Basic Information:

Username: Tarvashbek

Birthday: December 30

Orientation: Bisexual

Pronouns: He/Him/His

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Hello there! My name is Tarvashbek. I'm a furry writer and commissioner who has been a part of this community for 10 years, and I'll be sticking around for the foreseeable future. I cannot begin to emphasise how helpful and supportive this community has been and still is to me as a person exploring his life, his identity, and his place in this complex world of ours. I've made some lifelong friends, incredible people whose presence has touched my life in sublime and wonderful ways. This community came to me at an uncertain and confused time in my life, and it helped me very much in discovering myself and my identity. I came to terms with my sexual orientation largely thanks to this community, and it helped me to not only accept my sexuality, but to be comfortable expressing it to others and being the best me that I can be. And this process is far from over, even now, the furry community continues to help me come to terms with my gender identity.

As to a bit more about me personally? As regards the furry community, I am, as mentioned, a writer and commissioner. I've attended two furry conventions in my lifetime: Anthrocon in 2016, and Confuzzled in 2019. And I would like to add more to that list: to experience new cons and meet the awesome people I've always chatted with but never met in person.

I have a number of interests that I try to maintain as well:

-Fantasy, Oh goodness do I love me some fantasy settings. I can never run out of stories to tell, ideas to explore, or characters to develop in fantasy settings.

-History, probably a big part of why I love fantasy so much. I'm an academic historian, it's my life's passion!

-Food, I like to cook food, I like to eat it, and I like to try new things. Ethiopian, Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Turkish, Uzbek, Lebanese, Iranian, Saudi, Ethiopian, South African.. I've tried a lot and my culinary journeys have only just begun

-Video gaming, my second language, a valued part of my life and the source of some amazing friendships.**

It's been a really long time since I've edited this profile. I pretty much let my Weasyl page languish for years, never did much with it, never bothered to upload any of my recent art. But I think I might start to change that, a lot has changed with me since I first made this profile years ago. Pretty much all of the characters I had at the time are no longer in use and I've changed a lot in terms of my preferences, my likes, and just my general identity. And I think I should update this profile to reflect those changes to me. I also wanted to clear my gallery. In the past, I had a lot of misgivings about deleting submissions, feeling as if it was somehow disrespectful to the hardworking artists who brought them to life or the people who were fans of such work. But, on thinking, I realise that the art I had on this profile really no longer reflects me, and while I value each and every piece I got along the way as part of my journey of learning and self-discovery, I think I can safely say that those journeys are behind me and the characters I came up with for those parts of my journey no longer represent me or who I am now.

I honestly prefer to have a fresh start, it gives me a chance to express myself and who I am now.

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My Characters Include:

-My fursona, Colleen, a Spotted Hyena, female

-My other fursona, Roxanne, a Wolverine, female

-Urga, female (More information on this character TBA)

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So 2014 has come upon us, and at long last, we have seen the unveiling of 7 long years of preparation to build a quiet resort town in the Western Caucasus into a world-class winter sporting destination. The problems of Sochi were many: the pictures of unfinished hotels, questionable sanitation, and dodgy construction practices widespread, but all this can be ignored. The Opening Ceremonies are the first true show of the Olympics, and they set the tone.

Not since 1980 has a chapter of the Olympic Games been hosted in what is now Russia (though, under the Soviet Union, Russia was one of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics), and like Moscow in 1980, the Sochi games have been fraught with controversy (the 1980 Olympic Games were, in fact, boycotted by the United States over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, an eternally foolish decision that contradicts everything about the international spirit of the Olympics).

The tone of the Sochi Opening Ceremonies was an interesting one: Russia has only steadily been making forays onto the international stage, most recently with its successful joining of the World Trade Organization in 2012, and Sochi was really its first chance to show itself as a major player on the world stage.

I for one, found it to be quite an impressive show.

But what about everyone else?