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* Learns and adapts from each encounter — his methodology evolves across books | * Learns and adapts from each encounter — his methodology evolves across books | ||
His final thought at the end of [[Kelly Spaihts|Kelly's]] arc | His final thought at the end of [[Kelly Spaihts|Kelly's]] arc, "there would always be another Kelly," confirms his operating mindset entering [[Making the Grades: Allie's Descent|Allie's story]]. | ||
== Known arrangements == | == Known arrangements == | ||
Revision as of 14:39, 21 April 2026
| Professor William Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Professor William Taylor |
| Affiliation | Eastern Tsuga College |
| Status | Active |
| Occupation | Professor of Psychology, Eastern Tsuga College |
| First appearance | Making the Grades: Kelly's Unveiling |
| Canon status | Confirmed |
About
Professor William Taylor is a professor of Psychology at Eastern Tsuga College and the connective antagonist of the Making the Grades series. He teaches Psych 250: Sexology: Sexual Deviance or Sexual Culture, one of ETC's most controversial courses. Taylor exploits the subtle effects of The Hemlock Veil and the power dynamics of the academic environment to manipulate students into escalating arrangements.
Methodology
Taylor's approach is calculated and non-supernatural. He identifies vulnerable students, typically those who have missed an assignment or failed a quiz, and leverages institutional authority to initiate a remediation arrangement that escalates through psychological manipulation.
Key elements of his methodology:
- Uses missed assignments or failed quizzes as the initial point of leverage
- Frames escalating tasks as voluntary remediation
- Exploits the lowered inhibitions created by The Hemlock Veil
- Maintains plausible deniability at every stage
- Learns and adapts from each encounter — his methodology evolves across books
His final thought at the end of Kelly's arc, "there would always be another Kelly," confirms his operating mindset entering Allie's story.
Known arrangements
- Cassandra Blake — prior arrangement, partially disclosed to Kelly
- Kelly Spaihts — Making the Grades: Kelly's Unveiling
- Allie — Making the Grades: Allie's Descent (forthcoming)
Psych 250
Taylor's course, Psych 250: Sexology: Sexual Deviance or Sexual Culture, explores societal responses to sexuality and how these responses shape individual identity. The course fits ETC's ethos of challenging societal norms — and provides Taylor with a steady pool of students open to unconventional ideas.
Relationship to House Subconium
Taylor avoids playing with his own students at Camera Noctis, maintaining a policy of self-regulation. His relationship to House Subconium and Margot Delacroix has not been fully established in canon.
Canon notes
- Taylor does not end Allie's novel burned or disgraced — the Chyoa epilogue in which he loses everything is not the direction of the published novel
- He explicitly thinks "lightning doesn't strike twice" when setting the quiz trap for Allie — more calculated than with Kelly
- The NDA introduced in Allie's arc is a direct lesson learned from Kelly's Chelsea Zhou conversation