Aldysfool - ❝ ᴛᴏ ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴛʜᴇ 𝓯𝓸𝓸𝓵,

if you could trade places with any of the fourth years, who would it be?

“ugh, this is so hard, but lemme just say that i thought a lot about who’d i want to take my place because i could trade places with any of these theatre nerds and have a fuckin’ ball. but who would really benefit from having mine? and that’s how i landed on my pride and joy, jason palmer. is this cheating because he’s my brother? i don’t care. i would want him to just let loose if we traded places; i’ve already done an alphabet’s worth of drugs and broken some laws; like, there isn’t much he could do that would surprise me. i just feel like he’s holding back on me all the time, and...honestly, i feel guilty about that. a lot. especially because i know i wouldn’t be here without him.”

a pause.

“ha. but yeah, if we got caught up in some freaky friday shit, i would totally facebook stalk our old classmates and tell some people off, tell hudson and helen i’m in love with them both to (hopefully) start some drama, audition for the lead role in our last production just to prove a point, call up mom and pops to announce i’m cutting them off and moving to France after graduation, and then snoop in mathias’ room to find evidence that he definitely killed orson so that i wouldn’t have to worry about the watch anymore.”

@pvlmer

ofmadsle​:

Nate always surprised her with his sincerity, though she finds herself more surprised when people were genuinely in her corner and on her side. It wasn’t a reflection on anyone else, really, but just one of the myriad of trust issues she harbored over the years. She smiles, small at first, yet it grew into a wide grin as he continued. “Thank you, thank you. Billy’s got some issues writing women but hey, that monologue got me here, ya know? Kind of ending this semester where I started.” She laughs at the picture he painted, only it faltered just a bit as she was reminded of Orson’s death. “And you’ll be the best damn witch I’ve seen. Double double toil and trouble should be the matching tattoos we eventually get.” She grins, lips pursing together slightly as she realized where they were. “With how often men test my patience, it’s true.” She grins. She wouldn’t dwell on it either.

“Fuck yeah! I should throw a costume party, because what do we have to look forward to? St. Patty’s Day? How boring, I don’t need green beer.” She grins at the thought of all the shenanigans she could get herself into, determined to end this semester with a bang now more than ever. “Oh, well, you know.” She shrugs, slightly shy but smiles nevertheless. “I go for these big roles at the community theater, I know I can do it. And you know, with Heidi here, I figured why not give it a real shot. Ya know? Like I know I’ll have competition, and that’s okay. I don’t need to get it, but I wanna know I at least tried for the role that got me to love Shakespeare in the first place.” She sighed, turning only slightly solemn. “Sounds dumb, but like you said. It’s our last show.” It was increasingly clear that Mads’ remorse for Orson’s death was simply nonexistent, and while she didn’t kill him herself, she might as well have with how she was talking. If only she knew.

nate’s eyes light up at mads’ suggestion, “holy shit, i will hold you to that, regardless of who we end up with. i’ve been meaning to try inner lip tattoos, so that’s perfect. i think there’s a word count, but whatever.” nate laughs, and offers mads a high five. costume parties at literally any time of the year were nate’s favorite thing in the world. and the further away from halloween, the better. 

“well honestly, i hope you snag it. and it may be my spidey senses or the weed kickin’ in, but i’ve got a good feeling heidi is about to shake some shit up around here. it’s not like we’re the only ones who’ve got shit to prove in the wake of...everything that’s happened, y’know?” if nate was heidi, he didn’t know what he’d do. but with orson’s death and the events from the masque creating this looming presence over the department, something big had to happen, right? nate felt like was he was doing nothing else but waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“but let’s stop for a second. do you really think one of us did what we were all accused of the other night?” nate sighs, “because i’ve been thinking...and i’ve got some conspiracy theories knocking around in my head. one, of which, says that we’re on a collective acid dream we haven’t woken up from yet.”

what's your dream role?

“fuck me, this is a hard one. let’s keep this strictly shakespeare, ‘cause i could riff all day on contemporary theatre and how much tragicomedies speak to me on a spiritual level. so yeah, the dream role would have to go to everybody’s super problematic fave, iago. he’s an enigma of a character - with unpredictable emotions, motives, tactics, and some of the best soliloquys willy ever wrote. he’s fucked up in so many ways, and i wanna sink my teeth into him and take him on. i’ve been craving a puzzle.”

pvlmer​:

jason follows nate into his room. despite the fact that they’re seen to a lot of people as twins, they had never really been all that alike. but for some reason, it still worked. even though there were times when jason couldn’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like if he were an only child, but he always tried to keep those thoughts at bay. because nate was his brother, and it was wrong to have all of those thoughts. even though he had them. 

“oh, right, the kitchen. i don’t think my grilled cheese can come anywhere close to the ones we get on postmates,” jason replies with a shrug. going to the kitchen to make them himself hadn’t even occurred to jason, because he always figured that no one would want anything he made – not his cooking, not his acting, not his love. “greasy and lots of calories.” he orders from his phone before sitting down next to nate. it almost feels like they’re back home, how they both used to sit on the floor and talk. they didn’t seem to do that much anymore. that was mostly jason’s fault, he had always kept certain parts of himself hidden from his brother. not because he didn’t trust him, but he just didn’t want nate to feel bad about anything. it wasn’t nate’s fault that he was more talented than jason, and that their parents loved him more. he never wanted his brother to know about the darkness that lived within him, his brother was a golden light, he didn’t deserve to see that. jason laughed at nate’s joke, despite the fact that the night had been heavy, he could always count on nate to make him laugh and take the weight off.

“i mean…just everything that happened at the winter masque. i couldn’t imagine anyone from our program killing orson so it was really weird to hear someone accusing us of killing him.”

jason hated lying to nate. he also hated how easy it was. maybe it was because he had had so much practice. so many years biting his tongue and pretending like he wasn’t angry, so many years pretending that he wouldn’t do anything just to get a fraction of what his brother got. but he had to lie to nate. he couldn’t let his brother see who he truly was, nate was one of the only people who loved jason and once he found out what a monster his brother was, that would all go away. he couldn’t corrupt his brother’s mind. so he lied through his teeth, like he had done so many times before.

if nate was honest with himself, he’d admit that jason was in his blind spot. 

nate took pride in being able to separate the truth from the bullshit on a regular basis, but he had never ever been able to get a solid read on jason. and yeah, he knew it was painfully ironic that one of the closest people in his life was also the main person nate sometimes felt like he knew nothing about. and that freaked him out on occasion ─ probably because he still held onto a lot of guilt from their upbringing. but fuck, he was tired of playing that tune. one of these days he’d quit party drugs cold turkey, go back to his weekly visits with dr. june, apologize to his brother, forget about orson, and get on with his fucking life. that day, unfortunately, was not today.

nate looks at jason longer than he should before it becomes noticeable, but nate really wants to take him in as long as he can. when he sees jason, he sees the shy kid who tagged along on (most) of his adventures. he sees a sweet, kind brother and son. he couldn’t be capable of actual terror, could he? had jason been developing into someone else this whole time and nate had been too selfish enough to notice? nate flashes a grin with his shrug, and hopes that it’s enough. but he wants to nudge at the issue, if even just a little bit further.

“i don’t know j, you never know who’s capable of something like that. you might be their roommate. their friend. hell, their brother. the claims had to have some truth to them, right?” nate sighs, “i’m just glad i don’t have to worry about you.” 

 harryzhangs​:

“badass is one word for it,” harry grins. she just can’t get used to the idea that half the school, maybe more, considers all of them to be murderers. as hilarious as it would be to watch josie throw a tantrum and get kicked out of the show, as nate suggested, everyone’s usual antics feel rather tainted by that fact. harry doesn’t know how nate does it, putting on a joking front like this when he was the one to find orson laying there, bled-out and lifeless. he’s got to be a far better actor than her, just for that. “hopefully she’s just really into the irony of it, and not playing some kind of sick joke on us. that would put a serious damper the inevitable rehearsal storm-outs from… josie, you said? my money’s on mathias first.”

nate laughs as he considers the idea that heidi would be capable of putting the fourth years through a psychological thriller like macbeth only to get them busted for actual murder when it was all said and done. “nah, heidi doesn’t seem like the type to put that much effort into a long, convoluted plan like that. ...oh shit, unless she was orson’s other lover and this is her revenge....! dun dun dun!” nate laughs and shakes his head, trying his best to keep a light disposition about the possibility of what any of them could be facing. was there any other choice? after a moment, nate’s mind drifts back to the whole ‘co-conspirators’ angle, and he looks over at harry. he wonders about how much she knows, but more importantly, how much she’s willing to share. “but hey, you’re easily one of the smartest people in this bunch. ...i wanna know what you really think.” nate looks around to make sure no one else might be around, “it’s still wild to even say out loud, but there can’t be an actual murderer among us, right?”

texts | palmer bros.

jason: aren't what?? nate you know i don't understand your memes i don't know what "yknow....👀" means

jason: i mean he's arrogant and i have to leave every time he rehearses because it gets under my skin but he's not /terrible/. unlike josephine.

jason: honestly, yeah i'm down. parents will be very disappointed in our sacrilege but whatever

nate: it's not a meme, GRANDPA! i was just trying to have some couth and double check that you & mathias aren't doing the horizontal tango? ....taking a trip to pound town? .......playin hide the sausage?

nate: fucking, jason

nate: hell yeah. meet me outside the castle in 20 min. ive got a half bottle of gin, two candles, a mortar & pestle, and three books w/ weird Latin phrases and drawings. let's get weiiiiiird

juliansbennet​:

date & time: after rehearsals/whenever mads’ half bday is (i can’t do math) location: the castle (kitchen) availability: closed @aldysfool​​

“this was sweet of you to do,” julian said as he whisked together the dry ingredients, knowing his best friend could use a pick-me-up since the detectives released their statement. despite only becoming friends the start of their third year, he couldn’t imagine a future without mads in it. after all, he was already looking at apartments for their post-graduation plans. “i just hope nobody tries to kill the mood,” he added, unable to maintain his usual pep. he firmly believed none of them were killers, but he started to wonder if his peers knew more than they were letting on.

the countertops in the kitchen looked a complete mess, and they had only been in the kitchen for less than half an hour — nate had spilled a cup of sugar, dropped two eggs, broken a saucer, and now something was sticky under his shoe. he was just trying to make a sheet birthday cake. while baking was always a chaotic experience, nate loved every second of it, and glad that julian agreed to help him this time around. after measuring a tablespoon of vanilla, nate whisks the wet ingredients. “well, i kinda spread the word that i’d put a hex on people if they came in here while we were working, so maybe somebody will take me seriously for once.” nate plugs in the hand mixer and slides it over to julian. “but then again, someone’s an actual killer around here, so i wouldn’t be surprised. ...speaking of which,” nate pauses the hand whisking because fuck he should’ve just gone with the cheesecake factory gift card and been done with it. mads’ half-birthday had already passed anyway, but something about birthdays always cheered nate up — and honestly, he was sort of freaked about where they would all be in just a few months. nate leans over in a low, half-joking tone, “if it comes down to it, i’ve got a hundred on mads’ bail money.” 

do u are have stupid?

hell yeah brother!

hudscnwilliams​:

hudson wished things weren’t weird between the two, but he couldn’t help it. it was his fault after all, not nate’s. hudson knew he really had no right to be distant considering he and zahra had pretty much the same sort of set up nate and teddy had, but…well, he was jealous, okay? he was, even if he would never admit it to anyone else. most days he wouldn’t even admit it to himself. and then there was the fact that hudson and jason hated one another; that certainly kept the two from being close. it was hudson’s fault that he and nate weren’t friends anymore, and as much as he wanted to fix that…he wasn’t sure he could. 

laughing awkwardly, hudson set the rest of the books in his hands down. “thank you. and congrats to you, being a witch sounds awesome.” that would certainly be a fun role, and he had no doubt nate would crush it. that was the sort of role he was born for, honestly. “uh, sort of. julian and i went out to get drinks. that’s really it, though,” hudson said, leaning against the bookshelf. this was probably the longest conversation they’d had in months, and it was going…not terrible? that had to count for something, right?

.

.

holy shit, this was probably the longest conversation they’d had in months, and it wasn’t crashing and burning. nate didn’t know what to do with himself. a part of him wanted to skip over the small talk and get straight to the elephant in the room, but he also wasn’t entirely stupid and he knew that his recent hooking up with teddy definitely had something to do with it. did hudson think nate was taking advantage of his best friend, or something? either way, he didn’t feel like explaining himself. or didn’t seem a reason to explain anything, actually. but what if hudson felt weird because of jason? suddenly nate wondered if he should even be trying to salvage what bit of friendship they might’ve still had. he was definitely overthinking this, right? 

“oh, nice - where to? the anchor? teddy and i were just there...!” truthfully, the words came out before he even knew what he was saying. nate’s gaze falls down to the table as he peels back the hard cover of a book that’s thick and smells like it hasn’t been opened in at least a decade. “so, uh...i’m doing some creepy dramaturgical work on witches and rituals. what brings you in here? shit, don’t tell me we have a text study paper due.”

where: the castle’s library; when: earlier in the week after the cast announcement; who: @hudscnwilliams​.

although the castle’s library wasn’t as expansive as the main one in alderidge hall, nate still found some good stuff. it had been a pretty long day even by a monday’s standards, and nate had waited all day to scour the library for non-Shakespearean references on witches in the 1600s. and if he was lucky, nate was hoping to find something that would resemble an actual spell, or at least ingredients for a potion. maybe he’d practice on his peers, y’know, totally as a joke — or method acting. there was a book he had climbed up to reach, but had misjudged its weight, so it slips out of his hands and brings down almost the whole row with it, a book knocking him in the head in the process. nate hops down and starts to pick things up off the ground. “...i’m okay! ....i think! ....if anyone cares!”