#quarterback kennedy

[certaininternetgladiator]

[eyeswithoutaf]

[fastwhippets]

Quarterback Kennedy

[batmanbeyondrocks]

Quarterback Kennedy

[joeshiestyslover]

i just wanna feel your love again

pairing: cocky!joe burrow x reader

summary: you see joe again two years after you left to pursue your dream job in new york

warnings: language, some angst, some fluff, happy ending bc joe deserves it

masterlist

lowercase intended

a/n: part two to hotel room bc i know y’all wanted it so here you go!!

it’s too late for us. those words cut through joe’s heart like a knife. he regrets letting you walk out his front door without fighting for you. joe really was in love with you, but for some reason he couldn’t show it. something inside him prevented him from telling you how he felt, and because of that he lost the only person he truly loved. since that night, joe swore to himself that if the opportunity ever presented itself, he would never let you walk out of his life again.

it’s been two years since that night, and joe still has hope that he’ll see you again. he stopped hooking up with random girls, he stopped drinking and going to clubs, and he turned all his attention towards football.

joe still checks up on you sometimes. a few months ago, you finally unblocked joe on instagram, though his number remained blocked, but he’ll take what he can get. when he looks through your posts, he’s happy to see you doing so well. you’re thriving with your new job and your new friends, and it seemed as though you would stay in new york forever. little did joe know, that your job is relocating you back to cincinnati.

the moment you stepped back in ohio, you felt like you were home again. you made so many great memories in cincy, but there were bad ones too. well, one bad memory in particular: the night you left joe for good. that night is on constant replay in the back of your mind. since you left, you always wondered what if. what if you stayed? what if you told joe you loved him back? you tried not to think about him, but it was just so difficult. you loved joe with everything in you, hell you still do, but you know it would never work. joe isn’t the type of guy you marry and have kids with; he’s the guy you have fun with in your early twenties before you realize you want something serious.

ever since you got back to cincinnati, you’ve been thinking about joe. what would you do if you saw him? what the hell would you say to him? you decide to try to take your mind off the quarterback by going out with your friend, kennedy, who you haven’t seen since you left for new york. you both decided to meet the club you two always went to, and coincidentally, the same club where you met joe.

your uber pulls up to the club, and you take a deep breath before thanking the driver and getting out of the car. the moment you walk in your eyes connect with kennedy, and you let out a sigh of relief. “y/n!!!” kennedy yells as she basically sprints across the club to hug you. “i missed you so much! you have to tell me all about new york!” she exclaims excitedly. “i missed you too, and i will tell you about new york, but for right now let’s drink!” kennedy laughs and leads you over to the bar, where you order two shots of fireball. once you receive your shots from the bartender, you immediately down the shot, and you wince at the burning sensation in the back of your throat. “we should go dance!” you yell. “omg yes let’s go!” kennedy takes your hand and leads you to the dance floor.

you don’t know how long you were dancing for, but after a while, you both go back to the bar for more drinks. you’re about to take your fifth shot when you hear kennedy gasp. “what is it?” you ask, concerned. “y/n, don’t turn around, but there’s a certain blonde, blue-eyed quarterback fifteen feet behind you.” you freeze. there’s no way. going against your friend, you slowly turn around to find the man you fell in love with. you quickly turn back around to avoid him spotting you.

across the club, joe is accompanied by his teammates who somehow convinced him to go out with them. they all settle in a corner before joe’s teammate, ja’marr, speaks up. “there’s no fucking way bro.” joe’s eyebrow raises. “what?” “dude look straight ahead at those two girls at the bar.” ja’marr points to exactly where you and your friend are standing. joe’s eyes follow to where his receiver’s hand is point and his eyes settle on you. at first, he thinks he’s dreaming, but it really is you, and you look more beautiful than you’ve ever looked. you’re practically glowing.

he sees you and kennedy trying to leave, and he almost lets you, but he remembered the promise he made to himself the night you left. without a word to his team, he begins to run towards you, determined to get you to hear him out.

you and kennedy are outside, booking an uber when you hear your name. you shake it off, thinking you’re just hearing things, but you hear it again. you turn to where the voice is coming from, and you lock eyes with joe. before you know it, joe is standing in front of you. “joe what the hell are you doing?” “y/n look before you say anything, i fucked up. i waited too long to tell you how i felt and i paid the price. i lost the love of my life. after you left i bettered myself. i stopped hooking up with random girls, i stopped drinking, and i stopped going to clubs every weekend. hell, this is the first club i’ve been to in over a year. y/n i love you so much, and i can’t stop loving you no matter how hard i try. it’s okay if you don’t feel the same, but i just had to tell you.”

you’re speechless. one part of you wants to punch him in the face and tell him to fuck off, but the other part of you wants to leap into his arms and kiss him. “joe… i would be lying if i said i don’t love you because i do, but you treated me like shit. you made me feel horrible about myself, like i didn’t matter.” you can feel your eyes begin to burn from the tears that are forming. “i cannot tell you how sorry i am for doing that to you. i promise that i will continue to be the man you deserve. please just give me the chance to prove that to you.” he takes your hand, and you let him. you bring your hand up to joe’s cheek. “just please don’t hurt me again.” you tell him as he grins from ear to ear. “i would never dream of it honey.” he replies as he dips his head down to kiss you with passion that you had never felt with him before. it may have taken a while to get to this point, but it was well worth the wait.

[muscularmass37]

Quarterback Kennedy, Super Human Perfection ! THE MASS !

[happygirl2oo2]

Queer Sports Romance Books Recs For Pride Month 🌈 (all are books I've either read or currently have on my own tbr list)

Hockey

Rookie Recovery (Bobcat Boys #1) by Jemma Croft and Lex Veia [mlm]

Vancouver Orcas interconnected series by Amy Aislin [mlm]

Hometown Hero (Whistleport Hockey #1) by Declan Rhodes [mlm]

Hockey Guys interconnected series by Sarina Bowen [mlm]

Prove It by Stephanie Hoyt [mlm]

Fake Boyfriend interconnected series by Eden Finley [mlm]

Caught off Guard by Catherine Cloud [mlm]

Chicago Thunder interconnected series by Jodi Oliver [mlm]

Don't Look Down (Best Laid Plans #1) by Jessica Ann [mlm]

Hockey Ever After interconnected series by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James [mlm]

Love & Other Inconveniences by Catherine Cloud [mlm]

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid [mlm]

Relationship Goals interconnected series by Brigham Vaughn [mlm]

Light Up the Lamp by Kit Oliver [mlm]

Puckboys interconnected series by Eden Finley and Saxon James [mlm]

Hot Shot (Orlando Storm #1) by Marissa James [mlm]

Breakaway partially-interconnected series by E.L. Massey [mlm]

Delay of Game interconnected series by Hannah Henry [mlm]

Offsides interconnected series by J.J. Mulder [mlm]

Roughing (Portland Seabirds #1) by Michaela Grey [mlm]

Stick Side interconnected series by Amy Aislin [mlm]

Let's Do This (IFU Hockey #1) by Loren Leigh [mlm]

CU Hockey interconnected series by Eden Finley and Saxon James [mlm]

Back to Center (Mohegan U Hockey #2) by Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood [mlm]

Penalty Box interconnected series by Ari Baran [mlm]

Shenanigans (Brooklyn Hockey #6) by Sarina Bowen [m/f with a bi mc]

The Inside Edge by Ashlyn Kane [mlm]

Icebreaker by A. L. Graziadei [mlm]

Hockey Bois by A.L. Heard [mlm]

Three Is The Luckiest Number by Catherine Cloud [mlm]

Not Over You by Samantha Wayland [mlm]

Wake Up, Nat & Darcy by Kate Cochrane [wlw]

It's a Love/Skate Relationship by Carli J. Corson [wlw]

Off the Bench Duet Series by Kimberly Knight [mlm]

Twincerely Yours by Eden Finley [mlm]

Car Racing

Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery [mlm]

Lights Out Series interconnected series by various authors [mlm]

Fast Love (Fast Love #1) by Kerry Lockhart [wlw]

Driven By Passion (Gamble Racing #2) by Renee Dahlia [mlm]

Redline (Redline #1) by Emma Barlowe [mlm]

Furious by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos [wlw]

Bowling

The 7-10 Split by Karmen Lee [wlw]

Baseball 

The Prospects by KT Hoffman [mlm]

Batting Style by Louisa Masters [mlm]

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian [mlm]

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes by Danielle Dawsen [mlm]

Volleyball 

We Got the Beat by Jenna Miller [wlw]

Always More (Sports #1) by Nicole Pyland [wlw]

Roller derby

Mighty Millie Novak by Elizabeth Holden [wlw]

False Start by Santana Knox [wlw]

Basketball 

How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly [wlw]

Love and Sportsball (Atlanta Cannons #1) by Meka James [wlw]

Zone Defense interconnected series by Becca Seymour [mlm]

Fencing

Fence comic series by C.S. Pacat and Joanna the Mad [mlm]

Football

One Last Play by E.B. Neal [mlm]

Coming Out on the Sidelines by Dev Hahn [wlw]

Forward Entry (Sydney Swallows #1) by Aurora Crane [mlm]

The Game (Charleston Condors #2) by Beth Bolden

Atlanta Lightning interconnected series by Riley Hart [mlm]

Fumbled Past (San Diego Seals #2) by Cecelia Storm [mlm]

Onside Kiss (Domingo #1) by Octavia Jensen [mlm]

You Started It (Fan Service Series #3) by Hinsel Meyer [mlm]

Tigers and Devils (Tigers and Devils #1) by Sean Kennedy [mlm]

Roosevelt College interconnected series by Christina Lee [mlm]

You & Me by Tal Bauer [mlm]

Crushing on the Quarterback by Baylin Crow [mlm]

Tennis

Deuce (Tennyson Bend #2) by P.T. Ambler [mlm]

Soccer

You Don't Have a Shot by Racquel Marie [wlw]

Everything for You (Bergman Brothers #5) by Chloe Liese [mlm]

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner [wlw]

Pull Me Under by Zarah Detand [mlm]

The Game Changer (Denver Defiant, #1) by Finley Chuva [wlw]

I Like Me Better by Robby Weber [mlm]

Finding a Keeper (Sports #4) by Nicole Pyland [wlw]

Don't Hate the Player by Shelby Elizabeth [mlm]

Endgame by Zoe Reed [wlw]

Hotshot by Clare Lydon [wlw]

Rugby

Attractive Forces by Jax Calder [mlm]

The Tighthead (Lincoln Knights #1) by Charlie Novak [mlm]

Softball

The Unexpected Dream (Sports #3) by Nicole Pyland [wlw]

Chess

Always the Almost by Edward Underhill [trans boy x boy]

Wrestling 

Alondra by Gina Femia [bisexual girl mc]

Lacrosse 

Catch and Cradle by Katia Rose [wlw]

Swimming

Tears in the Water Margherita Scialla [LGBTQ+]

Badminton

Shy by Ashish Rastogi [mlm]

[resident-mercie]

Leon Kennedy Slow Burn Fic — Lips of an Angel. (1/?) (NSFW.)

Themes: High School Seniors!AU, slow-burn, pining, best friends to lovers. Eventual NSFW (penetrative sex, cream pie, semi-public sex), mentions of pregnancy and abortion.

Mercie’s note: yes this is self indulgent as fuck lol i don’t care

— With high school graduation fast approaching, Leon Kennedy gives his best friend, Annie, an offer that neither of them can really refuse.

“Well. Fuck me.”

Annie sits on the white tiles of her bathroom floor, a pregnancy test in either hand. And both of them are positive, because the world can’t let this poor girl catch a break. She’d been studying her ass off for Stanford, which was rapidly approaching in about two months time, and now…

“I’m knocked up. Great.”

It’s not like she was a naïve girl — I mean, if she wasn’t intelligent, she wouldn’t have gotten herself a place at Stanford. She knew what she was getting herself into that night, but… it was one of those instances where you assume it’s never gonna happen to you. Until it does.

Annie groans, standing up, placing the two tests on the counter, looking at herself from the side in the mirror. She was about four weeks along, so it wasn’t visible. The only people who know are herself, and her dog, mostly because the goofy labrador wouldn’t leave her stomach alone. But she knows that she has to tell the other half involved in this incident — after all, it takes two to tango.

She opens her phone, and her thumb hovers over the contact for her best friend, Leon.

They were an unlikely duo, for sure. Annie was the reserved one of the duo. Quiet, elegant, slightly aloof to those who don’t know her. Leon would always tease her, telling her she was like the moon, or a black cat, because of her elegance. And he wasn’t wrong, either. While Annie was never able to see her own beauty, she really was ethereal. Cascading red hair, porcelain skin, and these eyes that ascended beyond being just blue… they were so light in colour that they were piercingly so, but there was a hidden vulnerability to them if you took in her appearance for long enough. She was the definition of “slim thick”, a real knockout for sure. As her closest girl friends, Claire Redfield and Jill Valentine would always say— “how the FUCK are you single, Annie?”

It was something she’d just laugh off.

Leon Kennedy, her best friend, was the total opposite, however. He was the extrovert, the excitable golden retriever puppy, the sun. If the boy had a tail, it’d be wagging a mile a minute. He was popular amongst the senior cohort for being the star quarterback, yet he was as down to earth as he was the day he enrolled as a freshman. He was always smiling, always joking, but was always very respectful of everyone he interacted with. He didn’t care for arbitrary things like popularity or body counts— he was a respectable guy, and treated everyone with the respect they deserved, no matter the cliques they ran in. He was a dirty blonde, toned, slightly muscular, but slender in frame. His blue eyes were a lot deeper, and if you were Annie… they were a lot softer, but only for her. His guy friends, Chris Redfield and Carlos Oliveira, had no idea how he didn’t have a girlfriend, either.

Annie swallows back her pride, and dials Leon’s number, tapping her thumb against her other hand in beat to the dial tone.

“Moon-cat… it’s three in the damn morning… is it your cramps acting up again? Want me to sneak out and cuddle you?”

Annie chuckles softly into her cell, wishing it was just cramps.

“Something like that, yeah. It’s fine if you can’t sneak out, I don’t your mom ripping you a new one like last time…”

There’s a genuine, happy laugh from the other line.

“Don’t be silly. Gimme fifteen and I’ll shimmy up your dad’s wisteria climber like I did in junior year. Wait for me to knock on your window, m’kay? Love you!”

Annie chuckles softly as Leon hangs up, walking out of her en-suite bathroom, and into her bedroom again. Given the time of night, she’s still in her pyjamas, which are a cropped black tank top, wine red cycling shorts, and black fuzzy slippers. She waits by the window, smiling at the memory of junior year — her periods were particularly bad that year, and it made her a very crappy, very emotional mess. So, Leon would set it so that his phone would only make notifications from her audible on a night, and whenever she’d call in tears, there he’d be, shimmying his way up that damned climbing plant that trailed up to her window, with tampons and chocolate. And then, they’d lay there, spooning for hours, until dawn rose, and Leon would dash back to his house before his parents realised where he was in the next morning. He’d be exhausted, but it made him so happy knowing that she was being cared for, by him, and that she wasn’t alone at her worst.

The lines of their friendship had always been blurred, which is why Annie was now carrying his child.

It was about a month ago, and it was one of the last games of American Football of the season before state championships. Annie knew jackshit about sports outside of Formula One, but she always came with their little friend group, to cheer as loud as humanly possible for him. Their friend group was herself, Leon, Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, and Chris and Claire Redfield.

She remembers the night so vividly…

Annie returns from the concession stand, with a cherry slushie. It’s staining her lips red, which makes the others giggle. She’s in her favourite outfit, that she always wears to the games— little black dress, long, black, heeled thigh high boots, and a black and baby pink racing-style jacket. She’s tied her long, red hair back, but she’s left her bangs loose at the front, so that they frame her face. Her lips have a little red tint to them — a mixture of the slushie, and her red lip tint, and her black eyeliner is done with near surgical precision. She takes her seat in between Jill and Claire, and she sees Leon doing some last stretches on the pitch, before the game. He sees Annie, and sticks his tongue out at her childishly — it was a pre-game tradition for them both. She sticks her tongue back out at him, and she immediately sees Leon crack up upon seeing her slushie-stained tongue.

He plays flawlessly, as always. But there’s something about him tonight that makes him seem prettier than usual — maybe it’s the way the floodlights are illuminating his face, maybe it’s the sheen of sweat covering his body, or maybe it’s that damned goofy smile he cracks at her with each touch-down he scores. The friend group are cheering and chanting his name, but Annie is the loudest. She always has been.

The game ends, and naturally, with Leon on the field, it’s a landslide victory, The friend group walk onto the pitch after the game, praising Leon on the win that he made happen. But he always hugs Annie first and tousles her hair, before he reacts to any of the praise.

Chris is grinning.

“Well, folks. Whose turn is it to treat Leon to his celebratory milkshake this time?

Leon chuckles, but waves his hand.

“You guys go on without me. I need to do some cooldown stretches before I go anywhere. I won’t be able to walk in the morning if I don’t.”

“Damn, Leon! That sounds like what I feel like after I’ve gone out hooking up for the night in my car. But it’s way more fun for me, because I get the chicks, and you all you get is to throw a pigskin around.” Chris laughs. “We’ll see you at the diner, yeah? Don’t be late or the free milkshake offer will expire.

Leon just rolls his eyes playfully.

“Yeah, yeah. See you guys in a little while.”

The others head to the diner, but Annie hangs back, smiling at Leon. They look back, expecting her to come with, but Carlos just shakes his head and laughs.

“Leave those two to it. They’re looking at each other with those damned eyes they give each other again. ‘Just best friends”, my ass.”

The others laugh, partially in amusement, partially in agreement, and they head to leave the pitch,

Annie walks up to him, wrapping her arms around him slowly.

“You were incredible out there, really. That thing you did where you threw the ball on the ground? Incredible. Sent everyone fucking bananas.”

Leon laughs softly, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Ever considered the whole sports commentary thing after graduation next month instead of Stanford? You really do have a way with words that makes American Football sound riveting.” He rolls his eyes playfully, nudging her. “C’mon, let’s go sit on the bleachers for a while. I just wanna relax for a bit, because you know the moment we step foot in that damned diner, Chris and Carlos are gonna be ribbing each other over something stupid.”

Annie laughs softly, and Leon takes her hand, and they sit in the very top corner of the bleachers. Everyone has gone now, and the stars are out, illuminating the two souls, whose connection goes beyond just the platonic— but they’re currently none the wiser.

She rests her head on Leon’s shoulder instinctively, as they look up at the stars together. They see one shoot by, and Annie gasps happily.

“Shooting star! You gotta make a wish, Leon.”

Leon laughs softly, breaking his gaze from the stars, to look at Annie’s face.

“C’mon, you seriously don’t believe in all that, right?”

Annie pouts, nudging him playfully.

“I still made a wish,” she grumbles softly.

Leon puts of an act of mock defeat, holding his heart dramatically, as if he’s just been wounded.

“And you didn’t tell me? C’mon, An—ni—iiie! Tell me!” He laughs, shaking her by the shoulders, which makes Annie giggle.

“I can’t tell you. You’ll take the piss out of me.”

“I’m your best friend,” Leon chuckles. “Taking the piss out of you is basically my full-time occupation.”

Annie glares playfully, and Leon notices a slight hint of blush creep across her cheeks.

“F-fine. My wish is… that I’m not gonna graduate as a virgin. I’m one of the only people, to my knowledge, who is still a virgin in the senior cohort. There’s six weeks till graduation, and I’d feel like a total loser if I graduated as a virgin.”

Leon laughs aloud into the stars, but then his expression softens when he realises that Annie really means it.

“Annie… it’s just a dumb teen rite of passage. You don’t gotta do it if you don’t wanna.”

“I know, I know. But after graduation, I have two months, before I end up at Stanford. And I guess… I want my first time to be special, rather than with a college frat boy who sees me as just another notch on his bedpost, you know?’

Leon’s face softens, and he takes his hand in hers, and their gazes both return back to the stars.

“You know I’m still a virgin too, right, Annie?” Leon chuckles softly.

“Bullshit. There’s no way you haven’t lost yours.”

“I’m being serious.”

They both go quiet again, Leon running his calloused thumb over the soft skin of her hand. The stars are flashing, twinkling, and Leon places a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

“Are you really serious about losing your virginity before graduation, Annie? Is this something you really want?”

Annie nods, sighing softly as she keeps her gaze on the stars.

“In that case… let me pitch what might be the most bizarre offer in the history of our friendship, ever,” Leon chuckles, still rubbing her thumb over her dainty little hand. “If you’re dead set on wanting to have your first time, then… let it be with me, your best friend. Let’s give each other our virginities, right here, right now.”

“Wait, for real?”

“Only if you wanna, of course. The bleachers are empty, so… why not?”

Leon stands up, sliding off his varsity jacket. He lays it out on the bleacher table, smiling.

“It’s not the most ideal, I know. But I think having our first times under the stars would be way prettier than doing it in the back of that damn car you never clean,” he teases “so… what do you say?”

Annie stands up now, wrapping herself around Leon, looking up at him with those intensely blue eyes.

“Thank you, Leon. There’s… no one else I’d want to do this with.”

He smiles, and his lips graze against hers softly, his hand coming up to wrap itself against her cascading, red mane. There’s a tenderness, and a hidden longing oozing from the both of them, Annie craning her neck slightly to meet his mouth. Her own hands snake up the back of his neck, and she seems to pull him in closer, desperate for time to just freeze, and for the two of them to be stuck in this moment forever. Annie’s tongue softly meets his lower lip, a sensation that makes Leon shudder in arousal.

“Annie, f-fucking hell…” Leon groans, immediately feeling all the blood rush between his thighs. He’s kissing back with longing, pining, and Annie is moaning softly against his lips.

His free hand travels lower, caressing her ass softly, worshipping her curves with his hand.

“You’re beautiful, Annie,” Leon breathes, pulling away from her softly with a smile. “To do this for you, it’s… well, let’s just say I’m feeling like I’m a damn lucky guy.”

Annie giggles softly, as she presses her forehead to his, her breath hot and sweet. “You’re pretty too, Leon. Pretty damn silly.”

Leon laughs softly, grazing his lips against hers, groaning at the touch. He’s already pitching a tent, and Annie feels herself throbbing from such a simple, yet intimate touch. He scoops her up into those athletic arms of his, and lays her on the varsity jacket he’d laid out on the bleacher bench earlier. He smiles softly at her, as he climbs on top of the bench, over her, caressing her face with his calloused fingertips.

“I-I’m already hard, Annie, I-I won’t lie. I might not last very long…” Leon gives her that signature lopsided smile, and Annie just giggles softly.

“I don’t care about that, Leon. Having you do this for me… well, I can’t thank you enough.”

Leon presses his lips to hers, pining for her touch, and they moan against the other’s lips, as they graze their tongues against one another in such an intimate state.

“Th-the pleasure’s all mine, Annie…”

Leon’s hands snake up her dress, and he looks for Annie to give him the go ahead to slide down her panties, and she nods. They’re black silk, which makes Leon smile softly, and he turns to Annie.

“Good choice in panties.” He chuckles, bringing them down around her ankles.

“Only the best for me.” Annie rolls her eyes playfully, which makes Leon laugh softly, looking at his best friend with an admiration and affection that’s bubbling over the boundaries of platonic.

Leon’s fingers find their way between her thighs, and to her pussy. His thumb finds her clit with ease, and he massages the little bud, while his index and middle fingers trace softly around the outside of her wetness. Annie lets out a happy little purr, arching her back at the touch. The sound she lets out simultaneously makes Leon so happy to see his best friend having a good time, but also makes him even more horny, if that’s even possible. He can’t help but kiss her thighs softly and messily, and Annie lets out a sound that’s half giggle, half moan.

“I’ve always told you this…,” he murmurs from in between her thighs, “but you’ve always had the prettiest voice. You know that, right?”

The sweet smell of her pussy is making him whimper, and he can’t help but lap softly at it, which makes Annie whimper in turn. This is Annie’s experience, he thought to himself, and he just wants to worship every bit of her body, like it deserves. Annie reaches her hand down to stroke his hair as he laps softly at her, her eyelashes fluttering at the sensation. Her happy little moans are like cocaine to him, and he can’t help but smile and whimper with each contented noise she makes.

He gets up from his position now, and leans over the top of her again, running his fingers over her fading self-harm scars from sophomore year, smiling at her with such an intense admiration for her body. Annie can feel the heat rising inside her, and she lets out a little breathy “I’m ready, Leon.”, smiling at him softly. Leon bites his lip a little, sliding down the trousers of his football uniform, his belt making a slight clinking sound. He shakes them from his ankles clumsily, which makes Annie giggle, and him smile. As he pulls down his boxers, Leon notices he’s already been dribbling pre-cum, just from the feel of her lips and the taste of her wetness alone.

Annie giggles softly, as she watches him toss his boxers aside with the trousers of his football uniform.

“Man, I must taste good for you to react like that.”

Leon chuckles, as he climbs back on top of her.

“You were always somehow even prettier when you were more self-confident, Annie.”

He takes one of Annie’s little hands in his larger ones, their fingers interlocking, while the other holds her waist.

“If it feels like too much, promise me you’ll say something. This is your experience, moon-cat.”

“I promise, sun-puppy.”

Leon slides into her, and for a split second, their visions blur, at the sheer sensation of their bodies becoming one. If there was an ultimate nirvana, it was this. Two best friends, who didn’t even realise that in a matter of months, their feelings would stretch beyond the platonic entirely. They both moan at the same time, and then smile at each other, laughing breathlessly. Annie’s hand tightens its grip around Leon’s, as his thrusts start softly and gently in intensity. He’s so needy, so hard, that Annie is almost certain that she can feel him throughout her whole body. She smiles at him, smiling breathlessly, mouth slightly agape, as if to say, ‘keep going’. As they share one another under the stars, all that Leon is thinking about is Annie. And all Annie is thinking about is Leon. She’s quivering pleasurably underneath him, as she wraps her legs around Leon’s toned back, which makes Leon smile softly, kissing the corner of her mouth. Annie uses her free hand to play with his hair, smiling breathlessly at him. It was if they were high, or drunk, on one another. The other’s touch, the other’s pheromones, the other’s presence. It’s as if they can both feel a molten heat rising in their cores, as Leon keeps his gentle pace, but it’s clear they’re both ready for their releases.

“Leon…”

Leon takes his free hand, caressing her cheek.

“Annie.”

She’s tightening and convulsing around him, as if her body is trying to pull him in closer, deeper. It’s so heavenly that they’re both losing their damn minds — their senses totally clouded by the presence of the other. Leon moans her name softly, groaning as he kisses the corner of her mouth, his cock twitching, flooding her needy pussy with his hot cum. Annie’s eyes roll back. and she pulls Leon closer with her free hand and her legs, and she tightens around him as she reaches her own climax. She’s left a very sweet flood of arousal at the base of his softening cock, as the both of them lay there, spent, panting, but grinning. Annie wasn’t on birth control, and Leon didn’t have a condom to hand, but the feeling of the sex— no, the love-making between them, had completely clouded their judgment. As Leon pulled out, the two of them started laughing breathlessly, and he kissed her forehead tenderly…

As Annie is reminiscing from that night a month ago, she hears a gentle tap at the window. It’s Leon, her “sun-puppy”, having shimmied up the wisteria plant with his iconic lopsided grin, waiting to be let in.

“Hey, moon-cat! I brought chocolate. What’s up, anyway?”

Annie gulps softly as he very clumsily rolls through her window, and takes a deep breath.

This is gonna be one helluva conversation.

[covid-safer-hotties]

How covid conspiracy theories led to an alarming resurgence in AIDS denialism - Published Aug 7, 2024

Widespread distrust of our public health system is reviving long-debunked ideas on HIV and AIDS—and energizing a broad movement that questions the foundations of disease prevention.

Several million people were listening in February when Joe Rogan falsely declared that “party drugs” were an “important factor in AIDS.” His guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, the former evolutionary biology professor turned contrarian podcaster Bret Weinstein, agreed with him: The “evidence” that AIDS is not caused by HIV is, he said, “surprisingly compelling.”

During the show, Rogan also asserted that AZT, the earliest drug used in the treatment of AIDS, killed people “quicker” than the disease itself—another claim that’s been widely repeated even though it is just as untrue.

Speaking to the biggest podcast audience in the world, the two men were promoting dangerous and false ideas—ideas that were in fact debunked and thoroughly disproved decades ago.

But it wasn’t just them. A few months later, the New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, four-time winner of the NFL’s MVP award, alleged that Anthony Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, had orchestrated the government's response to the AIDS crisis for personal gain and to promote AZT, which Rodgers also depicted as “killing people.” Though he was speaking to a much smaller audience, on a podcast hosted by a jujitsu fighter turned conspiracy theorist, a clip of the interview was re-shared on X, where it’s been viewed more than 13 million times.

Rodgers was repeating claims that appear in The Real Anthony Fauci, a 2021 book by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a work that has renewed relevance as the anti-vaccine activist makes a long-shot but far-from-inconsequential run for the White House. The book, which depicts the elderly immunologist as a Machiavellian figure who used both the AIDS and covid pandemics for his own ends, has reportedly sold 1.3 million copies across all formats.

“When I hear [misinformation] like that, I just hope it doesn’t get traction,” says Seth Kalichman, a professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut and the author of Denying AIDS: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy.

But it already has. These comments and others like them add up to a small but unmistakable resurgence in AIDS denialism—a false collection of theories arguing either that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS or that there’s no such thing as HIV at all.

The ideas here were initially promoted by a cadre of scientists from unrelated fields, as well as many science-adjacent figures and self-proclaimed investigative journalists, back in the 1980s and ’90s. But as more and more evidence stacked up against them, and as more people with HIV and AIDS started living longer lives thanks to effective new treatments, their claims largely fell out of favor.

At least until the coronavirus arrived.

Read the full article at either link! (the covidsafehotties archive is always free of annoying in-line ads, jsky!)

[jennyboom21]

Before Taylor Swift was sparking headlines about "squad goals" or attracting throngs of Hollywood stars to The Eras Tour, she and Dianna Agron were nearly inseparable.

The "Style" singer and "Glee" star became close in 2012 and were quickly identified in the media as "blonde BFFs." However, the following year, Swift and Agron suddenly seemed to lose touch. They haven't been spotted together since 2014.

Keep scrolling to see everything we know about the once-close pair.

They became friends while Swift was working on 'Red'

It's unclear how and when Swift and Agron met. In 2010 and 2011, Swift became friendly with "Glee" stars like Cory Monteith and Chord Overstreet, so it's possible the women were introduced by Agron's castmates. They both attended the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, but there's no evidence they interacted.

Swift and Agron were spotted in public for the first time on September 4, 2011 at a flea market in Los Angeles. Swift was between shows on the Speak Now World Tour, while Agron had recently wrapped a series of Glee Live! concerts.

By this time, we know that Swift was in the process of creating her fourth album because she had already written "All Too Well."

According to her diary excerpts (released alongside "Lover" in 2019), the beloved song was conceived in February 2011. She decided to name the album "Red" in September 2011.

Dianna Agron and Taylor Swift in 2012.

January 7, 2012: Agron tweeted that Swift looked 'beautiful' on the cover of Vogue

Swift was photographed by Mario Testino for the February 2012 issue of Vogue, for which she was given retro-style bangs. According to a behind-the-scenes video, the photoshoot took place on the eve of her 22nd birthday.

"Taylor looks all kinds of 70's beautiful....and love a hat! Great job," Agron wrote on Twitter, tagging both Vogue and Swift.

March 25, 2012: Swift and Agron went to see 'The Hunger Games' together

A group of fans snapped a photo with Swift and Agron at the theater during the movie's opening weekend.

April 12, 2012: Agron shut down rumors that she was in a 'love triangle' with Swift and Tim Tebow

For some reason, in early 2012, tabloids ran wild with a theory that Agron was dating NFL quarterback Tim Tebow while Swift was harboring a "puppy dog" crush on him.

During an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Agron quashed the rumors. She clarified that she had a "10-minute chat" with Tebow and hadn't seen him since.

Kimmel also asked her to address her relationship with Swift: "Are you dating her? That would be great."

"Wouldn't that be juicy?" Agron replied, blowing a kiss to the camera and adding, "Hi Taylor."

April 24, 2012: They wore vintage gowns and flower crowns to celebrate Shirley MacLaine's birthday

Swift, who costarred with MacLaine in the 2010 film "Valentine's Day," played dress-up with Agron and two more friends in honor of the actor's 78th birthday. The small group shared photos of the occasion on social media, though most have since been deleted.

"We dressed up full-time fancy and went out in celebration of Shirley MacLaine's birthday," Swift wrote on Twitter, per E! News.

"Had a long day & don't know what to celebrate later…? Because you need a moment to be young? Find your moments," Agron added in her own tweet.

April 28, 2012: Swift celebrated Agron's 26th birthday

Swift wore a tiger costume for Agron's circus-themed birthday party, which she called "the most magical night" on Twitter.

"The blonde BFFs have been spending a lot of time together as of late," E! News wrote.

May 15, 2012: They dined together in Los Angeles

Paparazzi caught Swift and Agron leaving Dominick's, an Italian restaurant in West Hollywood, after a Tuesday night dinner.

July 4, 2012: Swift and Agron spent the holiday in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts

Swift was spotted in the famous East Coast town during Fourth of July weekend, mostly hanging out at the Kennedy compound. She was accompanied by Agron and their friend Claire Kislinger (neé Winter), according to the Boston Herald and Us Weekly.

Kerry Townsend, the granddaughter of Ethel Kennedy, tweeted at the time: "Arrived at my Grandma's house to find her chilling with Taylor Swift and Dianna Agron. I hope I'm this cool when I'm 83!"

October 22, 2012: Swift released 'Red,' which includes a dedication to Agron

Swift is known for leaving coded messages for fans in the liner notes of her album. The secret message for "22" was four names: "Ashley Dianna Claire Selena."

In addition to Agron and Kislinger, these most likely refer to stylist Ashley Avignone and Selena Gomez. The song is about spending a carefree night with friends, though hints of ill-advised romance are sprinkled in: "You look like bad news / I gotta have you."

There could be another reference to Agron in the liner notes for "Everything Has Changed." The song's secret message is "Hyannis Port," where Swift spent some time with green-eyed Conor Kennedy that summer. ("All I've seen since 18 hours ago / Is green eyes and freckles and your smile," Swift sings.)

However, many fans have noticed that "Hyannis Port" is actually misspelled in the liner notes as "Hyiannis Port," which mirrors the spelling of Dianna (who also has green eyes).

The day that "Red" was released, Agron congratulated Swift on Twitter with a screenshot of her phone playing "Everything Has Changed."

December 3, 2012: Swift and Agron both attended the Ripple of Hope gala

Swift and Conor Kennedy reportedly split in October 2012 after a few months of dating. However, later that year, Swift was still honored with the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights.

The annual gala was held at the Mariott Marquis in New York City. According to E! News, Swift had Agron "by her side" throughout the event. She also performed "Starlight," a song from "Red" that was inspired by Ethel and Bobby Kennedy.

"Was a beautiful night last night. The RFK foundation provides help to so many truly deserving," Agron tweeted. "Plus @taylorswift13 was truly lovely."

April 2013: A fake artice, which claimed Swift and Agron were dating, went semi-viral

Shortly after Swift embarked on the Red Tour, a doctored screenshot from a fake tabloid began circulating on Twitter. The headline from Stars Daily, which does not exist, said "Taylor Swift is in a new relationship...but it's not what you expected."

"Country pop singer Taylor Swift has confirmed being in a relationship with Glee star Dianna Agron," the fake article continued. "Lesbi-honest! Right after the rumors were confirmed, the two were spotted out on a dinner date." (The attached photo was from Swift and Agron's dinner at Dominick's in 2012.)

On April 23, 2013, "Skins" actor Dakota Blue Richards tweeted about the rumor: "So apparently Taylor Swift and Dianna Agron are dating. Sorry Brangelina, you just got taken over as the worlds hottest couple."

Neither Swift nor Agron publicly responded to the rumor. But Richards' reaction seemed to increase its virality, and the following day, Agron deleted her Tumblr.

"Thank you friends for following the journey," she wrote in her final post. "But as an old chapter closes, a new chapter begins."

September 4, 2013: Swift, Agron, and other friends went to a Fun. concert

"Modern Family" star Sarah Hyland shared a video from backstage at the Fun. concert, which took place at the Greek in Los Angeles. Swift is featured in the short clip, while Agron is briefly shown standing off to the side.

"Watching @OurNameIsFun live tonight at the Greek was unforgettable," Swift wrote on Twitter, per Taste of Country. "Such incredible musicians and showmen. It was just SO good."

Two days later, Agron also tweeted an inside joke about the concert, tagging Swift.

This seemed to be the last time they intentionally hung out (at least in public).

October 27, 2014: Swift released the deluxe version of '1989,' which includes a breakup song called 'Wonderland'

The lyrics of "Wonderland" clearly reference "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," the 1865 novel by Lewis Carroll. When Swift performed the "1989" deluxe track as a surprise song on The Eras Tour, she said it was a "twisted" take on the fairy tale.

In the song, Swift describes her muse as having green eyes and a "Cheshire Cat smile." She says they "fell down the rabbit hole" and got lost in Wonderland, all without considering the consequences.

"Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds?" she sings in the pre-chorus, a reference to Alice's observation that "curiosity often leads to trouble."

Swift concludes in the bridge: "In the end, in Wonderland / We both went mad."

Some fans have drawn a connection between "Wonderland" and Agron, who has repeatedly tweeted about her love for Alice.

"I love 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'The Hobbit,'" Agron said in a 2011 interview with Elle. "Those books got me into reading and storytelling — I could escape to a different world."

Indeed, Agron reportedly had a Tumblr, deleted in 2013, that was called "felldowntherabbithole."

She also had a reference to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" tattooed on her ribcage: "We're all mad here," which is a quote from the Cheshire Cat. Fans noticed that Agron was in the process of removing her tattoo in 2017.

November 23, 2014: They had a brief interaction at the 2014 American Music Awards

Although she spent most of the evening with Karlie Kloss, photographers did catch Swift having a moment with Agron at the 2014 AMAs, where she also performed her single "Blank Space."

This was the last time Swift and Agron were seen together in public. Notably, Agron did not appear among Swift's many celebrity friends in the 2015 "Bad Blood" music video, which seemed to confirm they were no longer close.

October 5, 2019: Agron went to 'SNL' when Swift was the musical guest

Agron was photographed leaving 30 Rock after "Saturday Night Live" finished filming. Swift was that night's musical guest — she performed "False God" and the title track from "Lover" — but there's no evidence she interacted with Agron inside.

May 7, 2023: Agron was asked about rumors that she and Swift were 'in a relationship'

During an interview with Rolling Stone, Agron was asked about her influence on Swift's music, specifically "22."

"Me? Oh, if only! That's more because of a friendship than being the inspiration for the song," she replied. "But I would not be the person to ask about that. I cannot claim that!"

The reporter also asked how Agron felt about being "shipped" with Swift, which he explained as, "You two were made out by the media and some fans to be in a relationship."

In response, Agron described the speculation as "so interesting."

"I… I mean, there have been many stories about my dating life that are so wildly untrue. That's funny," she said.

[vote-democrat-president-congress]

NYTimes: "The president of the United States is only as good as the advisers around him, whose selection reflects presidential judgment, not stamina. The presidency isn’t a solo mission. Not even close. It’s a team effort, and the administration that a president puts together matters much, much more than his brawn or his brio.

To listen to the fretting over how many hours a day Biden can vigorously work, how many speeches he can authoritatively deliver and how many miles he can comfortably travel is to get the sense that he’s independently on the hook for the nation’s welfare. That he’s more action figure than decision maker. That, um, he alone can fix it. That he shoulders all the responsibility. nothing about it suggests to me that he’d treat governing as cavalierly as Donald Trump would (and did) or assemble a team as ragtag as Trump’s — or, for that matter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s.

Biden wouldn’t elevate a conspiracy theorist like the quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was on a short list of potential running mates for Kennedy before, on Tuesday, Kennedy chose Nicole Shanahan, a philanthropist (and vaccine skeptic) with zero experience in public office. He wouldn’t invite anyone as unhinged and reprehensible as Rudy Giuliani, who led Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, into his inner circle."

[mariacallous]

In his continued quest to become either the president of the United States or else a very interesting footnote to someone else’s reelection, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has enlisted a number of celebrities and influencers. On Tuesday, he expanded those ranks, confirming to The New York Times that he is “considering” NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura for his vice presidential pick; Politico reported that he’ has also “approached” Senator Rand Paul, former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

But it was Rodgers and Ventura who drew the most attention from the press, and it’s their roles in the information ecosystem who most signal what Kennedy is doing. Outside of their careers in the NFL and WWE, Rodgers and Ventura are known for, respectively, promoting anti-vaccine views in conversations with sports podcasters and Joe Rogan, and promoting politically contrarian, occasionally conspiratorial views on cable TV and Substack. By publicizing his interest in them, Kennedy is making overtures to a very specific potential voter: the highly online and politically disaffected young man.

Kennedy, an environmental activist turned anti-vaccine superstar, is already running an extremely online campaign; as WIRED noted recently, the candidate is omnipresent on Instagram, podcasts, and Substack and has used influencers as proxies who will deliver his message to his niche bases. Over the past few months, Kennedy has been seen hanging out with snowboarder Travis Rice, naming a young and persistently bleached-blonde TikToker and aspiring musician named Link Lauren as a “senior adviser” on his campaign, and appearing at a Bitcoin conference.

Online is a comfortable environment for Kennedy, a dyed-in-the-wool conspiracy theorist who has promoted anti-vaccine views since 2005. Beyond his many and virulent anti-vaccine campaigns, he’s been especially willing to engage in conspiracy theories that are likely to go viral, most notably suggesting that the CIA may have assassinated his uncle, John F. Kennedy, and promoted long-debunked and extremely dangerous junk science about AIDS not being caused by HIV. He has also tried awkwardly to engage with the conspiracy theories about dead pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, on whose private plane he rode at least twice. In December he said that Epstein’s flight logs should be released, and tweeted, “I’m not hiding anything, but they are!”

His efforts to appeal to both a conspiratorial base and a more mainstream voting bloc have been occasionally clumsy, but persistent—and by shoring up his base among young men, who will be increasingly important this election year, he appears to be figuring out how to bridge that gap. One enormous help was, of course, his own appearance on Rogan’s podcast, where the two engaged in three hours of long-winded conspiracy theories about vaccines, 5G technology, and ivermectin, among Kennedy’s other greatest-hits talking points.

Kennedy’s interest in speaking to very online, purportedly “anti-establishment” spaces also means, necessarily, that the people he’s speaking to have a demonstrable overlap with the so-called manosphere, the broad group of bloggers, podcasters, influencers, and grievance-peddlers speaking to young men. Choosing to align himself with figures like Aaron Rodgers—a mainstream football star who has promoted increasingly fringe beliefs, and declared himself to be very brave for doing so—is an excellent way to appeal to the Venn diagram of young men and the conspiracy-curious, says Derek Beres. “It completely makes sense for what he’s doing.”

Beres is an author, speaker, and podcaster who’s one of the cohosts of Conspirituality, which looks at the overlap between New Age and far-right movements. In that role, Beres has observed Kennedy at close range for years and says, “One of the things that I don’t think is talked about enough but is really smart on RFK’s part is he’s been mobilizing fringe communities since he announced his presidential run.”

Neither Rodgers nor Ventura are what you would call politically serious choices; Rodgers has never held elected office, while Ventura hasn’t in 20 years. Neither man speaks to a base that Kennedy hasn’t already hit; in that role, Paul and Gabbard would make more political sense.

Instead, Kennedy is front-loading two men who the young male voter might find in a late-night TikTok or Instagram scroll and who are known for their own fondness for indulging in conspiracy theories and misinformation. Rodgers is best known lately for making misleading claims about being "immunized for Covid,” later revealing that he was taking fake homeopathic “vaccines,” and for appearing to suggest that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel might appear on a list of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates, for which Kimmel instantly threatened to sue him. He has also become a repeat guest on Rogan’s podcast; in his most recent appearance in February, he nodded along as Rogan claimed that Covid was created in a lab. On Wednesday, it was also reported by CNN that he’d shared Sandy Hook conspiracy theories privately, including in 2013, to Pamela Brown, one of the journalists bylined on the story.

For his part, after Ventura was governor, he had a show called Conspiracy Theory on the outlet TruTV. Clips from the show still occasionally go viral, especially ones purporting to show that the pandemic was “planned.” He then had a show on Russian state-backed news outlet RT America, which focused on purported American hypocrisy wherever he could find it. In a slightly awkward fit for Kennedy, Ventura also decried people who refused to wear masks early in the pandemic. (Kennedy spent a lot of time incorrectly but predictably claiming that mask-wearing was useless and in fact harmful.) Now, Ventura has a Substack with his son, where he delivers political commentary and wrestling stories, a move he claims he made after RT America unceremoniously dumped him for decrying the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

And most importantly, both Ventura and Rodgers—as outsize and slightly eccentric sports figures—are heroes largely to young men.

Kennedy, Beres says, “is playing culture war politics,” where someone like Aaron Rodgers would make sense; it’s part of his appeal, Beres says, to the mostly male-dominated online body-optimization space. In addition to doing shirtless pushups (in jeans, for some reason), Kennedy has also made numerous appearances with Aubrey Marcus, a fitness influencer and motivational speaker who has been one of his most enthusiastic proxies. The two men are appearing together this weekend at the grandiosely named American Wellness Summit, a Kennedy campaign event just outside Austin, Texas, where the cheapest tickets are a $1,500 campaign donation.

“We’re in a cultural space where you have Donald Trump, who in the past said that exercise depletes your body,” Beres explains. “Then you have a big conversation around Biden’s age, which the right has been pushing and which has been effective in terms of their propaganda. And then you have RFK, who works out at Gold’s Gym and has been spotted there hanging out with Andrew Huberman,” an astonishingly popular neuroscience podcaster. “The optics alone are going to appeal to a young male crowd.”

For his part, Donald Trump has made his own bid for the young male vote’s affections, showing up at Sneaker Con to hawk $400 Trump-branded shoes, signaling his support for Bitcoin, getting (somewhat) into football, and showing up at a UFC match, where he mainly made headlines for appearing to ignore his own grandson. Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, meanwhile, recently got a coveted endorsement from a coalition of 15 Gen Z and millennial voting groups. But as an MSNBC opinion column noted last month, opinion polls seem to show Kennedy with a slim lead among voters 18–34. And as Gallup noted in January, Biden’s favorability ratings among young and non-white adults has fallen since he became president, while Kennedy has “majority-level favorable rating” across all major gender, race, and age groups. Gallup’s Lydia Saad noted that Kennedy could “appeal to that segment of voters who are resistant to Biden but are also not sold on Trump.”

Kennedy has enjoyed, however, some base of support among women for quite some time. The anti-vaccine movement is powered in large part at the grassroots level by mothers who wrongly believe that their choice to vaccinate their children led to them having conditions like autism; women can often be seen crying, cheering, and frankly swooning when Kennedy speaks in front of those audiences. One of his other prominent campaign proxies is an enormously popular celebrity and lifestyle blogger named Jessica Reed Kraus, better known by her online handle Houseinhabit, who is stumping somewhat equally for Kennedy and Trump. (Kraus, too, went viral for involving herself in two high-profile trials, once claiming that Johnny Depp had confided in her during his defamation trial against Amber Heard, as well as“covering” human trafficker and Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal trial in a fairly sympathetic way.)

Despite that preexisting base of support, Kennedy has done very little to speak further to women, especially young women. After speaking at a recent libertarian forum, he declined to tell The Washington Post whether he would protect abortion access and said initially that he hadn’t read a controversial Alabama IVF ruling. (He later said he had reviewed it and “wholeheartedly” rejected the ruling.) He has said he would support a 15-week abortion ban and later said he wouldn’t, and he has called abortion “a tragedy.” Amidst all this waffling over a core issue affecting young women, he found time to meet with an anti-child-support advocate who presents it as a “war on men,” which was then released as part of a Blacks for Kennedy promotional video. (In his attempt to court Black voters, Kennedy did speak with a panel of women in Atlanta. Politico reported that the meeting was coordinated by Angela Stanton King, a former Blacks for Trump proxy who was pardoned by the former president in 2020 for a previous felony conviction.)

In a way, Beres says, Kennedy is campaigning more as an influencer than as a politician, displaying his lifestyle and his connections in a way that would also appeal to an isolated, online male crowd looking for models of how—and who—to be: “He nails an image,” Beres says, “that a lot of people don’t understand they need a lot of money and connections to acquire.” In the end, promoting a controversial athlete and an ex-governor turned blogger as vice-presidential picks may not signal a coherent political vision. But it does show an enormous hunger to engage with online spaces where the young and disaffected men gather, and wait to be shown the way.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I am absolutely obsessed with Through My Window. Binged all three in a day. Any recs for books that give the same vibes?

The Through My Window trilogy is... so good. Whenever people are like "I hate Wattpad" I'm like sure sure, I watch many Wattpad movies, most are bad, but THROUGH MY WINDOW. It gives us full soap opera swings, it has great sex scenes (and a surprising emphasis on safe sex? lmao the Through My Window population are always using condoms... except for Artemis and Claudia, the thirty-year-olds), and it really fucks with what I think is *so wrong* with so many similar movies. In that the guy is a tool, he never actually seems into the girl and thus never changes, and the girl is just DESPERATE and doesn't understand how aaaaanyone could loooove her.

Ares *DOES* change and is obviously fundamentally a good dude who's just been raised in a toxically masculine environment. He's like, not perfect, but he loves Raquel and he wants to do the right thing and emotionally he's basically her bitch from fairly early on in the first movie. And Raquel? IS MESS. She's mess, and she goes "I could bag that motherfucker" and she COULD. She gives him so much shit. Shit he often doesn't deserve, frankly. It's great.

So I don't read a lot of books focusing on characters their age, and this will mostly be character vibes as such.

The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary. This is about two doctors in their thirties/forties, but I recommend this because they have a very antagonistic relationship at first, before beginning this "no strings" secret sexual relationship that reminds me of the Sekret Sex in the first TMW.

Kennedy Ryan's All the King's Men Duology, OOH YES. So this one does begin when the heroine is 17, but that's not why I'm recommending that because it's brief and as soon as the hero knows she's 17 he stops talking to her, as he should (nothing happens, they literally just talk, he's like 24 and thinks she's older and does not in any way intend to sniff around a 17 year old sssh). But they do meet up again when she's a senior in college, they do hook up, and there is a lot fraught interclass stuff--he has a horrible dad and comes from a billionaire family, she calls him on his shit (she's not crazy like Raquel but you do get that back and forth) and it's HOT.

The Roommate by Rosie Danan. This one has a more upper class heroine and a hero who is in fact an adult film star, but I would recommend this one due to the proximity (and they were roommates) and the way they kind of begin hooking up on the low. There's also an initial prickliness on her part.

The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan. This could definitely work--it's one fo the rare college romances I've enjoyed! The hero is a star quarterback and comes from a more privileged background than the heroine. She kinda hates his ass, he's obsessed with her, and they basically fuck at a party and start hooking up secretly. CAN I SAY. This moment when they first fuck? He literally drops to his knees in someone else's bathroom before railing her on a couch. I was. ABOUT IT.

So yeah, no one to one comparisons as far as contemporaries go, but this is what I would TRY.

[muscularmass37]

Super Hulk Quarterback Kennedy. THE MUSCULAR MASS !!!!!

[posttexasstressdisorder]

https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2024/04/17/laquila/

Happy Birthday, Mr. Mancini...thanks for three of the biggest tunes of my younger years...and many more!

L’Aquila

We’re here for a hundredth birthday concert for Henry Mancini.

L’Aquila is somewhere between one and two hours from Rome, depending on the traffic. It’s in the Apennine mountains. (You remember them from elementary school, right? Well, I remembered they were in Italy, but I couldn’t have picked them out on a map, nor did I know they were so close to Rome.) It’s a bit over two thousand feet high and feels like it, it’s in the fifties today, and supposed to go down to almost freezing tonight. If it weren’t for the long days, I’d think winter is coming.

Actually, Hank’s birthday was yesterday. We celebrated with dinner in the hotel, in a restaurant with multiple cases of aged beef wherein you can see your dinner before it is cooked. Actually, I was the only one who had steak, from the local cow, as opposed to one from Russia, Ireland or Japan or even America, all of which were in the case. And they served this round bread that was a cross between naan and pizza and it was very good.

But speaking of the food…

I just have to testify about the bread. It’ll crack a tooth, I tell you. Which is the crusty exterior you want, which Americans won’t tolerate. That’s the way bagels used to be, now they’ve got the consistency of Wonder Bread. Furthermore, everywhere you go in America, except for a few restaurants, the bread in the basket they serve with dinner is soft, basically bland, empty calories. But at lunch today, the bread might have looked pedestrian, but the crust reminded me of my youth, back when you bought rye bread at the local bakery, when they sliced it upon order.

So the key is not only making people aware it’s Henry Mancini’s hundredth birthday, but that they consume the music.

Now if you’re my age, everybody knows Henry Mancini. But over the past week I quizzed two twentysomethings and got blank stares in response. Then I started to sing “Pink Panther” and their eyes immediately lit up. But still, it’s such a challenge crossing old acts over to younger generations, attaching the composer to the song. The family switched to Primary Wave to quarterback this centenary celebration, we’ll see how it works out.

Anyway, the conservatory in L’Aquila reached out, they were doing four concerts, would we come?

Well, here we are.

Now the head of the conservatory’s passion is prog rock, I kid you not. Unfortunately, he doesn’t speak English so well, but I did get him to say his favorite prog rock keyboard player was Rick Wakeman.

And the conductor of the program… He’s not that great with English either. But Daniela studied at the University of Chicago, she’s the conservatory’s musicologist. And she’s a fount of information. They say you learn most when you hang with the locals…that is true. Although I still wish I spoke Italian. You know, like Jackie Kennedy, that’s what we heard when JFK was president, before she was married to Onassis, when her image was at its peak, that she spoke six, or was it seven languages. You have no idea of the hope JFK’s election generated. A turning point, a young man to lead us into the sixties. We thought we had something similar with Obama but he punted, for fear of looking like the angry black man. Biden is standing up to the status quo more than Barack, then again, Biden was vice president for eight years and saw firsthand that you can’t negotiate with the unreasonable.

I had to ask Daniela about “Gomorrah.” Of course she’d seen it, and “Suburra” too (although it took a while for her to understand what show I was talking about, I didn’t have the accent right). Streaming television is now the universal language.

So after waking up we went to the Fountain of 99 Spouts. Built in the 1200s. No one knows where the water comes from, supposedly they killed the architect and buried him under the fountain to preserve the secret.

And then we went to the local museum.

Most of the art was religious, but it all made me feel insignificant. That and the Forum back in Rome. You’re born and you feel so important, believing you matter, that you’re going to put a dent in the universe. Meanwhile, almost no one achieves this. And frequently those who are remembered were overlooked during their lifetime. But you see the antiquities and you realize nothing has changed over the years. Oh, of course travel is much speedier, and health care is much better, but everybody thinks they’re important when they’re alive, that the era within which they’re living is the most significant. I don’t know, it’s weird. Museums are sanctuaries, where the trappings of regular society don’t count. How rich you are, what kind of car you drive… You leave those at the door at the museum. It’s just you and your senses. Your thoughts start to percolate. Today money triumphs, but not at the museum. It’s a great correction.

So we’ll be back in Rome, but for less than two days. The whole trip is barely a week.

And L’Aquila is not a tourist town. Although there are ski areas in the mountains, one where Pope John Paul II used to surreptitiously ski. And there is still snow on the peaks. And every car I’ve been in so far has had a stick shift. Nearly extinct in the U.S., from Skodas to Volvos, everybody’s rowing through the gears here.

And oh, on the conservatory stage, I saw this Fazioli concert grand. I figured they couldn’t afford a Steinway. But it turns out Fazioli is usually more expensive, and their concert grand is even bigger, and you learn something every day.

That’s the name of the game.

“Al Conservatorio dell’Aquila parte l’omaggio a Henry Mancini”: https://shorturl.at/houxX