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Today (April 20) is Soba's Birthday
9 years ago
To be clear, today is not my birthday. But on April 20, 1996, I created the character Soba!
20 years ago, I came up with him very quickly when a friend and regular visitor to my EFNet Sonic the Hedgehog IRC channel (Joe Fox) invited me to try Sociopolitical Ramifications (SPR) MUCK, where he was one of the Wizards. I needed a character description fairly quickly, drew some inspiration from an issue of Usagi Yojimbo I had lying on my desk, and off we went on my first MUCK experience. Shortly after, he took me to a wedding on the MUCK, which was pretty amazing. Unfortunately, Joe left the fandom and he's proved impossible to track down, but that's another story.
Click here for a screen capture of Soba's creation date on the MUCK. He still exists today!
Soba's design has changed very little even in 20 years. He originally wore a haori (half-coat) over his kimono, though this still shows up from time to time when he's dressed more formally. His kimono also used to be embroidered with the Greek letter pi, but I felt it looked too busy, so this was dropped.
He's stayed almost totally the same for 20 years: Long-lived, time traveling bear who happened to spend a lot of time in feudal Japan, hence his typical choice of attire.
As I've told many people over the years, Soba was never meant to be a fursona; he was just a character, not meant to represent me. At that time, the term "fursona" hadn't even been coined yet and almost no one had personal characters. I think this is one reason he's stayed mostly the same; all of us change somewhat as we go through life, but because he's not me, it's easy to keep him the same.
Happy 20th birthday, old friend. I suspect you'll be stuck with me until my final days.
As for me, a broader life update is coming soon. I'm hoping to have great things to share.
20 years ago, I came up with him very quickly when a friend and regular visitor to my EFNet Sonic the Hedgehog IRC channel (Joe Fox) invited me to try Sociopolitical Ramifications (SPR) MUCK, where he was one of the Wizards. I needed a character description fairly quickly, drew some inspiration from an issue of Usagi Yojimbo I had lying on my desk, and off we went on my first MUCK experience. Shortly after, he took me to a wedding on the MUCK, which was pretty amazing. Unfortunately, Joe left the fandom and he's proved impossible to track down, but that's another story.
Click here for a screen capture of Soba's creation date on the MUCK. He still exists today!
Soba's design has changed very little even in 20 years. He originally wore a haori (half-coat) over his kimono, though this still shows up from time to time when he's dressed more formally. His kimono also used to be embroidered with the Greek letter pi, but I felt it looked too busy, so this was dropped.
He's stayed almost totally the same for 20 years: Long-lived, time traveling bear who happened to spend a lot of time in feudal Japan, hence his typical choice of attire.
As I've told many people over the years, Soba was never meant to be a fursona; he was just a character, not meant to represent me. At that time, the term "fursona" hadn't even been coined yet and almost no one had personal characters. I think this is one reason he's stayed mostly the same; all of us change somewhat as we go through life, but because he's not me, it's easy to keep him the same.
Happy 20th birthday, old friend. I suspect you'll be stuck with me until my final days.
As for me, a broader life update is coming soon. I'm hoping to have great things to share.
I hope you're doing well, also!
Hugs for you, too!
Thank you!
Penblwydd Hapus!
Happy birfday to our favorite cuddley soba-full bear!
...only I'm not 6 years old.
I wouldn't mind being 6 years younger, though.
And I hear you; I wouldn't mind that, either!
Tigerden is the only place I haven't been recycled on :)
→ examine mathuetaxion
MathueTaxion(#1448PBX) Pennies: 31241
Doing: OnlyThePureOfSpiritMayFindTheTreasureOfKnowledge
Created: Sun Feb 5 17:12:50 EST 1995
Modified: Thu Apr 21 02:17:23 EDT 2016
Lastused: Thu Apr 21 02:24:44 EDT 2016
Carrying:
Thick Leather Collar(#1311S)
MT's Tail Bell(#4450)
a Back Pack(#1702)
a walking stick(#1684S)
Small Gold Locket(#3999)
Home: Mathue's Bedroom
Time has flown. Yikes.
happy birthday loveable bear
The bear thanks you. :)