A Twitter Thread Of Mine That I Think Some Of You May Find Useful Here As Well! I’ll Update This Periodically

I finished New Dawn and couldn’t bring myself to kill Joseph at the end.  From videos I’ve seen, if you take Judge with you for the mission and do end up killing him, they kneel down and weep.  On the flip side though, I wanted to write something Judge/ Joseph focused that deals with what happens when Joseph lives, where he goes and what the Judge thinks/ does about it.  This was also partly inspired by when I went back to Dutch’s bunker and found the door was now closed.  Both of my characters were female, so I’m going to be writing using female pronouns in this story.  Also going to issue a warning that this story makes several references to suicide attempts.

                                                   Forgiveness

No one had seen or heard from Joseph since Ethan’s death.  Captain seemed quite convinced that after how adamantly he’d wanted her to kill him; that he’d gone away somewhere and committed suicide.  With the remaining members of New Eden scattered to the wind, the people of Prosperity seemed to accept this assumption and get on with their lives.  A few even seemed pleased by the idea.

Not Judge though.  Without Joseph around, the masked shadow seemed to be lost, and her former friends noticed.  Though they didn’t fully understand how the fierce Deputy they’d once know could have bonded with the man who had essentially been her arch enemy, that didn’t change the fact that she had and now she was suffering with him gone.

Judge had been spotted multiple times wandering through Prosperity and the surrounding area in the dead of night when everyone but those on guard were asleep.  She never seemed to have a goal in mind, just wandered aimlessly picking flowers or picking up handfuls of dirt and staring at it in her hand before tossing it back on the ground.  Though the behaviour was, odd, to say the least all of her former friends agreed to keep an eye on her and do their best to help her deal with whatever grief she was feeling.

One night, Nick found himself unable to sleep and decided to go out to the garage and tinker on a buggy that the Captain had brought back after her latest outing.  Stepping out of the main doors, he paused at hearing a soft sort of crying noise.  Figuring it was likely just an animal, he headed to the workshop but the sound kept getting louder and as he entered the workshop, he found Judge huddled in the corner near some boxes; knees drawn up to their chest and sobbing.  The sound was heartbreaking; so strangled and painful sounding.

“Hey, uh, you … you alright Ju- Dep?” Nick asked, approaching carefully and crouching down a short distance in front of them.

Judge continued so sob as she held something out to Nick that was wrapped around her hand.  It was a simple set of rosary beads and he assumed that they probably once belonged to Joseph.  Had he given them to her as a gift, or had she picked them up years ago and claimed them as her own?

“You, miss him don’t you?” Nick asked quietly as Judge retracted her hand, cradling the rosary across her heart as her body continued to shake.

Judge nodded before a fresh wave of despair seemed to overcome her and she wailed again, scrambling forward and holding onto Nick like her life depended on it.  He was slightly taken aback but after a moment, he closed his arms around her and hugged her tightly.  The only time he ever remembered hugging Dep as she cried was after the Marshal shot Virgil and himself at the prison.  Everything she’d endured at the time; everything that she’d been holding in; had just gotten too much and she’d broken down.  How much was one person supposed to endure?  He hated seeing his friend in that state back then, but somehow it was even worse now.  Nick couldn’t believe he was even considering it, but if being with Joseph was what made Judge happy … then he would just have to find him for her.

It took getting Sharky to agree to answering all of Bean’s sex related questions, no matter how embarrassing or awkward they were, before the young man agreed to temporarily divert his scouts from gathering information to looking for Joseph.  He hadn’t told Judge yet, didn’t want to get her hopes up in case they couldn’t find the old man.  Each of her former friends as well as some new ones were taking turns looking after her.  As it turned out though, Hurk and Gina were the ones that came up with what seemed to calm her most.  The first time she held baby Blade, Nick could see her whole body relax and he wondered if it was bringing back memories of Carmina as a baby.

She would sit for hours with Blade, playing with him or just laying in the flowers gazing up at the clouds.  She even made him a simple flower crown, the boy shrieking with delight and dissolving into giggles as she placed it on his head.  By the end of that day, almost everyone in the community was wearing a flower crown.  The night always came though, and every night Nick would pass by her room only to hear the soft whimpering coming from the other side of the door.

It was almost three weeks before Bean came to Nick, telling him that one of his scouts had received word from a wandering trader that he had seen Joseph in the vicinity of Dutch’s bunker not long after Ethan died.  It made sense really, and if he was holed up in there, it would explain why no-one had seen him since.

Nick felt nervous as he approached Judge to tell her the news, knowing that if she left to find Joseph, he may never see her again.  He didn’t want to loose his best friend a second time, but it wasn’t about what he wanted.  It was about what was best for her. She didn’t move or say anything as he told her; the rosary now secured around her right wrist, and they sit in silence for almost a minute before anything happens.  Slowly, she got to her feet and shuffled over to a small pack made of leather and furs that she has stuffed in the corner and rummaged in it for a moment before pulling something out and turning back to him.  There clasped in her hand were a pair of aviators.  They had a slight crack in one of the lenses, but they were almost identical to the ones he owned when they first met.

Judge walked over quietly, her head tilted as she placed the glasses on him, and Nick was almost certain she was probably smiling behind that mask as she did so.  She’d always liked giving people things, back before the bombs fell.

“Thank you,” Nick said quietly as he stood and pulled her into what felt like a final hug.  “Just know, if you do find him and I can’t believe I’m god damn sayin’ this … but if you do and want some place nicer to live than a hole in the ground, you can come back here with him.  You’ll always have a home here.”

It didn’t take all that long for Judge to reach Dutch’s island.  She’d managed to avoid any remnants of the Highwaymen entirely and was now walking up the familiar muddy path to where she hoped she would find Joseph.  She more than anyone knew what grief and guilt could do to a person, and what it could make them do to themselves.  

She subconsciously rubbed at her neck as she walked, remembering the feeling of the rope tightening around her neck all of those years ago in the bunker.  That had been the final straw in rendering her unable to speak, her vocal cords and larynx already damaged by then from constant and prolonged bouts of screaming and attempting to drink anything in the bunker that was even slightly toxic.  Judge could remember Joseph rushing in and cutting her down, then holding her and singing softly as he cradled her against him.  He’d told her several times that he had forgiven her, but it was in that moment when she saw the fear in his eyes at the thought of loosing her that she truly believed him.

Eventually she reached the bunker, finding the door firmly closes.  She tried pulling it open a few times with no success, even tried knocking hoping in vain that Joseph would answer.  However, she had been prepared for such and since she couldn’t call out to him, she would have to let him know that it was her on the other side of the door in another way.

Reaching into her pack, she pulled out a small cassette player and set it on the ground before pressing play.  The lyrics to Amazing Grace started drifting through the air as loudly as she could make them before she sat down on the damp earth and waited.  As cliche as it was, this was their song and if it didn’t work, she didn’t know-

Judge’s train of thought was interrupted at the sound of creaking metal and she scrambled to her feet as the bunker door began to open.  Moments later, the older man stepped out into the sun, surprise and confusion all over his face as he stopped and stared at her.

“I … of all the people I expected to come looking for me, I never thought it would be you,” Joseph said after a moment before taking a shaky step forward and placing his hands on the side of her face as he had done so many times before and touched their foreheads together.  ““I was wrong, and in my arrogance I hurt you; blamed you and drove you to-”

Judge drew back suddenly, shaking her head at him before pulling a small slip of paper from under the rosary and handing it to him.  Confused, Joseph unfolded the piece of paper and read it.

You forgave me, now I forgive you.  You saved me, now I save you.  Prosperity is hope, and it is home.  Let’s go home.

“Home, I rather like the sound of that,” Joseph said with a slight smile.  “However, if this is to be our fresh start, I think we should seize it as our true selves, don’t you?”

Judge shrunk back slightly, shaking as Joseph raised his hands and gently removed her mask before dropping it on the ground.  She was beginning to panic before she felt him take her right hand and all the nerves seemed to dissolve as the warmth of his skin that seeped through her glove seemed to calm and centre her.  His thumb brushed gently over the rosary beads as he looked at her and smiled, remembering giving them to her on this very spot when they emerged from the bunker 11 years prior.

“Your forgiveness will be my light when my thoughts grow dark,” he says to her as they turn away from the bunker and start walking down the trail.  “Let’s go home … Deputy.”

Wow, did that turn out WAY longer than I thought it would.  Apologies for any tense/ spelling mistakes.  I was very sleepy when I wrote this but I pushed through because I wanted to share it with all of you.  Let me know what you think.  As always, tagging @nick-rye-the-pilot-guy and @theeonlyroman so they can enjoy the feels.

How to Make a Face Mask for Hospitals and Medical Centers

Hospitals and medical centers across the country are asking sewers to make face masks to protect out health workers. You can google “how to sew face masks for hospitals” to find out where fabric masks are being requested.

Stillwater Medical Center is asking sewers to follow the face mask pattern from buttoncounter.com here.

From Deaconess Health System:

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Citing shortages, Deaconess Health System, including Henderson’s Methodist Health, has asked the public to sew face masks for staff fighting coronavirus.

“This does follow CDC protocols that you can find on their website that if all other supplies are not available, that handmade masks that meet certain criteria are acceptable,” Deaconess spokeswoman Becca Scott said.

The release with the video, pattern and instructions was posted to the Deaconess Facebook page Thursday morning and is available at www.deaconess.com/masks. A PDF of the pattern is available here and embedded at the bottom of this article.  

Deaconess has “a sample video” about how to make the masks, which Scott said will be sterilized when they come in.

From Forbes here:

Additional Resources for Open Source or Volunteer COVID-19 Projects:

One of my favorite how-to sites is Instructables. The DIY Cloth Face Mask has almost 100,000 views. It is a step-by-step instruction for those who need it. Kudos to ashevillejm.

In 2006, CDC released a Simple Respiratory Mask design using heavyweight t-shirts in its Emerging Infectious Diseases journal. More of an academic post, but some ideas in it.

A Facebook group was formed last week: Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies. It is worth a visit — in just a few short days there are 20,000-plus members and volunteers.

If you are looking for some research and street-level testing of various materials for DIY mask-making, this post from Smart Air Filters is exceptional: What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks? It also includes a few great links at the end of it.

Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

I need More Echomax hcs in my life now help.

I just wanted you to know I’m evilly swirling my sauvignon blanc in its glass right now and snickering at this newly constructed corner of rarepair hell. Ask and ye shall receive, my friend.

>When Echo was captured by Talon, Maximilien was the first person to insist they treat her civilly and like a lady. He also told the other Talon goons that he would help make her more compliant with his ‘irresistable charms.’ This ended up with him Plasma-blasted in a crater on the opposite side of Echo’s cell. He fell in love instantly.

>Max gets bristly every time Echo brings up McCree. 

Maximilien: Now, ma colombe, you know I wouldn’t use the term ‘meatsack barbarian’ lightly—

Echo: Are you… jealous?

Maximilien: WHAT!? Of all the ridiculous— Jealous?! Me?! Of a Sonora-sandblasted vagrant?!

Echo: *smirks* You’re jealous.

Maximilien: *muttering* My chem-receptors indicate he smells like feet and old bacon and is not worthy of your attentions.

>I’ve mentioned before that a lot of omnics get these modifications to their chassis that allow them to receive a pleasure response from physical touch in certain spots–this is usually to accommodate organic partners who are more dependent on physical touch for intimacy, but these omnics go on to be able to still be stimulated by other omnic partners. Maximilien has these modifications, Echo’s own sensory intake is… a bit more unique. She tends to just remotely correlate her pleasure response to Max’s when they’re being cozy and cuddly together. They’re considered very touchy for an inorganic couple. 

>Since Echo’s face is mostly a hologram projection, Max’s hand phases right through it when he touches it, so it looks kind of weird to other people but Max and Echo consider it very soft and intimate when half of Max’s hand is just… phased through Echo’s face.

>Max was very into the sleek and modern and minimalist look but after he got together with Echo it’s like, “No I’ve always liked having fresh-cut flowers around my office, what are you talking about?”

How did Tel-Kar come to be Sleeper's butler?

ok so after all this stuff

sleeper and red are adults now and already :/ at tel-kar but he is foolishly very arrogant and they are, in a way, emotionally dependent on him like youll see in many abusive relationships, but the last straw is when he puts a hit out on venom

the vigilante venom has been a thorn in our side for too long! tel-kar says. sleeper freezes. red says, good riddance.

but no way is sleeper going to let anyone kill his father(s). him and red swiftly and violently stage a coup, red mostly just for sleeper’s sake and out of no love for her father(s). P much, they kill everyone loyal to him, cut out his tongue. sleeper gets off some sort of one-liner. some repeat of some crap thing tel kar used to say to insult them, its super badass but i cant remember what it was. chain him up in the basement and torture him for at least a year. after THAT and with some of sleeper’s pheromone shit hes a bit more compliant, and the butler thing is purely his punishment of humiliation, and they throw trash at him constantly and sleeper makes him stand and stare into the sun and act like a footstool and all manner of other crap like he used to do to them

tel-kar occasionally attempts to murder sleeper, but the shit they put him through after one of those attempts is just not worth it so he’s just kind of begrudgingly accepting of his lot in life at this point 😂

tel kar also functions as a body guard bc “im the only one allowed to kill you” trope

Made a thing because I’ve been asked a few times what my main brushes that I use are!

Dali’s Giraffe

Dali’s Inferno

Dali’s Elephant

X

Alright time for some honesty thats going to make my follower count go down but I don't care. Hate me. But a post I read made me realize I need to bring this up.

I complain a lot about Donny Cates and his comics because its the best way to reach agreements on here. This whole run is concidered terrible so I'm going to be honest. I don't say the things I like about the comics because I'm afraid of conflict over it. However, I've already been questioned once for this and I will be questioned again so its time to come clean and be hated. I buy the comics. Which apparently is a sin in this fandom and I will only ever be judged for it.

Know why I do it? Because there are elements I like along with the elements I hate. And I just need to get that off my chest because I don't want to feel bad for it. I get enraged easily and will go off on rants, but I'm also pleased easily. So its time for me to list a few things not all that I actually like about these comics and I will be fine when my follower count drops. (Also a Silver Surfer note)

Dylan and Normies dynamic is really fun and I love them. Sleepers added protective behavior of Dylan just makes it all the better because imagine him trying his best to babysit Dylan and Normie and it all goes to shit two seconds later. I love it.

Grendel dragon. MMMMMMMM. I love this dragon and he's beautiful and also part of Beowolf I just love him.

Darkness. I don't know how to explain this other than a couple dsrk twists are enjoyable. Sure he added too many but still I would love it if it was just one or two twists. Like if it was only the cancer involving Venom trying to keep Eddie... Thats a dark bump in the road J can get behind.

And to Ryan Stegman... ART IS A YEEEEEES

Just Dylan in general I mean hes my son and he's great.

Them covers are sometimes great. Though the varients are what I live for.

Follower count: 359

Waiting for that to drop.

More Noir HCs, help me please

His blush is just him turning a darker shade of gray

It happens when he laughs

It’s very rare, but when he does OH BOY

He tries so hard to hide it

He will literally leave the building so he can go giggle and snort in peace because he’s laughing so hard

Nobody can believe their ears when he laughs

He’s very organized

He has all of his colorful objects very very organized by color so he can learn the colors easier

He has adopted the roomba

He named it Gary

He won’t let anyone but Peni touch Gary

He has a corner in his room at home that he calls his ‘Color Corner’

It has all the trinkets he’s brought back with him from everyone else’s worlds

He goes there to sulk

Or to calm down when he’s stressed

Slightly bipolar

🅱️eter finds out how young Noir is and almost has a stroke

“YOURE TWENTY???” “Almost.” “W H A T”

But then Gwen points out that, since he’s from the 30’s, he’s really 100 and 20 at the same time

So he’s a dad, grandpa, weird uncle, and fun cousin

He hates taxis

Nobody can ever get him in one

“8/10 times, the taxi driver is the murderer.” “… Noir, please just get in-“ “Over my dead body.”

@smokeyloki