“Alright kids, this is a platform called Prodigy!” Mrs Christie smiled as I opened my iPad. I was only nine years at the time, and was surrounded by my friends who were equally eager to get into the game. “Make a new account, and log in.”
Username: school34
Password: maths63
This game was everything I had dreamed of. The pixellated artstyle was adorable, the dialogue, the way everything came together to form something that was mind-boggling and amazing for me at the same time. I’d always wanted a career in game development - my mother had warned specifically never to play any games, lest I develop an addiction and focus on things less important than his studies. Well, now I could satiate both the desire to perform well academically and the desire to play a real game for the first time.
Alvin Bronzerunner woke up in the bed for the first time, to be informed of his first day at the Academy by none other than Noot, the cute little sprite with his petite blue cap and his little nubs for feet, and the little speech bubble above his head.
I smiled eagerly as I continued on and on through the game - my first TripTrop defeated, choosing Charfoal as my starter pet (the superior one of course), navigating my way through Lamplight Town as I collected fireflies and smelted frozen somethings with reckless abandon. But eventually, the novelty disappeared, and people moved on to other subjects. What with the pandemic happening, and new games like Fall Guys and Among Us popping up, and TikTok dominating the screens, no one could be bothered with Prodigy anymore.
No one but one person.
I saw the link at the bottom of the wiki page.
> https://prodigy-game-fanon.fandom.com/
And it would be my undoing.
———————
Nova: Welcome to SuperNova News, today we'll be going to the planet Sypso. Uh... Eve... can you not? We're in the middle of a broadcast here...
Eve: STUDENTS! ARE! YOU! SEATED?!
Walter: That's not how you're supposed to do it.
Eve: *shrugs*
Nova: Welcome to SuperNova News, today we'll be going to the planet Sypso...
Florian: Lalala... having fun in the garden... *watering plants* ...and getting a pizza... One month has already passed, right? No, two!
Noot: Oi, Florian! I need an update on that world trip situation.
Florian: Ask Eve about this.
Noot: She's dealing with Sam... on the roof of the Astral Tower. He always does things like this, stupid things. I'm trying my best to keep my cool- *gets splashed by water* SAM! DETENTION! NOW!!!
Crystal: Sam also said that his siblings are coming.
Nova: News has ended. Back to you, Fuchsia.
Prodigy Comedies was a cute creation. BFBF had to hand that to RJ, the author of this - one page in so many brilliant creations. Forged by Obsidian and Smart-Alecky, the longest pages on the entire wiki, and people eagerly chatting about what could possibly come next.
Perhaps BFBF could try his hand at making a new chapter for Smart-Alecky? After all, the pages on this wiki were open to edits and additions, right? That was what Fandom was for, and it was not too different from Wikipedia.
Everyone here seemed just seemed like award-winning authors to him, and BFBF wanted to be among those ranks. It was a prospect that was quite enticing to him. Cautiously, he clicked “Add new page” and typed the pages in.
———————
It was childish, was it not? This entire “DaniMilkmanGamedev” persona. It was long, and people wouldn’t understand it, and it was stolen as well. He needed a new name. A better name, to call himself by. It was a must, a need, a requirement.
But what to pick?
DaniMilkmanGamedev deliberated for a long time. Those game developers on Scratch, and on the App Store, all had simple, quick, memorable names. Griffpatch, Coltroc, The_Chaotic, Will_Wam, Kamibox.
Perhaps he could mush something together somehow? He put some combinations together. Patchbox, Kamikeeper, Wamibox, nothing just seemed to fit. DaniMilkmanGamedev was a terrible name, and he regretted choosing it four years ago. But it was here to stay until he could think of a new identity.
It was so, so, hard, trying to give yourself a brand new outside. A whole new you, a brand new appearance, new identity. It could just be so confusing to those who already knew him, to he himself. Did he want to switch?
Will_Wam. He wanted to be called Will_Wham, but it was taken on Minecraft,
Will_Wham. Kamibox. Kamikaze. Whamibox. Whamikaze.
It was perfect! It flowed well on the tongue, it was short, quick, and catchy, and it was memorable. Whami smiled as he got to work making a new account and changing his YouTube channel to fit.
Make a character? Nah, he could worry about that later. There was an extension he liked to use, Manganum, that helped him organise tasks and boost productivity. Maybe he could take a picture out of its book. Put the initials wk. in there, put the numbers and whamikaze in small font and lowercase. This was perfect. He liked his new identity, was comfortable with it, loved everything about it. People seemed to warm up to it as well.
Perhaps making a new identity for yourself wasn’t so hard at all.
----
This is the next intermission, it's very meta and it basically outlines how I went from asian teen with glasses who liked coding to Whami, as well as how my teacher showing Prodigy to me led to probably my entire career as an author.
Two chapters left in the Xeter saga, and then we'll be off to Lorth! Also I kept thinking that I had missed out on a planet and I was like "what goes between Chethither and Sypso???" and turns out, I completely forgot about Mana
@Diamondsea @Forbidden Lloyd @AlyssSolo @Ameythst
And yes, I remember that Somewhere in Prodigia was deleted for using Rohan Mahimker's name. If anyone is uncomfortable with me using these page titles in my chapter, I will change it at first notice. Please don't crush my skull Delta >_< /j
