Alias Topical Tournament: Round II Mag

[King Ra.]

Welcome to....

The Alias Topical Tournament, Round II Magazine


http://i.imgur.com/48q0Ja9.gif



Introduction
The King Returns....

What's good, folks? Welcome to the second edition of the Alias Topical Tourney magazine. Round I ended with a dud. The majority of aliases no showed, but those that did show, dropped and gave us a taste of what is possibly to come. Despite the abrupt end to the first round, we still push forward, to what I believe will be a much better round. Certain has said about 3/4's of the aliases remaining in this tournament are top tier writers, which should make for a great stretch of match ups. Adonis handle the first mag & I will be running the show this time with some assistance. You know how I do. Let's get to it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7pl55lbhWc


OPEN MIC FEATURE #1

"Torture Papers"
written by trap, Certain & Lars

an unstoppable force captured the essence of my being
so i chartered a course & masked the questions that were reeling
in my thought process, released my heart in jest
expressed the need to exceed past the dark arch-es
on a torn parchment, my own blood on the quill
i wrote immense rage on the pages still my love ran still
named them the torture papers for its obvious reason
deranged in the brain for the remaining season
battled tremendous odds, yet maintained the same even
shows the length i would go to withstand demands of treason

I'm not an obvious sort. Cobbled together half-heartedly
some thoughts from assorted sordid cartographies
of this map through your arteries. I'm trying in vain.
Lying, deranged but finally, unsightly we gain
something more worthwhile than fighting again.
And it isn't worth waiting nine months for life to begin.
I want to feel everything. I've never healed. My wounds
are just the first part of my black hole of a soul that'll keep you consumed.
I'm done. There's nothing left in this shell of a person.
The sun won't rise until my pride has settled for certain.

My ever-so-perfect imperfections make up who I am
as well as confirming my ascendance to becoming a man.
When one can look at their past and not gloss over mistakes
as something that saddens them,
but of the progress they've made.
No-one's to blame. Life's morbidly short.
The road that you've taken was yours to explore.
So cause a furore every once in a while,
ignoring conformity. Wake up with a smile.
Do something your wildest dreams couldn’t imagine,
- interrupting the silence and disrupting the balance



And the AOWL Season 3 Champion is.......

CERTAIN.

After another successful season completed under his belt, our admin/moderator Certain, finished as champion. He went out in dominating fashion, trumping his opponent, YDK, 8-2. This season's playoff wasn't as successful as previous ones. Round 1 had plenty no shows, especially from some of the top tier writers. Nonetheless, Certain's road to the title wasn't just a cakewalk. He got past, El Pancake in round 1, then oats in a nail biter in round 2. But after that it was domination as Ra. & YDK could not put together enough firepower to stop him.

After running two great seasons, Certain will now focus on competing as he will not be running season 4 of the AOWL. Let us give him a mighty congrats & thank him for sustaining the best topical league on the net. Here is his winning verse:


http://i.imgur.com/XLO5jKf.jpg


Look at the colors. Green means life, I suppose.
The slabs of granite, tight in rows,
show everything we take for granted, quite composed.
In the shot, there's hints of light, exposed,
but the background fades to blur. I'd guess that's wasted Earth.
I'd guess that's space reserved for the plight of those
who indulge in such trite repose, such tasteless work.

Dear "River Acheron" (a name that's probably not what it seems
as my Google search says that's a body of water in Greece),

Fuck you.

If it's not already obvious, please, let me offer you all I can see
in this photographic atrocity, that you signed with a digital flourish:
• I get the limited toning, close in on the pivotal moment.
That's exactly what ever other novice with a DSLR did with their focus.
• I'm seeing the rule of thirds, background divided to balance it out,
yet you've washed away everything in the sky's tint and matted the clouds.
• There's beauty in flowering fauna, the bud's growth to the seed head,
which is why dandelions are the favorite plants of most of the Pre-K.
• And then there's that signature, a brazen credit anointed in scripture,
but why would you put it across the lone focal point of your picture?

See, your composition is poor, subject matter unceasingly trite.
But you've made it big, River! Front page on the Deviant site.
Yes, it's teaming with bright, young, bookish media types
who hope their lame, broke clichés become desktop wallpaper.
Meanwhile, never seeing the light of day, these desperate art majors
slave over true beauty, inscribed in unpublished Descartes papers.
This Internet culture has delineated the path to success
is throwing up whatever you can as fast as you can, prepackaged and sent.
Reprints and Photoshops have won over this pantomime
where genius gets strangled by weeds.

Artistic dandelions.

[King Ra.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3weukfPsi4


A Review of Round 1 verses....
by Adonis


Seymour Butts: Wrote a story of a soldier being brought up through the ranks until he becomes vice president. It wasn't so much a story as Butts kept it short and had virtually no character build up. It was however written with a very easy to read flow that only had a couple minor hiccups at the very least. Dude clearly has skill although used a rather simplistic rhyme scheme. In order for Butts to win out right, he would need more complete verses with either more imagery or emotion while drawing a clear connection to character plus adding in a more diverse and complex rhyme scheme while still holding true to his writers voice that flows off the tip of tongue.


SlutMachine: Dope concept although I don't think you gave it the proper justice. Slut had this concept of the seven deadly sins and the world, in the end he explained what they mean and how he wound up rotting in the garden of Eden alone. For being a conceptual piece you did your thing because you still gave us a character and had many talking points of this sad world. But for all the good it still seemed like a quick write up, you didn't delve into this verse and give it the proper flare. Flow was good, but not the best. I will say that even when it wasn't great flow the lines were conceptual and hit main points needed for the story to develop. In the end stylistically you have what it takes to advance in this tourney. You will need more depth, flow or emotion in order to win out however. The talent is there, just make sure you are giving it your all or your Alias will be short lived.


Jhene Aiko: Decent writing with a crisp flow due to lack of complexity. I do however like the style in certain lines, it shows the level of writing you are at... Pertinent talent in his strokes when painting a picture. Drawing subjects as fiends with heinous conditions, until watercolor fills their veins as elixirs. As far as the concept I don't fully grasp it, I mean I'm sure if you were talking about a graff artist or not? Not sure if this was intended to mean death, but the ending was just so abrupt, almost like you got wrapped up in your writing, plugging away, forgetting the topic, then in the end just added that final stairway section to appease the voters. Overall, you have a decent style that can draw you a win or two, but you would need help winning it all. The flow was good, but you hit a few missteps in the middle where syllable count was just way off and the bars came off a bit weak. I think you have the right direction as far as concepts go, so I would focus on that while making sure the end rhymes are a bit more crisp while also adding a few multies or change ups in flow.


Peter McPuffington: Wrote a verse where he was Satan basically saying, “Live you want to, I'll still love you” This was a well written verse with a few minor slips in flow. The concept was dope, basically saying God is not good or God set these laws to hinder that darkness we all have, just embrace it. There was a section with some vivid imagery of kids and adults all dying and floating in the water. Conceptually I think you can go far but might want to spice it up here and there with multies. You opened with them, but you quickly shelved that flow for the a-typical aa,bb pattern. I would say improve with complex rhyming and you have an outside shot at going far.


Purple Puke: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16....... Faggot.


Lord Sephiroth: A very short verse I assume key'd cuz you knew your competitor would not show. The flow was good, but it faltered a few times, and considering how many lines you actually had, you faltered often in this short sample size. You did paint a nice picture of this under water throne, built from the rock. Again though, too short. In order for you to advance you must write full concepts because I know for a fact your next opponent will show. You will need to expand on the conceptual idea you go with while sprinkling in better end rhymes or more inners. All in all, I think this next week will be a favorable topic for you so I can see you advancing a few spots deep if you fully apply.


Richard Schwartz: I really enjoyed this verse. From the flow to the entire setting you painted of a western gunslinger was just done well. The mechanics are evident, especially considering the rhyme pattern you went with. The attention to details were superb from drinking preference to artisinal nickel, there were some dope individual lines is what I'm saying. All in all I think this is the first verse I read where I can say that I see you being able to truly go far if you can write what you wrote this week, only longer and being able to keep same pace without boring me.


TIGERSPITZ: You had a good concept giving the topic, but you have some awkward wording at points. work into coffers till die...tremble and scrounge for reasons IDK, these and a couple other just didn't work for me for various reasons. I see the talent though, you've clearly written before and have done so at a presumably high level. Everyone seemed to write these shortened verses for some reason except maybe one person I guess. I think you can go far depending on the people you match up against, because I don't think this writing, albeit, a short example, is strong enough to be elite. The flow, decent, wording, OK, concept, decent, but nothing truly blew me away in terms of ability and execution.


Siu Mi: Only a few lines deep and you won the award for most in depth rhyme scheme already. You are a talented writer no doubt, from phrasing to flow, this piece was executed with a concise tone that simply shined with the ending. I enjoyed this verse thoroughly, from start to end. Well the approach or take on topic was a bit simple, you did quite a bit with it. The flow as I mentioned was on point, and not a easy one to follow from start to end. I def can see you being there near the end regardless of what the competition can bring, but you will need to find different takes while receiving topics. The style will only get you so far, the take on a topic or concept will take you the rest of the way I believe. Look forward to seeing what you have to offer next week.


Piiz: Different approach I would say then most people if given this topic. A daughter molested and impregnated by her father. Well I appreciated the rhyme scheme for its multiple inners riddled through out the verse, it still came off a bit weak or something? I would say maybe this could be due to the lack of multies, but you had some. So I really don't have a answer as to why the scheme wasn't simple, but it read it didn't read as such. The concept has def been done before, and on grander levels. This was another short verse that might get you into round one, but not further beyond that. It's like a melon was calling ????? All in all I don't have much to say about improving other then making the verse a bit longer. I guess you also lacked painting a strong connection emotionally to character when that should have been mad easy given the route you took. Good Luck sir.

[King Ra.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6PEIxWsuKc


OPEN MIC FEATURE #2


"Sermon on the Dark Knight (Batman)"
written by Unborn Buddha

Batman and Robin what a curious two.
Vigilant crusaders against nefarious fools
who joke & riddle with others' lives in search of truth.
Is the protagonist a virtue of proof?
Or a product of staring too attentively at his parents tomb
Until outcomes Bruce, the real identity of the costumed sleuth.
Whose obsessed with the memoirs in his album book
That reflected his past and youth.
Memories that seem as immortal as Ra's Al Ghoul,
whose legacy spans as mythical as Vamps and Ghouls.
But the immortal's heart broods because the hard truth
is the grim reaper is a forever hunter.
The Lazarus pit is a poor excuse one conjures for an answer.
Yet Talia insists to her beloved to join their ranks and live
a life focused on starting the apocalypse, so to alter the populace.
Eugenists depicted in comic strips prove that drunks of madness exist.
& the only release for such intoxicated shift in consciousness is amethyst.
A stone oculists and holistic ophthalmologists utilize for phantasms which
contribute to the maniac's mischief,
with quests as sadistic as what Brainiac seeking.
And so the legendary dark knight emerges in view,
Deciphering murder clues & becoming immune to poisonous fumes,
but also sullenly to joyous views that in Gotham is an unknown pursuit.
Ra's Al Ghoul plan is stopped, and everything returns to normal soon
because the soaring hero is burning to stop the servants and brutes
of Lucifer's group who worship monsoons.
But a curse accrues when the knight tries to balance the world.
A challenge unfurls that threatens to turn the planet to sorrow.
Villains so crude since childhood they absorbed the horrors
Of the universe that made them turn so morally twisted///
The way they killed their victims will make your eyes curl, child murderers.
The caped martyr faces his greatest threat,
and he barely manages to escape his death.
Believing he perished even two face prays for him.
F.Y.I. his grapple gun is not used for assaulting thugs.
But to hang by a thread when jumping off.
Things tend to happen when one's side job
is beating goons until blood and puke
makes them spills the beans, what they knew
Plus a busted tooth.
The superhero vigilante has only loved a few,
and some of them departed through when hardship bloomed.
Jason Todd is sleeping, after the clown carved his wisdom
Onto his prisoner, and then the bomb started ticking.
But the knight arrived just when the zero mark was hitting.
And now Nightwing faces Robin's demons.
The poor mourning Wayne blames his sluggish Batmobile,
The alluring loony that is Joker won't stop his laughs until
killing all the little children trapped and sealed in the plot the madman build.
An injured billionaire heals under Alfred's meals, who offers willingly
a mantra of hope against the fear that even god then kneels.
But Bruce only hears what he wants to hear, over the years pain has numbed his ears.
Recovered he wards off the madman's guild
Putting them back into the asylum doped up on doctors pills.
Ironically it is Wayne that pays his foes doctor bills.
So in a way he keeps them alive and insane so thy
fun never wanes, and so he can save the lives
of those saying "oh save me my savior knight".
If only someone can tame his fire & sway his mind
to grace the light and begin an unscathed tryst
Between Bane and thine. Someone should save his life.
But that requires someone to contain his vice,
And pay the price for changing time.



THE NEWS


What the hell happened in Round 1?!....

I'll tell you exactly what happened. What usually always happens in tournaments.... no shows. But I'm sure even more weird was the fact that there was two opened battles that were suddenly closed to voting. So what happened? After discussing back and forth with fellow moderator, Adonis, we decided instead of entering the next round with possible 3 way match ups, we would make some adjustments. First off, all the competitors who did show and drop, they got an automatic pass to the next round. We felt it was a fair thing to do. Afterwards, as you see in the chat thread, we altered the brackets a tad bit. So in the end, we avoided having any three way matches and a discombobulated round 2. We believe that this round will have much less no shows and more completed matches. So let's get our verses done, especially since there is plenty of extra time since round 1 ended so quickly.

Good luck to all competitors.



Predictions....

I predict that there better be no no-shows. 85-15.



AOWL Season 4.... coming soon!!!

A new season of the AOWL will open for sign ups after Labor Day. The season will then start about 2 weeks after. There will be plenty of changes and fresh challenges as well. I will be running the show with one/two other moderators, to be named soon. Expect more of the same greatness. Further details will be discussed and presented after the conclusion of this tournament.

Get ready.

[King Ra.]

OPEN MIC FEATURE #3


"A Portrait of Dr. Cenotaph"
written by Vulgar

The soul's departure from the body is prearranged; a token of gratitude
for hosting the rabble, ruse and giving toasts to the crass, amused
The rotary bladder screws were supposed to be fastened, tuned
to an engine-metal cast in a steel cased projection
Bless these rental caps from the free-baser dentist
Meet the portrait of Dr. Cenotaph, and his real grave expression
Heel raising tension - if you feel shaken, lessen
the locomotion of death: each wheel makes the flesh grim

An evening with Voltaire, the more absinthe, the easier I fared
during a 'stand up for yourself!' concerto, my tailbone beat me to the stairs
and shuffled all the way to a mausoleum in need of serious repairs
Don't be needlessly embarrassed, since an outstretched psalm
can go out on a grotesque limb & reach toward the cloud drenched fog
Ceramic occultist masks contrast with the greenest meadows
mending the heartstrings of Dali clocks and bleeding cellos
The physical's an instrument - the stimulus is the will to question
Bombastic plague lands turned to monastic playgrounds; acrylic dust bins
Adults would rather avoid the smiling cadaver while the children bump him
but actually being closer to the essence... can he feel what love is?
Villains rush in with antidotes and thrills of sustenance
A pianist's nimble fingers weren't built to hunt with
Kidney transplant costlier than the final bill for Sputnik
As a result, every astronaut's a dead man who's feeling gutless
Sketch up the Kierkegaard flight manuals - set aside deposit slips
Genocide is bottomless... exorcise what knowledge is
Chills up your proverbial spine from the Seven Tribes of Novelists
"Tuskegee airmen took a wrench to my sarcophagus
and pulled out a number of diseases that petrified biologists
I identified my targets as viceroy relics, slain and shot
Briefcase in ghastly hand, took a one way train to psychedelic Shangri La
snail-mailed Zyklons to every trite Tibetan banker bloc"'

The soul can't take leave from the body when the destination's uncertain
Life's a science project - a teenage assimilation of versions... of events
A false estimation which may differ in each country
it's no wonder the skeleton of our generation speaks bluntly


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CccnAvfLPvE


Interview with the Champ: Certain



What's good, Certain? How does it feel to be AOWL Season 3 champion?

Your petty accomplishments mean nothing to me. I validate my own existence.


Whoa, whoa, whoa there. I actually agree with you, but then again, if it means nothing then explain that champed thingy you got now under your battle record. HUH? OOOO, BUURRNNNN.

Nah, what are your thoughts on this seasons playoffs? Did you think you had a chance to win it all?

I obviously always had a chance. I was humble when I listed myself as a dark horse. My work schedule during the second half of the season was brutal, and I spent way more time on magazines than on my own writing, which is why I didn't want to be in the league as a competitor in the first place. I joined midseason because we needed more people.

When I'm at full form and actually care about winning, I'll take my chances against anyone. That's not to say I didn't push the envelope a bit in my run, more against El Pancake, oats and YDK than against you. You, well, I went straight-up on that and knew I'd win.


Ha. Ha. Bite me.

Now that the season is over & done with, what can we expect from you since you no longer will run the AOWL? What are your plans?

"Domination, baby. Fuck that." — Method Man

I'll stick around, compete and help out. I'm an administrator and will continue to have a part in this here last stab at keeping text rap alive.


Writers never die.

Are you competing in the Alias tournament?

Answering that would defeat the purpose.


I tried. ^.^

From the verses that were posted in the first round, who do you think has the potential to make it to the finals?

I didn't read any because you didn't keep voting open. Also, I know all the aliases, so I'd rather not answer that.


Andy Dalton. 115 million/6 years. Why isn't he liked by many people as a quarterback, outside of the fact he hasn't won a playoff game?

He's the epitome of average. When I read the word epitome, I automatically pronounce it like epi (as in EpiPen) tome (with the hard O and silent E, as in a lengthy passage). Andy Dalton is the long-winded diabetic of NFL quarterbacks. He's a backup who became a starter and somehow convinced someone he was a starter. He's Matt Cassel with an extra L in the playoffs. He's really not bad, though, just painfully mediocre. He's the quarterback equivalent of Ali Shaheed Muhammad, with A.J. Green as his version of Q-Tip.


Nah. Let's discuss why the Bengals will flop this year..... LMAO.

Nah. You and oats have teamed up for the upcoming BA Tag Tournament. Your team name is "Coats". What are your chances of winning it all? Have you ever done punch battles before?

Of course. Didn't everyone start with battling? I used to be pretty good. I still am. And oats won the last Fight Night and also was an established battler. We'll have the best-worded verses in this thing. The only reason we might lose is because battlers are knuckle-draggers who can't understand clever punchlines.


There are numerous topical heads actually participating in not only the tag tourney, but also the 1-2 Punch League as well. Do you think topicalist can bring a bit of flair to the battle scene?

The 1-2 Punch League is a diversion, I figure. But yes, I think writers are writers. I'd like to see more battlers give topical writing a try, but it definitely takes longer to handle the rigors of a topical writing league than a battle league. That's one reason I'd like to run a 10- or 16-line topical tournament.


Sounds like a great idea. Our time is up now. Greatly appreciate you taking the time for this interview. Any parting thoughts, words? The floor is yours.

Listen to more Tom Waits. He's Bob Dylan with interesting music.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etfIdtm-OC8



The Outro....

Big ups to Adonis with the assist. Thanks to Certain for the interview. Next mag, we'll do better. Til then, good luck to all participants.

[Adonis]

Certain Zenland

I feel like it would be dope of the finals champ of aowl got to personally select one verse from that season of the own and it be inducted to hall of fame

[Certain]

Adonis, there's going to be a topical battle hall of fame in the near future.

Also, center another one of my verses and watch what happens.

[Adonis]

Adonis, there's going to be a topical battle hall of fame in the near future.

Also, center another one of my verses and watch what happens.


Haha, what? I never centered nor edited aka abused mod powers

[Adonis]

Oh, the mag. That's the homie jah

[oats]

Dope shit, gentlemen. Quality mag

[Zen]

Topical Hall of Fame? After I say I'm done with it? You guys suck.

I might start caring again. Hopefully, anyway.

This was a great mag though. Allot of effort went into it. Props.

[King Ra.]

Zen AOWL season 4.... you know you joining.

[Split]

Pero, ¿a quién eran las predicciones?

[THE REAL CAPTAIN OBVIOUS]

...........
.............

[SlutMachine]

Read this mag a few days ago but didn't reply. I appreciate the shit out of the work you put into this, the mag is dope as fuck.