Cosplayer deemed "literally worse than Hitler" - People incorrectly blaming BABScon

By now, you've probably heard of the cosplayer who rocked the victims of the internet to it's core over the weekend, when he performed a 1-handed Bellamy salute during the BABScon cosplay contest. The "Führer of Equality", who received the villain award, immediately received gasps of shock, and a short dressing-down by one of the volunteer judges, who informed him of her Jewish heritage. He then adjusted his display to a 2-handed Bellamy salute, in the form of an = sign, upon the direction of the judges.

This, did not of course, prevent the people who needed something to be upset at BABScon for, from swooping in immediately, as the rest of the convention was almost completely free of drama.

Have you ever even SEEN Hitler?

The cosplay, which did not bear any nazi iconography was a purple military uniform, which to our knowledge is not a color ever utilized by any axis power during the second World War. Why that is important, is because military costumes are a staple of every brony convention and have been for quite some time. The armband (a feature on many military uniforms, such as a US Army MP) bore an "=" symbol. The administrative staff of BABScon would have had no just argument in barring the individual from participating in the cosplay contest, prior to the incident.

The cosplayer in question won the prize for best "Villain" costume, because well, we assume saying anyone else won is like telling them that they're "literally worse than Hitler". Afterward, BABScon publicly condemned the cosplayer's tasteless choice of actions on their Twitter account. 

Shamed on stage immediately, condemned by both the convention organizer and the PR department after the fact, case closed right?

 I mean, what else is there to do at that point? Have a guy arrested for a tasteless joke? This IS the United States of America, and until Tumblr gets their hands on the Constitution, freedom of speech and expression are still rights we hold.

But no, this is bronyland drama, and it could never be that simple. Especially, when it involves us - somehow.

In what can only be described as an Fandom Fanfic gone wrong, Nasharchy, OsakaJack, and KickNeckbeardAss (that's a blast from the past right? Wow!) have all begun reblogging each other condemning BABScon because they - and we're quoting here - "allowed a staff member to hand those [Buttons] out" and that "That con is staffed and run by people that are dependent on the 4chan based HorseNews for attendees and attention". Additionally asserting that "ShellShock (the cosplayer) is a writer for Horse News".

All of this would be amazing! If any of it were true.

First and foremost, Chelis is by no means a "Staff Member" of BABScon, he was a "community guest". That title is as easy to receive at a con as it is to convince a porn site that you're 18.

Second, the idea that BABScon would be lost without Horse News' press involvement, is the best compliment I think we could ever expect to receive from Everfree Network. It's so incredible in fact, that we wish it were true. We would make that our banner for months. We would sign our emails with it. I'm pretty sure a couple of the staff would get it tattooed on their asses and emblazoned on business cards; "Horse News: The only reason that BABScon exists". The honest to god truth is, that BABScon would do just fine without our input. Rarely does any standard convention press release receive any great deal of interest on our site. Want to know what the most-viewed post on HN is?

THIS BULLSHIT. That's right folks, this is the magnum opus of the "Scourge of the Fandom" that is the dreaded, omnipotent Horse News.

Now, finally, the one that people will be loving to grill us over (which would be important, I suppose, if we really cared) - "Shell Shock is a Horse News writer".

That's a pretty bold and damning claim right? Absolutely it is! Except we invite you, to click the search box in the top-right corner, and try to find an example of something he's written for us. You'll find such controversial titles as:

Oh. Crap. He isn't actually a Horse News writer? He's never posted a scrap before?

Did I know that before I started writing this thing?

Wait...does he even have an account on here?

Hold on, gotta check something.

...

...

We don't even follow him on Twitter?

...

...

...

HE'S JUST SOME GUY WHO PARTIES WITH US AND HANGS IN OUR CHATROOM?

AND I'M STUCK HERE, WRITING A POST ABOUT HIS SPAGHETTI DROPPING ASS, BECAUSE HE CAN'T KEEP HIS PYTHON-ESQUE HUMOR TO HIMSELF FOR 30 SECONDS AT A CON?

I don't get paid enough for this.

Where was I?

In recap: the blame being placed on the Convention is unjust.
The responsibility for the offending salute falls upon the cosplayer alone.
The contest volunteers were caught offguard and handled the situation as best as possible.
The convention publicly condemned the cosplayer.
The convention head disapproved of his actions as well.
The cosplayer has never written anything for us.
The costume wasn't explicitly a nazi uniform, it was gesture that caused the havoc.
KNA is still trying to perpetrate the false abduction story from before.
EFN thinks we have more power than we do.

We contacted ShellShock and asked him what he was thinking. He said he wanted a "humanized Starlight Glimmer costume", and that the salute was "a split-second poor decision".

So blame him probably. Blame us if you want to I guess. But don't blame BABScon, they handled the situation (no matter how brief) as best as could be expected.

We look forward to them being bigger and better NEXT year.

And one more thing:

Nash has declared that every time someone defends us, he'll donate $20 to a Feminist Charity!

We think that's great. We suggest donating to RAINN, just like all proceeds from our traffic are supporting.
To give everyone a chance to help Nash's cause, you can find him here and here. 

Now, because everyone is really pissed off about a very bad nazi joke, here's some good nazi jokes.