D'Artagnon

Start With Coupe, then meander into Riposte.  5th Age happens about the same time that Coupe and Last Place do, and Bolt from the Blue technically starts about midway through Riposte but really takes place after it.
 

"There are many magic rings in this world, Bilbo Baggins, and none of them should be used lightly!"
"Three rings were given to elven-kind"
"Some things that should not have been forgotten, passed into memory, and were lost."
"Time passed."
And somewhere in a distant land, a lone young elf has found his way to the abandoned elvish city or Rivendell, drawn by something he cannot define, but that clearly has a grip on his soul.
or something like that

Oh my, the seeds seem oddly familiar.  Something that happened in Doyler's story.  Makes you wonder...

Maybe

Ellio... I am beginning to hate reading how good your stories are.  Nope, I do hate it.  Allow me to explain.
After the first two installments of your "film noir" slash "50's pulp sci-fi mag" stories, I was hooked.  You have an exquisite way of putting details, sensory descriptions, thoughts and even action out there that rivets the attention of the reader and draws them into the story.  Okay, so the gumshoe from Manhattan using Britishisms and such was a little bit of a reality check here and there.  "Centre" for "Center" and what.  Mildly distracting, but in no way taking away from the story.
Soooo, knowing that you write like I do, never anything small, I decided I'd wait, read it all at once.  Until a bout of writer's block of my own hit.  So I sat down and over the course of two nights, read through to chapter Ten, which at this time was as far as was published.  Every bit as good as anything else I've read by you.  Every bit as tense, nerve wracking and magnetically drawing.
And now I must wait for more...
Damn, that's a good story.  I wait with breath not only baited, but already hooked, lined and sinkered for what happens next.
Well done, Mate.  Ya bloody savage.  Well done.
I will work past my own writer's block and get my ass back in gear.  Keep going, this stuff you have here is fantastic.
 
Robby

I would like to point out one other thing that perhaps has been ignored.  Life happens.  Authors have responsibilities and bills to pay, family obligations, laundry, dishes, dinners to make, employment to maintain, vehicles that need repairs, and relationships that require quality time.  Not every waking second is spent wondering if a particular reader hundreds of miles away is actually pining for a chapter or getting frustrated that there hasn't been a posting in a while.  It is a gift from the author that any story happens at all.  Like rain, you can't just demand it of the sky.  It has to happen.  Patience seems to be a forgotten virtue.  If you want quality writing, it can't be forced.
I'm not ranting to throw fire back at the subject, folks.  This is just the way that life works.  I write, but I have many things that require my attention as well.  Things that affect my ability to just sit and write, but also things that color my experiences and help plant ideas for my writing.  So yeah, I get that people expect things to be instantly there in this modern age.  But if we all got things they way they were supposed to be by popular vote, we would not have Trump in the White House.  Yet we have to deal with that train wreck too.
Robert Heinlein said "Natural laws have no pity," which is a way of saying "life is unfair."  I think we all know this.  Have patience.  Those still writing will write, and chapters will happen.  Those who are no longer writing... can't speak for those that don't speak for themselves, but what can you do?  If you complain to an author who has passed from this world, I wouldn't expect much of a reply.  If you complain to one that doesn't care about the story anymore, you might not get a response you like.  If you complain to an author who is doing the best he or she can, you're just getting in the way of progress for the story you want.
Patience.  Understanding.  Besides, the anticipation is half the excitement about getting that next chapter.
Conversely, if you don't like the waiting for chapters, maybe you should put your hand to pen and paper and see what flows?  See what the other side is like.
Just saying.

I would like to point out one other thing that perhaps has been ignored.  Life happens.  Authors have responsibilities and bills to pay, family obligations, laundry, dishes, dinners to make, employment to maintain, vehicles that need repairs, and relationships that require quality time.  Not every waking second is spent wondering if a particular reader hundreds of miles away is actually pining for a chapter or getting frustrated that there hasn't been a posting in a while.  It is a gift from the author that any story happens at all.  Like rain, you can't just demand it of the sky.  It has to happen.  Patience seems to be a forgotten virtue.  If you want quality writing, it can't be forced.
I'm not ranting to throw fire back at the subject, folks.  This is just the way that life works.  I write, but I have many things that require my attention as well.  Things that affect my ability to just sit and write, but also things that color my experiences and help plant ideas for my writing.  So yeah, I get that people expect things to be instantly there in this modern age.  But if we all got things they way they were supposed to be by popular vote, we would not have Trump in the White House.  Yet we have to deal with that train wreck too.
Robert Heinlein said "Natural laws have no pity," which is a way of saying "life is unfair."  I think we all know this.  Have patience.  Those still writing will write, and chapters will happen.  Those who are no longer writing... can't speak for those that don't speak for themselves, but what can you do?  If you complain to an author who has passed from this world, I wouldn't expect much of a reply.  If you complain to one that doesn't care about the story anymore, you might not get a response you like.  If you complain to an author who is doing the best he or she can, you're just getting in the way of progress for the story you want.
Patience.  Understanding.  Besides, the anticipation is half the excitement about getting that next chapter.
Conversely, if you don't like the waiting for chapters, maybe you should put your hand to pen and paper and see what flows?  See what the other side is like.
Just saying.

Thank you @Jay, that really is crazy kind of you to say.  I hope the rest of it will go down as well.
And thank you too @Adam.  I'm really glad that the story struck a chord with you so far.  The liberal sprinkling of Scots is a mix of the Highland, Lowland and Hebridian dialects - choosing the word that either had the best meaning or the more lyrical quality.  By keeping Scots out of the dialogue and using it sparingly in the prose I'm hoping that it gives the story some sense of "other" rather than just being Scottish for the sake of being Scottish.  With the boys coming from three very different cities and the story taking place in the Highland's I thought that I could get away with a liberal sprinkling from across the land.  Alas the Greek and Roman histories aren't really taught here as they were and those schools that do tend toward the boarding schools no doubt similar to the one that you attended.  Any way,  I'm glad that you're enjoying the story and hope that you will continue to do so.

Hello Ellio ! 
Thank you for the 1st chapter of your novella , Cannot wait to read the next 3 parts. Thank you again for sharing this story with us,
.        Cheers,
.              Johnny C

Thanks @JohnnyC.   Hope you keep enjoying as it goes on

Reports of my death have been extremely exaggerated, mostly by myself.
 
Hello, and greetings from Milton, FL.  It is fairly safe to report that Benji and I survived the storm with little incident.  Had a few power flickers, never lost water pressure.  No damage to the apartment or cars.  There was one tree near us that fell into the street, ripping down a section of fence, but it was not even close to us.  The tree was behind the Visitor's section of the high school football stadium we live near, but it fell into the street about 200 yards from our apartment.
The clean up of town shouldn't take too long.  The damage that I have witnessed so far is very minimal.  In short, Brothers and Sisters, we got very lucky during what turns out was a very mild hurricane.
However, others across the country and in our territorial provinces in Antilles have not fared so well.  Even though Nate has done remarkably little damage to America, it did kill several people in Honduras and Nicaragua.  And the devastation that Maria visited upon our Puerto Rican neighbors will be a struggle for many years to overcome.  So please keep those folks in your thoughts.
As for me, everything is good.  Now back to our regularly scheduled insanity, already in progress.  Or is that in congress.  Fuck, I dunno.

Seems I'm running out of Ricky stories..... humm, may have to remedy that.
 
Anyways, immediately after finishing Roll Call, making necessary comments, and getting a fresh drink in hand, I read through A New Trek.  As a kid, I loved that movie, "The Parent Trap," and seeing a subtle twist on it like this was a special moment.  Nostalgia not withstanding, I thought the characters were interesting and the situations real.  Mall Stealth is something I think many of us have done, just never gave it a name.  There are those that would cry out for this to be the basis of a series, but I don't think it's necessary.  The narrative leads you to think that there's more to the story, as all endings are new beginnings (legend of the Phoenix!), but while there may be more to the story, this one does leave a satisfying feeling right where it is.  Don't get me wrong, if the writer feels the muse move him to continue this, then by all means, go for it.
 
Another delicate moment handled with taste, tact and tenderness.  Another group of characters who actually have depth and range, despite the short nature of the story.  Another smile while reading, even through the almost teary parts. 
 
Very nice, dude.  Keep 'em coming!

Fuck Mormonism.
You make people like me want to end their lives.
You preach love and utter rejection in the same breath.
It's like a bad breakup where you blame us for your unwillingness to accept our difference.
As if we can change.
As if we're the ones which are supposedly able to receive some revelation which will suddenly make sense.
As to why I wanted to kiss that boy when I was ten.
As to why I wanted to kiss that poison when I was eleven a few months later.
You claim I am unnatural, but I am not.
In proving I am natural, you concede the natural man is an enemy to god.
And you remind us once again that we are unwanted.
So what is the answer? What is your continued revelation?
Do we stay, or do we go?
We go either way, either out of the church
Or out of your lives
Or out of this fucking world, because it doesn't bloody want us.
I pray most don't make that last choice,
Because the world out here is better,
Where we actually love our fellow man.
When difference walks into this party, we ask them where they got that sweet dress.
Even if it's a dude wearing it.
Fuck Mormonism.
See you in twenty years when your "revelations" catch up to the status quo.
 
It's the time of year for Mormons (my old religion) to gather together for their semi-annual conference. A certain speaker was defending the church's recent policies regarding same-sex attraction. Needless to say, I had to get some anger out. I realize it's just free verse, but . . .

Ack! Caught me writing!
 
Sadly, neither of those approaches are at play here. Although I am a Lego freak and should have thought of your suggestion, Ellio.  I did have charts and lists and such, and I had to go back a few times to make sure certain events had multiple "angles" for the events.  The part where the "liberated cranial item" (trying not to drop spoilers, lol) gave me fits but i felt it tied different parts of the fight together.  The aftermath chapters will show some of this coming back together.  I worried over these chapters like no others, and I think it worked, but I don't think I'll do this again.  Took a long time to figure it all out.
To be honest, a lot of personal things happened during the writing of this last bit.  It should have been finished much sooner but for all of the mess called life.  I think during the time between chapters we had to go through my niece's wedding, Mom going into the hospital a few times, a car crash (very minor), car replacement, my sister's sudden death, Christmas right after that, our failed attempt to find a house to either buy or rent, loss of our puppy because we couldn't find a place we could keep her (she is in training to be a service dog now, and very well cared for), relationship re-evaluation which we came out of stronger for the flames, and some angst-filled adjustments to our friend-group.  And I put out two new story starts as well as a Halloween story last year and a Christmas story.  So stuff has gotten in the way; It has been a wild and crazy thing.
Even as I post this, I am putting the finishing touches on TWO chapters for Riposte, one to Werewolves and one to Changelings.  Hopefully they will be posted soon.  And then things will get really nasty.
Watch this space.
 

Benji holding Princess (our girl) and a friend's dog.  We both miss her floppy yellow ears and those sharp, bright eyes of hers so much. 

Ack! Caught me writing!
 
Sadly, neither of those approaches are at play here. Although I am a Lego freak and should have thought of your suggestion, Ellio.  I did have charts and lists and such, and I had to go back a few times to make sure certain events had multiple "angles" for the events.  The part where the "liberated cranial item" (trying not to drop spoilers, lol) gave me fits but i felt it tied different parts of the fight together.  The aftermath chapters will show some of this coming back together.  I worried over these chapters like no others, and I think it worked, but I don't think I'll do this again.  Took a long time to figure it all out.
To be honest, a lot of personal things happened during the writing of this last bit.  It should have been finished much sooner but for all of the mess called life.  I think during the time between chapters we had to go through my niece's wedding, Mom going into the hospital a few times, a car crash (very minor), car replacement, my sister's sudden death, Christmas right after that, our failed attempt to find a house to either buy or rent, loss of our puppy because we couldn't find a place we could keep her (she is in training to be a service dog now, and very well cared for), relationship re-evaluation which we came out of stronger for the flames, and some angst-filled adjustments to our friend-group.  And I put out two new story starts as well as a Halloween story last year and a Christmas story.  So stuff has gotten in the way; It has been a wild and crazy thing.
Even as I post this, I am putting the finishing touches on TWO chapters for Riposte, one to Werewolves and one to Changelings.  Hopefully they will be posted soon.  And then things will get really nasty.
Watch this space.
 

Benji holding Princess (our girl) and a friend's dog.  We both miss her floppy yellow ears and those sharp, bright eyes of hers so much. 

Nice! I will be sitting on the edge of every seat I plant my backside on until the fates of some our heroes are revealed.  i don't want to mention any names for fear of spoiling the chapter for others but dude... really?  hahaha.
Out of interest how do you keep track of what's happening where when writing a large battle like this?  I have visions of you setting it all out with Lego Minifigures so you can see who has a line of vision of on who and how the small skirmishes spill into one another.

One of two ways, I imagine.
First is to have a physical bulletin board writing all the plot threads, like this one which the producers of Young Justice used to plot out 26 episodes:

Or, the software approach. I hear Scrivener has such a feature for authors:

Al is the arbiter of all which is fair and good on this one.  personally, since the voting is blind, i see no reason why you couldn't.  others have submitted multiples in the past
 

Everybody look what's going down.
A long chapter- yes. Reading it seemed to take forever- yes. Got finished and thought 'Is that all?' Very good; veryb exciting; very sad! Good job, D'Artagnon! Looking forward to more.

As I am preparing the new site, I am putting in links and stuff. I don't often have much time anymore to read and was pulled into this one. Ricky, trying to categorize this one as a 'Romance', 'Comedy' or 'Growing Up' is difficult, so we are going with the 'Romance' but it is so much more.

If anyone needs a fun, afternoon read during this hot summer, I highly recommend 'A New Trek' by Ricky. 

I've peered into that labyrinth you call a 'head'. There are no straight paths to anything!.... How is this supposed to work, again?

Not exactly the image i had in mind when imagining Tobias, but still has a subtle charm.  It does capture Toby's sort of derpy, gangly personality.  Very nice artwork.  You can see certain traits from his father (no spoliers!) in the image, too.  Kinda wondering what the other boys look like.  Part of me is very interested in Doyler's odd marks when his skin gets wet.
 

Awesome artist and all round swell guy Mateo (of Hybridkid fame) did a chibi of Toby and I got very excited as no one's drawn anything from my stories before so with a big smile on my face I thought i should post it here for interested parties.

This is what happened a few days ago during Gay Pride in Kiev.
Racism without a doubt a huge issue for society in whatever country you live in, but that is a bigger and different issue than LGBT discrimination and persecution. You have to look a bit further than Philadelphia for what the Gay flag represents.
 

I have had the chance to speak to many Pride organizers this past weekend and really understand the move to add the two strips. I understand the resistance to it. The flag has been our rally symbol for 23 years. But unfortunately the fight for LGBTQ equality has focused on white gay men and lesbians for the past 23 years. Many LGBTQ people of color, latinos and trans people feel as though the flag does not represent them. They feel as though they have been left behind. 
Last year 17 trans people were brutally beaten to death and the community is not even aware. Trans people are forced too use bathrooms that make them uncomfortable or worse puts them in danger. 
People of color and Latino members of the LGBTQ community are harassed daily by police, the heterosexual world and even our own community on a daily basis. Some of the stories I heard this weekend right here in the liberal stronghold of the US were horrific. They do not see the flag as a rally cry or a symbol that represents them. 
I love the rainbow flag for what it stands for but it's not enough. So yes add the damn stripes and let the rest of community know we do in fact stand behind them. We will watch out for them. We welcome them in the fight for equality. 
Its time to take the fight to the next step and if we need a new or modified symbol to create awareness and to get people talking and motivated to rally together then I say run with it.