Up until this point, I’ve had my online lives compartmentalized very cleanly. I have my legal name (which you—dear readers—will never know); my cosplay name, Ashweez Cosplay; and my explicit fic-writing pseudonym Silcoitus. Each name had its own email account, each alias its own space online. Then, at last KimochiiCon (then Waifu Expo), I was given a new title “Chair Lord” as I helped produce the many cosplay events on the main stage throughout the weekend.

This past weekend at KimochiiCon 2024, the lines I had so painstakingly crafted between the different parts of me and my creative pursuits started to blur.

And it was overwhelming.

But maybe that was just the ADHD-induced sleep deprivation.