Alias Topical Tournament: Round II Mag

[King Ra.]

Welcome to....

The Alias Topical Tournament, Round II Magazine






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.





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:





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.