finalArchivist

Part of how authoritarianism works is telling you that you can't stop it. And you can't stop it by yourself. But it wants to stop the train of thought there and let you fall into despair.

You need to remember the next part: you don't have to stop it by yourself.

Usagi was a brilliant musician and composer who tragically passed away in 2018. She was early in her transition at the time of her passing, and I was unable to find any confirmation of the name she preferred. I will be referring to her using her online moniker “Usagi” since we don’t know how she felt about the name she was given at birth, or if she wanted to change it.

She wrote many of the most beloved songs for Homestuck, as well as the soundtrack for the game Spelunkey.

Usagi was a part of the LGBTQ community, and talked about her experiences regarding her trans and ace identities openly and with joy.

Her Bandcamp and last album, Qualia, can be found here

Usagi’s music deeply impacted many people. Homestuck as a whole would not be the same without the iconic songs that she wrote for it. Her music influenced Toby Fox, who remixed Buzinkai’s song “Doctor” and sites the song as a major turning point in his growth as a musician.

I didn’t even know that she was the composer or that she had passed until a few years ago.

I was really upset to learn that someone who contributed so much to something I loved had passed and, in my opinion, never really received the wide-spread recognition she deserved for her art. My goal in making this post is to try and educate people who were unaware of her artistic contributions to Homestuck. I hope to honor her memory, as well as the beauty and music she brought to the world.

I’ll leave you with a really lovely quote from her regarding accepting and discovering one’s identity:

“…There's nothing like that first time stepping out as yourself, talking about who you are meant to be without fear. The world might come knocking, but when it does, knock back louder and say it loudly and proudly;

get a bit of hope, you get

a cute birb photo

no. i don't.

i booked a front row seat to the devil's sacrament and you're blocking the view

I think it must be, at least partially, because, people hate the imperfect victim. Its easy for so many people to sympathize with someone who never lashed out. Less so for people to sympathize with people who are angry and lash out. Even though its a perfectly sensible reaction to being hurt over and over. I'm sure most people would like to think they would simply never.

Thanks! Here you go 🥰

Some other additions:

Inspired by @unicorn-in-the-library:

And because @surfs-up-roxy wanted an ace one:

I didn't want to make the message ace-specific because I wanted to make a point of how all of the above include aspec people, but I tried to use an ace colour palette for the background :) I also think the message applies especially (even if not exclusively) to the ace community!

I played around with the concept a bit, I hope you like it anyway!

I feel like this also needs to be said:

Image 1: (in white text, on a background of rainbow watercolors) Gatekeeping hurts queer people who are questioning.

Image 2: (in white text, on a background of rainbow paint strokes) Gatekeeping hurts more queer people than it protects.

Image 3: (in white text, on a background of pastel watercolors) How about you let people question their gender and sexuality in peace.

Image 4: (in white text, on a photo of the rainbow pride flag flying in a blue sky) People don’t owe you a chronicle of their life experiences and feelings for you to decide whether they belong in their own community.

Image 5: (in white text, on a marbled pink background) I don’t know how to tell you this, but you are not the queer police.

Image 6: (in white text, on a background of multicolored textile) Stop siding with our oppressors.

Image 7: (in white text, on a photo of pieces of chalk arranged in a rainbow on asphalt) Not every queer person’s experiences need to be like yours.

Image 8: (in white text, on a background of shiny, rainbow chunks of metal (?)) Mind your own damn business.

Image 9: (in white text, on a mottled black & rainbow background) Let people change labels.

Image 10: (in white text, on a photo of a full moon in a dark sky) There’s no such thing as not being queer enough.

Image 11: (in white text, on a background of paint strokes in pink, white, magenta, purple and dark blue, the colors of the genderfluid pride flag) Vocabulary is designed to be constantly reinvented as human societies evolve, and labels aren’t the exception.

Image 12: (in white text, on a background of pink, purple, and turquoise) Gatekeeping is a product of privilege.

Here's one more addition per @secretlycrazyhummingbird's suggestion:

[ID: (in white text, over a black background with striking rainbow lights) gatekeepers are nothing but bullies. End ID]

And I'm really glad this post has helped so many people feel a bit less alone in their struggles. Bullies have made a LOT of damage in this community—have made so many of us feel like impostors, like trenders, like maybe we were making up the things we were feeling—and it makes me so happy we're all pushing back against their hateful, narrow-minded, queerphobic rhetoric.