Soda Arcade

Soda (more formally known online as Soda_Arcade) is a member of the online community Zephyr's Garden, known for creating digital art and having a weird but kind demeanour.

Early Life

In late 2003, Soda was found as a newborn creature along the Rocky Mountains where a passing hiker found them crying and wriggling about on the ground. The hiker (whose name is unknown) reported the appearance of an unknown entity to the proper authorities who then brought Soda to a secure facility operated by an unknown organization south of Calgary, Alberta. While it is unknown what occurred at the facility it is often speculated that the staff present were charged with the order to raise Soda as best as they could while studying them and their behaviours.

The following years after Soda's capture by the organization have resulted in several abnormal occurrences in Southern Alberta, such as presence of extraterrestrial life, countless explosions in prairie land, and hundreds of missing persons reports centralizing in the north Calgary area. It is suspected that during this time Soda has made several attempts to escape the hands of the organization, all of which at this time resulted in failure and the suspected loss of human life. Out of all the things that have occurred during Soda's tenure, during an evacuation exercise with all the subjects and staff held there a creature known as Zephyr was present for transportation to another location. Soda and Zephyr, lined up single-file next to each other, thought it would be an appropriate time to pull a prank on the staff. In collaboration with other detained subjects the two lead a large scale riot inside the facility, causing millions of dollars in damages, massive amounts of destroyed research, and the deaths of hundreds of staff. Following the aftermath, Chief of Research deemed the pair "too silly" and were separated from each other wherever possible.

On March 13th, 2008, in an event that has been largely scrubbed from public records, the facility that had detained Soda for several years had suddenly caught flames. Within minutes the whole structure was engulfed in fire and collapsed as soon as the fire fighters arrived at the scene. Despite all the destruction and inferno, Soda was found sitting in the parking lot with an orange juice box and a packet of Gushers as if nothing was happening. Firefighters at the scene decided to take Soda into the nearest station, where she was then processed and set up for adoption.

July 19th, 2008, Soda was formally adopted by the Whayturger family, where she was allowed to do most whatever she wanted. Also with her adoption into the Whayturger family came with her meeting her new brother, who often bullied her but nevertheless grew a strong emotional bond with. Although with much resistance Soda was enrolled into elementary school later in the year. Despite being seen as an outcast throughout most of their whole primary and secondary school life, she was hardly bullied and was left alone and was quietly regarded as the nice quiet kid. Although generally well meaning, the Whayturger family often left Soda alone to their devices, having her and their brother fend for themselves most days. This extreme isolation and lack of parental guidance within their life would forever leave a mark on their psyche, though she has made great strides in growing past their old habits and isolationist behaviour.

Summer of 2012 was the time in which Soda had been given unlimited unsupervised internet access, where she learned about Minecraft, Garry's Mod, and discovered her disconcerting love and appreciation for firearms.

In Autumn 2019 the Whayturger family decided to move away from their homestead of 15 years, and with that came a new school enrolment for Soda, where a couple of students approached them during a period of Physical Education. This one moment had shaped Soda's life so drastically from then on as prior to this encounter Soda had lead a very isolated life with little outside interaction. Ever since, Soda has dedicated themself to being the most open and welcoming person she could be, knowing the suffering that is complete social isolation.

Adult Life

After her time in secondary school Soda found her deep love for making digital art, always striving to improve and having fun along the way. Most of her days are spent now enjoying video games, setting trash cans on fire, participating and discussing politics with people who will listen, and making art of herself, her OCs, and her friends. Soda is said to always be trying their best to improve themselves in all aspects of her life; outgrowing her shell and reaching beyond her comfort zones.

Behaviours

Known for their unbridled whimsy and soft demeanour, Soda is often regarded by others as an interesting creature. She often makes attempts to make anyone feel welcome, safe, and comfortable in her presence, but will very easily swing to teasing and light bullying to those she finds near and dear to their heart. They also have a tendency to "miss the point" in conversations and may sometimes have a hard time conversing with others (be it due to confusion, anxiety, or otherwise), even if she strongly desires to do so.

Due to a bit started in March 2025 Soda's current Discord status counts the number of times that the "SODA!" meme has been quoted in her presence. At the time of writing, the count is at 427. Soda will often deploy use of a clicker into their microphone to indicate the counter going up, also with the intended purpose of teasing some fellow Garden members.