Line #11 Literature/TheAugustFew


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/61paariyftl_ac_uf10001000_ql80.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''"This book will change your brain chemistry."'']]
3
4	->''"Please note: the world to which you are about to embark does not adhere to [[BlueAndOrangeMorality earthly sensibilities, morals, or principles.]] The Kivic animals therein are [[AnimalisticAbomination potent, hazardous, and carnal beings]]. With this in mind, tread carefully upon this odyssey."''
5	---> ''Prologue; Part 3 - The Underbirth''
6
7	''The August Few'' is a series of books written by Sam Fennah and illustrated by Carmen Jones. Described as a sci-fi political drama by its author, it is a complete ContinuityReboot of ''WebVideo/SatelliteCity'' and tells the story of the world of the Kivouack, and the Kivouachians (shortened to "kivvas") who aim to shape its cultural, economic, social, and political landscape. The first book, ''Amygdala'', was released on February 21st, 2023 in e-book form, and released physically two days later.
8
9	The series' titles are as follows:
10	* Book 1: ''Amygdala'' (Released February 21, 2023)
11	* Book 2: ''Wonderlust'' (Release date TBD)
12	* Book 3: ''The Glittering Gaps'' (working title, release date TBD)
13	* Book 4: ''A Blood Red Void'' (working title, release date TBD)
14	* Book 5: ''The Satellite City'' (working title, release date TBD)
15	* Book 6: ''The Lady and the Traveler'' (working title, release date TBD)
16
17	Has a [[Characters/TheAugustFew characters page]] under construction.
18
19	----
20	!!To spot a lie, learn to spot the tropes:
21	* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: There are three clothing styles modeled after the Descendants; Lockettian, Sombrarian, and Winiwardian. While Lockettian style uses fine silk and Sombrarian style uses leather, Winiwardian style can range from a simple accessory or completely bare.
22	* AerithAndBob: Names can range from average human names such as "Lucy" or "Sally" to more rare examples such as "Ludwig" or "Quinn", and even more out there names such as "Wexle", "Wyley", or "Locket".
23	* TheAgeless: Described in the book as being "untouched by time," Kivva bodies do not rot or deteriorate, even when killed. Some Kivvas such as Felix or Sombra are portrayed as being old men.
24	* AlternateHistory: In canon, the Big Bang was the destruction of the Kivouack and our known universe is what's left of it.
25	* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Kivvas can come in all shapes and sizes, and all sorts of colors and shades. The only common traits between them are three navels and cross-shaped pupils.
26	* AnimalisticAbomination: As said above, the only consistancy between Kivvas is their cross-shaped pupils and three navels, but their amount of limbs and extremities is greatly varied.
27	* BizarreAlienBiology: A Kivva's biology is far different from a human's or even the animals they resemble. Explained in detail [[https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CePFhxzZHblWR3B-uX2FlO8tw9eUaaualqU9S4fl36k/mobilepresent?slide=id.g15bf81ee7e0_0_5 here]] (slides 9-13). To summarize…
28	** Kivvas don't always look alike, even if they’re siblings, but have five things in common: cross-shaped pupils, three navels, three hearts, long tongues, and claws somewhere on their bodies.
29	** Kivvas don't die of old age nor do their bodies decompose after death. Decapitation doesn’t kill a Kivva either. Instead, they go into "rottulation" (basically unconsciousness) until the head is reattached. The only known ways to kill a Kivva is to destroy the head, use their headless body as a vessel for Fowlers, or with fire.
30	** All Kivvas have a reproductive organ called a gower, which produces a reproductive fluid called vilt. This allows them to breed with any other Kivva regardless of either party's biological sex.
31	** Kivvas don’t have a set age for when they hit puberty (called "keurticulation"); it could happen at anytime from a few years to many decades. It could also occur due to great emotional distress [[spoiler:which happens with Lucy.]]
32	* BizarreAlienReproduction: ''And how.'' Kivvas will basically utilize a contorted, headless body as a vessel for their DNA, from which a mass amount of Fowlers will spawn from. Said Fowlers will try to kill their siblings to survive, and it's often incredibly rare to see Kivouachians born from the same vessel, outside of the Descendants.
33	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: While individual Kivvas are capable of emotions and morality comparable to a human's, Kivic society as a whole runs on this trope.
34	** Since decapitation doesn’t kill a Kivva, getting your head chopped off is a form of deserved humiliation at the very worst. Additionally, headless bodies are a normal part of Kivic culture, from being used as furniture to being used for reproduction.
35	** Contorting headless bodies is not only considered normal, but a form of art. These contortions are called "bows".
36	** Killing a fellow Kivva just so you can replace them at their job is fair game as long as the killer does the job just as well, if not better, than whoever they killed. If they kill for no discernible reason at all, they're considered a "bloodletter" (ie. murderer). In any case however, if the murdered Kivva was well-liked within the community, the one responsible for their death will most likely face some consequences.
37	** In Kivic society, all that matters is how well you contribute to it. There is virtually no discrimination at all, be it for one's gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, or size. As long as you're competent and useful, you're important. However, Fowlers seem to be the exception to the rule, as they're typically seen as a food source.
38	** The concept of families doesn't exist in the Kivouack. When a Kivva reproduces, the resulting litter is left to fend for themselves until they either reach maturity or find a mentor to educate them. Even if two Kivvas from the same litter have some sort of bond, their relationship would be that of two friends rather than siblings.
39	** Putting Fowlers (ie. juvenile Kivvas) to work is perfectly legal, but not all bosses hire Fowlers.
40	** Funerals aren’t a thing. Although Kivvas do indeed mourn the death of any friends they once had, it's only on their own time. Death is generally seen as proof that the deceased couldn’t pull their own weight, so from a Kivva's perspective, a funeral would just be a pity party.
41	* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The Kivouchaians as a whole have been better fleshed out and developed since ''Satellite City'', where it seemed more like a proof of concept for what they could be. Most characters like Lucy and Winifred have been given better fleshed out personalities that give us a better understanding of who they are.
42	* DoomedByCanon: Since the Kivouack is meant to be what modern humans know as the singularity that rapidly expanded and became the universe, the Kivouack's destruction is inevitable. Whether or not any of the Kivvas will survive and take refuge on Earth like in ''WebVideo/SatelliteCity'' is unknown.
43	* ExtraEyes: Mystique has three, Kivvas like Yeshua, Goldune, and Harlow have four, Fleischer has six, and Locket and Hayden have more than ten. Inverted with Nathaniel, who has a singular eye, and Fiona, whose eyes are not on [[EyelessFace her face]], but rather [[EyesDoNotBelongThere her hands.]]
44	* GreyAndGrayMorality: Locket's law does not abide by morals, and the key debate during ''Amygdala'' is between Locket's adherence to her nature and Methusa's desire for compassion.
45	* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: As stated above, Winiwardian style is mostly seen as this, or just completely bare-naked.
46	* HealingFactor: Kivouackian limbs and heads can be severed and reattached, though they are not completely invincible, and cannot regrow lost limbs.
47	* HomosexualReproduction: All Kivvas, regardless of biological sex, can reproduce with one another thanks to a universal reproductive organ called a gower.
48	* LosingYourHead: Decapitation merely renders a body dormant, and is equivalent to being knocked unconscious. Kivvas cannot be killed via decapitation, and even if the head is destroyed, the body left behind could still twitch and respond to stimuli.
49	* MeaningfulRename: It's said that Kivvas choose their own names, though some may choose to adopt a "trade name", often out of respect or for some other reason.
50	* {{Microts}}: Kivvas measure time with the Songtowers; tall structures throughout the Underbirth that indicate how much time has passed through music. The Kivic units of time refer to the kind of music the Songtowers play, starting with ticks. 70 ticks is a bell, 40 bells is a chime, 100 chimes is a tone, and 7 tones is a stanza.
51	** Despite what the name may imply, ticks are described as Kivic ''minutes'', not seconds. There doesn’t seem to be a Kivic unit of time similar to seconds at all.
52	** Tones are the only Kivic unit of time to be given an Earth measurement. The narrative describes a tone as [[TwoOfYourEarthMinutes "similar to about three months by earthly reckoning"]].
53	* MixAndMatchCritters: Some Kivvas may look like a certain animal on the surface, but there are some that look like crosses between multiple. For example; Fleischer looks similar in appearance to a blue dragon, while Quinn is mammalian with additional features similar to moths and axolotls.
54	* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Most Kivvas have loads of teeth, even on ones that look like species that shouldn't have teeth, such as Thallius.
55	* MonstrousCannibalism: Young Fowlers are often captured and served as food in Chopshops, but sometimes even matured Kivvas can be made someone's meal. [[spoiler:Just ask Wyley.]] Justified since the limited forms of life in the Kivouack means the Kivvas don’t have much to eat except some plants and each other.
56	* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Kivvas are not limited to having just two arms or legs, some like Quinn or Yeshua have four, and then there's Polly with a staggering ''twenty-four arms.''
57	* NippleAndDimed: Averted; artistic nudity is on full display in the book's illustrations.
58	* NobodyPoops: Kivvas don't produce waste.
59	* NonMammalMammaries: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged,]] as not all mammalian female Kivvas have breasts, and not all female Kivvas with breasts are mammals.
60	* RingworldPlanet: The Underbirth is a megastructure the size of Saturn with three parts. The outer spherical of the Kasino and the inner sphere of the Thumme, which is the size of Mars, with five rings orbiting the Thumme known as the Hammerlow. Gravity is basically subjective in all three sections.
61	* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: Played with. In ''Chapter Two, 1. Dalton of Eight'', the narrative uses Earth units of time to better describe the {{Microts}} used by the Kivvas.
62	--> ''The rhythmic ticks of a Songtower could be felt and heard by any within close proximity: the Kivic minute. The bells sounded every seventy ticks, their music elegant, each sequence unique to the time: the Kivic hour. After forty bells came the chime, a longer, harmonious performance: the Kivic day. After one-hundred chimes came the next of the seven tones, a far grander sound: the Kivic month. And seven of these tones made the stanza: the Kivic year.''

Context Literature / TheAugustFew