#i hope im being respectful here. im autistic and tend to phrase things poorly without realizing :S

[naughtybg3confessions]

not a confession but regarding kinks scenarios etc implying poor hygiene and such concerning gortash: there's a huge issue i've seen brought up multiple times by turkish and middle eastern bg3 fans asking for people to be more sensitive and considerate about the racist stereotype of brown men looking and/or being dirty or smelly that's ignored over and over by the fandom. this isn't shaming anyone for kinks but it's something that needs awareness cuz it means something very different applied to other characters than it does with gortash. sometimes it's a genuine mistake of ignorance on their part but a lot of people are knowingly using it as an excuse for colourism and exoticism and it's important to listen when poc fans are literally pleading for people to stop calling the turkish man a dirty greasy rat. i mean no rudeness by sending this i just think it should be known and to help avoid future issues that might be encountered with running a blog like this

Let me start by saying I'm only part Turkish, so I'm coming from the place of someone who hasn't experienced discrimination in the same way. I honestly had no idea Gortash was intended to be Turkish, as Turkish names and words are used commonly throughout the game. But I can see the connection here, and it's awful that there are people out there saying such things with those intentions, and ignoring the people who are most affected by them.

I want to believe the average Gortash fan sees him as 'dirty' because of the yellow teeth, bloodshot eyes, bedhead, sloppily laced robe, and general evilness- though I guess it's also unfortunate that people associate poor character with bad hygiene. But I think he tends to attract fans who already have a particular set of kinks, and like me are probably wholly unaware of the implications. So, thank you for making us more aware. I'm not saying your experience isn't real, just agreeing with you that in some cases I don't think it's coming from a place of intentional racism. As I said, I was even clueless that Gortash was intended to be Turkish at all. I'm just not in the Gortash side of the fandom enough, I guess.

Exoticizing and bigotry are mentioned as explicitly against the rules here- I do my best to enforce this, but there are nuances to that I'm likely ignorant of. If anyone is talking about any character from that place- especially when POC are saying it's damaging- we as a fandom need to reflect on that, and not tolerate it. To anyone objectifying Gortash or any person with those intentions, you are not welcome here.

As for how I'm going to enforce this, I'm honestly not sure. I'm hesitant to blanket ban all stinky Gortash anons, since I allow those confessions for all the characters and banning them just for POC characters also has unfortunate implications, I feel. Anon or any POC followers, you are invited to weigh in on what you think I should do?