s wedding the mother dies, leaving the kids her house. Upon moving in the wife of the son seems to realize the house to be quite haunted by the presence of the dead mother only to find her husband lying on a bed with his wrists slit while the ghost of the mother comforted him and as the wife walked down the stairs, there was the ghost of the mother and a little boy telling her to leave them. It was actually a pretty good ghost story and something I enjoyed, maybe it was the fact that I use to be big into ghosts, but I genuinely enjoyed this. Guttso actually used the picture with all those people and described the various interactions, something that not everyone picked up on because of the correlation not being spelled out…once again, this actually only goes to prove that most people in this league don’t get anything that they read beyond the brief surface value.

basic|s|kill vs. Pharaohe Def

Learn to vote you douchebags.

So yeah…with that said, there were some top notch matches and there are some really good writers in the league. Definitely not a time to be taking anyone lightly. Keep up the good work, and for those of you that didn’t contribute in voting, suck a fat one. Stop being lazy whores.

[Quriosity]

VI. The Loose Cypher

Apologies for the lateness of this edition of the Loose Cypher. I will also be updating last week's mag with the Loose Cypher for that week before this week is out. I've been struggling to get net time the last 2 weeks but when I have had time I've got as much as I could do done. Things have moved along still and thanks to Q for jumping in to cover our backs.

Now on to my Top 5 of the week:

For DF:WK4

Top Match: [DF:WK4] Red Championship: Scatterboxx vs. Got Life? (Vote!)
A rematch so soon that couldn't be avoided due to their respective ranks and once again they gave us an interesting match-up that split the votes to a result of 8-4 in favour of Scatterboxx. Both verses were a good read and this was heavy in the mechanics in both verses. A good battle fellas, again.

Top Verse: Atheist : Link
This is based a lot around the general opinion of voters that really dug Atheist's story/substance within his verse. It was easy to follow and entertained the reader on a few levels that went beyond the content, as the mechanics were of a good standard. Nice verse guy.

Top Voter: Atheist
10 votes that were all indepth and I do like how Atheist highlights sections of verses to show what he liked about a verse. Weighs his feedback up in both length and quality of opinion in equal measure across the board and doesn't seem to have an ounce of bias toward any competitors, keeping his votes 100% fair. Keep it up!

Top Competitor: Scatterboxx
Took his division by the balls and rampaged his way to the top by a clear margin. No easy task but he has shown dedication to the league and been rewarded by all the points he has right now. The first competitor to reach double digits and charged straight in to the 1st Champ match.

Top Dog: .:Pain:.
Pain is solid member of the RSTL community who is both under-rated and over-rated at the same time. However you valuate Pain, you can't argue against the run he's on right now and after stomping TheReturn out with TKO result to head in to the 1st Champ match, there's no denying he's worthy of Top Dog status for this week. G'luck against Scatt.

[Quriosity]

VII. Divisional Ranks & Matches

Welcome to Week 5 of the RSTL Divisional Format.
This is The Worth Tank, where your stats are displayed and discussed.


This is how both divisions rank now:



DF:WK5 Match-Ups:


Scatterboxx vs .:Pain:.

Vern Acular vs Atheist

1. Got Life? vs 2. Bonnie Bathory
3. Saga vs 4. Lucifa
5. MetaSin vs 6. Jimmy Eles
7. basic|s|kill vs 9. 3-Planes
8. TeKneeK vs 10. BaySick
11. Blackanese vs 12. -Atreyu-
13. Pharaohe Def vs 14. RICO


1. Cormier vs 2. nom de plume.
3. TheReturn vs 4. _KDP_
5. MC Guttso vs 6. Sound
7. Eye-Rime vs 8. SacriFICE
9. Shrug vs 10. prophetional
11. Chin Kwon vs 12. Khon NguJin
13. Lotus vs 14. Source4Rhymes

[Quriosity]

VIII. Q's Predictions

Champion Match
Scatterboxx vs .:Pain:.
Scatterboxx -3

The edge here is slightly misconstrued.. or heavily rather being that Pain seems to perform well against good opponents and poorly against poor opponents. Scatterboxx is definitely one of the top competitors currently within this league, and thus I predict Pain to perform well. Also on his side is the fact that Scatty has already posted his verse. If Pain can capitalize here, then he will be victorious. Otherwise, the match will proceed in expected fashion. I'll say Pain wins, though I think Scat has the clear edge in talent, consistency, and experience combined.

Contender Match
Vern Acular vs Atheist
Vern Acular -3

Almost the same exact scenario as the above mentioned, except for the fact that both competitor's perform well regardless of their opponents skill level. Atheist has quickly become a favorite among voters while Vern is an all time crowd-pleaser. I believe Vern has posted but I have yet to read it. However, I'm sure that Atheist will before he decides to post. This may be Vern's downfall. That, and the fact that Vern tends to post topical at times and if so, a strong story from Atheist may be the proper poison. Could easily go either way as both are highly strong and more than able competitors. I predict flow versus execution. Also, fresh versus stale. Vern will have a great flow and presentation but a stale topic while Atheist will have great execution and a fresher story, thus landing him on top. Vern has the edge, but I'm going with Atheist in a soon to be classic.

1. Got Life? vs 2. Bonnie Bathory
Got Life? -2

I would say the edge is more, but GL? has been slacking lately. Bonnie is fairly consistent though never consistently great. A thorough B-grade writer with A potential. She has heart and it usually shows through her verses. If she can find the proper material, this could easily be an upset. However, GL? has a winning formula and experience in executing it. He will read her verse and write whatever he feels it takes to win. Usually the voters agree, though recently they haven't. Nevertheless, I got GL? taking this one fairly easily with the better story and better execution while Bonnie gets props for putting up a decent fight. She'll climb the ranks again shortly after.

3. Saga vs 4. Lucifa
Lucifa -1

I've read little from Saga, and nothing recent from Lucifa. If he is still gradually progressing, then he should definitely be a consistent B+ writer by now with A potential depending on the input/output ratio of talent and time spent. Saga, on the other hand, impressed me last week. Whether it was due to the fact that his verse was the first of the week that I had read and enjoyed is uncertain, but I was impressed either way. I think Lucifa should have the edge, but I'm not quite sure if he does here. Based on Saga's piece last week, they have two different styles and it will come down to who thinks of the best story. Both are good at telling it, and Luci tends to have enjoyable pieces with quick flows and whatnot. But I'll say Luci is rushed for time and thus Saga delivers and advances.

5. MetaSin vs 6. Jimmy Eles
Meta -5

I don't know who Jimmy Eles is, but I've noticed the Narcotics alias. Even so, he appears newbish in my opinion while Meta is the exact opposite. Polished, yet inconsistent. If Meta can deliver here, even slightly, then he will win fairly easily. However Jimmy will be hunting for the upset and will probably post closer to deadline, hoping to read Meta's first. Nevertheless, I place little faith in Jimmy, and so I'll say Meta in a landslide.

7. basic|s|kill vs 9. 3-Planes
3-Planes -4

Surprisingly, this could be a good match up if my memory serves me correctly. I believe that basic exhibited true potential last season, while 3P is a proven writer who is somewhat inconsistent in effort. If he finds the time to write, I honestly think it will be a better match than expected but at the same time it will be an easy win. If he does not, then basic will gladly accept the upset win. I'll say 3P doesn't disappoint and basic gets props for posting a good verse that just couldn't hack it.

8. TeKneeK vs 10. BaySick
TeKneeK -5

Weak match. Bay is my boy and long time fam, but he is quite horrid in storytelling. Unless he's hired Common Sense (or common sense even), he will fall short. I would say BaySick is washed up while TeKneeK is only rusty and this would be an easy way to quickly shake off some unwanted rust. I'll say TeK either wins in a landslide by votes, or by way of no-show.

11. Blackanese vs 12. -Atreyu-
Even

I've never read either. I'll say Atreyu.

13. Pharaohe Def vs 14. RICO
Even

I've never read PD and RICO is consistently below par. I'll say Pharaohe.

[Quriosity]

Continued...

1. Cormier vs 2. nom de plume.
nom de plume. -3

Almost unfair for me to call this one because I am only vaguely familiar with Cormier. Nonetheless, my gut urges me to say that nom will whoop that ass. Poetic in attack and precise in content, nom is a great force within this league. It is almost orgasmic to see that he has been consistently showing after being nominated for No-Show King under this Alias2 alter ego. Cormier, from what I remember, is fairly good. Assuming he can construct a story, this should be a good match. But I've got nom taking it quite easily.

3. TheReturn vs 4. _KDP_
TheReturn -4

An interesting match up to say the least (or most, rather). KDP is a rising contender and looks to be promising in the near future. But as for now, he's an easy win for any talented writer and only a threat to the less fortunate. Assuming that he takes more time with his verse, this could be closer than expected, but never close enough for an upset. TR is consistently above average and clearly the better writer of the two. I like KDP, but not enough to pick him over TR. With that said, TR says he'll no show so TR not winning is certain, but whether KDP wins depends on whoever his verse is matched against after the fact.

5. MC Guttso vs 6. Sound
Even

I've never read either. I'll say Sound.

7. Eye-Rime vs 8. SacriFICE
Even

Good luck.

9. Shrug vs 10. prophetional
Even

I've never read either. I'll say Shrug.

11. Chin Kwon vs 12. Khon NguJin
Even

I've read Chin Kwon and he's decent. This other character looks either very newbish, an immigrant invited from another board, a Baron Mynd alias, or just a random coward who will more than likely no show. Either or, I'll say CK wins here because he should.

13. Lotus vs 14. Source4Rhymes
Even

Wow, this entire side has been a blur for me. I read Lotus last week I believe and I remember Source from ages ago. But that's also probably the last time I've read his material. Lotus showed potential last week and will likely show growth here. Source is most likely rusty at least, but should put on a good show. All things equal, I'll say Lotus by a hair.