#when like... the studies didn't include agender people either

[froot-batty]

next batch of designs are done! gotham city sirens time >:) blurbs about them under the cut, along with explanations of flags and neurodivergencies!

Pamela Isley came from a rural flower farm a long ways from Gotham. Her parents let her run wild from a very young age, and one of her favorite places on their property to go was the pond, deep in the woods, where everything grew just a bit too tall and nothing looked quite as it should've. Pamela didn't know that this pond was actually highly polluted by the dumping of experimental chemicals from a nearby "research" laboratory. She thought being able to communicate with the plants - the Green, she called it - was completely normal.

...Until the people from that laboratory heard about the mysterious girl helping the plants grow stranger. They came to Pamela's parents to ask if it would be possible to study it, and they, not realizing what exactly that meant, agreed. They whisked it away to a facility in Gotham, where Pamela would end up never seeing it's parents again.

She was kept there for the rest of her childhood and into her adulthood, being experimented on until she twisted into the plant beast that she is today. When she escaped, it came after years of hiding the true strength of her powers, so she could build them up enough to turn the facility to rubble.

(It is AroAce, Agender, and Intersex)

Harleen Quinzel always had trouble controlling her impulses. Coming from a very wealthy, very upper-crust family, any step out of line was harshly corrected by either of her parents. As a child she didn't know any better, but after years and years of repression coming from her family, she eventually clammed up and tried to fit into their perfect little mold. This included going to medical school, though she did at least get to pick something she was genuinely passionate about - psychology.

Harley was finally living on their own by the time they started working at Arkham, though they'd not yet broken out of that mental control their parents still had over them. Being in Arkham was like being on an alien planet. They had come from a world where everyone was fake, and Arkham seemed so...real. Talking with their patients opened their mind up even further. Even if what they did was violent, or utterly nonsensical to everyone else, insanity seemed like it was a sort of freedom that Harley never had.

This was compounded by it meeting the Joker. He saw that piece of it that wanted, desperately, to get free, and through their sessions he was able to get into it's head and...push it over the edge, so to speak.

(Harley and the Joker are not explicitly romantically involved in this, I should mention. They've got a weird queerplatonic thing going on. Also they're not toxic they're BFFs forever)

(They are Pansexual, Genderfluid, and have ADHD and Borderline Personality Disorder)

Selina Kyle grew up like an alley cat on the streets of Gotham. With two addict parents in the Narrows who cared very little about her, she was virtually homeless, with how little time she spent at home and how much she spent wandering the dangerous streets. It was in the Narrows that she met one of her closest childhood friends, Harvey Dent, and through him, the elusive Bruce Wayne.

The three of them were thick as thieves all through her childhood, though began to drift away when college time came around. Bruce had up and left the moment he turned 18 without any real warning to the two of them, and Harvey was off to college to try and become a lawyer. This left Selina all alone, once again.

But she had made a pact to herself. She didn't want to live on the streets of Gotham forever. She had started pickpocketing from a very young age, so she would just expand her skills - become Gotham's cat burglar. It started out as only a way to pay her bills, but she found she grew addicted to the feeling of it; the freedom of being able to slip into wherever she wanted and make some poor, rich fool a million dollars short. It was a sort of revenge for her (and the regular cash flow didn't hurt).

She was surprised when Bruce came back to Gotham and tried to reconnect with her. They hadn't talked in over a decade, but they found themselves reconnecting with surprising ease. Their close friendship would drive Harvey mad with jealousy, but neither of them realized that until it was too late.

The scar on her face is from Harvey's attempt on her life, after he became Two-Face.

(She is a Lesbian)

[sasaofastora]

The BOLD THE FACTS tag by @helenofsimblr

The Rules are simple! Tag people and name a character you want to know more about! If you want to let the person you tagged decide who to showcase, then don’t name a character and they can pick somebody. The person who is tagged will then bold the remarks below which apply to their character &, if they want to, include a picture with their reply!

I was tagged by @aheathen-conceivably for...

~ 🍂 Ruth Finch 🍂 ~

[ PERSONAL]

$ Financial: wealthy / moderate (the Finch fortunes have improved slightly since the 30s) / poor / in poverty

✚ Medical: fit / moderate / sickly / disabled (she is autistic) / disadvantaged / non applicable

✪ Class or Caste: upper / middle (university educated, research and coding work) / working / unsure / other

✔ Education: qualified / unqualified / studying (nearly finished her degree in mathematics) / other

✖ Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no (she wouldn't dream of it) / has committed crimes, but not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed

[ FAMILY]

◒ Children: has children / has no children / wants children

◑ Relationship with Family: very close with sibling / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased

◔ Affiliation: orphaned (her parents died in a boating accident when she was 3, raised by her grandfather Moshe) / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parent / not applicable

[ TRAITS + TENDENCIES]

♦ extroverted / introverted / in between

♦ disorganized / organized / in between

♦ close minded / open-minded (as long as she can find a logical explanation for something) / in between

♦ calm / anxious / in between (here having the meaning of both, depends on how overwhelmed she is)

♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in between

♦ cautious / reckless / in between

♦ patient / impatient / in between

♦ outspoken / reserved / in between

♦ leader / follower / in between (she sort of just does her own thing)

♦ empathetic / vicious bastard / in between

♦ optimistic / pessimistic (though she would call it being realistic) / in between

♦ traditional / modern / in between

♦ hard-working / lazy / in between

♦ cultured / uncultured / in between / unknown

♦ loyal / disloyal / unknown

♦ faithful / unfaithful / unknown

[ BELIEFS]

★ Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist (though she was raised Jewish and does love the traditions of it, she's not religious) / agnostic

☆ Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

✮ Belief in an Afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

✯ Belief in Reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

❃ Belief in Aliens: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

✧ Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious

❀ Philosophical: yes (she would love to debate and discus theory with you or just talk about logic problems) / no

[ SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION ]

❤ Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual

❥ Sex: sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable / naive and clueless

♥ Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable /naive and clueless / romance suspicious

❣ Sexually: adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious

⚧ Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all

⚧ Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all

[ ABILITIES ]

☠ Combat Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

≡ Literacy Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

✍ Artistic Skills: excellent / good / moderate (she plays a little piano) / poor / none

✂ Technical Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor (our girl isn't great at those practical skills) / none

[ HABITS ]

☕ Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions (she doesn't like it much) / sometimes / frequently / Alcoholic

☁ Smoking: tried it (it's the 1940s, of course she tried it. she didn't like it much either) / trying to quit / quit / never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / Chain-smoker

✿ Recreational Drugs: never (I don't think she would have any idea where to get it if she wanted to) / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / addict

✌ Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently / to excess

☻ Unhealthy Food: never / special occasions (she may not be religious but she'll absolutely have some sufganiyot around Hanukkah) / sometimes / frequently / binge eater

$ Splurge Spending: never (only because I can't imagine what she would possibly want to buy- also war rationing would definitely put a stop to overspending) / sometimes / frequently / shopaholic

♣ Gambling: never (not because she has a moral problem with it, just that she doesn't see the appeal) / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gambler

I’ll tag @antiquatedplumbobs, @antiquatedsimmer, and @scythesms, as well as anyone else who wants to give this a go!

[northern-passage]

No offense but are you sure you want to have characters who require a gender study book to understand? Not to mention how hard to read it will be if they keep switching pronouns.

no offense but it's actually not that hard to understand at all. we can start with some basic vocabulary:

non-binary: a term for people whose gender identity does not fall within the traditional, western societal gender binary of man or woman. non-binary identities have existed for millennia and are found in various cultures and societies around the world.

transgender: this is an adjective used to describe someone who does not feel that their gender identity aligns with the gender they were assigned at birth. this includes trans binary people and non-binary people. trans people have always existed, and anyone that tries to tell you otherwise is factually incorrect.

gender identity: this is a person's own internal sense of self - what they know their gender is. someone is a man, or a woman, or a person, or various other terms and identities that exist outside the binary (like genderqueer, agender, bigender, etc). someone's identity is not always outwardly visible, since some people may express their gender differently than what is traditionally expected of them.

gendered pronouns: include he/she/they/zie/xe/ey/fae etc. this is how you refer specifically to a person when you are talking about them (or in this case, reading about them). some languages already have a gender-neutral pronoun that allows you to not ascribe gender to a person that you are not familiar with (for english, it's singular they). nb!Lea and Clementine both use they/them. pronouns are a part of someone's gender presentation, or gender expression, and some people use more than one set of pronouns.

gender presentation: how a person presents themself - typically in regard to fashion as well as pronouns and various other external characteristics. this is how the person chooses to express their gender identity. gender presentation does not always coincide with traditional gender stereotypes - this is gender nonconformity. a woman can present masculine. a man can present feminine. some people do neither, or both. a non-binary person can be gender nonconforming, they can be feminine or masculine or whatever they want; they are still non-binary.

Noel is a non-binary person who uses two sets of pronouns alternatively. he has a more traditionally feminine gender expression but still prefers traditionally masculine gendered terms. xe likes to wear makeup and dresses and likes to be called "sir." alternating pronouns for xem is very easy - i just did it. a little bit of practice and you can do it just as easily.

if you're worried about getting confused in scenes with m!Lea, don't worry, it's already something i am being careful about. it's something i've always considered with my gender-selectable characters, and is why i previously changed Noel's nb pronouns to begin with, since i didn't want it to be confusing in group scenes with Clementine and nb!Lea.

of course, there are plenty of games where all ROs are genderlocked one way or the other, and have the same pronouns - people don't seem to have any problem differentiating characters in those games when all the ROs are together, and i'm sure people will have no trouble with my game, either. or maybe this is just your first time reading about a character with neopronouns, which in that case - how exciting! the more you read the more familiar you will get with how these pronouns work.

if you're still confused then maybe you should pick up one of those "gender study books", i'm sure it will help. or you can use google, which is probably easier. there are plenty of lgbt and trans resources online now if you are curious to learn more. the older you get and the more people you meet the more you are going to realize that not everyone has the same experiences as you, and sometimes you may not understand something right away; that's not a bad thing. it's a chance to learn something new, and a chance to better understand people that are different than you.

and, no offense, but if it's too difficult for you to spend a few minutes searching this stuff up, if it's too difficult for you to have an open mind and consider other people & their identities & their experiences, then maybe this story isn't for you, and you can go back to reading all the other IF games and romance novels that were made for you with their cishet love interests & non-existent trans or gay characters.

trust me, there are plenty of those, with all the gender stereotypes and boring gender roles you could want. that's why i'm writing this game with all the trans characters i want :-)

[colorisbyshe]

As Mao pointed out, any study which doesn't control for race and class is going to be unreliable/have methodological flaws bc race is inherently tied in with class and any study which treats the experiences of (e.g) white and black lesbians as basically interchangeable is missing out on absolutely huge amounts of detail. That's a *major* glaring problem with that study, especially if you want to apply that data to, say, Latina bisexuals.

I mean, I get that. But that is true of EVERY study EVER done on LGBT issues, so I don’t know why that was being brought out just for this one study.

Like, yes, the data isn’t properly showing the nuance of how black lesbians are affected by domestic violence vs latina bisexuals, I am assuming (perhaps wrongly) that each group had a level of variety of race s if the samples were actually random.

So, like, if they had 30 people: 10 for straight, 10 for bi, and 10 for gay (which even then would be too simple and is missing gender stuff), then each of the ten would have approx the same racial breakdown. So that we can take the numbers and make a VERY generalized assumption (that of course would need more follow up for nuance) of “bisexuals of a variety of races experience more domestic violence than gay/straight people of a similar variety of races.”

It’s sort of like the wage gap. Like, I can make the blanket statement “women make less than men on the dollar.” And then we go on from there to say “well, actually compared to white women, latina and black women make less.”

Like, the blanket statement that incorporates all races is true–women of all races make less than men of the same race–and then from there we move on and recognize how white women actually make more than most men of color.

I was just making the blanket statement of “bisexuals are abused more and suffer more mental illness than straight/gay people.” OBVIOUSLY when you apply literally ANY other factor to that–cis vs trans, race, socioeconomic standing, disability, male vs female vs nb–that is going to have more nuance.

I know the basics of how intersectional identities work.

But I wasn’t talking about the specifics of how obviously a cis white bisexual man who was born into wealth is not going to face the same abuse as a black trans woman who was born below the poverty line.

Because that’d be an entirely different discussion from the one I was having. Like, we can have discussions about how there should be spaces for different LGBT people of color and programs to address poverty and all of that. Those are very important issues. I would never dismiss how race and socioeconomic standing affect lgbt issues.

I was just making the very, very simple statement of “bisexuals may need their own spaces to talk about the abuse they face and the isolation they feel” because AS A GENERAL RULE the abuse bisexuals face comes from cishets who think we’re faking it to convert them or that we’re dirty and tainted. And then we face additional isolation because we’re in these shitty and harmful relationships and we’re suddenly “too straight” for the lgbt community so we have no where else to turn but to other bi people because this is a unique struggle bi people face.

That’s it! Can these scenarios be complicated by anything from gender/gender alignment to race and ethnicity to disability to financial status to neurodivergence to literally any marginalized status ever? Of course. Of course!

But I was talking in broad strokes about the alienation bi people may experience from gay people in relation to these two very specific issues.

And Mao ASSUMED I was referencing a study that blamed lesbians for bisexual woman’s abuse (I was not and even specifically talk at length about how bisexuals need to talk about unhealthy M/F relationships in the post they responded to) and was angry about that. Which Mao admitted was a misunderstanding but is still blaming me for… for reasons.

Like? Enoughtohold’s post debunks a point I wasn’t making and made a point Mao wasn’t making either, so they were literally just throwing that at me to prove that bisexuals IN GENERAL never face higher rates of domestic violence which is patently false and biphobic to boot.

Yes, we should have conversations about how race intersects with gender and sexuality. Always. But I don’t think Mao was doing that in good faith because when I asked genuine questions out of confusion, I was blocked and told to “think about it for two weeks.”

Which isn’t having a discussion on race and sexuality and abuse, it’s leaving me with questions and literally no way to better myself because even the post Mao later linked to in a passive aggressive reblog… didn’t address race, sexuality, and abuse.

Which should also be discussed in bisexual spaces and I never said it couldn’t be.

[i-am-very-very-tired]

Alia E. Dastagir, USA TODAY Corrections and clarifications: A previous version of this story included a definition of "women of color" that has since been updated. Like any "ism," feminism is rich with jargon, which can lead deeply personal conversations to turn unnecessarily dense. While some terms are entrenched, others are contemporary additions to an evolving lexicon. To help you break through, here are definitions for everything from "feminism" and "misogyny" to "bropropriated" and "feminazi." The Basics Feminism: Belief in and desire for equality between the sexes. As Merriam-Webster noted last month: "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities." It encompasses social, political and economic equality. Of course, a lot of people tweak the definition to make it their own. Feminist activist bell hooks calls it "a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression." Patriarchy: A hierarchical-structured society in which men hold more power. Sexism: The idea that women are inferior to men. Misogyny: Hatred of women. Misandry: Hatred of men. A Little Deeper Hostile sexism: The one most people think about. Openly insulting, objectifying and degrading women. Benevolent sexism: Less obvious. Kind of seems like a compliment, even though it's rooted in men's feelings of superiority. It's when men say women are worthy of their protection (off the sinking boat first) or that they're more nurturing than men (therefore should raise children). It's restrictive. Internalized sexism: When the belief in women's inferiority becomes part of one's own worldview and self-concept. Misogynoir: Misogyny directed toward black women. LGBTQ: The acronym for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.” Some people also use the Q to stand for "questioning," meaning people who are figuring out their sexual or gender identity. You may also see LGBTQIA. I stands for intersex and A for asexual/aromantic/agender. Cisgender: A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with the sex assigned to them at birth. Transgender: A person whose gender identity differs from the cultural expectations of the sex they were assigned at birth. Transphobia: Prejudice toward trans people. Transmisogyny: A blend of transphobia and misogyny, which manifests as discrimination against "trans women and trans and gender non-conforming people on the feminine end of the gender spectrum." TERF: The acronym for "trans exclusionary radical feminists," referring to feminists who are transphobic. SWERF: Stands for "sex worker exclusionary radical feminists," referring to feminists who say prostitution oppresses women. Gender fluidity: Not identifying with a single, fixed gender. Non-binary: An umbrella term for people who don't identify as female/male or woman/man. Women of color: A political term to unite women from marginalized communities of color who have experienced oppression. It could include women of African, Asian, Latin or Native American descent. Title IX: Protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. Victim-blaming: When the victim of a crime or harmful act is held fully or partially responsible for it. If you hear someone questioning what a victim could have done to prevent a crime, that's victim-blaming, and it makes it harder for people to come forward and report abuse. Groups working to eradicate abuse and sexual assault are clear: No woman is guilty for violence committed by a man. Trigger: Something that forces you to relive a trauma. Trigger warning: A statement that someone is about to experience challenging material that could potentially be disturbing (graphic, racially-insensitive, sexually explicit, etc.). The practice is controversial on college campuses. Yes means yes: A paradigm shift in the way we look at rape, moving beyond "no means no" toward the idea that consent must be explicit. Male gaze: A way of looking at the world through a masculine lens that views women as sexual objects. Privilege: The idea that some people in society are advantaged over others. Sex positive: An attitude that views sexual expression and sexual pleasure, if it's healthy and consensual, as a good thing. On The Internet Bropropriating: Stealing an idea from a woman and putting it into the world as your own. Mansplain (verb) mansplainy (adjective): When a man explains something to a woman in a condescending way when he either 1) doesn't know anything about it or 2) knows far less than the woman he is talking to. Sorry, if you already knew that. Manterrupting: When a man interrupts a woman, especially excessively. Examples: During the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when Kanye West grabbed the mic from Taylor Swift, who had just won an award and was trying her best to accept it, to let everyone know "Imma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.” Or, during September's presidential debate when Donald Trump interrupted Hillary Clinton 22 times in the first 26 minutes. Or when Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell interrupted Elizabeth Warren’s recitation of Coretta Scott King’s 1986 letter against Jeff Sessions, but allowed Bernie Sanders to read it the next day. Manspreading: When men take up excess space by sitting with their legs far apart. This is such an actual thing that in 2014 New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority launched a campaign to get guys to close their legs to make more room on the subway. Woke: Rooted in black activist culture, it means you're educated and aware, especially about injustice. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Ca., has told young people to "stay woke." If you're thinking about it in the context of women's rights, look at the #SayHerName campaign, which works to raise awareness for black women who are victims of police brutality. Woke misogynist: Nona Willis Aronowitz paints an all-too-familiar picture of the guy who acts like he's all about gender equality, but then turns around and demeans, degrades and harasses women. His misogyny may not always be overt, but it's there. He's a feminist poser. Emosogynist: Zach Braff in Garden State, according to Jezebel. He's emotional, full of angst and seems like a feminist, but what he really wants is a real-life manic pixie dream girl to manipulate and eventually discard after he finds himself. Whimpster: Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything... A white, wimpy, emo guy who uses his male insecurity to prey on women who want to nurture. Feminazi: A derogatory term for a radical feminist. Types Of Feminism Intersectional feminism: If feminism is advocating for women's rights and equality between the sexes, intersectional feminism is the understanding of how women's overlapping identities — including race, class, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and disability status — impact the way they experience oppression and discrimination. Transfeminism: Defined as "a movement by and for trans women who view their liberation to be intrinsically linked to the liberation of all women and beyond." It's a form of feminism that includes all self-identified women, regardless of assigned sex, and challenges cisgender privilege. A central tenet is that individuals have the right to define who they are. Women of color feminism: A form of feminism that seeks to clarify and combat the unique struggles women of color face. It's a feminism that struggles against intersecting forms of oppression. Womanism: A social and ecological change perspective that emerged out of Africana women’s culture and women of color around the world. Empowerment feminism: Beyoncé's Formation comes on at the club, and you and your friends hit the dance floor hard. Empowerment feminism puts the emphasis on "feeling," though some feminists would argue feeling amazing is not a great gauge of how society is actually supporting your self-expression and flourishing. Sheryl Sandberg's perpetually controversial Lean In, which focuses on how women can make changes to achieve greater success in the workplace, is another example of empowerment feminism. Commodity feminism: A variety of feminism that co-opts the movement's ideals for profit. Ivanka Trump has been accused of peddling this brand of feminism, using her #WomenWhoWork campaign to sell her eponymous lifestyle brand. Equity feminism (conservative feminism): Christina Hoff Sommers, a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, is a champion of what she calls "equity feminism." In her view, "equity feminism" is focused on legal equality between men and women, while "gender feminism" focuses on disempowering women by portraying them as perpetual victims of the patriarchy. In the words of President Trump's advisor Kellyanne Conway: “I look at myself as a product of my choices, not a victim of my circumstances, and that’s really to me what conservative feminism, if you will, is all about.” Waves Of Feminism *Some feminist scholars are moving away from "waves" since it can give the appearance that feminists aren't always actively fighting inequality. But if you see them, here's generally what they're referring to: First wave feminism: Kicked off with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention to discuss the "social, civil, and religious condition of woman" and continued into the early twentieth century. It culminated in 1920 with the passage of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, though some states made it difficult for women of color to exercise this right until well into the 1960s. Second wave feminism: Began in the 1960s and bloomed in the 1970s with a push for greater equality. Think Gloria Steinem, Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Betty Friedan. It was marked by huge gains for women in legal and structural equality. Third-wave feminism: Beginning in the 1990s, it looked to make feminism more inclusive, intersectional and to allow women to define what being a feminist means to them personally. Also, Buffy. Feeling "woke" and "empowered"? Find more at women.usatoday.com