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a literary sanctuary for queer and highly sensitive youth!

Greetings Dear Readers,

Welcome to august primeval.

This garden of wild beasts grows from deep time and natural history- those most ancient of sources and sciences- to be and build sanctuary for queer and highly sensitive youth. Their fruits are tales deep and expansive, yet cozy and cathartic. Though they currently inhabit digital realms, at least some will become print books- tokens of other worlds to be held in the hand.

These brainchildren and I have come a long way: since our online debut on Webtoon in 2020, august primeval has spread to many platforms including Patreon, Creator Spring, and YouTube - moons now orbiting the world of our home site. Like worlds and universes themselves, however, our origins go back much further.

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I've been growing storyworlds since I was a boy. Not always successfully: as with all things in nature, there have been losses. I struggled and failed (how many times beyond remembrance) to even finish a story. Yet, with the books and artwork of others as my teachers, my drawing, crafting, and writing skills grew steadily.

Though I encountered voices of encouragement, I found neither American nor many Asian cultures look favorably upon the arts- or upon neurodivergence, which I lived with unknowingly and have since fervently embraced. Some adults and peers treated my deep, focused interests in paleontology and natural history as pathological. Growing older I scrounged sometimes minutes a day to tend my storyworlds outside more normative plans. The rampant ablism, racism, and homophobia I learned to recognize in later life, I will not get into here- but it taught me the need to create a living, breathing, growing sanctuary like august primeval, full of wild creatures to defend it and roam new territories.

Somehow, that child's interests and loves survive: weeds flowering in paved paradise. To paraphrase a fittingly famous dinosaur film, life finds a way!

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So, what let it happen? How did I finally and proudly create finished stories? A breakthrough: I realized I did not have to write a novel! Though publishing a novel was the only model of author/entrepreneurship I'd encountered as a child, the short story turned out to be the friend I had all along.

Finding the knowledge I needed to combine author/entrepreneurship- through a community college course, then SCORE mentorship and webinars- was yet another.

While writing books remains my goal, I am proud to present short story and fantasy nonfiction series tokens and spheres and august beasts, ready for you to buy, subscribe to, and enjoy! Find these and more at augustprimeval Home!

So, this universe of wild storyworlds continues to expand- one in which you, dear reader, are welcome.

Best,

august tian (august primeval)

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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

...is a queer author, illustrator, and artpreneur of Taiwanese descent who roams the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

He makes his home in places seen and unseen where dwell plants and dirt, birds and books, clay and colors, wild creatures, other worlds, and various combinations thereof. One can find traces of their presence in ink and graphite, wax and pastel, sketches and prose, clips and comics.

Join them at augustprimeval Home.