Geron Kees

Browbeat doesn't know all the vernacular yet. Give him time!

Happy to see you again, my friend. I'll try not to disappoint you!

I hope so. They are still young enough that they tend to avoid boring adventures. Ah, youth!

I created the photo before I started the story. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. But you know AI. Just a word or two makes a lot of difference. It took me a couple of tries to get just what I wanted. I may be making more photos to add to stories in the future!

Thank you! My work there is done, then! (Looks around slowly.) "Is there a bathroom nearby?" 😁

It can be tough to change a character's appearance. Browbeat is still exploring all the tech the Madracorn built into his body, and is enjoying himself. The current change is not permanent. He may try something new again, or go back to his Pintuckin roots. It's that he is exploring his new abilities I want him to have fun with!

I felt that Kip would appeal to many readers, but I wasn't sure about Browbeat. To me, anyway, he's a real cutie!

Kip is nice-looking. This comes from being able to concisely write what I want an AI to produce in the way of a photo, And did you like the 'new' Browbeat?

Robin looks about 30-ish. Horace was about 52, I think, when the guys met him. After losing weight, dressing in a modern fashion, meeting Amy, and having his skwish powers grow, he probably looks about 40 now. Skwish will do that to you!

Look at the photo of him and Kip at the top of the page, and judge then. 😀

That's because you're an optimist, my friend! 😁

While presented at July 4th, this story is not stamped as a July 4th tale. It just seemed a good time to present it.😄

I did mention that Rip Shannon was the only human the guys knew that could travel in time. We already knew that Nicholaas, Max, Auggie, and Keerby could do it. The younger Elias was able to cover his skwish emissions well enough to enter the office waiting room and not be detected by the guys until they came back out to the front of the office. I do not take the theories of mathematicians into account while building Charlie's universe. Why limit the fun?

Definitely. Horace lived a little bit in a fantasy world of ghosts and other supernatural beasties before he met the gang. He has since lost weight, dresses better, and has more confidence after completing some missions with Charlie et al. Amy has been good for him, too. Another transformation, of a sort. And, I think, a good one.

Thank you, sir. If you go back to the top of chapter one, you'll see a bit of a picture there. Click on the photo to open it and you'll see what the new Browbeat looks like, sitting on Kip's shoulder. Courtesy of my handy-dandy AI photo-maker. Chapter two will start answering a few questions!

I hope it's at least interesting!

If you go back to the top of chapter one, you'll see a bit of a picture there. Click on the photo to open it and you'll see what the new Browbeat looks like, sitting on Kip's shoulder, Courtesy of my handy-dandy AI photo-maker. Chapter two will explain more, so, no spoilers!

Kippy Lawson was just coming back to the office with pizza for the guy's lunch when he received a mind-touch message from his boyfriend, Charlie Boone. "Kip? Are you anywhere close to being back?" Kip was, in fact, just getting out of the elevator, the two warm, large-size pizza boxes held protectively in his hands. "I just got off the elevator," he sent back. "Coming down the hallway now. Why? What's up?" There was a moment's silence before Charlie replied, and when he did, Kip

Charlie and the gang set out to trouble-shoot a problem for old Mr. Elias Grampet, who thinks he’s being stalked. The investigation soon leads them offworld, and into another adventure far out among the stars, where they’ll meet new friends, and an interesting new enemy!

Skwish has many levels of application, some that resemble others despite being different in action. As with all skwish, it tends to improve the more you play with it and rub the sharp corners off. Well, Horace and Amy may be part of that link sooner than you think. And maybe a few others? As a matter of fact, I am here now to post a new CB tale. Be careful what you ask for! 😁

The first CB story was meant to hold a little mystery beyond who was hiding in the sexy suit at the party. This was where the first bonding of Adrian and Kipp occurred, when they danced together. They were very much alike, and that bond extended to them being in the same group of power-users later on. Rick and Charlie were always very close, and they shared what I would call a 'mechanical' bent -- an interest in figuring out how things work, and why. Charlie was more cerebral here; he read like a maniac, everything he could find. Rick was more a hands-on, intuitive type of thinker, but he and Charlie worked well together with nuts & bolts. The second story was actually the pivotal one, though. I hadn't quite figured out what to do with what I had created in the first tale, but because the second was a Christmas tale, it seemed perfect for introducing a little magic to go along with the new characters of Max and the Big Guy. After that, I sort of bounced back and forth between -- and even mixed -- both urban fantasy and light science fiction. It became so much fun for me that I couldn't stop. And, I haven't yet. A new CB story starts here for July 4th.

Politics changes every four years. Life has a way of staying pretty focused. Those in power now are burning every single bridge back to light they can find. In the end, all they will have is darkness. And darkness is notably difficult to grasp and hold onto. Light always comes back to win in the end, because, even though you can't grasp it any easier than darkness, at least you can see where you're heading.

It seems a hallmark of your stories that your main guy is either totally unaware he's gay, or so ambivalent about the idea that he refuses to admit it to himself, and so topples or puts on hold his first serious gay relationship. In misery is no way to have to live. I spent my first 9 years living just outside Amsterdam. They had their gay revolution in 1970, even allowing gays into the military. Since then, things have mostly been up-front and easy for the LGBTQ+ community there, though the recent evolution in right-wing fascist snots everywhere has produced more tension, even there. I knew I was gay before I was ten years old. There was a gay teen on my road that often confided to us youngers stories about what that world was like. He never offered; we asked. We knew he had a boyfriend, and we were curious. Being gay there had none of the religious look-down-your-nose-and-gasp-in-horror terrorism it has always had here. I realized after talking to him that I had to be gay, because this was how I felt about my best friend -- and how he felt about me. Yes, we were young, but neither totally unaware, nor totally ignorant. As far as I am concerned, I have always known who I was and what I was about. I could easily go on a lengthy tirade on the subject, but know that this is not the forum to do that. And I am well-aware that for many guys it is a fight to face reality and acceptance, as with Adam in this very story. No one should live in fear about who they are. It has become clear to me that your own rise to acceptance was hard and painful, and I am sorry for that. Overcoming such fears and being able to write about them is not something everyone can do. Growing up should be a joy, never a fear-fest. Finally winning the battle with yourself is not something everyone can accomplish. I respect you very much for that, and all your readers who have faced similar hurdles, and eventually won out. Bravo! ❤️

It's a little hard to understand when two people seem very much attracted to each other that both would be shy to connect. So many stories have guys meeting and then falling into bed five minutes later. I think yours is a much more believable scenario than the fall-into-bed one, especially for younger attractees. Looks like some interesting prospects ahead!

My first impression was that Seth's mom made a mistake. Why throw out the husband if she discovered her son was gay? It seems more likely she found the images on the computer and simply assumed they belonged to her husband, and THAT'S why she threw him out. And he left quietly, because he knew those images weren't his. He left to protect is son? Either way, this story looks like it's already unfolding along jagged lines. Waiting for more!