A-Z Characters Who Transform...Or Not

One type of transformation tale is the characters who connect but don't meet or meet after many years. They are, in many ways, disguised. 

In Daddy Long Legs, for instance, the semi-anonymous benefactor to whom the main character writes is an "X" because she isn't aware of his true age and identity. In Microserfs, one of the main characters carries on a relationship with a literal "X" online--he has no idea whom he is meeting when they finally make an assignation. In 84 Charing Cross Road (epistolary memoir), the writers never meet yet come to know more about each other over time.  

The set-up is attractive: humans want to believe that our "true selves" or "souls" somehow meld, that distance and disguise are easily overcome. In reality, communication through a screen still entails effort and tact. Transformation--people changing to become an "us"--isn't an automatic. In fact, the closeness online may be illusory or performative.

84 Charing Cross Road is quite honest here. There is a suggestion of romance--but the relationship between the American writer and British bookseller isn't about preference (I want you more than I want my wife). The relationship is between two people who like books and get close in that particular way.