august beasts: creatures of august primeval

...and a new kaiju fairytale in the works!

Image Description(left): An ammonite Cthulhu-being emerges from the pages of a book. From its siphon, planets and moons emerge. Image Description(above, right): Two feathered dinosaurs, an oviraptorid and a beaked dromaeosaur, cuddle together beneath two magnolia trees. Fallen petals rest delicately on their heads. Nearby, a dragonfly rests on the back of a turtle.

The Sea Blat and Kildacroc. The Atlas Shark. The Smoldering Furies. These and a myriad more dwell in the pages of August Beasts: a queer, neurodiverse creature feature zine for all ages.

Let each creature be a prayer- for a niche, a home, a habitat. Together, let them be a compendium of companions- a reminder of our inseparability from the whole history of life in its endless forms.

Read more about August Beasts the storyworlds page of the august primeval Home site, and meet some creatures below- the first of many to come!

~ august primeval

You can subscribe to August Beasts on Patreon where you can also subscribe to monthly Tokens & Spheres micro fiction stories (read more on this further on!).

You can also buy the debut episode of August Beasts from my Patreon shop.

The Smoldering Fury

Image Description: A family of dromaeosaur firebirds, plumage wreathed in flame, tend a nest. Two chicks produce their first flames as they emerge. Two male parents look on with pride as a larger female gazes off page.

The first vision I had of a Smoldering Fury was a dromaeosaur (Velociraptor and kin) of soot-black smoke, with red-and-orange feather-flames and white-hot sparks for teeth and claws. Though I keep that version in mind, the iteration here- though still with supernatural aspects- is more animalistic, based on Utahraptor and Dakotaraptor. Like the djinn, those fire-beings of Arabian myth, Smoldering Furies are powerful yet vulnerable.

The Ceratorn and Royal Stromjaeger

Image description: A large, strongly built oviraptorid dinosaur strides by a lake. It has a deep square bill, a large fan of tail feathers, and a casque (keratinous crest) modified into a large horn on its head.

Ceratorns (above) are large, heavily built oviraptorids convergently evolved with ceratopsian dinosaurs like Triceratops. Royal Stromjaegers (below), are fish-eating dromaeosaurs (“raptor” dinosaurs) with semiaquatic adaptations like Halszkaraptor and Austroraptor.

Image description: A pair of large dromaeosaurs stride out of a lake onto a horsetail-covered bank. They have long legs and narrow heads with small needle-sharp teeth.

The Atlas Shark.

Image Description: A sperm whale dives as a colossal bioluminescent shark glides through a nighttime sea, her broad anvil-shaped dorsal fin a forested island.

...is a kaiju based on Devonian shark relative Stethacanthus. All are born male and transition to female as they mature. These colossal filter-feeders can live for thousands of years, and grow large enough to support entire island ecosystems on their broad, spiny anvil-shaped dorsal fin.

The Sea Blat and Kildacroc

...are kaiju based on Triassic marine reptiles Eretmorhipis and Hupehsuchus. Both species are filter-feeders: the Sea Blat forages for plankton on the seafloor, while the Kildacroc is an open-water lunge feeder. All are female, bear live young via parthenogenesis, and form lifelong interspecies pair bonds.

The Sea Blat and Kildacroc will soon feature in their own illustrated kaiju fairytale- read on for more!

In Vain the Ocean: a Kaiju Fairytale- New Book in the Works!

Kaiju Sea Blat and Kildacroc must protect interdimensional Cthulhu-being Madame deVonian from a deadly warship that threatens them all.

This reversal of the usual Hollywood scenario, true to being a fairytale, bespeaks solace and rebellion- beautiful and vulnerable creatures surviving and even defeating the cruel and powerful, upending and sinking the narrative they use to lionize their own power and cruelty. When finished, In Vain the Ocean will publish for print-on-demand on Lulu.com, where you can order more neurodiverse natural history and queer science fantasy in the meantime! 

Learning from past stories, I’ve begun with the story structure, making sure the plot is well-organized and set up from the beginning. That said, I could not resist starting some illustrations- find them below!

Image description: An ammonite-like Cthulhu-being rises from the depths of a temperate ocean beneath a full moon. The twisting arches of her shell form an alien undersea monolith as her luminous tentacles reach toward the surface.

Image description: On the nighttime horizon Madame deVonian, an ammonite-like Cthulhu-being, slumbers peacefully between sea and sky. Sea Blat and Kildacroc, two gigantic sea reptiles, sleep curled up together on the seafloor. Fish and marine reptiles shoal around them. Nearby, the long-decayed remains of a naval destroyer sink into silt.

Image description: Sea Blat and Kildacroc, two gigantic sea reptiles, rise toward the surface and dawn sun.

In Other News...

I, august primeval, had a marvelous time at the 2025 Hillsboro Public Library Local Author Expo!

Image description: A stuffed dragon puppet sits on a table at the Hillsboro Public Library. Surrounding it are copies of Tokens & Spheres (Vol. 1) to sell, as well as flyers with QR codes for payment and august primeval websites.

After being invited in November 2024 and preparing for months, I hosted a table at the Hillsboro Public Library from noon to 4PM on March 7th. There, at my first live author event, I appeared in true form through a dragon puppet I made- and sold seven of the ten copies of Tokens & Spheres (Vol. 1) I had ordered for the event.

Tokens & Spheres is a series of neurodiverse natural history and queer science fantasy micro fiction tales. The ingredients are simple- two sentences and one illustration per story- and the possibilities span worlds.

You can buy this first Tokens & Spheres softback volume from my Lulu bookshop, and be sure to subscribe to monthly Tokens & Spheres stories on Patreon!

To find out more about Tokens & Spheres and  August Beasts, visit the storyworlds page of the august primeval Home site.

natural-history-based science fantasy stories and art for queer and highly sensitive youth and young adults that addresses trauma while grounding itself in life, wonder, and expansiveness

so they feel safe, loved, and powerful.

about the creator

august tian

he/him/they

Image description: A boy in shorts, glasses, and a wide-brim hat stands casting the shadow of a scarred spinosaur-like dragon with a whale's tail.

Attention: august primeval is at large. Though they have thus far presented as their human form August Tian, and containment algorithms have limited their spread online, authorities urge the public to be on guard. Signs of their presence include recycling bins raided of crafting materials and resulting depictions of prehistoric and fictional life-forms. 

Authorities urge caution around gatherings of flora and avifauna ("plants" and "birds"), which the entity appears drawn to. Any member of the public found aiding and abetting the spread of august primeval- through online or physical media- will be subject to penalty including, but not limited to, glares of condescension. 

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES may any member of the public visit the entity's online presence: augustprimeval Home.

© 2025 August Tian