Notices by Strange Seawolf (strangeseawolf@mindly.social)

@aaribaud Thank you! :11111:

So, today, short before lunch, this story idea / character materialized in my brain and I had to write it down.

It is a very rough #WiP and right now a lot of things are pretty vague, but this character and, while writing, the second one are "there", so I wanted to share the idea to hear what you think about it.

Meet

Blue Nightsky, Nightmare Manager

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50619472

@sfwrtr Thank you for the feedback, which is exactly why I put it out there. I like getting feedback as long as it is constructive like yours.👍

For the genre the point is that I am still not decided, so things might change (how the MC loses the fingers, the drinks...). It is interesting to see how much you can stay vague and how much you can't.

The MC is intentionally not gendered. I am interested to see how much I can play with people not knowing the gender and if... 1/2

@sfwrtr ...I can still make an MC compelling without the reader being able to tell if they are man, woman or non-binary. If I can't pull it off, i think I will settle for a clearly non-binary MC since I have never written one and, as a genderagnostic myself, I think it is about time. 2/2

@Nichelle @sfwrtr Oooh, that's a good lead, thank you for the hint! 👍
I wonder how far I can take it without getting awkward of the reader being pulled out of the story. But it is kind of a challenge that would be interesting. The first person certainly helps with hiding the gender, although it is usually not my preferred writing voice. But then again: another interesting challenge.

This is the #tango used in the story:

La soledad
que me envuelve el corazón,
va encendiendo en mi alma
el fuego de tu amor lejano.
En las brumas de tu olvido
viaja mi ilusión,
gritando tu nombre en vano.

(The loneliness
that enfolds my heart
kindles in my soul
the fire of your distant love.
Through the mists of your forgetting
wander all my dreams,
crying out your name in vain.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDRvQyFbyDA

Lix:
"Ha, that's a difficult one. I mean, for me, it is clear cut. I would become the best journalist in the world. But Randall... he is so devoid of ambition. Greatness is nothing he wants to achieve, he is the kind who nurtures a project to be successful, not being successful himself... perhaps he would want to be the best in getting the whole world sitting down and working together. Yeah, this sounds like a dream he could have, thinking about it."

#PennedPossibilities 26

Lix:
"Snooping around? Ha! If it were only that... he's tidying up when I am not looking. It is..." *trails off, staring ahead* "In a way it is really annoying. But on the other hand... I never needed anybody to look after me, I can do that myself, thank you very much, and I hate if my privacy is invaded..." *takes a deep breath* "But there is this feeling, when I'm watching him doing it. He cares. he really does. And that makes me feel... special? Valued? I don't know."

#PennedPossibilities 25

Stepping for a moment out of Lix's character here to say a few things as 21st century author:

Inspired by #PennedPossibilities I started a new pre-canon story of Lix and Randall in the Spanish Civil War, set in 1937 called "Strengths" which I will use for a while for these prompts.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48775423/chapters/123041050

"My" Randall not only has #OCD, he is also #neurodivergent
and therefore, he stims, only that when the story takes place, nobody knows anything about it.
1/2

#PennedPossibilities 27

"Dear Mr. Miller,

I want to write a few words to express my thankfulness for you having trusted me with being Mrs. Storm's photographer. I know you had to use your influence because at 29 I am too young for a war reporter by our statutes.

Rest assured that I am learning a lot and I hope you will find your trust rewarded by the photos I send.

The fascists are closing in on us right now, so I want you to know I was thankful to the very end.

Kind Regards
Randall Brown"

#PennedPossibilities 29

#PennedPossibilities 30
Randall:
"I...I want to give Lix something for still not having fired me. But whatever I choose, it seems wrong. Flowers might mislead her that I have romantic intentions. Sweets are perhaps not really appropriate. Also, I am not sure she could take them wrong. I also thought about offering her to clean and maintain her camera because she doesn't take good care of it. But that might make her mad at me. I really want to give her something, but... I am just not good at it."

Edited for a name change in the boss they both write to, because that way I could tie him back to what will become "Upper-Floor-Miller" who is one of the side characters in "End of a Road Trip" who makes his first appearance in the chapter "The King, The Queen, The Knight, And The Pawn" there, but it is clear that he and Lix go a long way back.

Not sure if he is really the same man, but I love playing with all the canon I invented over time...

#PennedPossibilities 29

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31042175/chapters/88189615

Lix:
"After we escaped the prison of this fascist splinter group we found a farmer who gave us a lift to our headquarters. That was very kind and risky for him, he could have been shot for it. No idea how Randall knew this farmer would be on our side. But I am going to find out!"

#PennedPossibilities 33

Randall is a raging introvert. Detremental if you want to be a journalist. Becoming a photographer seemed the obvious solution. He can stay shielded behind the camera and spend hours in the lab without anybody finding it weird.

Lix is an extrovert. In the middle of the action, surrounded by people, that's where she thrives. She feels lost and alone when there is no one around, which is one of the resaons why she works with a photographer although she can wield a camera.

#PennedPossibilities 35

Randall:
"It would be: 'The war is over. There are peace talks and it is very likely that we will have everlasting peace on Earth.' I know how unlikely that is, but you asked, and so, I answered."

Lix:
"'You have been promoted to Head of Foreign Desk.' It would be nice to strategically plan who goes where and what is the next hot spot to report from instead of wading in the mud and the blood of the trenches. I'm growing too old for these kinds of adventures."

#PennedPossibilities 34

Randall:

"Right now, I only have a few poetry books with me and no bookshelf. As a war reporter, you travel light. But when I come back from Spain with a decent amount of money made, I sure will rent a flat and have a huge bookshelf and I will fill it with all the books I can get a hold on and I can afford. Affording real books is an old dream I had since I grew up."

#PennedPossibilities 39

That Lix and Randall love Catalan poet Miquel Martí i Pol is a nod to @doctorwanderer and their story "Dance me to the end of love":

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38120962

in the collection #PaintingSongsWithWords

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PaintingSongsWithWords

#PennedPossibilities 39

Lix:

"I mean it's a bookshelf, so... books? Yeah, and some knickknack, memories of the places I have been. Actually, there isn't much space in there, the books already stand in front of each other and are crammed in on top of others. Not right here, now, I don't have a bookshelf. We change positions too often. I don't carry books with me, I ste... borrow them from others. Hush, don't tell Randall I borrowed his Miquel Martí i Pol."

*grins smugly*

#PennedPossibilities 39

Both @floofpaldi and I are writing the same character, Randall Brown, who had far too less screen time in the series #TheHour

I will answer the #PennedPossibilities prompts in POV, but of Liz, his colleague and former lover, taking a look at him.

I have many versions of them, the 22 minutes of screen time created endless possibilities, but I will take the version from my story "The Dancing Floor" for it where I feel I got his #OCD, #PTSD and #neurodivergence best.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/41000106/chapters/102752046

#PennedPossibilities 1
"Randall is destined to lead a team of journalists. I know he doesn't think so, but that's what he's really good at.He's a great journalist himself, mind. But he has the nose for the audience, he sees the possibilities in topics, especially if they rub politicians the wrong way, he is brave and stubborn enough to go for it, and he has the uncanny ability to make his team mad at him, bringing them together by doing so. He balances their personalities without them noticing."