#im also rly not used to drawing irl people that Arent Me so this is also uncharted territory for me. i havent rly done it since HS

[spearxwind]

i drew me and the bf for valentines and oughhg my god i rly hope he likes it 😭🥺

[magnoliamyrrh]

i guess. one of my genuine questions is (also bc i dont read or watch supppprr many things) can someone pls give some examples of western fantasy/sci-fi/nonrealism etc series which,,, are Both culturally diverse but aren't to be labled problamatic in one form or another?

like pls, i rly am curious. because generally novels and such while they tell a story in another universe or time, they are a critique and allegory for current things happening irl or that have happened irl. theyre inherently grounded in whats happening here

and yes, there is nonfiction/fantast/scifi/etc which is written from outside of the west or filmed from outside of the west and i think thats rly cool and i think those sort of media should be more widespread and commonly known and gain more attention and in the context of films and series and such given more of an opportunity to be adapted. this is the age old discussion around representation - its better to just get more diverse ppl in general to write things than have the same ppl write abt them more. fully agree

but im asking specifically largely in the context of western literature and media and such. when its fantasy, or scifi, or some combination of something, it is most often grounded in a)broadly focusing on things happening irl b)historical contexts (on the topic of dune, its set where and how it is bc the story is an allegory for and critisue of american and russian imperialism in a series of islamic countries). for a lot of them bc theyre made in the west, the most heavy infleunce is a western one - weather current western society or like western medieval histories. this shows in lore building, in costume design, in characters, in sets and designs and the world and a million other things

.but at the same time, people want representation. people want to see character and places which arent just that, right? people want to see a diversity of cultures and people?

... but then, many times whenever a place/culture/people are introduced which are clearly based on/infleunced by certain regions of the world or ppls (as the others are themselves clearly based on some western societies), people say this is inherently cultural appropriation. of designs, of language, of beliefs of this and that. even in the cases where i haven't seen ppl say its stereotyped or its harmful or orientalist or etc, its still cultural appropriation bc its showing things clearly infleunced by nonwestern cultures..... ... but then. im sorry this is what trips me up. if this is Inherently cultural appropriation and Inherently bad,,,, than,,, how do you have represention? how do you have a fantasy world which then isnt an entire globe or globes of western european cultures essentislly? because saying "well just invent wholly new things for everyone!!!" doesnt rly work. everything we create like that is inherently bound by a series of things no matter how hard we try to be "original" - and especially if youre trying to make it more grounded in reality that just.. doesnt work. these things inherently are using whichever western language as the set language, and a series of cultural and historical things to draw from...... so........ is it better to just,,, have a diverse cast but with no unique or other cultural infleunces at all, and just shove them all in a clearly western-based fantasy? but then ppl dont like that either... and if english and such and western infleunces can exist, why is it that it must inherently be bad or problamatic or stealing to adapt other cultures, places, regions, languages into that? to try to show and adapt at least to an extent the actual diversity of the world..?

and im really really not saying that there do not exist genuinely offensive and harmful and stereotyped and orientalist and noble savage and villainous and everything else ways that this has been done in. thats not what im saying at all, bc there have been and are and its an issue... im speaking and asking,,, more broadly. bc ive seen this be said plenty more broadly abt the adaptation of cultures in any way rly