Home About SoD? Current Comic The Beginning Character Bios New York South Carolina Louisiana Georgia Kentucky Iowa Minnesota California New Mexico Wyoming Hawaii More to Come! Creator Sketch Blog Ask Questions Merch Presenting Kentucky - Aloof and often judgmental, Kentucky is the younger sister of Virginia and the older sister of West Virginia. She has a strained, though usually civil relationship with Virginia. She gets along much better with West Virginia, thought things did get rocky when she questioned the legality of West Virginia becoming a state (The Kentucky representative to question this during the debates over West Virginia’s statehood). West Virginia had been trying so long to be a state and was hurt that Kentucky didn’t support her, but Kentucky felt obligated to point out it wasn’t totally legal, even though she thought Virginia really didn’t have a say, given she’d illegally left the Union. - The whole mess above is because Kentucky can be a stickler for the rules, or at least the rules as she interprets them. She’s not every open to the idea of others interpreting rules and laws in other ways. This tends to make her one of the less open minded/tolerant states on certain matters. - Kentucky is also close friendship with Tennessee and Arkansas, and generally on good terms with Indiana. She couldn’t care less about Illinois, especially over the last 12 years, and though they aren’t always close, she will often support Kansas’s more fundamental religious views. She can also often be seen with Nevada and sometimes talking with New York- which surprises everyone as New York usually has zero tolerance for States outside her own region, not counting California and Nevada. - Tennessee she has an off again on again romantic relationship with, and she often prefers his company to either of her sisters. Both shared many early experiences as two of the first entities springing up west of the Appalachians. Also, they both had to struggle to against older “siblings” (though Tennessee does not consider himself North Carolina’s brother) to become their own states. - She and Tennessee are both also resentful of the “13 Colonies rebelled against England” Mythos, as they feel they were independent enough by the Revolutionary War to be counted on their own rather than as part of Virginia and North Carolina, and that the way the story is told now tends to downplay their contributions. - As mentioned, her relationship with Virginia is somewhat strained. Virginia was never one to want to give up land, so she tried – at first- to keep Kentucky from becoming her own state and breaking away. Kentucky hated her for that, but also chaffed under many of the rules Virginia passed, especially in regards to trading with New Orleans (Kentucky, being cut off by the Appalachians, depended on trade down the Mississippi with Spain, which at one point Virginia forbade). - In fact, Kentucky was so fed up with Virginia she gave serious thought to either or becoming an independent nation, or even a ward of Spain. Louisiana encouraged this because it would help slow American expansion, which was proving even more aggressive than British expansion. Because of this though, Kentucky has slight distrust of Louisiana and her motives. - Tempers between the two sisters cooled once Kentucky became a state, then became even worse with the Civil War. Virginia resented Kentucky declaring neutrality, while Kentucky felt betrayed that both Virginia and Tennessee joined the Confederacy. Then when Virginia tried to force Kentucky into the Confederacy, Kentucky officially supported the Union out of spite (The Confederate army invaded Kentucky, despite Kentucky’s declared neutrality, to support the pro-confederate people there. Rather than helping the Confederate cause though, the invasion actually pushed the neutral state further to the side of the Union, though the state remained extremely fractured on the issue). This continues to be sore part between her and her sister (also between her and South Carolina). Both Virginia and South Carolina felt Kentucky’s neutrality cost them the war, and given later, almost all her political decisions aligned with the South’s, it makes them both more resentful she refused to help. Kentucky for her part resents their resentment and lack of respect for her decisions. - She enjoys buying things-especially clothes- for West Virginia, especially when it is time for the Kentucky Derby. She also tends to give Georgia extravagant outfits for the Derby. They are friendly to each other, but not overly close, it just depresses Kentucky to see Georgia look poor. - Kentucky absolutely appreciates wealth and material items and makes no attempt to hide it. She considers ridiculous that the other states chide her for this, as she as seen pretty much every one of them stab another state in the back to get ahead. She finds her sister’s veneration of the yeomen farmer to be particularly irritating and hypocritical. - Very often, other states find Kentucky to be every bit as off putting and as snobbish as New York. In fact it surprised no one when it was found out that she and New York often met after State meetings to “vent” (or gossip) about what State had done what stupid thing. - Many just assume her biggest vice is gambling, especially as she can often be seen pestering Nevada. While true, she does enjoy gambling, Kentucky is actually very responsible. Nor does she drink over much as she considers it unlady like to be drunk. She does however love to gossip. She is pestering Nevada not about gambling, but to try and get him to tell her some of the secrets she knows he knows.