PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE STATEMENT

hello, and sorry for those of you who entered contest four but failed to receive any updates/further info for a while as well as those waiting for contest 3 results.

due to many reasons, TGW is being closed. Reasons to follow.

I'd like to thank those that have stuck on through the journey.. that being the 8 of 18 people who turned in their entry in a timely manner. If you didn't, that's fine, because life gets in the way for all of us sometimes. Those that did turn in their entries, however, will receive a 10 point bonus since this is the end of the TGW. 

To cash in your points please PM what you'd like to receive with them. Your point amount is listed in the prizes chapter.

I never really saw this contest making it to the end because the number of no-entries & drop-outs steadily grew so I can't say I'm necessarily sad, just kind of disappointed. If any of you are to enter another contest, please inform the host if you aren't going to... it'll save us a lot of time and stress, plus we probably won't be as upset if you're just straight-up. I know I've also done such things before, so I'm not talking down on you, just giving some advice for the future.

This contest was fun at the start, and hopefully one day it'll be back again.

Now onto my reasons why. You can skip this bit and go onto the next part, but if you care to read here you go. 

Firstly is my depleting motivation to continue this contest. As contestants continued dropping and blatantly ignoring that they'd entered my contest I'd started to lose confidence as this contest going well, same with receiving scores. At first, what I thought was going to be fun just turned out to be stressful, and to that point, I wasn't even enjoying doing scores, even when only 4 contests have passed.

I also am starting to lack time. Even though the school year ended, many things are popping back up that I wasn't expecting, causing me to have to stress between not letting you guys down because I committed to this and also getting my irl things completed.

Another thing is that our world is getting hectic. Whether you refuse to believe it or not, everybody has been derailed by these events, so I don't want to keep this contest going and continue the stresses people may be feeling.

Lastly, I need a new focus. While the lack of entries is the main cause, this also tied into my decision. In the future, I don't want to be a graphic designer and don't see myself doing this for much longer. I've always wanted to be a writer from the second I joined this app. This said, my focus will go back to that. It has been 2 years since I've been able to finish a book, and that's because I kept coming back on this account lol. Somehow, this became more of my main while my writing acc/actual main became untouched for over half a year. I'm expecting this to switch. Maybe not leaving this acc for that long, but just not being as active. If you'd like to follow my main, it's VisualTragedy :)

+++++ EVERYBODY READ BELOW.  +++++

This isn't tied to the contest, but it needs to be heard. Also please look up more information behind these topics, as I can only say so much.

I graduated a little over 12 hours ago (woo). And at my graduation, a few people took a knee to show their protest of the injustices happening to POC. Nobody said anything that would draw more attention to it, but what was seen were the dirty looks they received from my classmates around them. Needless to say, I am disgusted. 

If you even had the smallest thought in your mind that what they did (taking a knee) was disgusting/unneeded, I beg for you to not only educate yourself but to unfollow me as well.

Being a POC (and even if I weren't), I am telling you that you are a part of the threat to our lives.

I'm sure some of you have already stopped reading this, but those that are continuing, please understand that you need to be a part of the change, even if you aren't here in the US.

To see how go to blacklivesmatters.carrd.co (linked here)::

and if you don't want to spread awareness in fear of ruining your "page aesthetic" please be aware that you are also a part of the problem, and you should be heavily disappointed in yourself.

Before those that are ignorant comment, here are some tidbits::

ACAB || ACAB otherwise known as "all cops are bad" is used to show the intolerance of the unjust system that the cops are in. Those that continue to be cops mean they know what's happening, yet they continue to be there anyway. And if "but then we wouldn't have cops" is your argument, then I guess ACAB is true, because you're aware that they know, yet you continue to support those that stand by and watch. Plus, if that is your question instead of "then how can I help make a change?" you are part of the problem. 

Furthermore, if you're justifying the 'niceness' of cops by using those that take a knee with protesters, please look at the actual facts, because most of them-- once the photos and videos are done-- harm the protestors afterward anyway. I am aware that some cops are in fact good people, but they still sit in an unjust system without stepping up to make a change.

BLM vs ALM || If you're thinking "but all lives matter," you are correct, they all do, but not until black lives matter just as much as the others. If you don't believe in the BLM movement, you are a part of the problem. I saw these on twitter & ig, so I'll share it here. The first isn't a direct quote, but it's a summary of their point.

If you have a group of kids and one is hurt, do you prioritize all the kids and ignore the one that is still hurting, or do you help the kid get better before going onto prioritizing all the kids the same again?

"Imagine if people started a hashtag PrayForNewOrleans right after hurricane Katrine, just for n*ggas in other cities to say AllCitiesMatterToo" - KumaXXI on twt.

White Privilege || "White Privilege doesn't mean your life hasn't been hard, it means your skin ton isn't one of the things making it harder. There's plenty of other privileges (socio-economic, male, heterosexual, cisgender, Christian, able-bodied) but white privilege is perhaps the most enduring throughout history." - courtneyahndesign on ig. (i recommend you read through their entire post, this is just 1 of 5 slides detailing this topic). If you don't believe in white privilege, you are part of the problem.

"George Floyd and I were both arrested for allegedly spending a counterfeit $20 bill. For George Floyd, a man my age, with two kids, it was a death sentence. For me, it is a story I sometimes tell at parties. That, my friends, is White privilege." - m_d_mccoy on twt.

Summary || There's a lot more I want to say but basically, there is a problem that we need to fix. If you think otherwise, you are the reason for the said problem. Go on ig/twt and watch the videos of the peaceful protestors who get tear-gassed, maced, hit with rubber bullets, and arrested for using their human rights. Watch the police officers handling them with immense, unneeded force with a smile on their face. Watch the newscasters who can legally record what's happening being arrested without explanation. Watch the police brutality against the blacks, my people, because of their skin tone. Watch the videos of the whites starting unnecessary vandalism, just for it to be pinned on the blacks. Watch everyone rioting for a change, because peace doesn't work. See the difference between when our president addresses whites protesting for haircuts as they hold guns, and when he addresses blacks protesting for basic human rights with just a sign in their hands. Please educate yourself, and please help fight for change.

help us: blacklivesmatters.carrd.co