Little Beirut #1: Day Off | 01

Walter walked through the door from the garage, brushing pine needles and rain out of his dense fur before he could track a mess all over the floors. Even with excessive grooming, his winter coat puffed him up to almost twice his size, hiding his lean tanuki build beneath a cloud of dusty brown fur. His fur filled his t-shirt like an over-stuffed pillow, bursting out from the collar and sleeves like he was about to explode.

He lived alone high in Portland’s West Hills overlooking the city below. The winter had been mild, and now at the tail end of the season, the air was filled with a constant drizzly mist that wasn’t quite rain, but was too wet to be anything else. He quickly ran his paws through the fur on his exposed arms to shake loose as much as he could while he kicked off his shoes, letting them tumble across the floor and lay where they fell. Only once he was satisfied that he was dry and wouldn’t track mud all through the house, Walter walked across the empty, unfurnished room toward the iron spiral staircase that led upstairs. At the top of the stairs, Walter plugged his phone into the stereo dock so it could charge, and tossed his keys onto the dining room table, on top of a pile of bills he hadn’t opened, and jackets that never got worn.

The house was entirely too big for one person. Downstairs was almost a complete apartment on its own, with an open living area, bedroom, and full bath. There was a door leading out from the downstairs living room to the front yard, which Walter had never opened, and had never felt a particular need to, mostly owing to the giant prickly pear that had taken over from whatever the house’s previous owners were trying to do with the landscaping. Before he moved in, Walter had briefly considered having the stupid cactus removed, but it kept people from using the downstairs door. So it stayed.

Upstairs, there were two more bedrooms. His, which had remained largely untouched, had enormous windows which looked over the hills and the city. At least they would have, had there not been heavy blankets nailed to the wall to black out the bedroom as much as possible. He had his small bed, messed and unmade shoved against the far wall, and a single dresser topped with the assorted trinkets and pills that got piled up and ignored. Aside from a Louisville Slugger resting against the wall near the door, Walter had not put any further energy into the room. The second bedroom, which Walter had turned into his home office, had also borne the brunt of the previous owner’s desires. It had lost its more typical door, and gained a sliding barn door in its place. It had a glass sliding door and giant windows that looked out over the narrow strip of property to the side of the house. His was one of the few West Hills properties to have a pool, leading Walter to suspect that the lunatic previous owner might have been some kind of crocodile or fish.

His office was the only room in the entire house that bore any hallmark of being used. Walter didn’t own much, outside of an enormous collection of notes and files from work that he refused to throw out. He kept neatly stacked in boxes and cabinets, alongside shelves full of small trinkets he’d collected over the years, like trophies from a hunt. He had no photographs on any of the walls or surfaces, though his desk was cluttered with the tools of his trade. A desktop computer shared space with a laptop and the latest iPad release and several old phones. Multiple cameras sat neatly arranged on one side of his desk in a mix of handicams, point and shoots, and several large dSLRs.

The front room more resembled his bedroom again. Walter had a stereo that was designed to appear antique, but with all the necessary ports and trappings to interface with modern gadgets. On the shelf below, he had a substantial vinyl collection. Beyond that, he owned little else. A dining table he never used. A black leather sofa and matching recliner, and the sort of glass and steel coffee table he had been assured was fashionable. He had nothing hung up on the slate-grey walls, save the speakers from a 9.1 surround system that attached to his stereo. He could have attached the system to his television hung above the corner fireplace as well, but in the end, he had decided it was entirely too much work when the only thing he ever watched was various news channels. He kept no rugs on the chestnut-carpeted floors, and sky lights in the high, vaulted ceiling were kept permanently closed with the shades drawn. All the damn things ever seemed to do was let all the heat escape during the long winters, and focus the full force of the sun’s energy straight onto his head in the summer. And when they weren’t doing that, they constantly leaked from all the decaying leaves and pine needles eating away at the seal.

There had been a time when Walter had considered nailing blankets over the floor-to-ceiling windows in the front room, but with the high, vaulted ceilings and a sky that was cloudy more often than not, blocking off the natural light would have required extra effort in buying and plugging in lamps. His window didn’t face any of the neighbors anyway. Instead, his property gave him a view of the entire Willamette valley below, with the city stretching off to the east and Mt Hood looming far on the horizon, all framed neatly between two giant Douglas firs on the corners of his property. But in the haze and gloom of early February, the mountain was hidden in the clouds and mist, completely invisible from the city.

More available on Smashwords. Whole chapters available for 99¢. Light Novels available for $2.99. Omnibus volumes $9.99.

Walter Jung is a tanuki in an anthropomorphic version of Portland. A busy man, Walter only gets one day off each week, and he uses it to take care of errands he isn't able to squeeze into the rest of the week. This week, he might have been better off staying home. What starts with a near miss at the gym only gets worse from there. Walter's day quickly spirals out of control, including a fender bender, a random act of violence, and a literal landslide.

Day Off is the first part of Little Beirut, a monthly serial telling a (mostly) linear narrative. Each month, join Walter, Billy, Nichola, and more as they struggle to balance their professional and private lives in this slice of life adventure.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/47983

Collection of character portraits from Little Beirut.

Penny

Walter

Nichola

Jess

Billy

Buster

Kenneth

Jira

Celine

Seth

Evolution of Walter’s design. He’s done nothing but improve, I think. He’s also the one I put the most time into, because he is the main guy.

Penny, from Littlr Beirut #2. I’ve been learning watercolour, and this is the first one I’ve really liked.

First four chapter covers

Early vs current design for Walter. He’s changed a lot since I first started playing with him as a charater. Most notably, he grew hair.

Chapter 1 of Little Beirut is out now, for free. Get to know Walter as he takes a day off from work.

Walter Jung is a tanuki in an anthropomorphic version of Portland. A busy man, Walter only gets one day off each week, and he uses it to take care of errands he isn't able to squeeze into the rest of the week. This week, he might have been better off staying home. What starts with a near miss at the gym only gets worse from there. Walter's day quickly spirals out of control, including a fender bender, a random act of violence, and a literal landslide.

Each chapter is approximately 10,000 words, and releases twice a month.

I wanted to start painting this tonight but there wasn’t enough time. Tomorrow. . . . 🐐💥 . . . #art #artist #myart #artwork #furry #furryart #furryfandom #furryartist #furrycommission #furrydrawing #furryartwork #artofinstagram #anthroart #anthroartist https://www.instagram.com/p/CGHzeHen_99/?igshid=7l2bqs8cpnfr

I recently got a pack of Culture Hustle paint pigments, and decided to try them out.  Right out of the box, I knew I was in for something very different to what I am used to.

Mario Collection #1

I like this, because it shows some very real progression.  Very early stuff on the bottom.  The rest is from a couple years ago.

Metallic floss.  Everyone hates it.  Here’s how to use it with minimal hair-pulling.

Spoilers: you may still wind up pulling your hair out.

Want to do a loop start, but you’re only using one strand?  I got you fam.

Learn the loop start: probably the single best way to start your thread on a cross stitch project!

Mjolnir Stitch Pattern | $10

Full colour and black and white charts included in an instant download.  PDF includes both versions of chart, floss usage, full-colour example image, and pattern file for XStitch Markup on iOS.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤

Patron Download Store Download

July 2020 Member Packs

I’ve been wanting to find an alternative to Patreon for a while, so here’s something a little bit different.  Every month, I’m going to upload a pack of patterns for $5.  These packs will contain everything Patrons would have got for the month.

Here’s a test run, with everything currently available in my store.  44 SFW patterns + 4 NSFW.  The NSFW pack duplicates the SFW pack, plus adds the four additional patterns.  There is no need to purchase both.

Packs will be available for limited runs, after which everything within them will remain available à la carte.  The next pack will likely contain a mix of stuff that was added during the second half of this month, and those which I plan on uploading in August.  Additional packs may also be added for lineart and other resources.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤

SFW: https://commiss.io/listings/1DQK

NSFW: https://commiss.io/listings/aDoA

One skein left!

I won’t be able to dye more floss for a while, since white DMC has become incredibly difficult to come by.

Pick up the last one today!

https://www.thedealersden.com/listing/green-hand-dyed-embroidery-floss-for-fursuits-and-fiber-crafts-24/169911

One skein left!

There’s only one skein left of this funky overdyed grey.  I’m not sure when I’ll be able to make more, since white DMC is incredibly hard to come by right now.

https://www.thedealersden.com/listing/grey-hand-dyed-embroidery-floss-for-fursuits-and-fiber-crafts-22/169910