chosehumanity: (mitchell: what was that?)
chosehumanity ([personal profile] chosehumanity) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2010-02-08 09:54 am
Entry tags:

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! ]]

Re: Sign In

[identity profile] pastmewrong.livejournal.com 2010-02-08 09:04 am (UTC)(link)
Effy Stonem
furnaceface: (SNARK)

Re: Sign In

[personal profile] furnaceface 2010-02-08 10:12 am (UTC)(link)
Jonothon Starsmore
furnaceface: (Looking away)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] furnaceface 2010-02-08 10:13 am (UTC)(link)
If nobody was going to mind terribly, Jono was going to just spend most of this lecture with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.

Persecution. Yeah. He knew a thing or two about it. Nothing that he was particularly willing to share with the class, however.

Re: Sign In

[identity profile] fratboybitch.livejournal.com 2010-02-08 11:52 am (UTC)(link)
Alex Karev

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[identity profile] fratboybitch.livejournal.com 2010-02-08 11:53 am (UTC)(link)
Alex scribbled a few haphazard notes but he'd more gotten into the habit of listening than trying to write everything down. It meant he paid more attention even if he didn't have anything to show for it later.

Re: Watch the TV

[identity profile] fratboybitch.livejournal.com 2010-02-08 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Alex hadn't ever seen this one but it was entertaining enough to continue to hold his attention. It was easy to do that when there was a movie every week, though. Alex was nothing if not easy.
vanillajello: (Monkey.)

Re: Sign In

[personal profile] vanillajello 2010-02-08 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Kate Gregson

Re: Sign In

[identity profile] not-jaded-yet.livejournal.com 2010-02-08 03:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Jennifer Walters
awakestheghosts: (Running From The Ghosts)

Re: Sign In

[personal profile] awakestheghosts 2010-02-08 03:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Chloe Saunders
awakestheghosts: (Default)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] awakestheghosts 2010-02-08 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Chloe had shuddered while listening to the lecture and it made her worry that something had happened to Mitchell.
awakestheghosts: (Default)

Re: Talk to the TAs

[personal profile] awakestheghosts 2010-02-08 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
CHloe was here with lots of notes.
icecoldfrost: (street rat)

Re: Sign In

[personal profile] icecoldfrost 2010-02-08 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Emma Frost
awakestheghosts: (Worried)

Re: Talk to Mitchell

[personal profile] awakestheghosts 2010-02-08 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Surprisingly. it didn't take a lot of forced bravery to approach him. He was her favorite teacher and she was worried about him.

"M-Mitchell?"
icecoldfrost: (telepathic high)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] icecoldfrost 2010-02-08 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
<<Tell me, darling, do you think he's a psychic and I just can't tell, or is he just very good at picking topics that pick at us?>> Emma's mental voice was both amused and deeply sarcastic. <<This is starting to become ridiculous.>>
vanillajello: (Run that by me again.)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] vanillajello 2010-02-08 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Kate could've easily been lost in her own thoughts throughout the lecture, if it hadn't been for Mitchell's... whatever the hell it was that was going on with him.

So Kate paid attention. If a little more to the teacher than what he was teaching.
bitten_notshy: ([neu] walking away)

Re: Sign In

[personal profile] bitten_notshy 2010-02-08 03:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Jack Priest
bitten_notshy: ([neg] finding you wanting)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] bitten_notshy 2010-02-08 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, the subtext of this one was ... barely subtext at all, really. Jack remembered the way Sebastien spoke about the Inquisition and winced even as he dutifully jotted down a few token notes.
bitten_notshy: ([neu] at your service)

Re: Watch the TV

[personal profile] bitten_notshy 2010-02-08 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
And, given the mood he was already in, Jack simply didn't see the humor in this one. He stared at the television dumbly.

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