Welcome to Gaia! ::

XXXXXYou walk into a room that smells like chalk dust and old parchment. None of the desks look inviting to sit in, but you find the least disturbing one still left and plop down in it. They range in quality from slightly dilapidated to moments from crumbling to dust. It becomes apparent to you that this classroom is truly the thing nightmares are made of, and you're pretty sure that those rumors of students dieing of boredom in Dr. Michael Alabaster's Literature class are true.

XXXXXLooking around, you're eyes finally focus to the front of the classroom, and you see your instructor sitting at his desk. His eyes are focused on you and only you. His expression says you will fail. A shiver runs down your spine, and you quickly break eye contact.

XXXXXDr. Alabaster stands up from his desk. The room is silent, and you can hear the slow clip-clop noise of his hooves on the cold classroom floor as he walks around sizing each student up. One hand is behind his back, and the other one is holding his pipe. He takes a prolonged drag off of it, and then blows the smoke directly into another student's face.

XXXXX"Welcome to Great Works of the 20th Century. I'm sure that my reputation proceeds me, but for those of you blessed enough to have not heard of me, I'm Dr. Michael Alabaster. You will only address me as such. You will not use any of the nicknames you may have heard past students of mine using around the hallways: Pony, Charlie, or Rainbow Chaser. I will not give you a better grade if you bring me a carrot or a sugar cube. I will also not tolerate any sort of slack-jawed yoakalry in my classroom. Keep your wits about you, and you may yet learn something."

Arachne took her seat with a heavy sigh. Really this was too much, and looked to be the most supremely boring class but her Grandmother had been most insistent that she sign up for everything possible. At least she wouldn't be required to do anything strenous here, just slightly tedious. She looked around after the Professor had spoken and gave a short huff before standing, she folded down her hood and gave her hair a soft pat before speaking.

'My name is Arachne Tangleweave, and just one interesting fact? Very well.. I'm a natural seer and I can see the future, a gift passed down through the female generations of my family.'

With that she sat again, curling the spider webbing at the bottom of her dress around her chair leg and pulled out a bag of runes, she'd had an inkling she would need something to do when Dr. Alabaster's attention wasn't on his students.

Literature! How exciting! She enjoys a good book (well, mostly romance novels) almost as much as she enjoys fashion design and scrapbooking, although she was never good with writing original stories... They almost always end up being a sappy love story that most Halloween denizens can't stand. However, she figured that literature class was about studying books rather than writing one, so she had been pumped up about attending it. She even woke up early to prepare for the class, tying her hair up into a loose bun (it was her "serious" hairstyle) and stuffing several classics into her bag.

She woke up in a good mood, and she was determined to return to her room in a good mood! Of course, since when was she ever down for long anyway? She even started the day by taking her favorite breakfast - Fruity flies with milk! Mm, the crunchy texture of flies with a sweet, fruity taste and smell mixed with nice, cold milk? Best. Breakfast. Ever.

Of course, she was one of the earlier students to settle in, arriving early to pick a seat (she chose one in the front roll to be near the teacher) enough to see a majority of the students flood in. Besides, having been late once, for the First Aid lesson, was enough to last her the rest of the school year! Waiting impatiently, she had smiled and waved to those she knew, gesturing for them to sit near her; class is no fun without friends, even if it was an interesting subject! And she was sure that those she had met at the Scary Movie Night would be coming down too.

Ah, that first student - she was sure she was in First Aid class too. For Lizzy, the female was almost instantly likable, even before their introduction... She had wanted to know more about her ever since their first meeting! It was almost like a compulsion.

Hearing a familiar voice speaking, she turned her head towards it... Just in time to see Chuppi fall to the floor. Her eyes widened and she immediately pushed her chair back to stand up, wanting to help her up; it was almost like a reflex. Poor thing... She's trying so hard! How dare they laugh at her friend! How cruel... However, seeing that she was fine, Lizzy sat back down again, offering the monster an encouraging smile and an air fist-bump. When Chuppi was done with her introduction, she clapped happily, mouthing the words 'Good job!' to her before turning back to the professor.

"I'm Elizabeth Baines," She rose from her seat, giving the professor a brief nod as a greeting before addressing the class again, the grin on her face indicating her excitement, "But I prefer to be called Lizzy. My family owns the Baines Clothing Store downtown, so if you ever pop by while I'm around, I'll be sure to give you a discount!"

She then sat back down, looking expectantly at the next person.

She had chosen to sit in the second row, not in front where she would look like an overeager studious little twerp, but now so far back that wouldn't be able to actually learn anything. As much as Sin pretended that her social life was more important to her then anything, her academics were something she was determined to focus on first. The trouble was she couldn't look like a nerd doing it. She leaned back in her seat looking careless and watched as the others stood and introduced themselves. Her eyes were riveted on Arachne intrigued by her proclamation that she could see the future. This might be a demon worth getting to know, maybe even befriend.

Slowly her attention jumped over to the tiny green monster who fell out of her seat. She had to hold back a little snicker and then realized it was the same monster that had also fallen through the floor before First Aid class. Temes? Her eyes widened a bit at the sudden whine and she chuckled leaning forward to whisper to the little ghoul. "Maybe you should start the day with breakfast?" She leaned back in her seat amused and turned her gaze towards the next student.

Ohh Lizzy hmm? She might have to go by the Baines Clothing Store and see what they had. She loved a good shopping spree, and discounts just made them all the sweeter. As Lizzy sat down she stood up her posture and voice confident though inside she felt her chest tighten with nerves.

"I'm Sin Err, interesting fact? My Favorite Novel is Ghouls with the Wind." She sat back down and tossed her hair aside glancing at Arachne again, she had taken note of Lizzy as well it seemed. Slowly she let her gaze wander back to the next student filing away socially important information to muse over later.

For once, Tess was glad that she had managed to arrive fairly early to a class. Oh she wasn't the first to arrive but it was better than being one of the stragglers. And she doubted any of the teachers she would be under appreciated tardiness of any kind. She had to clamp a hand over her mouth at Valentino's introduction, mostly because she had heard he liked ribbons and if he ever got to see her room he would find she did too.

Quite a lot, actually.

When her turn came, she gave the chupacabra a reassuring smile and a small wave of her hand before remembering to introduce herself. She pulled the clawed tips of her wings up so she could hover high enough for everyone to see (lest no one think she was a slacker).

"I'm Maritess, but feel free to call me Tess. And an interesting thing about me?" She wasn't going to say her legs. She wasn't going to say her legs. She wasn't going to say her legs, "Is not my lack of legs." CANDLEJACK DAMMIT! "I mean, um, I also like ribbons because they remind me of tongues."

What was that? Really, Tess, what was that?! Nerves, most likely.

This was the second class Raziel had walked into. And this one seemed to at least be of a 'normal' subject. Something that intellectuals would enjoy. With a slight smile and a small sigh, Raziel settled into his seat.

They were going around the room announcing their names and a random fact about themselves. Some of the students were saying the strangest things. Ribbons? What's so scary about ribbons? Raziel guessed they could be used to choke someone, but that wasn't very likely..

It was finally his turn, and Raziel swallowed any bit of nervousness he had and spoke, "My name is Raziel and an interesting fact about me is.." He glanced around the room at the other students before continuing, "I can swim extremely well."

Well that was less than interesting. Oh well, it would have to do.

How had he come to be in such a class, was the only solid thought of Onibis as he glanced impassively from the now crumpled schedule (which still read 'literature' in large, bold letters no matter how many times he re-read it) to the dilapidated and crumbling desks. He didn't remember signing up for this.

Giving an imperceptible shrug, the Ao-andon stepped further into the classroom (he barely avoided the pen that whizzed by his ear and ignored the kelpie that appeared two breaths away from a heart attack. ...and was that student busily whisping away about to loose himself all together?). It'd be an easy grade, at least.

Without much thought, Onibi gravitated towards the other two demons, expressionlessly glancing from one student to the next, only to change course mid step as ringed eyes caught sight of turquoise hair.

He supposed literature class wouldn't be too bad.

Sliding into the desk behind Raziel Onibi froze as the chair gave a groan of protest, only half listening as the whispy student near him introduced himself to the class. He wasn't sure the desk wouldn't simply crumble all together were he to move, and instead opted to remain seated through his own impassive introduction.

"My name's Onibi," And if they wanted an interesting fact, well, he didn't have one readily available.

Dr. Alabaster stood there coldly as he took down each of the student's names. Another bunch of failures to attempt to educate on the fine works of the world. Clearly the admission standards needed to be raised. He hoped that some of them could read better than they spoke, because a couple of students had made quite the unflattering first impression.

He made careful notes about each student:

Arachne Tangleweave -- Seer. Be sure to not think about pop quizzes before giving them.
He had a seer as a student once before, and they were nothing but trouble. This one looked to have that classic look of contempt and disdain that goes with telling what the future holds. Dr. Alabaster hated seers.

Temes -- Mostly Harmless.
She could barely spit the words out of her sharp-toothed mouth. Dr. Alabaster rolled his eyes as she sat back down. Hopefully she could contain that growling stomach during classes; he hated the idea of having to hear that rumbling constantly interrupting his diatribes.

Elizabeth Baines -- Overly eager to please, and painfully upbeat. Don't call her 'Lizzy'.
Was she implying that he needed new clothes? He hadn't updated his wardrobe in 23 years, and wasn't planning on changing that now. Still, Dr. Alabaster hoped that her enthusiasm would lead her to put in effort in class.

Sin Err -- Popular. Probably a brown nose.
Maybe he was bias from his days as a young school-foal, but Dr. Alabaster hated the popular crowd. They never had an appreciation for the classics. It was always about "being cool" and mocking those that were more apt for scholarly things by telling them their mother was sent to the glue factory. No. Not bias. Not at all. Pretending she liked books wasn't going to work on him.

Valentino -- Strange. Likes ribbons.
He didn't bother to write out the boy's full name. It was going to be too much to remember even with notes. Dr. Alabaster was rather put-off by the amount of time it took for him to come up with his introduction. Clearly the wheels turned slowly for him, and he was going to have trouble in this class. Alabaster was used to this type of student though, and was already mentally lowering his grade in advance.

Maritess -- Likes to state the obvious.
Of course you don't have legs, silly girl. There's no need to mention that. Although, Dr. Alabaster thought it was strange that she also liked ribbons. Was that a code word for some new drug on the street? Maybe a lewd sex act? Kids these days. Always getting in trouble with their "ribbons" and their reveling outfits and loud parties.

Calder -- Going to cause problems...
Dr. Alabaster refrained from adding what kind of problems. It was clear to him the equine student's intentions towards him. He couldn't say he didn't like it though; it had been years since anyone had given him that look with their eyes, the kind that undresses you and leaves you a bare and exposed man inward and outward. He sighed, exasperated as he heard Calder's desk slide forward. At least his intentions meant that he was going to be willing to put an effort forth in the class.

Raziel -- Abrupt but pleasant.
It seemed as if the bulk of troublesome students were the first to arrive. Odd, as usually they were they type to show up late. This one seemed like he was interested in the subject, and Dr. Alabaster liked that. A shame though that the most interesting thing he could say about himself was that he could swim well.

Daisuke -- Trouble keeping his composure. Literally.
He took back his earlier thought about all the good students introducing themselves last. This one vaguely collected "things", and couldn't properly sit in a seat. Great.

Onibi -- Apparently Uninteresting.
Obviously this one had nothing about him that was worth mentioning. Dr. Alabaster wasn't sure if that was a good thing or something he should worry about. It seemed the more unremarkable students sometimes caused trouble to make themselves stand out. Again, it was all about "being cool" and and having "ribbon" for kids these days.

Coralie -- Insists on wearing a foul-mouthed hat.
What an odd fashion statement, a hat that will literally make the statements for you. Exactly what one was to expect from the type of person who sat in a window seat. If Alabaster had been talking aloud, he would have almost spat at the mention of the window seat. If he would have had his way, his room would be window-less; less of a distraction for the students, and also doubles as a way to more quickly crush their spirits.


Dr. Alabaster stood there, not saying anything, but letting his silence speak volumes about how much he was unimpressed with this year's students. There were still more who could come in though, and he waited for the late-birds to almost miss the literature worm.

OOC: I'll close up the classroom in a day or so, anyone who wants to join should probably do it soon.