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When I'd first walked through the entry, I saw that it was
regularly swept. But the sweeping had missed the faintest traces
of varicolored dust that had seeped into the almost imperceptible
cracks between the floorboards. I would've missed it myself, had
not the sun been at exactly the right angle as I'd entered and
slipped off my shoes. I'd taken a few moments to investigate; it
looked like the remains of the kind of circles used for European-
style ritual magic. I'd raised an eyebrow at that -- the
combination was undeniably odd -- but, hey, it wasn't *my*
business what they did with their temple.

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Belldandy smiled indulgently and ran her fingers through Skuld's
hair. "He is, little sister, he is. But he's happier when he
has friends he's made himself, not had forced upon him." She
brushed the trailing ends of the younger goddess' raven cowlick
out of her eyes for a moment. "He's going to be with us for all
eter... forever, after all; it's not like they can steal him away
from us. Can't you share Oniisan for just a mortal lifetime, if
it makes him happy?"

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Behind me, Chris suddenly spoke up. "It hitchhiked?" There was
a hint of a smile in his voice I didn't understand.
I went for the intellectual response. "Huh?" Beside me, Keiichi
had turned and was giving Chris a curious look.
Chris ignored both of us and stepped up to the battered little
car. He fingered one of the creases in its fender. "See that
dent?" he asked. "I've named it 'Arthur'. It goes everywhere
the Ford does."

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"You do," Doug replied in a curiously high-pitched voice, "and
I'll give you *such* a pinch!"

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Skuld did something with her fingers, and the thread vanished.
"Of course you do. Free will trumps almost everything. While it
still flows through my hands, your thread is pure potential,
capable of whatever you care to achieve. The vision you saw was
just the most likely events, not a fixed destiny. You can change
*anything* about your life, even the place where I cut your
thread. Don't *ever* forget that!"

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Leatherboy wore a manic grin but the Freddie Mercury clone looked
to be in a towering rage.

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apparent concern, he strolled around me to look down on his
friend, who was still on his back trying to fill his lungs, and
grinned at him with manic amusement.

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They had a TV -- a set that looked like it had
once been part of Keiichi's dorm furnishings -- but it was
broken, and Skuld hadn't gotten around to fixing it yet.

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Chris' casual mention of a "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"
puzzled me greatly.
...
I made a resolution to look into the issue further, then laid the
thought to rest for the night.

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As the edge of
drowsiness began to fuzz my mind, I wondered if all the other
Celestials in this timeline were as personable, as *human*, the
four under whose roof I now dwelt.

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I'd like to point out that any laws of transfictionality are of somewhat less import than the laws of drama.

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I still have to come up with some art for this piece, though. I can't help but picture Chris as a dark-haired and freckled Troubadour, though, and I *know* that ain't right...

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the Skee-ball arcade was a nice touch, esp. if Nekomi is in fact swarming with divinities; as Kevin Smith tells us, God *loves* Skee-ball.

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It's also nice to see Senbei used in an OMG fic of any stripe;

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I'm also pleased to note that Doug has managed to pull his head out of his rear end about the Goddesses, or at least unclenched somewhat; after the teaser and first chapter, I was worried he'd be pulling a repeat of what happened with the Sabres. Telling off Megatokyo's greatest high-heeled vigilantes is one thing, but if he'd popped off on _Belldandy_ the way he'd popped off on Sylia, I would have lost a *lot* of sympathy for the character, to put it mildly.

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By and large, you guys have got the characters' "voices" down to a tee, with the sole exception of our boy Toshiyuki. To me, he seemed *way* off.

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What would happen if Doug ripped a copy of the Gods CD and played it full blast at Mara?

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I'll have to check, but I remember seeing Skuld re-form the chalk from the drawings instead of sweaping it in one Manga so I'm not sure Doug would see colored dust.

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Hum, did Belldandy use forever as a tie-in to Keiichi's wish for her to be with him forever?

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I didn't see this in the Concordance. I know it was listed in DW2 but everyone might not have read the other steps.

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This makes one think, is there anyway to change a thread once it has passed Skuld's hands? If so, what would that do to reality? Paradox might be the only one that knows or can know.

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Like to use "manic" and "grin" when talking about Ootaki I see.

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but what did they say to Keiichi? If they said nothing now what will they say when Skuld has not fixed it in the next few days/weeks?

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I belive it should be "as personable, as *human*, as the four"

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Uh, Bob, I think you might have missed something in the Concordance. In the scene where Chris is talking to his friends, including the servitor of Lightning, some people (read: people who aren't familiar with IN) may not know who Chris is referring to or why the triads are important.

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On a similar note, how much actual authority would a triad (or, for that matter, Dominic him/herself) have over Chris?

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On a similar note, how much actual authority would a triad (or, for that matter, Dominic him/herself) have over Chris?

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I'm going to make an Executive Decision here:
1) Yes, that did happen.
2) Wisely, no one told Paradox.

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Bob,
Paradox is an engineer. Questions like that can be taken as a *challenge*.

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Ware the wrath of a quiet woman.

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Belldandy surprised me by ignoring him, and cranked her smile to 11. "Thank you! I do try my best."

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"...Belldandy goes to eleven."

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