Hetalia: The Fifty Stars

Side Chapter 8: State Pets

Hello, Readers ~

I want to thank everyone for reading this story so far, and a special thanks to those who voted and commented on the side chapter topic they wanted to see. Without further ado, the winning topic for Side Chapter 8 will be about...*drum roll*...the 50 States' Pets! Again, thank you to those for reading this story and enjoy the winning topic for this long side chapter.

~

Pets are common companions to people, especially those personifying countries. Hetalia's pets/companions are usually "immortal" thanks to their owner's influence that causes them to slowly age like them. For America, the young man is shown to have a wide array of creatures. This includes: Tony the alien from the Roswell Incident, an unidentifiable whale living in his backyard pool, a rabbit from his childhood, a bald eagle that serves as his carrier bird, a white, fluffy cat, and a unicorn he has trouble seeing.

As for the 50 States, they, too, have their own companions. When creating this list, I did my best to look up various animals to decide what kinds of pets they'll have. Truthfully it was challenging as I decided to go the extra mile to not only include some of their state animals, but also other animals that are associated with them. Even more extra, I gave most of them names that somehow connect to the state alongside brief descriptions of their appearance, their history, and personality. As advice to anyone wishing to give their Hetalia OCs pets, I suggest limiting them up to four creatures (I capped mine at six which even then seems too much), and names being optional.

Before going down the list, I want to inform some things for everyone to keep in mind when reading.

To start off, some animals like amphibians, reptiles, insects, fish, crustaceans, and some mammals won't be listed as their pets. The reason I didn't include such animals will usually be for three reasons. One, I honestly couldn't give a flying iguana over New York owning a Wood frog. Two, some states have the same state animal such as Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Nebraska, and Ohio having the white-tailed deer as their state mammal which I find uninteresting and repetitive. Three, the biggest reason for not including such animals, I don't see certain states own certain animals. For example, I don't see Rhode Island having a Harbor seal as a pet. I do have some states own weird animals, however, it's important to draw a line on the number of pets they could have.

The one exception to that rule is state birds. I won't mention all of them or give them names, but know they are indeed the states' pets. Like America's eagle, they serve as carrier birds which I find funny and kind of believable even though phones and other methods of delivery make carrier birds pretty much useless (plus, what about Delaware and Rhode Island's birds? They can't fly so...). Still, I find this headcanon neat and made it an exception.

Second rule I want to mention, the animals and the names I've chosen have references to the state and/or American culture I won't be mentioning. The reason is due to wanting to keep this chapter "short". If you do get the connection and reference, cool! For those who don't, it's not a big deal. Just know I wasted a lot of time finding names for each pet.

Third, I'll mention side notes for some of the states' pets. Such notes will occasionally mention other candidates along with minor pets. It'll also mention former pets the states once owned, but due to various circumstances don't have them in their home.

Fourth rule, I've placed some pictures on each state's animal to help visual readers. However, I could only put twenty images as that's the limit to the number of pictures one may put per published part on Wattpad. Therefore, not every creature listed has a picture to go with it. For those who want to see photos of these animals, but don't want to do Internet searches, I've went ahead and copied this list and placed it in another book on Wattpad called, Hetalia: Guide to the Fifty States. Not only does the book contain character sheets, but it also lists their pets with all the pictures included. To those who prefer to read the list with pictures included, feel free to check that book out.