Fort Family Announcements

iPhone / iPad app available for forums

Fri, 04 May 2012 20:55:50 +0000

Invision announced yesterday that they have released an app for iPhones and iPads. An Android app is in the works according to their blog.

To see more info on this, go to

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ips-communities/id521920635?ls=1&mt=8

This will work on Invision-powered forums that are running 3.3 software or higher

We will be updating to 3.3.1 as soon as it's stable, so plan on this working completely with the forums soon!

AC

Donation Buttons

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:51:57 +0000

As of today, both forum's "Donate" buttons are now working again!

Am I dropping a hint?

Would I do such a thing?

What do you mean there are horns holding up my halo?

Seriously... as you have seen, we are in the process of moving everything onto much more reliable hardware. What we have discovered is that a few sites are using more memory than we estimated, which means we are going to have to upgrade to the next level of VPS to ensure stability. (Yes, that is where the '500' errors have came from over the last day or two!)

if even a few of you could afford five dollars a month, it would help a lot with expenses. Even one time donations of 5 dollars help; a little bit here and there adds up fairly quick and will help defray a lot of the out-of-pocket expenses that providing hosting for the Fort Family sites entails.

Thank you for all of your support, both past and present and future.

AC

Forum Migration Status!!!!

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:45:01 +0000

If you can see this, the forum is on it's new server .... and you'll probably notice that it is a lot faster!!!!!!!!

The Destiny Story Universe is coming!

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:47:04 +0000

I am proud to announce the birth of a new story universe. Zacky came up with a fascinating idea, and three other authors jumped on board. Zacky will break your hold on reality in Destiny Lost, Roland will be calling forth his inner wolf in Destiny Unleashed, Rilbur will displaying the darkest nature of the human child in Destiny's Brat, and Kyle Aarons will be cloaked in the darkness of Destiny's Shadow.

The new Destiny universe is populated by werewolves, vampires, psionics, and much more. It is a darker universe than most, but the depth of character development and the intertwining story lines should keep you begging for more.

Be warned though, the weak of heart should beware: this is a dark universe, with many dark and twisted things in it. Be well warned. It is called the 'World of Darkness' for a reason.

That said, enjoy some teasers from...

Destiny Lost:

As the final bell of the day rang, Keith and Darren made their way out of the school building, and down the sidewalk toward the cross-walk to see if Alex was waiting for them, since the Elementary school let out about 10 minutes before the Middle school.

Last year when Keith was still going to the Elementary school, he and Alex would usually walk home together as soon as school got out. This year, with Keith now in Middle school with Darren, near the start of the year, Alex would usually wait near near the cross-walk so he could walk home with his older brothers. Lately, however, Alex has more often than not been walking home on his own. As such, neither Keith nor Darren were that surprised when they made it to the cross-walk and did not see Alex waiting for them.

The two boys were joking around with each other, talking about their plans for the weekend, and Keith's overnight at his friends house as their house came into view. Both boys stopped dead in their tracks however, as the scene in front of them played out.

Parked in front of their house was a black van with tinted windows. That in itself was not that shocking. However, the man that was wearing a pitch black shirt and dark blue jeans and carrying their youngest brother kicking and screaming toward the van was.

“Alex!” Darren screamed as his backpack fell to the ground, and his sports training kicked in as he began running as quickly as he could toward the house and the van. Unfortunately, by the time he was less than 3 houses away, both the man and his youngest brother were in the van, and the tires of the van itself screeched as it began to drive straight toward Darren.

Destiny's Shadow:

Cinder glanced over his shoulder noting two guys across the street were hassling a woman and her young son while two others were moving toward the gas station. “I plan on it.” As he continued to watch he saw the woman fall. His extremely sharp hearing picked up the kid’s terrified voice telling his mom to get up so they could leave. “You may want to call for an ambulance…”

“Just let it go. You screw with the Vipers, they’ll gut you man…”

“Thanks for your concern, but the ambulance ain’t gunna be for me. I think they just hurt the chick.”

“The paramedics… They’ll expect payment.”

“Shit, I hate this town.” Cinder grumbled, “Fine, call the cops. Let them pick up whatever pieces I leave behind. Make sure you stay put till they finally show up, too. I don’t want your blood on my hands.”

“I ain’t steppin’ out as long as the Vipers are hangin’ out in numbers, mister. I grew up in these streets.”

Cinder grinned, liking the kid a bit more. He pulled out another twenty and shoved it into the slot. “I was never here and if I find you used this on anything but food or rent I’ll come back and kick your ass.” Before more could be said, he turned and made his way toward the closest Vipers. He eyed the first two, a couple of punks in their early twenties, wearing the green bandanas of the local Viper gang. They were eyeing both the gas station and his bike. A smirk crossed his features as he patted his pistol and walked straight toward them.

The second they spotted his pistol and realized the small, yet very well built guy was coming for them, they both started to back away.

Cinder cocked his head to the side, gave it a single shake while he raised his left eyebrow. He didn’t slow as he continued to walk past his bike and toward the two goons.

This time they got the hint and bolted right past the other two who were too intent on messing with the woman and her son to realize they had company coming their way.

Cinder cleared his throat loudly while eying the last two Vipers. Both of them were a bit older than the first two. One was in his mid twenties while the other was probably about thirty, but it was hard to tell since both were rail thin from too much drugs and too little care for their bodies. The odor of their unwashed bodies blocked most his sense of smell, but it was not bad enough to cut off the smell some blood, and it was fresh. This only made him pick up his pace.

Cinder was quick to notice the older gang member was some kind of leader and he was not afraid to show it, since he had a green hoody with a coiled viper insignia on it out for the world to see. The guy was grabbing the boy’s arm while the boy tired to reach for his mom. Not impressed in the slightest with what he was seeing, Cinder clapped his hands loudly. Finally the two looked over his way.

Once he had their attention, he held out his hand while motioning for them to come over to him. At the same time he pointed to the boy, “Let him go, unless he is all you can handle.”

The older guy let go and clenched his fists, clearly not liking the fact he was being disrespected in front of a fellow member of his gang.

Cinder glanced over to the boy. “Help your mom up and get in the doorway there. You’ll be safe there while the three of us discuss this man to man.”

While the kid struggled to help his mom off the sidewalk and into a recessed entry of a long ago abandoned business, the smaller, older, gang banger froze at the sight of the massive gun on the side of the man facing him while the taller one bolted, leaving his buddy high and dry.

Cinder laughed as he discerned a wet spot in front of the guy’s pants once the so-called leader realized he was alone. The added smell of urine to the mix of body odor and fear was still not enough to block out the smell of blood, so he knew someone was hurt bad. Looking the hoodlum over, he noticed the guy’s hand shakily move toward the small bulge of the .38 revolver in the right hoody pocket. At the same time he realized the guy’s hands were covered in blood. A single whiff told him it was the woman’s. His eyes narrowed to mere slits and his voice took on an unearthly growling sound. “You cut her didn’t you?”

The man’s voice shook badly as he spoke, “The bitch wanted more than the original deal!”

“So you shanked her… In front of her kid… let see if you can take on something other than a woman and a kid. Come on, let’s see what you got.” Cinder pointed to the guy’s right pocket, “And, let’s keep the firearms out of this. Mine’s bigger than yours. Besides, you try to pull your pea shooter on me and I’ll force feed you every bullet. Now pull your hand out without the hardware or lose them both.”

Cinder closed to within punch range and waited, hoping there would be enough intellect inside the drug damaged brain for the guy to do what he was told. However, it was just not meant to be. The scent of nervousness was replaced by the even stronger scent of terror mixed with rage. This was not something a human could detect, but Cinder was no mere human. Even as his sensitive nostrils caught the scent change, fur and long beast-like claws burst out of his left hand. At the same time, his eyes took on a bit of a glow and his jaw pushed forward into an almost canine shape. With a single swipe he took the guy’s arm off at the elbow.

Even as blood sprayed out over the side of the building, Cinder’s hand changed back and the rest of him made some odd popping sounds as they quickly shifted back to look totally human. While this amazingly fast transformation was taking place, he used his other hand to spin the guy and slam his face into the side of the building with enough force to shatter his nose, jaw, and left cheek bones. Still his right hand left three long claw-like marks across the back of the thug’s head.

He stopped for a brief moment and cringed in pain as the rest of his bones in his body returned to his human form. It was so much easier and less painful to do a full transformation, than a partial shift, but to do more than he just had would have been too big of a risk. Besides the pain was tempered by the fact he had purged the streets of the creep and the idiot’s gang would almost certainly steer clear of the area for quite some time.

Knowing he didn’t have much time to prevent the guy’s death, and wanting to honestly say he didn’t kill anyone tonight, he pulled out a can of lighter fluid. He sprayed it on the arm stump, flipped his lighter on and dropped it on the fluid coated, blood pumping, wound. As it burst into flame, he aimed the small can of lighter fluid at the injury and squeezed, causing the flames to flair while cauterize the injury. His nose scrunched up as it caught the scent of burned flesh and blood, but it also could smell the staleness of alcohol breath. At the same time, his hearing picked up feint signs of ragged breathing.

Satisfied he had not outright killed the moron, he used his foot to push the body into a trash pile off to the side of the building. Before he could do more, his hearing caused him to stop. He turned quickly, spotting the lower arm and hand, still clenching the small .38 revolver. The only problem was, the pistol was not staying still. Instead the fingers were slowly opening, and the pistol was moving in small jerks toward where he had told the mother and boy to hide.

Destiny Unleashed:

For more the the first time, Todd was thankful for his pack. He knew that Gaia had blessed him with the pack he had, and often times thought that they were brought together for some purpose. He'd heard stories of other packs, and had seen how other packs didn't fit well together, but form the first day that these six kids were brought together, they worked like a well oiled machine, and only got better as they got closer. They may have been a fledgling War Pack, but they had already accomplished things that older, more experienced packs hadn't been able to do. Hell they had been involved in bringing down a 'Hive'. That's no small feat by any stretch.

"I just wanted to tell all you guys again how much I thank Gaia that we've been brought together. I know all you guys get sick of hearing it," Todd started off with a grin, and the rest of the pack either grinned or rolled their eyes, but Todd knew deep down inside they all agreed with him. "but you guys are the best thing that ever happened to me. We've been through some pretty scary shit already, and I know things will get worse form here, but having you guys with me has always made me feel like we can do anything."

Todd saw the look in Zack's eyes and knew it well. All he had to do was nod, and in an instant, Zack was sitting on the ground between Todd's legs leaning back into 'his' Alpha. Todd reached down and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and heard a sigh of complete contentment come form the younger boy. As the Alpha it was his right to do what ever he wanted to the pack Omega, and no one would say a word, but Todd had real feelings for the smaller boy, and the rest of the pack knew it. Not that they had any issue with it, they just accepted that fact that their Pack Alpha and Pack Omega were in a relationship. Other Garou had issue with it, but not many would be willing to take on the Alpha of a War Pack, even if they were young. They were the only War Pack left in the Sept, and obviously known to be able to handle themselves.

Destiny's Brat:

Frank hopped on, ignoring the offered helmet, and peddled away. His apartment wasn't that far away, but the need for another fix was growing, so he peddled harder than he had in a while. Dumping the bike in front of his apartment building, he tromped up the stairs. As he climbed to his third-story apartment, he began to feel something off. Something wrong. Whatever it was, his priority was some more coke. Shoving his key into the lock, he twisted until the door opened and darted inside. Slamming it shut behind him, he began searching the house. His mother wasn't home, but she never hid her drugs well.

After exhausting the normal places, he decided to try her room. She knew better than to hide her crap there, but sometimes she forgot. Pushing in, he was halfway to her dresser before his mind realized what his eyes already had.

"Mom," he grunted in complaint. Her latest bag of the precious white powder had broken, spilling all over her. At least from the looks of it she'd probably had a fun time in the process. Grunting, he did a quick search of her dresser. Unfortunately, her latest bag was also the last bag, as far as he could tell. "Mom, wake up," he ordered, shaking her. "Wake up," he snapped, before realizing she was ice cold to the touch.

"Oh, damn," he complained taking a step back. That was just not cool. "Fine, I guess I'll make do," he sighed, and leaned down to snort the stuff she'd spilled all over her dead body.

When the stories start going live, you will be able to find them on Castle Roland, (castleroland.net) and RilburSkryler.net.

Keep your eye's peeled for the prologues of each chapter!

Thanksgiving Salutations

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:23:31 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving!

from
all of us at the Fort Family Readers Discussion Forum

Anne McCaffrey has died

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:59:44 +0000

To those of us who loved The Dragonriders and other books by her, I just learned that Anne has went "Between" I hope that all will take a moment to remember her work and how much it touched or inspired or helped when things were tough!

Maybe you do not know Anne McCaffrey, if you do not know of her, you should take the time to learn of her, read her, and you will learn to love her.

New Registration Hiatus

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:53:48 +0000

Hey Everyone. Once again we seem to have a security hole in the New Member Registration. Until this can be sorted out we will be suspending New Member Registrations at the fort. If you know anyone who wants to join have them email the admins.

Timmy's Treehouse Forum

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 04:02:49 +0000

Just a note to let everyone know that we have a new forum on the board. We now have announcements from Timmy's Treehouse and a link to the other board in the forum.

Timmy's Treehouse Forum

Changing of the Guard

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 02:52:20 +0000

I am sure that almost everyone is aware of this by now, however, let this be official notice that the Fort is now under new management. At this time I would like to deeply thank Akeentia, The Story Lover, and Str8myb for their years of hard work and dedication. Even though they have made the decision to step down as Administrators of the Fort Family, the years that they have spent here, the hours that they have dedicated to the forums and to all of us, are something that we should never forget, and we should give them our deepest gratitude.

Obviously however, their departure leaves a rather large hole with in the Fort Family Forums that must be filled. As one of the owners of DSS Hosting, the parent company for both CSU Productions and the Fort Family Forums, I am humbled to be the one that has been tapped to take over as leader of the management team of the Fort Family Team.

There will be a few people who will be supporting me in this, and they will be fellow Administrators of the Forum. I would personally like to thank them for their willingness to step up and help keep things running as smoothly as possible. Those people are D&B, Iluvantir, Rilbur, Boxerdude, Zacky, and Fibita

First, let me say that while I will never begrudge the previous management for how they operated the Forums, it is not the way that I will be running things. As of this time, I am working with the others on several projects that we hope will not only enhance your time here, but also make it more enjoyable.

In short, over the next few weeks, things will be changing around here, and I welcome one and all of you, our readers, patrons, hosted authors, and site owners to drop me a note, and let me know what you would like to see happen here. Obviously I cannot promise that everything that is suggested will be done, but I will promise that I will listen to any and all concerns or suggestions that are given to me. This is a family, and that means we all need to be able to listen to each other. To quote the founder of Jeff's Fort Board, which later became the Fort Family Forums, August Christopher... "HAVE FUN!" Oh... and the first one that calls me 'Daddy Dave' will be MOONED!

In closing, it is my hope that we can continue to move this board to one of the premier gay fiction discussion forums on the net, as well as a place where people could come to get advice, or a needed a hug. I will need all of your help to do so, and hope that I can count on everyone to help us in this.

Thank you very much.

Roland

Co-Owner, DSS Hosting
Lead Administrator, Fort Family Forums

Adieu

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:57:29 +0000

This may well be my last post ever on this site. As I suspect you know, I too am leaving. There is nothing worth saving here, hence I go. This used to be a friendly place; don't be deceived, it is no longer. I have found some friends here and others I would never bestow that name on. I am sickened by some of the sanctimonious posts made here in recent days, and that is part of why I go now, before it gets worse. The people I see as friends may be sorry to see the Den leave the Fort, but it will not die. New chapters are ready to be posted. Others may be indifferent or glad to see me leave. Well, stuff them. I have no time for such people. It appears there has been so much backstabbing of late, the water runs red. I am not going to be specific about this. You know who you are. To those who are true friends, I shall no doubt see you in the new forum once it is complete. Just follow crackerwriter.us To the others, well....... Goodbye CW