diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css b/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
index 6cdbf53..7790c6a 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
@@ -540,6 +540,10 @@ div#story_box div.markdown_help_toggler {
 	width: 610px;
 }
 
+div.comment_form_container {
+	max-width: 550px;
+}
+
 /* data tables */
 
 table.data caption {
diff --git a/app/controllers/invitations_controller.rb b/app/controllers/invitations_controller.rb
index 85e4d13..5787ddf 100644
--- a/app/controllers/invitations_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/invitations_controller.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ class InvitationsController < ApplicationController
     i.email = params[:email]
     i.memo = params[:memo]
     if i.save
-      i.send_email(root_url)
+      i.send_email
       flash[:success] = "Successfully e-mailed invitation to " <<
         params[:email]
     else
diff --git a/app/controllers/login_controller.rb b/app/controllers/login_controller.rb
index d0b83f4..96a7bd9 100644
--- a/app/controllers/login_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/login_controller.rb
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class LoginController < ApplicationController
       return forgot_password
     end
 
-    @found_user.initiate_password_reset_for_ip(root_url, request.remote_ip)
+    @found_user.initiate_password_reset_for_ip(request.remote_ip)
 
     flash.now[:success] = "Password reset instructions have been e-mailed " <<
       "to you."
diff --git a/app/mailers/email_reply.rb b/app/mailers/email_reply.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7db75e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/mailers/email_reply.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+class EmailReply < ActionMailer::Base
+  default :from => "nobody@lobste.rs"
+
+  def reply(comment, user)
+    @comment = comment 
+    @user = user
+
+    mail(:to => user.email, :from => "Lobsters <nobody@lobste.rs>",
+      :subject => "[Lobsters] Reply from #{comment.user.username} on " <<
+      "#{comment.story.title}")
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/mailers/invitation_mailer.rb b/app/mailers/invitation_mailer.rb
index e87d13a..48a30b9 100644
--- a/app/mailers/invitation_mailer.rb
+++ b/app/mailers/invitation_mailer.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 class InvitationMailer < ActionMailer::Base
-  default from: "nobody@lobste.rs"
-
-  def invitation(root_url, invitation)
-    @root_url = root_url
+  def invitation(invitation)
     @invitation = invitation
 
-    mail(to: invitation.email, from: "Lobsters Invitation <nobody@lobste.rs>",
+    mail(:to => invitation.email,
+      :from => "Lobsters Invitation <nobody@lobste.rs>",
       subject: "[Lobsters] Welcome to Lobsters")
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/mailers/password_reset.rb b/app/mailers/password_reset.rb
index da95239..b993ed9 100644
--- a/app/mailers/password_reset.rb
+++ b/app/mailers/password_reset.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
 class PasswordReset < ActionMailer::Base
-  default from: "nobody@lobste.rs"
-
-  def password_reset_link(root_url, user, ip)
-    @root_url = root_url
+  def password_reset_link(user, ip)
     @user = user
     @ip = ip
 
-    mail(to: user.email, from: "Lobsters <nobody@lobste.rs>",
-      subject: "[Lobsters] Reset your password")
+    mail(:to => user.email, :from => "Lobsters <nobody@lobste.rs>",
+      :subject => "[Lobsters] Reset your password")
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/comment.rb b/app/models/comment.rb
index e3898eb..ec430b6 100644
--- a/app/models/comment.rb
+++ b/app/models/comment.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
   belongs_to :story
   has_many :votes,
     :dependent => :delete_all
+  belongs_to :parent_comment,
+    :class_name => "Comment"
   
   attr_accessible :comment
 
@@ -10,7 +12,7 @@ class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
     :indent_level
 
   before_create :assign_short_id_and_upvote
-  after_create :assign_votes, :mark_submitter
+  after_create :assign_votes, :mark_submitter, :email_reply
   after_destroy :unassign_votes
 
   MAX_EDIT_MINS = 45
@@ -54,6 +56,27 @@ class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
     Keystore.increment_value_for("user:#{self.user_id}:comments_posted")
   end
 
+  def email_reply
+    begin
+      if self.parent_comment_id && u = self.parent_comment.try(:user)
+        if u.email_replies?
+          EmailReply.reply(self, u).deliver
+        end
+
+        if u.pushover_replies?
+          Pushover.push(u.pushover_user_key, u.pushover_device, {
+            :title => "Lobsters reply from #{self.user.username} on " <<
+              "#{self.story.title}",
+            :message => self.plaintext_comment,
+            :url => self.url,
+            :url_title => "Reply to #{self.user.username}",
+          })
+        end
+      end
+    rescue
+    end
+  end
+
   # http://evanmiller.org/how-not-to-sort-by-average-rating.html
   # https://github.com/reddit/reddit/blob/master/r2/r2/lib/db/_sorts.pyx
   def confidence
@@ -85,6 +108,11 @@ class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
       :filter_html).to_html
   end
 
+  def plaintext_comment
+    # TODO: linkify then strip tags and convert entities back
+    comment
+  end
+
   def flag!
     Story.update_counters self.id, :flaggings => 1
   end
@@ -132,4 +160,8 @@ class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
 
     (Time.now.to_i - self.created_at.to_i < (60 * MAX_EDIT_MINS))
   end
+
+  def url
+    self.story.comments_url + "/comments/#{self.short_id}"
+  end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/invitation.rb b/app/models/invitation.rb
index 5251d0d..371b650 100644
--- a/app/models/invitation.rb
+++ b/app/models/invitation.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class Invitation < ActiveRecord::Base
     end
   end
 
-  def send_email(root_url)
-    InvitationMailer.invitation(root_url, self).deliver
+  def send_email
+    InvitationMailer.invitation(self).deliver
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/story.rb b/app/models/story.rb
index bd3450a..6d3968d 100644
--- a/app/models/story.rb
+++ b/app/models/story.rb
@@ -84,12 +84,12 @@ class Story < ActiveRecord::Base
     self.tags_to_add = []
   end
 
-  def comments_url(root_url = "/")
-    "#{short_id_url(root_url)}/#{self.title_as_url}"
+  def comments_url
+    "#{short_id_url}/#{self.title_as_url}"
   end
   
-  def short_id_url(root_url = "/")
-    root_url + "s/#{self.short_id}"
+  def short_id_url
+    Rails.application.routes.url_helpers.root_url + "s/#{self.short_id}"
   end
 
   @_comment_count = nil
@@ -187,8 +187,8 @@ class Story < ActiveRecord::Base
     u.gsub(/^_+/, "").gsub(/_+$/, "")
   end
 
-  def url_or_comments_url(root_url = "/")
-    self.url.blank? ? self.comments_url(root_url) : self.url
+  def url_or_comments_url
+    self.url.blank? ? self.comments_url : self.url
   end
 
   def is_editable_by_user?(user)
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index cdaa281..c18fc66 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
     Keystore.value_for("user:#{self.id}:comments_posted").to_i
   end
 
-  def initiate_password_reset_for_ip(root_url, ip)
+  def initiate_password_reset_for_ip(ip)
     self.password_reset_token = Utils.random_str(40)
     self.save!
 
-    PasswordReset.password_reset_link(root_url, self, ip).deliver
+    PasswordReset.password_reset_link(self, ip).deliver
   end
 
   def linkified_about
diff --git a/app/views/comments/_commentbox.html.erb b/app/views/comments/_commentbox.html.erb
index e5db173..f432d9c 100644
--- a/app/views/comments/_commentbox.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/comments/_commentbox.html.erb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<div class="form_container">
+<div class="comment_form_container">
 <%= form_tag("/comments/#{story.short_id}", { :id => "comment_form" }) do |f| %>
   <% if comment.parent_comment_short_id.present? %>
     <%= hidden_field_tag "parent_comment_short_id",
diff --git a/app/views/email_reply/reply.text.erb b/app/views/email_reply/reply.text.erb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58e1400
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/email_reply/reply.text.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<%= @comment.user.username %> has replied to you:
+
+  <%= word_wrap(@comment.plaintext_comment, :line_width => 72).gsub(/\n/, "\n  ") %>
+
+You can view this reply at:
+
+<%= @comment.url %>
diff --git a/app/views/invitation_mailer/invitation.text.erb b/app/views/invitation_mailer/invitation.text.erb
index 11cff69..25e840f 100644
--- a/app/views/invitation_mailer/invitation.text.erb
+++ b/app/views/invitation_mailer/invitation.text.erb
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ The user <%= @invitation.user.username %> has invited you to the website Lobster
 
 To create an account, visit the URL below:
 
-<%= @root_url %>invitations/<%= @invitation.code %>
+<%= root_url %>invitations/<%= @invitation.code %>
diff --git a/app/views/password_reset/password_reset_link.text.erb b/app/views/password_reset/password_reset_link.text.erb
index 67b36cc..985d829 100644
--- a/app/views/password_reset/password_reset_link.text.erb
+++ b/app/views/password_reset/password_reset_link.text.erb
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ Someone at <%= @ip %> requested to reset your account password
 on lobste.rs.  If you submitted this request, visit the link below to
 set a new password.  If not, you can disregard this e-mail.
 
-<%= @root_url %>login/set_new_password?token=<%= @user.password_reset_token %>
+<%= root_url %>login/set_new_password?token=<%= @user.password_reset_token %>
diff --git a/extras/pushover.rb b/extras/pushover.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf75f13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extras/pushover.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+class Pushover
+  cattr_accessor :API_KEY
+
+  # this needs to be overridden in config/initializers/production.rb
+  @@API_KEY = nil
+
+  def self.push(user, device, params)
+    if !@@API_KEY
+      return
+    end
+
+    begin
+      s = Sponge.new
+      s.fetch("https://api.pushover.net/1/messages.json", :post, {
+        :token => @@API_KEY,
+        :user => user,
+        :device => device
+      }.merge(params))
+    rescue => e
+      Rails.logger.error "error sending to pushover: #{e.inspect}"
+    end
+  end
+end