Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: silly
  • Music: Ludo, "The Horror of Our Love."

From A to Z in the InCryptid Alphabet: G.

G is for GORGONS.

There are three types of gorgon. The lesser gorgon, best known for apologizing profusely when their hair bites someone; the Pliny's gorgon, larger in size and stronger in venom; and the greater gorgon, on whose back are many legends built. Most of them end with half the parties dead, and the other half turned to stone. Sometimes becoming a legend isn't exactly the best outcome you can hope for.

Carol is a lesser gorgon living in Manhattan. She likes sappy romances, exotic ice creams, and long walks in the reptile house at the local zoo. Her hobbies include bartending (she's working toward getting her license), antiquing, and collecting humorous salt and pepper shakers. She's been registered with several online dating sites for the last five years, trying to filter through the unspoken cues and secret codes to find a lesser gorgon male who might be interested in a romantic dinner next to the zoo's Burmese python enclosure. So far, she's found several snake enthusiasts, a few individuals with unexpected fetishes, and one Pliny's gorgon, whose hair didn't get along with hers. It's hard to be a mythological creature and have a healthy dating life in the modern age.

Gorgon hair insists on live feeding, which can get quite expensive, especially for the greater gorgons. Their hair can get big enough to eat rabbits.

No gorgon has ever taken human complaints about "bad hair days" even a little bit seriously.
Tags: discount armageddon, folklore is awesome, incryptid
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  • 40 comments

beckyh2112

February 14 2012, 15:59:19 UTC 5 years ago

I admit, I would be one of those reptile enthusiasts with unexpected kinks. *squees softly* *loves snakey people*

seanan_mcguire

February 14 2012, 17:44:47 UTC 5 years ago

They're quite fun.

debmats

February 14 2012, 16:13:23 UTC 5 years ago

Hee! I love the bad hair days finish!

seanan_mcguire

February 14 2012, 17:44:54 UTC 5 years ago

Yay!

janetmiles

February 14 2012, 16:15:24 UTC 5 years ago

I am charmed by the idea of a gorgon apologizing when its hair bites someone.

seanan_mcguire

February 14 2012, 17:45:04 UTC 5 years ago

Carol is always very sorry.

knittingwoman

February 14 2012, 16:35:52 UTC 5 years ago

i'm back to checking your LJ eagerly everyday looking for more:) you should consider using twitter to let people know you have a new LJ post up.

vixyish

February 14 2012, 16:49:16 UTC 5 years ago

You can easily set LJ to email you whenever certain people post! (I have it set to email me for Seanan and a few other people close to me.)

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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tsgeisel

February 14 2012, 16:36:34 UTC 5 years ago

So, um, do gorgons need to worry about underarm issues? Or "does the hair match the drapes" sorta questions?

seanan_mcguire

February 14 2012, 17:45:54 UTC 5 years ago

Nope. No body hair at all.

mkellis

February 14 2012, 17:23:35 UTC 5 years ago

So, do male Gorgons have to deal with Male Pattern Baldness?

That could get messy...

seanan_mcguire

February 14 2012, 17:46:12 UTC 5 years ago

No, thankfully. They'd just have dead snakes on their heads.

martianmooncrab

February 14 2012, 19:05:47 UTC 5 years ago

when their hair bites

hair products would be a bit interesting... or a Texas Gorgon... where Big Hair is really fatal.

seanan_mcguire

February 15 2012, 15:48:28 UTC 5 years ago

Yup.

slothman

February 14 2012, 20:05:17 UTC 5 years ago

So each snake has its own digestive tract? There must be some interesting plumbing inside a gorgon’s head, or a pressing need to make sure the hair’s diet leads to extremely reliable regularity. How venomous is a lesser gorgon’s hair?

archangelbeth

February 14 2012, 23:35:37 UTC 5 years ago

Because medical trivia is a hobby, the sudden idea of "digestive tract for gorgon hair" is making me terribly curious. Perhaps it slowly digests -- and is extra acidic! -- so that no bones are left, and the nourishment leeches out into the rest of the body. Perhaps it goes to goop (bones and all) and meshes down around the neck, so that it feeds into the central stomach. (Look, cows burp up their food from one stomach to re-chew it and send it to the next; this would be no more gross, and might even be less-so, if one assumes it meshes below the taste buds.)

Or perhaps, owl-like, the snakes eventually barf up the undigestible bits (while there rest is simply diffused into the body). ...sorta like cats who catch mice and play The Godfather games on your pillow.

No matter which, it does strike me that gorgons might tend to be very cerebral, since they get so much extra nourishment around the brain-area? Extra oxy, too, if the snakes breathe. ...I wonder if a gorgon could submerge and hold her breath, but let her snakes breathe for her?

slothman

5 years ago

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shiyiya

5 years ago

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slothman

5 years ago

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hoppytoad79

5 years ago

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shiyiya

5 years ago

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hoppytoad79

5 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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yellowblackhaze

February 14 2012, 21:34:40 UTC 5 years ago

Carol was very cool, must have a decent bandaid bill for when she has a bad hair day.

seanan_mcguire

February 15 2012, 15:48:59 UTC 5 years ago

Yeah, totally.

peachtales

February 15 2012, 02:44:02 UTC 5 years ago

I like this one lots.
In slightly related news, we had a snake as our kindergarden pet. It was about 3' long and green, about 1" in diameter. Watching it shed was neat, and holding it was fun. I do not remember any feedings. Perhaps the teacher did those without us.

seanan_mcguire

February 15 2012, 15:49:12 UTC 5 years ago

Awwwwww, snakey!

vincentursus

February 15 2012, 02:46:14 UTC 5 years ago

I find myself wondering what the population of gorgons is like in that there's enough of them that there are secret codes to identify one another.

seanan_mcguire

February 15 2012, 15:49:27 UTC 5 years ago

Small, but dedicated to survival.

estelendur

February 15 2012, 03:21:53 UTC 5 years ago

:D this makes me very happy

seanan_mcguire

February 15 2012, 15:49:34 UTC 5 years ago

Yay.

hoppytoad79

February 15 2012, 04:23:59 UTC 5 years ago

Geez, and I thought I had it bad trying to find a decent guy!

seanan_mcguire

February 15 2012, 15:49:46 UTC 5 years ago

It's hard when you're an endangered species.

elucreh

February 15 2012, 05:12:10 UTC 5 years ago

I am so excited for this book.

seanan_mcguire

February 15 2012, 15:49:53 UTC 5 years ago

YAY!

azurelunatic

February 15 2012, 05:50:01 UTC 5 years ago

Yeah, that would be a *really* bad hair day.

seanan_mcguire

February 15 2012, 15:50:00 UTC 5 years ago

Totally.

ravenclawed

February 16 2012, 02:26:08 UTC 5 years ago

I love this. Medusa is one of my favorite mythological characters, and the thought of different types of gorgons makes me happy.

seanan_mcguire

February 16 2012, 16:07:36 UTC 5 years ago

Yay!