Notices by Strange Seawolf (strangeseawolf@mindly.social), page 2

#PennedPossibilities 3
"Little things..." *Liz heaves a big sigh* "For me, I know there is not much, lately. I work, I get drunk, I work again. Work keeps me upright. I enjoy it. Always have. Yeah, working with the team and finding stuff out, the evil scheming behind the scenes of the big politics... that makes life worth living. But I forgot this shouldn't be about me, so... Randall..."
*takes a big swig*
1/2

#PennedPossibilities 2
"I know he doesn't look that part, but Randall was always a risk-taker. A taker of calculated risks, but still... he was reckless to the core. So was I. And we were edging each other on. Together we were dynamite, back in Spain. But, apparently, after we split up, he was even worse. Nearly sought death at the front lines. Sure, he brought back the best stories because of this, which helped him after the war, but was it worth the effect it had on his health? I doubt it."

#PennedPossibilities 4
Story: Martha
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PaintingSongsWithWords/works/38862993
POV: Martha Craig
"Gosh, I can't hear this song anymore! If you read the story, you will know why."
Narrator: it is 'Martha' by Tom Waits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Mse62NFl4
#PennedSongs

#PennedPossibilities 4
I have to warn you that I am so obsessed with songs that a while ago @doctorwanderer and I created the hashtag #PaintingSongsWithWords and have an own collection for it on AO3. It never inspired other writers, but dare I say we didn't care?
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PaintingSongsWithWords
I won't do every single story I have ever written, but for some there is definitely a song, either in the story or one that has meaning for a character in there. Filter #PennedSongs to avoid the avalanche.

#PennedPossibilities 3
"Randall... he likes a good book. And clothes. He always had a thing for a good cloth. Or expensive silk ties. I know touching it brings him joy. He once said it put order to his brain." *snorts unhappily* "As if anything about him was chaotic. Anyway, I hope it makes his life worth living. At times, I am truly worried he lost his will to live when we found Sophia has died. He wanted to find her, I didn't. I knew why. A mother always knows."
*takes another swig*
2/2

#PennedPossibilities 6
*Liz giggles*
"Let me tell you a funny story: Randall really told me that when we kissed for the first time in Spain it was the first kiss he really considered a 'proper kiss'. Don't know...It was just such a Randall thing to say, you know? He doesn't let anyone close, worse than a clam, but then, suddenly, he says something like that and looks at you, with this open, honest expression and his wonderful eyes..." *exhales* "Gosh, sometimes I think I am still not over him."

#PennedPossibilities 5
"Randall deserves happiness. A good woman. He has so much to offer, yet, he dug himself into work. All this self-loathing and grieving... Sometimes I think it is still about us. Stupid man! He should know best that I am broken beyond repair. Why doesn't he go out more? He has a good job, he is clever, he has a quirky sense of humor once you know him better, age suits him, if anything, he is more attractive now than he was 20 years ago. What is holding him back?"

#PennedPossibilities 4
Story: The Dancing Floor
https://archiveofourown.org/works/41000106/chapters/103169391
POV: Lix
"Cheek to cheek. I have been through a lot, war, conflict...I never needed a knight in shining armor, thank you very much. I can fend for myself. But when Randall challenged my cousin Herb after what he did to me, challenged him in this unique, quirky way only Randall can, in front of everybody...I felt like a princess. Still do when I hear this song."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOYzFKizikU
Art https://ko-fi.com/illustory/commissions
#PennedSongs

#PennedPossibilities 7
"Randall had one bad habit, and that was one we all shared as journalists, especially in warzones. We all drank. He stopped. I'm too old to change.
Aside from that, I know he beats himself up for his tics and the things he has to do just so. I wish he'd accept that they are part of him, they just belong to the whole personality that actually MAKE him such a fast and brilliant thinker. He sees things differently, spots patterns. That's not a bad habit, that's awesome!"

#PennedPossibilities 9 contd.
Unifying is that the circumstances left him to some extend crippled and distorted but with an eagerness to do better.
The question always remains if he became a rather distant but kind personality because of what happened to him or if this is how he was born and it stands to reason how much happier he could have turned out and how much more he could have done if he had grown up in a more understanding environment.

#PennedPossibilities 9
Lix: "Randall never talks about his family, so I have no idea. I think he mentioned a sister, once, but I am not sure. I know basically NOTHING about his background."

Remarks:
I wrote different versions of Randall and therefore of his family and childhood. I always trace back what could have resulted in the personality we see on screen.
The deepest I explore it in "Up North" where he goes missing and Lix goes on the quest to find him.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/26494642/chapters/64568317

#PennedPossibilities 8
Lix: "I miss the philosophical ramblings we had back in Spain. When it was getting late - or early. Or when we were trapped and needed to wait for dawn to get out and away. Or dusk. I recall the topic of strength came up one time...'Physical strength is meaningless if mental strength isn't there. When the character is strong, you can't break a person. Physical you can, but you will never break a strong personality.' That's what Randall said. I'm still thinking about that."

#PennedPossibilities 10
Lix: "It is strange... but Randall knows when I need him. Not that I need anybody, I can fend for myself, thank you very much!"
*lights a cigarette, pensive stare*
"I still don't know what made him show up at my sister's after Herb's..."
*trails off, takes another drag*
"Anyway, I guess he felt needed back then. I could have sorted it myself, really. Felt kinda stupid... I don't need anyone and nobody needs me... Anyway, I guess that was the last time he felt needed."

#PennedPossibilities 11
Lix: "He sure doesn't look that part, but Randall is an absolute risk taker. I wouldn't go as far as calling him a risk seeker, he takes calculated risks, but those are often much more daring than anybody else's, not even mine. He doesn't give a damn about social conventions. If he feels a story needs to be told, he tells it. He's a taker of calculated risks, but if that risk is he might end up shot, but the story is worth it, he takes it. Reckless to the core, that man."

#PennedPossibilities 10 contd.
No, Randall isn't telepathic. But Lix did something she had never done before and even if he doesn't have spidey senses, he is "tuned in" into Lix in a way that catapults him into action. Well, "catapult" at his own, meticulous, neurodivergent pace, of course.
[some paragraphs between the first and second #snippet cut for length)

#PennedPossibilities 14
Liz: *laughs*
"Randall's favorite dessert? I have never met a man so keen on Tiramisu. Everything sweet, really. I mean, he is infamous around here as 'the man who never smiles', but most of them don't know about his sweet tooth. Really, he doesn't miss Paris as such, he misses the French confectionary and the croissants. But if you place a Tiramisu somewhere, it is like a dog whistle. He materializes out of thin air, I swear!"
*giggles*

#PennedPossibilities 13
Lix: *stares ahead, opens desk, takes out bottle, pours generous amount of whisky in tea cup, takes big swig*
"Randall and I have a commmon one: Girl meets boy, they work at the frontlines, their lives constantly at risk, they make out as if there is no tomorrow, he proposes, she sents him away, she discovers she's pregnant, child is given up for adoption. 19 years later, boy comes back to search for child. Child is dead. Sad enough for you?"
*Empties cup and refills it*

#PennedPossibilities 12
Lix: "Randall's home?" *snorts* "I have seen operating rooms not as tidy as this. Seriously, that man is able to get distracted from an accute nuclear threat if there is a lint on the prime minister's coat. His flat is always so clean you could eat from the floor. Of course, the same could be said about mine, but in my case because you will always find some leftover food, there. And newspapers. And other practical things. Really, we are so different!" *laughs*

#PennedPossibilities 16
Lix: "Depends. Immediate, life-threatening danger? Even if it is years since he has been on the frontlines, Randall still acts rather cold blooded, fast, and exactly right. Now, when it comes to admitting feelings... he is afraid of that and so he...chooses not to. Thinking about it, he evades danger in both cases. I don't know what he is afraid of... oh, well, who am I kidding? I do know. We are both cut from the same cloth when it comes to emotions."
*pours another cup*

#PennedPossibilities 15
"Anything you can dance to, really. Randall is a fantastic dancer, even if he doesn't look that part. We were Fred and Ginger among our colleagues, back in Spain. Nobody did it like we did. So, yeah, everything from Sinatra to Platters will make the cut."

Fun fact: The Story "The Dancing Floor" I refer to was mainly inspired by the lyrics of the Runrig song of the same name, but laso, in this video they use footage of Astair and Rodgers, so...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9IUCrsFaiw