We literally have rainforests. We have a region called New England because it goes crimson in autumn. The Hunter Valley gets flooded every La Nina and there's huge controversy in Sydney because developers keep building on flood plains. Melbourne is famous for having incredibly touchy weather that changes every five minutes. We have a trail in Tasmania that people won't hike in winter because they WILL die from hypothermia if they aren't completely prepared and very lucky. We have a cyclone season. We once had a cyclone go so far inland it went to Alice Springs - for Americans, imagine a hurricane that starts in Florida and ends up in Iowa.
We're a desert country, yes, but here, in Sydney, we get more rainfall every year than London. During the 2022 La Nina we got more rainfall in a week than London does in a year. A desert country means we get wet seasons. In some parts of Australia that's yearly, in other parts it's a Game of Thrones-esque multi year cycle of wet and dry and we never know in advance how long which part will last, only year by year.
You want to know what the biggest desert in the world is? It's Antarctica. The Sahara isn't the standard for what deserts look like, it's an exception, not the norm. Most deserts are as different from each other as forests, not featureless sand.
We are home to the oldest cultures in the world, who've been here from 40,000 years ago at minimum to up to twice that. They are so old they were here before Australia was mostly desert. They wouldn't have survived if there was no water.
my hot take on the fantasy genre is that it's not inherently bad to do a medieval europe based fantasy world or really any european inspired fantasy world, in fact i like that stuff and think it can be very cool and while yeah definitely diversify the historical cultures the genre bases fantasy worlds on, that's always good and having european culture be the default for everything ever is bad, the problem here i never see anyone talk about is that people keep somehow making medieval and early modern europe boring as fuck and not understanding anything about it
yessssss! Please can we have actual medieval fantasy instead of vaguely renaissance with modern flair? Can we have a bunch of randos traveling together to avoid dragon attacks on their pilgrimage to see the gold-plated skull of a famous paladin who died calling down fire from heaven on the pagan hordes? Have a guy in the marketplace selling penis and vulva charms guaranteed to protect you on your way to bathe in the sacred sulfur springs? Some lads hanging out carving promise spoons for their lady friends and talking about those weird foreigners who keep insisting "nothing" is a number? A female character who serves as a castle chatelaine and spends her time keeping account books and overseeing storage and organization? Merchant caravans traveling the Spice Road and avoiding phoenixes and giant ants along the way? A princess spending an entire year working with her ladies in the solar to sew and embroider that special gown for her wedding? Strangers sharing a bed at the inn, ladies in waiting sharing a bed with their queen (or sleeping on the trundle bed beside her), entire families sharing a bed in their little thatched house, because yes there often was only one bed? Collective cultural obsession with the proper order of all things and the natural hierarchy built into the world from the lowest insect to the divinely appointed king, with heated scholarly debates about where magic-users fit into this scheme? Widespread excitement about the invention of a new type of plow and how this will completely change farming techniques? Multiple generations working to complete a hundred-year building project? Constant arguing and politicking and back-stabbing and boot-licking between the church and the state? The philosophical joy of knowing your rightful place in the grand spinning harmony of the cosmos? The apothecaries and alchemists taking the first awkward steps into developing the scientific method? The all-pervasiveness of song and worship and moral debate?
Also for the love of God hide your characters' hair! There are a million incredible, ludicrous, delightful types of medieval headgear. Loose flowing locks are out of the question please.
One of the reasons why I'm so annoying about the "why does this otherwise medieval europe-inspired setting have potatoes as a staple crop" is not only for the reasons I've talked about before wrt authors treating things that europe obtained through colonialism as universal timeless constants that have always been part of their cuisine, but also because like. medieval european culture is inherently linked to the material conditions of the feudal mode of production, and the introduction of potatoes as a crop to europe was such a game-changer for agriculture that like. I'm completely sure that, in a world where medieval europe had access to potatoes, feudalism (and consequently the entirety of medieval european culture) would have developed in a radically different way. So when someone inserts potatoes into their medieval-inspired world without any speculation about how this would alter these conditions it betrays a complete refusal to interrogate why things are the way they are from authors who usually claim to pride themselves in their in-depth worldbuilding.
Something silly and dumb that I didn’t have the energy to lineart, so I just colored my messy sketches. x’D Fukuo is actually very wise, but I like to think he doesn’t really keep up with the modern terminology while Shiba totally does, lol.
It took a long time for Silvan to calm down. How long they cried for, they didn’t know, nor did they care. Eventually, Kentarous carried them to what looked like a very, very ancient room. It looked completely out of time, wooden floors with a thick layer of dust, a wall of books, a table with scattered papers and a lamp that he lit with a small flame, lighting the room up. It was out of place in the massive mine, but in it was a cot. Kentarous placed Silvan on it, and laid down on the ground next to them. In his Sky Forme, he was far too large to fit next to them on the small bed.
Silvan wiped their face and was silent for some time as Ken had put them down. They felt exhausted again, like back in the hut before Snowpoint City. Their paws still had spots of missing fur, even now. Pokemon healed fast, faster than humans by far, but even this was long.
“That move you used…” Silvan’s voice was very rough, “what…”
“Leaf Storm,” Ken said simply, their tail swishing a bit in the dirt. “I’m not at a high enough level yet to learn my signature move, Seed Flare, so for now, that’ll do nicely for a strong grass type move.”
“Oh…” Silvan didn’t know much about all of the many moves that Pokemon could learn, only that the move had been incredibly powerful. Their body ached from the whiplash of the wind, but they were happy to be in pain rather than dead.
“You saved my life again.”
“You kinda saved me too,” he shrugged, like it was no big deal, “I’m not Pokeball protected. I asked Haru to capture me, but she said she wanted me to have the chance to find a human like her someday. But frankly, I honestly just don’t want to.”
It had been a shame. Kentarous would’ve been very happy to become Haru’s Pokemon - heck, he knew that many Pokemon would. Being owned by a Pokemon Knight was an honour.
Silvan felt more tears trickle out. They were always being saved by someone, or helped, yet here they were, embarking on a quest that felt so fruitless. There were only four evolutions to go, and what if they never evolved?
Then all the help they had gotten, all the kindness they had been shown, all the lessons they had learnt…
… would be for nothing.
Kentarous looked worried as Silvan began to cry again, “hey, what is it? Was it something I said?”
“N-no…” they managed to get out as tears ran down their face again, “I just… I wish… why am I always being saved? Why can’t I just…”
They hiccuped and ground out, “why can’t I just not fucking suck for once?!”
Silence stretched between them as Silvan’s sniffles seemed to echo in the stillness of the room. Kentarous got up and gently bumped his head against Silvan’s wet cheek, startling them.
“You don’t suck. You’re just growing up.”
Silvan blinked at that, both confused and surprised, and Kentarous’s smile was gentle, and for a moment, Silvan remembered that even though Ken was a new adult just like they were, he was still hundreds of years older.
“No one really stops growing, but between when you’re a kid to when you’re like, middle aged? You’re always learning and you’re always growing. Sometimes humans and Pokemon alike mature slower or faster than others.”
“But you? You’ve only just started your life, Silvan. Of course you’re going to suck.”
Silvan spluttered a bit at that, and glared at him, “now who's being rude.”
Ken snickered, “I’m not wrong. But you also have your own strengths, too. You just need to remember that.”
Silvan looked at their still damaged paws, and sighed. It was hard to see themselves as strong when reality had come crashing down on them like a metric ton of bricks.
Kentarous stood up and shook himself, and what looked like sparks of light flew from him. Just like Silvan, it seemed Ken also shed a bit of glitter from his star-kissed fur.
“Now come on, let’s get out of here and get back upstairs, yeah?”
Silvan was about to agree with him before their ears stood on end. It was there, in that ancient room, that they finally sensed it.
“Wait.”
“Hm?”
“The Steel Gem… it’s nearby!”
“Huh?” Kentarous blinked and stood up tall, “really?”
“Y-yeah…” Silvan shook themselves as well and jumped off the cot. They looked around the room - there was a large cupboard to the left. They went over it and rubbed their paw of the very thick coating of dust on it. Their foot felt bumps and ridges on it.
“Ken, could you please blow the dust off this, please?” they asked.
Ken walked over and obliged, flapping his wings a couple of times to blow the dust away. This did have the other effect of throwing dust into the air, causing both of them to sneeze.
“Ugh,” that was stupid. Silvan shook themselves of the dirt as Kentarous snickered. They allowed it - it had been a bad idea.
The cabinet had an intricate puzzle on the front - there was no visible keyhole in it - only the pattern and mechanisms that must’ve been the ‘key’ within it. There were four ridges that looked like holes, and there was an indent right in the middle that was larger than the rest. Maybe a button?
“This is ancient,” Kentarous was in awe as they looked closer at it, “it’s written in the Ancient language, as well.”
“Can you read it?”
“Yeah! It’s super easy~”
“Ugh,” Silvan groaned. Kentarous merely snickered again before he read it out loud.
“Come day and night,
Light and dark,
Beneath fire and ice,
Lies a heart stronger than steel.”
Silvan blinked at it. They and Ken looked at each other, then back at the puzzle.
“How the heck are we supposed to figure that out?!” Kentarous said in almost outrage, and Silvan had to hide a snicker this time.
“Day and night…” Silvan thought about that. It could mean different things - a literal interpretation was times of day. The other… Silvan looked at Kentarous.
Was a Pokemon that represented night and day, either or, or both.
“Light and Dark…” Silvan felt over the puzzle as they took in the shapes with their paw. Once again a reference to night and day, but the holes were in the shape of a circle. Maybe this time, it was not the time or the day, but elements?
The only problem was, while the Dark element existed, there was no such thing as the Light element. And the types that were strong against dark types were Fighting, Bug and Fairy.
Fighting types were considered strong and proud, and supposedly on the side of ‘good’. The element purely on its own assigned itself to a certain degree of purity, and only turned when mixed with the dark type.
Bug types all existed in the ‘light’ - the sun. Nocturnal bugs were rare, but that type too also represented light and dark.
And Fairy… they shuddered at that. They knew personally how bright and how devious their own typing was. Thinking about the Fairy Crown incident again made the fur on the back of their neck stand on end again.
“Beneath Fire and Ice… that one is obvious.” They looked up at the roof. They were quite literally beneath fire from the volcano, and ice from the snow.
And the last line was obvious - the Steel Gem.
As Silvan thought, they looked at the holes in the puzzle for a little bit longer. If there was indeed a Steel Gem in here, then wouldn’t it make sense for the Gems to potentially be the key? Silvan opened their bag.
“What are you doing?” Kentarous asked as Silvan began to get gems out.
“I think I might know the answer to the puzzle,” they said as they got the gems out. They were very lucky they had each of the four elements.
“The Dark element,” they had to thank Darkrai for letting them keep the Gem. “Where does it say ‘Dark’, please?”
“Oh! Here,” Kentarous pointed to a spot where the text was, and it was right next to a hole. Silvan placed the Dark Gem in it. It was right at the top.
“Light?”
“Here!” Kentarous pointed to the left.
“Hm…” Silvan thought for a moment. If the Fairy Gem went there, then…
“Where is ‘Fire’ written, please?”
“Here,” Kentarous pointed to the right, near the next hole.
Silvan paused to think once more. Fairy types resisted the Bug type and the Fighting type, which meant…
“Maybe… if Fairy Type means ‘light’ against ‘dark’...”
Silvan placed the Fairy Gem on the right, the Bug Gem on the left, and the Fighting Gem on the bottom, opposite the Dark Gem.
“Now…” they turned to Kentarous, “could you please put your paw in the centre?”
“Me?” he blinked. “Why me?”
“You’re a Pokemon who represents day and night,” Silvan explained, “I think… it might open if you do it.”
Kentarous looked for a moment, but he shrugged and did as he was asked. He figured it couldn’t hurt to do it.
And just like that, when Kentarous pressed on the centre, the lines and words of the puzzle glowed a soft blue light. Both Pokemon jumped back with surprise as the puzzle rotated with a groan and a clunk, as though it had not been opened in a very, very long time. When the door was open, the gems in the door all fell out, which Silvan quickly collected before they both looked inside. Kentarous brightened the gold on his body to see inside too.
It was a metal doll of some kind. Silvan blinked at it - the chest piece of the doll was open, and in it was the Steel Gem. Both Pokemon looked at each other again, and then back at the doll. It looked very similar to a Pokemon Silvan had seen in a book before, but it was very different. Inside the cabinet were meticulous notes and books in delicate, ancient paper that was thick and sturdy, bound together with Tauros leather.
“Wow…” Kentarous exclaimed as Silvan carefully took the books. They didn’t dare open them for they were worried they would turn to dust, so they very, very carefully put them into the subspace of their bag. It was a good thing that humans had invented subspace technology - inside it, time froze. It was how trainers managed to carry around berries, milk and curry ingredients without them spoiling.
“You’re not gonna read them?” he said as Silvan shook their head no.
“I’ll give them to Haru if I see her again.”
Silvan turned their attention to the gem. It was firmly stuck in the doll, but there were no life signs coming from it. No… anything. Still, it felt very wrong to take the gem, and yet…
Silvan put their paws on the Gem, expecting something, anything, to happen. Nothing did. They began to yank on it, nothing still. With growing confidence that it was all fine, Silvan tugged more on the gem, even going so far as to put their hind legs on its body before pulling as hard as they could.
With the force, the Gem was finally free, and Silvan yelped as they landed hard on their back. Even worse–
“Oh crap–” the very heavy doll began to fall, but luckily Kentarous prevented it from falling on them and shoved it back into the cupboard. It closed with a loud snap.
Both of them panted with the effort. Kentarous looked at the shiny Gem Silvan held in their paws and smiled, “well look at that! See? Told you you had strengths. I never could’ve solved a riddle that complicated~”
Silvan managed a grin at that, their chest swelling a little with pride. It had been a while since they had felt their usual confidence. They sat up and held the Steel Gem with a small smile. It had been a literal life threatening effort, but they finally had it.
Their smile slipped, though. Just like all the others… they didn’t feel a connection with this Gem either. Still, they got out their crown, placed the Gem within it, and placed it on their head.
Nothing happened once more.
“... no luck?” Kentarous offered as Silvan slowly took the crown off their head, and they shook their head.
“No.”
Kentarous looked sad as Silvan put the crown and gem in their bag. It had been even more of a crushing let down than the others.
“Silva—”
“Can you fly us out of here, please?”
Kentarous took in their body language. Their ears were low, their bag was on their back, and they were trembling. He could tell that Silvan was trying very hard not to cry, their emotions too raw from before to hide.
“Yeah… of course…” He walked forward and knelt down. Silvan climbed up onto Ken’s back as he walked out of the room and stretched his wings. With a mighty flap, he began to fly up to the entrance of the mine, Silvan holding on tight.
He could feel their shaking on his back, but for the sake of their pride, for once, Kentarous remained quiet as they flew out of the mine and into the night.
