starspangledhero | ( video; english ) this should come as a surprise to absolutely no one

[ Unlike many people, America hasn't quite found anyone he knows among the bodies yet. That isn't even his primary concern. He's seen bodies before; he's seen people he's loved or hated or never knew die before. He's had to wade through corpses and sort through the dead. No, it's the fact that they're blinking in and out of existence that has him freaked out. So he's wandering around Dissimulo, shotgun in hand. ]

You know, after years of being here and, okay, I've seen some stuff that's pretty much this level of bad, this is still kinda-- aw man, just look at this. Okay this is disturbing in general.

[ He shows a huge spoiler for Game of Thrones with his camera. A second later it blinks, then fades away. America jumps back and gives a small yelp. For good measure, he drops the communicator to fire a few shotgun blasts at the place where it was. Nothing happens. Predictable. So he picks it back up. You can practically see him becoming even more paranoid by the second. ]

The fuck is going on?

[ Now another corpse can be seen nearby. ...It's the same guy covered in arrows. Again, no one he knows, but ten points to you if you know. ]

I should expect this by now. 'Cause this place just likes to mess with us us! And scary, and I can't even tell if this is worse than the place with blood or what. Hoping that this is all in our heads. I mean it's gotta be, right? Just glad there's no familiar faces yet. Gonna find some, I bet, but so far...

Fuck, and you know what? There's still bombs out there too, ones not owned by me, and there's not even a good shelter around here, and what if these are all victims of the Rail Tracer? Don't even fucking laugh because it's a possibility. It's a possibility that we're next but not me, man. Not me.

[ For anyone who can see them, a thestral meanders into the picture and attempts to eat the corpse. Attempt being the operative word. It hisses like a demon at the camera, stomping its feet. Strangely America is not at all perturbed by this. ]

At least we've got cute horsies running around trying to clean up.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I dunno. Chickens have wings and it's not like they can do much flying.

[ You have planted a seed in America's mind. It will grow into a beautiful idea tree. ] Worth a shot! Then you'd have a flying horse. And hey, if I've already got some experience under my belt taming some of the monsters around here.

True, but these creatures have much bigger wings than chickens, aru. In fact, they almost look like over-sized bat wings.

[Well, China and America have come up with some good ideas before. Like building a hotel on the island they were stranded on!] Yes! Exactly, aru!

It seems they like meat, so all we would have to do is find out which one they like best. We would just have to be very cautious that it does not try to take a bite at us, though, aru.

[ Little does he realize he's on the same page with a communist he's supposed to be bitter with. OH WELL. Too excited about dragon horses. ]

Carrion shouldn't be too hard to come across. That'll be easy if they're more scavengers than hunters. I'm not too worried about bites though! I got my fair share of horns from Banjo, and a troll shot me in the foot. Can't be much worse than that.

[Well, it's not like he's got his own fair share of problems thanks to you. Still waking up to find corpses in his apartment, he has other things on his mind now.]

Or raw meat might please them as well, aru. That would be easy to obtain with all the monsters and cougars around.

Banjo?

Banjo's my monster ghost cow thing! I was cool with him until Rosalyn was like "he's a ghost!" but she helped me get over it. He only tries to kill me sometimes now. Which is helpful when I'm not in the mood to watch his floating hooves for kicks!

[ America is like some abominable combination between Mowgli, Giselle, and Teddy Roosevelt when it comes to wildlife. ]

Strange, I do not believe I have ever seen this Banjo, aru. I am having a hard time imagining what he looks like.

Anyways, back to the horses, I wonder how fast they can fly, aru. Or if it would be possible to breed them. [Another idea that has sprouted within his mind.]

Yellow with floating hooves and pink spots and a big ol' smile! [ best description ]

Or crossbreed them. I've got a stallion, so if I can find a mare of these, could make something even better! Like a mule dragon that flies!

When you put it that way, it sounds kind of cute, aru.

I also have Hungary's horse under my care. I wonder how he would react if I gave him one of those creatures as a partner, though, aru.

...Oh well, [He shrugs.] I guess neither of us will know until we try, right?

He is! [ and horrifying ]

Right! If he hesitates you could always give him some booze to loosen him up. [ I don't think he's kidding. ]

I would like to see him one of these days then!

Well... I will use that as a last resort, aru. I am sure I can find a very beautiful dragon-mare creature once this is all over! Speaking of, I wonder what those dragon-horses are called?