So at its peak the fandom was very Very big like “overwhelmed convention staff” big. The fandom also existed through different phases and shifts of fandom culture as a whole. And not everyone was very receptive to those shifts. In that way it was kind of the perfect storm for brushing up against some annoying and terrible people, but also some of the greatest friends you’ll ever have. I cosplayed Homestuck from like 2012ish all the way to my most “recent” con in 2019 (ahaha) I’ve been Jade, Meenah, and Boldir. I’ve met some of the artists of the welovefine/ffbf shirts I own and got postcard versions of the designs. One con I bought a plush erigrub and he’s my son boy allowed. I got to meet a friend of a friend at a convention and later went to their homestuck themed bday party complete with sopor (jello) pies. I also unfortunately met some people whose art I greatly admired and took much inspiration from who very muchly embodied the sentiment of “don’t meet your heroes“ I did also meet Hussie a couple times at signing events! The first time the line was so long I couldn’t help but snack and by the time I got there I was so star struck I asked if they wanted some of the mini Oreos ;A; I’m still extremely embarrassed but also it’s a kinda cute story so I don’t mind saying it.

And god yeah the upd8 culture can’t be overstated honestly like you kinda just had to be there as much as that sucks to hear. When [S] Cascade dropped and broke the internet my friends managed to watch it but I did not and had to suffer through them giggling and barely contained hype through the whole school day until I was able to watch once I got home. But even the small updates were Events. There were upd8 notifiers for a reason. Everyone had something to say about everything lol.

On the rp front of things the tumblr specific fantroll rp community was noooot good in a variety of ways ranging from annoying/rude to “how did you not end up in jail” but I mean. Tumblr. There were multiple different chat clients to match you up with a random person, had some really cute stuff that way. I drew up an entire furry ref sheet as jade’s in-universe fursona Specifically for those things and almost everyone DC’d immediately. Cowards. I was part of a Pokestuck rp forum that I ended up becoming admin of after the original admin couldn’t keep up. Met one of my bestest buddies through that rp we still talk to this day. Another bestie I still talk to and found via rp was through this rotating sburb session rp group we were both part of. IC took place via pesterchum and ooc/organization via skype. It occasionally dipped into original Non-sburb settings but also because it was usually the core same people between different rps we could do post-scratch worlds or make the new world that was created and play their session or have recurring Big Bads. And then the whole thing imploded around me specifically even though I didn’t do anything which is kinda funny. Basically the main guy got a new partner who didn’t like me for ?? We don’t know and when it came time to start up the next rp they wanted a smaller group so first X number of replies gets in. I got in within the limit. Then it was Also suddenly based on your activity in the prior rp and I was ousted for that and anyone with eyes was like “Autumn was one of the Most Active people she just missed some main plot points because of classes” and based on what my pals told me it caused such a sour atmosphere the rp fizzled out in record time. So It Goes. Real shame too because I’ve never been able to find a squad that could fully complete One rp storyline much less multiple in a row Since then…

But uh yeah my general “how to enjoy fandom” philosophy is the same now as it was back then. Block freely, don’t shit talk people publicly that’s asking for trouble, and gather yourself a cozy little friendgroup to jam out with and the Nasty side of fandom will seem a bit further away. Still there but not a fandom on this earth is free from having bad apples. It’s keeping friends close and staying out of petty arguments that keeps the feeling fond and bright