(no subject)

[eldabe]

So I think I'm finally reaching the tipping point.

For all of my fandom life I have tried to keep fandom and real life separate. For lots of reasons. One of them is the law professor who looked me in the eye when I was just a college student and told me that "fanfiction is illegal." One of them is that when I started this fandom journey that was NORMAL; we weren't selling our data to big companies for the right to use websites regularly and everyone agreed it was safer to keep your real name hidden. Right now it's because I don't want to be the odd one out in my professional workplace, where it's ok to be into fantasy football (which is OBVIOUSLY not gambling lol) but only two people know I'm a Harry Potter fan and neither will ever be told how much. (I haven't even mentioned Torchwood.)

So basically, I prefer it this way. VASTLY PREFER IT THIS WAY.

Then I made the stupid, stupid mistake of getting into a theater fandom. It's a fandom where meeting people in person is THE NORM. So when I meet someone I want to stay in touch with, I have to freeze. What username do I use? My real ones (on facebook and twitter) where I try to avoid fandom unless absolutely necessary? My fandom ones (twitter, tumblr, instagram, dreamwidth, AO3, ff.net, livejournal...) where I Very Much Do Not Want it connected to my real name??? And this isn't even talking about chatting with actors on social media, which is something that is a huge part of the fandom right now (and is something I both crave and fear. WTF self)

So I feel like I need something in between and new. Something "nerdy" where I can associate with my real name. It would be another life subdivide, because again: No fanfiction connected to my real name. That's the hard line. And sure, I haven't posted fic in a while, but I have three Torchwood fics lined up to go, and I've been quietly writing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child fics since *cough* 2016. They just need a beta.

But do I want to do that? What platforms get the Liminal Username treatment? Am I sure I want this??? Maybe it's better to keep being a lurker in theater fandom, because do I want this to haunt me in the future????

Ahhhhh.

Comments

[lannamichaels]

So I feel like I need something in between and new. Something "nerdy" where I can associate with my real name. It would be another life subdivide, because again: No fanfiction connected to my real name. That's the hard line. And sure, I haven't posted fic in a while, but I have three Torchwood fics lined up to go, and I've been quietly writing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child fics since *cough* 2016. They just need a beta.

I have contemplated doing this (online stuff that I could put on my resume, without me ever having to use my wallet name on those websites) to the extent of actually registering e-mail addresses, but haven't actually done it, but yeah, I think that's a good idea to make a bridge account. The issue is that you will have to build up some kind of presence with that bridge account, whether it be twitter or whatever, just so it is seen to actually exist, and that can take away from your actual-fannish account.

But do I want to do that? What platforms get the Liminal Username treatment? Am I sure I want this??? Maybe it's better to keep being a lurker in theater fandom, because do I want this to haunt me in the future????

I'm only barely in a theater fandom, but would they respect if it you said "just call me X?" One advantage to this username is that I can give it as an actual real name if I need to, because it sounds like one. Could you make your bridge name into something that could pass, and only use that one with the fandom? I'm with you on "these streams can't cross".

[eldabe]

The issue is that you will have to build up some kind of presence with that bridge account, whether it be twitter or whatever, just so it is seen to actually exist, and that can take away from your actual-fannish account.

THIS is a legitimate fear that I wasn't even thinking about. It's not like I have a lot of time/energy right now for fandom stuff on my actual fannish account. And I never wanted to turn my fandom experiences into labor? Like I always wanted to keep "work" and "fun" separate??? IDK.

Could you make your bridge name into something that could pass, and only use that one with the fandom?

I've used my real name to people at stage door already, and there are people in fandom that know me by my real name and my fandom handle, but I'm thinking about doing a diminutive OF my real name as part of the bridge handle. That way it can slide around a little. It's already going to have to be uncomfortably "real" because this is an "in-person" fandom in a way that most media fandoms just aren't. :/

"I'm with you on "these streams can't cross"."

THEY ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT CROSS. And the longer I procrastinate the harder the switch will be. A cast member already liked a tweet, which is just not something I expected on my fandom handle, so I have to switch over. Ahhhhhh.

(There's this extra weirdness in the UK show the cast has READ FIC and talked about with the fic writers. The fandom itself is so chill and I'm here in my Very Tense Corner drawing lines around EVERYTHING)