deernet | Video | un: Stone

[Jacob Stone comes from a world of both smartphones and magic (and sometimes those smartphones had magic in them), so he isn't entirely unfamiliar with this. The Omni is a little awkward at first to deal with, but he's managing.

What he isn't managing, is the rattlesnake that seems intent on curling around his shoulders in a cozy fashion.]

Hi. My name is Jacob Stone, I just got here, so there's a lotta new things I ain't quite got the hang of yet.

Uh.

So.

So can y'all tell me if there's an incantation or something to get rid of--of whatever this little critter is?

[The snake looks just as grumpy as he does, for a moment, and hisses at him. He looks mildly offended at the gesture, or maybe the snake might have said something rude.]

I'm not--I don't use magic, I mean, but this thing just sort of appeared outta nowhere and now it won't go. I didn't mean to summon it! But I guess I did and now I don't know how t'make it go away.

[He's just...a little stressed. Being a Librarian whose job it is to find magical artifacts and hide them from the world and as a rule doesn't use magic because he's terrified of it is now in a world absolutely steeped in it, and he just accidentally summoned a smoky creature right out of his chest.

It's fine. He's fine?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He'd...like to think that he generally makes better choices, but he also knows that he'd spent most of his life making bad ones. At least he's gotten better?]

Stoats are pretty cool. They feature in folklore as well.

Yeah, you could say that. I didn't know about all the supernatural in the world up until a few years ago, and most people still don't. I mean, hell, some days I wish that I had your kinda world, but then again, I wouldn't trade what I've seen for anythin'.

If I recall rightly, they're depicted in Irish and English folklore as having human-like qualities, including having families and being neighborly. But I think in some Native American legends, they're either shifty creatures whose alliances can't be trusted, though there's one legend of a stoat taking down a wendigo.

[A rustling, as if the speaker were walking along a hallway, clad in something rubberized.]

[A dry, closedmouthed chuckle.] Ah, so in some ways, I'm nearly as much a neophyte to the supernatural as you are. There's something to be said for that: it lends one a healthy skepticism, keeping one from getting too comfortable with the supernatural.

I'm not sure you'd want to tarry in my world of origin: there were periodic outbreaks of pathogens that transformed the living into shambling, ravenous nightmares.

Yeah! You're absolutely right! And you know how easy it is, to get comfortable with the supernatural? I know I have, and...

[He loves talking about folklore and myth and literature and everything that falls within such and his voice brightens, sounding even more enthusiastic.

Except.]

...you don't mean zombies, do you?

And it either opened your eyes to a new world you never expected. Or you grew too comfortable with it, to your peril. Or... another path presented itself? Don't hesitate to elaborate. I enjoy hearing the stories of other Sleepers.

[A pause, lending weight to what follows.]

The shambling undead. Not the hapless enslaved beings of Haitian lore, but the contagious and flesh eating horrors of Romero's fever dreams.

Video | un: Stone

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[CW: Zombie Epidemic mention (figured I'd better, given current events)]

[CW: Zombie Epidemic mention]

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