[Certain]

Genocide: This verse was one of the most polished I've read from you. But I think that polish and this terrible topic sapped it of emotion. You also dragged your feet quite a bit with a slow-moving plot. You went 64 lines, but with the length of each it was more like 80. And the plot was only good and complex enough for maybe 36. That's the problem: When you write something this long, you better justify that length and reader time. This never did. The characters were deepened in the surface sense, but emotions never were developed. Your exposition level was absurd, as though you were writing for seventh graders. There's no need to explain what every single thing means. I can pick up context clues, as can any other voters, particularly when you ask for a special voting panel of veterans. The connection to the topic was good. Conceptually, this verse worked. But I feel like you strained yourself too much in the execution and made it seem like Genocide wasn't writing this as a result. Also, you're an incredibly bad speller, but I didn't hold that against you.

Aero: Your application of the topic was really, really weak. But your storytelling wasn't bad. I actually laughed at "She felt bumps on the road only because I pulled my penis out." It took me two reads to catch your flow because you didn't weave couplets together very well. In general, you wrote the way a lot of battles who don't regularly compete in topical matches try to transition. There was a stiffness but also a sense of humor and an engaging voice. Unfortunately, the story was not original, and the ending was particularly stupid. The entire plot of this story was contrived and significantly less original or tied to the topic than Genocide's, but I think you told your story more naturally and made it a close battle.

Vote: Genocide

But let me be clear: There was nothing interesting about this battle. The topic was terrible. The thread title was terrible. The hype was obnoxious. The writing was mediocre. That you have the pretension to demand a voter list is absurd. Genocide's length was unwarranted. Aero's claim that he keystyled was obnoxious even if it's true. That this ever was stickied is absurd. Nothing is on the line here. There were at least 50 battles this season in the Art of Writing League that were better in caliber and more important even in our own particularly trivial slice of the Internet. And this message board is worse off because of this battle and supposed beef, both of which have been wildly uninteresting. I am voting in part because if votes aren't cast, this battle will continue on forever. So act like the veterans you are. And write like the talented writers you are. Thank you.