about this site

This is a page I made for my headworld / story known as Dog of Paradise! I plan on using this page to host links / images / and general information. I don't always have time to draw art, especially stuff like scenery and comics, so I use pages like these to share the world I have been developing.Dog of Paradise is a story I've been developing since around 2014 that revolves around my main character Joseph "Tex" Saldahna, and his work as a hitman in the Southwest.

The moodboard below is made up of free stock images collected from unsplash.com that help visualize my headworld. Consider it an introduction to the aesthetics of Dog of Paradise! You can find sources here. Tex pixel is by gripelord!

Content Warning: Dog of Paradise is a story with mature themes.Themes in the story, as well as text on character's profile or art in galleries may include
murder/death, blood, drugs/alcohol/tobacco use, gambling, addiction, abuse, sexual themes

introduction...

  • Dog of Paradise is a story / headworld I've been working on since 2014. It follows the main character Joseph "Tex" Saldanha, an autistic gay man from Palm Springs, California, who works as a hitman. There are no serious plans for it at the moment (like a comic or similar) I just create content whenever I have free time and feel like it. This site is just an anchor for my ideas.

  • The name 'Dog of Paradise' isa play on the name of the flower Bird of Paradise. Bird of Paradise were my favorite flower as a kid (also one of the first pieces of art I made using actual tools was an oil pastel of Bird of Paradise flowers), and the floral emblem of the city of Los Angeles

  • I started working on this world with Tex's creation, who was originally designed as a coyote / wolf / dog mix (and a fursona?!?). After I created him, I had this idea I had of a dark, neon lit desert-like world inspired by other media I enjoy and the desert cities I spent time in during my youth.

  • The world/story of Dog of Paradise is dark, but also gaudy and bright, and nonserious at times. A mix of grounded realism and supernatural, surreal elements, and the wild life in the desert.

  • It is character driven, full of characters who are 'villainous' like rival hitmen, mean bosses, conmen and shady businessmen, and so on. I like taking various villain type characters, tropes, and crimes, making it colorful and vivid and in a silly story on purpose. A story for people who like villains/bad guys, and playing up with the "flamboyant gay villain" trope form past media, but running with it. (What if the main character was a bad guy, but autistic, but gay, but also well done? A weird goal of mine, but I was fascinated with the idea.) I also consider it a Neo Western.

  • I use Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Reno, various other Southern Californian/Southwest Cities due to me living in these places or visiting throughout my life, and having a strong familiarity, but also their connections with a lot of the same aesthetics and their features in similar media.

Joseph "Tex" Saldanha, the main character of Dog of Paradise

setting...

  • A majority of the story takes place in Southern California, particularly Los Angeles and Palm Springs

  • Las Vegas, Tucson, and some fictional towns in Central Valley of California/Nevada are also used

  • Main themes within the story I plan to explore are of anti-capitalism, corruption, greed, revenge, redemption, LGBTphobia, and healing from abuse and addiction.

  • Almost all of the characters are LGBT+ in some way, both protagonists and antagonists. (This isn't to say its more "common" in this world, all these characters just happen to also be LGBT.)

  • The Dog of Paradise world doesn't have a set time, it has aesthetics and design choices from the 70s, 80s, all the way to modern day. You may see characters casually using a rotary phone or old radio, then being in an ultra modern office space. It's most likely taking place in late 2000s, but anyone is free to imagine it taking place earlier or later. So the world is a mix of mid-century modern, art deco, 70s-80s design choices, sometimes even y2k, classic western film themes

links...

this page is currently a wip and not a complete list!
this is just a visual example of how the list will look once i finish most of the characters designs!
you can see all the current character profiles on toyhouse!Below are different placeholders/concepts for a character page.

Protagonists

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Antagonists

rival hitman, or hitman hired to kill him, or have a grudge against him, and so on. some of these may be redeemed (heath is a good example). some of them are pretty evil, others are just annoying. some of the side characters can still be bad but these are the ones mostly after tex.

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Side Characters

these can be good, bad, neutral, or change over the story. many of them are just tex's friends and help him out or past/future clients.

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While Dog of Paradise is a personal project and I created this page mostly to organize my own information, you are free to join in and make characters for it! In fact, I strongly encourage it if you have any interest in my world. I love to share it and inspire others! The world allows for a lot of creative freedom, and I have some links below to help you out with your character creation.

Tex's story

The story is being written privately and will be kept privately for a while, but I may share summaries of the story on this page in the future. For now, story can be enjoyed through character profiles/art.

groups & places of interest
(work in progress)

??? ranch

  • a ranch, once abandoned but repurposed. Ran by Montana and Knox, known mostly for raising horses and cows, growing a few kinds of crops, but most famous for being a safe space for older LGBT folk. It now features a small center for LGBT health + support. They earn money by working on the ranch and selling locally. Tex visits the ranch often to spend time with his friends, and regularly supports them with donations.

???

  • A hotel resort in the heart of Palm Springs. The owner has hired Tex as a bodyguard before... a few times, he keeps getting into trouble. He's a younger guy who inherited the business, but it came with some bad business. He's still figuring it out - but Tex enjoys the atmosphere and restaurant here, so works out for him.

Desert Rose Motel

  • A friend of Tex owns this spot. Kinda central within the Southwest, so a place Tex will stop between jobs/work. In the middle of no where vibes, neon lit.

Indigo Coyote

  • In Downtown Palm Springs, a bar Tex is very familiar with. Your usual bar & grill, with Mexican American food. Has a bit of a western vibe in the decor. Tex always admired the coyote shaped neon signs in the window and interior.

Hank's

  • A roadside, desert diner, close to the Desert Rose Motel. The owner, a leopard seal named Hank, is an ex-hitman who left the life to own his own diner - but hasn't entirely escape. He's still an important figure within the "game", for a lot of up and coming hitmen, he can offer them jobs.

Ironwood

  • An infamous biker dive bar, Southeast leaving Palm Desert on the way to Salton Sea. A big, metal, rounded building, with wire fencing, and old broken cacti, hidden behind mountains.

Smoke Tree

  • Owned by Lorne, a businessman and chef who runs a few establishments in Southern California. A very high class, modern lounge and bar, highly rated and expensive. Fenrir loves the spot and always drags Tex here, but Tex has some beef with Lorne.

Toucanna

  • An eccentric, colorful, and famous Gay bar from the late 80's. Ran by the flamboyant Toucan owner. Regulars like to rumor and gossip about him, a common one is he's an ex-hitman of some kind or a criminal under a new identity. Tex probably knows, and why he's here a lot...

Oasis Resort Casino

  • A casino resort near Desert Hot Springs.

Desert Disco Roller Rink

  • In southern Cathedral City, one of Tex's favorite past times is roller skating/blading, and this is his place of choice.

Burger Bear

  • Popular burger chain that originated in los angeles, california, in the mid 70s, by grizzly bear owner Lloyd Walters. A few locations are spread across SoCal, its a popular choice for a local chain, with many locations either sporting the iconic retro design, or more recent and modern, with a friendly round grizzly bear mascot made in the image of the owner.

Palm Cafe

  • A popular Coffee chain that originated in Pasadena. Has a few locations - Pasadena, West Hollywood, Studio City, and Torrance.

Rainbow Canyon
Bowling Alley

  • A family friendly and popular spot in Indio. Has some very competitive and serious Bowling teams.

Wild Palms Superspeedway

  • A race track facility that hosts 2 huge circuits. Hosts races for NASCAR, F1, etc. Located out in the desert by Coachella.

Palm Desert
Palm Reading

  • despite the name, is currently based in los angeles (in the silverlake area.) the owner, august, was original from palm desert, but found better business in la. august has a passion for tarot reading, fortune telling, and all things mystical, but little do people know, he's the real deal, with a secret, special connection to the supernatural.

concrete waves
skate park

groups:

XERocole

  • One of hitman groups in the world, and a well known and respected one that operates mainly in the south west, with headquarters in la quinta, california. ran by lawrence, and employees many dangerous and skilled hitmen. their front is an archiectural firm (xerocole group), as lawrence is mainly known as a famous designer and architect.

NORTHWING

  • a hitman group based in new york city. the most respected and feared group based in the east coast. they used to have operations in boston, but that group broke off and started northwing. they have a secondary operations now currently in reno, nevada, and are trying to expand to the west coast. their insignia is a simplified wing, or feather.

????

  • A hitman group based in the boston. used to be apart of northwing, but broke off. the two groups are now fierce rivals. northwing does work in the southeast (like miami, florida) as everything north of boston is northwing's territory.

VICEROY

  • a hitman group based in the winery areas of california close to paso robles. they operate out of a famous winery, which uses it as a front for funds, but their true location unknown but to a few. they aren't very active in their work, but have had some very notable kills, including politicians, including ones in europe. their insignia is the viceroy butterfly.

???

  • an international racing club first, hitman group second. they use hitmen to make money to fund their racing lifestyle. the leader is american and primarily based in the hollywood hills, but has a second house in the countryside of Italy, and loves everything relating to automobiles. they are based in west hollywood, but have clubs in various european countries. their signature colors are racing green and gold.

Coachella Valley Bikers

  • Also known as the coachella demons. Current leader is Heath, only recently made leader. The previous leader, and his mentor, made him heir before dying mysteriously. Their base is located in the tiny, barely populated town of Lone Pine. Rumored to have a few demons hidden as members and may also be a hitman organization. Other members include Omar and Savannah.

Pegasus Interstate Delivery

  • delivery company charlie, mac, rowan, and many others work for

Mermaid Fishing Co.

  • often just called "mermaid". A front for an illegal weapons and drug distribution gang. Appears to be an ordinary sea shipment & fishing company, which was it's original purpose (and still mostly operates as such). has operations in juneau, alaska, seattle, washington, and los angeles at the port of los angeles.

canyon sun newspaper

  • An infamous newspaper that covers news for the Coachella Valley region that has gained a following outside for reporting on hitman and their kills.