Horror 101, Monday

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell waited until everyone piled into the classroom before he began to speak. He was sitting on top of his couch again, with the class supplied with comfortable seats of their own. He always prefered things homey.

He scraped his throat. "I've got this friend," he started. "He says the human condition, human nature, being human, is to be cold and alone. Like someone lost in the woods." He leaned his hands on the surface of the couch and flashed the class a smile. "It's safe to say he's a 'glass-is-half-empty' kind of guy."

He toyed with his own fingers. "I see things differently," he said, "I've always seen the world as full of beautiful things - and unspeakable things. One tends to be the flipside of another." The corner of his mouth tugged up. "What does that have to do with horror? Everything. Horror film as a genre is a reflection of the world through the lens of our own fears, rubbing away at what's real and what's not to uncover the ferocious elegance underneath." He was in a mood to wax poetic today, that much was obvious.

"At least, if you've got a good one. There's more than a bit of shit in any genre if you're not paying attention. And especially in a place like this, you've always got to wonder what's a metaphor, and what's real - where the fiction ends and reality begins. As a rule, though, we reflect our own fears, needs and wants onto the dark. Horror is not about being scared or frightened. It's about finding new places in yourself."

He picked up his cup of coffee. "This is the first day, so we'll be doing introductions. I hope you have your speech ready, because you'll find yourself doing a lot of them this week. I want names and classes, of course, but that's not really the interesting part. What I really want to know is one thing you're afraid of, and one thing you hope to be. That doesn't have to be anything dark or secretive, I don't want you to reveal anything you don't feel like. Just whatever comes to mind."

Beat.

"Speaking of which, if anyone here wants to be a teacher's assistant, there's free coffee and you get to make fun of everyone else."

[[ ocd up! have at ]]

Comments

Sign In

[chosehumanity]

Like you're willing to be scared.

Re: Sign In

[wantstodirect]

Tony Foster

Listen to the Lecture

[chosehumanity]

Listen to Mitchell wax on, make notes, or enjoy your chairs.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[icecoldfrost]

Oh, Emma had missed being in a class with Mitchell. The comfy chairs, interesting subject matter, and, well, cute teacher.

She was just going to curl up on one end of a couch with her after-lunch mocha, and listen attentively. So far, this was easily the most-awesome of her two classes this term.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Alex was loving this class already. Yes, the chairs contributed to said love, shh.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[wantstodirect]

Tony was glad to be back in Mitchell's class. Comfy!

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[vanillajello]

Kate's head was still spinning a little from yesterday's coffee date that had turned into fleeing from charging flamingos by flying.

It was kind of good and normal to be in Mitchell's class. Not that yesterday had been bad, but it was kind of surreal, in her head, and so it was nice to be doing something she actually had a lot of previous experience with, now.

Also? Comfy chairs.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[awakestheghosts]

Chloe was glad she had taken another one of Mr. Mitchell's classes and she was taking notes on the lecture.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Alex hadn't had a class with Professor Mitchell since early summer so he'd almost forgotten the man's way of talking and the fact that they got comfortable chairs. It was almost difficult not to fall asleep what with the nice chairs but Alex managed it. The class topic was interesting, after all.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Well, the seats in this one were certainly more comfortable than in her last class, and Effy slouched down in her chair as she listened. Guy had an interesting way of talking. Enough to keep her listening.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[bitten_notshy]

Jack had several favorite things about this class beyond the subject matter; Emma was in it, for one, and they got soft chairs ... and it meant he could show Mitchell his hair wasn't pink anymore.

He curled onto a sofa near Emma, sparing Tony a brief wave, and listened.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[furnaceface]

The lecture about what it was that made humanity was probably something that would stick with Jono for a while.

A few months back, he would have agreed with the first definition. Now, he was almost warming up to Mitchell's, instead.

Introduce Thyself

[chosehumanity]

As you will do many times this week. Name, class, something that scares you, and something you want to be.

Re: Introduce Thyself

[wantstodirect]

"I'm Tony Foster, senior," Tony said. What scared him? Saying "shadows" would make him sound like a wuss, even if it was true. Demons, zombies, pissed-off vampires... actually, a lot of things scared him. He decided to take a different approach to the question. "I like older horror movies. The kind where it's not about the CGI monster or how much blood gets splashed around but it's more like playing with the audience's mind and making them think they see more than they do. And I want to be a movie director."

Re: Introduce Thyself

[awakestheghosts]

Oh, this was the part of any class that she hated.

"I-I', Chloe S-Saunders and I'm a Freshman. S-something that scares me is talking to a group of peope I don't know." She swallowed. "I plan to be a m-movie director after school."

Re: Introduce Thyself

[vanillajello]

"Kate Gregson, junior, now introducing myself the second time without being a cat." Yeah, people were free to look at her funny for that one.

"I'm afraid of--" She gave Mitchell a wry sort of smirk and a look that said 'well, you know'. "--losing control." She went with the truth for this one. She could always subvert the specifics and make it sound like something else if need be.

"And I want to be a dancer again."

Re: Introduce Thyself

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Alex Karev. Junior." That part was always easy enough. This introduction made him slightly uneasy what with having to tell something he was afraid of. The two big ones were not getting revealed during a class intro though, that much Alex knew for sure.

"I'm afraid of people that manage to be so freaking perky even when it's to goddamn early," he said, avoiding the real issues there. "And someone from my future--"

Still weird.

"--told me I end up as a surgeon but I don't know. I guess we'll see."

Re: Introduce Thyself

[bitten_notshy]

"Jack Priest, senior," Jack said, though he thought most of the class knew him by now. "I'm going to be a detective."

He was holding off on the last question for a bit. Plenty of things scared him, but in the end he went for the cheap, easy one that didn't touch at the real things that kept him awake at night. "I'm afraid of love spells."

Re: Introduce Thyself

[not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com]

"Jennifer Walters, junior," she introduced. When it came to what scared her, she had a pretty easy answer. "And I'm scared of a lot of things. Losing my dad, probably, most of all. As for something I'm going to be, well... I'm going to be a lawyer."

Re: Introduce Thyself

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

"I'm Alex Russo and I'm a junior," she stated. "I suppose I'm scared of losing my brothers," Alex admitted, sneaking a glance at Harper before continuing. "I guess if I had to choose something, I'd like to be a painter." She did love art, after all.

Re: Introduce Thyself

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

"I'm Leda." Leda began. "Uhm...what I'm scared of...being helpless I guess. And I don't know how to answer that last thing, but whatever I wind up being it will be what I decide for myself. No one's gonna choose it for me."

Re: Introduce Thyself

[icecoldfrost]

"Emma Frost, junior, and I'm afraid of bad wine, decaf coffee, and people who willingly wear bad plaid," Emma said cheerfully. "And I do rather plan to take over the world when I grow up. Or the business world, at least."

Re: Introduce Thyself

[furnaceface]

The group in the room seemed more or less like a bunch of familiar faces, and so Jono wasn't going to waste too much time crouching into himself today before speaking up.

He hated introductions. And probably always would, because of that voice of his and its annoying tendency to ricochet about inside people's skulls.

//Jonothon Starsmore, Junior class. Myself, and I want to be--// Bloody hell. //... Comfortable in my own skin.//

Or normal. He'd take normal.

Talk to Mitchell

[chosehumanity]

He's here and available, especially for anyone hoping to angle for that TA spot.

Re: Talk to Mitchell

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Alex's interest in the TA position had risen when she'd heard how Mitchell described it. She loved coffee and poking fun at people. It sounded right up her alley.

"I was wondering if the TA spot is still available?" Alex asked, clearly interested.

OOC

[chosehumanity]

First class! And relentlessly stolen in some parts from the Being Human pilot. What? I couldn't help myself. If canon gives you cake, eat cake.