Homestuck fandom, a brief history

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Title:	Homestuck fandom, a brief history
Creator:	swamp-wizard and commenters
Date(s):	2009-2017
Medium:	Tumblr post
Fandom:	Homestuck
Topic:
External Links:	Swamp-wizard on Tumblr posts homestuck fandom, a brief history. in June, 2017.
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2009: The original Homestuck fandom was "mostly straight men and programming nerds".  In 2010 after publication of hivebent, Hetalia fans (mainly young women) migrated to Homestuck.  

2011: With fandom steadily expanding, "ben nye literally sells out of grey body paint prior to comic-con." Vriscourse was a major fandom disagreement and wank about the character Vriska. The episodes cascade and november were released.

2012: swamp-wizard writes that this was the peak of homestuck fandom, "in september the homestuck kickstarter begins, meets its $700k goal in less than 2 days, and finishes in october with nearly $2.5 million. this draws the attention of a few mainstream publications - pbs, wired, cnn, huffpo, etc."

2013: Homestuck goes on several hiatuses and the fandom begin to shrink, perhaps also because of other fandoms gaining popularity. "namco high is published in late december to a resounding 'meh'."

2014: There is very little new material, "paradox space launches in an attempt to revive the fandom, which has some success, but not nearly enough to compensate for the loss of interest over the hiatus."  There is legal drama behind the scenes and less interaction with the creator.  Then "game over stirs up the fandom."

2015: There continue to be sporadic updates, "on the same day that homestuck resumes, paradox space goes on an indefinite hiatus which continues to this day (”cancellation” would probably be a better word). a6a6i5 begins and, accordingly, the vriscourse comes back with a vengeance (although the fandom is now much smaller). davekat is canonized and surges to become the most popular ship in the fandom practically overnight." The fandoms Steven Universe and Undertale become popular with Homestuck fans.

2016: When the final final ending is announced,

homestucks remaining fandom gets worked up, estranged fans rush to catch up, and ex-fans wax nostalgic. [s] collide drops to resounding applause and approval. opinions on homestuck are overwhelmingly positive up until act 7 drops and homestuck officially ends. the ending is almost universally considered a disappointment and the fandom works through the five stages of grief. there is a brief stirring of excitement when volume 10 is published in june, but it doesnt last long. fandom is lukewarm and disparate at best all the way up til october. hiveswap finally gets a trailer at the beginning of the month, and weeks later the credits drop. in spite of homestuck being "over" a canon jewish lesbian wedding is enough to interest a small number of new fans and revive the old ones. snapd8s keep interest high through the end of the year

2017: Hiveswap Act 1 is released on September 14. A few months after the release, the [Extended Zodiac] is published, creating a total of 288 signs. With the list comes a presumed confirmation for the long speculated theory that Karkat Vantas is a mutated limeblood; his sign is seen to be affiliated with the line of said blood color, leading us to believe so.

2018: Hiveswap Friendsim volume 1 is released on April 13, the beginning of a line of friendsims created to appease fans until the release of Hiveswap Act 2. Vriscourse is still a thing unfortunately, but spikes up when someone pays Justin McElroy to say "Vriska did nothing wrong" in the voice of Taako Taaco. Insert the screams of the fandom.

Note that this essay was posted in June, 2017.