There is proof, in the historically accurate setting, that POC existed there. The author is pushing a false narrative, intentionally or otherwise, by not including POC.
This idiot seems to not know that for all she knows the author may only have humans in a specific area. I can tell you right now for example that my Iron Age DnD setting for example, the Humans are only found mainly on what I lovingly call "Fantasy Greece and her colonies". Most other cultures I did based on races. Example for these being Orcs were German, Kobolds Iranians, and Tieflings Semitic peoples.
Medieval Europe/High Fantasy is overdone and other cultures deserve recognition, so more authors should be writing about them.
But the bitch saying this doesn't do this herself nine times out of ten since none of them do this. The tenth time, she does a reverse mono-culture based on what little she knows about the culture and splices it with modern, but corrupted, western values. She thus creates a caricature of the culture she clearly rips off.
Still a point that Medieval Europe is done to death. It's why I went Classical Period/Diadochi Wars for my world, with a slight dash of the Migration Period/Rise of Islam-Christianity.
In a fictional setting, there is no reason for the population to be 100% white.
a) Adding POC is part of the fantastical elements.
This may be the most unintentionally racist thing I've ever heard. She basically is screaming that Coloured folk existing are fucking fictional and unbelievable with that addendum.
"Explaining why this foreign dude is here and how he can interact with your character is interesting and a thing that any writer worth a shit would want to do." (I can't even reword this one to make it less fucking dumb so just have it)
This is almost not dumb in my opinion other than how I know what this turns out as when purse puppies decide to write things. Culture clash is a fun theme for stories, and it can create conflict, which reflects in interesting things.
By the by, they can bite me on the whole bigotry and bias thing for the world building. The Anitai in my setting I based on the Greeks in culture for the most part (with a dash of Persian as well for their ceremony and magic), but visually I had Aksumites in mind. The variations in their culture were based purely on how the Greeks diversified in culture based on City States, the Diadochi, and the rural "semi-barbarians" like the Eperiots and Macedonians.
The Nemlovo were based on Iranian peoples that were still nomadic like the Saka or the Sarmatians. They visually and to a degree culturally were based on the Slavs, with a dash of Egyptian in the form of them eventually forming a Monotheistic religion similar to Atenism. Their main differences were in how settled they were (Dahae/Parthians v. Sarmatians), their clannish nature (for those tribes living in the Broken Lands), as well as by their influences from other cultures.
The Shingjan are very obviously East Asian styled. Chai being part Samnite, part Tibetan; their Yanzi formations were inspired by the Samnite maniple, and their lifestyle is Tibetan in nature. Their religion however is based on Ryukyu and Okinawan Ancestor Worship. Wo is going to be similar to Burma and India, as the home of the great Philosopher Nenxi and his Eightfold path. They also tend to be caste based, which is why the Anitai were able to exploit their rule so well in their lands. Lastly, the Yim are very obviously Chinese inspired due to their power and claims of being the center of the world.
The last lot, the Alwasi who I mostly only referenced by the fact they hail from the Windy Cities, are semitic inspired. There are a few different cultures, the big three being based mainly on the Israelites, Assyrians, and Arabians. Their details are still patchy given I have not written as much for them as their peers, but I will likely continue to culture splice as needed and desired.
And yes, the major cultural groups in the setting are a play on the four Western Elements; it's been a theme since 1.0.
As for writing a character, I usually just write their personality first and then change things whenever I feel like it since a character is their actions, motivations, and interactions, not that skin-deep "wokeness" ahit that gives no depth. The Sci-fi setting a pal and I wrote for example did this; we wrote the skin-deep stuff last after crafting their characters.
