Author Topic: I heard you like request threads...  (Read 41610 times)

Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #90 on: July 19, 2010, 03:34:53 PM »
Will Keine find a way back? Will she even find out what tiny thing changed so long ago that created such a different timeline?! Will she be torn between this new world and the old, familiar one as she goes about forming relationships in her quest to find that tiny change in history?!?? Will she even want to go back to the old timeline?!?!!?

This is so good.

E-Nazrin

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #91 on: July 19, 2010, 09:38:34 PM »
Mokou's mockery of authority aside, the main thing I'm wondering now is
Spoiler:
whether Kaguya and Byakuren are the same person or otherwise involved with one another following twin Buddhist 'deaths'
There was something here once. Wonder what...

Hello Purvis

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #92 on: July 23, 2010, 10:17:03 AM »
(Okuu Quest has been hitting Peak Realness lately)

It's a quiet morning. With Yuka gone to check on Elly and the Garden of the Sun, Keine has the house to herself. It's oddly lonely now, having spent the last few days with the flower youkai as a constant companion, to actually have the house to herself again. Only a few days, and it already feels like it's a world away. Really, it was sort of nice to have someone else around. Maybe, once things get fixed, it'll be time to talk to Mokou about setting up those guideposts in the forest, and moving in here.

For now, she pours over her notes, connecting related events, and trying to come up with with a clean chart of what she knows so far. At some point, at the very least Mystia's line of reincarnation was affected. And something happened to weaken Kanako's faith prematurely. As well, something put Sakuya, or some ancestor of Sakuya's, in charge of the Hakurei shrine. Mokou doesn't seem to have seem affected that much, aside from the obvious. Yuka seems mostly the same, excepting the obvious once again. Something happened to allow an election to take place in the town, and Kisume of all people seems to have won it. She gnaws on the end of her pen as she considers that, then chalks it down to Kisume being the least of evils. Not to mention Remilia apparently being a darkness youkai now.

The full moon can't get here soon enough. The sooner this headache is untangled, the better. Still, with this, she could focus it all down quite a bit. But with some more information...

There is a knock on the door.  Keine looks up from her work, frowning a little. Was Mokou coming back this early? Well, she would be the sort to have au gratin for breakfast because it needs to be eaten up. Well, it's a bit early, but maybe it would be better to see Mokou without anyone else around. She grins a bit as she walks toward the front door. Maybe, if she plays her cards just right, she might even be able to maneuver Mokou into giving up a kiss? Wouldn't that be a victory toward rebuilding the right timeline?

"Keine, where have you been!?" cries a brown-haired young woman in a dress shirt, tie and fedora. "Class should have started 30 minutes ago!"

"...What?" says Keine.

"Get your shoes on!" says the woman. "It's hard enough to get those kids to pay attention when everything is running smoothly!"

Keine frowns. There was school today? It's hard not to indulge in a little profanity.

****

Keine stands in front of the chalkboard, surveying the class and putting her much-practiced skills at keeping a straight face to use. Things aren't too different. There's a smattering of human children, though a few familiar faces are absent. Cirno and Daiyousei are in the rear corner, giggling between themselves.  There's Rumia up front, sporting a set of bat-like wings, a parasol, and a toothier than usual grin. Chen is conspicuously absent. And off to the side is that human woman in the hat, sitting at a desk and grading some papers.

"So," says Keine as folds her hands, trying to sound confident. "I think, for today, we're going to focus on math."

"Isn't Miss Usami supposed to teach that?" Rumia asks. The woman in the hat looks up, giving Keine a curious glance. Keine holds her expression with some effort, thanking the heavens for small favors such as not having to ask Miss Usami's name, and says, "That is true, Rumia, but I feel the class could use a little more time with it. Miss Usami, could you remind me where you left off?"

"Well, last time we were going over the Associative and Commutative Property," says Miss Usami, "Then we could start to get into some basic Algebra."

Keine feels her smile grow brittle. "Ah yes. And, could you explain that plainly for the class, please?"


****

That could have gone worse, Keine decides, as she goes over the results of the ten question pop quiz she put up on the board. The kids certainly won't mind the long recess while she grades them.

"This is hard, Miss Keine!" says the only remaining student in the room, still struggling with the quiz. "Numbers aren't supposed to be letters too!"

"Well, Rumia," says Keine, considering the youkai carefully. "I'll make a deal with you."

"Oh neat!" Rumia says, wings twitching, "I like deals!"

"Come over here, and we'll play the question game. If you get everything right, I'll let you turn the test in early, and we won't worry about the other problems on it."

Rumia's face breaks into a grin as she scampers over to Keine's desk. "You're going down, Miss Keine. You're going down hard!"

"Of course, dearie," says Keine. "Alright. How did you end up becoming a vampire, Rumia?"

"Easy!" says Rumia. "Remilia bit me the winter before the last before the last before the one before that!"

Keine nods. Well, that makes a kind of sense. "And why is Remilia a darkness youkai like you used to be?"

"I bit her back!"

Keine frowns, then decides to go out on a limb. "But, you've bitten all kinds of people, and they haven't turned into darkness youkai. You've bit me."

"Yeah, but Remilia didn't know that." says Rumia with a sage nod.  "She's lucky, it's dark all the time for her. I have to use this dumb parasol. But everyone gives me tea now so I won't bite them! I really really like tea!" She beams so brightly that Keine could almost imagine rays of light shining off her face.

"Okay." Keine says at length. "Where is Chen? She usually has pretty good attendance."

"What's a Chen?" asks Rumia.

"Isn't she your friend?"

"I don't think you can call friends Chens, Miss Keine."

Keine nods. That wasn't promising at all. She considers asking a few more questions, then decides against it. Rumia isn't exactly the best font of information for things outside of herself. So she simply reaches over and pats the youkai on the head. "Good job! You beat me." Rumia's beaming takes on an aspect of pride. "Now, just remember, this is our little secret. If you tell anyone, I'd have to fail you."

"I'll take it to my grave!" says Rumia. "I'll take it to all of the graves!"

****

"Math?" asks Miss Usami, as she and Keine walk home. "Really?"

"Yuuka actually tore up my current notes for soil filler, rather than my old ones," says Keine. "I was a little bit out of sorts from it."

"So you gave 'em all a week break, huh?" The brown-haired woman chuckles. "That wouldn't have anything to do with the rumors of you and Yuka...you know."

"...I'll not dignify that with a response, if you don't mind." Keine says. Perhaps it was a little rude, but far better than having to dig up what these rumors might entail.

"Oh," says Miss Usami, "Just, this was going to be my first Festival, and I had heard you and Yuka had such a great song and dance number last time."

Sriggle

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #93 on: July 23, 2010, 12:41:19 PM »
Renko is a teacher? Wow...

I'm taking it she's new in town. Oh, Keine, whatever have you done,  :3
Japanese progress: To the point where I can read a manga with the help of an electronic dictionary.

Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #94 on: July 23, 2010, 06:02:52 PM »
The bit with Rumia made me laugh. She's so fun to talk to. "I bit her back!"~

Esifex

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #95 on: July 23, 2010, 09:55:38 PM »
Quote
"What's a Chen?"

 :ohdear:

E-Nazrin

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #96 on: July 24, 2010, 12:50:25 AM »
It looks like math isn't Keine's strong suit.

I wonder what other implications Renko being in Gensokyo might have?
There was something here once. Wonder what...

Hello Purvis

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #97 on: July 31, 2010, 06:34:23 PM »
Gotcha.

Since some have asked me about the delay; it's one part RPG forum, one part I kinda abandoned a chapter after glaring at it for a few days and deciding I'm not happy with it and moving on, integrating it into narration.

Hello Purvis

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #98 on: August 05, 2010, 06:43:30 AM »
(So I spent awhile wrestling with a chapter, and decided in the end I didn't wanna do it and have thus "integrated" it into other events.)

It's a cloudy day, threatening to give way to rain at any time. Keine shoulders her umbrella, and tries to keep her mind on the path. The forest of magic isn't nearly so hard to traverse as the bamboo forest, but the chances of running into faeries is much greater. But keeping to the outskirts, they shouldn't be a real problem. The path itself, she notes with a frown, is much more overgrown than she remembered. Hardly encouraging, if they aren't coming to town nearly so often.

"What'd I say!" comes a voice to the left. Keine frowns, recognizing it quickly. She pushes through the brush.

"To get good tofu..." says another voice, low and barely audible.

"What'd I tell you do do!"

"Get good tofu..."

"What'd you not do!?"

"I didn't get good tofu..."

"Now we're going to the party and Sunny Milk is going to bring something awesome and we will look like fools!"

"Daiyousei!" Keine shouts as she pushes through the foliage into a small clearly. There she finds the green-haired faerie flailing her arms angrily and glaring down at Cirno, who is huddled on the ground with her hands over her head. "What are you yelling about?"

"It's the law!" Daiyousei cries, then dashes deeper into the forest.  Cirno looks up, frowns at Keine, and gets to her feet and runs off as well. Keine crosses her arms and shakes her head. Honestly! Still, Daiyousei is the top dog among the faeries now? Interesting. Perhaps she defeated Cirno at some point? Returning to the path, she notes this down.

Soon enough, the forest gives way to a secluded mountain pass. Nestled there is a small mansion. Keine frowns as she approaches it, noting down how unusually well kept it is. The grounds, as well, are unusually well maintained; sculptured to give the appearance of being wild without any of the associated messiness. Most unusual. Keine begins to wonder if she should have sent a letter ahead. But, it's too late for that now. She approaches the door, and gives it a polite knock, the waits. After a minute, the door opens, and a woman with long purple hair drawn into a ponytail by a yellow bow peeks out. "Yes?" she asks.

"Um," says Keine, feeling a bit nervous, "Is Miss Yakumo in? I was hoping to have a talk with her."

"I'm afraid her highness is resting at the moment," says the purple-haired woman.

"Oh," Keine says, holding back a swear for reasons entirely unrelated to the denial of entry. "Would it be possible for me to come back tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure," says the woman, "But I supp-"

"Yoriiii!" comes a voice, "Where are yooooooou?" The purple-haired woman frowns and looks back as the voice continues, "Oh, there you are! You're supposed to be running,Yori!"

"Ah, we have a guest, highness," says Yori, blushing furiously. Keine reflects it's not often that she's had to stifle a laugh the past few days. Quite a few groans, but no laughs until now.

"Well show her in, Yori!" says the other speaker. It's been a long time since she's heard Yukari's voice, but Keine is certain that's who it is.

"But, weren't we-"

"We'll handle that later just as much as you'd like, Yori," says Yukari, as she opens the door and smiles at Keine. "Do come in! Yori, put some tea on!"

****

Keine sits in a well appointed drawing room, a cup of tea in her hands. Across from her is Yukari. In some ways, she is the same gap youkai as before. But the Yukari that Keine knows never wore an elaborately filigreed tiara, nor did her robes sparkle with gems that Keine simply cannot name. Yori stands behind her, arms folded and smiling pleasantly. "So, my dear," says Yukari as she sips her own tea and smiles politely, "May I ask to what I owe the honor of this little visit."

"Mostly pleasure," says Keine. "But, I was hoping you could help me with a little issue."

"In good time," says Yukari. "Tell me, how are things for you?"

"Um, a little tricky," says Keine. "I've been a little off, lately."

"I hope it's nothing serious?" says Yukari, frowning.

>"No, it will pass soon enough," she replies. "In the meantime, I've been working on a little project with Yuka. We've been trying to help Mokou come out of her shell a little bit. The poor girl's been all alone most of her life, you know?"

"How kind," says Yukari. "Are thing going well?

"Well, last night she came over with a dish we let her borrow," says Keine, "And we enticed her to stay for supper. Things went well. We had a good talk, she and Yuka got into the sake a little bit, and they fun cackling over any little thing."

"Ah, Yuka is always a sweetheart when she's drunk," says Yukari. "I suppose it lets her forget all the irritation. I would be rather envious of you, in fact, if I didn't have my Yori and my Ran."

Keine tries not to comment. She had a hard enough time fighting Yuka off last night after Mokou went home. In the end, she was able to talk the flower youkai down to cuddling until she drifted off. "Where is Ran, anyways?" She asks, instead.

"Oh, she's back at the Capital," says Yukari, "Being regent for me. It's so nice I can rely on her and Yori to take care of things like that when I need a break, don't you think?"

Keine nods. "I agree, and now I envy you. I wish I could send Yuka to teach for me, but I like my students to be learning, rather than spending the whole day dealing with punishments for speaking out of turn."

"I see, I see," says Yukari. "Now that I think on it, what will you do to draw your immortal friend out of her shell next?"

"Well," says Keine, wondering about Yukari's sudden interest, "I'm not sure. I was thinking, we could engineer an excuse to visit her, and...well, I'm not sure yet."

"Take her to see a play at the Scarlet Mansion," says Yukari. "I guarantee, she'll adore it. Now, about that question?"

Keine nods, taking a sip of the tea. A hint of orange and jasmine, not bad. "Ah yes. I have come across records of a shikigami named Chen. Would you know of her, being one of the foremost experts with them?"

"I'm afraid not," says Yukari. "I have my Yori and Ran, and Ran has her Toyo. But I've never heard of a Chen."

"A shame," Keine says, noting that away. "Now, perhaps if I could coax a few stories of your lunar excursions from you?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know where to begin!" says Yukari, her grin saying exactly the opposite. Keine notes a slight change in Yori's expression; though her smile never fades it suddenly feels a lot less sincere.



E-Nazrin

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #99 on: August 05, 2010, 06:59:03 AM »
What on Earth would Daiyosei need tofu for, especially with Ran on the moon?

And considering Reisen Quest canon, I'm wondering if Yukari's suggestion is a troll response...
There was something here once. Wonder what...

Doll.S CUBE

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #100 on: August 05, 2010, 10:22:09 AM »
Wow, things are interesting, I wonder if by the end of it Keine would want to change everything back?

E-Nazrin

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #101 on: August 05, 2010, 11:00:46 AM »
Wow, things are interesting, I wonder if by the end of it Keine would want to change everything back?

I doubt she'd want to lose Chen Reimu and Byakuren that easily, and re-adapting to the rest of the changes would be seven kinds of a bitch. Especially under threat of wild monkey sexings with Yuuka.
There was something here once. Wonder what...

Solais

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #102 on: August 05, 2010, 11:06:10 AM »
Quote
>"No, it will pass soon enough,"

Parser disease?

Esifex

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #103 on: August 05, 2010, 12:47:18 PM »
Parser disease?
Or maybe this is turning into Keine Quest :o

Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #104 on: August 05, 2010, 02:57:24 PM »
Yukari made Yorihime into her shiki??? And Ran did the same with Toyohime? Best day ever!!!!!! Serves them right.

Hello Purvis

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #105 on: August 13, 2010, 04:10:08 AM »
Don't you think you've been pushing yourself just a little bit too hard?" Yuka says.

"Hmm?" says Keine, looking up from sweeping the kitchen.

Yuka frowns. "It's just as I've said. You've been running around doing a lot of errands lately. I mean, did you really go all the way to the Queen's manor?"

"Well, yes," says Keine, shifting her grip on the broom. What was she getting at?

"Exactly," says Yuka, "You've been working too hard. Let's take some time out tonight, shall we? We'll visit Mystia's restaurant, and have a nice walk together. The Prismrivers might be coming to town tonight, if what the mayor said holds up. We won't worry about school or the garden or Mokou or anything. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Keine purses her lips. It's certainly preferable to having to answer a bunch a problematic questions. In truth, it would be better to just have another quiet night, but the offer is just to reasonable to turn down without raising suspicions. "Alright," she says. "That sounds like fun. Just let me finish sweeping up, and then-"

"Who cares about the sweeping?" Yuka replies, grabbing Keine by the wrist, "Come on!"

"At least let me put up the broom!"

"It's not going anywhere!"

****

"So there's Elly," says Yuka, "Her face is just caked in pollen, and it's all over her clothes. Even on her hands, so she couldn't just wipe it away. So she looks at me, the most heartbroken look on her face and her voice on the edge of panic, and she says, "Yuka! What do I do now!?"

Keine snickers and asks, "So what did you tell her?" She then has a bite of her croquette.

"Well," says Yuka, "The first thing I said was, "Elly, dear, you might wish to notice you're also standing a few yards from a beehive..." The poor girl must have jumped high enough to put her hat on the moon!"

Keine chuckles a little more. As she does Mystia approaches, smiling broadly, "Enjoying, I hope?"

"Oh, it's quite good," says Yuka, as Keine nods. "The venison is very tender, quite spicy."

"It put up quite the fight," says Mystia, crossing her arms and nodding sagely. "But I'm rather proud of how cleanly I took it down. Glad you're enjoying it!" she adds as she starts to move to the next table, then she stops and waves toward the door.

Keine looks back as Mystia says, "Come on in and sit wherever you like!" She sees Sanae walking into the restaurant, looking refreshingly like the Sanae she knows; even still wearing the frog and snake emblems. Keine holds back a frown, it really would have been nice to save a trip up Youkai Mountain...

"Oh, just ask her over," says Yuka.

Keine glances to her companion. "What?"

"I can tell," says Yuka, "You'll mope all night if you don't get to give her your survey."

"No, it's fine," says Keine, "It's just supposed to be the two of us and all."

"It'll still be the two of us after she's gone," says Yuka, "I'll just get further claim on you the rest of the night." Then she looks toward the front of the room and calls "Sanae! Come pull up a chair with us!"

The wind priestess comes over toward their table, grabbing an empty chair. "Ah, hello Yuka, Keine," she says as she sits down. "Is there something I can do for you?"

Keine feels Yuka nudge her foot. "Well," Keine says, "I was wondering what was going on around Youkai Mountain, really."

"Oh, the same old thing, really," says Sanae "The kappa are all puttering away on their projects, and the oni are preparing for the weekly sake festival. I'm hoping we don't find any of them passed out inside the shrine grounds this time. It seems like it's fashionable to try to get a drink out of the pond there before sobering up these days, and there's always someone who doesn't make it out."

That explains why the Bunbunmaru news didn't seem to be getting delivered anymore. Keine starts to ask what Suwako thinks of people getting into her pond, before remembering there isn't a Suwako anymore. "What does Yasiya-sama think of people in her pond?"

"Well, she usually isn't in it at nights," says Sanae, fidgeting with her the edge of her sleeve. "not like Moriya-sama used to be."

Keine considers for a moment, then asks, "What is Yasiya-sama like? I've never really gotten a chance to know her well."

"She's quite kind," says Sanae. "She really does hold all the best traits of Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama. I can get a glimmer of them in her from time to time. It's quite a shame no one here ever got to meet the two goddesses who made them."

Was that wistfulness in her tone? "Do you miss them?" Keine asks.

"Well, they've never really left me," says Sanae. "But it doesn't always feel like that. There are times where I can hear Yasaka-sama's inflictions when she talks, though, or see Moriya-sama's smile when she greets me in the morning. Other times, she's like a different person entirely. And there are some times when she seems like the perfect mesh of Yasaka-sama and Moriya-sama. But it's impossible to predict which she'll be at any given moment.

"That sounds rather sad," Yuka says, frowning. "Don't you agree, dear?" Keine nods. She hadn't really expect this kind of an answer.

"Please understand, I love Yasiya-sama," says Sanae. "She really is a wonderful person and fully worthy of my veneration. It's just...Yasaka-sama and Moriya-sama were like my family. And it does sort of feel like they're gone, sometimes. Other times, it's more like they're in disguise, if you understand what I mean. It's very confusing sometimes."

"You don't get to talk with anyone about this much, do you?" asks Keine, looking around to make sure that no one was listening in.

"Just the Izyaoi Maiden," says Sanae."And, she's not very good at listening... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone into this."

"It's alright," Keine says. "I'm glad you're willing to tell me this." Certainly, there was some interesting information...

****

"Don't they sound nice?" Yuka murmurs, as she snuggles in more closely. Keine doesn't have to bother to hold back a reaction anymore. After sharing a bed with the flower youkai for over a week, she has since gotten used to this. It wasn't that bad, really, guilt for Mokou aside. At least someone was being supportive. She shifts a little against the grassy hill, looking upward toward the Prismriver sisters playing above. Lyrica blowing away on her trombone, Merlin with a set of steel drums shiny enough to be seen in the night, and Lunasa on her mandolin; they were an interesting substitute for the Prismrivers she knows and just as raucous in their own way.

Listening idly to the upbeat music, she mulls over the implications of what Sanae had to say. If the Oni were still on the mountain, that suggests the tengu were displaced. It seems likely they would end up in former Hell, but that kind of trip would be a pain. ...But would it really be necessary?

A light snore from Yuka disrupts her thoughts for the moment. Hmmm... She considers the flower youkai for a moment, and quickly discards any plan of extricating herself. After a moment, she looks around the loose crowd gathered on the hill, and quickly finds a bucket-shaped silhouette moving through the dark. She gestures with her free hand, waving until she sees Kisume's head turn her way, then motions for the green-haired youkai to come over. As Kisume draws close, Keine puts her fingers to her lips.

"Heheheh," Kisume whispers, "Ain't you two as close as a couple of boxcars? Y'need me to go find you some whipped cream and strawberries or summat?"

"Mayor, please..." Keine says, hoping the darkness would hide the sudden flood of warmth to her face. What did they do to get this kind of reputation! And why didn't she and Mokou have it in the proper timeline? "I was just hoping to ask you a few questions I've been mulling over about the Underground..."

"Weirdest way to get yerself in a mood I've ever heard," Kisume says. Keine tries not to scowl. How did this woman get elected? ...Or is this exactly why this woman got elected? Certainly Remilia wouldn't be this adept at innuendo. "So, whacha wanna hear?"

"Tell me about the Ancient City?" she asks. She stops herself from adding that she was sure there was a good reason Kisume left. No doubt this would be something she's supposed to know.

"Not a lot to tell," says Kisume. "Couldn't have worse neighbors then tengu, I'll have you know that. All too happy to claim a cave like it was their's alone and not give you the time of day. Tell you what, I cheered the day Utsuho moved in and made herself queen crow. Shame she didn't get to keep it for long, but it was a good day for the rest of us down there when she did. You won't hear me sayin' bad about the Blue White, but maybe she oughta have just let that one slide. Can't imagine it's much good for anyone back there, now. Especially if someone worse'n Tenma took over." Kisume shakes her head.

"I guess the Palace of the Earth Spirits must have had a hard time of it," Keine says, trying to keep her voice in a whisper as Yuka shifts against her.

"Probably tossed the lot of 'em into to big house," says Kisume with a shrug. "At least til Ol' Yasiya went down there to raise hell. But after that, I was long gone."

Keine nods, considering her next question, when she hears a voice from above cries, "Hey!" Yuka jerks awake, while Keine looks upward again to see Lunasa beaming down upon the audience. "Everybody dance!" the poltergeist shouts, as she conjures a wave of danmaku and sends it flying toward the ground!

"This wasn't part of the deal!" Kisume shouts over the crowd's cries of surprise.

Esifex

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Re: I heard you like request threads...
« Reply #106 on: August 13, 2010, 11:54:22 AM »
"Everybody dance!"

Don Hertzfeldt's cottonball puffs. Am I the only one who pictured that?