diff --git a/filecache.cpp b/filecache.cpp
index 1f4024f..05da20e 100644
--- a/filecache.cpp
+++ b/filecache.cpp
@@ -2,13 +2,21 @@
 #include "filecache.hpp"
 #include "MurmurHash3.h"
 
+std::string GetCachedName(std::string str) {
+    uint32_t out;
+    MurmurHash3_x86_32(str.c_str(), str.size(), 0, &out);
+    return std::to_string(out);
+}
+
 Cache::Cache() {
     m_tmp_path = std::filesystem::temp_directory_path() / "abaddon-cache";
     std::filesystem::create_directories(m_tmp_path);
+    m_worker.set_file_path(m_tmp_path);
 }
 
 Cache::~Cache() {
-    m_canceled = true;
+    m_worker.stop();
+
     for (auto &future : m_futures)
         if (future.valid()) future.get();
 
@@ -22,12 +30,6 @@ void Cache::ClearCache() {
         std::filesystem::remove_all(path);
 }
 
-std::string Cache::GetCachedName(std::string str) {
-    uint32_t out;
-    MurmurHash3_x86_32(str.c_str(), str.size(), 0, &out);
-    return std::to_string(out);
-}
-
 void Cache::RespondFromPath(std::filesystem::path path, callback_type cb) {
     cb(path.string());
 }
@@ -35,28 +37,19 @@ void Cache::RespondFromPath(std::filesystem::path path, callback_type cb) {
 void Cache::GetFileFromURL(std::string url, callback_type cb) {
     auto cache_path = m_tmp_path / GetCachedName(url);
     if (std::filesystem::exists(cache_path)) {
+        m_mutex.lock();
         m_futures.push_back(std::async(std::launch::async, [this, cache_path, cb]() { RespondFromPath(cache_path, cb); }));
+        m_mutex.unlock();
         return;
     }
 
-    // needs to be initialized like this or else ::Get() is called recursively
-    if (!m_semaphore)
-        m_semaphore = std::make_unique<Semaphore>(Abaddon::Get().GetSettings().GetCacheHTTPConcurrency());
-
     if (m_callbacks.find(url) != m_callbacks.end()) {
         m_callbacks[url].push_back(cb);
     } else {
         m_callbacks[url].push_back(cb);
-        auto future = std::async(std::launch::async, [this, url]() {
-            if (m_canceled) return;
-            m_semaphore->wait();
-            if (m_canceled) return;
-            http::request req(http::REQUEST_GET, url);
-            m_semaphore->notify();
-            if (m_canceled) return;
-            OnResponse(req.execute());
+        m_worker.add_image(url, [this, url](const std::string &path) {
+            OnFetchComplete(url);
         });
-        m_futures.push_back(std::move(future));
     }
 }
 
@@ -71,6 +64,7 @@ std::string Cache::GetPathIfCached(std::string url) {
 
 // this just seems really yucky
 void Cache::CleanupFutures() {
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> l(m_mutex);
     for (auto it = m_futures.begin(); it != m_futures.end();) {
         if (it->valid() && it->wait_for(std::chrono::seconds(0)) == std::future_status::ready)
             it = m_futures.erase(it);
@@ -79,20 +73,131 @@ void Cache::CleanupFutures() {
     }
 }
 
-void Cache::OnResponse(const http::response_type &r) {
+void Cache::OnResponse(const std::string &url) {
     CleanupFutures(); // see above comment
-    if (r.error || r.status_code > 300) return;
 
-    std::vector<uint8_t> data(r.text.begin(), r.text.end());
-    auto path = m_tmp_path / GetCachedName(static_cast<std::string>(r.url));
-    FILE *fp = std::fopen(path.string().c_str(), "wb");
-    if (fp == nullptr)
-        return;
-    std::fwrite(data.data(), 1, data.size(), fp);
-    std::fclose(fp);
+    auto path = m_tmp_path / GetCachedName(url);
 
-    for (const auto &cb : m_callbacks[static_cast<std::string>(r.url)]) {
+    m_mutex.lock();
+    const auto key = static_cast<std::string>(url);
+    auto callbacks = std::move(m_callbacks[key]);
+    m_callbacks.erase(key);
+    m_mutex.unlock();
+    for (const auto &cb : callbacks)
         cb(path.string());
-    }
-    m_callbacks.erase(static_cast<std::string>(r.url));
+}
+
+void Cache::OnFetchComplete(const std::string &url) {
+    m_mutex.lock();
+    m_futures.push_back(std::async(std::launch::async, std::bind(&Cache::OnResponse, this, url)));
+    m_mutex.unlock();
+}
+
+FileCacheWorkerThread::FileCacheWorkerThread() {
+    m_multi_handle = curl_multi_init();
+    m_thread = std::thread(std::bind(&FileCacheWorkerThread::loop, this));
+}
+
+FileCacheWorkerThread::~FileCacheWorkerThread() {
+    if (!m_stop) stop();
+    for (const auto handle : m_handles)
+        curl_easy_cleanup(handle);
+    curl_multi_cleanup(m_multi_handle);
+}
+
+void FileCacheWorkerThread::set_file_path(const std::filesystem::path &path) {
+    m_data_path = path;
+}
+
+void FileCacheWorkerThread::add_image(const std::string &string, callback_type callback) {
+    m_queue_mutex.lock();
+    m_queue.push({ string, callback });
+    m_cv.notify_one();
+    m_queue_mutex.unlock();
+}
+
+void FileCacheWorkerThread::stop() {
+    m_stop = true;
+    if (m_thread.joinable()) {
+        m_cv.notify_all();
+        m_thread.join();
+    }
+}
+
+void FileCacheWorkerThread::loop() {
+    while (!m_stop) {
+        if (m_handles.size() == 0) {
+            std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(m_queue_mutex);
+            int s = m_queue.size();
+            if (s == 0)
+                m_cv.wait(lock);
+        }
+
+        if (m_handles.size() < Abaddon::Get().GetSettings().GetCacheHTTPConcurrency()) {
+            std::optional<QueueEntry> entry;
+            m_queue_mutex.lock();
+            if (m_queue.size() > 0) {
+                entry = std::move(m_queue.front());
+                m_queue.pop();
+            }
+            m_queue_mutex.unlock();
+
+            if (entry.has_value()) {
+                if (m_callbacks.find(entry->URL) != m_callbacks.end()) {
+                    printf("url is being requested twice :(\n");
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                // add the ! and rename after so the image loader thing doesnt pick it up if its not done yet
+                auto path = m_data_path / (GetCachedName(entry->URL) + "!");
+                FILE *fp = std::fopen(path.string().c_str(), "wb");
+                if (fp == nullptr) {
+                    printf("couldn't open fp\n");
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                CURL *handle = curl_easy_init();
+                m_handles.insert(handle);
+                curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_URL, entry->URL.c_str());
+                curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, 1L);
+                curl_easy_setopt(handle, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, fp);
+
+                m_handle_urls[handle] = entry->URL;
+                m_curl_file_handles[handle] = fp;
+                m_callbacks[entry->URL] = entry->Callback;
+                m_paths[entry->URL] = std::move(path);
+
+                curl_multi_add_handle(m_multi_handle, handle);
+            }
+        }
+
+        //int fds;
+        //curl_multi_wait(m_multi_handle, nullptr, 0, 10, &fds);
+        curl_multi_perform(m_multi_handle, &m_running_handles);
+
+        int num_msgs;
+        while (auto msg = curl_multi_info_read(m_multi_handle, &num_msgs)) {
+            if (msg->msg == CURLMSG_DONE) {
+                auto url = m_handle_urls.at(msg->easy_handle);
+                auto fp = m_curl_file_handles.find(msg->easy_handle);
+                std::fclose(fp->second);
+
+                curl_multi_remove_handle(m_multi_handle, msg->easy_handle);
+                curl_easy_cleanup(msg->easy_handle);
+
+                auto path = m_paths.at(url).string();
+                auto cb = m_callbacks.at(url);
+                m_callbacks.erase(url);
+                m_paths.erase(url);
+                m_handles.erase(msg->easy_handle);
+                m_handle_urls.erase(msg->easy_handle);
+                m_curl_file_handles.erase(fp);
+                // chop off the !
+                auto old = path;
+                path.pop_back();
+                std::filesystem::rename(old, path);
+                cb(path);
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/filecache.hpp b/filecache.hpp
index 0eacbbd..d25fdb3 100644
--- a/filecache.hpp
+++ b/filecache.hpp
@@ -1,13 +1,58 @@
 #pragma once
+#include <curl/curl.h>
 #include <functional>
 #include <string>
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <vector>
+#include <unordered_set>
 #include <unordered_map>
 #include <future>
+#include <mutex>
 #include "util.hpp"
 #include "http.hpp"
 
+class FileCacheWorkerThread {
+public:
+    using callback_type = sigc::slot<void(std::string path)>;
+
+    FileCacheWorkerThread();
+    ~FileCacheWorkerThread();
+
+    void set_file_path(const std::filesystem::path &path);
+
+    void add_image(const std::string &string, callback_type callback);
+
+    void stop();
+
+private:
+    void loop();
+
+    bool m_stop = false;
+    std::thread m_thread;
+
+    struct QueueEntry {
+        std::string URL;
+        callback_type Callback;
+    };
+
+    std::condition_variable m_cv;
+
+    mutable std::mutex m_queue_mutex;
+    std::queue<QueueEntry> m_queue;
+
+    std::unordered_map<CURL *, FILE *> m_curl_file_handles;
+    std::unordered_map<CURL *, std::string> m_handle_urls;
+    std::unordered_map<std::string, std::filesystem::path> m_paths;
+    std::unordered_map<std::string, callback_type> m_callbacks;
+
+    int m_running_handles = 0;
+
+    std::unordered_set<CURL *> m_handles;
+    CURLM *m_multi_handle;
+
+    std::filesystem::path m_data_path;
+};
+
 class Cache {
 public:
     Cache();
@@ -19,16 +64,16 @@ public:
     void ClearCache();
 
 private:
-    std::string GetCachedName(std::string str);
     void CleanupFutures();
     void RespondFromPath(std::filesystem::path path, callback_type cb);
-    void OnResponse(const http::response_type &r);
-
-    std::unique_ptr<Semaphore> m_semaphore;
+    void OnResponse(const std::string &url);
+    void OnFetchComplete(const std::string &url);
 
     std::unordered_map<std::string, std::vector<callback_type>> m_callbacks;
     std::vector<std::future<void>> m_futures;
     std::filesystem::path m_tmp_path;
 
-    bool m_canceled = false;
+    mutable std::mutex m_mutex;
+
+    FileCacheWorkerThread m_worker;
 };
diff --git a/imgmanager.cpp b/imgmanager.cpp
index 8d23144..261b8d6 100644
--- a/imgmanager.cpp
+++ b/imgmanager.cpp
@@ -45,10 +45,14 @@ void ImageManager::LoadFromURL(std::string url, callback_type cb) {
     m_cache.GetFileFromURL(url, [this, url, signal](std::string path) {
         try {
             auto buf = ReadFileToPixbuf(path);
-            m_cb_mutex.lock();
-            m_cb_queue.push([signal, buf]() { signal.emit(buf); });
-            m_cb_dispatcher.emit();
-            m_cb_mutex.unlock();
+            if (!buf)
+                printf("%s (%s) is null\n", url.c_str(), path.c_str());
+            else {
+                m_cb_mutex.lock();
+                m_cb_queue.push([signal, buf]() { signal.emit(buf); });
+                m_cb_dispatcher.emit();
+                m_cb_mutex.unlock();
+            }
         } catch (const std::exception &e) {
             fprintf(stderr, "err loading pixbuf from %s: %s\n", path.c_str(), e.what());
         }
@@ -61,10 +65,14 @@ void ImageManager::LoadAnimationFromURL(std::string url, int w, int h, callback_
     m_cache.GetFileFromURL(url, [this, url, signal, w, h](std::string path) {
         try {
             auto buf = ReadFileToPixbufAnimation(path, w, h);
-            m_cb_mutex.lock();
-            m_cb_queue.push([signal, buf]() { signal.emit(buf); });
-            m_cb_dispatcher.emit();
-            m_cb_mutex.unlock();
+            if (!buf)
+                printf("%s (%s) is null\n", url.c_str(), path.c_str());
+            else {
+                m_cb_mutex.lock();
+                m_cb_queue.push([signal, buf]() { signal.emit(buf); });
+                m_cb_dispatcher.emit();
+                m_cb_mutex.unlock();
+            }
         } catch (const std::exception &e) {
             fprintf(stderr, "err loading pixbuf animation from %s: %s\n", path.c_str(), e.what());
         }
diff --git a/settings.cpp b/settings.cpp
index 7790e36..bba97f3 100644
--- a/settings.cpp
+++ b/settings.cpp
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ std::string SettingsManager::GetLinkColor() const {
 }
 
 int SettingsManager::GetCacheHTTPConcurrency() const {
-    return GetSettingInt("http", "concurrent", 10);
+    return GetSettingInt("http", "concurrent", 20);
 }
 
 bool SettingsManager::GetPrefetch() const {