InCryptid Q&A, Part IX: College Days.

[seanan_mcguire]

So remember when I said that I would answer ten questions about the InCryptid universe? I'm almost done, but here's your ninth answer!

tylik asks...

"How frequently have cryptids attended universities? Have many gone for graduate degrees? How has that worked out for them?"

There's this interesting tendency to treat "cryptid" as a catch-all when talking about this universe, much like we use the word "human" as a catch-all. But cryptids are not a single species sometimes divided by race and geography; they're a hundred, two hundred, a thousand different species, with different needs, wants, and desires. How many frickens have attended universities? None, although some may have been dissected there. How many cuckoos have attended universities? More than you'd like to consider.

Whether or not a cryptid chooses to attend university is influenced by a number of factors. Chief among them are...

1. How human do they look? No male wadjet is ever going to get a degree, unless it's through the mail, because they're basically enormous cobras, and that doesn't go over well with the Dean of Admissions. Cuckoos and lilu, on the other hand, can stroll right through the front doors.

2. How connected to human society are they? University costs money. No matter how much someone like Istas might want to major in fashion design, waheela simply don't have the funds, or the credit scores, to pay for it. Ryan, on the other hand, comes from a family that's been interacting with humans for centuries, and could probably pay for his entire education up-front, if he chose to pursue it.

3. What good will it do? University campuses in the InCryptid world frequently play host to one or more cuckoos, and are one of the safest places to be during a cuckoo encounter. Cuckoos have two big additions, chaos and math, and they go to school for numbers, not destruction. Basically, they're unlikely to fuck with the students because they don't want it to disrupt their class schedule. Very few of them are actually enrolled, however, because the degrees wouldn't do them any good. They're here to learn equations until they get bored, and then go out and smash shit. You don't need a degree to do that.

So let's assume we're looking only at the human-appearing, well-connected types of cryptid. That still gives us dozens of species, with their own racial needs and desires. Some dragons do attend college, because they understand that if you want to make money, you have to spend money; they're the ultimate financial aid students, because while the Nest will pay their every expense, you can be damn sure they'll explain any drops in their grades or unnecessary electives to their sisters. Bogeymen love college, but usually stick to night school, where they won't stand out as much. Tanuki are big fans. And so on, and so on.

There's no single answer to this question, because there's no single "cryptid" that we can use as our poster child for non-humans pursuing higher education. But in this world, there are more non-human students than most people would think.

Maybe that explains Rush Week.

Comments

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

and now because of the internet, you can attend school online, thus opening up a whole world of possibilities..

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yup!

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

"Cuckoos have two big additions, chaos and math, and they go to school for numbers, not destruction." I think you mean addictions, though additions is an amusingly appropriate typo. :)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

*snrk*

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

It seems likely that some cryptids would seek education of other types. A madhura might be more interested in the Culinary Institute of America, for example.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Very true.

[stormerider]

This reminds me, I was talking to my wife nonnycat earlier in the morning... she's reading Midnight Blue-Light Special and I've been thinking about cosplayers recently (Nicole Marie Jean, the cosplayer who did Lady Bane, is working on a Red Sonja outfit that I've been following her piece together on Facebook). I just realized that if someone was going to a con with their family and cosplaying InCryptid, they could have the kids cosplay as Aeslin mice. Little kids, dressed up as mice, running around going "HAIL!"

*giggles* My brain is a weird, weird place. :)

[skelody.livejournal.com]

Your brain is a delightful place.

[stormerider]

Only through delightful influences such as Seanan! :)

[phoenix-singing.livejournal.com]

...!

I must do this with my baby daughter. :D

[stormerider]

...!

Only if you take pictures! :)

[phoenix-singing.livejournal.com]

Oh, there'd definitely be pics! :D

[stormerider]

PICTURES! AND CAKE!

*grin*

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

That is an awesome idea and you should feel awesome for having it.

[tylik.livejournal.com]

Squee!

I think I was was wondering in part how many cryptids of fairly able to pass for humans types ended up in academia - in many ways, it seems a fairly accommodating sort of environment and... well, okay, the thought just amuses me. I mean, if I'm going to have to deal with assertions that I'm not human, speculating about the secret identities of my fellows is a lovely way to pass the time during slower seminars. (Especially since the head of the department asked me to stop spinning.)

Though it's impossible not to think about female dragon MBAs now. (And dragon CS majors who became statistical modellers on Wall Street.)

But I was also thinking a bit about comments in Discount Armegeddon about Evelyn's role as a general purpose medic... which had me wondering how much different cryptid groups had integrated enough into human society to leverage human tech. (I suppose there are plenty of cryptids who just can't integrate, and there her willingness to make housecalls might be especially welcome. St. Giles' might be all well and good, but such an institution probably only makes sense in a population center, which brings with it other problems.)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem is that human medical school only teaches medicine for, well. Humans. Some species are better served by vet school; other species aren't served at all.

[kyrielle]

Thank you! This rocks! I'm betting some of the less human appearing cryptids love Coursera and other such sites. (Some. Some probably don't care in the least, even among the ones human-intelligent or greater.)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Pretty much!

[hasufin.livejournal.com]

I am a smidge perturbed by your repeated mention of cuckoos on campus. Mind, I'm wholly confident that there were none at my school - I don't think a cuckoo could have managed to be as socially maladjusted as our CS or math departments...

I do wonder specifically about Caladrius (Caladrii?). We've met two medically-inclined ones thus far, and the field guide suggests that's very probably their most popular vocation by far. However, unlike a Johrlac or Madhura, a Caladrius cannot possibly pass for human (well, okay, there's the wing amputation, but that doesn't fix the foot problem, and even the most dedicated student might balk at severe bodily mutilation in pursuit of a degree).
So, what do academically-inclined cryptids who cannot pass as human do? Distance learning will work for some things, of course, but do they have any other options?

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Caladrii cheat: they don't need medical school when they can heal with magic feathers. So they work with what they have, and they read a lot.

Right now, there are no all-cryptid colleges. Although I'm sure many of the less human, academically-inclined cryptids will be watching Monsters University and sighing longingly.