#lovelove dogs

[pup-pee]

I RAN OUT OF TAGGSSS THIS ISS THE WORST MOMENT OF MY LIFE

anyways resuming emotions;

OMGG THSIBSIS SOS RPROETUUYYYYYYYYY HOLF FIFKCINGJSKNF AAAAAAAA fuckam i bing overdramatic??? JSHFKDK IDKIM NOT IM NOT

god the sad part in this movie is hapoenign but im just giggling bc of kon + bart on my screen god theyre so everything they r everything they mean everything 2 eachother literally just omggg AAAMSMMFKFKVKFKGKGKGKKGKFKFKKRKEKSKSKSJJDND ANAJJSJAJA A AA omg hey gays r confessing on screen woah wtf since when was this gay?? OK HIP HIP HOORAY LESBIANSoh shit wait no theyre just friends BOOOOOOOOO 1 of them died WIAT THE KISS?????????? YO SO MANY FEELINGS NAYWASY

2 quote my mother “oh true friendships kiss” NO MOTHER

SHE LITERALLY CAME BACK ALIVE THESE BITCHES GAY AF

shit what was i OH I SCROLLED UP RIGHT THE SILLIESSSS!!!!! THE ABSOLUTE SILLIEST!!!! god im so obsessed w/this image im going 2 just im these drawings mannn omg op vry pretty work all around <333 just NOMJOMJOMONLM hope u dont mind me eating this NOMNOM NOM MOM GNAWS NOMS GNAWS oh were u going 2 eat this srry just- BITES NOMNOSMSN CHEWS EATS GNAWS NOMS BITES oh shit srry next time then

NO FUCK THIS MOVIE “what is more powefful, then a love btween friends?” WHAT THE HELL GET OUT OF HERE

this is literally the treatment kon & bart get from writers prove me wrong??????? literally disprove me u cant?????????

ANYWAYS OP THIS IS AMAZING just thought u should know if u ahvent gotten this yet

Staring at the sun ☀️

[aitloree]

guard dog

mattheo riddle x fem!reader

warnings: hc where mattheo is an animagus, literally just fluff, pining!mattheo, kind/gentle!reader

You'd always kept to yourself.

It's not that you were insecure or anxious or anything, you just didn't find pleasure in most types of company. And you were okay with that.

However, at Hogwarts, you were prone to get teased sometimes. Some would go as far as to call it bullying.

You were used to it: "Miss shy girl thinks she's better than everyone.", "She's so full of herself!", "Okay Miss Thing.", "She's not even pretty enough to be that self-absorbed."

In some cases, some mean Ravenclaw girls would shove you on the hallway, would knock over your stack of books and quills in class. You'd get teary-eyed, and they'd make fun of you for being such a baby who couldn't take a joke, and you'd let them walk all over you.

But lately someone had been following you around.

Rather, something.

It was a doberman. How it got into school grounds, you weren't sure. Wards kept most stray animals out. Besides, any animals that did exist on the grounds were either pets or magic creatures in the Forbidden Forest. This doberman had no collar, and no owner. And when some mean girls came up to you with the intent of picking on you, it would bark at them. The girls would back off, frightened by the doberman's canine teeth and animalistic snarl.

"I really don't know how you got here," you murmured to the doberman, double checking its neck for a collar for what seemed like the fiftieth time. "Not that I'm complaining. You scare most people away from me."

The dog snorted as if it understood everything you were saying, and agreed.

"You're a cute dog."

A small bark, this one playful.

"Where on earth do you sleep?"

The dog had no response to that one, and trotted off with its tail wagging, looking back at you as if requesting you to follow it.

You questioned your sanity, but you did.

The dog lead you through a windy path on the grounds till you reached the shade of a large oak tree, one you'd never seen before.

You sat down on the soft grass, content as the doberman curled up by your leg and began to doze off. You chuckled and began scratching behind its ears.

As night fell, the doberman escorted you to your dormitory tower.

"Sorry, bud, but this is where we part ways," you said to the doberman, giving it a final scratch on the head.

The doberman licked your hand in response, and you giggled before disappearing behind the portrait, leaving the doberman alone in the corridors.

Mattheo Riddle changed back into his human form, grinning triumphantly.

Next time we talk, I'll be a human, Mattheo promised to himself.

He looked back one last time at the portrait you disappeared behind before going back to his own dorm, smiling like an idiot the whole way.

a/n: i lovelove the concept of animagus!mattheo

part 2 is up!!

[wishmemel]

OMGOMG SAFI congrats on 100 ml !! hihii im here to participate in your cute slumber party event ! (i even brought my fave pillow and totoro plushie)

okok soo yk i'm dria 🩵 black / caribbean, around 5'1 (i promise im so close to 5'2 don't @ me haters will hate i drink my milk and eat my veggies) i have huge hair!! like very big hair, too many curls!! it's alot! i love reading, i write plenty of poetry, which is what i use most of my time to do — i lovelove r&b and early 2000s rap music. however, if u open my spotify rn and shuffle my liked songs it would go in order of hip hop, rap, afrobeats, classical music bcus my taste is all over the place. (i also keep a folder of edit audios for my own maladaptive daydreaming purposes lmao)

im rlly a baby blue girlie, fave flowers are tulips (idk my brain js thinks they look yummy), fave season is autumn ofc bcus rainy weather and i have an excuse to stay inside under my blankets 😭 fave animal would beee a black panther or a tabby cat! (my bby bella is a tabby lmao) i love vintage shows (rlly old noir films of all types of genres) i love cinema and visual art it stimulates me sm (im autistic btw i forgot to say mb) i've watched almost every wes anderson film in existence i love soft color palettes in film so bad <3

i enjoy watching old cartoons to relive my childhood nostalgia, jewelry (esp rings i never go anywhere without one or two on), rainy days, late night car drives, baggy shirts, scented candles, afrobeats n anything astronomy related.

im very much a social science n humanities junkie - yearning to be a clinical psychiatrist or complete my dream of teaching literature / psychology. i cry very easily (im js a crybaby istg) - in general im just very very emotional and more often than not i forget common sense and instinct are a thing bcus wtv i feel i just go with it - though i am extremely introverted and freak out when overstimulated in huge crowds and whatnot.

for the event im picking toji bcus that man is the love of my life bye ☹️ the epitome of sunshine and sunshine protector - tiny human and big scary guard dog ! in terms of our compatibility, we're so opposite it's insane! but we balance each other out well. sometimes i have to serve as toji's brain bcus this man is spending money he does not have on all sorts of things for me js cause i looked twice (my sister hced that he'd go below bankrupt buying me sanrio plushies and rings) he works mostly off instinct where i go completely off emotion so we butt heads alot in terms of decision making but he does not know how to tell me no, all i do is sigh once and HES DONE FOR.

i stress this man out like hes my full time babysitter pls

we acc spend alot of time having deep talks about the world and life in general, (i told him ab the backrooms lore and it messed w his head for weeks) which is a side of him he rarely shows to anyone (also he listens to me rant abt daily pop culture developments bcus he lowkey loves the celebrity drama) he's rlly protective, and even moreso bcus of how my anxiety gets. in a crowd this man is standing in front of me and blocking my view of everyone (he also subconsciously pulls me into his side when we're walking in public bcus my autistic ass will see one thing and wander off never to be found again) im always talking like talk talk talking and he pretends he isn't listening but he's literally able to repeat today something i mentioned two weeks ago - he's attentive, shows his love through actions rather than words. if i even make a face that gives away that im uncomfortable being somewhere, or my social battery is dead, hes taking me home no questions asked not a care as to who says what.

im an affection junkie - physical touch is my thing ! and hes so big! so im always pouncing on him for bear hugs and he acts so unimpressed and cocky abt it like "oh you missed me? im not goin anywhere relax" but he acc melts bcus when was the last time someone gave him affection?? he prob thinks im a figment of his imagination lolol

days off / dates would mainly be : window shopping, grocery runs, sitting in the park at sunset, indoor ramen dates n movie marathons and cuddles !!

AHHH sorry if i ranted way too much omg i can't wait to see what you do safi, i'll love anything u write ily so baddd <33

note: hihi dria, thanks for bringing your fave pillow and your totoro plush to the slumber party.

dria x toji — ꒰ tojria

“in this space right here that we have made for each other, you can say anything and i will not abandon you. unwrap the worst things you have done. watch me hold them up to the light and not even flinch.”

height differences, cinnamoroll x badtz maru, protective touches, 3 am conversations about life, romantic picnics at sunset, shopping together, opposites attract, shy x protective, princess treatment, introvert x introvert, buckling your seatbelt for you, tired bf x hyper gf, teasing remarks, day x night, accidental eye contact, blushing, midnight walks, late night phone calls, giddiness, sunshine x sunshine protector, stealing his clothes, late night drives, deleted texts, holding hands under the table, "mean to everyone but her" bf, head pats, she fell first, he fell harder.

being with toji is not always as seamless or easy as you make it look. He's gruff and protective and difficult and incredibly stubborn. like that time you two fought because he was ignoring what you were saying and he flat-out refused to acknowledge your demand when you called him out on it. to be fair, he'd come home after an eight-hour shift and you'd started talking his head off, but it wouldn't kill him to listen. he wasn't paying attention when you were talking about that new hello kitty cafe with the fun milkshakes and the mini donuts that you wanted to try. hell, he ended up falling asleep on your shoulder after brushing off your argument and as much as you wanted to remain angry at him, you'd softened immediately upon seeing his tired face, all eyebags and troubled frown. and he did make it up to you later by taking you to said cafe and proving that he had been listening, though when you brought it up to him, he pretended not to know what you were talking about. but deep down he cares for you and he's trying — you know he's trying and you don't want to make him feel bad for things he can't control. a lot of the concerns you should bring up to him, you don't — you want this relationship to be easy and safe. you want him to feel comfortable with you the same way that you feel comfortable with him. even if sometimes he comes home with a busted lip and bloody knuckles and sends your heart skidding against your ribcage. but what matters is that he comes to you first and he comes home to you. so you know that no matter what, no matter how he's feeling, if he thinks he can talk to you or not, he'll always come home to you. and even if you doubt his commitment sometimes, he knows that you're home to him and he'll do anything to keep it that way.

NOW PLAYING

the way i loved you, enchanted, daylight, afterglow, how you get the girl, treacherous, sparks fly, so it goes...

join safi's perfect slumber party event — requests are open for everyone!

[rafesfavslut]

hi oh my gosh!!! can i plsplspls request ☃️ for the marauders!

i'm a girl (into guys!!) & my favourite colour is pink! i'm told i'm both 5&70 years old, if that makes any sense. i also have asd! oh & am a proud gryffindor! i super duper appreciate literature - quite literally am a book HOARDER. i'm quite shy to be honest, but still somehow constantly embarrassing myself (like how i was thinking to type that i can't finish a full jacket potato then realised that was completely irrelevant) ☝️ i love school, and studying, and chocolate. i have some fish & a dog! i only own one pair of jeans as i'm more a skirt/dress-y person, yet i find it hard to find cute shoes to match my outfits. i can't stand tv or movies most of the time - i get bored!! i frequently volunteer! lovelove taylor swift & the beatles. i'm super crafty & have two zillion & a half scrapbooks and as many stickers and bits to fill them with. i can talk for ages & ages about something that is of interest OR EVEN disinterest to me... & apparently i'm a very "enthusiastic" person by nature???? i like people who challenge me, intellectually, socially, what not, my brain needs to keep working!! but on the flipside i like to relax sometimes and value that too. gosh i hope this isn't too much but enough at the same time.

thank you sososos much, lavalavayouuuu

𝐈 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊

a/n: hii!! im so sorry this took too long for me to reply, i hope you'll enjoy it

would get jealous of your dog

would listen to taylor swift for you but ended up to be a swiftie as well

loves to yap but loves it even more when youre the one talking

[apfrey]

25+ F looking for supernatural (the show), tvd, and asoiaf discord 1x1s !! some rough directions for both:

ASOIAF: would lovelove a complete au rewrite of jon/dany from the very first moment they meet onward and to generally fix all the broken things. can play either jon or dany (book versions in terms of personality) and would also prefer mumus to explore different dynamics/ships/charas as well

SPN: have all kinds of ideas depending on the seasons we base this on (prefer 1-8). can play ocs, jo harvelle, ruby, and ofc dean winchester himself (have 8 years of experience with him). would love destiel, sam/oc, dean/jo, and platonic dynamics as well.

TVD: mumu would also be great, most interested in domestic delena after the series (not without drama and shenanigans sometimes) focused on starting a family, kids, etc. also a fan of klaroline (a period setting au??? bridgerton au???) and hope/oc or hope/lizzie.

a bit about me: 10+ years of rp experience, love worldbuilding and playing multiple characters. have a usually chill full time job but i still won't post daily most likely (multiple times a week for sure). love flawed characters so don't worry about mary sues. can write smut but it's not a priority, literate, gay as hell, got a wiener dog, and i'm up at random times.

interested? please make sure you:

are at least 21 years old

are comfortable writing all kinds of genders, sexualities, ethnicities, races, etc.

can proactively dish out ideas

like this post or dm me to set something up !! <3

[clover-mouse]

oh my fucking god i love your art so much you draw dogs so good <3 you have really cosy and comforting style and ur art is just super appealing overall!!!!

omg yayayy thank you!! <3 i just found your blog and i love your work too, lovelove your color choices and your spaces n character designs ! lots of animals but very human in a way i enjoy if that makes sense, love the vibe

[cardiac-arresting-sweetheart]

Cheetahs are cool, my favourite big cat or wild cat is a serval. :)

also as a kid I was really obsessed with dogs, I used to have so many plushies of them. Right now though I only have about 12 plushies of multiple dogs. My favourite one has to be a webkinz plush.

Tell me a fact about cheetahs. -🦴

ooo servals !! those are prettyyyy and cool as well .

ahhh real :3 dogs are super cute . i lovelove plushies (has an absolutely massive collection of them) so i get it for sure. twelve plushies is still quite a lot !! webkinz plush eeee sounds super cool,, ive seen those they look rly cute :0

a fact about cheetahs,, ummum when they're little cubs they get a coloration on their coat (their mantle) that looks like a badger to hopefully scare off predators ! cuz it's like camouflage ,, yaya.

[demiandcoblog]

Monday mood...

[cdfreak]

being high makes stuffed animals like 500% more blissful to hold

[cat-dog-pet-memorial]

[iggyjoey]

SUMMER ☀️🌴

[elmas-shoes]

#elmasshoesayaginizpirildasin (💜.🌼.✌)#lovelove #sweetrose #smile #instagramers #pretty #food #friends #like #lol #nature #hair #onedirection #swag #beach #funny #life #cool #blue #dog #pink #art #versagram #sunset #hot #photo #instahub #my #family #cat https://www.instagram.com/p/CBQO2H4AZB2/?igshid=1qibhibreilvz

[alyverdadzachuye-blog]

Il tempo guarisce tutte le pene d'amore.

[browniesarethebest]

For Sam is god au, I totally love it, but have you considered how archangel would react when Sam is acting like a father to someone he need to babysit. Would they be jealous.

The first time it happened, Sam didn’t think much about it.

Dean and he were on their latest hunt—changelings. The hunts that involved children were always the worst in Sam’s opinion, and Dean seemed to agree.

Currently, Dean was off trying to kill the mother changeling while Sam freed the trapped children. One little girl, no more than four years old, clung to him, weeping into his shirt. Sam held her, trying to soothe her as he let out the last of the children from their cages.

He began to lead them out when he was stopped by Dean crashing through a wall and landing in front of him. He gave the girl he was carrying to one of the older children, ignoring her cries of “No!” as he moved to help his brother. He shouted for the children to run to the exit as he fought off the mother. Thankfully, they listened—except for the first little girl, who cried for Sam. The older girl holding her struggled but managed to drag her away with the help of one of the boys.

The Winchesters emerged 10 minutes later, having successfully set fire to the mother changeling and killed her. At the sight of Sam, the little girl broke from the older’s hold and bolted for him. She wrapped herself around one of his legs and sobbed. Dean threw his brother a smirk before walking off to call the parents to let them know their children were coming home.

“Hey. Hey, it’s all right,” Sam said as he crouched down.

The girl gripped at his shirt and bawled, “I-I was s-scared!”

Sam gently ran a hand up and down her back. “You don’t have to be scared anymore. The monster’s gone now. It won’t hurt you ever again.”

“You mean it?” the girl asked, pulling her head back and rubbing at her eyes as she looked up at him.

Sam smiled and moved his hand up to her hair. “I mean it.” He pulled the girl into his arms and stood, looking at the other children. “I think it’s time we get you all home now.”

“We can go home now?” a boy questioned hopefully, taking a hesitant step forward.

“The monster’s really dead?” another asked.

Sam nodded. “It is. You’re safe now.”

There was a pause and then the children converged on him, thanking him and gripping his legs in a hug.

Sam patted their heads awkwardly and looked up to find his brother but froze when he found another pair of eyes watching him, an unreadable expression on the archangel’s face.

What the hell was Michael doing here?

“Not sure how we’re gonna transport all these kids—” Sam’s eyes darted to Dean, who snapped his phone shut as he joined his brother’s side. “—but I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

“Right...” Sam glanced back to where Michael had been standing, but the archangel was gone.

He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder, and it was only his years of training that stopped him from flinching. He looked over and found Dean watching him with a raised brow. “You okay, Sam?”

“I’m fine,” Sam replied, glancing once more at the spot Michael had been before focusing back on Dean. “Let’s get these kids home.”

The second time it happened, Sam was taking Rogue on a walk in the woods surrounding their new home, the Bunker (Sam was still in a bit of shock about that).

He found a small clearing and decided to let Rogue loose in it, watching with a fond smile on his face as the dog raced around. After rolling around in the grass for a few minutes, Rogue looked up and found Sam watching him. He stood, wagging his tail, before taking off like a bullet to tackle Sam. Sam let out a small “oof” and fell back, laughing as Rogue excitedly licked his owner’s face.

“Who’s a good dog?” Sam cooed, ruffling Rogue’s fur. If Dean heard Sam, he would never hear the end of it, but Sam didn’t care at the moment. His dream of owning a dog was finally met, and he would fight tooth and nail before letting anything get in the way of that.

Goodgood, Father. Lovelove.

Sam grinned and touched his forehead to the top of Rogue’s head. He ran his hands along the dog’s scruff and murmured, “Love you too.”

The hairs on the back of Sam’s neck stood.

Sam stopped and sat up, eyes scanning the clearing. They stopped on a figure standing in the distance. Their eyes met, and the figure disappeared. Sam scrambled to his feet and ran over to where the figure had been standing, but there was no sign the figure had ever been there. Clenching his fists, Sam turned and began to head back to the bunker, whistling for Rogue to follow him.

As Sam made his way through the trees, he couldn’t help but think the figure had looked familiar.

Gabriel still visited the bunker sometimes, much to Dean’s annoyance. The archangel said it was to visit Rogue, who had surprisingly grown on him, but Sam wasn’t so sure about that.

Gabriel was always hovering over Sam’s shoulder, inputting his theories of what monster was terrorizing the latest town Sam was researching or telling stories of the various monsters he had run into over the centuries he had been on Earth. In the rare moments Sam was out running with Rogue (which was “disgusting” according to Gabriel) or he was asleep or in the shower, the archangel could be found snarking about Dean’s cooking, his car, his diet, and anything else Gabriel could think of to insult (which was a lot).

For a while, Sam thought that was just typical of Gabriel. Even before they knew he was an archangel, he was always annoying Dean and, while he wasn’t exactly nice to Sam, was somewhat less antagonistic toward the younger Winchester.

But then Dean came down with a cold.

Dean didn’t get sick very often. And when he did, he was much more able to function than a sick Sam, but Sam still felt the need to take care of Dean when the older grew ill.

“You know I can just cure it, right?” Gabriel asked sardonically, holding up two fingers.

“If you think I’m letting you get anywhere near me with your angel mojo—!” Sam gently pushed Dean back down onto the bed, rolling his eyes as the older man glared at Gabriel. “Where’s Cas? He can do it.”

“Cas is in Heaven checking in with Michael on what’s happening with Lucifer since Michael can’t come here.” Sam held Dean down as his brother struggled to sit up. “If you’re not going to take an instant cure from Gabriel, the least you can do is lie down and rest.”

“Why can’t you just heal me, Mr. I-Can-Do-Anything-Because-I’m-God?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “You know that I don’t know how to do that yet."

“Whatever.”

After a bit more arguing, Sam was able to get Dean down and asleep, though Sam knew it wouldn’t last long. He quietly left the room, Gabriel following after him, and made his way to the kitchen to start on some soup.

“You’re good with him.” Sam glanced at Gabriel, who was staring intently at the fridge instead of Sam.

He shrugged. “He’s my brother.”

Gabriel’s face went through an array of emotions, and it was only because Sam had spent so much time around the archangel that he was able to read most of them—jealousy, sorrow, anger, and a few others that didn’t fully make sense to Sam. Before he could say anything, though, Gabriel spoke.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I think I’ve had my fill of Dean-o whining about nasal congestion. See you later, Sambo!” And Gabriel was gone.

Sam stared at the place Gabriel had been standing in a moment ago, bewildered. Gabriel wasn’t usually one to make a quick exit like that. Surely Dean hadn’t annoyed Gabriel that much? His brother was always trying to make the archangel leave, but Gabriel always took whatever Dean threw at him in stride.

Sam turned back to the stove, deciding he’d think about it later. For now, he had tomato-rice soup to make. He hoped the tradition of making it when one of the brothers fell sick would make Dean a little less snappish when he woke up.

[mosh88888888]

🐩ダーーリーーーーン！！！ 🐕なんだい？こっちきて遊ぼーぜー！！！ 🐩通れないわーーーーー！！！！待ってーーー！！！ダーーリーーーーン！！！！ #デート#lovelove ❤️💙 💚💜 💙💛 #ポメラニアン#Pomeranian #犬#いぬ#いぬバカ部#いぬすたぐらむ#犬のいる暮らし#親バカ#親バカ部#マルチーズ#シーズー#mix犬#ミックス犬 #雑種#わんこ#わんわん#dog#doglover#doglife#lovedog#maltese#shihtzu#dogstagram#instadog#dogdays#dogs#mosh#モッシュ

[wendylewis-blog]

04.05.2020 / April ain’t foolin

Friday

I listened to Paul Westerberg this morning, shaking some yang-yangs out’mah head. Hello, grey day—I love you right now. This low cloud cover makes me feel cozy and want to write. It’s 8:03am. 

Didn’t sleep well, got up around 3am but made use of it, sorta. Steeped some tea, stared into the yard after letting the dog out with the door open, allowing the chilly morning to swirl around me in the entryway. Started to write this post. Teared up a little listening to Wally, Egon & Models in the Studio (Rachels) —affronting sentimentalism and tweaking it up, all the same. It’s here, in our faces. Splatttt! Really? Yep. 

What have we been building for the last three decades?

Pine branches sway as the sky grows lighter. I imagine they are waving to me. I wave back.

Saturday

Last night I rewatched The Matrix, took a three minute break at 10pm to sing a song with Al Church on Uncancelled Music Festival, which alarmingly wtf? has very few women slated, I’ve heard. That was not lost on Al, so he invited me and Diane Miller to join him during his set. Wish I could have heard the set (jury-rigged in via FaceTime for my song)—still, it was was nice to feel like I was performing. I covered Mr Rabbit, a folk song written in the early 1900s—every little soul must shine—like, we all matter, okay? 

Always—stories, poems and songs lighten a load, convey a message, scream out loud, or cry into the lightless maw of injustice, as it goes and goes...ugh. Keep it allll comin, artists of every kind. It’s up to us to leave stories behind for future generations and nothing would matter at all if no one was listening or watching or saying. 

I had a remarkable dream a few nights ago. Everything was warm, and felt almost combustible, just beneath the surface. I wiped my hand across a table creating a swath of fire, left footprints of fire, everything I touched lit up in a graceful trail of blue/orange flame < it looked just like that. It wasn’t hot or painful—I was never burned. It was just there, like surfaces, like me. 

Today is my mother’s bday. She flew long ago. The longer she is dead, the more I come to understand her, at least in my own way. It’s one-sided now but I get to work it out until I make my exit. 

Sunday

It’s afternoon. The sun is shining. I’ve had a fairly good week and barely listening to the news likely had much to do with that. I’ve made some good meals. The soup last night was tasty (thanks, Kitty!) and this morning, I ground up the last of my homegrown, dried and over-wintered in a Ball jar cayenne peppers and poured them into the shaker. It’s stupid how much I loved that—haha! Small triumphs?

I stumbled on a brand new podcast, Sugar Calling, in which host Cheryl Strayed has conversations with writers. In this first episode, her discussion was with one of my favorites, George Saunders. He had been her professor when she was getting her writing degree years prior. He is a gentle, kind and amusingly/cynical (hmmm... that’s the closest I can come, sorta Vonnegut?) and insanely creative, challenging writer. Highly recommended but, you have to stop to listen. Don’t be doing your dishes or cleaning out a closet. 

Speaking of writers, my friend Karissa linked me to a quote from Arundhati Roy (posted on Instagram here). I love Roy’s brain wrapped around any topic, unleashing her always razor-sharp elegance around both a concept and the written word. I tried to find where the essay came from and, I did. I’m linking you to the essay she wrote in Financial Times (pay only $1 for 4 weeks, cheap for a test drive). Anyway, I was able to grab a bit of it before they cut me off, pasted below. 

I’ll leave you here, within her sturdy, powerfully honest and vulnerable perspective. Think on it. 

Be well, take care, talk soon. Lovelove. 

Who can use the term “gone viral” now without shuddering a little? Who can look at anything any more — a door handle, a cardboard carton, a bag of vegetables — without imagining it swarming with those unseeable, undead, unliving blobs dotted with suction pads waiting to fasten themselves on to our lungs? 

Who can think of kissing a stranger, jumping on to a bus or sending their child to school without feeling real fear? Who can think of ordinary pleasure and not assess its risk? Who among us is not a quack epidemiologist, virologist, statistician and prophet? Which scientist or doctor is not secretly praying for a miracle? Which priest is not — secretly, at least — submitting to science? 

And even while the virus proliferates, who could not be thrilled by the swell of birdsong in cities, peacocks dancing at traffic crossings and the silence in the skies? 

The number of cases worldwide this week crept over a million. More than 50,000 people have died already. Projections suggest that number will swell to hundreds of thousands, perhaps more. The virus has moved freely along the pathways of trade and international capital, and the terrible illness it has brought in its wake has locked humans down in their countries, their cities and their homes. But unlike the flow of capital, this virus seeks proliferation, not profit, and has, therefore, inadvertently, to some extent, reversed the direction of the flow. 

It has mocked immigration controls, biometrics, digital surveillance and every other kind of data analytics, and struck hardest — thus far — in the richest, most powerful nations of the world, bringing the engine of capitalism to a juddering halt. Temporarily perhaps, but at least long enough for us to examine its parts, make an assessment and decide whether we want to help fix it, or look for a better engine. 

The mandarins who are managing this pandemic are fond of speaking of war. They don’t even use war as a metaphor, they use it literally. But if it really were a war, then who would be better prepared than the US? If it were not masks and gloves that its frontline soldiers needed, but guns, smart bombs, bunker busters, submarines, fighter jets and nuclear bombs, would there be a shortage? 

Arundhati Roy APRIL 3 2020