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An Unexpected Time {OOC}



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Sun Sep 12, 2021 4:18 am
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soundofmind says...



hey, family stuff comes first! i hope you had a good time with your grandparents <3 you're totally forgiven <3

@JasmineFelicia let me know if you're free for the first time I listed! it'd be great if you could hop in!

I'll wait and see if corvid/jazzy are free anytime soon, but we'll feel this out. My goal is just to get as much of us there as possible, but I also really want to finish! And @looseleaf if you're able to hop in the pad and fill in addie gaps, I did leave a few little question mark spaces w/her in mind so when you get a chance to look at those that would be awesome <3

I hope I didn't come across as angry or anything! I just want to communicate as well as possible! Sometimes communicating tone through text is hard!!! I love you guys :)
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.

  





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Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:38 am
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JasmineFelicia says...



I'm free for the second time. I'm sorry i have not been very active.
Hi, the name is Jasmine, but you can call me Jaz! Nice to meet you :D !
  





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Tue Sep 14, 2021 12:04 pm
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soundofmind says...



@JasmineFelicia that would be awesome if you could make it!

I will say though that the 4th may not work for me. Something came up today as a tentative family thing that might take priority that week - it's hard to say right now though until things are nailed down.

Anyone else have date/time suggests?
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.

  





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Tue Sep 14, 2021 1:19 pm
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Corvid says...



My schedule's pretty open going forwards, though I won't be able to do anything on September 20th. October 4th works for me if it's still an option for you!
"yeet"
- albert einstein
  





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Sat Sep 18, 2021 2:56 am
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soundofmind says...



OKAY - got back w/fam and Oct 4th works for me!
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.

  





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Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:02 pm
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soundofmind says...



JUST POKING TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT BIG END OF STORY COLLAB JS COMING UP SOON IN JUST A FEW DAYS
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.

  





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Mon Oct 04, 2021 2:14 pm
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soundofmind says...



EXCITED TO WRITE WITH YA’LL TODAY!
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.

  





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Mon Oct 04, 2021 7:38 pm
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Corvid says...



>:D HECK YEAH
"yeet"
- albert einstein
  





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Tue Oct 05, 2021 12:10 am
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soundofmind says...



https://pad.riseup.net/p/unexpected_time-keep
here's the pad! see ya'll in a lil under an hour! :)
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.

  





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Tue Oct 05, 2021 12:58 am
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soundofmind says...



COME WRITE WIT MEEEE
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.

  





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Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:18 am
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soundofmind says...



OKAY!!! GUYS!! WE FINISHED THE LAST POST

@looseleaf @JasmineFelicia if you could so kindly read it over in the pad or in the enspoilered bit below and let us know if it's good to post

Spoiler! :
THE FINALE


Only minutes after Magnolia, Bo, Liam, and Levi began messaging each other in the present, each of them suddenly heard a knock at the door, and found that a letter was left for them, with a plane ticket enclosed in an invitation. The invitation was brief, but unmistakable.

Meet me at 1409 W Terrace, Milthes, OK
Saturday, 4pm
Tickets enclosed and paid for! Excited to see you.
-Adeline Hagen-Sommers


It was a little cryptic, but considering they'd been in the Oklahoma only moments ago, they all knew who the letter was from - and it was easy to explain how quickly it had gotten to them.

Time travel, obviously.

When each of them landed in Oklahoma, they all found themselves walking out to the departure station at about the same time. With surprise and confusion, they all greeted each other, comparing their invitations to one another's until they saw an old, vintage car roll up to the sidewalk and roll its window down. In the front seat sat Adeline - but she looked different. This Adeline was several years older. Her hair was not as bright red as it used to be, and a few wrinkles showed themselves on her forehead, but this Adeline was no less radiant than her past self.

"I see you guy's haven't aged a day," Adeline said with a smirk. "Get in!"

"Wait, you-you're--" Liam stuttered.

"And you don't look a day over 30," Levi said with a smirk in return. "Seems a little odd, considering--"

"OooOOooOnly a few years have passed," Bo interrupted, glancing at the people passing around them. There weren't many people gawking, but Adeline's old car was getting a few looks. That, and they probably looked like a peculiar group.

"Yeah, Adeline," Magnoila said with a sarcastic smile. "You look good."

"Is no one going to explain anything?" Liam asked as the others started piling their luggage in the trunk. "Wait, is this the same car?"

"Sure is!" Adeline said in a chipper voice. "Now hurry up so we can get out of traffic."

Liam and Levi quickly slid into the back seat and Bo opened the door for Magnolia to get in next to them. When she was good, he closed the door and hopped into the front seat next to Adeline.

"I'll explain things on the way over," Adeline said, glancing into the rear-view mirror. "But I want it to be at least a little surprise."

The nearest airport to the small town of Milthes was about an hour away, so Adeline had plenty of time to talk. Between the five of them, Adeline was the only one really having to play catch up, since, for the rest of them, they'd all seen each other only a few days ago.

Levi was the most exhausted out of the five of them since his connecting flights from Britain, to New York, to St. Louis, all the way into Oklahoma took almost twenty-four hours. About fifteen minutes into the drive, he fell fast asleep between Liam and Magnolia, but Magnolia told Liam that if Levi started leaning that she wasn't going to be his pillow. Liam seemed to begrudgingly accept it when Levi slouched to his side with his head on Liam's shoulder.

While Levi was fast asleep, Adeline started to tell them about her past twenty or so years in the past. It was strange to see her so soon (and so much older), but she seemed excited to tell them all about her time with the Sommers family, and Rosie - as she called her - in particular.

Liam went on and on about how hard it had been to explain to his parents that he was going on a sudden impromptu trip across the country, and everyone seemed to want to hear Levi's story of what he told his own family, but he was out for the count. But they figured they would hear it later.

Bo and Magnolia didn't have too much trouble since they were both living on their own. They just had to take some time off work to make it work out. Bo mentioned having to bribe a friend to cover his shifts, but he seemed to be joking about it more than anything.

As the drive went on, they watched as the scenery began to change, and it started to look a little familiar. The land was still flat, but up ahead they could see a small town.

Or at least, what would've been small in the present, but was much bigger than it used to be.

They passed a sign that read: Welcome to Milthes, and they all looked at each other while Adeline just sat quietly, grinning to herself.

"Are we going to Sommers' old house?" Liam asked.

"I doubt it's still there anymore," Magnolia said. "It probably got torn down because it's a fire hazard. It was really cluttered, from what I remember."

"And it had low ceilings," Bo commented.

"Hey Adeline, were people shorter 100 years ago?" Liam asked.

Adeline just laughed. "You really haven't changed," she said.

"That's because it's been like, a week!" Liam retorted, which only made Adeline laugh more, and Magnolia and Bo laughed too.

The laughter seemed to wake Levi up, though, and he stirred, looking around groggily.

"Are we there yet?" Levi asked sleepily.

"Almost," Adeline said, and the others couldn't help but notice that she was driving through the town, and not into it. She took a turn down a small, paved road that started winding out into the country. The fields of grass gave them a familiar feeling, and eventually, they spotted the farm in the distance. The old farmhouse itself looked almost exactly like they left it. Liam was the one to point it out first.

"You're taking us to the farm!" Liam shouted the obvious.

"I'm still confused on how Adeline's not a hundred years old," Levi said, still sounding half-awake.

"Oh, she explained that when you were asleep," Bo said. "Turns out, they kept the time machine. So Adeline just traveled to the future to meet us after spending a few years in the past. Not too complicated."

"But where's Rosaline, then?" Levi asked.

"You can't just ask that," Magnolia scolded under her breath.

"It's fine, Magnolia," Adeline said, shrugging, "I thinks she passed in 1992. Myself, on the other hand, died in 1995."

There was a small silence in the car as it pulled up to the front of the large farmhouse.

"So... who lives here now?" Bo asked quietly.

"My great-grandchildren, probably," Adeline said as if she said it everyday.

"Do they know we're coming?" Magnolia asked. "Sure would be a big surprise if they didn't."

"I checked. They're in St. Barts," Adeline sighed, "Apparently my family's St. Bart people now."

"St. Bart," Liam echoed under his breath.

"So your family is..." Levi trailed off as everyone started getting out of the car.

"Rich?" Liam finished for him.

"With fifty years of making some cash money with stonks," Adeline chuckled, amused with her own 21st-Century lingo, "sorry, haven't used words like that in a while. Anyways, some people might say we are."

~ ~ ~ ~

The car came to a stop in front of the house. The group seemed to stare at it for a bit too long, considering it was a porch. Just a couple days ago, a family in 1943 greeted them on the porch. Now they were standing in front of it in the present, in the same car.

"It's like we were just here," Liam said, exiting the car. Bo helped Magnolia out of her seat.

"Seems like it was just yesterday."

Adeline chuckled at Levi's comment as she turned off the car. For her, it had been almost fifteen years since she had seen the others. Their wonder at the fact the farm was still here amused her to no end.

"Does anyone have a key?" Bo asked.

"I think there's one in that fake rock near the door," Adeline said, "That's where Dewey had one."

"Not finding any rocks here," Magnolia said.

"Can confirm," Bo echoed, and he walked up to the door handle, testing the lock.

"I guess we're breaking in, then." Magnolia said. "Well. No time like the present."

"You guys still have those lock-picking skills you used in the prison?" Adeline asked, half-expecting them to say no.

"You think I lost them so soon?" Bo asked with a laugh as he pulled out a pick from his pocket. "Kinda weird that we're breaking into your old house, but I'm down."

With that, he leaned down beside the lock and started picking at it.

"So, what's happened in the 2000s since I left?" Adeline tried to make conversation, "Not much, I presume."

"I did a lot of chores," Liam said unenthusiastically.

"Had a choco-taco on the way to the airport."

"I took a nap?" Levi offered.

"Oh, yeah. It's only been a week for you guys."

"I just went back to work," Bo said. "You know, like nothing even happened."

Finally, the lock clicked open, and with a little "aha!" Bo pulled the door open.

"Boom. Nothing broken, and we're in," Bo announced as he held the door open wide.

Magnolia slow clapped, and Liam and Levi joined in. Bo bowed dramatically.

"Nice job, man," Adeline said as she stepped inside the house. She stared at the room for a moment, "They've made some.. changes."

Liam looked around. The room was recently renovated, with basic grey couches and off-white walls. If he hadn't known any better, Liam would've thought they'd stepped into a show-home. "It looks... new?"

"Trust me, it wasn't Dewey, Rosie, or I that made it look like this," Adeline said, disgusted by her own relative's taste.

Adeline wandered over to the mantlepiece, examining the photos. There she was, with Rosie and their children. 1988. Besides that, there were no photos of Dewey or Dr. Sommers in the living room. Just cheesy pictures of Adeline's grandchildren and their kids.

Magnolia walked inside. "I'm guessing you don't like it?"

"This might be worse than what they did in the 90s," Adeline said, setting down a picture she had grabbed.

"Do I even want to know?" Magnolia asked.

"No," Adeline shook her head, "No, you do not."

Magnolia nodded solemnly in response.

"Anyways," Levi said, emerging from the back of the group, "Should we look around?"

~ ~ ~ ~

It was a little odd for everyone to be in a home mere days from the present and the past. The pieces of the home that added character were stripped away for a clean-cut, minimalist, modernized look that seemed to infect every room. The kitchen cabinets, once made of real wood and stained to be a warm red-brown, were traded in for simple white ones with silver handles. The appliances were all modern and sleek, and the decor looked like it came out of a pinterest post. Everything was tidy and the former clutter that proved people lived there seemed absent. It almost felt like a show-home, like the kind of decor you'd have in a home for sale.

They walked around the first floor, in and out of the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, and even down the hall to what used to be the main bedroom, which was accessible for Dewey. At least, when Dewey was alive.

There was a little bit of a cognitive dissonace for all of them, knowing that everyone they met from the past was no longer in their present. Even Adeline herself made a side-comment about her grave being outside on the property alongside Rosemary's. It was played as a joke, but the small sting of reality was something that couldn't be avoided.

When they finished poking their heads in the bedrooms and bathrooms on the top floor, they made their way out back. From afar, they could see that the barn had been repainted and repaired, and the dirt road to it had been paved. Where there was once a garden, there was only a flower bed, and where there was once a chicken coop, there was now a covered hot-tub. Or at least, that was what they thought at first.

When they got closer to the barn, they realized that the chicken coop had simply been relocated. There was a fenced-in area where a few chickens piddled about lazily in the sun.

"Do you think Henrietta had great-great-great grandchickens?" Magnolia commented when she heard the faint clucking.

"My answer is yes," Bo answered definitively.

"I'm glad at least the chickens are still here," Adeline added.

The others solemnly nodded, and they all paused for a moment at the door of the barn before Levi and Bo pulled it open.

It was a little cleaner, and a little more put-together. There were no horses in the barn at the moment, but there was some horse tack on the wall, as evidence that they had horses somewhere, just maybe boarded somewhere else. But what drew everyone's attention was a dusty old tarp in the back of the barn that covered what looked like a very tall box. Or perhaps, something resembling an arcade game.

The time machine.

Adeline was the one who approached it first, pulling away the tarp, letting dust cloud up the air and settle.

"Rose and I made improvements on the time machine over the years, but the first model still works," she said wistfully. "We kept it around for the memories, and passed it down to our kids. They never knew what it was, though."

"You didn't tell them?" Levi asked quietly.

"Well, we figured with one time machine mistake under our belts, we didn't need any more. We decided it'd be better for everyone to keep it a secret," Adeline said.

"And better for the timelines," Bo said.

"Do you think there's another timeline where none of us went back?" Magnolia mused.

"Wait, there's more than one timeline?" Liam expressed in genuine confusion.

That made everyone laugh. Levi patted Liam on the back.

"Don't you ever change, Liam."

At that point, Adeline was able to explain a little more about time travel from what she and Rose had learned, but she also explained that she wouldn't be leaving just yet. She still wanted to enjoy the rest of their day together.

As a little escape from the weird sense of recent nostalgia, the five of them decided to act like it was old times, and they went back to the house. Adeline helped herself to the kitchen and they all had lunch out on the back porch, just talking. There wasn't really a lot to catch up on with those in the present, so they mostly ended up hearing about Adeline's life in the past. She seemed to avoid talking much about her life in the future was interrupted by her going back, or how anything she knew about the future interrupted the past. It seemed that, after they all disappeared, they didn't run into much more trouble. The Sommers were able to avoid facing any dire consequences for housing draft-dodgers through some clever lies, and what sounded like pinning the blame on them, which was fine with all things considered.

After that, Adeline told a lot of stories about her kids and what life was like with the Sommers family. It was good to catch up, but as evening came around, they could all feel it in their guts that it wasn't forever.

The sun was starting to lower in the sky, hinting at the start of the evening hours with a warm orange sunset.

They'd migrated to the front porch, and Adeline was looking off towards the horizon.

"You know, this isn't the first time I've time traveled since we were taken into the past," she said. "But this will be the last."

All eyes and ears turned curiously to her as that statement solemnly gathered everyone's attention.

"In my travels I've learned that spending more than 24 hours in any period comes with more risks. Things can get messy. My presence here could do more harm than good," she said softly.

"What does that mean?" Liam interjected.

"Does that mean we messed stuff up back in the 40's?" Levi asked. "Or did you..."

"We figured things out, after you left," Adeline answered vaguely. "But I don't want you guys to worry about that, now. "I wanted to give you guys a chance to have some fun together, even though I can't stay very long. So I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of reserving rooms for you all at a resort. It's a bit of a drive from here, but I think you'll all enjoy it. The resort was developed a few years ago."

"Uh..." Bo started to say. "Wait, so is this you saying goodbye?"

"Not yet," Adeline said. "I'll give you guys a ride over."

"But after that you're leaving," Bo concluded.

"I've arranged for cabs to bring you back to the airport in a week," Adeline said, not exactly answering his question. "I hope that's enough time for you all to enjoy yourselves a little bit."

"I haven't had a day off since..." Magnolia pretends to count on her fingers, ticking them off one by one. "...1943? It's been awhile."

"I need to call my boss," Bo mumbled to himself.

"Yeah, I'll have to make sure the TA's can take over for a bit,"

"I actually took the liberty of talking to them for you," Adeline said casually.

There was a small pause.

"How much money did you say you made again?" Levi asked with squinted eyes.

Adeline smirked.

"Definently not gonna be able to bribe them with brownies, now." Magnolia said, smiling.

"I made them better offers than brownies," Adeline said, her smirk growing.

"An offer they couldn't refuse," Magnolia said. Bad accent? Bad accent.

"That makes it sound like she threatened them," Levi said with a laugh.

"I would do no such thing," Adeline countered innocently.

"You bribed... my parents?" Liam said, still looking lost in confusion.

"Oh, god, no," Adeline snorted. "I just talked to them Liam."

"Oh," Liam said quietly.

"I also said it was scholarship related, so I might've lied a little," Adeline added.

"Huh..." Liam hummed.

At that, Bo patted Liam on the back.

"On the bright side, we get a free vacation," Bo said.

"There was a dark side?" Levi quipped.

"Yes. Saying goodbye to Adeline," Bo answered.

And for another moment, all eyes were on Adeline again, but she turned to walk down the steps towards the car.

"Oh, come on, we can get all gushy later. We still have several hours in a car together," she said, waving for them to follow. "Come on."

"Just like old times," Magnolia said, standing up.

"I call shotgun again," Bo said.

"I call literally anything but the middle seat," Mags added.

"Same," Levi echoed.

"Seriously, you guys?" Liam groaned. "Fine. I'll take the middle seat."

At that, they all piled in, and Adeline got them back out on the road. The sun set about thirty minutes into the drive, and Levi continued to drift in and out of sleep. Liam ended up waking Levi up with several pokes and occasional flicks. Between the five of them, they talked a lot about each others' lives, made plenty of jokes, and shared funny stories. They stopped twice - once at a little gas station so they could go to the bathroom and get snacks, and once at a Waffle House because Bo was famished.

When they finally made it to the resort, it was close to 5am. The sky was still dark, but the lights on the huge hotel building made it stand out as they approached from a winding road off the highway.

Even in the dark, they could tell that it was bougie.

"Damn," Bo whistled.

"Hey, this is rated PG," Magnolia said.

"There are kids in the car, Bo," Adeline added.

"I'm nineteen," Levi emphasized.

"Does this mean we only have one f word allowance?" Liam asked.

"No, that's PG13," Adeline corrected.

"Details, details," Magnolia shook her head.

"But who gets the f word," Levi asked. "Do we vote on it?"

"I vote not you," Liam said.

"Hey guys, we're here," Adeline cut in.

The car came to a sudden stop, because Adeline apparently thought it would be funny to dramatically stomp on the brakes to stop the silly argument before it developed further. Everyone started to slowly get out, looking at the sleepily lit front door.

Once everyone grabbed their luggage out of the trunk, Adeline meaningfully cleared her throat.

"So now it's goodbye," she said.

There was a small silence that fell between the five of them, like everyone was waiting for someone to break it. It extended uncomfortably long.

"Well... is anyone going to say anything?" Adeline finally pressed.

"I was thinking if we didn't then you'd stay longer," Levi said. At that, Bo snorted.

"We'll miss you, Adeline," Bo said, stepping forward to give her a hug. "It's been a crazy... time. More time for you than it's been for us. But I'm glad we all go to meet. And thanks for giving us something special like this so we can all spend a little more time together."

He pulled away, settling his hand on her shoulder.

"It won't be the same with you missing, but I'll do my best to appreciate it," he said.

"I'm glad I got to meet you," Magnolia said. "I don't think it's sunk in that you won't be coming back, but- Well, we'll miss you. And thank you for this. I couldn't imagine a better send-off."

Adeline was starting to get a little teary-eyed, but before she could respond. Levi swooped in for the next hug.

"It's a shame we can't text from the 1940s to the 2020s," he said. "Otherwise I'd say we need to keep in touch."

When Levi pulled away from the hug, his eyes were teary too.

"But I think we all know that's impossible," he said with a sad smile.

At that, Liam wedged his way in to the growing hug crowd to get to Adeline, and he gave her a hug too. A quick, tight one before he pulled away, sniffing.

"Time travel safe," he said with a weak smile.

"You know I will," Adeline said with a smile in return as small tears went down her cheek. "We made sure of it this time."

"Good," Bo said. "Wouldn't want another time accident."

"But I'm happy that for us, the accident did happen," Adeline added. "So that I could meet all of you, and Rose, and the Sommers too."

At that, she pulled everyone into a quick group hug before letting go, pulling away and wiping her eyes dry with her sleeve.

"Well, I guess I should be going. You've all had a very long day and probably want to sleep. And I, well, I need to get headed back," she said, slowly walking around to the drivers' side of the car. She opened the car door, but paused, giving them all one last look.

"Get home safe," Magnolia said, teary eyed.

"And say hi to Henrietta for me," Bo said with a bittersweet smile.

Adeline laughed, just a little, shaking her head.

"Will do," she said, sliding into the car. "Will do."

And at that, the car door shut, and as Adeline pulled out of the hotel, she turned back to give them all one last wave goodbye. The four of them stood in front the entrance waving back until she disappeared down the road, into the night.

A solemn moment of silence passed until Levi broke it.

"You know," he said. "She never did say what the new time machine looked like."

"Do you think..." Liam started. "It was... the car?"

"Like Back to the Future?" Levi asked.

"Maybe we should check for scorch marks on the pavement in the morning," Bo quipped.

"More like afternoon," Levi said. "I feel like I could sleep forever."

Magnolia let out a loud yawn. "Literally same," she said.

"I guess that means we should get checked in then," Bo said.

"What was the name she told us the reservation was under?" Levi asked.

"Uhh," Magnolia's brain was blue-screening.

"Sommers," Bo said. "Obviously."

"Glad at least one of us remembered to bring a brain cell."

"Don't worry," Bo said with a smirk. "I'll share it. After we all get some sleep."

THE END

THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO SAY WE FINISHED AN SB!!!
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.

  





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Tue Oct 05, 2021 12:38 pm
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looseleaf says...



AMAZING ENDING GUYS

and obviously it’s the car that would be dope
  





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Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:20 pm
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JasmineFelicia says...



AAAAAA THATS SO EPIC. It's seriously really really awesome.
Hi, the name is Jasmine, but you can call me Jaz! Nice to meet you :D !
  





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Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:38 pm
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soundofmind says...



yes!! please do the honors looseleaf!
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.

  








All my life I've wanted to be someone; I guess I should have been more specific.
— Jane Wagner