Four Shaggy Dog Stories

After "The Tree" series, I'm going to need to wind this podcast down to get ready for the school year and my new kid. I'll try to post more episodes when I have time, but this may have to become a podcast that has a new season each summer.

To be clear, this isn't the end. There will be two more podcasts to finish out the current batch of four, and I'll be back at the very least next summer. Bu...

I'm tapped out this week, folks. Here are some recommendations for other great stories out there:

Fallen London

A Dark Room

The Night Vale Presents family of podcasts

The Thrilling Adventure Hour

The Adventure Zone

GONE

Limetown

Old Gods of Appalachia


Anyways, happy Fourth of July!

Contact:
4shaggydogstories@gmail.com

H...

A volcano watches the developing society on its island, trying not to obliterate them with an eruption.

I created another solo RPG for the Wretched & Alone game jam, and this one I can actually post a live-play of! In this game, you are literally a volcano and you use story prompts to build a society and help your inhabitants react to changes on the island.

I'm really proud of how this one came out. You ...

A man tracks the trail of a conspiracy around watermelon, and enjoys some delicious tacos on a snowy day.

I had some real difficulty recording this one, what with everything that is going on. You'll notice a few places where I change details from the beginning to the end, but hey, we still get there, and it is a shaggy dog story. It's also not super noir-y the whole way through, but it starts and ends there.
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This week, I've been working on a submission to an online game jam. You can check out the jam itself here: https://itch.io/jam/wretched-jam

And check out my submission here: https://balou85.itch.io/the-artifact

My game, The Artifact, is a solo, cosmic horror, storytelling RPG. You are sent a mysterious artifact and have to try to get rid of it before it drives you insane.

Hope you enjoy, and I should...

A singer takes to the stage for the nightly show at a red and white supper club, while outside the rain pours down.

I really had fun recording this one. At various points in the story, I thought of some darker, more gritty directions I could take it in, but decided not to. Minor spoiler, but this is maybe the happiest ending I've done so far. Enjoy.


Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/balou

Con...

A detective tailing a suspicious character stumbles onto an out-of-the way restaurant specializing in whiskey drinks and pie.

Welcome back to a new setting that I'm calling Noir. I'll use this to explore some of the tropes of old detective movies and film noir in general. Hope you enjoy!

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/balou

Contact:
4shaggydogstories@gmail.com

Hope everyone is...

Memories of an old story from her grandfather send a young woman searching for answers about a forgotten melon.

This is the fourth and final story in the arcology setting. Next week, I'll start telling the stories over again in a new setting. Haven't decided what I'm going to do yet, but I've got a couple of ideas.

Want to help pick out the setting of the next batch of stories? Check out my Pat...

A deep sea welder helps to repair damage to one of the arcologies caused by an earthquake, but this stupid clown on her team keeps distracting her.

This is the third story in the arcology setting. Next week, we do the Watermelon story, and I'm still not sure how that one is going to work, especially the ending, since there aren't really streets underwater. Stay tuned!

Want to help pick out the setting of...

The sole survivor of an attack on a deep space salvage ship tries to repair the engines and signal for help, while keeping the creature at bay. Story is told through a series of daily audio logs.

Ok, this was seriously fun. I recently purchased an online copy of the solo RPG "The Wretched", by Chris Bissette. You can check out that RPG, as well as his other stuff at these links:
https://loottheroom.itch.io/wr...

Red and white twins go on a school field trip from their arcology to a deep-sea vent.

This is the second story in the arcology setting. I've got an idea for how to handle the Clown story in this setting, but not a great one for the Watermelon story yet. Stay tuned!

Want to help pick out the setting of the next batch of stories? Check out my Patreon page at the below link.

Patreon:
https://www.pat...

A man is stranded in an underwater city while grocery shopping and has his very first slice of fruit pie.

This episode is the first of the second set of stories. I'll be telling all four of them in this particular setting, which happens to be underwater arcologies. If you want to hear a bit more about the genesis of this idea, check out this TVtropes explainer: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Arcology
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This bonus episode is all about why I am doing this particular podcast, the inspirations behind it, and the rules that I've set for myself in terms of creating this podcast and telling these stories. It also includes bite-size versions of the stories that I will keep telling, over and over, in case you've fallen asleep to any of them and missed the ending.

References:
http://www.zombiemathadventure.com/
h...

The fourth shaggy dog story - the clown story. This is the last one that I learned, and the one that I was most worried about having to stretch into a full hour. This one took a big left turn about halfway through, but I'm pretty happy with where it came out. A man is insulted by a clown, tries to get back at him, and then finds a new life.

I'm still messing with settings on my new microphone, and I feel like thi...

The watermelon story... this is the first Shaggy Dog story I learned, and maybe the one that I'm most excited to play with in the future. A little girl is disappointed that she doesn't get watermelon for lunch, and then her entire world is upended.

Once again, I'm trying a new recording set up, so if this one sounds better or worse to you, please feel free to let me know at 4shaggydogstories@gmail.com.
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