fandomhigh | Horror 101, Monday

"Persecution is not new," Mitchell began. Why, yes, the Raven-Max thing had been resolved, he'd picked that up, but he was still in a mood. "...and as to how this applies to the previous lessons, see this as your first witch class." See? That worked. "Persecution," he began again, "Is hardly new. Fears, horror, it causes people to behave in strange ways. Something odd happens, someone gets killed, someone gets hurt, and suddenly everyone's jumping at shadows. The people who wind up suffering, are those of us who are strange. Off, somehow. Away from the norm."

Mitchell had no issues. None at all.

"The witch trials are the easiest example of this," he said, nearly poking a hole in the blackboard as he made notes. "It's funny, because in the 8th century, belief in witches was actually outlawed, you see? But it never kept anyone. Something would happen, like the plague, and someone else would see some political gain or something, and whip everyone up into a frenzy. They'd run around and devise all kinds of bizarre tests, like throwing women into the water, just to see if they were witches. And then of course they'd be burned at the stake."

He took a moment to eye that particular note on his blackboard. "...Anyway," he started, "how this links back to horror in fiction is that people are always terrified of chaos," he marked that word big time, "While at the same time they all fall into it. I mean, what is persecution but organized chaos? You pinpoint someone to blame and then rip them out of the house. And then another one. And then another one. It's this cycle that keeps feeding itself. Hence the Monster from ~~meta for~~ Frankenstein being forced to flee from monsters himself. It's a common theme, that way."

He dropped the chalk and turned around. Listed off a couple more movies that ended in or featured running someone out of the house with torches and pitchforks. "...You can even pull it into perspective with today. You know, stars and the papparazzi and that sort of thing. People spiralling into chaos after every incident." He dusted off his half-gloved hands by wiping them off each other. "So we'll be talking about persecution. Who knows what it feels like to be persecuted? Have you ever been drawn into a mob, or felt the need to? How did it feel?"

At least he was getting less overcompensate-y about it all?

"And we'll watch some film, of course." ~~Meta for~~ Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition sketch. Oh yeah. He was on a roll today.

[[ ocd up, have at! ]]

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"What did that poor blackboard ever do to you?"

"It was there, I can't be held accountable for my own actions," Mitchell supplied, shooting her a look.

Kate raised an eyebrow. "So should I start warning all blackboards I meet about you?"

"It might make you a nice hobby," Mitchell volunteered, "Between bouts of harassing barristas."

"Hey! I haven't harassed a single barrista in forever," Kate felt compelled to point out with the slightest of pouts. "Not properly, anyway."

"Oh dear," Mitchell said, grasping the conversational shift with both hands. "I think you're losing your touch."

"Most people would say that's a good thing," Kate snorted. "I believe you should be one of them?"

"Oh, right, because I'm the authority figure around here."

"... Well, yeah, that's the word on the street," Kate said, and oh that eyebrow was staying up, now. "I've kinda always doubted it, of course, but. You know."

"You were won over by my overwhelming charm and decision-making skills?" Mitchell's tone was half-serious, half-joking, and very, very airy.

Kate was quite frankly only barely paying attention to what she was saying, even if the trademark sarcastic tone was in place. "Yeah. Right. Exactly that."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said.

And... now he was giving her an odd look right back. If, again, airy.

It could very well turn into a vicious circle of odd looks, only--

"What's with the face?"

Because she'd rather ask that than what the hell was bugging him.

Mitchell blinked at her. "This is just my face," he specified.

Kate gave him a sceptical look.

"Hmph."

Mitchell frowned back at her. "Now you're making a face."

"Am not."

To be fair, though, Kate was pretty much always making some sort of a face. If her face was entirely blank, it was time to worry.

"... You made one first." No he didn't.

"I wasn't making a face," Mitchell pointed out to her.

Ladies and gentlemen, the hundred-year-old guy.

"You just keep telling yourself that."

"Yeah, I have no idea how I sleep at night."

"There's something going on with you."

Kate wasn't always one for logic in conversations.

"I'm a teacher," Mitchell said, at the inquiry that might've actually gotten an answer had she been George. And not asking him this in class. "If you see my salary strip, you'll know why."

Kate would have argued that she hadn't actually asked anything, just made a statement.

She eyerolled that away. "Anyway. I'm going away next weekend."

She figured some people should know she wasn't just randomly taking off.

"More ballet?"

"Not sure I can find a motel with a dance studio attached."

Re: Talk to Mitchell

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