Author: Armchair Bellyacher

The Hall of the Moontain King

It’s been well over a year since I wrote anything that wasn’t work related. Not sure what happened in November of 2024 that might have depressed me to the point of giving up all hope.

It’s a mystery! 🤷

Here’s something I probably started back then, starring two of my favorite characters I semi-created; Caecelia and Mootella. Read their previous stories HERE and HERE. This is very much an homage to the scene in Duck Soup where Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo) meet with Trentino to report on their mission to spy on Firefly (Groucho).

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A Very Good Man: Part 2 (of 2)

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Time for part two of my amazing hack Twilight Zone episode. Have you guessed where it’s going yet?

Of course you have, but that shouldn’t spoil the fun!

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A Very Good Man: Part 1 (of 2)

I wanted to knock this all out in a single post, but it just got longer and longer, to the point that it was almost double the length of what I shoot for every week (roughly 2000-ish words).

So, enjoy part one of this two part hack Twilight Zone episode where you’ve probably guessed where it’s going before the second ad break!

Seriously, I really enjoyed writing this, despite it being pretty hacky. Hacky can be fun. Wait, I wrote about time travel two weeks in a row? SPOILERS!!!

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Short Story: The Wayback Machine

I missed my deadline last week! That means I have to put out two projects this week, lest I fall behind. It’s written right there in the rules. In The Motern Method that is.

This is actually an older story that I just came back and revised. It feels a bit like cheating, but it’s only slightly less work than banging out something that’s only existed in my head for 10+ years.

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Small Tweaks – Star Wars: Episode II

Small Tweaks

I’m returning to the concept from two weeks ago where I try to tweak one small thing in a movie.

Continuing the task of forcing my wife to watch the Star Wars prequels, we finally got around to Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. She hasn’t drawn up divorce papers yet, so that’s probably a good sign.

Once again, I will not be trashing the movie. I will actually be quite reverential, keeping the overwhelming majority of it untouched.

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Small Tweaks – Star Wars: Episode I

A bit of a cop-out this week, sort of. It’s not a new story, but it still required quite a bit of writing, so I’m going to count it.

Here’s the experiment: Someone else comes to me with their story and wants some help. I don’t get to entirely re-write it. It’s their story, their ideas, they just want my input on how to tweak/fix some things that I might think are fundamentally broken. So, I have to set aside my impulse to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch and make it my story. It’s theirs, I’m just helping.

Where to start? Where to start? Oh, I know!

Recently I forced my wife to endure Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in its entirety. She had never seen it. She was not exactly impressed, but it got us both talking about little tweaks that could potentially salvage at least some of the movie. For once I will not be trashing this movie. I will actually be quite reverential, keeping the overwhelming majority of it untouched.

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Terra Magicae: Chapter 7

Read Part 6 HERE

We’re back! Yes, I took another week off, but with good reason. Last Thursday I was meeting the most interesting person in the world, and the mere presence of someone more creative than me caused me to re-evaluate my entire life, if only for a few hours. And then after that I was out of town. But here we are again! Ready to continue the journey into the ancient past where magic has somehow crept into our world!

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