Vacation Blog 2

26 September 2025

Hey y'all, writing this from where I'm staying at about 10 PM. I mostly worked today, as well as attended the wedding rehearsal dinner. Don't expect as long of a post as yesterday's. Tomorrow is the big wedding day, and I'm not excited to be out of the house for so long, but it's for family so I'll put up with it. I didn't get any more reading done today, which is sad but oh well. I'm settling down and researching more about gargoyles, trying to expand my thoughts for some kind of work of fiction featuring and/or starring one.

What I would consider a gargoyle actually isn't the correct architectural term for it. In general, this kind of fixture is known as a grotesque, which I think is a blatantly rude term for these little guys. Grotesques are carved stone depictions of mythical figures which are fixed to buildings. The use of grotesques can be traced all the way back to the medieval period. The first grotesques were gargoyles, a specific type of grotesque which serve as gutters and water drainage ways away from a building's roof.

Gargoyles as a fantasy monster are largely inspired by the winged, beastly grotesques which decorate the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris after its reconstruction in the 19-th century. This mythological take on gargoyles saw them often portrayed as protectors, frightening away evil spirits. They're often portrayed as being created from animated stone. I think I, personally, prefer an interpretation wherein they are living species of flesh and blood with the ability to assume the appearance of a statue, or perhaps turn to stone at will. I think some kind of gargoyle monster hunter could be an interesting character, perhaps taking contracts from humans from upon its perch. Place a coin purse at their feet, state your target, and that night it gets taken care of? I like that a lot.