#amy noelle parks

[cranberrylane]

i've never been rooting more for two characters to do it than these b*tches and that's a lot coming from someone who is aroace

[beatrice-reden-official]

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Danganronpa Fictive Guide

The Main Characters System Member List!

Finally coming around to this! We are VERY fictive heavy so be respectful of that!

If you feel uncomfortable with any member we will have tags for each one so you can block it!

We all go by Cupid, if you are not sure who is fronting!! And also we all use She/Her, but we are fine with They/Them Too

Beatrice Luna Reden (I Love Amy)

Camila Angelica Connors (I Love Amy)

Amy Lee Park (I Love Amy)

Peter Dale (I Love Amy)

Alice Reden (I Love Amy)

Sally Reden (I Love Amy)

Nicholas Reden (I Love Amy)

Nicholas Reden - Young (I Love Amy)

Julia (Unnie) Lee Park (I Love Amy)

Joy Lee Park (I Love Amy)

Giovanni Potage (Epithet Erased)

Mera Salamin (Epithet Erased)

Zora Salazar (Epithet Erased)

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)

Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)

Sayaka Maizono goes by "Sally" (Danganronpa)

Mondo Owada goes by "Ruby" (Danganronpa)

Junko Enoshima goes by "Jenny" (Danganronpa)

Genocider Syo goes by "Scissors" (Danganronpa)

Alter Ego (Danganronpa)

Ultimate Imposter/Twogami (Danganronpa)

Teruteru Hanamura goes by "Tony" (Danganronpa)

Ult. Hope Mahiru Koizumi goes by "Polaroid" (Danganronpa Au)

Mikan Tsumiki goes by "Miki" (Danganronpa)

Gundham Tanaka goes by "Gloria" (Danganronpa)

Nagito Komaeda goes by "Clover" (Danganronpa)

Chiaki Nanami goes by "Garmegirl" (Danganronpa)

Kazuichi Souda goes by "Kaz" (Danganronpa)

Sonia Nevermind (Danganronpa)

Rantaro Amami goes by "Alexander" (Danganronpa)

Kaede Akamatsu goes by "Melody" (Danganronpa)

Kirumi Tojo goes by "Caroline" (Danganronpa)

Tenko Chabashira goes by "Rose" (Danganronpa)

Kokichi Ouma goes by "Dice" (Danganronpa)

Kaito Momota (Danganronpa)

Noelle Holiday (Deltarune- Snowgrave Route)

Ralsei (Deltarune)

Frisk (Undertale)

Chara (Undertale)

Sans (Undertale)

Mad Mew Mew (Undertale)

Moray (Undertale Yellow)

Ceroba (Undertale Yellow)

Martlet (Undertale Yellow)

Tori (Eddsworld- Ellsworld)

Jonathan Joestar (JoJo's Bizarre Advanture)

Dio Brando - Part 1 (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Noriaki Kakyoin (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Josuke Higashikata (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Bruno Bucciarati goes by "Bruna" (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Foo Fighters (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Diego Brando (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Josuke Higashikata 8 (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

Charlie Morningstar (Hazbin Hotel)

Maggie (Hazbin Hotel)

Angel Dust goes by "Angelica" (Hazbin Hotel)

Carmilla Carmine (Hazbin Hotel)

Rosie (Hazbin Hotel)

Adam (Hazbin Hotel)

Lute (Hazbin Hotel)

Lilith (Hazbin Hotel)

Courtney (Total Drama)

Dawn (Total Drama)

Scott (Total Drama)

Ella (Total Drama)

Lauren goes by "Scary" (Total Drama)

Julia (Total Drama)

Wally Darling (Welcome Home)

Spinel goes by "Sparkles" (Steven Universe)

Rose Quartz (Steven Universe)

Marceline (Adventure Time)

Betty Grof (Adventure Time)

The Star (Fionna and Cake)

Magic Marceline (Adventure Time Au)

Sonic goes by "Speed" (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Ivo Robotnik Eggman (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Metal Sonic (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Maria Robotnik (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Blaze The Cat (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Surge The Tenrec (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Whisper The Wolf (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Katsuki Bakugo (My Hero Academia)

Espio The Chamelion (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Belle The Thinkerer (Sonic The Hedgehog)

Toshinori "All Might" Yagi (My Hero Academia)

Tomura Shigaraki (My Hero Academia)

Saitama (One Punch Man)

Tatsumaki (One Punch Man)

Metal Bat (One Punch Man)

Garou, the Human Monster (One Punch Man)

Pandemonica (Helltaker)

Modeus (Helltaker-Not Including Examtaker)

Azazel / Loremaster (Helltaker)

Justice (Helltaker- Not Including Examtaker)

Lucifer (Helltaker)

Serendipity (Helltaker- Non Canon)

Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus)

Ragatha (The Amazing Digital Circus)

Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus)

Princess Loolilalu (The Amazing Digital Circus)

Iconic Unicorn Horn Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus)

ENA (ENA)

C!Wilbur Soot (DSMP)

Grimdark Rose (Homestuck)

Dave Strider (Homestuck)

Davesprite (Homestuck)

Davepetasprite^2 Strider (Homestuck)

Jade Harley (Homestuck)

Jane Crocker (Homestuck)

Dirk Strider (Homestuck)

Lil Hal (Homestuck)

Jake English goes by "Lara" (Homestuck)

Jasprosesprite^2 Lalonde (Homestuck)

Mom Lalonde/Beta Roxy Lalonde (Homestuck)

Bro Strider/Beta Dirk Strider (Homestuck)

Aradia Megido (Homestuck)

Aradiabot (Homestuck)

Sollux Captor (Homestuck)

Tavros Nitram goes by "Tavy" (Homestuck)

Nepeta Leijon (Homestuck)

Kanaya Maryam (Homestuck)

Vriska Serket (Homestuck)

(Vriska) (Homestuck)

Gamzee Makara (Homestuck)

Eridan Ampora (Homestuck)

Feferi Peixes (Homestuck)

Damara Megido (Homestuck)

Kankri Vantas (Homestuck)

Meulin Leijon (Homestuck)

Porrim Maryam (Homestuck)

Latula Pyrope (Homestuck)

Aranea Serket (Homestuck)

Kurloz Makara (Homestuck)

Cronus Ampora (Homestuck)

Meenah Peixes (Homestuck)

The Sufferer/The Signless (Homestuck)

Alpha Kanaya Maryam (Homestuck)

The Neophyte Redglare (Homestuck)

Her Imperious Condescention (Homestuck)

Vrissy Maryam-Lalonde (Homestuck- No Memories)

Tavrissprite (Homestuck)

Erisolsprite (Homestuck)

Fefetasprite (Homestuck)

Calliope (Homestuck)

Caliborn (Homestuck)

Miss Painter (Homestuck- Swap)

Rose Strider (Homestuck- Swap)

Jade Strider (Homestuck- Swap)

Roxy Crocker (Homestuck- Swap)

Feferi Maryam (Homestuck- Swap)

Nepeta Captor (Homestuck- Swap)

Bea Redwood (Homestuck- Non Canon)

Bella Redwood (Homestuck- Non Canon)

Tomcat Wilwud (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Desjay Serial (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Random Letter (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Eiyght Wonder (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Dareal Sheidy (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Gimeur Paspor (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Blaike Syntus (Homestuck- Unreal Fanrasies)

Lalace Angels (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Graape Souhda (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Aquama Rinnah (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Louvre Giever (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Temple Wilwud (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Desehn Serial (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Heitte Letter (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Zourah Wonder (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Sleehm Sheidy (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Starly Nights (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Haveno Paspor (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Clasic Syntus (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Candle Angels (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Fizzee Souhda (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Baille Rinnah (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

Pluuck Giever (Homestuck- Unreal Fantasies)

M1-KU (The Power Of Fanart I Guess)

Makima (Chainsaw Man)

Komi Shoko (Komi Can't Communicate)

Ramona Flowers (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off)

Knives Chau (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off)

GLaDOS (Portal)

Chell (Portal)

Angel Gabby (Angel Hare)

Serial Designation N (Murder Drones)

"Manor V" Valerie (Murder Drones!

Serial Designation J (Murder Drones)

Tessa James Eliotts (Murder Drones)

Solver Host Tessa (Murder Drones - AU)

Doll (Murder Drones)

Lizzy (Murder Drones)

Cynessa (Murder Drones)

Nori Doorman (Murder Drones)

Mach (Regretevator)

Selenne Sverchzt (TNMN)

Quachil Uttaus (TNMN)

Doorwoman (TNMN)

Gaz Membrane (Invader Zim)

Heather Chandler (Heathers: The Musical)

Veronica Sawyer (Heather: The Musical)

Son Goku (Dragon Ball)

Vegeta (Dragon Ball)

Bardock (Dragon Ball)

Android #18 goes by "Primrose" (Dragon Ball)

Broly (Dragon Ball - Super Specific)

Vegito (Dragon Ball)

Caulifla (Dragon Ball)

Perfect Cell (Dragon Ball)

Whiz (Dragon Ball)

Granolah (Dragon Ball)

L (Death Note)

Patton/Morality (Sanders Sides)

Logan/Logic (Sanders Sides)

Roman/Creativity (Sanders Sides)

Janus/Deceit (Sanders Sides)

Virgil/Anxiety (Sanders Sides)

Remus/Creativity (Sanders Sides)

Heart (Chonny Jash)

Mind (Chonny Jash)

Soul (Chonny Jash)

Ashely Parks (The Walten Files)

Banny (The Walten Files)

Mr. Bon (The Walten Files)

Bugs Bunny (Looney Tunes)

Mirabelle (In Stars and Time)

Isabeau (In Stars and Time)

Madame Odile (In Stars and Time)

Loop (In Stars and Time)

Euphrasie (In Stars and Time)

Peppino Spaghetti (Pizza Tower)

Pepperman (Pizza Tower)

The Noise (Pizza Tower)

Noisette (Pizza Tower)

Engineer (TF2)

Alice Angel/Susie Campbell (Bendy and The Ink Machine)

Jess Larabie (Autopraxis)

Adam Callagan (Autopraxis)

Sadness (Inside Out)

Marie Cuttlefish (Splatoon)

Pacifica Norwest (Gravity Falls)

Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)

Vanellope Von Schweetz (Wreck-It Ralph)

Josh Levy (The Eltingville Club)

Samantha "Fake Geek Girl" Summers (The Eltingville Club)

Laplace's Angel (Disco Elysium - Noncanon)

Amanai Riko (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Mahito (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Hana Kurusu (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Ryomen Sukuna (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Gojo Saturo (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Kinji Hakari (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Captain Underpants (The Amazing Captain Underpants)

Curly (Mouthwashing)

Swansea (Mouthwashing)

Veronika (Mouthwashing - Non Canon)

Pollie (Mouthwashing)

Markiplier (Factive)

Jaiden Animations (Factive)

Darling

Maily

Ragdoll

Stephanie Chocolate

Thorns

Nobody

Goldie

Car Crash

Gunpowder

Dynamite

Sylvie

Turbulance

Shotgun

Nitro

Bibi Autoresponder

Tea Starbear

Ebrine

Lola

[speakoutmymind]

Meet the girls - Pt. 3

Spotify Playlist

Nina (by Hozier) x Sofia (by Clairo) – Nina is with her blue eyes, long blond hair and sweet pastel clothes the girl every bad boy dreams of owning. What they don’t know is that this girl can pull your heart out your chest with only one look. If you try to mess with her, she will play a different game with you, you will never forget. She loves to go for long walks, self made clothes and Prosecco. – Sofia is a Social Media Star. She knows how to act and talk in font of a camera and loves to be creative with Apps like Instagram and TikTok. She didn't forgot where she comes from but also uses her knowledge of people to get the girls in a few clubs and restaurants. She is outgoing and knows well how to deal with the fame she got.

Carmen (by Lana Del Rey) x Valerie (by Amy Winehouse) – Carmen is the queen of Grunge. Her husband is James Dean and her mother Lana Del Rey. She knows how to act mystery and dark but behind all of this facade is a creative women with a broken heart. She will never leave the house without a perfect eyeliner and her cigarettes. Beside this she is only home in a crowded room with people only paying attention to her from a far. A direct interaction with strangers is nothing she prefers. – Valerie is trapped in her 2000s. She knows how to run a party and act like a bitch in front of people how expect her to be like a cliché. She has a problem with alcohol and even she knows and her friends take care of her she doesn’t mind.  Every day is a party for her and since she stoped searching for a real love, she jumps from bed to bed to find herself in every man and male attention she can get.

Rhiannon (by Fleetwood Mac) x Rosemary (by Edison Lighthouse) – Rhiannon is the kind of friend who will first check your tarot cards before giving you a honest advice from life. With all her little spells, mixtures and witchy crafted shit she is your biggest supporter or your biggest and strongest enemy. She knows exactly how to turn you into a princess or the frog. – Rosemary is a little fluffy puppy. At least she acts like that. The world has only happiness for her and around her. Beside this women you can only picture good times a day. She is up for any adventure in the natural and every traditional city where you can make great memories.

Iris (by The Goo Goo Dolls) x Noelle (by Wheatus) – Iris is loving about music, books and writing. She loves to go to concerts, meet up with her friends, turn a day down in a park to read a book, go out with the dog and then hurry home to write on her own book. She is creative but unsteady in everything she does. She has bad coping mecissims and even she knows, she will not change them. – Noelle is, to say it a nice way, a punk kid. New Wave, Raves, party and alcohol are where she feels home but also a n night at home with a classic movie like 10 things I hate about you or mean girls is on her agenda. She is trustfully but sometimes a bit to impulsive. 

[shieldofapollo]

📚✨ Book Review: "The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss" by Amy Noelle Parks

"The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss" is a romantic comedy that will make you laugh and swoon. In this book, Caleb plays the role of the romantic fool, while Evie and Caleb's dynamic duo adds depth and humor to the story. Even though Evie has autism and anxiety, she remains fiercely independent, and Caleb's genuine concern for her well-being is endearing.

Amy Noelle Parks skillfully portrays Evie's neurodivergence, incorporating her challenges with authenticity and sensitivity. The evolution of Evie's feelings for Caleb is both touching and relatable, especially for those who have experienced depression and anxiety.

Overall, "The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss" is a heartwarming and charming read that seamlessly weaves together friendship, love, and self-discovery themes. Parks has created a memorable story filled with laughter, warmth, and heartfelt moments that will delight fans of YA romance. Take advantage of this gem! 💖📖 

[mssarahmorgan]

Book 59 of 2023: The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss by Amy Noelle Parks

This was really unexpectedly sweet and heartfelt and lovely! Evie's a physics genius with severe anxiety. Caleb is her best friend/protector. He's basically in love with her, but she's not ready for dating, so he's biding his time--except all of a sudden, she *is* ready to date, and she's dating somebody else. So while Evie & Caleb prepare for a huge, potentially life-changing physics competition, Caleb sends Evie anonymous messages, seeing if they can connect in a different way if she thinks he's someone new. Evie's anxiety is handled really sensitively and thoughtfully, and it's all very emotional and lovely and sweet. I really loved this one.

What to read next: Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling, by Elise Bryant, for another YA about people who are grappling with the divide between who they are and who they think they're supposed to be.

[mercerislandbooks]

For the Love of the Rom-com

While I read across genres in the Young Adult section, I have a soft spot in my heart for the rom-com. Though this genre might come across as light and fluffy, in actuality the form is able to take on topics as varied as mental health, identity, immigration, racism, and grief, to name only a few. Sure there’s romance, escapism, and happy endings, but what kept me picking up one YA rom-com after another in the last month was the window into the lives of each protagonist. More than ever I’m seeing #ownvoices authors tell stories that reflect their particular experience with the characters that they hadn’t seen in novels as young people. In turn I get a glimpse into a life different than my own and subsequently widen my world view. Here’s a collection of some of my recent reads!

Counting Down With You by Tashie Bhuiyan

The debut novel from this Bangladeshi American author (and the first novel I’ve read by a Bangladeshi American) takes the fake dating trope and turns it into a thoughtful exploration of expectations across cultures. Karina Ahmed is a high school junior buckling under the weight of Bangladeshi parental expectations and coping with anxiety largely on her own. They want her to be a doctor. She secretly longs to be an English teacher. When her parents take a month-long trip back to Bangladesh, leaving Karina and her younger brother in the care of their grandmother, Karina is looking forward to a much needed break. But her quiet month is almost immediately disrupted when, through a series of circumstances, she is roped into pretending to be Ace Clyde’s girlfriend, Midland High School’s bad boy. As the two slowly get to know, appreciate, and, of course, fall for each other, they also encourage and call out each other’s strengths. Bhuiyan movingly portrays the complex experience of a Bangladeshi American female teen, trying to meet the expectations of her more traditional parents, navigate managing her anxiety, dealing with the double standard of her gender within her culture, and learning to stand in her own power.

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean

Given this cover, I expected something totally different from what the pages held. The main character of this “lost princess found” novel is anything but sweet and demure, the impression I had from the cover. Japanese American Izumi (Izzy) Tanaka is living her best average life with her single mother in the small Northern California town of Mt. Shasta. When she finds out that her previously unknown father is actually the crown prince of Japan, her world turns upside down. Once this knowledge goes public, Izzy is whisked away to Japan to get to know her father and become acquainted with the rest of her family. Having always felt out of place as one of the few minorities in her town, Izzy is hopeful that she’ll finally find a place where she belongs. But life at court is more complicated than Izzy can imagine, and she finds that in Japan she’s too “American.” Izzy’s voice is suffused with humor, so even as she struggles to fit in, her inner monologue made me laugh out loud. A slow burn romance with a hot bodyguard, backstabbing cousins, and relentless paparazzi shenanigans only add to the delicious fun. There’s talk of a sequel in 2022!

Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter

The premise of girl uses boy next door, with whom she (seemingly) shares a mutual dislike, to get to the boy she crushed on in childhood that has just moved back to town manages to squeeze in a slew of rom-com tropes with witty breeziness. Liz makes a deal with boy next door Wes that she will relinquish the parking spot they feud over daily if he will help her get a date to Prom with childhood crush Michael. Of course it ends up being more complicated than that. Liz is confident and comfortable in her own quirky skin, but is also still dealing with the grief of losing her mother, which seems to be hitting her more sharply as all the “lasts” of senior year are happening. Spending time with Wes in her efforts to get close to Michael, Liz realizes that maybe she doesn’t hate him as much as she thought she did. Movie lovers will appreciate that each chapter is headed by quotes from the rom-coms that Liz obsesses over. I appreciated the balance of snarky banter with an honest portrayal of the complicated relationship Liz has with her grief.

Love in English by Maria E. Andrew

I’d been meaning to read Love in English for months and finally picked it up. Ana and her mother have recently moved to New Jersey from Argentina to join her father, who’s been living in the United States for some time. In Argentina, Ana thought her English was pretty good, but finds that navigating high school in America is a daily struggle in understanding her classmates and teachers. Andrew uses blocks of ##### to show the parts of conversations Ana misses, drawing the reader into her confusion and frustration. Reading this novel, I was reminded of when my family hosted a Japanese exchange student in high school, and the hours she spent translating her homework from English to Japanese. Reading what it was like for Ana, I had a glimpse into what it might have been like for Miki, and it made me admire her, and all the people who come to the United States not knowing the language. I’m certainly not proficient in any other language than English. The short chapters are interspersed with Ana’s handwritten ESL journal entries, musings on the confusions of the English language and poems that play with varieties of word meanings. Ana is attracted to a cute boy in her math class, Harrison, but also bonds with fellow ESL student Neo, who is from Greece. While romance is a central thread in the story, what I found most compelling was the portrayal of what it’s like to live in a place where the ability to communicate and comprehend is limited. Ana’s perseverance and curiosity in the face of that challenge is inspiring.

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss by Amy Noelle Parks

Last but not least I decided to continue my theme of YA rom-coms in my current audiobook and cued up The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss. Set at an elite boarding school for math and science prodigies, this is a dual POV narrative Evie and Caleb, best friends since childhood. Evie is one of the few females at their prestigious school, and excels in math and physics, but hasn’t shown any interest in the opposite sex until new guy Leo catches her eye - with his physics proof. When Evie decides romance might be worth exploring with Leo, Caleb has to figure out how to be supportive, despite the fact that he himself is also secretly in love with Evie. Alternating chapters between Caleb and Evie’s POV mean that we get to see what’s going on internally for both of them as Evie embarks on her first relationship with Leo, Evie and Caleb team up for a national physics competition, and the course of love takes twists and turns. While there is plenty of swoony romance, I also loved the way that Evie has grown to learn to live with her anxiety and how she sets the boundaries she needs to take care of herself while also pushing herself beyond her comfort zone. Parks does an excellent job of making the all the math and physics approachable for the layperson.

There are many more YA rom-coms to choose from in the Teen section, so stop by and see what catches your eye!

— Lori

[andiree]

✨NEW BOOK COVER ALERT ✨

Back at it again with Amy Noelle Parks! This was a fun one, and I'm glad I got the chance to work on another cover for her stories. Romance AND magic? SAY LESS.

Check out Lia and Beckett's Abracadabra and don't forget to pre-order!

AD: Heather Kelly / Abrams Books

[publishedtoday]

Lia and Beckett’s Abracadabra - Amy Noelle Parks 

Seventeen-year-old Lia Sawyer is thrilled to get a mysterious invitation from her grandmother to compete in a stage magic contest––even though her parents object. But she’s going to be judged by a bunch of old-school magicians who think that because she’s a girl, her only magical talents lie in wearing sparkly dresses, providing distractions, and getting sawed, crushed, or stretched. And Lia can’t ask her grandmother for help because she’s disappeared, leaving behind only her best magic tricks, a few obscure clues, and an order to stay away from Blackwell boys, the latest generation of a rival magic family. Lia totally plans to follow her grandmother’s rule––until the cute boy she meets on the beach turns out to be Beckett Blackwell, son of the biggest old guard magical family there is.

tw: sexism

[illustration-alcove]

Andi Porretta’s book cover for Amy Noelle Parks’s The Quantum of the Almost-Kiss.

[2021ya]

THE QUANTUM WEIRDNESS OF THE ALMOST KISS

by Amy Noelle Parks

(Amulet, 1/5/21)

9781419739729

Add to Goodreads

Purchase from Bookshop

Seventeen-year-old Evie Beckham has never been interested in dating. She's been fully occupied by her love of mathematics and her frequent battles with anxiety (and besides, she's always found the idea of kissing to be a little bit icky). But with the help of her best friend and her therapist, Evie's feeling braver. Maybe even brave enough to enter a prestigious physics competition and to say yes to the new boy who's been flirting with her. Caleb Covic knows Evie isn't ready for romance but assumes that when she is, she will choose him. So Caleb is horrified when he is forced to witness Evie's meet cute with a floppy-haired, mathematically gifted transfer student. Because Caleb knows the girl never falls for the funny best friend when there's a mysterious stranger around, he decides to use an online forum to capture Evie's interest. Now, he's got Evie wondering if it's possible to fall in love with a boy she's never met. Told in the alternating voices of Evie and Caleb, THE QUANTUM WEIRDNESS OF THE ALMOST KISS is a YA romantic comedy, sure to satisfy fans of Jenny Han, Rainbow Rowell and Stephanie Perkins.

[testudoaubrei-blog]

Well, it’s not quite a master’s thesis, but this is (the first of) a series of posts on why Catra and Adora are the best love story in the history of kids TV animation and maybe the greatest love story in the history of TV. This may in some ways be faint praise - romance on TV is generally not very good compared with books or movies. Often it’s just some will they/won’t they sexual tension that is defused by getting characters together and re-heightened by breaking them up. TV is full of nearly shark jumping pointless dramas like Sam and Diane (Cheers, holy fuck am I dating myself, though that was technically before my time), Ross and Rachel (Friends, which was no Cheers) etc, but also some less annoying couples like Ben and Leslie (Parks and Rec) or Amy and Jake (Bk99) who are mostly just kind of cute and fun. Other shows, like the X-Files, teased viewers for years with unresolved sexual tension. In kids shows most romances are, appropriate for their target viewers, mild, sweet relationships based more on self-conscious flirting and blushing than on complex and conflicted feelings or deep passions - which is pretty realistic when the characters are young teens or even mid-teens. Some of these relationships are really well done - Finn and Flame Princess, Dipper and Pacifica (yeah I ship them), the early stages of Katara and Aang (before the showrunners imbued this childhood crush with cosmic significance), Steven and Connie, etc. Catra and Adora, though, are different. Their love story is not a side plot or a sub plot, it’s the heart of the show. It isn’t a childhood crush, it’s a very messy and passionate relationship between two young adults. She-Ra is an emotionally complex lesbian romance just as much as it is a thrilling action/adventure show. Everything about their relationship is baked into the show’s plot, its themes, hell even its musical score. The dramatic tension between Catra and Adora is not the result of stretching out a flirtation for ratings, but a coherent dramatic arc that runs through the entire show. As Noelle said, he made Catradora so central that execs couldn’t take it out without ruining the show. And the show is better for it. In this series of posts I’m going to try to show why, as well as showing why She-Ra is such a fantastic love story.

First off, let’s talk about how Catra and Adora’s character arcs are foils for each other, and how they come together and apart through the series. This is actually a post that I’ve been working on for a while but I keep summarizing the show rather than cutting to the chase, so I’m not going to recite many plot points so much as sketch out what’s going on with the dramatic structure at the time. But also, let’s talk about what each character’s arc is saying, and how they are commenting on each other. Spoiler alert: Catra’s arc is a subversion and critique of stories of empowerment through ruthless self-assertion and revenge, while Adora’s arc is a subversion and critique of chosen one narratives and stories of self-denial and self-transcendence.

When the show starts, Adora and Catra are shown as rivals and friends - their first scene starts the recurring motif of them reaching out for each other as one of them dangles above an abyss, as well as establishing their flirtatious banter and easy camaraderie. We quickly learn that these two young women plan to conquer the world together. These scenes and later flashbacks show Catra and Adora as deeply enmeshed in each others lives, to the point where neither of them (but especially Catra) have clear identities outside of one another. There is so much genuine love on both sides before Adora leaves, but also resentment, envy and fear, especially on Catra’s side, as well as a protectiveness on Adora’s side that deprives Catra of her autonomy. They are both being abused by Shadow Weaver - Catra physically  and emotionally, Adora emotionally. It wouldn’t be too much to say that Shadow Weaver holds Catra hostage to control Adora (this is why critiques that Adora abandoned Catra to be abused are actually kind of messed up, since they accept Shadow Weaver’s premise that Adora is responsible for what Shadow Weaver does to Catra). In addition, Catra and Adora actually see the world incredibly differently. Adora already sees the world in terms of right, wrong and her destiny to right wrongs - this is why it’s important for her  to accept the Horde’s obvious lies - she couldn’t keep living if she didn’t. Catra, on the other hand, sees the world solely in terms of survival and personal loyalty - everything for her is about preserving herself and the person she cares about - Adora.

Then, when Adora finds the sword, she leaves because it’s the right thing to do. Catra doesn’t even have a concept of ‘the right thing to do’ being something she should care about, or perhaps, something she can care about as an irredeemably evil, awful fuck-up. So at Thaymor neither one understands where the other is coming from, and Catra and Adora begin to part. This is the first turning point in their relationship. Adora chooses duty over what she desires, Catra chooses to protect herself (such as she sees it) and nurse her sense of betrayal and abandonment.

Their relationship until Promise is a kind of weird Frenemy thing that is fascinating to watch and sold me on the show. Neither one wants to fully admit to themselves that the other is now their enemy, neither one has given up on changing the other’s mind. Each is furious at the other, and desperate to see her again at the same time. There’s a lot of heartache and just as much sexual tension, especially at Princess Prom. Both of them come alive when they fight each other (more about that in a later post). But they’re already growing apart - Adora embracing her destiny as She-Ra, Catra rising in the ranks for the Horde. Adora now has the purpose she always wanted, plus other friends and a sense of being chosen to do something great, while Catra now has power - the means to protect herself from people like Shadow Weaver as well as the vindication she had always been denied, and even the opportunity to beat Shadow Weaver at her own game.

The next turning point is Promise. Holy fuck, this episode. It’s an episode that is even more heartbreaking after you’ve watched the show because you know just how much worse things are going to get, and yet, it’s a necessary part of both of their character arcs. Even through season 1 Catra and Adora had remained very much enmeshed in each others lives in an increasingly fucked up way as they grew apart but refused to turn away from each other. Even though they aren’t -exactly- a romantic couple (Adora doesn’t recognize and acknowledge her feelings until the last episode of Season 5), Season 1 of She-Ra is one of the worst breakups I have seen on TV. As I said in a couple of previous posts, this is the kind of shit that the Mountain Goats write songs about. Everything that was poisoning their love for each other even before episode 1 bubbles to the surface and combines with them fighting on opposite sides of the war to make a truly fucked up situation. In the end, it’s Catra that makes the choice to turn away from Adora. This isn’t a -good- decision. It’s spiteful, and destructive, and based on an outright deluded understanding of their relationship (inspired by Light Hope’s manipulations and her own issues), but it’s in some ways a necessary decision. Catra has been so wrapped up in Adora for so long that she isn’t going to be able to figure out who -she- is without cutting Adora out of her life. And the same is true of Adora.

But each of them do this in about the worst way possible. Catra embraces destruction, ambition, manipulation and outright cruelty, turning the tactics of her abusers against them and against everyone around her. She first triumphs over Shadow Weaver and manipulates Entrapta into trying to corrupt Etheria itself. Meanwhile Adora ‘lets go’ and commits herself to the self-denying mantle of She-Ra. Over the next several seasons, their respective paths will nearly lead both Catra and Adora to their deaths (in the Season 4 finale).

For the next season (counting season 2 and 3 as one) Catra and Adora are still closely linked, but as enemies. Still, there’s more than enough flirtation between them (that ‘Hey Catra’ in the first episode of Season 2 is something else), and especially on Adora’s side we see her hold back with Catra, and often take responsibility for the harm Catra inflicts, just like she had when they were kids. Yet they still drift apart - after facing off every other episode in Season 1, they spend less and less time on screen together through season 2 and 3. Catra continues her ascent to power and descent into villainy while Adora becomes more of a stressed out mess as she takes the fate of the world and the wellbeing of everyone she cares about on her admittedly broad shoulders. Catra’s one moment of vulnerability is rewarded by Shadow Weaver’s betrayal and her exile, then Catra triumphs in ruthless badass fashion through sheer desperation and aggression. In the Crimson Wastes, we see Catra at her most independent, and she almost seems happy. But once Adora shows up and Catra hears about Shadow Weaver, she’s sucked back into the worst of her resentments, and she makes very clear that being happy is less important to her than making sure Adora is miserable.

This changes everything. Catra completely breaks with reality and tries to kill Adora, herself and the world rather than lose to Adora and Shadow Weaver (I do think it’s important to remember that she does that after Shadow Weaver nearly kills her). Catra betrays everyone around her when she exiles Entrapta, threatens Scopria and lies to Hordak. Then she flips the switch. When Adora tries to fix things, Catra fights to her own death to make sure that the world disintegrates with her. For her part, Adora fights first to understand what is wrong with the world and then to fix it. Finally she tells Catra that destroying the world is her choice and she has to live with it, decks her, and then sees her off with a death glare once the portal is closed. With this, Adora writes Catra off even if, as she says later, she never never hated her. By doing that, Adora casts off the guilt that had dogged her and takes responsibility for her own life rather than someone else’s - this is actually a huge step for her, and one that will become more important in Season 4.

Season 4 is in many ways the nadir of their relationship. They only see each other once during the entire season, in Fluterrina, when Adora tries to blast Catra, much to the latter’s shock. There’s a sense in that scene that Catra is trying to have the same flirtatious enmity she used to have with Adora, and Adora is having none of it. Catra almost seems hurt by this, which is an early hint at how isolated Catra is beginning to feel. Catra spends the rest of the season at her highest and lowest. On the one hand she spends most of 12 episodes winning by every standard she has ever claimed to care about, besting Hordak himself in single combat and making herself co-ruler of the Horde and coming within a day’s march of ending the Rebellion. In many ways it is the ultimate empowerment fantasy - the abused young woman has defeated her abusers, showed up everyone who doubted her and forced everyone to respect her. But I think it’s striking that the show starts with her and Adora dreaming of conquering the world together and in Season 4 Catra nearly succeeds in conquering it alone, almost like she was trying to live out her old shared fantasy while proving she didn’t need her former best friend. 

At the same time, Catra is clearly miserable. She’s always been unhappy, but in Season 4 we see her completely isolated and lying to herself and everyone who will listen in a desperate attempt to justify her actions. Turning the tactics of Hordak and Shadow Weaver against them to gain power and then against Scorpia and Entrapta to maintain it haven’t vindicated Catra, they’ve made her more and more alone as Entrapta is exiled and Scorpia drifts away. Meanwhile Catra reaches out to Double Trouble, and her interactions with them reek of a kind of desperate desire to have someone in her life (the feeling of their interaction is of an unhealthy casual relationship where one partner becomes emotionally invested and the other takes advantage of that while denying the other the closeness they desire). As people leave her, one after the other, it becomes clearer and clearer that Catra doesn’t want power at all - she wants connection, friendship, love, and power is a very poor replacement. As I said in my long Catra rant, Season 4 is both her ‘Walter White as a Catgirl’ season and the beginning of her redemption. Everything comes to head when Sparkles destroys everything Catra has tried to achieve, Double Trouble delivers those harsh truths and Horde Prime shows up and makes it all irrelevant, just highlighting how futile all her struggles and sacrifices and crimes have been.

Meanwhile Adora spends Season 4 becoming her own her and her own woman. After telling off Catra, she grows more and more disillusioned with Light Hope and critical of Glimmer (though the latter has more than a shade of her old habit of taking responsibility for others - Adora’s development is not linear). She’s gained the courage and confidence to strike out her own path, not just follow a destiny. At the season’s end she once again breaks with her best friend to do what is right, and discards the destiny that she was being prepared for. But in this case she isn’t chasing one packaged destiny for another, instead she’s making her own choice and literally shattering the thing that she thought gave her life purpose. It’s badass, and heartbreaking, and along with decking Catra and jumping after Catra into the abyss (see below) it’s the perfect Adora moment.

In many ways Season 5 starts with Catra and Adora farther apart than they have ever been. They aren’t even enemies anymore, they’re completely out of each other’s lives. And both Catra and Adora are lost at the beginning of Season 5 - Catra is useless and alone on Prime’s ship, completely defeated despite ostensibly being on the winning side, and she goes through the motions of her normal plotting without any particular conviction and none of her normal flair. Meanwhile Adora is even more miserable and self-destructive than usual, throwing herself at Horde Bots and working herself until she drops of exhaustion. In a very real way they both stay lost until they have a chance to help the other. Catra takes responsibility for what she’s done and what she can do, saves Glimmer (at least partly for Adora’s sake), apologizes to Adora, and sacrifices herself. Adora only seems to come alive when she decides to turn around, face Prime, and save the cat. And when she does, Catra and Adora’s arcs, which had separated so completely in season 4, come crashing back together to end the series.

Adora during Save the Cat is such a contrast with the uncertain, hesitant and self-destructive wreck we’ve seen so far in Season 5. This is possibly her craziest plan in 3 years of mostly cazy plans, but she never wavers or questions herself. Even when Chipped Catra appears and we see Adora’s heart break while we watch, Adora doesn’t back down or relent. She keeps at it even as the tears stream down her face. She fights better trying to save Catra without She-Ra’s powers than she fought at the Battle of Bright Moon with them. Catra’s just about as desperate - we see her cry and plead, and now is probably as good a time to any to point out how amazing a job both VAs did throughout the show, but especially in this episode, and how good a job the board artists did. 

Seeing each other for the first time in a year, and only the second time since Catra blew everything up, Catra and Adora are probably the rawest and least restrained we’ve ever seen them. There’s barely any banter, no bravado, and no pretense that they are anything other than two women who desperately need each other (Prime doesn’t help with ‘You broke my heart’.) Then Catra is flung to her death, Adora jumps after her, breaks both her legs in the fall (we see her crawl to Catra, as though she couldn’t walk) and becomes the real She-Ra. It’s such a triumphant and deeply queer moment seeing a woman transformed into a warrior goddess to protect the woman she loves, and it’s the reason that, as dark as it is, Save the Cat is my Comfort Food episode.

Let’s not sleep on Taking Control, though. This episode is like a microcosm of what this show does best, especially the A plot with Catra and Adora. Catra’s reversion to lashing out at everyone and her refusal to be open to Adora shows just how much of a struggle this whole ‘being good and trying to connect to people’ thing is. Catra’s outburst gives Adora a chance to stand up for herself and refuse to be Catra’s punching bag, while also not trying to control her. Adora’s ultimatum gives Catra a chance to reach out to Adora (quite literally), and allow herself to be vulnerable. In this episode, we see just how far Catra and Adora have come since the messed up stew of their relationship in Season 1. Adora lets Catra be responsible for her own actions; Catra lets herself be vulnerable to Adora and takes responsibility for her actions. They’re both better people and better friends and better partners than they were, and the show has shown this in a strikingly nuanced and realistic way. 

The important thing to note in the next few episodes of Season 5 isn’t just how much closer Catra and Adora get to each other and how much they flirt (So much. So much, y’all) but just how -happy- they are. We see both of them transformed in the other’s presence. Basically, since they’ve parted, both Catra and Adora have been defined in no small part by how miserable they often are. They have both had their triumphs and their lighter moments, but there’s been a sense of melancholy dogging both Catra and Adora since episode 1. And now that they’re together again, that lifts, somewhat. Catra’s verbal barbs have lost their venom, and she can openly show how much she cares for Adora and even Bow and Glimmer. She’s still herself - snarky, cynical, somewhat devious - but she’s not engaged in a self-destructive zero-sum struggle with everyone around her. Meanwhile Adora has spent 4 seasons being a neurotic and sometimes nearly joyless mess who takes responsibility for everything and often doesn’t let herself enjoy anything other than the odd BFS group hug (exceptions include trying to uh...impress Huntara and reveling with the butterfly ladies of Elberron in Flutterina).  Around Catra, though, she’s a cocky, swaggering jock who gives as good as she gets. It’s a side of Adora we’ve only seen hints of before, and one that’s so much more confident and joyful even as the world is ending around her. Apart, Catra had tried to protect and vindicate herself with power and conquest, while Adora had tried to forget herself in duty and sacrifice. Together, they can be themselves again. This dynamic is crucial to the show’s portrayal of Catra and Adora’s romance because it doesn’t just show how much they love each other, but how they’re -good- for each other now that they’ve grown as people, and that they are so much better than they were when they were apart.

Until Shadow Weaver shows up. Their old abuser reintroduces tensions but even then things are different than they were. Now Catra isn’t just resentful of how Shadow Weaver prefers Adora - she’s  protective of Adora, which is clearest in Failsafe when she calls Shadow Weaver out for being willing to sacrifice Adora. And while Adora takes the Failsafe, it isn’t to follow her destiny or because she has a death wish - it’s because she loves her friends, and she is the only one who has any hope of doing this and living (though Catra’s suggestion that Shadow Weaver take it is a good one). And finally, when Catra leaves Adora, it isn’t because she hates Adora, nor, despite what she says, is it because she really thinks that Adora chose Shadow Weaver. At least, not exactly. It’s because Catra loves Adora, and can admit that to herself, and can’t stay around and watch the woman she loves sacrifice herself rather than choosing Catra. Before Catra leaves, she asks Adora ‘What do you want?” It’s a question that echoes Shadow Weaver’s speech in Episode 1: ‘isn’t this what you always wanted since you could want anything?’ As much as Adora has grown as a person, and defined herself and stood up for what she thinks is right, she still has never answered that question - it’s never been ‘what do I want’ but ‘what do I have to do?’ and that’s how Adora answers Catra’s question. This is Adora’s last gasp as a self-transcending hero, letting go of what she wants (not that she ever dared articulate what that was) in order to do what must be done. And it nearly kills her and dooms the universe, because Adora can’t be the hero that she needs to be by being anyone less than herself.

But it’s losing Catra that inspires Adora to tell off Shadow Weaver for good (not that she’d ever really warmed to her after season 1). And it’s love for Adora that inspires Catra to stand up to Shadow Weaver and demand that she do the right thing. In both cases, Catra and Adora aren’t just standing up to their abuser, but holding her to account for the harm she’s caused, and it’s the love that they have for each other that inspires them to do this. In Catra’s case in particular her refusal to let Shadow Weaver weasel out of finding Adora is a much greater triumph over Shadow Weaver than beating her up and breaking her mask in Season 1 - it’s proof not so much to Shadow Weaver but to Catra herself that Catra really is better than this and that she deserves better than this. It’s not turning her abuser’s tactics against her, but truly holding her to a moral standard and demanding that she do the right thing.

And then there’s Catra and Adora together at the heart. Catra has already come back for Adora and stayed to the end, choosing to die with her even if she can’t share a life together (not out of some death wish, but because Adora needs her). And Adora, who’s been avoiding answering the question for three fucking years, finally let’s herself want Catra when Catra finally confesses her love (breaking the last of her self-protective shields) and asks Adora to stay -for her-. And by admitting what she wants, Adora can truly be at peace with herself and be the hero she needs to be, lesbianism saves the universe, The End.

So anyway, that’s how Catra and Adora’s stories are woven together and how they compliment and comment on each other. Narrativiely, Adora and Catra start together, come apart, find something of themselves, and truly find themselves and each other when they are reunited. Thematically, they are critiquing seemingly opposing narrative tropes - empowerment narratives and narratives of self sacrifice. But by showing the flaws in both types of story and showing how neither self-seeking empowerment nor self-negating self sacrifice can actually make us happy, She-Ra asks and answers more profound questions than most prestige dramas for adults do. I’ll get into how the show sells the idea that the power of love can bring us happiness (and save the world) in a future post. But next up, I’m going to celebrate just how much Catra and Adora’s relationship revels in ambiguity, complexity and contradiction and so tells a grown up love story in a kid’s show.

[cranberrylane]

i once read an original work on ao3 and i think i was the only vocal fan of that work and the author never wrote anything with those OCs again. this is what amy noelle parks is making me feel with tqwotak. if i had a nickel for every time i'm seemingly the only active fan of something that may never be continued i'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice

[bookaddict24-7]

(New Young Adult Releases Coming Out Today! (July 5th, 2022)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

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New Standalones/First in a Series:

The Promise of Lost Things by Helene Dunbar

The Darkening by Sunya Mara 

Who We Were in the Dark by Jessica Taylor 

Lia & Beckett’s Abracadabra by Amy Noelle Parks

A Disaster in Three Acts by Kelsey Rodkey

Frightmares by Eva V. Gibson

The Charmed List by Julie Abe 

What Souls Are Made Of by Tasha Suri

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw 

The Not So Chosen One by Kate Emery

New Sequels: 

When Souls Tear (Time Catchers #2) by Karen Ginnane

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Happy reading!

[zeenxo]

"without her my world is ordinary."

amy noelle parks - the quantum weirdness of the almost kiss

[romewritingshop]

Rome 21st Birthday Celebration Masterlist

Hello. This here is the masterlist for the birthday celebration. This will have the things people request for in a number order and probably with a date with it. If you’d like to be tagged in this, let me know and I can tag you on everyone else’s gift. This will always be changing so double check this post whenever you can. You might get a notification of me adding your tag name but I’ll also send a message since Tumblr likes to mess up tags.

CHOICES MASTERLIST

Original Post

There are rules:

1. I won’t write or edit anything that is to do with racism, pedophilia, bigotry, religious racism, homophobia, LGBATQ discrimination, animal/child abuse, incest.

NO and if you request this, I will report and block you.

2. No explicit porn in visual format, I’m not comfortable editing that kind of thing and I’ll block you if you request that. (Writing it, is fine.)

3. If you request heavy topics like death, depression, alcoholism, mental health etc. Drop me a private message and we’ll workshop an idea to make sure it is healthy and not triggering.

So you can request the following three things:

A Video Edit: So I can make a video on whatever you want. If it’s a trailer for your fic or just a MV for your MC and LI.

A Photo Edit: I do photo editing as a side and similar to the video edit, I can make a front cover for a fic, a banner, MC edit with LI or a moodboard.

Fic: I write so I can do a quick drabble, headcanon or one shot on whatever you want. Can be fluff, angst or smut. Can do any genre or AU or fix-it. I can do tropes so whatever you want ... to an extent.

For now it’ll be choices characters and it can be any gender of characters you want. Here are the stories I can do:

Perfect Match, Open Heart, The Royal Masquerade, Ride or Die, The Royal Romance, Home for the Holidays, Nightbound, Bloodbound, Platinum, Distant Shores, Rising Tides, Save the Date, Foreign Affairs, Blades of Light and Shadow.

@camillemontespan​​ - In the Dark //Camilla Cabello// [Drake Walker x F!MC (Camille Montespan)] {Video Edit} - 03/02/2021

@masquerade-reimagined​ - The Royal Masquerade Posters [Kayden Vescovi x F!MC (Adrasteia Rosario)] {Photo Edit} - 16/02/2021

@anntoldst0ries​ - Fruits: Ethan Ramsey {Photo Edit} - 00/00/2021

@anntoldst0ries​ - Fruits: Noelle Sky Valentine {Photo Edit} - 18/02/2021

@tsrookie​ - I’m a Dad [Ethan Ramsey x MC (Alyssa Brooks)] {Fic} - 27/02/2021

@eleanorbloom​​ - Seasons Moodboard [Bryce Lahela x F!MC (Eleanor Bloom)] {Photo Edit}

drariellevalentine - One confused Dr. Ramsey [Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Arielle Valentine)} {Fic}

fluffyfirewhiskey - Memories never fade? [Damien Nazario x F!MC (Peach Park)] {Fic}

caseyvalentineramsey - Dusk ‘til Dawn //ZAYN ft. Sia// [Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Casey Valentine)] {Video Edit}

mercury84choices - Love of my Life //QUEEN// [Ethan Ramsey] {Video Edit}

melaninntae - Just Checking [Logan x Colt Kaneko x Mona x F!MC (Raine Woods)] {Fic}

lauren-raines-x - Night Hunt [Adrian Raines] {Photo Edit}

they-callme-ami - [Tobias Carrick] {Video Edit}

[rockefcller]

TASK 036 : GOVERNORS OF THE UNITED STATES

in the united states, a governor serves as the chief executive officer and commander-in-chief in each of the fifty states, functioning as both head of state and head of government therein. as such, governors are responsible for implementing state laws and overseeing the operation of the state executive branch. as state leaders, governors advance and pursue new and revised policies and programs using a variety of tools, among them executive orders, executive budgets, and legislative proposals and vetoes. governors carry out their management and leadership responsibilities and objectives with the support and assistance of department and agency heads, many of whom they are empowered to appoint. a majority of governors have the authority to appoint state court judges as well, in most cases from a list of names submitted by a nominations committee.

the NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES is a geographical region of the united states. its divisions are new england ( connecticut, maine, massachusetts, new hampshire, rhode island, and vermont ) and the mid-atlantic ( new jersey, new york, and pennsylvania ). although it lacks a unified cultural identity, the northeastern region is the nation's most economically developed, densely populated, and culturally diverse region. of the nation's four census regions, the northeast has the second-largest percentage of residents living in an urban setting ( with 85 percent ) and is home to the nation's largest metropolitan area ( new york city ).

NEW ENGLAND. CONNECTICUT : laura wilmer ( cate blanchett ), republican, since 2011 MAINE : caitlin westcott ( ellen pompeo ), republican, since 2019 MASSACHUSETTS : felicity benson ( rashida jones ), democrat, since 2015 NEW HAMPSHIRE : christi goode ( reese witherspoon ), democrat, since 2017 RHODE ISLAND : adela sebti ( emmanuelle chriqui ), democrat, since 2015 VERMONT : derick han ( john cho ), democrat, since 2017 MID-ATLANTIC STATES. NEW JERSEY : shaun russell ( laurence fishburne ), democrat, since 2018 NEW YORK : isabelle andrews ( zoe saldana ), democrat, since 2021 PENNSYLVANIA : violet beck ( rooney mara ), republican, since 2015

the MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES is one of four census regions of the united states census bureau, occupying the north central part of the united states. its divisions are east north central ( illinois, indiana, michigan, ohio, and wisconsin ) and west north central ( iowa, kansas, minnesota, missouri, nebraska, north dakota, and south dakota) ). chicago is the most populous city in the american midwest and the third most populous in the entire country. chicago and its suburbs, called chicagoland, form the region’s largest metropolitan area with 10 million people.

EAST NORTH CENTRAL STATES. ILLINOIS : tracey marsh ( sally hawkins ), republican, since 2019 INDIANA : garth butler ( justin chambers ), republican, since 2017 MICHIGAN : donna randall ( viola davis ), democrat, since 2019 OHIO : philip tirrell ( donald glover ), democrat, since 2019 WISCONSIN : percy hewitt ( john mulaney ), democrat, since 2019

WEST NORTH CENTRAL STATES. IOWA : kelly grant ( rachel weisz ), democrat, since 2017 KANSAS : dale garner ( clancy brown ), republican, since 2019 MINNESOTA : sadie lawrence ( winona ryder ), democrat, since 2019 MISSOURI : andrea miller ( michele dockery ), republican, since 2018 NEBRASKA : silas nelson ( sam elliott ), republican, since 2015 NORTH DAKOTA : samuel fulton ( daveed diggs ), democrat, since 2016 SOUTH DAKOTA : alicia atkins ( aja naomi king ), democrat, since 2019

the SOUTHERN UNITED STATES is is a geographic and cultural region of the united states. its divisions are the south atlantic ( delaware, florida, georgia, maryland, north carolina, south carolina, virginia, and west virginia ), east south central ( alabama, kentucky, mississippi, and tennessee ), and west south central ( arkansas, louisiana, oklahoma, and texas ). the south does not precisely coincide with the geographic south of the united states but is commonly defined as including the states that fought for the confederate states of america in the american civil war. the deep south lies entirely within the southeastern corner. the region is known for its culture and history, having developed its own customs, musical styles, and cuisines, which have distinguished it in some ways from the rest of the united states. the southern ethnic heritage is diverse and includes strong european ( mostly english, scotch-irish, scottish, irish, and french ), african, and some native american components.

SOUTH ATLANTIC STATES. DELAWARE : cornelius bancroft ( michael shannon ), republican, since 2017 FLORIDA : angela valdes ( gina torres ), democrat, since 2019 GEORGIA : gabrielle shaw ( octavia spencer ), democrat, since 2019 MARYLAND : damien park ( daniel dae kim ), democrat, since 2015 NORTH CAROLINA : artie barnes ( sam richardson ), democrat, since 2017 SOUTH CAROLINA : shannon todd ( leslie mann ), republican, since 2017 VIRGINIA : rebekah milton ( julianne moore ), republican, since 2018 WEST VIRGINIA : lori taylor ( helen mccrory ), republican, since 2017

EAST SOUTH CENTRAL STATES. ALABAMA : maynard gardner ( richard jenkins ), republican, since 2011 KENTUCKY : wilson beaumont ( kevin costner ), republican, since 2019 MISSISSIPPI : julianne hargrave ( amy adams ), republican, since 2012 TENNESSEE : shane montgomery ( andrew lincoln ), republican, since 2019

WEST SOUTH CENTRAL STATES. ARKANSAS : jason wickham ( eddie redmayne ), republican, since 2015 LOUISIANA : christine robson ( antonia thomas ), republican, since 2016 OKLAHOMA : michele abrams ( lea thompson ), republican, since 2019 TEXAS : lorraine crawford ( kelly reilly ), republican, since 2015

the WESTERN UNITED STATES is the region comprising the westernmost states of the united states. its divisions are the mountain states ( arizona, colorado, idaho, montana, nevada, new mexico, utah, and wyoming ) and the pacific states ( alaska, california, hawaii, oregon, and washington ). as american settlement in the united states expanded westward, the meaning of the term “the west” changed. before about 1800, the crest of the appalachian mountains was seen as the western frontier. the frontier moved westward and eventually the lands west of the mississippi river were considered “the west.” the west contains several major biomes, including arid and semi-arid plateaus and plains, particularly in the american southwest; forested mountains, including two major ranges, the american sierra nevada and rocky mountains; the long coastal shoreline of the american pacific coast; and the rainforests of the pacific northwest.

MOUNTAIN STATES. ARIZONA : daniel rivera ( alfonso herrera ), democrat, since 2019 COLORADO : wyatt harvey ( forest whitaker ), democrat, since 2015 IDAHO : malcolm jackson ( michael fassbender ), republican, since 2019 MONTANA : omar faraj ( marwan kenzari ), democrat, since 2021 NEVADA : noelle bloomfield ( maya rudolph ), democrat, since 2019 NEW MEXICO : oscar méndez ( diego luna ), democrat, since 2019 UTAH : william daniels ( seth meyers ), republican, since 2021 WYOMING : colleen leighton ( felicity jones ), republican, since 2019

PACIFIC STATES. ALASKA : veronica filippova ( mila kunis ), republican, since 2018 CALIFORNIA : maria reyes ( salma hayek ), democrat, since 2019 HAWAII : makaio kekoa ( keanu reeves ), democrat, since 2014 OREGON : isadora tyler ( susan sarandon ), democrat, since 2015 WASHINGTON : felix kessler ( jeff goldblum ), democrat, since 2013