Dossier:
Andrew Marston

Strict Professor Keeps You After Class

{ After the Christmas holidays, end of first semester }

• Listener is attending 12th Century Literature taught by Andrew.
• Andrew first learns of Listener’s crush on him from their assignment in which they write:
  “In the given examples, the boundaries of this relationship acts as a tether between teacher and student. But when compared to a setting of higher education, the tension is more tantalizing. Particularly when I consider my attraction for my literature professor.”
  • Reference to “The [Love] Letters of Abelard and Heloise.”
• First kisses.
  • Andrew quotes: “The forbiddenness of a fruit makes even the taste of a lemon sweet.” —Mokokoma Mokhonoana
• Andrew makes Listener amend their assignment so they can be graded.
• Other character(s) mentioned: Chris, Andrew’s TA.
• Other texts mentioned:
  • Lancelot
  • Percival
  • The Tale of Igor’s Campaign

Strict Professor Calls You to his Office

{ Approximately one week later }

• Listener goes to Andrew’s office to hand in their amended assignment.
• Listener learns that Andrew won the Wolfson History Prize a few years after university for a book written on Alistair Crowley.
• Andrew has a preference for written material over electronic – makes students submit printed assignments.
• Andrew accepts the amended assignment, but cautions against a repeat.

Strict Professor Gets Jealous

{ New module }

• Class is now Poetry.
• Assignment is to analyse “If” by Rudyard Kipling.
• Andrew asks Listener to help bring some materials from the lecture hall back to his office.
• Andrew is jealous of the attention Listener is showing to a fellow classmate:
  • “I’m observant, and you know I am.”
  • “Convincing them to sit at the front with you? Borrowing stationary? Forgetting to bring your book to class so you can share and get closer?”
• Andrew agrees to date Listener, albeit very discreetly.
• Andrew is planning on going to a museum as he is in the process of writing another thesis, asks Listener out on a (secret) date.

First Date with Your Strict Professor

{ A few weeks later }

• First date for Andrew and Listener is to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone and Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit.
• If Andrew didn’t become a professor, he would have become a linguistic anthropologist, and revived a dead language.
• Andrew wants to take a trip to Egypt to see the hieroglyphs in the tombs.
• Andrew says: “History becomes legend, legend becomes myth.”
  • Original quote: “And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge.” —Galadriel, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• They are videoed at the museum, which is later posted online.

Arguing with Your Strict Professor

{ Approximately one week after }

• Andrew drives Listener home from University.
• Andrew talks about Luca, his new teaching assistant because Jeremy is leaving the literature department, and Chris is taking on more work.
  • Luca reminds Andrew of a rabbit.
  • Andrew considers Luca as cute.
  • Listener is a little jealous because they get to spend time together.
• Andrew is upset about the video of their date at the museum.
• Andrew ends the romantic relationship.

Strict Professor Reveals His Secrets

{ Over a month later }

• Andrew goes to Listener’s flat to have a discussion about school work because they have been skipping tutorials.
  • “‘It’s going good.’ Is…that it? Is that all I get?”
• Andrew writes a poem in response to Listener’s from a class assignment:
  

  Before that winter, a furnace roared
  It burned so deep, scathing
  With rolling flames, grazing
  A warmth that I adored.

  Unbeknownst, a bitter wind crept
  Masking daggers of jagged ice
  Passing the waning furnace to slice
  And smother as they wept.

  And after, one small flame remained
  The raging fire now stark
  It flickered in the silent dark
  A light so faint it strained.

  The once golden heart of wood did splinter
  A broken sculpture to behold
  And blanked by frost and cold
  I lost my warmth that winter.

• Andrew gives the option to restart the romantic relationship with Listener.

Meeting with Your Strict Professor

{ Near the end of the semester/year, before finals }

• Andrew meets with Listener at a local coffee shop to give the answer to Andrew’s question in part 6.
• Their order is taken by Haven, two caramel lattes.
• Listener tells Andrew that they want to pursue a relationship with him.
• Surprise kiss! Flustered Andrew.
• Ground rules: no skinship at university (uh huh, sure…)

Strict Professor Loves You

{ After finals / end of the school year }

• Listener is done for the semester/year and wants to have a date with Andrew to celebrate. Listener does the planning.
• Listener invites Andrew over for a home date to watch movies together. Listener sets the mood with blankets, candles, and an assortment of snacks/beverages.
• Andrew had one serious relationship during his first year of University with a senior studying to be a lawyer. They broke up because his partner graduated and found a job overseas. They don’t keep in touch. (This is a reference to Isaac).
• Andrew’s family: Parents and younger Twin Brother.
  • The brothers are estranged.
  • Younger twin studied biomedical science; hates reading; rarely smiles.
  • Younger twin possibly involved in shady business (linked to the Court?).
  • Shows a picture of the two of them together during twin’s graduation.
• Andrew’s guilty pleasure is watching nature documentaries.
  • Last one he watched was David Attenborough’s “A Life on Our Planet”
• Andrew enjoys watching horror movies, he doesn’t get scared.
• Listener and Andrew are cuddled on the couch watching a movie.

Strict Professor Helps You Sleep

{ Beginning of a new school year | final year for the Listener }

• Listener is staying over at Andrew’s apartment.
• Andrew has a large collection of tea.
• Listener and Andrew went on a holiday together over summer break.
• Listener is stressed out from personal matters.
• Andrew wants to introduce Listener to his brother if they ever reconnect.
• Andrew graduated two years early from High School / University.
• A teacher in high school whom Andrew trusted took advantage of him.
  • The teacher is the Headmaster’s daughter.
  • Andrew is transferred to a different school so a scandal could be avoided.
• Sunrise scenarios.
• Andrew’s mum used to give him crumpets and apple juice.

Surprising Your Strict Professor

{ November 17 }

• Today is Andrew’s 24th birthday (Happy Birthday!)
• Listener (who stayed over), wakes up to find Andrew prepping for next semester.
• Andrew didn’t make any plans for his own birthday and is a little melancholy that he’s not celebrating with his twin this year like they did in the past.
• Sneaky Listener has bought tickets to the aquarium as a surprise. Andrew suggests going to the bakery to have almond croissants for breakfast before going to the aquarium.
• Andrew and Twin’s favorite movie growing up was “Shark Tale”, and they wanted to visit an aquarium because of it.
• Andrew is open to tame PDAs, but Listener is surprisingly shy about it. Andrew suggests taking some photos on their date, he needs a new wallpaper for his phone.
• Andrew talks about aquatic creatures returning to the Thames, including sharks.
  (This is in fact true IRL)
• After dinner they end the evening with a stroll across the bridge and along the embankment of the Thames with a bit of cuddling to stay warm.

Christmas With Your Strict Professor

{ Shortly before Christmas | On campus }

• Listener and Andrew are leaving university for the day, walking to his car. Andrew is reconfirming that Listener still wants to spend Christmas with him instead of going home.
• Luca calls out to Andrew and they have a brief conversation.
• Andrew and Listener get in the car and drive off.

{ Christmas Day | Andrew’s Apartment }

• Presents from Andrew: the shoes that Listener saw but thought were too expensive, and a necklace that Andrew custom designed for them.
• Andrew makes Listener a cup of milk tea. They have a small tiff about family.
• Andrew tells Listener about his relationship with his parents and his disillusionment of the Christmas holiday because of them:
  • Andrew’s parents are devout Catholic Evangelists, and were very strict towards Andrew and Twin.
  • They favored Andrew over Twin after Andrew began excelling in his studies.
  • They also practically disowned Twin after finding out he had been in a relationship with another man.
  • But during the holidays they acted like nothing was wrong with their relationship with their sons and conveniently ignored their own poor behavior towards them.
• Andrew reveals some of his secrets to Listener:
  • Coriander tastes like soap (indeed it does)

Sleeping With Your Strict Ex-Professor

Some things Andrew mentions during the audio

• Manuscript: an author’s text that has not yet been published
• Third Omniscient: Third-person omniscient point of view is a narrative point of view in which the narrator is all-knowing: they can see into the thoughts, feelings, and memories of every character on the page. This allows the reader to see a broader picture of the story and know details about each character that the other characters don’t.
• Rule of Three: based on groups of three items being more memorable, emotionally resonant, and persuasive than simply one or two.
• Too many nouns: The problem with stacks of nouns is that they make the reader do all the work. When we see one noun modified by another noun modified by another noun, and so on, we have to figure out for ourselves what the relationships between the nouns are.
• Purple prose: flowery and ornate writing that makes a piece of text impenetrable. It is characterised by long sentences, multi-syllabic words, excessive emotion, and a plethora of clichés. It’s typically melodramatic and often too poetic.
• Find the MacGuffin (or McGuffin or Maguffin) trope: A MacGuffin is a plot device that propels characters forward into the narrative and not much else, such as searching for a legendary artefact or a seemingly innocuous ruby stone said to grant eternal life but that just sits in some kid’s pocket.
• Conlang: Constructed language – an artificial language.