The Mistic Awards

˚ ✶ ⋆｡˚ ⁀➷ | A Very Important Announcement

Hi there!

This announcement is about a couple of things about the forms. Let's get straight into it!

First of all is about some issues on our side. Hosting an award show, as some people know, is a very messy business, no matter how much you plan. We planned out all sheets and wrote them. In the first day, everything went well—yay! On the second day . . . yay-boom. All the inline comments were no longer inline, but rather, we had to scroll all the way down to the page to see them clumped together in no particular order. While we did our best to accept them all, it wasn't easy, and we missed a couple—which is why there would have been no response to some good forms, for both judges and participants.

We've been doing our best to accept them, and it's been helped by people who tagged us in the form

The second part of this announcement another reason why so many forms weren't accepted. 

They. Simply. Were. Not. Filled. Properly.

And, by that, I don't even mean something small or silly, like a typo in the username or forgetting to give the shoutout or something. I mean stuff as irresponsible as not writing all the criteria possible—some people forgot to write even the title of their book—which mean it was practically impossible to decipher their form. 

It gets a bit tiring to write "I'm sorry, but you haven't filled the form properly, which is why we can't accept your entry" in five-hundred different ways because people don't like it when you copy-paste.

So yes, as we had stated in the rules, we started ignoring those. We're sorry about it, but we can't do anything about it. 

Also, a non-form related thing that's the most important part of this announcement. 

There's a pandemic going on. And while it's gotten better in so many countries, like Taiwan, New Zealand and the US, the second and third waves are wrecking so many countries like where I am right now, India.

And it's not easy. 

Lockdowns, being distanced, being stuck at home, losing loved ones and close friends—it's really not easy. It's taken a toll on everyone—I've, personally, know many people struggling with depression, loneliness, vulnerability.

I'm writing this announcement to say that you're not alone in this, and you don't have to go through it alone. You're not the only one suffering. Everyone's hurting, in some way or another.

And so it's OK to ask for help. Maybe a friend, online or offline, or a parent or a school counsellor. It's OK to not be okay and feel what you're feeling. It's OK to feel down every now and then. And it's OK to ask for help.

Really. If you need us, we're there for you. You just have to ask, and no one is going to look down at you for asking.

We would try to help and look up at you for having the courage to speak up.

The pandemic isn't going to go away very soon, but it will blow over. The getting back to a new, better normal in New Zealand, Taiwan and Israel are signs that it will happen everywhere else, albeit not that fast. Vaccinations are, on average going well—and while there are shortages (welp), it's amazing how fast the vaccines were made and how well they work. This kind of a vaccination program has never, ever happened before, and it's working well for a first time. We will get through the pandemic. Maybe not unscathed, but we will.

Till then, take care, stay safe, and no that you're not alone. <3