DanielleBeaulieu

I learned about the contest from the League of Legends Cosplayers group on facebook, where I saw multiple cosplayers showing us their cosplay masks they were submitting. There were a bunch! I learned about this contest about a day before the deadline, so I thought I'd give it a shot as well rather than regretting not trying. Upon reading the contest it seemed to me like the intended masks were supposed to be New Years Masquerade theme, but I'm seeing a ton of cosplayers enter theirs so why not give it a shot?!

I was not concealing the fact that my mask was made for a cosplay. If you look at my submission you can clearly see the top of Maokai's shield, his tree backing, his bark glove, and even his little sapling. Riot has seen and acknowledged my Maokai in the past on the Summoners Showcase (not for an award) so they knew it existed and they were okay with my entry. If you dislike the way the contest was judged based on this fact, that's totally fine, and completely understandable! But please, address it to Riot and don't personally attack me over it!

I am seeing a lot of great masks that didn't make the cut and if I was judging I definitely would have included them but at the same time when you enter a contest you have to be prepared to risk losing the hours for the chance of winning. I didn't expect to win, to be honest I thought I would be disqualified for the fact it was not made with a masquerade theme. Much to my surprise, it won and I have this angry mob after me. 

I want to clear some things up. Lots of people are saying that I worked on that mask for months ahead of time. No, I worked on it in the span of a few nights. I drew it on cardboard, sprayed expanding foam over it, cut it out, carved it, painted, then added LED tea lights and gift wrap in the eyes. It wasn't a huge project. I didn't spend more time on mine than anyone else in the contest. (Tutorial on my facebook page www.facebook.com/daniellecosplay for anyone interested) In fact, my entire Maokai cosplay could have been made in the allotted time for the contest. The only reason it wasn't is because I was in no rush and was working on Wildfire Zyra at the time it was made. When I made it, I put my heart into that mask and created it without any thought of reward. Over the past year I've spent all of my free time and thousands of dollars on League of Legends cosplay and learning my hobby. Why is my mask less special just because it was not new? This is the first time I've gotten any type of prize or reward for my League costumes. I was really happy to have gotten a little something out of it after dedicating so much time and money into the craft. 

Sure, I could have made a new mask entirely but I honestly don't have the funds or time to waste on creating something new or wasting materials. Right now we are creating a fully lit-up, rideable, huge Arcade Hecarim cosplay, a lit-up Haunted Zyra cosplay, and a lit-up Mecha Kha'zix cosplay for PAX East which is fast approaching. I had no time to make a new mask, and submitting an Arcade Hecarim helmet or Kha'zix helmet seemed more like just that, a helmet. I am sorry for submitting my mask that I had worked on previously. The rules on the page said nothing about having to make a new one specifically for the contest and like I said a lot of my friends were harmlessly submitting theirs for a chance as well so I assumed this was fine but I also assumed a cosplay mask would be a disadvantage. I didn't really think twice before entering, but if I could go back in time, the RP reward is not worth having this angry mob of people on my ass.

I am seeing a ton of other great cosplay masks getting praised and pity for not winning, by the same people raging about mine. They are essentially doing the same thing as me, but since Riot chose mine it's okay to attack me and my mask? Please, if you are unhappy with how the contest was run, direct your anger towards the people RUNNING the contest. I seriously put very little thought into this contest assuming I had no chance anyway, I read the rules on the contest page and decided to enter with my friends. I even said to multiple people if I won I was gifting all of it into skins to my friends and fiance with the RP since they play a hell of a lot more than me. 

People are going through my reddit account and mass-downvoting me. They are bashing my cosplay page and people are "unliking" my page. I am getting nasty messages ranging from calling me a cheater and even messages saying I stole the mask? People are just blindly hating me over this stupid contest. It is not my fault the rules were vague, it is not my fault for winning anything. If it makes you feel better you've all made me feel like a piece of shit for finally being rewarded for my hard work in League costuming. Is that enough for you? I haven't gotten a moment of enjoyment out of winning my first contest if that makes you feel better.

After the winners were announced some people linked a forum post listing the rules for Riot's contest submissions but this information that states you can't work on a project before the contest was announced. This information was NOT linked on the contests page, so how would I have possibly known that unless I was psychic? A lot of my friends did not know this either since they were submitting their cosplay masks as well so I assumed that it was okay. I didn't try to deceive anyone. This was my first contest I have entered for Riot so I had no idea and I've apologized for it.  LEAVE ME ALONE ABOUT IT.

Thanks for reading. I am going to step away from the internet for a while and go work on my Arcade Hecarim costume.

Update: I got a message from Riot apologizing to me for not having the rules clear and apologizing to me about how the community has been attacking me. I can only imagine the messages sent to them over it. The whole situation snowballed out of control over a couple misunderstandings. Those of you sending me death threats and making up rumors and reposting lies without checking with me first need to get your mental health checked by a professional, all of that over a mask and some virtual currency? Grow up.