: Re: How do I write "fantasy counterpart cultures" without being accused of cultural appropriation? In my book series, the various planets of the galaxy are inhabited by different cultures, most of

@Merenda569

An Example
Robert Jordan's best-selling Wheel of Time series is full of different cultures. The best explored of these are the Aiel who mostly have blue, grey or green eyes and usually have red hair. They have very distinctive cultural beliefs and practices.

Physically, Aiel can be recognized through their unusual height,
characteristic pale eyes and light-colored hair, as well as their
distinctive clothing. wot.fandom.com/wiki/Aiel
There are also numerous descriptions of other cultures' different styles of dress and way of talking. In addition we hear about differences in complexion, for example the sea-folk have dark skins.

The Sea Folk, ... are a seafaring people who live on ships and the
islands ... They typically have a dark complexion, and are seen as
"exotic" by mainlanders. wot.fandom.com/wiki/Atha%27an_Miere
In particular the main male protagonist turns out to be different in many physical characteristics from his fellow villagers who are described as being of the same blood as one another. These factors turn out to be vital to the plot.
As far as I am aware there have been no complaints about the 'racial' distinctions within the novels from any source. Jordan himself says in an interview that many of his cultural references and systems of belief have grounding in historical reality.
However, now that the series is being dramatised for television, something different has happened. Casting appears to be deliberately 'colour-blind' in the sense that people from the same heritage in the novels are not matched in terms of the actors' background. I personally have no objection to this but, as usual when watching the movie of the book, one's mental images have to be readjusted. In this case considerably because of lack of racial distinctions.

The casting news comes after Rafe Judkins revealed his ideas of how
the show was going to handle casting. Judkins posted a script grab
that read:
“As much as possible, our cast should look like America will in a few
hundred years — a beautiful mix of white, brown, black and everything
in between.” boundingintocomics.com/2019/08/18/amazons-wheel-of-time-series-race-swaps-egwene-perrin-and-nynaeve/

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