This an OGS Forums exclusive. Many a time I’ve been asked, many a time I’ve refused to tell:
Back in my first years of High School I did something quite embarrassing.
Perhaps I was rather awkward and silent at the time—not that I’m no longer either of those things to some degree—but I hardly spoke, even to friends, let alone discuss anything that was of my interest.
So I created an email for a fictional person and talked to one of my friends through it. It was a foolish thing to do, obviously, and got discovered pretty quickly (an event that was never to be spoken of again). I’m guessing that friend has already forgotten about it.
Anyway, I had chosen the name ‘Ariel’ for its androgynous nature: you cannot really tell the gender of the person by that name alone. It also sounded kind of mystical, like an angel’s name (I may have been watching Evangelion at the time), thus their surname was ‘Saints’.
Several years later, when choosing my KGS account, my go-to usernames were more than 10 characters long, and Ariel Saints popped into my head. I was still rather fond of my little creation, so they were resurrected in a way. It became ‘Leira’ by palindromic reversal.
Nowadays, I’m merely amused by how often I get misgendered, and the dismay some feel if they find out. Maybe I chose that name too well, but it’s probably not really misgendering if you do not mind. I will make no effort to prevent this.
EPILOGE: Ariel Saints canon has shifted over the years. Their surname in particular is a matter of much revision. Currently, they would go by ‘Ariel Mont’; I wonder if someone will realize why.