#but i think i may take a bit of a different approach at it 🧐🧐

[aiieera]

*our subconscious returns oooohhh, don't forget your daily sunshineeeee*

*and while in the sunshine consider...Inumaki is a good boy. Deserves a smooch.*

daily sunshine ofc ofc :D

[anyathefandom]

I love how the first half of this chapter was everybody going: "So wtf is going at the wsb?!!🧐" And the second half was Wallace and Irina being domestic in the only way a Mafia boss and a Former Spy can be.😂

From Irina being intrigued by what Wallace does for a living now: “Booze up, schmooze up: that's the game plan.”

Irina watched curiously as Wallace paced the floor in front of her, his phone pressed against his ear. She sat in a ball on the sofa, curled up in blankets. Part of her looked on in wonder, another part in fear, and a small part like a stranger. Months passed between her trip with Dex and the present moment, and while she was just as much a resident in the house as Wallace was, she still felt like a guest staying for her very first night.

“Senator Reynolds is a bonafide alcoholic,” he continued speaking into the device, “You saw it firsthand when he whipped out his flask in the corner. That's our in, because when his inhibition's down, his affability's up. You could weasel any information you wanted out of him with some whiskey and ego stroking.”

Irina tried to avert her gaze, her cheeks a bright pink as she wrestled feelings of frustration and intrigue as the man worked. She snuggled into the fabric around her, taking in the fresh fleece scent.

“What do I want you to do?” Wallace scoffed in disbelief, “I want you to get intel on his party's platform. Get me dirt on how and why they're pivoting into this random, unknown energy company. It'll either be a shell or something we can put our own stake in. Remember: booze up, schmooze up. Got it?” he froze to hear the caller's response, “Good. Call me when you get something.”

“This is your job,” she remarked as he looked her way. He shook his head, donning a smile before sitting down on the opposite end of the couch, pulling her and the fabric she's wrapped in against his chest.

“It is my job,” he spoke softly, kissing her forehead, “and this is the umpteenth time you made that observation. You know you don’t have to keep saying that, right?”

“I know, but…it’s still a bit unbelievable.”

“You'll get used to it.”

“Will I?” she looked up at him as he ran a hand through her blonde hair, “You have so many skills and talents and you're choosing the world of politics?”

“I'm not in the world of politics…not legitimately anyway,” he replied, “What I do, my love, is deal in secrets.”

“And that makes a difference?”

“I'd like to think so. Corruption, affairs, disease, my organization snuffs it all out, or, if we feel a bit frisky, we start it.”

To a smooth transition to this🫠:

“Frisky?” a smile immediately formed on her face as she giggled.

“Yeah,” he sighed bashfully, “I may or may not have said that on purpose, and it looks like I got what I wanted.”

“Oh, you're evil,” Irina turned to face him directly, planted on her hands and knees.

“Is that so?” Wallace smirked before he felt her lips touch his. They moved in perfect sync, his hands cupping her cheeks, swallowing her giggles and moans.

She pulled back first, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. I'm glad you're here.”

Me: This couple right here has the range!

Then them looking at dex's childhood pictures🥲: “Me too,” she got to her feet, meandering around the living room. She ran her fingers across a nearby bookshelf, stopping when she felt plastic against her skin.

“The scrapbook,” she murmured. Wallace stood by and approached her, pulling the book out. It existed as a laminated rectangle, blues and greens in stripes and polka dots cover the exterior.

“You've been avoiding this thing since you moved in,” he stated, “I mean, I probably shouldn't have tried to make you look through it when you were trying to get comfortable with everything but-”

“Let me see it.”

He handed her the item, watching as she retook her seat on the sofa. He joined her, wrapping an arm around her, his hand cupping her waist. She took a deep breath before turning the front cover over, her heart skipping a beat at the very first photo. A young boy, no older than five, laid on his stomach as he slept on a felt black surface, his face round and clean and his eyelids free of any creases.

“This is the oldest picture I have of him,” Wallace said softly, “I took it the night we moved in. The cross-country car ride tuckered him out.”

“He's sleeping on…?”

“An air mattress. We ended up sharing that thing for a little bit before the upstairs was done.”

“This house wasn't even built yet?”

“It was; it was just abandoned.”

“Oh,” Irina huffed as she continued to turn the pages. Each image she saw of Dex tugged harder and harder at her heartstrings: school photos, family portraits, candids. A small lump began to form in her throat, “God…”

“We can stop if you want,” Wallace reached for the book.

“No, no, I'm glad I'm looking through it. It's nice to see that Dexter's childhood was preserved in these photos.”

“I did keep them for basic sentimental reasons, but, uh, I'd be lying if I said I didn’t also keep them for you to see.”

“You're always thinking of me,” she smiled sweetly.

“Not a day goes by that I don't,” he pulled her closer, holding her against him, “and I'll keep doing it. Because I love you.”

“I love you too,” she kissed him, turning back to the photos, “and I love our boy. These all seem like an entire lifetime ago.”

“Yeah,” Wallace leaned in towards the album, “even I can't believe he's in his mid-twenties. The years just flew by.”

Me: So who wants to revive Helena just so she can get killed again?😄

“That they did,” Irina frowned as she caught teenaged photos, especially a few in the hospital, “What was this about?”

“That…” Wallace gulped, “was back when Dex was working for me. He got in a fight with a rival's son.”

“...Did he win?”

“He did.”

Me: Honestly Irina and Wallace are so made for each other because I just know if the positions were reversed Wallace would be asking the same thing.😂

“I still can't believe you had our child working for your ‘business.’”

“It was a good idea at the time, and he was an excellent spy, but…it did do some damage to our relationship.”

“Maybe one day that damage can be repaired.”

“Maybe, but the ball's in his court, so he'd be the one to make it happen,” his voice then dropped to a mutter, “if he even wants it to happen.”

Me: *Manifesting the Repair of Wallace's and Dex's relationship* Like you don't understand that's my emotional support Father and Son duo.🥺

Okay and I loved this moment of Irina showing why she was such a good spy and why Wallace always remains down bad for her:

Irina raised an eyebrow at him when the sound of his under-the-breath babble caught her attention. His phone then buzzed in his pocket, and he got to his feet to answer.

“What do you have for me?” he asked, pacing the floor, “...He what?”

“What is it?”

He lowered the device, gritting his teeth as he spoke, “Senator Reynolds caught my spy.”

“Oh…”

“Clarke, where are you?” Wallace continued, “You're still at his office? Okay, how did he react? Does he know about the business?” the man relaxed his shoulders, “Okay, good…what? He's what?”

“Let me see,” Irina approached the man, reaching for the phone, “Hello? Yes, put the senator on the phone.”

“Irina-” Wallace stopped himself when she held up a finger to silence him.

“Hi, yes, Senator Reynolds. I'm so sorry for all this trouble. My son is a big fan of yours, a very zealous one considering your position on energy, and he got in over his head by approaching you and trying to commiserate. Rest assured that it won't happen again, and I'll straighten him out once he comes home,” she donned a wide smile, “Thank you, I appreciate your kindness and grace. I wish you the best, sir. Goodbye,” she ended the call, handing the device back to Wallace, “Your employee will have a lot to answer for once he comes here, I'm sure.”

“...I love you,” he pulled her into him, planting a heavy kiss on her lips. She giggled as she pulled back, her hands on his shoulders.

“I think I see why you got Dexter involved,” she half-heartedly admitted.

“Yeah, my men need some work,” he laughed in response, “but thank you. You really saved my ass.”

“Whatever you need,” she grinned.

“Even if it means helping out with the business?”

“...Yes,” she nodded, a defeated smile on her face, “I'll help with that too.”

“Lay it on me,” she replied before she followed him to his office, her education beginning the moment she shut the door behind her.

“Thank you, liebling,” Wallace pulled her into a tight hug, “I appreciate it more than you know,” he stepped back enough, holding her hands in his as he wore a wide, excited smirk on his face, “and I think the first order of business will be a crash course on the in and outs of the business.”

Me:

Me: I'm getting Irina and Wallace maximizing their joint slay with the business in the year 2024?!

As always I can't wait for the next chapter!!!

[witch-hazels-musings]

*poses cutely* does our favorite hazel in the entire world have any tips for anxiety about nothing? it’s a weird feeling 🧐🧐🧐

Hi beabea, anxiety is no joke. It can creep up on you without warning and really take a hold for no good reason — everyone deals with anxiety in a bunch of different ways. There isn’t a single right way to leave an anxious state it’s really just what works for you. Here are a couple things I like to try (below the cut - just in case)

My anxiety stems from me thinking my heart is beating too fast which only makes it all so much worse - so i purchased a fit-bit to have it monitor my heart rate. When I’m feeling anxious I can see my heart rate is normal and I’m alright ( it also comes with a relaxation mode which I can turn on anytime - it buzzes against my arm and when I’m panicking in public no one but me knows about it )

Grounding techniques - I like the five senses one, you can have someone you trust help you with this one too. Name three things in each category - if three is too many, start at one, if it’s easier each time try to increase the number — identify what you can touch (a blanket, a pillow, your hair, etc.), you can see (a pretty picture, a phone, a flower), you can smell (a candle, your drink, lotion), something you can hear (music, the fan, bugs outside), you can taste (water, salt, candy) — this technique is supposed to help your brain focus on realistic items that can help you ground - it’s best used when you start to catastrophize things or feel out-of-touch with yourself (they use this a lot with children in natural disaster trauma)

Breathing - I love this one below. When we get anxious, some people start to hyperventilate which only makes it worse. You want to find something to guide your breathing and sloooooow you down - if you start to get dizzy, take a break - the goal is to regulate your breathing, not hurt you

Distractions - I’m not the biggest fan of redirection, it often doesn’t work but there are some people who find redirecting their brain can help occupy it and fill it with a necessary distraction so you don’t overthink — when I have anxiety attacks in the middle of the night, I’ll go into the living room and watch my favorite show — do one thing at a time, overstimulation can make it worse - one thing at a time - it’s so your brain can focus // you can also use a friend if you have one; just talk about anything and everything you can - let them know you need someone to chat to. I don’t like to talk about my feelings often but with the internet connecting us to all sorts of people I know I can reach out to someone and talk about idk, frogs or something lol

Exercise - this isn’t for everyone and, like I said, each person is different but this can be good for you to work out anxiety trapped in your body. I have restless legs & arms if I don’t do something physical and that can cause me anxiety (especially while I’m trying to sleep) so I’ll do some pushups, run in place, jumping jacks, burpees - something to get my muscles tired enough so I can get away from that

I am not a clinical professional - these strategies can be used for mild, moderate, or bursts of anxiety — these are universal approaches and may or may not bring you comfort. If you are having constant anxiety to the point of it being debilitating, I’d contact your doctor — I require anxiety meds for certain situations (no amount of breathing can make me comfortable on a 12 hour plane ride). If one of these techniques works for you - that’s awesome! If you need more help, you are perfect and lovely, and not broken for asking for it

Sending you love all <3

[darkshadow90]

How do you think joker+Artie would feel about an age gap? Like if they had the hots for someone who was ten years younger? 🧐

Hey anon! Sorry for the late response. It's been a long week. You know, I'm not entirely sure. I like to base my opinions off of what we've seen in the movie. I also don't want to romanticize creepy actions like stalking, as we know, he stalked Sophie in the movie. So I'll start off with Arthur then move on to Joker.

As for how I think Arthur would feel about an age gap, I'm not too sure. But given how nervous he is when it comes to social interactions in general, I think he would be very nervous. He doesn't know about healthy boundaries, but at the same time, he is at least somewhat self aware. I think he would be at least somewhat aware that someone 10 to 15 years younger than him would create a power dynamic. I think he knows he might have to be a little more careful, but may not know how to. If Arthur had a crush on her, he would have a lot of romantic thoughts about her since he does seem to be a romantic person. There's an entry in his journal that talks about him finding his "one and only person." So I think his feelings for her would probably develop pretty quickly. As he did with Sophie, he might follow her to find out more about her since he most likely wouldn't have the confidence to approach her. He's very shy, so I think he would have to feel like he knows her before he could talk to her. I think if he had sexual thoughts about her, he would feel embarrassed and ashamed. He would probably scold himself internally because he would think he's thinking of her the same way he looks at porn. He's a grown man. He has needs, so he's probably seen his fair share of adult movies, but he probably feels guilty about watching them. At the end of the day, I think Arthur would keep his thoughts about her to himself. I think he'd be too shy to take any kind of action, at least before he started his transition into the Joker.

As for Joker, I didn't mention it earlier, but I view Arthur and Joker as two different personas. Arthur is a bit more controlled. He doesn't act on his impulses. Joker is the dark side of Arthur. Joker is the part of Arthur that never got the love and affection he wanted. So Joker is more of a narcissist. He's more focused on himself, might not be considerate of her needs. He would act on his impulses. He would be confident enough to approach her. I think he would let a lot of his inhibitions go. This probably wouldn't be a good thing, as he also doesn't know about healthy boundaries. And because of that combination, the age difference wouldn't bother him as much.

Keep in mind, I'm not saying older men can't date and/or have relationships with younger women and vise/versa. They absolutely can. My parents are friends with people who are 10 years apart, and they've been married for over 30 years. As long as the people involved are adults, and they're respectful of each others boundaries, and are happy together that's all that matters. But in the case of Arthur and Joker, I don't think a relationship with them would be healthy. I think the woman would have to be very patient and be willing to teach them about boundaries. It would be a lot to work on for sure. I hope you found my insight helpful. Thanks for the ask :) <3