Monday, September 10, 2012

Brief Respite

My face is sore. I'm not used to smiling this much. I think I need a lie down.

I'm back home for a bit before my last weekend away, and I've spent today wandering around the house staring blankly at things. It's only when I'm back for a few days that I start to decompress and behave normally, so it looks like I'll have to wait a while for that to happen...

My few days in Ireland were awesome, as usual. I signed in Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Drogheda and Cork. The Cork signing was probably the longest, because I haven't been there in a while, but everywhere there were enthusiastic readers laden down with books. Some truly bizarre and cool people.

Then I had a few days off before my event at the Mountains to the Sea festival, where I chatted on stage with Dave from Eason bookshops about movies that have influenced the series, and we even got to show clips.

Dave showed bits from Starship Troopers (awesome!) and A Nightmare Before Christmas (amazing!) and It's a Wonderful Life (uhm... what?)

I showed a few trailers for a few things, but I don't think I'll tell you what they were... In fact, it might make an interesting blog post, discussing these movies and showing clips... Oh goody, I've worked out what I'm going to be talking about next time!

I headed over to the UK on Friday- just in time to experience the heat- where I signed in Southampton, Bournemouth, Dulwich and Bluewater in London. Last year, I was signing in Bluewater for four hours. I figured there was no way I'd be signing for any more than that this time. Five hours later, I had changed my tune. From people coming in costume- I'm thinking of a skeleton morph suit in particular here-


to people who had made their own Skulduggery T-shirts (and a certain tall blonde with the most awesome T-shirt ever, festooned as it was with lines from the books)-




there was no chance of my smile ever dipping. It's the sheer enthusiasm and energy of the people who turn up to get their books signed that energises me every single time.

And the hugs...



4,885 comments:

  1. I'm glad you had fun Derek.

    It was great to see you in Dublin.
    It really was.

    Then I was sick again but I won't bore you with the details.

    Can't wait to see you again and enjoy your time off.

    You deserve it Golden God.

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  2. We were the last people you saw at Bluewater. Thanks for staying so long. You made my daughter's day.

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  3. Emerald! Damn Woman! *cries*

    Stupid account not being logged in..




    I could've got 1st! But blergh!

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  4. Get over yourself Flame.
    Manly tears don't suit you and plus... I'm a sick woman.

    I'm allowed some sort of blogly privilege every now and then lol

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  5. I WANT A DEREK HUG.

    That's what I want for christmas. And yes, I have a christmas list. (Anyone who immediately thought of the doctor when they read that line is now my friend.)

    BUT IM STUCK ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC!!!! Shift continents, shift!

    -Molly, pouting slightly, then smiling uncontrollable at the thought of the Doctor exclaiming he had a christmas list. Heh... heh...

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  6. I would have been before you Flame Phoenix

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  7. I NEARLY HA FIRST! WHY? WHY YOU STUPID IPOD BEING LOGGED OUT! D:

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  8. Oh Get over it, :P
    Em Got first!!
    Congrats Em!!
    :P

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  9. I got a sideways derek hug :) He was so cool

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  10. I wonder if he remembers? Lol probably not

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  11. okayy im all alone .
    Oh well i'm supposed to asleep anyway

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  12. Hey i didnt get 2 go 2 any sighin bu den again prob good ting cos im kinda socially awkward bu derek plz give us tanith back cos darkuesse can c magic nd stuff so she cud c de remant in tanith nd darkuesse said she cud tear skulduggery magic r consioucness so mayb she cud take remant ???? Plz omg i luv skulduggery soooo much

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  13. I know but I have to get up at quarter to seven so i'm made go to bed ;)

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  14. I wonder if derek is watching the comments..... o.o

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  15. So? I'm tired and my leg is sore from p.e the stupid teacher.

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  16. Your lucky p.e on a monday we dont get it tilll thursday :)

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  17. I hatttte it. Especially with my leg and arm.

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  18. Haha!

    We get to wear whatever we want :3

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  19. I WAS AT BLUEWATER! I got a picture of that girl for my project :D She was lovely!

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  20. Our old kit was nice! It was blue and Navy.

    But our new principal went and changed it :'(
    Now we look like a bunch of barbies :(

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  21. Hiya Crystal!!!

    We were eighth in line to see you Derek EIGHTH. Four hours we waited in that blasted place!

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  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  24. I was like 15th in line when i went. i waited like two hours

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  25. Derek if your stalking us comment pleasssee

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  26. So many people there. There is always SO many people. I mean we waited FOUR hours christ's sake. So worth it.

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  27. you were wating for a long time robin

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  28. Hiya NJ and Flame.

    It was a long time. I think I deserve a medal for being an excellent minion. A gold one. Gold is special.

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  29. I was waiting for two hours on the publication signing.

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  30. Hey guys! And yes, Robin, gold is special.

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  31. Gold as a material is not special

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  32. You do, that was a long time to wait.

    Paitence is a virtue and all that.

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  33. Kestrel! Hiya!

    Gold is special. Who are you to say it's not? *consoles little gold things* Don't listen to the bad person.

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  34. Yes it is, and yet I don't see the point of it.

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  35. It was fine actually NJ and worth it in the end.

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  36. Patience that is, not gold.

    If Gold is not special, then why is Derek the GOLDEN god? hmm?

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  37. He's not speacial.


    *laughs as heads turn his way*

    JK!

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  38. *stabs Flame and throws him on the volcano*

    That is BLASPHEMY!

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  40. *whacks Flame with the KotW that I don't have yet*

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  41. I have to go to tooo bye everyone *hugs*

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  42. Bye NJ!

    And Flame, it is still blasphemy.

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  43. BYe Crystal!

    I gtg, bbs.

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  44. WOOH! i was at the Bluewater signing! i gave you a poster! i had soooo much fun and it was great to meet you! totally worth the wait! and today in my french lesson every time i wanted to either throw myself out the window or kill my teacher i just thought 'WWSD' (what would skulduggery do?!) then i realised that was a bad idea because he probably WOULD kill the teacher!...

    anyways... i digress..... and now have completely forgotten where this is going......

    ah well! bye!

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  45. Bluewater signing was awesome.

    I got a Derek hug and he signed my fez. It now has his signature on it and the phrase "fezzes are cool".

    :D

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  46. Glad you had a good time, but I'm still very sad you didn't come closer to me. :( Now my set isn't complete with signatures. Just hope I can catch you with the next book launch. Please make sure you come to Milton Keynes or Cambridge again, PLEASE!!!!!!

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  47. I think throwing yourself out the window is a good bet, 'doors are for people with no imagination'

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  48. I doubt I can stay, so won't talk much.

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  49. BUT HEY ROBIN!

    How was your signing Derek experience thing?

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  50. Oookay you have cool hair I don't think I mentioned it buuut you do xD

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  51. One day it will be as awesome as Fletcher's xD

    At least I hope so.

    I mean Derek never called me the fez wearer. He called me fez guy :p

    But I'm sure some people might and my name will be accurate.

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  52. I need to blog about mine. Will do so soon.

    Link?

    And thanks. I didn't say thanks last comment. I meant to.

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  53. OCTA! *TACKLE HUGS*

    I heard 'bout you and Kal, sadly.

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  54. http://rsnowscar.blogspot.co.uk/

    ^^ It's on there with pictures!

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  55. Derek? You awake and semi thinking? I wanna know if you remembered the paper you got at the signing yesterday. I wanna know soooo bad your answers

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  56. Ladies and gentlemen as I bid you all goodnight

    It gives me great pleasure but a heavy heart to present to you

    Dublin Daes

    dublindaes.blogspot.ie

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  57. DEREKKKKKK.

    YOU SHOULD GO TO SHEFFIELD NEXT YEAR BECAUSE ME AND MY FRIEND MADDIE (THAT I'VE GOT READING SP) HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO GIVE YOU. and we'd take you to baguette express because baguette. :P We wouldn't actually, though. We would, however, buy you a Skittles milkshake. And be really loud and obsessive over the books. XD

    I won't give up hope! C:

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  58. Hey Flame! *glomps*

    Awesome post Robin.

    *pokes Derek*

    New hair? Not yet. Soooon.

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  59. Also I have to go.

    BYEEEEEEEEEEEE!

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  60. OH YEAH,

    Hello, all. (':

    *is trying to be happy*

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  61. Be happy, don't worry.

    Me and L have devised a plan :D it's quite marvellous, if I do say so myself.

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  62. LUCIANA *spins with her in a circle of happiness*

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  63. I' doing something awesome with Zaf when book 9 comes out. Maybe Val V. too.

    What's wrong L.?

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  64. ZAF!

    I emailed you my version of the letter.

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  65. What awesome?

    TOO MANY QUESTIONS AAHH. Stop being vague.

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  66. I have to be vague.

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  67. *hugs everyone*

    Well, apart from in pain and worried, I'm rather good.

    HOW ARE YOU ALL?

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  68. I'm good.

    http://circlepad.com/quantumphysicscom/ look at my website?

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  69. Oh my God. Pet peeve coming through. Tell me or don't be vague. It's like when people say 'I have this awesome secret but I can't tell anyone' Why don't you just fall off a cliff into some lava? Rant done.


    I'm excellent Luciana.

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  70. Hi Jessica! Can I call you Jess? I feel as though we've become friends in the last ten seconds,

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  71. I replied Zaf. Can I tell Robin?

    Hi Jes!

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  72. It's important we build up a nice feeling of trust here. That way I'll catch you completely by surprise when I accuse you of murder.

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  73. Yeah tell Robin i dont mind, i prefer Ameriminions but any Minion is allowed to particupate or write on behalf for Ameriminions

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  74. What are we talking about. If you don't mind me asking.

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  75. Ok, Robin, first, Zaf is writing a letter to HarperCollins publishers on behalf of the Ameriminions regarding bringing Derek on tour, and publishing the rest of the books.

    Second, Zaf and are I are going to try to fly to Ireland when book 9 comes out and share a room and go to a signing. Val might come too.

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  76. Basically whatever random things pop into our heads Jes.

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  77. That sounds awesome. Alright G2G. Phoenix and I are writing a book. BYEE.

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  78. Yuuup! Ill be 17 or 18. So ill be okay.

    Also we basically are going to do this im making my goal by Friday to edit and type it up.

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  79. I just realized that I will be 13, not 14. That might be a problem.

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  80. Daaaamn. Still.. Okay you know why did I ask Derek if he was up? Its like 11:30pm by him

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  81. That was smart of me...very smart. Why did I ask Derek? Gaaah. I hope he answers

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  82. OMG DEREK! THAT"S SABRINA SPARROW!

    Oh she is going to FLIP

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  83. That's not THAT late. wbd for the next 5 minutes.

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  84. LOL. Yeah... She's a good mate of mine...

    BYEEE!! *hugs*

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  85. Lol still....whatever. Hope he answers me when he has time.

    *shrugs*

    EM!!!!

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  86. Ah yes, By the way. Derek, if you're reading this.

    I HOPE YOU GOT THE MESSAGES I SENT TO YOU THROUGH OTHERS!! xD

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  87. lol Adra.

    I still haven't gotten a reply from the other email.

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  88. Yes same!!! It'd be awesome to know you forgive me.


    I git into the habit, i have been posting spoiler warnings on my Facebook status' if i talk about KOTW i never did that until recently

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  89. OMG! It's me! YAY! So I didn't just scream and cry, and wake up the whole house or anything...

    Thank you so much for the amazing day Derek, meeting you was actually the greatest moment of my life :')

    Thank you so much for everything!

    x

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  90. Which picture is you?

    HI Sabrina!

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  91. LOL Passer.... xD You saw the fb thing, then??? LOL


    And hang on Kes...xD

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  92. Sabrina, I don't think we've met.

    Kestrel LeStarre, master of torture and all manner of unpleasant deaths at your service. *bows*

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  93. BYE ROBIN!!! *hugs again* OH yeah, you're still AWESOME :P

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  94. Lol thats funny.

    Omg!!! I talked to another Ameriminion at my school. He was in shock i own every published SP book xD he was at auditions with me :D

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  95. LOL Nice!!!! And I'm still making Ameriminions... They have grown....

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  96. We have. By a lot. We are multiplying. Soon we will strike. SOON!

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  97. CALLLL!!! *hugs*

    And dammit, DEREK GET OVER TO AMERICAAAAAA *cries*

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  98. *makes a sign begging Derek*

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  99. LOL "soon we will strike"

    LOL...

    I would TOTALLY drive to wherever he was going. I would fly there... And my mom knows how passionate I am about the series, and she'd probably let me... :P

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  100. Hi :) I'm the blonde girl :) Omg I am delirously happy about this! I will never actually get over this :''')

    x

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  101. Hello Dark! Hi there Trellis!

    How are you today?

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  102. Hey Sabrina! I saw you on Tumblr, ahaha. You looked amazing!

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  103. WITH THE EPIC SHIRT? Awesome. I like you. A lot.




    Adra, my mom is kind of overprotective, and I'll only be 13, so...

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  104. I'm great Amity. Besides the fact that I STILL don't have KotW.*sobs* BUt yeah, great. *continues sobbing*
    YOu?

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  105. Grand Cal, ta! You???

    And... PASSER!!! LOL I thought you said that you DON'T do the convo thing... xD I told you it's addictive....

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  106. You don't have it yet?! Have you heard about any spoilers? I hope not, it was an amazing book!
    I'm good albeit a little tired!

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  107. i have heard no spoilers. Yet. And it is all the fault of the American publishers.

    Adra, who is PASSER?

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  108. Passer is Sabrina... I call her that because "sparrow" in latin is Passer.... :P

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  109. Thank you Calamity :) come find me on tumblr whenever, I'm almost always there :)

    I have no idea if the shirt thing was for me but if it was, then thank you, I made it :3

    Adrasdos, that was because I was afraid to socialise. But this makes things slightly different :) OMG I'm so tupidly happy!

    x

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  110. Oh. I knew that Adra. *grins*

    And yes, Sabrina, it was.

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  111. LOL... Passer, just but Adra.... Everyone does...

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  112. *put

    I'm sorry, my brain has been fried. I'm writing like CRAZY again :P

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  113. Alright! I'm new! :) You going on skype later dear?

    x

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  114. What about Adra?

    And would you guys mind reading my EPIC(if I do say so myself) fanfic?

    http://www.wattpad.com/story/1915689-the-skeleton-detective%27s-enemy

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  115. Sure Kes!!!


    And I AM on skype, dear ;P... I'm just... INVISIBLE...xD


    And what d'ye mean, Kes...?

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  116. What are you writing about?

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  117. What? Oh! I'm writing about... my characters... And their adventures...

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  118. Thanks. Thanks so much.

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  119. Yeeep, Kestrel, I have saved the link to read before bed :)

    Okay Adra (that just feels weird) I will come find you :)

    x

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  120. Sorry for poofing. I shouldn't be here. :P

    Msd. D:

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  121. Thanks Sabrina!

    Yes he is Zaf. Yes he is.

    HI L.!

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  122. What's wrong Zaf? I'm sick too.

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  123. Stomach.

    Yeah Derek is lurking. I bet he is. I know he is *waves*

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  124. AH PASSER YOU CREEP xD

    AWWW *hugs Zaf* sowie!!!!

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  125. *waves to Derek* Come on Golden God, I beg of you!

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  126. Please with a lot of epic people and cheese? Please just a hi or something....

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  127. LOL

    HELLOOOOO BESTIE!!! *waves to Derek*

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  128. Adra, why am I a creep?

    And no problem Kes :)

    Derek if you're about, thank you so much for everything! I hope you liked your present/story/banner :3

    x

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  129. You SAID that you would find me! LOl.

    CREEP xD *i joke, I joke*

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  130. *grabs cheese and sacrifices a person/alien/ninja unicorn to Derek*

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