sex with danheng IL

彡- ,, brainrot???? small fic????? of sex with danheng IL hehe

cw ⁞ afab!reader, nsfw filth (duh), dragon features (two pp but only one goes in ha?, size diff, FANGSSSSSSS), mention of prey/predator dynamic, marking, breeding kink IF YOU SQUINT, scent kink IF YOU SQUINT EVEN HARDER

an ⁞ YALL FR GONNA FIND A WAY TO REPOPULATE THE VIDYADHARA CLAN ;D (idk how im gonna play hsr the same way after writing this...) im not very happy with the intro but its wtv.

@cloudshuffle my amazing awesome proofreader <3

after getting intimate with each other a couple times, danheng and you have discussed taking things up a notch. i imagine him coming back to the astral express, incredibly frustrated after a stressful mission (after seeing his ex in xianzhou), and he really just needed you. you excitedly welcome him back but you're suddenly pinned down — wrists enveloped by his hand and his tail coiling itself around your leg.

"d-danheng? what's wrong...?"

he growls carnally, his cerulean eyes hazed with lust. he dives in for your chest, inhaling deeply before lightly nipping at your neck with his fangs and branding you as his with a few hickies.

"need you now. you know your safe word, yes?" he huffs impatiently, tugging at your shirt.

you nod before hurriedly ridding yourself of your top and bra, exposing your upper half to your lover.

"so beautiful," he whispers in awe.

danheng's hands immediately lock in on your tits, gently squeezing them before giving each of them a sweet suck. your cute little whimper just spurs him on even more! you're so much smaller than him, it's adorable. but it really doesn't help his innermost desires to manhandle tf outta you. it's just part of his animalistic urges as a dragon, after all.

his hands quickly trails down to unclip your skirt and pushing your panties aside to finger you. you let out a small gasp at this, slightly unnerved by his hastiness but you weren't complaining at all. it's not long till he adds another finger, coaxing a low moan out of you. with your walls clenching so deliciously around his fingers, the dragon wondered how you would feel around his cock instead.

"cant take it anymore... please 'heng..," you whine.

"hm, my baby's so needy all for me? i'll give you what you want since you asked so sweetly."

danheng chuckles before discarding his own slacks, revealing his erect cocks. (yes, two ehe) it's so pretty, being tinted a light turquoise at the base and a pink-ish fleshy color at the tip. he slides one of them in slowly — the stretch being so much bigger than his fingers. you both moan in unison once his length is fully buried in your wetness, with his hand pressing down on your spine, putting you in a mean arch. he waits for your signal before moving his hips, thrusting slow and deep — allowing you to feel every vein, every inch. your skin flushes in embarrassment when you notice how lustful danheng looks in the moment, eyeing you hungrily as if you're meek prey, who've fallen into the beast's domain. (omg so alpha) as he picks up his pace, your cries of pleasure only grow louder and you're sincerely hoping march won't call you both out on it later.

you wrap your arms around danheng's neck, hungrily pulling him in for a kiss while your legs encircles his waist — forcing his cock to drive deeper into you.

"mmfh— fuck, you're sucking me in... feels so good, darling," he pants in between sloppy, wet kisses. it's so messy, the way your pussy squelches sinfully with each thrust — your juices coating his girth with a layer of slick and even spilling onto the sheets below. he continues rutting into you ruthlessly, knocking all the air out of you as your hands find their way onto your boyfriend's back, leaving searing marks — staking your claim. the pain only turning him on even more, he hisses as his breath grows erratic, warning you of his impending release. you're on the edge of your own climax too, a familiar coil tightening in your abdomen.

"haah... i can feel you clenching around me, let's cum together," he groaned in your ear, enveloping you with the essence of him — body, soul, and mind. to him, you look best all fucked-out, guts rearranged and your mind filled with only thoughts of him and his dick. one particular prod to your g-spot sends you to your climax, your cunt clamping down impossibly harder on your poor boyfriend's dick. your words coming out as broken, incoherent sobs as your body quivers from the intensity of it all.

with your pussy milking him for all he's worth like that, how was danheng supposed to hold back? he shot ribbons of pearly white cum inside of you, making sure to fill every crevice of you with him — his cock twitching with each pulse.

"i would've never expected cumming inside of you would feel so good... could we go one more round? gonna fill you up real good again, i promise."

Animation Night 179: Unicorn Wars

Hey everyone! Real brief blurb tonight because I talked about Alberto Vázquez last week - tonight I'm going to be re-running Unicorn Wars since last week it was way too late for people to attend!

Unicorn Wars could be roughly described as Apocalypse Now with teddy bears. We encounter a world in which a militaristic country of teddies is locked in a revanchist forever-war against the unicorns who now occupy the Magic Forest. It is a conflict in part religious in nature: the bears are convinced that whoever drinks the blood of the last unicorn will enter into a transcendant state of being.

Our story concerns a fresh batch of recruits, sent on a mission that none of them know is sacrificial. Led by a sergeant who has no idea what he's in for and a reserved priest, they set out with grenades and bows and arrows to find out what became of a lost unit.

Our main characters are a pair of brothers, Azulín and Gordi, or Bluey and Tubby as the English sub renders it. Both of them are deeply screwed up by their parents separation and their mothers' death; Azulín in particular, who took more after their father, has a determination to prove himself at whatever cost, and a contemptuous, bullying relationship to his brother.

But we also encountere the rest of the doomed bears and there are some real characters. The bear culture is a fascinating blend of cute fluffy signifiers and militaristic ones, joined into one nihilistically eugenic competition for status. There's a real fascination in the animation with the physicality of the bears' bodies, the way they squish around, messy scenes of eating, and of course a great deal of gore. You see quite a bit of teddybear pp.

Naturally the mission goes south fast. A lurid trip on colourful bugs brings the first casualties - a fantastic blast of psychedelia - but the teddies are also completely unprepared for fighting the unicorns. Or their willingness to murder each other. In the end, Azulín and Gordi are the only survivors, surviving off the land - and then things really take a turn.

Of the unicorns, we learn much less. One unicorn, María, is something of a deuteragonist - desperately searching for her missing sibling, she finds an old church, where the apes of the forest worship a strange, morphing fleshy entity. We do not immediately see what becomes of this - but María ends up falling afoul of the two surviving bears. Azulín attacks Maria while Gordi can only watch; Azulín hits María multiple times but is ultimately pierced by a young unicorn and cast into the river, leaving María alone with Gordi. (In contrast, in the original short, the Gordi analogue kills the Azulín analogue after they kill a unicorn.)

Azulín, horribly injured, washes up back at the main teddybear base, where the military higherups attempt to make a figurehead of him - completely failing to anticipate his capacity to turn their own forces against them and stage a coup. Where the previous command was simply using the war as a way to stay in power, vengeful Azulín is a true zealot and mobilises the full teddybear army against the unicorns. Meanwhile, Gordi has managed to forge an unlikely friendship with the unicorn María who he has nursed back to health after Bluey's attack.

Vázquez is no stranger to blending cute imagery and extremely dark themes. In contrast to Psiconautas, which felt like a story of the forlorn hope of escape against the bleakness of the world, Unicorn Wars seems more bleak and nihilistic. You know none of this is going to end well; the ending pushes it into a direction of alchemical synthesis, and we'll talk about it when we get there in the film.

Unicorn Wars generally looks amazing, vividly coloured and elegantly blending 2D and 3D animation. And well, there's a reason for that: like I Lost My Body, which shared many of the same animators, this is an all-Blender production, using Grease Pencil for 2D animation, and a very inventive process for the unicorns where the 3D render is converted to a 2D grease pencil drawing which can be further edited by the anmiators. The result is that the unicorns get the sense of life that comes from the slightly imperfections 2D animation, and yet the precise perspective of 3D animation. It's a fantastic showcase of what Blender's 2D-in-3D can enable, and it honestly just makes me really happy to see from a tech-art perspective.

In short, Unicorn Wars is an intense, bleak and also very funny film, I loved it. If you have a reasonable threshold for gore, I hope you'll come to see it with me!

Also check out this cool pixel art of Azulín I found in the gif picker, by @none-dc. (He's such a little shit and this captures it so well.)

Animation Night 179 will be going live now at twitch.tv/canmom, going live now with the film to start in about half an hour (21:50 UK time) - hope to see you there!

I love to dissect and try to go the core of a song and/or its visuals, which it what I called music video/song analysis. This public essay focuses on both the song Cobra and the visuals to it by Megan Thee Stallion (I think for extremely obvious reasons). Since this essay is public, if you happen to love it, consider tipping me: Pp [email protected] and k0fi.

Kia Labeija

Janelle Monáe in Knives Out: Glass Onion directed by Rian Johnson

The work of art and the screenshot above best visually sum up the music video and song analysis. Here are some excerpts to whet your appetite:

Within the career of the devouring black, the mouth usually functions as a barely distinguishable well, an opening into the void. But Megan Thee Stallion is gnawing her way through what can be registered as void, curtain, backstage, womb. And while her sedimented statement may mirror rebirth, it hems itself to the shedding womb, to the repetitive and excruciating process of severing the body from what is no longer of service. Both the frittering of the uterus and the slip off of the snakeskin testify to the fleshiness and viscerality of cleansing. Birthing may induce skin shedding; this animates Megan's crawling through the sticky wetness of the cobra with the clarity of a painless birth. And when she stands out from the mouth of the snake, glistening with symbolized amniotic fluid, wonder briefly lattices her face.

and

The rapper has given the scene the heightened severing of the melodrama, the constant threat of the tear that never comes but is nonetheless always there. She's drowning into the endlessness of her wounding, and, instead of air, finds herself floating in a multiplicity of liquids from blood to wine, her blood being wine. Like all Black divas, her suicide, the ending of her hurriedly sinking spirit would be understood as tragically beautiful; the snakeskin suffocates the rawness of the distress. What does it mean to be ripped apart and yet to know that "Shit/ I'll probably bleed out some Pinot/ When they find me I'm in Valentino" ? Once again, Megan points at the inability for her emotional fall to be taken as is it is.

and

Megan Thee Stallion functions here as zoo animal, bearing a series of meanings that have been engraved into Black womanhood at large. Besides those familiar codings, Megan's rap name, which, from her was signaling confidence and groundedness, was used to other her. Men (and women) look upon her body as unspeakably sexual, while at the same time excessive and therefore threatening in worse ways than even other Black women. Megan Thee Stallion represents for many an unbounded sexuality gushing out from a towering body. Which unravels the narrative around Traumatize and the inability to locate vulnerability in a Black woman rapper whose fleshiness is always in the way.

and

Snake shedding sparks anxiety and agression onto the snake whose skin is shedding. Megan transmogrifies those characteristics into the hurtling of her own deeply held anxiety and finally unmuted anger, an anger sodden with sadness and gashes. And as she raps, the shedding process appears to be incomplete and suffocating; while able to strip her face and part of her forearm, Megan still mostly retains her decaying skin. Simultaneously, in the depth of her throat, beyond the fangs and the hissing, is a fully renewed Megan, her throaway skin suffocating the spectators to which she speaks back, interrupting their remaking of her.

that sounds amazing how can we get pp? like you did

What Motivates Giving Pretty Privilege?

Your case will be different, and my fine experiences are only tangible short term. It took brutal honesty (it still does) and finding out my mannerisms to discover I have a strong foundation to start on.

Are you willing to hurt your feelings?

I’m not a sexy type of attractive, more of an innocent cute because of my bone structure and lines being fleshy than rigid. Also, I have age and looks already on my side, so if I really mess up my makeup my features are forgiving.

It takes a lot more than looks to make this long term: charisma, a pampered aura, high confidence, self trust, selfishness, and an ability to be malleable.

Are you willing to sit down and research ways to expand your privilege?

Would you rather be spoon fed than take the initiative to research? It all depends on you.

Don’t forget, at the end of the day that it’s all about men’s innate desire for P, whether they know you or not, or if you ever give it up or not.

Like my mother always says, P doesn’t have a face or name.

P is prime/primitive & powerful, and I’m using its allure to move upwards.

but what if instead of his pp... he just gains the ability to manipulate his own fleshy bits however he wants and forms the much superior and far more widely useful tentacle instead? imagine the horrifying possibilities. he could kill with them, he could hold drinks with them... he could do anything. he could probably even eat a sloppy joe without making a mess with the magic of tentacles. incredible.

I find the "non-human character develops some sort of tentacle" phenomenon very weird but yeah sure, as long as it's not in a sexual way it would be cool asf

He feels much more like a monster that haunts children's dreams like this. If I was 10 I'd be scared for life!

glad Sugo’s car was damaged because it made it possible for Frederica to drive Kei’s awesome flashy car low key wish that we would have gotten some cool car chase with her in this car SAD spin-off give me my awesome Frederica car chase

Nativity Scene: The Birth of the Buddha, 9th century, Brooklyn Museum: Asian Art

A representation of Queen Maya giving birth to the Buddha (probably part of a set of reliefs depicting Buddha's life scenes) suggest the mid-9th century Nalanda stone sculpture style. The facial features and fleshy quality of the body show a close relation to pieces from that great Buddhist monastic and artistic center in Eastern India. While the tribhanga posture is not unusual for Pala stone images of Maya giving birth (see Huntingdon "The Pala-Sena Schools of Sculpture", 1984, pp. 112-113, fig. 128) the relaxed and animated pose is associated with the Nalanda Workshop. Iconographic and stylistic details (hair, headdress, costume, jewelry) recall other female Buddhist deities of the period from Eastern India as well. Unlike later Pala steles which typically have the central figure carve in higher relief than the side figures, this stele conforms to mid-ninth century style in its iconographic elements, precise carving, and careful spacing and equal emphasis on the carving of all figures. The birth is depicted in an unconventional manner: rather than emerging from Queen Maya's right hip, the infant Siddhartha is depicted standing erect held at the left by Indra, King of the Gods. At the center, a large figure of Queen Maya stands holding a branch of the Sala Tree, which refers to the primordial tree goddess (Salabhanjika) who becomes fertile when she touches the branches of the tree. An inscription on the relief has not been translated. With the exception of several loans, the Museum does not have any exceptional Pala period reliefs, and those on loan which are largely iconic representations (whether Hindu or Buddhist) rather than narrative compositions. After the success of the Light of Asia exhibition, held at the Brooklyn Museum in 1984, we have sought such exemplary representations of Buddha's life. Arrived with its own wood base (not attached). Condition: excellent. Minor abrasions at head of infant Buddha. Minor pitting of the surface throughout. Size: 15 1/2 x 9 x 4 1/8 in. (39.4 x 22.9 x 10.5 cm) Medium: Gray schist

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/112944

TAFAKKUR: Part 432

THE MAIN FACTORS IN THE SPREAD OF ISLAM: Part 1

Islam, in the tenth century, was the main religion, or at least, the religion of the majority of peoples in an area covering more than half of the civilized world stretching over three continents from the Pyrenees and Siberia in West and North Europe to the farthest end of Asia, up to China and New Guinea in the East; from Morocco in North Africa to the southern tip of Africa, covering two-thirds of the African continent. It is one of the most striking facts of human history that the spread of Islam over such a vast area took place within three centuries. Most striking of all, within half a century after the Hijra, Islam had already conquered the whole of North Africa from Egypt to Morocco, all the Middle Eastern lands from Yemen to Caucasia and from Egypt to the lands beyond Transoxiana. It was during the reign of the third Caliph Uthman, that the Muslim envoys reached the Chinese Palace where they were welcomed enthusiastically, an important event marking, according to the historians, the beginning of Islam’s entry into this country. There are many reasons why peoples have been, from past to the present, so ready to embrace Islam, those pointed out by Muhammad Asad, a Jewish convert to Islam, probably being the foremost:

‘Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture. All its arts are harmoniously conceived to complement and support each other, nothing lacking, with the result of an absolute balance and solid composure. Everything in the teaching and, postulates of Islam is in its proper place.’( Islam at the Crossroads, p.5)

Most Western writers, especially under the influence of the Church, have never failed to accuse Islam of spreading by force of the sword. The causes of this prejudice lie mainly in the fact that the spread of Islam has often occurred at the expense of Christianity. While Islam has for centuries obtained numerous conversions from Christianity without much effort or organized missionary activities, Christianity has almost never been able to achieve conversions from Islam in spite of sophisticated means and wellorganized missionary activities, and it has always been at a disadvantage in its competition with Islam for fourteen centuries. The defeat of Christianity in the face of Islam has caused its missionaries and most of the Orientalists to develop an inferiority complex within themselves by depicting Islam and introducing it as a regressive, vulgar religion of savage peoples. (John Cogley, Religion of Secular Age; Muhammad Asad, The Road to Mecca). The same attitude has unfortunately been maintained toward the Holy Prophet of Islam. This is clear in the confessions of some unbiased writers of the West: According to P. Bayle:

‘Muslims, according to the principles of their faith, are under an obligation to use force for the purpose of bringing other religions to ruin [probably he means Jihad which is not for the purpose he suggests.]; yet, in spite of that, they have been tolerating other religions for some centuries past. The Christians have not been given orders to do anything but preach and instruct, yet, despite this, from time immemorial they have been exterminating by fire and sword all those who are not of their religion. We may feel certain that if Western Christians, instead of the Saracens and the Turks, had won the dominion over Asia, there would be today not a trace left of the Greek Church, and that they would have never have tolerated Muhammadanism as the ‘infidels’ have tolerated Christianity there. We (Christians) enjoy the fine advantage of being far better versed than others in the art of killing, bombarding and exterminating the Human Race. ‘(Bayle P., Dictionary, article Mahomed, 1850)

Islam is indebted for its unequalled spread to its religious content and values, which is admitted by all objective Western intellectuals:

‘Many have sought to answer the questions of why the triumph of Islam was so speedy and complete? Why have so many millions embraced the religion of Islam and scarcely a hundred ever recanted? Why do a thousand Christians become Muslims to one Muslim who adopts Christianity? Some have attempted to explain the first overwhelming success of Islam by the argument of the sword. They forget Carlyle’s laconic reply. First get your sword. You must win men’s hearts before you can induce them to imperil their lives for you; and the first conquerors of Islam must have been made Muslims before they were made fighters on the Path of God. Others allege the low morality of the religion and the sensual paradises it promises as a sufficient cause for the zeal of its followers: but even were these admitted to the full, no religion has ever gained a lasting hold upon the souls of men by the force of its sensual permissions and fleshy promises...

‘In all these explanations the religion itself is left out of the question. Decidedly, Islam itself was the main cause for its triumph. Islam not only was at once accepted (by many peoples and races) by Arabia, Syria, Persia, Egypt, Northern Africa and Spain, at its first outburst; but, with the exception of Spain, it has never lost its vantage ground; it has been spreading ever since it came into being. Admitting the mixed causes that contributed to the rapidity of the first swift spread of Islam, they do not account for the duration of Islam. There must be something in the religion itself to explain its persistence and spread, and to account for its present hold over so large of a proportion of the dwellers on the earth... Islam has stirred an enthusiasm that has never been surpassed. Islam has had its martyrs, its self-tormentors, its recluses, who have renounced all that life offered and have accepted death with a smile for the sake of the faith that was in them.’ (Stanley Lane-Poole, Study In a Mosque, pp. 86-9).

The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 323-334: Chapter (31) The Message Heeded

This chapter is based on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.

From Ephesus Paul set forth on another missionary tour, during which he hoped to visit once more the scenes of his former labors in Europe. Tarrying for a time at Troas, “to preach Christ's gospel,” he found some who were ready to listen to his message. “A door was opened unto me of the Lord,” he afterward declared of his labors in this place. But successful as were his efforts at Troas, he could not remain there long. “The care of all the churches,” and particularly of the church at Corinth, rested heavily on his heart. He had hoped to meet Titus at Troas and to learn from him how the words of counsel and reproof sent to the Corinthian brethren had been received, but in this he was disappointed. “I had no rest in my spirit,” he wrote concerning this experience, “because I found not Titus my brother.” He therefore left Troas and crossed over to Macedonia, where, at Philippi he met Timothy.

During this time of anxiety concerning the church at Corinth, Paul hoped for the best; yet at times feelings of deep sadness would sweep over his soul, lest his counsels and admonitions might be misunderstood. “Our flesh had no rest,” he afterward wrote, “but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.”

This faithful messenger brought the cheering news that a wonderful change had taken place among the Corinthian believers. Many had accepted the instruction contained in Paul's letter and had repented of their sins. Their lives were no longer a reproach to Christianity, but exerted a powerful influence in favor of practical godliness.

Filled with joy, the apostle sent another letter to the Corinthian believers, expressing his gladness of heart because of the good work wrought in them: “Though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent.” When tortured by the fear that his words would be despised, he had sometimes regretted that he had written so decidedly and severely. “Now I rejoice,” he continued, “not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of.” That repentance which is produced by the influence of divine grace upon the heart will lead to confession and forsaking of sin. Such were the fruits which the apostle declared had been seen in the lives of the Corinthian believers. “What carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal.”

For some time Paul had been carrying a burden of soul for the churches—a burden so heavy that he could scarcely endure it. False teachers had sought to destroy his influence among the believers and to urge their own doctrines in the place of gospel truth. The perplexities and discouragements with which Paul was surrounded are revealed in the words, “We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life.”

But now one cause of anxiety was removed. At the tidings of the acceptance of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul broke forth into words of rejoicing: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.”

In expressing his joy over their reconversion and their growth in grace, Paul ascribed to God all the praise for this transformation of heart and life. “Thanks be unto God,“ he exclaimed, “which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.” It was the custom of the day for a general victorious in warfare to bring with him on his return a train of captives. On such occasions incense bearers were appointed, and as the army marched triumphantly home, the fragrant odor was to the captives appointed to die, a savor of death, showing that they were nearing the time of their execution; but to those of the prisoners who had found favor with their captors, and whose lives were to be spared, it was a savor of life, in that it showed them that their freedom was near.

Paul was now full of faith and hope. He felt that Satan was not to triumph over the work of God in Corinth, and in words of praise he poured forth the gratitude of his heart. He and his fellow laborers would celebrate their victory over the enemies of Christ and the truth, by going forth with new zeal to extend the knowledge of the Saviour. Like incense the fragrance of the gospel was to be diffused throughout the world. To those who should accept Christ, the message would be a savor of life unto life; but to those who should persist in unbelief, a savor of death unto death.

Realizing the overwhelming magnitude of the work, Paul exclaimed, “Who is sufficient for these things?” Who is able to preach Christ in such a way that His enemies shall have no just cause to despise the messenger or the message that he bears? Paul desired to impress upon believers the solemn responsibility of the gospel ministry. Faithfulness in preaching the word, united with a pure, consistent life, can alone make the efforts of ministers acceptable to God and profitable to souls. Ministers of our day, burdened with a sense of the greatness of the work, may well exclaim with the apostle, “Who is sufficient for these things?”

There were those who had charged Paul with self-commendation in writing his former letter. The apostle now referred to this by asking the members of the church if they thus judged his motives. “Do we begin again to commend ourselves?” he inquired; “or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?” Believers moving to a new place often carried with them letters of commendation from the church with which they had formerly been united; but the leading workers, the founders of these churches, had no need of such commendation. The Corinthian believers, who had been led from the worship of idols to the faith of the gospel, were themselves all the recommendation that Paul needed. Their reception of the truth, and the reformation wrought in their lives, bore eloquent testimony to the faithfulness of his labors and to his authority to counsel, reprove, and exhort as a minister of Christ.

Paul regarded the Corinthian brethren as his testimonial. “Ye are our epistle,” he said, “written in our hearts, known and read of all men: forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

The conversion of sinners and their sanctification through the truth is the strongest proof a minister can have that God has called him to the ministry. The evidence of his apostleship is written upon the hearts of those converted, and is witnessed to by their renewed lives. Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. A minister is greatly strengthened by these seals of his ministry.

Today the ministers of Christ should have the same witness as that which the Corinthian church bore to Paul's labors. But though in this age there are many preachers, there is a great scarcity of able, holy ministers—men filled with the love that dwelt in the heart of Christ. Pride, self-confidence, love of the world, faultfinding, bitterness, envy, are the fruit borne by many who profess the religion of Christ. Their lives, in sharp contrast to the life of the Saviour, often bear sad testimony to the character of the ministerial labor under which they were converted.

A man can have no greater honor than to be accepted by God as an able minister of the gospel. But those whom the Lord blesses with power and success in His work do not boast. They acknowledge their entire dependence on Him, realizing that of themselves they have no power. With Paul they say, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament.”

A true minister does the work of the Master. He feels the importance of his work, realizing that he sustains to the church and to the world a relation similar to that which Christ sustained. He works untiringly to lead sinners to a nobler, higher life, that they may obtain the reward of the overcomer. His lips are touched with a live coal from the altar, and he uplifts Jesus as the sinner's only hope. Those who hear him know that he has drawn near to God in fervent, effectual prayer. The Holy Spirit has rested upon him, his soul has felt the vital, heavenly fire, and he is able to compare spiritual things with spiritual. Power is given him to tear down the strongholds of Satan. Hearts are broken by his presentation of the love of God, and many are led to inquire, “What must I do to be saved?”

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Thus the apostle magnified the grace and mercy of God, shown in the sacred trust committed to him as a minister of Christ. By God's abundant mercy he and his brethren had been sustained in difficulty, affliction, and danger. They had not modeled their faith and teaching to suit the desires of their hearers, nor kept back truths essential to salvation in order to make their teaching more attractive. They had presented the truth with simplicity and clearness, praying for the conviction and conversion of souls. And they had endeavored to bring their conduct into harmony with their teaching, that the truth presented might commend itself to every man's conscience.

“We have this treasure,” the apostle continued, “in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” God could have proclaimed His truth through sinless angels, but this is not His plan. He chooses human beings, men compassed with infirmity, as instruments in the working out of His designs. The priceless treasure is placed in earthen vessels. Through men His blessings are to be conveyed to the world. Through them His glory is to shine forth into the darkness of sin. In loving ministry they are to meet the sinful and the needy, and lead them to the cross. And in all their work they are to ascribe glory, honor, and praise to Him who is above all and over all.

Referring to his own experience, Paul showed that in choosing the service of Christ he had not been prompted by selfish motives, for his pathway had been beset by trial and temptation. “We are troubled on every side,” he wrote, “yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

Paul reminded his brethren that as Christ's messengers he and his fellow laborers were continually in peril. The hardships they endured were wearing away their strength. “We which live,” he wrote, “are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” Suffering physically through privation and toil, these ministers of Christ were conforming to His death. But that which was working death in them was bringing spiritual life and health to the Corinthians, who by a belief in the truth were being made partakers of life eternal. In view of this, the followers of Jesus were to be careful not to increase, by neglect and disaffection, the burdens and trials of the laborers.

“We having the same spirit of faith,” Paul continued, “according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.” Fully convinced of the reality of the truth entrusted to him, nothing could induce Paul to handle the word of God deceitfully or to conceal the convictions of his soul. He would not purchase wealth, honor, or pleasure by conformity to the opinions of the world. Though in constant danger of martyrdom for the faith that he had preached to the Corinthians, he was not intimidated, for he knew that He who had died and risen again would raise him from the grave and present him to the Father.

“All things are for your sakes,” he said, “that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.” Not for self-aggrandizement did the apostles preach the gospel. It was the hope of saving souls that led them to devote their lives to this work. And it was this hope that kept them from ceasing their efforts because of threatened danger or actual suffering.

“For which cause,” Paul declared, “we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” Paul felt the power of the enemy; but though his physical strength was declining, yet faithfully and unflinchingly he declared the gospel of Christ. Clad in the whole armor of God, this hero of the cross pressed forward in the conflict. His voice of cheer proclaimed him triumphant in the combat. Fixing his gaze on the reward of the faithful, he exclaimed in tones of victory, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Very earnest and touching is the apostle's appeal that his Corinthian brethren consider anew the matchless love of their Redeemer. “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he wrote, “that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” You know the height from which He stooped, the depth of humiliation to which He descended. Having once entered upon the path of self-denial and sacrifice, he turned not aside until He had given His life. There was no rest for Him between the throne and the cross.

Point after point Paul lingered over, in order that those who should read his epistle might fully comprehend the wonderful condescension of the Saviour in their behalf. Presenting Christ as He was when equal with God and with Him receiving the homage of the angels, the apostle traced His course until He had reached the lowest depths of humiliation. Paul was convinced that if they could be brought to comprehend the amazing sacrifice made by the Majesty of heaven, all selfishness would be banished from their lives. He showed how the Son of God had laid aside His glory, voluntarily subjecting Himself to the conditions of human nature, and then had humbled Himself as a servant, becoming obedient unto death, “even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8), that He might lift fallen man from degradation to hope and joy and heaven.

When we study the divine character in the light of the cross we see mercy, tenderness, and forgiveness blended with equity and justice. We see in the midst of the throne One bearing in hands and feet and side the marks of the suffering endured to reconcile man to God. We see a Father, infinite, dwelling in light unapproachable, yet receiving us to Himself through the merits of His Son. The cloud of vengeance that threatened only misery and despair, in the light reflected from the cross reveals the writing of God: Live, sinner, live! ye penitent, believing souls, live! I have paid a ransom.

In the contemplation of Christ we linger on the shore of a love that is measureless. We endeavor to tell of this love, and language fails us. We consider His life on earth, His sacrifice for us, His work in heaven as our advocate, and the mansions He is preparing for those who love Him, and we can only exclaim, O the height and depth of the love of Christ! “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” 1 John 4:10; 3:1.

In every true disciple this love, like sacred fire, burns on the altar of the heart. It was on the earth that the love of God was revealed through Christ. It is on the earth that His children are to reflect this love through blameless lives. Thus sinners will be led to the cross to behold the Lamb of God.

Lisowicia bojani

By Scott Reid

Etymology: From Lisowice

First Described By: Sulej & Niedźwiedzki, 2019

Classification: Biota, Archaea, Proteoarchaeota, Asgardarchaeota, Eukaryota, Neokaryota, Scotokaryota Opimoda, Podiata, Amorphea, Obazoa, Opisthokonta, Holozoa, Filozoa, Choanozoa, Animalia, Eumetazoa, Parahoxozoa, Bilateria, Nephrozoa, Deuterostomia, Chordata, Olfactores, Vertebrata, Craniata, Gnathostomata, Eugnathostomata, Osteichthyes, Sarcopterygii, Rhipidistia, Tetrapodomorpha, Eotetrapodiformes, Elpistostegalia, Stegocephalia, Tetrapoda, Reptiliomorpha, Amniota, Synapsida, Eupelycosauria, Sphenacodontia, Sphenacodontoidea, Therapsida, Eutherapsida, Neotherapsida, Anomodontia, Chainosauria, Dicynodontia, Therochelonia, Bidentalia, Dicynodontoidea, Kannemeyeriiformes, Stahleckeriidae, Placeriinae

Status: Extinct 

Time and Place: Approximately between 208 to 215 million years ago, in the late Norian to possibly the earliest Rhaetian of the Late Triassic 

Lisowicia is known from the Lipie Śląskie clay−pit near Lisowice, Poland, as well as possibly other coeval sites in Poland 

Physical Description: Lisowicia was a very large dicynodont. In fact, with an estimated length of more than 4 metres, a hip height over 2 metres, and an average body weight of 5.88 tons (and possibly up to 7 tons), it was the largest non-mammalian synapsid period, and would be the largest synapsids would ever grow to until the Eocene after the non-avian dinosaurs died out. By and large (ha!), Lisowicia resembles other closely related Triassic dicynodonts like Placerias; it was heavily built with a large barrel-shaped torso and short, stocky legs, a short stubby tail and a large head with a relatively long snout and a tortoise-like beak. Lisowicia was apparently tuskless, like some other Triassic dicynodonts, meaning that it was entirely toothless.

Lisowicia is not only distinctive for its massive size, but also for the design of its limbs. Most dicynodonts had either fully sprawled limbs, or upright hindlimbs and sprawling forelimbs as is the case for larger dicynodonts. Uniquely for dicynodonts, and for any stem-mammal for that matter, Lisowicia had an entirely upright stance with all four limbs being fully erect, holding them directly under its body and swinging them forwards and backwards when moving, like the legs of modern large mammals and dinosaurs. These column-like limbs are no doubt an adaptation for growing to such a massive size, as such limbs are necessary to support large body sizes in land animals, and in the Late Triassic only some sauropodomorph dinosaurs rivalled it in size. This involved not only changes to the orientation of the forelimb, but also changes to the shoulders, shortening of the forearm, and completely rearranging the musculature of the forelimbs in a way no other dicynodont is known to have done. Based on the footprints of other related dicynodonts, the feet of Lisowicia would have been very elephantine in appearance. Like elephants, they would have walked on the tips of the toes with a large fleshy pad underneath the heel to cushion the feet and support its weight. Basically, almost everything about Lisowicia was built to support a massive body size.

The outside appearance of Lisowicia is unknown, and the appearance of most stem-mammals in general is poorly understood. It’s possible it was covered in scales, had naked skin, or even hair, or maybe it had some other unknown structures. If it was anything like large herbivorous dinosaurs and mammals though, it may have been mostly naked anyways.

Diet: Lisowicia was a herbivore, browsing on low and mid-level vegetation using its long snout and toothless beak to crop and chew plants. Remarkably, coprolites attributed to Lisowicia can tell us what they were eating! Lisowicia appears to have mostly preferred eating softer vegetation, along with conifers, and in some cases they even supplemented it with pieces of wood! It’s possible this was a seasonal thing, feeding on tougher, fibrous vegetation during harder times.

Behavior: Like other large herbivores, Lisowicia may have been a herd animal based on fossil sites with multiple individuals preserved together, including adults and juveniles mixed together. Whether this means Lisowicia practised parental care is uncertain though, as it is with most other stem-mammals. Stem-mammal reproduction is poorly understood, but it’s at least probable that they laid eggs, and that includes Lisowicia. Other possible line of evidence for Lisowicia being social could be that they congregated in a specific place to defecate, called communal latrines. Hundreds of coprolites are known from where Lisowicia was first found, and other dicynodonts like Dinodontosaurus are known to have performed similar behaviour, so it’s possible Lisowicia did this too. 

Ecosystem: The ecosystem in Late Triassic Poland is rather unusual, as it includes a mix of plants and animals that make it difficult to pin down just how old it really was. Some suggest an older Norian age, others seem more like they’re from younger Rhaetian ecosystems, and it’s still a bit of a mystery to what was going on in this environment compared to the rest of Europe at the time. In any case, the environment where Lisowicia was found was fairly wet and lush, an “everglades-like” swamp dominated by several types of conifers, alongside gingkos, cycads, seed ferns and liverworts. Lisowicia was one of the most common animals in this environment, but it coexisted with a wide variety of other animals. One of the most notable is the predatory archosaur Smok. Smok was the arch predator in this ecosystem, and is known to have directly fed upon Lisowicia, although whether they were actively hunted by it or just scavenged upon is unknown. Smok was certainly capable of crushing even the heavyset bones of Lisowicia, with not only bite marks on its bones attributed to Smok but even broken shards of its bones identified in Smok coprolites! Other reptiles that coexisted with Lisowicia included pterosaurs, dinosauromorphs and predatory theropods similar to Coelophysis or Liliensternus, a small predatory crocodylomorph, and small diapsids, including a sphenodont (a tuatara relative), a possible archosauromorph, and even a possible choristodere. The only other synapsid around was the little mammaliaform cynodont Hallautherium, which was many times smaller than the gigantic Lisowicia. There were also temnospondyl amphibians, including a large predatory capitosaur and a small plagiosaur (one of those very flat temnospondyls with the wide heads), as well as lungfish, coelacanths and even a hybodont shark. Notably, there are no sauropodomorphs known from this ecosystem, even though they were clearly already present in Europe at this time (e.g. Plateosaurus). It’s possible that Lisowicia occupied their role as a giant herbivore in their absence, although whether it had outcompeted them or just happened to live in a habitat without sauropodomorphs and got big is yet another mystery.

Other: In addition to achieving a size and stature amongst synapsids that wouldn’t be seen again until the mammals radiated during the Cenozoic, Lisowicia was also unique for how it grew. While some stem-mammals are known to have grown rapidly as young juveniles, Lisowicia is the only one known so far to never slow down its growth rate at all until adulthood. This type of continuous rapid growth is well known in dinosaurs and mammals, but is unique to Lisowicia amongst dicynodonts. Lisowicia is one of the most unique dicynodonts ever discovered, both as the largest and one of the most derived. It was also sadly one of the last. The cause of its—and all the other Late Triassic dicynodonts’—extinction is unknown, although it was probably a victim of the end-Triassic extinction event like so many other prominent Triassic animals. Late Triassic dicynodonts were once thought to be geographically restricted, left-over relicts from the past that eventually just fizzled away as “more advanced” animals pushed them out. But now we know that they were still globally widespread even in the latest Triassic, including in Europe with advanced forms like Lisowicia. Competition with sauropodomorphs was suspected, but the discovery of the related dicynodont Pentasaurus coexisting with sauropodomorphs in South Africa suggests they were capable of at least living together, and Lisowicia is proof dicynodonts could achieve similarly gigantic proportions. Ultimately, the extinction of the dicynodonts is a mystery, but Lisowicia shows that they were still getting bigger and better than ever, even at the end of their dynasty.

~ By Scott Reid

Sources under the Cut 

Bajdek, P., Owocki, K. and Niedźwiedzki, G., 2014. Putative dicynodont coprolites from the Upper Triassic of Poland. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 411, pp.1-17

Dzik, Jerzy; Sulej, Tomasz; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz (2008). "A Dicynodont-Theropod Association in the Latest Triassic of Poland". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 53 (4): 733–738

Fiorelli, L.E., Ezcurra, M.D., Hechenleitner, E.M., Argañaraz, E., Taborda, J.R., Trotteyn, M.J., Von Baczko, M.B. and Desojo, J.B., 2013. The oldest known communal latrines provide evidence of gregarism in Triassic megaherbivores. Scientific reports, 3, p.3348

Kowal-Linka, M., Krzemińska, E. and Czupyt, Z., 2019. The youngest detrital zircons from the Upper Triassic Lipie Śląskie (Lisowice) continental deposits (Poland): Implications for the maximum depositional age of the Lisowice bone-bearing horizon. Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, 514, pp.487-501

NIEDŹWIEDZKI, G., GORZELAK, P. and Sulej, T., 2011. Bite traces on dicynodont bones and the early evolution of large terrestrial predators. Lethaia, 44(1), pp.87-92

Romano, Marco; Manucci, Fabio (14 June 2019). "Resizing Lisowicia bojani: volumetric body mass estimate and 3D reconstruction of the giant Late Triassic dicynodont". Historical Biology. 0: 1–6

Qvarnström, Martin; Ahlberg, Per E.; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz (2019). "Tyrannosaurid-like osteophagy by a Triassic archosaur". Scientific Reports. 9

Sulej, T., Bronowicz, R., Tałanda, M. and Niedźwiedzki, G., 2010. A new dicynodont–archosaur assemblage from the Late Triassic (Carnian) of Poland. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 101(3-4), pp.261-269

Sulej, T. and Niedźwiedzki, G., 2019. An elephant-sized Late Triassic synapsid with erect limbs. Science, 363(6422), pp.78-80

Świło, M., Niedźwiedzki, G. and Sulej, T., 2013. Mammal-like tooth from the Upper Triassic of Poland. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 59(4), pp.815-821

Eco Recycled Washable Nylon RPET MESH BAG FOR vegetables and fruits

 Product details Product Name Eco Recycled Washable Nylon RPET MESH BAG FOR vegetables and fruits Size(width*length) S:30*19cm (width*length) one bag weight: about 10.7gM:30*34cm (width*length) one bag weight :about 15.4g L:30*41cm (width*length) one bag weight :about 18.9g   Color Natural Logo Woven label Weight 10g-20g Top of the bag With drawstring Material polyester, polyethylene terephthalate；rpet mesh MOQ 2,000 PCS Package 100-200pcs per carton of Cotton bags with logo Delivery time 4-5 days Trade Term EXW LINYI;FCA GUANGZHOU OR SHAGNHAI FOB QINGDAO, CIF, CFR Payment T/T or L/C at sight; Western Union Samples Free Samples Closure Single side PP cords with plastic stopper or just with knots        Company profile: Company name LINYI DONGLIAN IMPORT&EXPORT CO.,LTD Business type Manufacturer/factory & trading company Main products pp woven bag, BOPP woven bag, pp woven bag roll, pe mesh bag, Jumbo bag and other plastic bags. Management system certificate ISO 9000 , Food grade certificate Location Linyi City, Shandong Province    Usage advantages 1. The drawstring mesh bag can replace of plastic bags, When you replace with our reusable produce bags, you remove 468 plastic bags from your household and the environment every year!! 2. These fresh net produce bags are made with a mesh nylon cloth which is a soft, breathable fabric that takes care of the skins of delicate fruits and fleshy veggies 3. In these see-through fresh mesh produce bags your refrigerator and kitchen will be more organized as your fruit and vegetables will all have a place and be easier to find so that you can reduce food waste and use everything before it gets slimy 4. It is washable, which can be cleaning very easily 5. Eco environment friendly, it is also called biodegradable produce storage bag Main Export Market: Asia Middle East Eastern Europer West Europe North America Central/South America etc   Why choose us: 1. Specialized in manufacturing Pe Small Mesh Bag over 20 years 2. Member of Alibaba and verified by them as honor manufacturer  3. Fast delivery and high quality 4. Strict QC Check before Shipping; 5. Pass the test by ISO, BV and SGS 6 .Attend many fairs like Canton Fair; Read the full article

“UUUurrrpppp...”

“Mmh, it’s not got that much kick to-”

“HHHHHHOOOUUUURRRRAAAAAAPPPPP!!!”

“Ah, there it is~”

Giggling as she leaned back, on hand on the massive volcano she could dare to call her stomach, she gave it another wobble as a few more belches and burps forced their way out. Tossing aside the empty two-liter of Pepsi onto the pile with all the other bottles, she sunk both palms as deep into her knee eating mountain as she could. Nue could feel the gurgling in her stomach as much as she could hear it, ever bubble and slosh of the carbonated load, ever wiggle of her fingers sending more hiccups of her throat.

When your asked as one of the fattest women in Gensokyo to write an article for the premier of a plus sized magazine, you don’t do it half assed. Sure, the lab coat wasn’t necessary for this “experiment”, but the youkai was having a lot more fun with the medical coated stretched so far over her fatty frame. Having her arms tear the sleeves, her back rip the shoulders, and her belly refuse to button over the front at all only made it even sillier to her. Plus, it let her show off her blue and red lingerie perfect. This could always be reused in some kind of future fun.

Still belching, Nue’s hand came free from the fleshy dome, scarping along her pumpkin sized breast until she could find the lab coat pocket. Fishing around, she plucked out her pen and pad, leaning back to see her writing and take more notes.

“Pep-BBUUUUAAARRRUUPPP!! ...si is definitely making me pretty buuuUUURRRPPppp... y, but it’s a lot sloooooooaaapppp...wer. The Dr. Pepper was probably the louuurrrppp... dest, but it was too short, and Coke is in between. Hmm... Though maybe I should experiment more~ Plus see how mixing works too~”

Humming to herself as the last of the air worked it’s way out of her tummy, Nue leaned to the side, chair creaking under her half ton ass, and scooped up a box of crackers. She needed something to soak up all the soda in between tests, and tipping it back, the few dozes tumbling past her lips would be more than enough to cleanse her pallet.

“Mmmphh....” 

“UUUUUUUUUAAAARRRRRUUUAAAAPPP!!”

“There, all emptied out~”

With a smile, she reached in between what little gap there was between her doughy hip and the couch, pulling out yet another two-liter that looked like a twenty-ounce in her bloated hands. Twisting off the cap, she grinned.

“Let’s see how Mr. Pibb stands up~”

Eve Chartrand: Art and Ageing

A few weeks ago, my university class had the opportunity to have a lecture over zoom with Canadian artist Eve Provost Chartrand. She gave us a run through of her creative process as well as the meaning behind her artwork - it was very interesting to listen to and here I’m going to share what I learnt.

Born and raised in Quebec, Canada, Eve Chartrand, who is currently located in the US, is a contemporary artist whose bioartworks heavily focus on the topic of ageing, death, women, inclusiveness, and the representation of bodies, through photography and instillation. She currently uses her artwork in order to make comments on how aging bodies are viewed by society and how they gradually become seen as nothing but a spectacle of illness. 

Above: Unexpected Bountifulness 

For me, some bioartworks at first felt a tiny bit uncomfortable to look at due to their fleshy appearance, but I soon realised that that was the whole point of Chartrand’s work - it’s meant to challenge that uncomfortable feeling, asking ‘why do you feel uncomfortable looking at this?’. The point of her work is to be able to show that aging bodies are still beautiful, despite what the vast majority of society may think. By using aging female bodies in something as highbrow as art, it challenges the ageist idea that women lose their beauty once they reach a certain age, and that they are only seen as weak and frail - showing that society has this sort of materiality in agency.

“Bioartworks challenge Western cultural and bioscientific imaginaries of sealed, self-contained bodies and the accompanying firm distinction between life and non-life, natural and artificial, and human and non-human. It is these binaries that – since the inception of Western philosophy – have not only served as key coordinates for ontology (‘what exists’) but also formed the ground for ethics”. (Radomska, 2017)

The western world has developed this harmful way of thinking. Those less able-bodied just end up being disregarded and seen as lower, not getting as much respect as the average person does, because they are unable to take part in life the same way a younger, stronger, more able-bodied person is; this doesn’t just effect those growing much older, but it also has an effect on the disabled. This negative mentality is no doubt linked to the capitalist view of somebody’s worth being based on how well they are able to perform and contribute.

Above: Photographs of Chartrand’s piece Specimen 5, taken by Chartrand

Later, Chartrand described her creative process when working in her studio; she tends to touch, smell, and even taste materials she considers using, and she also tends to take things apart and then re-build them. She acknowledged how odd this process must sound to us, but she explained that she does this in order to become closer to the objects and materials she uses; in a lot of her sculptures she uses fungi, which she uses to symbolise decay and age. Additionally she has fed fungus to audience members during art performances.

Chartrand’s work is bizarre yet beautiful, and it’s something that causes you to question what it is your are looking at. Her art pieces present a feminist view that concerns a group of women that, in my opinion, are not payed enough attention to when on the topic of feminism. By putting elderly women in her art, she grants them a chance to regain the beauty that society has considered them to have lost, and proves that they never lost that beauty in the first place. We are able to see a small part of ourselves in Chartrand’s art as we are reminded that our youthful appearances will one day leave us; she reminds us that we all have one thing in common, that we all share one experience, the experience of ageing and that it is only part of what makes us human.

[Sources]

Eveprovostchartrand.com. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.eveprovostchartrand.com/> [Accessed 25 March 2021].

Radomska, M., 2017. Non/living Matter, Bioscientific Imaginaries and Feminist Technoecologies of Bioart. Australian Feminist Studies, 32(94), pp.377-394.

FunFacts for your day You can now #breathe deeply #Relax and enjoy the flowers This is your time 🌺 #aNaturalDesign www.aNaturalDesign.com 🌺 Wikipedia: Echeveria lilacina, common name ghost echeveria or Mexican hens and chicks, is a species of succulent plants in the genus Echeveria belonging to the family Crassulaceae. Echeveria lilacina can reach a height of about 15 cm. The leaves are silvery-grey, spoon shaped, fleshy and arranged in a symmetrical rosette of 12–25 cm of diameter. This species is slow growing and drought-tolerant. Flowers are pale pink or coral-colored. They emerge on small short arching racemes on the top of reddish stems of about 15 cm. Flowering period extends from later winter to early spring. Echeveria lilacina grows on rocky areas at quite high elevations. Echeveria lilacina is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use in gardens, and as a potted plant. The genus name Echeveria was given in honor of the 18th century Mexican botanist and painter Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy, famous for his paintings of plants, many of which were included in Flora Mexicana.[2] lilacina means 'lilac-colored'. Original photo by: SarahCreates - upsplash #woodland #ghost #slowlife #fairy #fae #nature #gardener #herbalist #forager #florist #wildone #naturelover #cottagecore #flowers #natural #slowlife #events #Plant #Flora #designer #design #fluer #pink #designer #interiordesign #succulent #succulents References San Marco Growers treatment: Echeveria lilacina Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN 9780521685535 (paperback). pp. 149, 237 Biolib Cactuspedia.info (at Bellevue, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMcZq4Ilpbb/?igshid=32u5xnb89kcx

IN HONOR OF EATING DISORDER RECOVERY WEEK (Yes I know it’s almost over) Gisele's Story "Focus on the positive, and seek balance in everything. Balance to me means asking 'Where am I focusing my energy?'"  pp. 65

My porcelain eyes give a side glance, but it is not nearly fast enough. Memories flood my peripheral, over-stimulating me. Times of my hair strung back poorly with strands peeking out of my messy updo, my body sprawled out on the 1/2" barrier between my face and the cold tile. These memories, relentlessly coming at me. I force my eyes shut to block out the constant stream of numbers, I raise my hands to stomp out the sound of coughing. Almost as if on a loop - this tape haunts me. I now open my fleshy eyes and I look around. I am here, sitting on my bed. I am here, attending an EDA meeting on writing. I know there will be peace coming. There is a light at the end of this tunnel. Those whirling thoughts, that nasty cyclone is behind me, and though it left a lot of damage, it is still repairable. I can work with this. I pick myself up off the floor, wipe my tears, wipe my mouth, take out my messy bun, and look in the mirror. There is hope. I will find my peace. All is well. I will now spend my time and energy on myself and my self-care. I deserve it because I matter. Balance? Well, balance will come in time. All things take practice. All good things come to those who wait.