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I, like many, had a huge, raging, friendship-ending Homestuck phase as a tween. It was a perfect storm of timing, because it's what absorbed me into Tumblr-type fandom activities (and I had LOADS of fun there. Still do, as long as this website draws breath.) At the same time I was dreaming of all the cool cosplays I could make right after finishing Pyro... I remember taking a picture of Homestuck cosplayers at Otakuthon 2011, having no idea what it was. I just thought they looked cool. Not even 5 months later, I was slathering Snazaroo grey facepaint on and running to "find my people" at G-anime 2012.

One of the key points that made Homestuck so fun to cosplay was how accessible it was. I remember hesitating between some characters, and picking Karkat because out of the trolls I liked, he had the easiest horns. Cosplay tutorials used to be plentiful on Tumblr at the time, so it's how I learned to make the horns; a wide headband with screws facing out, air-dry clay horns with the screw anchor glued in. A great system to make the wig re-useable and the horns easy to carry. Tumblr is where the famous armsock tutorial also floated around, but I'd only barely just started sewing my first plushes ever so I didn't have the skill level to pull those off. I did, however, learn to apply makeup for the first time with this cosplay! I hadn't ever even put on eyeshadow, and here I was learning about contouring and shading over theater creme makeup.

The Karkat cosplay evolved over time pretty quickly; I upgraded a bit of it every event I went to (and I went to a lot, between cosplay picnics, Homestuck gatherings and anime conventions. Karkat lived through eight events over almost three years!) What first started as a regular long sleeved top quickly became a more accurate turtleneck. I eventually switched to Ben Nye makeup for the grey skin, since the previous facepaint was water-based and flaked a lot. I got a better wig eventually too, and made a sickle prop out of MDF Wood and some random handle from the shed. The only thing that stayed consistent throughout all those iterations was the horns, funnily enough. That screw system really paid off!

Karkat was eventually retired as I moved on to other fandoms; but I wore him alongside all my other Homestuck cosplay, as it was very convenient to cycle it in for small events and slow convention days. I still have the horns in storage; they're a fond reminder of an important time in my life, where I first started truly getting into fandom consciously, and trying to socialize and getting out of my comfort zone.

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