☆ FULL NAME: Jemma Sue Sylvester
☆ GENDER: Ciswoman
☆ PRONOUNS: She/They
☆ AGE: 27 (July 9th, 1997)
☆ BIRTH ORDER: Third
☆ TYPE: Adopted sibling; solo (open to twin)
☆ HOMETOWN: Cleveland, Ohio
☆ JOB: Lifeguard
☆ SCHOOL: Junior, Majoring in Marine Biology
☆ SEXUALITY: Polyamorous/Pansexual
☆ FACECLAIM: Dove Cameron
The most seen that Jemma has felt in her entire life was when Ryan Gosling (as Ken) said that his job was Beach. (It was also when he thirsted after Margot Robbie the entire movie, because same). Jemma Sylvester, theoretically, should have been Sue's perfect child, the carbon copy of Susan Sue-Ann Sylvester, but alas, like Thomas Edison trying to make the lightbulb, she accidentally set her house on fire once.
Jemma has never had a complex about being adopted. Her mom had a teenage pregnancy and honestly, had she been alive at the time, Jemma would have told her pal to give the baby up for adoption, too. If her mom's prefrontal cortex wasn't fully formed yet, there was no way that Jemma could have grown up into the silly, hilarious, and pretty young woman that she is, today. Childhood was relatively easy for Jemma, who always knew that she was in the best set of circumstances, even if Sue made her run laps every single morning to build character. In a lot of ways, Jemma knew that Sue meant well, and only wanted her daughter to be The Best, and Jemma never really minded it.
Growing up in cheerleading was a lot of fun, and Jemma very quickly understood her athletic prowess, but things really changed for her when she joined the swim team in middle school. Jemma was compared, literally, to a fish, and all of her dreams of playing mermaids as a kid became reality. She was a far better swimmer than she was a cheerleader, and Jemma quickly realized that in being a Great Swimmer she was in turn being a Shitty Daughter.
Jemma would never insinuate that Sue stopped caring about her once she became a champion swimmer, but Jemma became pretty desperate for her mom's attention and went too hard. She had to be the best-- the fastest, the prettiest, swim the hardest-- everything. She couldn't sustain it for very long, really, and eventually came crashing down very publicly at a swim meet.
But, Sylvesters are not failures, and so Jemma was sent to a relaxation facility to get her head back on straight and then come out a winner again. Jemma was sent to the coast, and she found her true love and passion in animal rights. Literally save the whales. And the turtles. And Beach Ken.
Sue Sylvester is many things. A world-renowned cheerleading coach. Owner of one of the highest-grossing athleisure brands with brick-and-mortar stores in over 17 counties plus Greenland. Founder of multiple organizations dedicated to providing resources and education on Downs Syndrome. A serial lawsuit-sender (a Sue-er, if you will). And, the title she holds in the fifth highest regard, a mother.
Of course she couldn’t put her career on hold for the nine months it took to properly cook a baby, so for most of her children she went the adoption route. Much quicker that way, although it did give her the brilliant idea to add maternity tracksuits to Sue-perStar Athleisure’s line.
Don’t get it twisted, though. Although few men have been worthy of fertilizing her award-winning uterus, Sue has had her fair share of relationships. Sure they all ended in her husbands mysteriously dying by unknown causes with her as the sole beneficiary. But the cops can’t prove anything, and she’s successfully shut down all the Reddits dedicated to the conspiracies, so mind your business.
There are also rumors that Sue’s hoard of children were taken in as a stunt to raise her public image, but anyone who has actually spoken to the family knows that to be false. It’s the one rumor Sue has never cared to clear up because, yet again, people need to mind their business.