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Ragged Edges

Today's chapter—

Interactive: "Flirtations with Disaster" 
Public: "Flirtations with Disaster" 

—almost didn't get published today on account of me having so much else to do. But I managed to squeeze it in during a spare 30 minutes, and I even have enough time before I take off to make a blog post.

Anyway, today's chapter rounds off the latest run in the "Keith's Konspiracy" branch. This was written in gratitude to a reader who dumped a million-plus GPs on me during my hiatus. I'm not done trying to give him his GPs' worth, but I'm not going to pursue this branch any further for the time being. So there's no new poll today.

* * *

Speaking of polls, we have another set of poll results to announce. It was a very tight race in the public results, and no surprise that it was the three female candidates bunched up far in the front. And there were no dramatic come-from-behind victories by numbers four and five. But the final result wasn't even close, because almost all the GPs went to a single choice. (And because it was a run-away, I don't feel guilty about closing the poll an hour early on account of some scheduling conflicts on my end. Unless someone came in at the last second and dropped a giant GP bequest, the results weren't going to change.)

Kendra Saunders: 17,350
Catherine Muskov: 5,610
Olivia Byrne: 4,590
Ian Patton: 1,530
Anthony Kirk: 510

But one GP voter did make off like a bandit. Because he was the only one to vote for a losing choice (Olivia), he gets all the GPs voted in this poll. Meaning his 500 GP investment turned into 12,750 GPs.

BTW, there's a thread in the forum talking a little bit about the mechanics of these polls, what they are intended to do, and how they are not simply "buy a winner" contests: "GP Polls"  

* * *

And what comes next? A new branch in the Will-and-Sydney storyline. Background: Will and Sydney are impersonating Kelsey Blankenship and Amanda Ferguson, but both hate the way David Kirkham has been persecuting Will, both he himself before the switch and his doppelganger afterward. They have lured Kirkham out to the Donna Motel to turn him into a pedisequos. In the already-written branch, Sydney took over Kirkham's identity, but in the previous-to-the-last poll, a couple of passionate voters were able to send the story down an alternate path where Will impersonates Kirkham. The new storyline will branch off from "Ambush at the Donna" .

* * *

Finally, my thanks to Puuuuuth, Easy, and Wordsmitty for GP tips for chapters written in the just-concluded thread!