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

[syl-luvs-silver.livejournal.com]

To be honest, this has never bothered me (unless it's especially obnoxious, like 'xoxokakashisgurrrlxoxo' or something). Just want to clarify, though, that the 'silver' in my username refers to the colour (and at the time I was a teenybopper who thought it'd be cool to shove a pun in there, ha), and it's entirely coincidental that Kakashi's hair happens to be silver. :P

Couldn't have you secretly shunning me thus.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! I wouldn't secretly shun you even if you HAD been referencing Kakashi. And I never thought you were.