Bobby Thornbody

Bobby Thornbody, formerly known as Scatterpaws‎, (real name Matthew Alexander; born March 21, 1985) is a fursuiter who lives in Lilliwaup, Washington, USA. He has been a part of the furry fandom off and on since 1998.

Fandom involvement

Matt always felt himself to be a rather weird little boy during his life as a kid. He wasn't sure as to the reason why until around the time he was thirteen years old. One day, while hanging around with his friends at school, Matt overheard his friends talking about anthropomorphic animals and the traits that they, his friends, had in common with them.

This left Matt very curious and he asked what they were talking about. His friends told him about a website online with a 'What Animal Are You' personality quiz. After going home, he took the quiz and discovered who he was. When he shared it with his friends, they began to incorporate him into their furriness, which is where it all began for him.

Fursonas

Throughout the course of his life, Matt found himself going through a number of furry persona (fursona) changes.

• Roger Jeronimo Rottweiler (May 18, 1998 - March 28, 2000) - Matt's first fursona, Roger, came about when he discovered, from the personality quiz that he took, that he was most like a dog. With Matt's natural love of canines, this came as no real shock to him, thus Roger was born. The personality inhabited by this creation was a quirky little pup who found himself enjoying anything he could get his paws on. Matt also had seemed to have taken a quite literal meaning to his new form, as he would often be found barking at friends happily in response to various things. "All in good fun," his friends often said, seeming happy Matt took to the idea so well.

As Roger's reputation built rather quickly for Matt, he found that his quirkiness also led him to staying up late at nights for online chat RPGs with his furry friends. During one particular session, he had executed an online food fight RPG that lasted more than 72 hours straight. This incident, coupled with a few others, earned Roger the title 'Messiest Rott in IM History' among his online friends; a title he wore rather proudly.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, eventually his friends all fell out of the fandom, losing interest in it, leaving Matt to his 'weirdness' (as they now called it) alone. Not wanting to lose what friends he had, he too (for a while) gave up on the fandom. Sadly, that didn't seem enough, as all of his friends left him eventually anyway.

• Tommi (Tommas) Junglejumper Tigre (August 14, 2004 - May 10, 2008) - Nearly four and a half years would pass before Matt found himself back in the fandom a second time. Though many years had passed since his time as Roger, one of his old friends from online (back when he did the food fight) had found him again. He connected again with her, and due to her species (feline; a cheetah), it led to Matt creating a character of a different species -- the blue Siberian tiger named Tommi. As Tommi, he found himself reintroduced to many of the things he'd lost since giving up the fandom the first time. This time, he decided he'd be a bit more 'reserved' and not as hyperactive as he'd allowed himself to be. Seeming to be much more level-headed now, Tommi found that his life as a furry was much easier. Friends came easier, talks seemed calmer, and overall he enjoyed who he was.

Although he did lose contact with his friend again, Tommi was more comfortable with his life as a furry and continued to remain as such for many years, finding a large span of other furries that were just like he was. This ultimately led to him finding an online group full of furs nearby -- a group called The Prancing Skiltaire. This group helped him to meet many new friends, which also led to his first official furmeet at the building that the group was named for. Tommi found himself to be nervous at first, but in the coming months, this would prove to be less and less true. What seemed to have given him the most comfort of anything or anyone there, was an older fur, a greymuzzle named Me Furry.

Me Furry (who, as time would pass, would grow to be a great friend) gave Tommi his first real chance at wearing a fursuit during one of the meets where he brought several of his own, which, to Tommi's delight, included a tiger suit. Albeit nervously, Tommi asked to be allowed to try the suit on, and, to his surprise, he was told it was fine. After putting on the suit, he immediately felt the so-called 'love' one feels in being in the fur, and was far more happy than he'd been in a great deal of time.

In the many years that passed beyond that point, Tommi's friendship with Me Furry grew even stronger, and it was through that friendship that he also connected with another fur, named Viperman. Through several meetings with Viperman, owing to the use of the fursuit that Me Furry often let him wear, Tommi grew close to Viperman. So close, in fact, that the two spent far more time together, even dating for a while.

• Scatterpaws Altera Rottigre (June 1, 2008 - approximately mid-2011) - It took a fair bit of coaxing from Me Furry and Viperman, but Matt was led back to the fandom one more time not long after retiring Tommi. Knowing how happy the fandom made him, his friends wouldn't let him just end it all. Matt decided, giving it one last chance, to revert back to being a canine. Though, this time, he took the form of a large, fat, blue Alaskan Malamute/husky dog with a calm yet playful attitude, trying to merge the behaviors of his past two fursonas into one. Almost immediately, it seemed that his new fursona got attention. Old friends that were concerned when he left as Tommi all found that this new change in him made him all the more lovable. To both friends and family, it seemed that Scatterpaws was the perfect fit for the out of place yet excitable 'human'.

Finally, it had seemed that Matt was totally happy with who he was. Matt had even adapted to a bit of a change in his fursuit wearing, now being seen more often in Me Furry's husky fursuit 'Exile'. Seeing as Matt still didn't have a fursuit of his own, whenever he went out as Scatterpaws, he was now often in the husky suit, as he felt it most suited him now. Many other good things followed this fursona change, which included the marriage he is now in happily with Viperman (the wedding was on August 15, 2008, just before Proposition 8 took effect) and the purchase of his own Stitch fursuit (named ScatterStitch), identical to the one his friend Mousepaws owns.

Although it seemed strange to Matt why it took so long for him to find his 'true' fursona, he feels no different than anyone else for having done it, as his journey has made him smarter and given him more insight on things he never knew. Being Scatterpaws for the last two years has made him closer to his friends, even closer to his husband, and happier than he's ever been.

• Robert (Bobby) Spike Thornbody (2011 - present) - Adapting to a different kind of fursona based on an audio story he was doing with a friend, Matt took on yet another fursona change. This time, taking the form of a porcupine character. This character was used as a main part of his friend Dipper's audio story called The Beach Bears, in which Matt's character Bobby played a minor role at the start and later a much bigger role.

Adapting bits and pieces of all his other fursonas, the character Bobby, initially created by his friend Dipper, started off as a quiet creature who didn't say much, but he developed into a character who is a lot more comfortable being around his friends, speaks up when he feels someone has been hurt or wronged, and does his absolute best to show those he likes that he cares about them.

As Bobby, Matt seems to have made a lot more friends than any of his past fursonas and sees no reason that should change in the upcoming future. Though he is no longer married to Viperman, the two are still close friends.

Convention attendance

Tommi (as Rajah) at Califur 3, playing a game in the game room

Califur 3 (2007) - Tommi's first convention. He dressed up in Me Furry's tiger suit (Rajah). Tommi found that, if it were at all possible, the convention proved that he'd get even more love from those that surrounded him. Hugs and pictures awaited him at almost every turn. Not only that, but he would find that this would become a bit of an obsession with him, leading him to attend many more.

"Pirates of The Caribbean: At World's End" Premiere (2007) - On the night of May 24, 2007, Tommi made his only public appearance outside of a furry convention. It was the opening night of the third "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. For this one event, not only was he dressed in the Rajah suit, but also in full pirate gear, which included a bandanna, a ruffled shirt, and a cloth belt. For this sole event, he went under the name 'Tommi Tigre the Pirate'. He received a lot of attention both in and out of the theater, and was also interviewed live on the KTLA Channel 5 news at 10:00 pm.

'Tommi Tigre the Pirate' in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, CA

Doo Dah Parade 2007 - Tommi and Viperman together went to this parade and marched together in fursuit. Tommi wore Rajah once again, and Viperman had used one of Me Furry's skunk suits (P.T. Skunk). The two of them together led most of the group right behind the banner, walked all the way to the parade's end several hours later. Many other fursuiters, including a few Tommi hadn't met, had shown for this gathering, which lead to plenty more opportunities for friendships to be made.

Fur-B-Que 2007 - Near Halloween, Tommi attended a furry-based barbecue, where he met with many of his friends that he'd already met. This time, however, he didn't wear Rajah. Instead, he wore a lion mask of Me Furry's that was (at the time) dubbed 'Leo' (and later changed to Larry). The barbecue lasted well into the night and there was much fun to be had with his furry friends.

Further Confusion 2008 - Proving to be an even bigger convention than Califur, Further Confusion left Tommi nearly stunned with all he saw. From activities to games to different panels, and even a room entirely built for furry artists to sell their art and commissions, Tommi never found himself at a lack of things to do. During this convention, Tommi, along with his cousin/tribally adopted mom and her mother, as well as Viperman, did a bit of work at one of the dealer's tables, selling jade necklaces throughout the con as well as several other smaller gifts. What seemed to be the sole highlight of the con for Tommi, happened after a meet-up with a fursuiter that had a Stitch fursuit. Considering himself one of the biggest Stitch fans, this nearly caused Tommi to lose composure, which was then added by the further shock of being told by the suiter that he could try the suit on. After meeting the suiter in his room, he was allowed to not only wear it, but wander around for a while in it. A pure shock to Tommi considering he'd only just met him. With the suit on, he headed out and around for a bit, often confusing some of the passersby that thought he was the suit's original owner, Mousepaws. After a few minutes, with great respect and thanks, Tommi returned the suit, vowing that he would see Mousepaws again at another con, and that they'd be friends forever. With all that went on during the con, Tommi felt sad to have to go, but he was prepared to do it all again next year.

Califur 4 (2008) - Tommi's final convention. After the shock of all that happened from Further Confusion, it seemed rather interesting that the con didn't go as well as it had the first time. The sole thing that made the convention worthwhile to Tommi was meeting up with Mousepaws again, who voluntarily let Tommi use his Stitch costume for most of the entire con. Funny as it was, Tommi was stopped by many who, as with FC, thought he was Mousepaws. Tommi simply laughed and just explained the situation, and usually a picture or two later, was on his way again. Sadly though, even with that happiness to keep him going, it didn't seem to take away from the drama he noticed was going on all around him, owing to the con being held at a different hotel than the year before. By the time the con was over, Tommi just seemed to have given up trying to enjoy himself, and, shortly after the end of the con, Matt retired Tommi.

Further Confusion 2009 - Apart from the regular convention things that Scatterpaws did, the most notable was doing Furry Night Live with JD Puppy, Me Furry, Tsuyoto and Aatheus. The five of them did a skit based on the movie Roadside Romeo. Besides that, there as not much to be said other than the massive furriness he felt going on around him. As before though, it seemed with the end of Further Confusion brought on a fair bit of sadness.

Further Confusion 2010 - Where the previous year seemed to be somewhat slow with a few exceptions, Scatterpaws seemed rather happy during this convention, knowing that he was rooming with a couple of his closest friends. A new hotel, which was nearly twice as big as the previous one, left Scatterpaws feeling lost more times than once, but when you added in all the gaming in he did, as well as the fact he now owned his own Stitch suit, you wouldn't be able to tell that there had been anything wrong with him at all.

Califur 6 - Proving to be the slowest going of most of the cons he'd been to, Scatterpaws found that very little was all too noteworthy in the con itself. He picked up a few badges here and there, and attended the Pet Auction for charity, being bought by his friend Dogbomb. He also found himself enjoying a couple skits from the FNL that was hosted for the first time in Califur. Other than that, things were relatively normal and easy going.

Antrhocon 2014 - Bobby went to Anthrocon with several other furs that he'd gotten to know over the last few years. He also spent most of the time with his mate, Wessy. He picked up many commissions for himself and a couple for Wessy as well.

External links

This person is a WikiFur user: Bobbythornbody's user page Bobbythornbody's talk page

• Bobby Thornbody on Fur Affinity
• Scatterpaws on Fur Affinity
• Bobby Thornbody on Weasyl
• Bobby Thornbody on Inkbunny
• Bobby Thornbody on SoFurry