Biography
Me!
Hello, my name's Rose! My username online is ThawnyRose. I'm currently studying Computer Science, but have loads of interests. I'm a furry, and my sona is a cute little dragon-snowleopard thing.
I'm female, and my pronouns are she/her, but anything works. (Behind the scenes, the IRL me is a guyish enby fluid thing, but shhh this is easier). I'm on the asexual and arosexual spectrums (ace+demiro), and generally try to stay SFW.
I'm a bit socially anxious, and hesitant to interact, but generally easy-going and friendly. Please reach out if you have questions, want to chat about stuff, or even just to say hi! I won't often be the one to reach out first, but I'm more than happy to talk or chat about anything! (Seriously, anything. Somebody infodumped on me about the differences between Gothic and Roman architecture, and it was a very enjoyable half-hour).
Hobbies
I have... too many hobbies. I'm a furry, and I play guitar, am learning how to draw, love to code, collect a bit of old tech, do DIY projects, hang out in VR, crochet a bit, work on cars with my dad, run linux, daydream, and much more.
History
Finding the Fandom
I got roped into the furry fandom on reddit by a webcomic, though I can't remember which one. I spent many a late night that year scrolling r/furry and r/furry_irl, but eventually stumbled across something wonderful: College Catastrophe. For those who haven't happened across it, CC is a wonderfully illustrated comic by jan (tigerknight.com) that describes a couple of friends adventures through college.
After reading CC many, many times, I eventually wondered if there was anything else like it. I soon discovered their other comics, Nine to Nine (A CC continuation) and Swords and Sausages (It's hard to explain...). After reading both of those, I began branching out. I read Suburban Jungle, the New Suburban Jungle, TwoKinds (Yeah, I know), Furry Experience, Awww Feathers, and am currently following two adorable comics, I Think I Like You (please read it, it's sooo wholesome) and Bake it Happen (which seems to be on hiatus).
My development within the furry internet space has followed my journey with programming. When I got into webcomics, I wrote a comic book reader hidden behind a calculator to save my progress so I didn't keep loosing it in incognito mode. It was around this time that I acquired an old 3DS from a friend, and installed ThirdTube (A youtube client) onto it. Now that I didn't have to be afraid of corrupting my normie youtube account, I began to explore. Music, mostly.
My furry music journey started with NIIC, and spiraled from there. After listening to his discography on his website so it didn't change my spotify (It's a family plan, I didn't want to risk it). I then quickly discover YonKaGor, and Oh my goodness it's sooo catchy! I listened to Paper Alibis in early 2022, and have followed their music since. From YonKaGor I found Kennyoung, who introduced me to loads of music through his covers, but YonKaGor also led me to Furality. From Furality I discovered Ivycomb and Whsprs and Operator Burstup and When Snakes Sing and CK9C. Again, all very highly recommended artists. But I saw Furality and it seemed so... approachable. But we'll get to that.
What's with the name?
My first 'sona' (more of a username. Never gave them a species or anything) was mostly a tool to figure myself out. I was a lurker everywhere: twitch chats, discord servers, even irc for a while. Eventually though, I didn't reaaally like what it had become. It didn't feel like me, to the point it felt substanceless. Anyway, they died.
And ThawnyRose was born! I have a post that covers most of this, but it's a fun story that bears repeating. After I grew apart from my old username, I was flipping through the sketchbook I kept hidden behind my bed. Eventually, I saw the name 'ThawnyRose' written on an empty page, circled. I have no memory of writing it down, but after googling it to make sure it wasn't taken I began creating accounts. The meaning I've since given it is that thawny is a portmanteau of 'tawny', a dusky color; and 'thorny', for a touch of melodrama. Since then, it's kinda just grown and spread. Initially they were genderless but I gradually decided on female as I figured the IRL me out concurrently. Same with the ace/aro - they were initially bi, like I thought I was.
Involvement
Now that I finally had a real sona, I finally built up the courage to start becoming a bit more active. I hunted down a nice mastodon instance, floofy.tech, which I joined and began making friends. While I understand it's technically a huge, interconnected forum, the atmosphere is that of a small group of friends on a discord server. Everyone is very friendly and compassionate, and it's been wonderful to feel a part of a community.
And finally, Furality! After really enjoying the recordings, and watching a couple go by, I finally decided I should attend one. I began getting used to VR months in advance and quickly discovered: I reeaaally wanted full body tracking (FBD). After trying it out for an afternoon by collecting all the old android phones lying around the house, I was committed. I ordered the parts, 3D printed the cases, and assembled my own set of SlimeVR trackers for barely over $50. And even though they were far from perfect, they were wonderful. And, I still had social anxiety.
After some invented conflicts, I finally worked up the courage to join the last Furality New Player Night, an opportunity for newcomers to the VR scene to meet other's, socialize, and learn some tips and tricks. Everybody involved made it a wonderful experience, even though I mostly just stood to the side I overheard loads of useful stuff about performance settings and useful tools that was a lot of fun. And, I made a really good friend. So that was nice.
Eventually Furality rolled around and... I didn't actually attend that much. It lined up perfectly with my high school graduation weekend, so I had barely any events that didn't collide with parties, events, or even just family stuff; and even fewer I could work up the courage for. But I did catch a bit of Whsprs, which was sooo much fun.
When I moved out to college I brought my trackers, but I'd been borrowing a headset I'd had to return. So, after a couple attempts, I bought my very own Quest 2 on eBay for only $180. I've since attended a couple more VR events with friends and made a couple more, but am generally too busy.
Hello again!
If you've made it all the way down here, you know waaay more about me than anybody IRL. Kinda weird to think about, huh? If you want, reach out and message me! I'd love to chat, hang out, or even just swap memes every once in a while.
