My name

My name is interesting and intriguing in real life, but hard to spell and pronounce. Even online, where one can copy and paste, people get it wrong sometimes.

My name has been shortened all my life. I'm not complaining, it's just how it goes.

I like my name. I've never wanted a different one. While it might not be a name I can find at the surf shops or tourist traps, it defines me to a t.

Does the name make the person or does the person make the name? A question I wonder a lot, as I ponder my own.

A name I give out to a few is a mere derivative of my real name. Not even the same one everyone uses. It sounds like an entirely different name, to be honest, but I like it. But only a few recieve it.

Few is a relative term, but it's far fewer than those who know my real name.

I don't like using my real name online. It's something ingrained in me by my dad, like modest swimwear and knife/fire safety. And how to use a gun.

For websites, or online games, even on Discord, I tend to use variants of one name.

Kablam.

Whether it's Kablam, KablamStudios, or some variant, I'm almost usually very comfortable with the name. It's not my real name, no, of course not, but it's one I hope to make for myself. It represents my mind.

The story behind this name is silly and childish. It's a little weird, and if I allowed it tobe, it could be embarrassing. But I don't let it, and it's not.

You see, ever since I was little, I had a fascination with superheroes, usually DC, I didn't have access to a lot of Marvel stuff at the time. My very first OC was a cheetah-human hybrid very aptly named CheetahGirl. I actually placed her in the DC world at the time, because I hadn't quite the mental... ability, is that the word?... to create my own original worlds yet.

CheetahGirl came when I was about seven. Or maybe nine. It kinda seems like she's always been there.

I'm losing my point, oops.

Ok, CheetahGirl was lonely after a while, so one day after I had moved houses, I sat down in the backyard with some ruled paper and some colored pencils, and I drew CheetahGirl a team.

Of all girls. I was a tiny little gentle feminist. I didn't think there were enough girls in the comic book biz.

The art looks terrible now, and doesn't include all the characters anymore. My anatomy sucked, and the faces were wonky. They were nowhere near my current level.

But I still have it.

Because that was the spark, the beginning, of Kablam Studios.

Fast forward a few years. I finally get to watch a TV show my cousin reccomended to me, and there's a kid who marks all his art with a simple !

I thought to myself, "I want something like that. Simple, but easily recognizable. Something that maybe represents what my world is all about."

I chose an asterisk. The little starburst above the 8 on your laptop. * < This was my symbol.

I don't remember if the name came before or after, but I believe it came before. I was watching my brother play Skylanders, and a character said "Kablam!" a lot.

It struck me, and I was very captured by the way that sounded.

It made me think of the effect I wanted my world to have on the real world.

Fast forward several years, to now.

*Kablam Studios is still relatively unknown, but I've gone from one character, to six, to fifteen, to twenty, to over three hundred, if we count OCs designed specifically for fanfiction.

One world into multiple realities, eavh with their own timelines and histories, and with very specific crossovers mentally marke down. I've tried to work it all out on paper, and all it does is look like a bowl of spaghetti. Oops.

CheetahGirl, she's the one who started it all. And while she may no longer be the main focus of my worlds, she still holds a very special place in my heart, and I fully intend to give her her own book one day.

Maybe two, if I feel like it.

And maybe one day I'll compile a complete list of my OCs somewhere other than the crappy notebook it's in now.

I seem to use notebooks for a lot.