"The States Were Personified..? ...Yeah, We Know."

-|Commonwealth of Virginia: "I swear, I'm not a part of the South..!"|-

The art is in fact mine, by the way.

This is Virginia, the Old Dominion, and the 10th state.

Stereotypes will boast otherwise, but he's quite the shy and soft-spoken young man. He's somewhat anxious most of the time, mostly because he feels responsible for the rest of the states' safety and well-being. For that, he's been jokingly called the "Mother of the States" (haha, get it?). Despite how much he doubts his abilities, he's actually pretty smart and strong and good at other things too; at times, he'll accidentally come across as a "show-off" to some of the states.

He's probably closest to D.C and both North and South Carolina. On the other side of things, he just simply doesn't get along too well with Maryland, and things have been quite strained with his brother West Virginia since the American Civil War, though he's still trying to bring back their brotherhood to what it once was.

Extras (which will update when new headcanons come to mind)

•His full human name is James Richmond Fitzgerald.
•Physically, he is nineteen years old.
•He'd dyed the ends of his hair silver because he feels like he's forgotten half the time, so if he made himself stand out better, perhaps that would help.

•••
~Mini Story: The Old Dominion Gets Curious~
•••

Something was bugging America.

No, it wasn't how unreasonably hot it was outside, despite it just being April. Neither was it the actual bug that continued to grow anxiously closer towards where the young nation had been sitting on his porch. No, it was neither of them. Because it was actually the fact that a certain state sitting next to him had barely taken a couple of bites off of the sandwich he'd been eating. On top of that, it looked like he was thinking about... Something...

"Hey, dude, you okay?" His question shook Virginia out of whatever train of thought he'd been pulled onto and looked at America's slightly-concerned eyes. "Usually you love anything that has Smithfield Ham on it (1). Something bothering you?"

The other blinked a couple of times before he realised how he must of looked. "Huh? Oh, no! I'm fine, i-it's just that I'd been wondering 'bout something..."

"Oh really? Well, what is it? I bet it's nothing that the hero can't solve!", America responded with a wide and proud grin.

"Well, I just wanted to know how exactly I got the name 'Virginia'."

The Old Dominion's response made him freeze momentarily.

"You mean.. You don't know already..?" America asked in a slightly quieter tone.

Virginia simply shook his head, a little shy smile beginning to show up on his face. "No, actually. I suppose I never bothered to ask before now... I just went along with it because I though the name sounded pretty."

"Oh." For a moment, America debated even telling him where the name 'Virginia' actually came from. But he supposed it was his business to know, right?

"Are you sure you want me to tell you, dude?"

"Absolutely. I mean, whatever it actually means, I'm sure it won't change anything."

The young nation sighed softly. "Well, if you insist... You see, you were named for Queen Elizabeth I of England."

He watched as the other's head cocked to the side out of curiosity. "How was she related to it?"

Well, there was no going back now, so might as well say it bluntly.

"It's because she was known as the Virgin Queen."

The realisation slowly set in like a stick sinking to the bottom of the Great Dismal Swamp.

"WHAT?! Who was I kidding, this changes everything! How was I so deceived by my own vanity?! I feel like I don't even recognise myself anymore- Wait a minute..."

He suddenly paused from his over-dramatic reaction as a thought came to mind.

"How am I supposed to be 'for lovers' when I'm named after a virgin?!" (2)

"Hey, chillax bro.." America tried to calm him down by softly petting his head and placing the Smithfield Ham and cheese sandwich in his mouth. Surprisingly, it worked.

"Don't think about it too much, 'kay? It doesn't matter what you were named after, you're still cool to me!"

All Virginia did was nod at "papa's" words, sitting in his own silence. At least now America was thinking about something else now.

"When I see Britain again, I'm gonna ask him why the hell he thought 'Virginia' was a good name..."

•••

(1) Fun fact: Smithfield Ham can only legally be made in the city of Smithfield, Virginia. Yeah, we got some pretty good stuff here in my state.

(2) Get it? Cause "Virginia Is For Lovers". And that's our state slogan. Eh? Eh?

Word Count: 790

Coming up soon: Maryland