I woke up this morning to find some communications that some of the contestants in this contest I am currently running, are being attacked for what they're doing to try and win. So, I felt the need to speak up and say something publicly. Again, this is an experiment and next time [if there is a next time] I will try to learn from some of the issues we've had throughout the process. One thing I can't change though...is that everyone wants to win. So, I will say this...

To those who are making offers in exchange for votes...
I understand that you want to win this thing. I do feel the need to remind you that the next part of this will be donation driven. The reason why I went with a voting system is because when a winner is chosen, I want to feel like the character that comes out on top is the one that a majority want to see artwork of. Because if the donation goals are NOT met, your 6 part series...may be less than 6 parts. So, what I'm saying is...if you make offers and pull people into this who may not care at all about donating towards seeing artwork of your character...then all of the extra effort may be a waste anyways.

To those who are attacking others...
Largely this is just going to be a rehash of what I've already said above. Again. The next part of this will be donation driven. If others are doing things you feel are underhanded to try and win...then they may very well be shooting themselves in the foot anyways. Please try and keep this whole thing civil. If this turns out to be a success I would be highly tempted to run something like this again to try and pay off more of my credit card debt and lingering medical bills. I won't be able to do so in good conscience though if it's just going to devolve into everyone clawing at everyone else.

ALSO! If it helps ease any of the tension here, let me just say this. The contest is still pretty close and there's been a huge amount of support for ALL of the contestant's characters. Once this is done this evening and a winner has been chosen, I will also extend this offer to all those who participated. If you can petition your voters to pledge a donation towards a picture of your character and reach the donation level that I'm setting per page... Then I will draw that piece. Yes, up to three pieces, if you can fund it that far. If you think you might be interested, just note me about it. I'm not ready to release numbers publicly just yet till I have the first piece of the 6 part series done.

Thank you for your time! ^(._.)^; And let's try to keep the drama level down today please. I will be at work till the contest ends at 6PM this evening and won't be able to mediate much.