sholio | (no subject)

I chose my lj name before I had any idea what an awful newbie name was. I thought about changing it, but by then I'd gained some traction with my fic. And now I haven't written anything in four years, so I fear changing it would make me vanish if I ever started writing again. Ah, well.

For what it's worth, your name doesn't strike me in particular as a newbie name! Is it the numbers on the end, you mean? So many people do that ... I'm totally used to it. :D

I can see what you mean about the accidental vanishing! Though I think people would figure it out in the end. I do know people who changed the names they wrote under, or use different names in different fandoms, and most people either don't care or seem to be able to keep it straight ...

The numbers, but also Ivy. I chose it because it's related to my actual name--I've thought about going by it in real life. I had no idea, though, that there are so many Ivys in fandom. And so many Mary Sues named Ivy.

I think you should totally go for it if you want to! I know you as both sholio and friendshipper, though friendshipper more. People would get used to it.

You could also change it gradually. Go to something like "friendshipper-sholio" for a few months and then just "sholio."

Thank you! :D

I can't do that, though, because you have to buy a rename token to change your name. So it wouldn't be worth paying for it twice (especially since I'm going to have to do it on both LJ and DW!). However, the old name still redirects to the new name -- so people who go looking for "friendshipper" or link to it will be automatically redirected to the new URL.

Oh! Well, there you go then. As long as people can find you (or your fic) when they search under the old name, I definitely say go for it.

(Ugh, and I didn't realize that about the cost to name change. It was something I'd been considering as well. Maybe not now....)

Yeah, it does cost -- and it's not terribly cheap, either. ($15 last I checked.) On the other hand, it's probably worth it if you end up with a name you like ... (Out of curiosity, what were you thinking about changing to?)

Oh, thanks for the info! I wondered about how much it cost.

I have no idea what I'd change to, which is the other problem. I love linziday, but I'd probably go with something completely opposite since my goal would be to better separate RL and fandom life. But I'm linziday here and on FF.net, and I'm not sure I could change on FF at all.

I'd say go for it. Also, for what it's worth, I already get all mixed up with you and a few others cause I think of you partially by your lj name, your fic name and by your rl one, so really, whatever works for you, I think many people are used to it...

hahahaha ... yeah, it's not like it isn't confusing enough as it is! The temporary confusion of the name change would probably lead to a net reduction in confusion in the long run ...

I've had a number of people change names on me. It's always really disconcerting at first, and then after a while I end up forgetting they had a different name. (oddly, in real life I CANNOT handle name changes. I still think of my married friends who changed their names by their maiden name. If I meet someone as "Katie" and they switch to "Kate" I have a really hard time switching. And so on...)

I think for me, it depends ... there are times that I have trouble adjusting to someone's name change, but usually a single change of name is way less confusing than trying to keep track of people by different names on different sites. I've really been noticing this with people using different names on LJ and DW; not that I think they shouldn't or anything, but wow do I have trouble remembering who is who. Which is probably factoring into my own decision to change my name, and try to keep it simpler for myself as well as other people ...

Oh, yeah, people actively using different names at the same time is whole different level of confusion.

I'd still say go with whatever makes you happy. I know I picked my name on a whim with the assumption that M*A*S*H would be the only fandom I ever had. For a while I wanted a less fandom-specific name, but I've grown to really identify with it. And now I'm just not willing to pay to take off the numbers, if "abyssinia" is actually available on LJ again. I use "Abyssinia" for AO3 and DW and just about anywhere else fannish, but I figure that's pretty damn close, you know?

*LIGHTBULB* Even knowing you were a M*A*S*H fan, I never got the significance of the numbers before! Well, that's going to make it easier to remember. *g* (Yes, I am a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.)

Hee :) See, my camoflague (I can't seem to figure out how to spell that word...) is effective!

I think it helps if for the first few entries after the namechange, you add a 'formerly Friendshipper'. I've never actually had someone on my own flist change journal names, but I flist hop a lot, (as in there's two or three people whose flists I read every day, so I do kinda know them) and have seen people talking about their new namechange and I have no clue who they used to be.

Yeah, it's a good suggestion and I was already thinking along those lines anyway -- well, what I was planning was to put up a sticky note indicating that this is the LJ formerly known as Friendshipper (I've been meaning to put up an orientation sticky note anyway; I just haven't gotten around to it).

...have seen people talking about their new namechange and I have no clue who they used to be.

*g* This has also happened to me. I guess that if I knew them well enough for it to matter to me, though, I would be able to figure it out from the context of their other posts.

i know you as both Sholio and friendshipper but over all i think Sholio is a cooler name :) i like it a lot

Thank you! :D The response seems to be positive, so I'm definitely leaning towards going for it.

yeahh :)

I think that I already know you as Sholio because

derry667 often refers to you by that or your real name... so it wouldn't bother me much at all! But since it's your journal I think you should go for it! :)

Thank you! :D (One of these days we should actually meet in person! Assuming we can manage to even be in the same hemisphere at the same time.)

I'll be interested to see what you do-- I'm in much the same situation. I picked this LJ name on a whim, because at the time I sincerely thought I'd never use my LJ (hah!), but I'm alessandriana everywhere else, and I don't like the discontinuity.

FWIW, I've had people on my flist change names, and I got used to it after a while. Half the time I forget what their old name used to be. (If they change their name and their default icon at the same time, though, I get totally lost...)

I think right now I'm leaning about 95% towards changing my journal name (the remaining 5% is because I figure I'd better give it a day or two and let my brain get used to the idea before I go ahead and do it). The response seems to be overwhelmingly positive, or at least supportive, and lacking in OH GOD NO responses *g*, so I figure that it ought to work out.

I'm slightly amused by the amount of people I know in RL and on LJ who are currently changing their names (including me, I've gone from Kate to Katherine), so I think I can keep track of one more :) Especially if you keep using your default icon for a while, as a reminder :)

(Or, I suppose, you could make an icon saying that you're friendshipper and use that for a while to remind people?)

mmmm, that's a good idea; I could just add the text to my default icon, and that would probably help! Thanks for the suggestion, 'tis a good one. :)

I know quite a lot of people in RL who go by names that are not the names on their birth certificate, so I suppose I shouldn't feel odd about changing my LJ name, even if there's a bit of an adjustment period.

How about a combination like "SholioFriendshipper"? Just a thought...

Someone else in the above comments suggested that as an interim measure, but ... no, it doesn't really appeal to me. Thank you for the input, though! :)