Good day Choice of Games community and I have been working on a story lately and I have a couple questions for writing for a player who chooses to identify as non-binary.
Disclaimer: I have no problems whatsoever with people who identify as non-binary and I sincerely apologize if any content in this post if seen was seen as offensive for non-binary people
I am currently working on a superhero book wherein superhumans are discriminated by society on a large scale and the player is a person who developed superpowers (which will be selected by the player) during their college years. After surviving a dreadful final year in college due to the prejudice they face as a superhuman, they are sent to a well-known training center and school for superhumans where the player can be trained as a superhuman paramilitary unit (which is the only job where superhumans are not discriminated in). This is where some problems arise.
Problem One: Dorm Choice
My first problem is that the player gets to select a dorm. In an attempt to keep the story as grounded as possible, I made it clear that the dorm areas in the training center were built before the concept of non-binary people were even conceived, and that the center has never gotten an nb student until the player arrived. The player (if non-binary) will have to select whether they will stay in the girls’ dorm or the boys’ dorm, or have it be randomly selected.
Although I tried to make it so that the characters say that the dorms are divided by biological gender, I have an underlying fear that this will offend some folks eve though I have no intentions to do so. I am asking for any feedback on this part just to check if anyone is offended by it.
The player’s dorm will dictate who their superior will be, and both superiors have their own personalities as well as events and I feel as though incorporating a third, non-binary superior somewhat destroys the dynamic (sorry if this offended you) because of my plans for the two dorm superiors in the story.
Problem 2: Name choices
Probably the least of my concerns since this just deals with the name choices for the player (of course the player can type in their own custom name). Do I put in masculine and feminine names (ex. Elias, Peter; Brittany, Holly) or do I give gender-neutral names (Kiran, Alex).
I am overall unfamiliar with the concept of non-binary people since I have never met one in real life and I even learned about non-binaries in the first place through choice of games and any feedback will be appreciated.