The History Of Pseudonyms
I’ve never been at all reticent about the fact that “Mort Harris” is a pseudonym. I’ve used the name Mort on the internet since basically forever - it started out posting as “Mort the Ghost” in the Gunnerkrigg Court comments section, and slowly spiraled into my general Internet “handle”.
Mort was a sweet little ghost boy, good-hearted, easily flustered, and a big goof who loved scaring people. I could see myself in him, and, besides, the name meant “dead”. It was edgy, but not so edgy I’d grow to regret it later. It was a good pseudonym, and tacking on a last name to it made a respectable way to maintain my Lemony-Snicket-faceless-author schtick.
But I’m no longer as sweet or ghostly, and I’m definitely not little or a boy anymore. I made a decision on a new real name today - it’s my first birthday in transition, it felt fitting - swapping out a grandfather’s middle name for a great-grandmother’s first name, so I figured I’d better make a decision on a new pseudonym.
I’m gonna go with Nausicaä. (I don’t expect you to put the umlaut in every time, but it’d be nice. And, sorry to break all your links, but this is coming with a URL change as well.) I think Nausicaä most represents who and where I am right now, or at least what qualities I’d like to project. A love of nature, at home in the air, a determined and compassionate heart … part of my change in pseudonym is about gender, yeah, but it’s also about growing up. Mort was a good kid and a good friend, but I’m not a kid anymore. I’m a young woman. An adult. That’s who I am right now, and that’s what I want to be.
I do also wanna explicitly state that I’m comfortable using “she” pronouns as well as “they” now. I’m not sure I like one or the other more, but both apply to me. Thank you.
sorry for the confusion everybody