Welcome to Gaia! ::

The previous poll is mysteriously gone! Whodunnit?

Versi did it. Duh. She's to blame for everything, including global warming. 0.21232876712329 21.2% [ 31 ]
The Gaian admins. They're finally cracking down on Versi's bad behavior. 0.054794520547945 5.5% [ 8 ]
The heathens. 0.095890410958904 9.6% [ 14 ]
MISS SCARLET IN THE BALLROOM WITH THE WRENCH. 0.38356164383562 38.4% [ 56 ]
The pollwhores, who also burned down our villages and took our women. 0.25342465753425 25.3% [ 37 ]
Total Votes:[ 146 ]
1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 1591 1592 1593 > >> >>> »|

THE BRANCH IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED.
The Branch will no longer be operating as a charity. I've given this some thought, and I was gonna do the normal charity route, but the prices of things have gone up so much that I wouldn't be a help to anyone. Doing things as I used to, raising insane amounts of gold, would kill me. I don't have that kind of time to devote to Gaia anymore.

To be honest, I don't miss Gaia. I just miss the people who stayed around this thread waiting to talk to me. If you're one of them and you missed it, here's how you can reach me:

AIM: August Falling
MSN: vox.stellarum@hotmail.com

I might quit altogether and give away my stuff. But for now I'm staying put and whatever. Thanks to all of you for making this place so great for so long. heart



1. Table of Contents (You are here!)
2. [ <3 ] Introduction
3. [ <3 ] The 11 Commandments
4. [ <3 ] Current Quest
5. [ <3 ] Waiting List
6. [ <3 ] Donators
7. [ <3 ] History
8. [ <3 ] Giveaways
9. [ <3 ] Banners
10. [ <3 ] Affiliates
11. [ <3 ] Important People
12. [ <3 ] Achieved Items
13. [ <3 ] FAQ
14. [ <3 ] Rants
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Welcome to The Giving Branch! We are a charity different from most you see on Gaia in that we quest with you rather than just giving you gold for your quest. Although we are unconventional, we hope for success (and fame, and rock n' roll, and chicks, etc.) ... and although we have been around for a long time and accumulated many pages, we strive to make you feel at home and among friends.

We started out as a mere ... well, branch charity. Literally. When The Giving Tree was faced with its first major quest for an Angelic Sash, Alari and I feared that it would take a while before we got to the next questor. So lo and behold, the Branch was born, and the rest of the waiting list was undertaken. The rest is history from there. And you can read the history a few posts down. whee

If you would like help with your quest, PLEASE read the Rules and FAQ before asking for help! We have a waiting list that empties itself rather slowly because of how we work, and requesting when we're still working on that list = not good. So please be aware of that.

Other than that, please enjoy yourselves here, and drop me a casual "what up" if you see me bouncing around anywhere.

If you would like donate, please send all trades to the charity mule, Dude of the Roots. Also, items will be available in his and my Marketplace stores from time to time, so check there often.


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This is Dude of the Roots.
If you see him around, don't be afraid.
He'll be too busy admiring himself to be mean.


* ~ * ~ *


This is our sister charity, The Giving Tree -- the charity that started it all. Without her, the Branch would not exist. Worship Alarichan in all of her almighty giving glory, and help her out as much as you would the Branch.
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1. Thou shalt obey Gaia's Terms of Service. Except for that whole language part, because thou wilt see Versi going off in tirades of obscenities that would make her grandmother spin in her grave. Thou shouldst not be afraid of speaking thy mind.

2. Thou shalt not request until there is an announcement to do so. We will have forms available then, so please do not make up thy own or use information from the Current Quest post.

3. Thou shalt not advertise, spam, or beg. By doing any of these, thou willst get on Versi's Bad Side, and thou dost not want that. domokun

4. When requesting, thou shalt have at least 500 posts to thy name.

5. If thine item costs 20k or more, thou shalt have a quest thread that is at least a week old AND 10 pages long. The better thy thread looks, the happier we'll be!

6. Thou shalt have 15% of the item's worth before thou applieth for help.

7. For multi-item quests, thou shalt work on the item thou requested rather than something else. If thou shalt achieve that item before we get to thee, we will gladly help thee with an item of equal or lesser value.

8. Thou shalt not change your item in the middle of thy quest while we're helping thee.

9. Thou shalt not PM us unless thou wouldst like to be our affiliate. If thou PMeth us, we shalt ignore thee out of spite. If thy quest is up next, we will PM thee, but thou shalt lose thy spot on the waiting list if thou dost not reply within 5 days!

10. If there are people around, thou shalt not post just "bump," but thou shalt converse! If and only if no one is around canst thou bump.

11. THOU SHALT READ THE WHOLE FRONT PAGE! We'll know if thou dideth not, trust me.
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This post does not concern you right now. 3nodding There are better posts to read on this page.
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This post is not important to you, because we will be sending out PMs and such regarding who is next. If you say something along the lines of, "Oh, but this spot says it's achieved, so it must be empty! Can I have the spot?" ... then I will be forced to assume that you can't read and just ignore you. Because then you wouldn't be able to read my response anyway. 4laugh heart



1. Autumn_fury - Nitemare Minis
*achieved!*
2. Kairisesshy - Joker Hat white-black *achieved!*
3. Xiatara - Nitemare Scarf *achieved!*
4. Illithya - Golden Laurels *achieved!*
5. Xeroxer - Bao *achieved!*
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All donations towards the current quest are in dark red.

[Kou-T] - 5,000g + '05 Junes x2 + 2,580g + '05 Augusts x2 eek eek heart heart
AkibeJosephus - 1,500g eek heart
Apathetic Whore - 1,000g heart
Arekuchan - 8,000g eek heart
Azure_sea - 1,000g heart
Bazooka Girl's Charity - 2,000g eek heart
ChocoHearts - 15,000g!!! + 15,000g~!!! eek crying heart heart
DaakuDoragon - 1,000g heart
Maiden214 - 700g heart
Master Twibble (The Charity For Charities) - 1,000g + 1,500g + 5,000g + 7,000g!!! eek eek heart
Milorganite - 10,000g! eek eek heart
Panpear - 500g heart
Pyrolith - 942g + 500g + 360g + 300g + 1,135 eek heart
Sakura Alchemist - 1,503g eek heart
Setet - 1,000g + 1,500g + 5,000g + 2,000g eek eek heart
Shnobes - 2,000g + 20,000g!!! + 5,000g eek eek crying heart heart
THE Santa Claus - 1,500g + 2,000g + 1,500g eek heart heart
Zealotic_Blade - 1,911g eek heart

Charity Pets Profits
Our good friend Panpear runs the awesome store Charity Pets, where you can buy cute pets and 50% of sales will benefit select charities. We are one such charity, and here I will list the monthly profits that we've made. ^_^


July 2005 -- 550g
August 2005 -- 100g (Aw darn...)
September 2005 -- 2,000g eek Dizzamn!
October 2005 -- 400g
November 2005 -- 120g gonk
December 2005 / January 2006 -- 200g
February 2006 -- 900g :0
March 2006 -- 200g
April/May 2006 -- 200g
June 2006 -- 200g
July, August, September 2006 -- 400g O__o

Old Donations
.[Royalty]. - Daisy's Sunny Dress
[ Pat ] - Jolly Hat
9ine - Dried Grass Skirt
Aku no Neko - 50,000g!!!!!! : biggrin IES::
Alarichan - 1,000g + Flower Crown + 1,810g
Angel of all Angels - 200g
Artemai - EvEn MoRe KoNfuZeD SHiRT, KoNfUzEd PiNk PaNtZ, KoNfuZeD PiNk SHoEz + 300g(?)
Charity for Charities - 15,000g!!!!
ChocoHearts - 2,200g
CookiePino - 2,000g
DaakuDoragon - 1,000g + 1,200g + 2,000g + 4,000g + 2,000g
DarkDemon2004 - Easter Basket
Darkefyre - Leather Elf Shoes
Frosted Muffins (the Charity for Charities) - 1,000g
Halloween Charity Ball - 14,500g!!
HikaruXanadu - 4 V-Pin left halves, 3 V-Pin right halves
Jade Krystal - 669g
Jasonu Samurai - 1,000g
Katlyne - 100g
KillerDrill900 - 200g
kuni-toko-tachi - 1,000g + Spirited Hat
Maiden214 - 100g
Morning - 700g
Mysterious girlie - 1,000g
Panpear - 450g + 1,250g + 500g + 200g
Pokarose - 8g
Priea - 200g
Princess Aylanoke - 700g
Rini-san - Our banners!
Sapphyreseraph - Thank You Letter for Feb 2005
Sanzo-chan - 500g
Saria White Dragon - 100g
Sass_cat - 50g
Setet - 1,000g + 1,000g
Shinobi Kitty + Zekk - February Letter
Somechick_73 - 1,500g
spoonie luv - 100g
TheSecretNinjaNitsua - 1,702g + 700g
TSFCC - 1,000g + Thank You Letter for December 2004
Useless Bob - 200g
Vivyen - 500g
Waters Sanctuary - 1,000g
xhatexmexlaterx - 150g
Zealotic_Blade - 1,481g + Mummy Mask + Hockey Mask

Total received: 117,270g, items, and banners! ^_^


Fortunately for us, our list of awesome donators was preserved. We love these people always, and we'll do the same for you if you help. We really need the support. If you would like to donate, please send all trades to Dude of the Roots.
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July 10, 2007 -- The Giving Branch is officially closed.
February 5, 2007 -- What? Versi needs to update the history? Um. With the Giving Tree apparently no more, the fate of the Giving Branch is to be determined by its regulars and pollwhores alike. Will we stay the same? Will we begin to just hand out gold? Stay tuned...
August 10, 2006 -- Versi starts working at The Chuuko Charity. What does this mean for the Branch? Well, nothing bad, I assure you! Just that she now has something else to do on Gaia when business here is slow. ^_^; You might be seeing joint contests and such in the future between us.
July 28, 2006 -- Versi's 15k giveaway, which she thought would be a huge flop, ends. 3nodding Turns out she was able to give to people after all, and it made them mucho happy.
June 16, 2006 -- Page 1200 reached! And we're not questing for anything at the moment (we gave teh monay to Nashuto for his NM Scarf quest instead, because Aumy quit her quest), just saving up and waiting. 3nodding
March 9, 2006 -- >>; Okay, so this is very late, but we finished teh hat quest and we're onto the Nitemare Minis for Autumn_Fury. RAWK.
March 5, 2006 -- Holy crap, we're at page 1,000! SydelleRain, Autumn_Fury, and Smartiesaddict all win art and stuff prizes. :0
February 9, 2006 -- Started the Joker Hat quest for Kairisesshy.
February 8, 2006 -- Laurels quest finished. Dizzamn, that was fast. x3
February 5, 2006 -- Golden Laurels quest for Illithya begins and page 900 reached.
February 4, 2006 -- Bao quest ends! We helped Mikey win! Ooooh yeah. XD
January 31, 2006 -- Bao quest for Xeroxer begins! The race is ooon, yo. :3
January 8, 2006 -- Page 800, yay! Took long enough. sweatdrop
November 10, 2005 -- Reached page 700, while the Tree has sort of wilted to its demise... gonk
October 13, 2005 -- Reached page 600!
October 11, 2005 -- One NM Scarf quest down, another NM Scarf quest for nashuto to go! xd
September 15, 2005 -- Reached page 500! Shnobes was the first to post on it and won 1k. Holy snoz. n_n

September 1, 2005 -- Began the Nitemare Scarf quest for lnconnu-.
August 29, 2005 -- Pengies quest is finished! Yay!
August 22, 2005 -- Began helping SientWritter5431 with his quest for the adorable Fuzzy Penguin Slippers.
August 18, 2005 -- Page 400 reached! DeathBySword is the first to post and won an Easter 2k5 Basket.
August 5, 2005 -- Versi is back from her two-week excursion to Japan and enthralled to see that the Branch is still standing! Hurrah!
July 18, 2005 -- Zombie G CORP Labcoat quest finished. Phew. ^^ Also, page 300 reached! Sientwriter5431 is first and won a full V Pin.

July 7, 2005 -- Page 200 reached!
July 3, 2005 -- Began questing for the Zombie G CORP Labcoat for Xeroxer.
July 2, 2005 -- Achieved the hat for Tiager. ^_^
June 30, 2005 -- The Branch returns from the bowels of the new forum code, after ANOTHER temporary thread was made to start quests along. Geebus.
June 28, 2005 -- Began helping Tiager with his quest for the Black Musketeer Hat.

June 12, 2005 -- Page 100 reached!
June 5, 2005 -- Branch is moved to its current home. Let's hope it stays there.
April 13, 2005 -- The Tree and Branch start a temporary thread to avoid dying during the archiving glitch. Seriously, WTF?
August 17, 2004 -- Branch is moved to its second thread.
April 10, 2004 -- Original Branch created.
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So, that 15k giveaway was a huge success thanks to Versi's spontaneous Exchange whoring. 3nodding She might hold something else here soon before college really kicks up, so keep an eye out for her blatant announcements.
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[url=http://tinyurl.com/7wzla][img]http://tinyurl.com/8ph8q[/img][/url]

winglessfox donated this banner to us! Yay! heart

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That's right, we jumped on the bandwagon and bought one of these, made lovingly by DegenerateGirl (aka Zan). We love. 3nodding heart

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[url=http://tinyurl.com/7wzla][img]http://tinyurl.com/5gv95[/img][/url]

If you would like a smaller banner, this one is for you.

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Or this one, donated randomly and lovingly by chasirecat. 3nodding

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[url=http://tinyurl.com/7wzla][img]http://i1.tinypic.com/noehsh.png[/img][/url]

And if THAT isn't small enough for you, then try this button made for us by Tykhe.

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Sanzo-chan donated this wacky holiday banner to us. xd heart

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Heartake made this for us while our second thread was kinda dying. I'm so glad I just found it. whee heart Thank you, Heart-san!

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Queen M donated this rather blunt banner to us. xd We love you Queeneh. heart

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Spirit Falconer made this spiffy banner (featuring smex!Versi) for us. ^^ heart

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Rabid Nozomi made this colorful, beautiful, AWESOME acorn banner for us, and no, that's not a bug on the acorn. :3 heart
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These are the charities, quests, shops, and other places that we have either begged to be affiliated with or have accepted as affilliates. If you would like to be the Branch's affiliate, please PM me, Versipellis, with a link to your charity / quest / wherever.


Charities

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If you're a newbie and you want shoes for your bare little feet, then Setet can help you! She's awesome.

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Questors can get help here from the lovely Keika and Mina who run this well-organized charity.

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Wills the Guy maintains this huge, well-run charity in hopes of giving 1k to ten questors a month.

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A very cute and well-organized charity for quests run by Mousey. :3 CHUU.


Quests

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Meilin is questing for what every otaku wants -- to cosplay! AND to be purple at the same time. :3 Her quest is a big one, but it's put together well. Check her out.

Shops
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This is Panpear's pet store for charities. She's giving 50% of certain sales to the Branch for every month you buy pets of ours. crying Love upon her forever.

Others
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Go here for an awesome list of awesome charities! I mean, we're on it. That's why it's awesome. mrgreen

RESOURCES AND ADVICE FOR NEW CHARITY OWNERS
Santa put up this guide for those of you who are just starting charities or are thinking of doing so. Even if he doesn't have a banner, this is extremely useful. Hell, I found it useful. Go check it out!

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The Gaian Yellowpages has practically everything you could ever want on Gaia. Charities, quests, shops, you name it! It's really nifty. 3nodding

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Alarichan - If you see her, bow to her. She is the goddess of the Tree, and the Branch would not be here without her. It would shrivel up and die without the love she puts into all of her charity work, and Versi's brain would resemble a prune if Alari were not here to help her. She is too great for so many words Versi could put here. Kiss the ground she walks upon, or at least say hi. Ingrate. mad

ChocoHearts - He took over the Tree for Alari when she was having brain convulsions from schoolwork. He also helped Versi sort out the waiting lists when they were becoming hideously confusing. Love upon him as well, because he's accomplished a lot for our charities.

Sanzo-chan - Walk, don't run, if you see our resident perv and hilarious banner-maker. She likes dwelling with Versi in mugs of hot chocolate and being completely random. That's why we love her. Oh, and because she's been our great friend long before we decided to help her on her Devil Tail quest, and even AFTER we finished helping her.

Panpear - Panpear is a good friend of ours who has always been around to help. She helped us run the Giving Roots, the store we had way back when, and donated lots. Presently, she is running Charity Pets to benefit the Branch and other great charities, and helping Versi control Nitsua's charity while he is semi-absent from Gaia. We love her all the more for it. ^_^

Passing Shade and plague_bringer are the thread's guard dogs. If you piss Versi off, expect to see either of these guys around, and hope that you can run fast enough. 3nodding Sam (Passing Shade) is Versi's awesome, loving and beloved boyfriend who finally succumbed to TEH DARK SIDE Gaia's cuteness and is most often seen beneath Versi as she sits on his head. Plague is a questor whom Versi personally helped, and who never stops questing to become teh uber smex.

[Kou-T] is Versi's sig whore. xd Not only does he parade around with the Branch's banner in his sig, but now she parades around with a picture of him in hopes that people shall follow the smex back to her equally smexy charity.

Other lovededed regulars include Autumn_Fury, DeathBySword / Smartiesaddict, Shnobes, DaakuDoragon (the drive-by bump mastah), Master Twibble, Nios, Xeroxer, Jeisu, Obscene Irene, Pyrolith, Manwe, and MANY others. Even if you're not listed here because Versi has the attention and memory span of an amoeba, she knows who you are and she still loves you. heart
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Black Street Pants
Nitemare Scarf (times FOUR!)
OMG Hat
Angelic Sash
ninja Ninja Band ninja
Black Musketeer Top
Maid's Dress
Black Musketeer Cape
Chain Wallet
Black Musketeer Hat
Fuzzy Penguin Slippers
Thank You Letter for July 2004

Bao
Golden Laurels
Black & White Joker Hat
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1. I'm questing for _________, I have _______g, but I need ______g! Can you please help me? crying
Hello, and welcome to Versi's Bad Side. If you say you read the rules, you'll know that this sort of thing is begging, and no charity likes begging. The Branch is no different. So please, BE CAREFUL before you decide to beg. I don't care how nicely you ask, really. If your post looks something like the above question, turn around and run. 4laugh

2. ...So uh, how do I receive help?
Simple! You wait until there's an announcement that you can request. Forms will go up then, and if you fill one out correctly, you get put on the waiting list. It takes time to clear the list, so we'll PM you when we get to you. Make sure you follow all of the rules in the process, too.

3. Where's the request form?!
Not here right now so people don't fill one out, post it, and think that it'll get them anywhere. They'll be up when we're ready to handle new requests.

4. If I have a question, should I PM it to you?
No! Post it in the thread! I read every single page, I promise.

5. Is there anything special I should put in my form?
YES. At the bottom of your form, you should put "All hail Versi's flamethrower" just so I know you read the whole page as the rules require you to do. heart
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August 1, 2006 -- AND I'LL FORM TEH HEAD!?
Alari has had this posted up in the Tree for a little bit, and I decided I'd finally post it here for my people to see. xp The two of us have been entertaining the idea of combining the Tree and Branch into ONE brand-spankin' new charity. To put it simply, I'm going off to college (duh) and Alari is going down a path of her life that's just as different. We're not in high school anymore, bottom line, and we might not have as much time for Gaia.

Here are the pros and cons we've come up with for this idea.

Pros:
- One of us will always be around to do bid'ness
- One thread for all of the affiliates instead of garnering our own and having to ask people to add us both
- You don't have to chose which thread to go to for help or just to hang out in, so it's not divided by who is a regular of what thread even though we're SOUL SISTAHS
- The combined strengths and talents of us two lovely ladies

Cons:
- If we stick to our current way of doing things by waiting list, we won't get to as many people as we would separately.

If you can think of any valid points to add to this list, post 'em in the thread and I'll make changes to this post appropriately.

Nothing is definite, of course, we want YOUR opinion. On top of that, we're not sure how the very immediate future will play out for us, so it might not be necessary. mrgreen

July 21, 2006 -- Versi's gon' tew cawlidge!
So I got two college-related things today, and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with the Branch. razz I got my dorm building assignment (no room or roommate, though, but still) ... and I got my first pick, Rubin. WOOT for my pretentious Fifth Avenue address.

Secondly, I got my class schedule. It is as follows:
Monday / Wednesday:
9:30 AM - 10:45 AM History of the Universe (aaaaw yeah!)
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM Cultural Foundations I

Tuesday / Thursday:
8:00 AM - 9:15 AM Social Foundations I
9:30 AM - 10:45 AM Writing I

Friday:
9:30 AM - 10:45 AM Some other History of the Universe class, I guess like a lab?

Man, that is so awesome. Nothing goes later than 12:15, which is exactly what I wanted. I only have to get up early for that 8:00 class, 9:30 is freaking AWESOME man. I'm psyched. :3

February 4, 2006 -- Where does the charity end and the owner begin?
Or something that dramatic, I dunno. But Alari and I have been feeling lately that we've been on Gaia for about two years now, and we've devoted all of our gold and energy to our respective charities.

We're not rich charities at all; we've always had to scrape together through sales and posting to make ends meet. Donations are scarce and our items aren't great because we haven't any gold with which to buy them. So it's just one big vicious cycle.

Alari and I aren't even rich as Gaians. We've been digging into our own pockets to make sure that others are happy. Hell, I remember I gave 9k of my very own money to a questor because we hadn't received any donations and the mule was sucked dry. It's not so much that we mind, really, it's just that few people stop to wonder where the charity ends ... and where the owner begins. That's why it's such a big thing when a charity closes down thanks to the ingratitude of others, or real-life circumstances.

Yeah, it's just pixels, but we're still working while we could be helping ourselves, so ... just every now and then (like now), it would be nice to have a little bit of reciprocation beyond a "thank you" from a questor whom we probably never see again.

A lot of you are good about that, though -- you're questors we've helped before, and you've stuck around with us and become our friends. For that, we really do thank you. smile It means more than gold to me.

We are TEH OPEN! heart

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