#incoming

[lemonjamdraws]

more miraculilas in anticipation of lilanette week also

[supercap2319]

Peter: "You took my younger brother out for ice cream, but not me?"

Y/N: "Yeah? Why?"

Peter: "Why Benj? Why not me?"

Y/N: "Peter, you're not seriously jealous of your baby brother are you?"

Peter: "Maybe."

[inmydr3amz]

Could you write a bailey's sister! Make out with benj nielsen?

✮ RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU ✮ ​​

​��​​🇪​​🇳​​🇯​ ​🇳​​🇮​​🇪​​🇱​​🇸​​🇪​​🇳​

✦ synopsis: in which benj realizes the right girl has been right in front of him all along

⟡ content warnings: none just fluff!

✦ word count: 1223

✮⋆ a/n: sorry this took me so long ive been busy w school 😭😭 also idk if this is what u had in mind. If not, feel free to drop another request w more details!! ⋆✮

p.2

You hate your sister for a lot of things: the fact that she doesn't let you wear her make-up, or her clothes, the fact that she's embarrassed to be seen with you, the fact that she still calls you her "baby sister" even though you're 15 now and only a year younger than her anyway, the fact that Benj has been in love with her for years even though she has this weird push and pull thing with him where she treats him like shit but then acts like she likes him when she doesn't actually give two shots about her him and just like the attention all the while you've always been right there.

One thing you don't hate about her, though, is the fact that she drops you off at the Nielsens' when she picks Alyssa up to hang out because it comes with a perk—you get to spend the day with Benj.

You've been best friends your entire lives because while your sisters were casting you off to the side, you were hanging out with each other.

And still, the idiot has heart eyes for the one sister who doesn't look his way, when all you've ever done is see him.

Your sister is a stupid jerk, you're sure of it, a damn toxic bitch, too—pulling the sweetest boy you've ever known along for the flattery then tossing him away when she's bored, or finds someone else, or simply when they're at school because she's embarrassed to be seen around Freshmen when she's literally just a Sophmore.

Sisterly love and all that—but that doesn't mean you have to like her.

It's getting to you now, like it always does, and it's bubbling up, up, up, 'till it just comes out—

Saturday afternoon. Rainy. Cold. You're laying on Benj's bed, staring at the ceiling, legs draped over the edge. You're wearing one of his sweaters. You listen to the sound of the rain tapping against the window, the glass cold to the touch.

He's sitting next to you, so close you can feel his body heat, and the mattress dips under your head whenever he bounces his thigh. He has his lower lip between his teeth, muttering little swears. Hands grip the controller, eyes trained on the shooter game displayed on the T.V. in front of him.

He groans and mutters a soft "Fuck." as he loses, tipping back a little.

You just can't take it. You really, really can't—

"Hey, Benj?"

He pulls one side of his head seat away from his ear. "Hmm?" he hums, looking down at you.

"Why do you like my sister?"

His face flushes—not because you're not supposed to know. He knows you know; he told you himself. You still remember the day: 4th grade, when he'd started chasing frogs. His face was red from running around when he met you under the slide at recess. Bailey and Alyssa were on the seesaw. He'd leaned over and said, "I like someone." You got excited because you thought it might be you. And then he said it was your sister. Your relationship with her has been strained ever since.

No, he just didn't expect it. You can tell because he's choking on air when normally he loves talking about Bailey.

He coughs one more time to clear his throat. "What?" he asks, strained.

You sit up to be eye-level with him and play with the sleeves of his hoodie you're wearing. It even smells like him—shampoo and lotion and vanilla.

"Bailey. Why do you like her? She's a bitch."

"Oh, come on," he says, and there's an amused glint in his eyes. He knows you and your sister don't get along. He and Alyssa don't get along very well, either. "I know o don't have the best relationship with my own sister, either, but don't you think you're being a little mean?"

"Benj, seriously." You're sounding upset now.

He was going to start a new game—but he stops short hearing your curt tone. He puts his controller down and hooks his headset around his neck. "Y/N, what's going on?"

You take a shaky intake of breath, feeling tears start to prick at your eyes—and your jaw start to set the more you think about your sister. "How do you like Bailey? She doesn't even like you. Hell, she's embarrassed by you!" you exclaim, throwing your hands around.

His face furrows with confusion, then intense with a flicker of pain. He slumos back. "You're being mean," he says softly, defeated. You hate seeing him defeated. He's too nice to look defeated.

You chew on the inside of your cheek hard to fight off how queasy you feel. "I'm not trying to be mean, Benj. I just don't think you should waste your time on her." When I'm right here.

When I actually appreciate you.

When I actually love you.

Even with that sad, puppy dog face, he still has a little awestruck glow in his eyes. "Because she just . . ." He sighs dreamily. "She's great, you know? She's pretty, and funny, and—"

You've taken this for years now. You can't. Not today.

You kiss him.

It's mindless, really. Your body leans forward of it's own accord, driven by the way you yearn for him.

His eyes widen and he just freezes, holding his hands up like he's scared to move. When it ends, and you look at him like you're a little shocked by your own actions, it hits him: he's fucking in love with you.

Sure, there's always been that Baily infatuation—but that was always the chase of the unattainable thing. It's easier to want someone you know you'll never have a chance with because then when you're rejected you don't have to confront the forever-hungry fear that maybe you're unlovable. It was never real.

But you? Oh, you . . .

You've always been real.

"Benj—" you go to say when he grabs you by the elbow and pull you into a bruising kiss. There's no hesitation this time, no freezing up. You flow right into it, melt under him as he shuffles, hand on the small of your back as he guides you to lay down. Your lips move against his like they have a mind of their own. The kiss is messy and unexperienced and it doesn't matter because it's good and it's Benj.

God, nothing has ever felt so natural.

You fist his shirt and pull his body against yours. He's half against you, holding himself up with his forearm next to your head, that hand absentmindedly playing with your hair, the other hand grabbing your waist and shifting you in time with his shifts under him and all you can think is hands, hands, hands.

Benj's hands.

Hot hands.

Hand placement.

That hand slipping under your (his) sweater to hold your bare skin.

He lets out a little desperate sound before pulling away, panting and eyes glazed over. You're panting too, loosening your grip on his shirt to press your hands flat on his chest.

Benj blinks, wets his lips. "I really have been wasting my time with Bailey," he quips breathlessly.

[tragicslip]

Yep yep..

[iwanthermidnightz]

the boyfriend taylor outfits 😍

[simp4eshal]

The boy is mine (Spencer x Reader)

Based on “The Boy is mine” by Ariana Grande

“The boy is mine,

I can’t wait to try him”

Your dad was president. Yes, he was.

And as the first daughter, you had to have security. That was obligatory.

But after an attempt is made on your life, your dad gets more cautious, and during the time of the investigation an FBI agent is charged with your safety.

Spencer reid x reader

I/ The one where you meet, and he’s so fine you spill coffee on yourself

II/ The one where you’re clumsy, and somehow end up on top of him

III/ The one where he can not act as if he’s not attracted to you anymore

IV/ The one where you get caught

V/ The one where your dad accepts him

[skyasimaru]

I need this for a thing. Standby...

[mrghostrat]

!!!!!! and the roll continues, finished another behemoth of a bnf chapter

and it's only 12:30 so i think i can afford to stay up to reread/edit + post it before sleep!!!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Overkill. http://Newsday.com/matt :: Matt Davies

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 13, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Nov 14, 2024

Republican senators today elected John Thune of South Dakota to be the next Senate majority leader. Trump and MAGA Republicans had put a great deal of pressure on the senators to back Florida senator Rick Scott, but he marshaled fewer votes than either Thune or John Cornyn of Texas, both of whom were seen as establishment figures in the mold of the Republican senators’ current leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Scott lost on the first vote. The fact that the vote was secret likely helped Thune’s candidacy. Senators could vote without fear of retaliation. 

The rift between the pre-2016 leaders of the Republican Party and the MAGA Republicans is still obvious, and Trump’s reliance on Elon Musk and his stated goal of deconstructing the American government could make it wider. 

Republican establishment leaders have always wanted to dismantle the New Deal state that began under Democratic president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and continued under Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower and presidents of both parties until 1981. But they have never wanted to dismantle the rule of law on which the United States is founded or the international rules-based order on which foreign trade depends. Aside from moral and intellectual principles, the rule of law is the foundation on which the security of property rests: there is a reason that foreign oligarchs park their money in democracies. And it is the international rules-based order that protects the freedom of the seas on which the movement of container ships, for example, depends.

Trump has made it clear that his goal for a second term is to toss overboard the rule of law and the international rules-based order, instead turning the U.S. government into a vehicle for his own revenge and forging individual alliances with autocratic rulers like Russian president Vladimir Putin. 

He has begun moving to  put into power individuals whose qualifications are their willingness to do as Trump demands, like New York representative Elise Stefanik, whom he has tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, or Florida senator Marco Rubio, who Trump said today would be his nominee for secretary of state. 

Alongside his choice of loyalists who will do as he says, Trump has also tapped people who will push his war on his cultural enemies forward, like anti-immigrant ideologue Stephen Miller, who will become his deputy chief of staff and a homeland security advisor. Today, Trump added to that list by saying he plans to nominate Florida representative Matt Gaetz, who has been an attack dog for Trump, to become attorney general.

Trump’s statement tapping Gaetz for attorney general came after Senate Republicans rejected Scott, and appears to be a deliberate challenge to Republican senators that they get in line. In his announcement, Trump highlighted that Gaetz had played “a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax.” 

But establishment Republican leaders understand that some of our core institutions cannot survive MAGA’s desire to turn the government into a vehicle for culture war vengeance. 

Gaetz is a deeply problematic pick for AG. A report from the House Ethics Committee investigating allegations of drug use and sex with a minor was due to be released in days. Although he was reelected just last week, Gaetz resigned immediately after Trump said he would nominate him, thus short-circuiting the release of the report. Last year, Republican senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told CNN that “we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor, that all of us had walked away, of the girls that he had slept with. He would brag about how he would crush [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night." 

While South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham said he would be willing to agree to the appointment, other Republican senators drew a line. “I was shocked by the announcement —that shows why the advise and consent process is so important,” Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) said. “I’m sure that there will be a lot of questions raised at his hearing.” Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was blunt: “I don’t think he’s a serious candidate.”

If the idea of putting Gaetz in charge of the country’s laws alarmed Republicans concerned about domestic affairs, Trump’s pick of the inexperienced and extremist Fox & Friends host Pete Hegseth to take over the Department of Defense was a clarion call for anyone concerned about perpetuating the global strength of the U.S. The secretary of defense oversees a budget of more than $800 billion and about 1.3 million active-duty troops, with another 1.4 million in the National Guard and employed in Reserves and civilian positions.

The secretary of defense also has access to the nuclear command-and-control procedure. Over his nomination, too, Republican senators expressed concern.

While Trump is claiming a mandate to do as he wishes with the government, Republicans interested in their own political future are likely noting that he actually won the election by a smaller margin than President Joe Biden won in 2020, despite a global rejection of incumbents this year. And he won not by picking up large numbers of new voters—it appears he lost voters—but because Democratic voters of color dropped out, perhaps reflecting the new voter suppression laws put into place since 2021.

Then, too, Trump remains old and mentally slipping, and he is increasingly isolated as people fight over the power he has brought within their grasp. Today his wife, Melania, declined the traditional invitation from First Lady Jill Biden for tea at the White House and suggested she will not be returning to the presidential mansion with her husband. It is not clear either that Trump will be able to control the scrabbling for power over the party by those he has brought into the executive branch, or that he has much to offer elected Republicans who no longer need his voters, suggesting that Congress could reassert its power.  

Falling into line behind Trump at this point is not necessarily a good move for a Republican interested in a future political career. 

Today the Republicans are projected to take control of the House of Representatives, giving the party control of the House, the Senate, and the presidency, as well as the Supreme Court. But as the downballot races last week show, MAGA policies remain unpopular, and the Republican margin in the House will be small. In the last Congress, MAGA loyalists were unable to get the votes they needed from other Republicans to impose Trump’s culture war policies, creating gridlock and a deeply divided Republican conference. 

The gulf between Trump’s promises to slash the government and voters’ actual support for government programs is not going to make the Republicans’ job easier. Conservative pundit George Will wrote today that “the world’s richest person is about to receive a free public education,” suggesting Elon Musk, who has emerged as the shadow president, will find his plans to cut the government difficult to enact as elected officials reject cuts to programs their constituents like. 

Musk’s vow to cut “at least” $2 trillion from federal spending, Will notes, will run up against reality in a hurry. Of the $6.75 trillion fiscal 2024 spending, debt service makes up 13.1%; defense—which Trump wants to increase—is 12.9%. Entitlements, primarily Social Security and Medicare, account for 34.6%, and while the Republican Study Group has called for cuts to them, Trump said during the campaign, at least, that they would not be cut. 

So Musk has said he would cut about 30% of the total budget from about 40% of it. Will points out that Trump is hardly the first president to vow dramatic cuts. Notably, Ronald Reagan appointed J. Peter Grace, an entrepreneur, to make government “more responsive to the wishes of the people” after voters had elected Reagan on a platform of cutting government. Grace’s commission made 2,478 recommendations but quickly found that every lawmaker liked cuts to someone else’s district but not their own.  

Will notes that a possible outcome of the Trump chaos might be to check the modern movement toward executive power, inducing Congress to recapture some of the power it has ceded to the president in order to restore the stability businessmen prefer.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was himself a wealthy man, and in the 1930s he tried to explain to angry critics on the right that his efforts to address the nation’s inequalities were not an attack on American capitalism, but rather an attempt to save it from the communism or fascism that would destroy the rule of law. 

“I want to save our system, the capitalistic system,” FDR wrote to a friend in 1935. “[T]o save it is to give some heed to world thought of today.” 

The protections of the system FDR ushered in—the banking and equities regulation that killed crony finance, for example—are now under attack by the very sort of movement he warned against. Whether today’s lawmakers are as willing as their predecessors were to stand against that movement remains unclear, especially as Trump tries to bring lawmakers to heel, but Thune’s victory in the Senate today and the widespread Republican outrage over Trump’s appointment of Gaetz and Hegseth are hopeful signs. 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[travelinginenvelope]

June 6th 2024

Recent incoming from my penpal Beatriz (@beatrizjournal) whom I've met here. I'm so thankful to be the receiver of this cute letter and I'm very excited to reply although it'll take a long time.

[lilbeanz]

The stage is set...the story continues...

Coming soon to an ao3 browser near you.

[belovedapollo]

oh the joy of getting a letter from a new penpal 😌 reblog is ok, don’t repost

[sugarpasteltmnt]

HOT SOUP

[hywi2n]

vampy vampy

ghost ghost

[loofandtimmy]

INCOMING!! 🦖💨💨

[inmydr3amz]

I REALLY freaking enjoyed the benj Neilson one that you wrote... Is there any chance... Where benj Neilson's mom made dinner and the reader, her sister, and everyone else is there (pause for dramatic effect) and Bailey is flirting with benj (but lowkey subtle) and like improv from there😈😈😈 PRETTY PLEASE. 🥹

✮ THAT BOY IS MINE ✮ ​​

​🇧​​🇪​​🇳​​🇯​ ​🇳​​🇮​​🇪​​🇱​​🇸​​🇪​​🇳​

✦ synopsis: in which bailey crosses a line at dinner

⟡ content warnings: none just fluff!

✦ word count: 1343

✮⋆ a/n: I'm literally just using these as excuses to unleash my inner Bailey hater ⋆✮

p.1

Bailey has some fucking nerve. Her audacity honestly astounds you sometimes.

Here you are, sitting at the Nielsens' dinner table, and she, your fucking sister, is shamelessly flirting with your fucking boyfriend.

Granted, she doesn't actually know that Benj is your boyfriend because it literally only happened today. Like, your whole confessional make out session and "we should be boyfriend and gilrfriend" conversation happened a half-hour before Ms. Nielsen invited you to stay for dinner.

But whatever. You still think you have every right to be upset that she's so brazenly flirting with your boyfriend right in front of you. So what if she doesn't know you're dating now? It's still a shitty thing to do. She won't give him the time of day but she'll flirt with him shamelessly? Fuck off.

You're glaring daggers at her and you're pretty sure if you clench your jaw any tighter you'll break a tooth. Bailey is being all bashful and giggling like a fucking pick-me and it makes you sick.

"Oh, come on, Benj," she says all pouty, "don't quit musical theater. You were always so good."

You could deck her in the fucking mouth, the fucking bitch. The only reason Benj even considered quitting musical theater was because he thought it'd make him cooler and Bailey would be less embarrassed by him.

Benj shrugs, picking at his food. He's starting to get a little uncomfortable with her flirting but he doesn't know how to shoot her down now after years of reciprocating. "Maybe I won't, actually," he says because his mom was the one who brought up the fact that he was thinking about quitting. "The only reason I wanted to quit was because I thought it'd make me cooler or whatever. So, yeah, maybe I won't."

Bailey dismisses him with a wave of her hand, cutting into her chicken. "Don't worry too much about that. The nerdy thing is cute."

Oh. OK.

So the girl who's been embarrassed of being seen with him his whole life thinks his nerdiness is cute?

Even Benj is surprised. "You think so?" he asks, raising his eyebrows.

You swallow your anger and take his free hand in yours, resting them on the table so she can see. "Yeah, it is cute. I've always thought so."

Now he's blushing a little and you feel a swell of pride because you made him blush and she didn't. You give his hand a squeeze. She glances down and her expression turns sour.

Alyssa snorts. "You're both insane if you think Benj's nerdiness is cute."

Bailey laughs a little and shakes her head, amused, bur you scoff at Alyssa's comment, and you're pretty sure that's the difference between you and her.

"No, it's cute," she reassures him. "Honestly, you've always been cute, Benj. You're a total catch. Any girl would be lucky to have you."

Benj has to hold you down from fucking losing it on her. He caresses your hand with his thumb and leans over to whisper in your ear, "Just calm down, ok? Calm down . . . she doesn't know; you can't blame her."

You could go on a half-hour rant about the fact that you're not fucking fuming just because she's blatantly flirting with your boyfriend right in front of you but because she has the damn nerve to manipulate him and lead him in like this when she's just gonna toss him away after, but you hold your tongue and take a deep breath.

And then you fucking snap because she starts running her foot up Benj's pant leg and playing footsies with him. He jolts and chokes on his food.

His mom looks up. "Are you OK, sweetie?" she asks.

Benj is coughing and clearing his throat. You squeeze his hand. Well, more like death grip it.

"Could you stop?" you ask Bailey, staring through her. Your voice is even but anger drips off of every word.

"Stop what?" your sister asks innocently, taking a bite of her food.

"Flirting with my boyfriend. Could you stop please?"

And there it is.

Ms. Nielsen drops her fork and it clatters against her plate. Benj finally clears his throat and looks at with wide eyes because you agreed to tell everyone the news later, maybe during desert, and he definitely didn't want it out because of a fight between you and your sister.

Alyssa laughs, a shocked yet amused kind of laugh because what do you mean he's got two girls fighting over him right now? Two girls with eyes. And who are relatively intelligent. And know Benj.

The color drains from Bailey's face.

"Boyfriend?" she asks, and she sounds horrified. And pissed. A little betrayed, even though she has no right to feel that way.

"Boyfriend?" Ms. Nielsen asks, excited.

"Boyfriend?" Alyssa asks, laughing, disbelieving. "Really? You're choosing to date that? You?"

Benj rolls his eyes. "Oh, fuck off, Alyssa!"

"Benj, language!" his mom scolds. He turns red and sinks back in his seat. She turns to you and smiles. "So, boyfriend?"

You shrug, a shy but proud grin on your face. "It happened earlier today."

Bailey scoffs. "You're dating Benj?"

He squeezes your hand again, silently asking you to stay calm.

You push your food around on your plate. "Yeah, I am. So I'd really appreciate it if you would stop flirting with him."

"He was mine first!" Bailey blurts out. It's quick and she doesn't think it through. An uncomfortable silence falls over the table. The color drains from her face again. Benj's hand goes limp in yours.

You laugh. A cruel, bitter, humorless laugh. "He was 'yours first'? Are you fucking kidding me? Sorry, Ms. Nielsen," you add, giving her a quick glance. "He was never 'yours'. You never wanted him! You never liked him! You liked the attention he gave you! You lead him on and treated him like shit! Sorry again, Ms. Nielsen. You could've had him, but you didn't want him. That was your own decision. You're only upset because you don't have anyone to give you attention whenever you want it, anymore, not because you value him, even as just a person."

Bailey tongues the inside of her cheek. She's tense. "Mom and dad aren't home tonight. I'm in charge. When we get home, you're grounded," she says calmly.

Wow. OK. She's playing that card.

You pull your hand away from Benj's and stand. "Thank you for dinner, Ms. Nielsen. It was delicious. But I need a minute," you breathe, walking out onto the porch through the side kitchen door.

"You're grounding her over a boy? Not even a boy—Benj?" Alyssa almost laughs. "A little harsh, dude."

Bailey sucks her teeth and rolls her eyes. "Whatever. She had attitude."

Ms. Nielsen sighs. "She didn't have attitude, sweetie," she says softly, like she's talking to a child. "She's just upset that you're flirting with her boyfriend. It's . . . a little unfair to ground her for that."

Bailey just sulks in her chair.

"I'm . . . gonna go check on Y/N," Benj announces, desperate to get out of there and avoiding Bailey's eyes the entire time. He could not step out and close the door behind him quicker.

You're standing under the porch roof, watching the rain pour down in sheets, hands tucked into the pocket pouch of Benj's hoodie you're still wearing. When you hear the door creak open and shut close, you turn around, ready to keep arguing with Bailry, but soften up when you see him.

"I'm sorry. I ruined dinner," you start. "She was just pissing me off so much and I couldn't—"

Benj cuts you off with a kiss, hands holding your face. You're shocked at first but melt into it, hands going around his waist.

When he pulls away, he rests his forehead against yours and sighs dreamily against your lips. "No one's ever defended me like that," he whispers. "You're incredible."

You're dazed and a little lightheaded. "You're not mad?"

He laughs breathlessly, shaking his head. "I could never be mad at you."

He kisses you again.