Writing Advice: Non-POC writing POC culture (high fantasy)

I... kinda need a second opinion, guys.

A while back, I started on a first-draft novel with the working title of 'Foxbones', which involved a lot of mixed-culture high fantasy, and a plot involving a second-son prince looking for his wastrel heir of a brother, and accumulating a ragtag band of friends on the way.

At the time, when I wrote most of the stuff I this evening dug up and started to move to a Scivener project file, I was enamoured with japanese mythos with a little korean thrown in for flavour - and the number of fox characters, as well as a couple of bakeneko one of which is the main character's best friend reflects this. However.

I've recently wanted to start throwing in other cultures as influences - mainly changing the royal family from asian-influenced to african, as well as drying up the surrounding country and maybe tossing a few hyena and painted dogs in, because I love them so - but I am hyper-aware that I am white as soap and I don't want to do it wrong.

As mentioned in a holler closet post, I am often guilt-stricken at all the horrible things white people have done, cultural appropriation among them, and after living on tumblr for so long I find it difficult to start even on research into african cultures without my brain going 'YOU HAVE TO HUNT DOWN EVER DETAIL ON X TRIBE AND INCORPERATE IT SOMEHOW OR ELSE YOU'RE BEING A TERRIBLE PERSON.'

On the other hand, my indulgent side just wants to fuck it and make a society of dark-skinned royal samurai. Am I allowed to do that?

TL;DR - I love melting-pot cultures and mixing ideas from IRL mythologies and ethnicities, but as a white person whose only call to interesting lineage is some czech jewish blood on my maternal grandfather's side, I don't know what's okay for me to take from any more.

 

Maybe plop this into the "Writing what you don't know" thread - many people have that thread on watch

 

Thanks, I will do :)