A Note On Pseudonyms

[redbrunja]

 nimblnymph  was commenting about sexism in language, and it got me thinking about usernames. Specifically, (and I know I have people on my flist who do this and I don't mean to be insulting, this is totally just my opinion) how much I hate it when people use some part of a character's name in their username.

You know.

Mrs_Hatake

I_heart_hakkai.

Anything with Snape or Severus.

Even more subtle references: blooming_sakura or whatever cause me to twitch.

First, I always wonder how long you are going to like that character enough that you want them to be the most visible part of how you present yourself online. Secondly, I make the assumption that you are fourteen and feel the need to wave around your fictional boyfriend or (also fairly common) your OTP like a banner. I also (despite knowing really excellent writers who do this, and often aren't writing about the character referenced in their handle) assume that your fanfic is not worth my time.

Comments

[plural-entity.livejournal.com]

Haha. I did that too. I was like, "Hi = Fire, Ko = child. Hiko = Child of Fire. IT MUST MAKE SENSE." And then "mokushi" was apocalypse, so I tacked it onto the end for flare. I know nothing about Japanese, but I'm sure that's not how it works. xD

However, at the time, it was just cute. And it's literally become something I don't explain anymore. I use it for everything, not just online. For a while I had "HIKO" on the back of my soccer jersey, and my car's license plate is a vanity plate that says "HIKO 23."