Someone had to carry the guilt, after all, and James lungs were occupied. But it also alludes that Oliver can never find normal/peace. Out of everyone in the group, I thought she was the most respectful of and dedicated to her friendships with the others. Rio. No, I said more firmly, not allowing James to go down that road. He is alive, but barely. Im not proud of how I acted that last night, and I dont particularly like remembering it. It has always been about that, even when we didnt know it was.. Afterwards, Oliver seeks out Meredith to comfort her, and the two end up having sex. Nothing happened for about five seconds, and I was already raising my hand to try again when a light went on somewhere inside. Can you believe we shared a room for four years and never did this?. tip: buffy gen teen AND "no archive warnings apply". Because there, in that moment, with his skin sweating against mine, I realized I didnt really care what we did next. IMO: The group of seven spoke in carefully chosen, always intentional Shakespearean quotes. Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jake Scheier, and Kevin Feige on stage at D23. I think James is dead. God, James, no! The way the book was written it allows for both possibilities. [1]. So what do you all think? We were drawn to each other like magnets, not even aware of how our bodies seemed to instinctively want to close the distance between them. You dont know because you got to be punished, and I bet it felt good. I dont know what I expected, but I didnt expect you to behere. After 10 years of reclusion, even the most dramatic of Shakespearean actors would step back when it came to how much immersion they allow themselves into. However, the situation changes at the annual Halloween performance, a select few scenes from Macbeth fourth year students traditionally perform each year. Realizing their time is up, James kisses Oliver onstage. As underperforming students are purged every year, the seven of them are the only fourth-year acting students remaining. I think what I couldnt do was pretend anymore. Really? He cut me off and tried to take his hands away, but I grabbed them, keeping them still between mine. Oliver and his classmates James, Richard, Alexander, Wren, Filippa and Meredith immerse themselves into the world of Shakespearean tragedy, and as they do their lives turn into a tragedy in ways they could never have foreseen. Youre crazy, he said, redundant. That explains His eyes flashed around the room in despair. It wasnt long before my own tears were joining the one that James had left on my cheek, and, soon enough, it was undistinguishable where his pain ended and mine began. Online, everywhere. I can only hope she finds that, someday. In and out. We stayed on the couch for a while longer, doing just that, until we agreed (James was mumbling, inside my mouth, something that sounded like bed) that it had gotten too small for where our intentions were leading us. In the letter, james wrote to oliver he used Pericles (not a tragedy unlike any other plays in the book). The rest have not really commented on supposed Joliver. The novel concerns a murder mystery surrounding Oliver Marks, a former actor at the fictional Dellecher Shakespeare conservatory and primarily takes place during his fourth and final year at the conservatory. I think its at me. I had already decided it would be easier on everyone if I just disappeared., Yeah, I thought about that, too. Because, you see, when you say shit like that, what I think is that you would have done exactly what you pretended to do. Come find me at @bluejaey10 on insta if y'all Wana talk. I did consider actually drowning myself, you know? They help him realize that, maybe, his feelings aren't 100% platonic. Gold Derby recently conducted a poll asking viewers of "Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains" to name who played the best pre-merge game, and it's a tie between two members of the so-called Spice Girls alliance Shonee Bowtell and George Mladenov both receive 36% support. If We Were Villains is a great story written by M.L. Rio, was published in 2017. James was all there was; the whole fucking universe and every rhyme ever written. To undo the pain, the grief. It is very hard to put this novel down, because the framing hints at what is to come . I was an actor, a criminal, a friend; I was many, many things but none of those mattered because, first and foremost, I was his. 10 years after he was sent to prison for murder, Oliver Marks is finally ready to tell the truth about what really happened on that night, and the time leading up to his arrest. (LogOut/ If We Were Villains is such an intricate, multi faceted read that there is no doubt I will get more from it when I . We gave ourselves to each other as the waves crashed outside. On the day he's released, he's greeted by the man who put him in prison. But then Pip told me you were dead, and I-.. 100% loved and adored this novel. "Summer Thrillers: Daring Escapes and Other Acts of Derring-Do", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=If_We_Were_Villains&oldid=1141467345, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 05:52. For pleasure and for life. Author: M.L. Seven friends - Richard, Oliver, James . "Oliver", James whispered, no more than a breath out of his lips; relief, pain, and surprise all mingled together. He nodded and rested his head back on my chest. 10 7 12 tracks. Language: R (136 swears 74 'f'); Mature Content: PG-13 Vague, undescriptive sex, mention eating disorder, drinking, and smoking, overdose Violence: PG-13 Rough "play" that results in injury, descriptive murder . See a recent post on Tumblr from @ilovehimstill about iwwv. The notes connotation may also be just to remind Oliver of their time in del Norte, a happy moment. James, being (from Olivers POV, ofc) the smartest of the group of seven, would not write his one directed letter in a Shakespeare quote if there was not an intentional meaning to be decoded under the words. A fleeting thought of Meredith ran through my head, but only for a second. This was it. I also really liked that the book was divided into Acts as it helped to drive the action and was a lovely nod to the Shakespearean aspects of the novel. James knew Oliver would be free in 4 years. If We Were Villains is the debut novel of American author M. L. Rio, first published in 2017 by Flatiron Books. Oliver had almost no recollection of the rest of the Christmas masque, slipping in and out of awareness just long enough to get his hands on a drink or to engage in brief pleasantries with onlookers hoping to congratulate him on his performance. As pretentious and flawed as the core friendship group of the story is, youll be gripped by their tale. Everyone else knew, and that was enough to set the wheels spinning. He finished his thought. Its been so many weeks. Not too soon, I shook my head. Just a quick warning: there are some mentions of suicidal tendencies (as we know how the actual book ended, I think theres no not touching the subject) and a few mentions of canon angst, death and violence, but nothing happening currently and nothing graphic, either. If We Were Villains, written by M. L. Rio and published in 2013, 2017, tells the story of Oliver Marks, a former Shakespearian actor at the Dellecher conservatory, and the murder mystery that surrounds his 4th and final year at the conservatory. That last night, before I went on stage for Lear, she asked me a question. Im not going to deny that I love her-,. I knew when youd be getting out, and I waited. As a friend, and as something else I cant quite name.. And as for the fairness of it all I slept with Meredith that night. Waiting. The two tentatively resume their relationship. "Are we Richard tonight or are we Dick?" "Ignore him, Oliver," James said. James Faked his own death- Oliver is sure about it. 9781785656477. You went to Meredith when you got out? He asked, hurt by it. James doesn't even bother trying to hide his look of disgust after some kid he's never seen before reports what he's seen in the hallway. The scene James quoted in his letter to Oliver it has meaning. The last and only kiss we had ever shared had been a fleeting thing, almost unnoticeable, and how it felt had been lost in my brain amongst everything else that happened that night. James and Oliver. And certainly not now. And then a letter arrived, and as I read Pericless last words, again and again, written in James hasty penmanship, the world flipped again. I had, in the space of only a few weeks, revisited my most traumatic experience, one that had put me away in a cell for a third of my life. And we learned she was a holder of James secrets, a protector of the groups heart, and a Shakespearean expert. Richard began to taunt and threaten him, eventually making a homophobic remark in which he accused James and Oliver of being in love with one another and threatening to drown James in the lake. Oliver, James whispered, no more than a breath out of his lips; relief, pain, and surprise all mingled together. James blinked at me. Would that fit his character? James was every single constellation that ever was, and having him, touching him. We sat across from each other, maybe only an arms length distance between us, only the two coffee mugs and the plain wooden table as a barrier. editing this to add that this is what I clearly and personally WANT to be true, but I'm also not sure it makes complete sense knowing how the guilt would have genuinely eaten up at James etcso either 1) he is alive and kept living to wait for Oliver and Oliver alone, or 2) he's dead, idk why he left that hint, it makes sense that he's dead, my heart is broken obviously, but I still dk why he'd leave that passage. I went to jail for you and you faked your death for me. Villains: Wren. Are you telling me you only found out about that after you were released? James I wasnt joking when I said that if you hadnt killed him, I would. "It starts like this: whereas everyones eyes skim over Filippa like shes not there, Camilos stop on her. Making sure he was there. You went to jail and every single friend Id ever had knew that I was to blame for it. I let go of my own and bent forward, placing my own hand on top of his, squeezing it and tangling our fingers together. He had his hands resting on top of the table, his coffee mug long forgotten to the side. While we've done our best to make the core functionality of this site accessible without javascript, it will work better with it enabled. Somewhere. And in this case the letter does get to Romeo (Oliver) in time and he finds his Juliet (James). Oliver returns home for Thanksgiving and learns his parents will not be paying for his final semester, though the school agrees to let him work part-time as a custodian to alleviate his tuition expenses. ", -------------------------OR-----------------------------------, Oliver knocks on the door of an abandoned cottage where he hopes that the man he went to jail to protect is inside waiting for him after faking his own death (seriously, this is another level of be gay do crime, this is where being a dramatic bitch takes you). Then there was Alexander, who spent the better part of the first few years avoiding everything and everyone, Wren who just flew back to London and never looked back, not that I blame her. Well, Oliver, what in our godforsaken lives has ever made sense? It didnt matter how ungracefully we fell on the mattress, or how we cracked up laughing at the absurdity of two thirty-something adults acting like teenagers, never able to get enough of each other. Spice Girls, unite! I was starting to give up., I-, I wanted to go to you. Surfacing for air but finding my lips instead, and perhaps reading my thoughts, James gasped: Oliver, Im yours. Because that was also true. I came here and starting rebuilding this house from the inside, leaving everything behind in the hopes that, eventually, youd show up.. Though that was only a stupid hope I had, I knew there was a chance you wouldnt do it., But then you completed the sentence and was released and, still, you didnt show up. Work Search: Youre blaming me? James Farrow Needs A Hug; James and Oliver Deserved Better; Bittersweet; We desperately need a sequel to this gorgeous book; James and Oliver are so in love I can't; Summary. Its one of the best books Ive read so far in 2022! Maybe he had never left shore at all. There were seven of us then, seven bright young things with wide precious futures ahead of us. But I chose you. . James Farrow stood before me. .. But only after I thought I couldnt go to you. I corrected. I closed my eyes and felt him shuddering against me, his whole body shaking in growing intensity. Please consider turning it on! If We Were Villains is a great story written by M.L. It's one of the best books I've read so far in . Truth isn't stranger than fiction despite Mark Twain's best efforts to convince you. So that was it, for a while. Why you didnt try to overrun the sentence. I would have never let them take you. One being a plain, short, and general farewell. As his fingerprints are on both the shirt scrap and the boat hook, he is arrested and put on trial, though Colborne does not believe him to be the real killer. In this secluded world of firelight and leather . Had always been, as far back as I could remember. He proceeds to call Meredith a slut and gets in a physical argument with her as well. Wenn aus Freunden Feinde werden - Roman. Alive, breathing, dry and utterly, painfully breathtaking. Wasnt the note he left me supposed me to bring me here all along? Oliver's narrative voice is self-deprecatory, revealing that he thinks of himself as a side character in his own story. Hearing James voice helped. The ending of If We Were Villains. If We Were Villains - M.L. I was getting nervous again. So, I think his note to Oliver is to say that hes killed James and has adapted a new self - one that is free of the torment that James suffered from. . Even if she eventually went through with it, and confessed it all the same, even if everything ended just as it did; I had hoped she would at least hesitate before giving us all up. Second, I never shipped James and Oliver!! After the students return from break, they prepare to perform scenes from Romeo and Juliet, another tradition, at the Christmas masquerade ball. Upon researching James' death online, Oliver learns that James' body was never found. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Oliver is finally being released. She admits that she was the one who told Colborne to arrest James at the performance, as he confessed to her one day after an intense rehearsal. Whether we would go back into the world together and tell everyone we knew that James was still alive or if I would simply fake my own death and join him in our peaceful afterlife, I didnt care. Rio; Relationship: James Farrow/Oliver Marks; Characters: . Perhaps they were just the same, after all this time. (If We Were Villains Quote) Sticker. In this secluded world of firelight and leather-bound books, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingnue, extras. From $1.46. The book was layed out similar to a script, split into sections with each section being an act in a five-act drama. James mouth was softer than I remembered. I am once again returning to the land of dark academia for a (spoiler) review of If We Were Villains by M.L. I just couldnt stop thinking about what would happen next and I needed to bring my vision of it to life, so here it is. What exactly are you referring to? He asked, carefully. Whenever I had the slightest chance of having you, that is who I chose., Because you never knew my side of the story. Expertly plotted, beautifully written, If We Were Villains will keep you riveted through its final, electrifying moments." Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of The Nest "If We Were Villains is a whip-smart, chilling tale of a group of Shakespeare students who are, as the Bard put it, "a little more than kin . Oliver confronts James during the intermission of Lear, and James reluctantly confesses. And you werent yourself., Stop saying that like I dont know it! by mlrio. . Before it all went to hell, when we were just two stupid boys laying in the sand, dreaming of living away from everything and everyone. Look, I never thought she was my biggest fan, okay? His eyes looked tired, maybe from both life exhaustion and from being awakened in the middle of the night, but they were brighter now than Id ever seen them when he visited me in jail. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading If We Were Villains: The sensational TikTok Book Club pick. Shakespeare had never known love like this. Rating: 2.5/5. Alexander remembers what it felt like - the horror of it all. Oliver and James have entire conversations using lines memorized from the countless plays they have . Do you think he loves them in the . No, no. Oliver writes a letter to James after James' death. oliver finds james alive after being released from prison. My smile must have faltered at that because James face fell slightly as he apologized. We knew how to enunciate, how to use our emotions to the benefit of every single sentence that fell out of our lips. 0 Discussions. I wanted to sob. But whenever you appeared as a choice on the cards, that is the one I picked. I really wish there was a sequelbut then again the book ended perfectly, Just finished this and had to jump right to Reddit. Dark Academia is an aesthetic and subculture dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. - stream 11 if we were villains playlists including iwwv, Chris Cornell, and Lorde music from your desktop or mobile device. No, youll listen to this. I followed him into his kitchen, where we resumed our previous standing and staring position, but now under better light, where we could properly see each other. When they receive the cast, Alexander's predictions are revealed to be correct. The bathroom scene when Oliver tells James it wasnt a one-night stand with Meredith bc shes not just some girl and . I took my time, kissing, sucking at his skin and breathing him in, satisfied by the sounds he produced in response. No, I dont think so. Not very platonic of us. I kissed the top of his head. I think he faked his death for Meredith (and maybe Wren) for their closure. Also, english isnt my first language, so Im sorry for any mistakes. So I still think he's canonically alive but it's not super in character, idk. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, and my hands made their way up and down his back, soothing him. That had always been our thing, after all: understanding each other. Wash me from shore to shore, and left me breath. Rio has crafted this story with such skill, and a way with words that will keep you lured into the dark and mysterious world he has created inside the elite arts academy. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago. I think coffee would be great, thank you.. I allowed his words to ring in the air and settle in. i agree with you. We were two very eloquent men, well educated in the art of speech. Although those relationships are integral and all-consuming through the novel, you would be remiss to ignore the other layered relationships between the characters, which makes If We Were Villains dynamic and addictive. Genre: mystery/thriller. If We Were Villains, written by M. L. Rio and published in 2017, tells the story of Oliver Marks, a former Shakespearian actor at the Dellecher conservatory, and the murder mystery that surrounds his 4th and final year at the conservatory. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago. A work in the dark academia genre, the campus novel is part murder mystery and part dramatic tragedy. (LogOut/ The magic of it all, the prospect of a gigantic plot twist at the end of a tragedy, tends to fade when youve lived the consequences of diving headfirst into the characters you were originally only set to play on stage. I literally just finished the book, and I believe that James wouldnt have left that particular note to Oliver without it having some kind of meaning. He also desperately tried to avoid Meredith, but she snuck her way into his mind and filled it with ugly, hot flashes of guilt. She was trying to spare me.. $18 . From my point of view, James looked the same in his thirties as he had in his twenties. Let us be happy, right now. Dont get me wrong. The Jews were just starting to migrate to England and the racism towards them was motivated by their . An exploration of Filippa and Camilo's relationship, which I'm not even sure is canon but found interesting to explore anyway. his girlfriend. We were drawn to each other like . I like to think that the uncertainty of it all makes it better, that not even Rio knows if he lived. Because, even though I had had my fair share of guilt in it, Ive always hoped I had done more. Quoted as being the most academic of them all: he knew what he was doing. Drama and tragedy follows them on and offstage, and things begin to turn ugly when someone is found dead. Drama and tragedy follows them on and offstage, and things begin to turn ugly when someone is found dead. You werent yourself! Where the end of scene 7 should have gone. Afterwards, Oliver discovers a bloodstained piece of fabric in the fireplace and hides it among some discarded sets in the Fine Arts Building. 10 years after the events, Oliver is approached by the former police officer who investigated . You know why. Wren then begged James to go after Richard, fearing he would hurt himself. He got blackout drunk before James could keep her company in his mind. You had no right to take my place., Yes, but what were you protecting me from? The scene was also very quiet, the sound of the waves being the only lullaby to our wavering voices. Trying to balance my newfound comfort within Merediths presence and the feeling of chocking that grasped my lungs every time I attempted to breath. Had it been anyone else, you know she wouldnt have jumped at the chance to go to the police as fast as she did. Detective Colborne wants to know the truth, and after 10 years, Oliver is finally ready to tell it. Rio. If We Were Villains, the debut novel of actor and author M.L. Instead, Oliver goes to visit Meredith, now a television actress living in Chicago. I do love her. A bully we loved until we couldnt anymore. My whole body responded immediately to the pull, and, before I could gather my own thoughts, I was getting up from the chair again, this time moving to sit on James lap, straddling him. No one could touch us there. So, I think his note to Oliver is to say that he's "killed" James and has adapted a new self - one that is free of the torment that James suffered from. Its easy. It was absurd, really, that it had taken us so long to realize that. As a young actor, Oliver and his friends attended an elite arts college. Oliver claims to love both James and Meredith, at different points throughout the story. M.L. "If We Were Villains" is told from the perspective of Oliver, a quiet, introspective former drama student who has just been released from a 10-year prison sentence after the harrowing events during his final year at the Conservatory. And maybe Im even crazier for loving you so much.. Then gave him a minute to cool down before I went on, keeping my voice low. Richard reluctantly apologizes, and the group tries to brush off the assault. On the day Oliver Marks is released from jail, the man who put him there is waiting at the door. There were also a lot of Shakespeare references and quotes throughout, as the students not only perform his works but sometimes speak in Shakespearean quotes in their day-to-day life. The night of the Lear cast party, James gets drunk and begins acting erratically, only speaking in character as Edmund. His eyes, still cloudy with sleep, widened as he took in the sight of me, standing at his doorstep. A simple general note and those specific lines to Oliver. My comments are always open for book-chat. . He just left all his trauma behind. On the day Oliver Marks is released from jail, the man who put him there is waiting at the door. Oliver is eager to reunite with James, who had eventually stopped visiting, but is informed that he drowned himself four years earlier. And what will happen to them now?.. I stared at him for a moment, raising my hand so the pads of my fingers could trace the lines of his face, making sure he was real. Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jailfor a murder he may or may What we were. Detective Colborne wants to . My mouth quickly let go of his and found its way onto his neck, and James tipped his head to the side to give me space to work. A decade ago: Oliver is one of seven young Shakespearean actors at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, a place of keen ambition and fierce competition. As much as her betrayal hurt me too, I wasnt about to sit there and listen to Jamess rant about her and not say a word. He wasnt done yet, but his rant grew smaller, sadder. Oliver's friendship with James for instance was beautifully and subtly written and was one of my favourite parts of the novel. They were wet; James blinked, and a single drop fell onto my cheek. His hand, which had been holding onto my shoulder, started stroking my skin right there, and he slowly cracked his eyes open, blinking away the sleep and the dried tears in them, and taking my face in. Her body is cast into the ocean, but unbeknownst to Pericles washes up near the home of a physician who is able to revive her. I exhaled, letting the leftover anger that was still inside of me, even all these years later, dissipate. Even in the throws of desperation, James wouldve understood the context behind his chosen text. I believe James is alive. So, Im sorry, but disappearing was easier than coming back to see you in that place every few months.. The novel drew mixed reviews. I'm inclined to believe that James is still alive, as it doesn't seem to fit with his character to leave that note for Oliver if he was intending to die. And just as my nose had always remained slightly crooked to the side, the loss of James hadnt healed yet. I stood ready to poke at a broken nose, ready to see if it would still bleed out, or if maybe, only maybe, I could find a way to unbreak it. Do you? He was hurting everyone; he was hurting you. Inside, James had clearly made some work to make the place habitable. No, what we did. It fucking hurts, Oliver!, No, you dont! He threw his hands up, exasperated. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). Whatd changed, mostly, was his hair, but the grey, almost in smoking tones, looked good on him. Instead, we both fell back to silence, probably processing our own emotions, getting our heads in a better state before speaking again. " ?". Hi, I said, that being the only coherent thought I could seem to form. But our lips were currently occupied and couldnt be bothered with such mundane things as poetry or love confessions. And, God, Meredith deserves a world of her own, someone who makes her feel the way James makes me feel. Dont say it like that, James, you dont know what she was thinking. I said, maybe sounding more defensive of Meredith than James would have liked me to. maybe he was saying to find him in the next life? If We Were Villains <br> by M.L. I loved him and Meredith from the jump. Soon enough, the kitchen was smelling nice, the aroma filling my chest and giving me a newfound strength. Intelligent, thrilling, and richly detailed, If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio is a captivating story of the enduring power and passion of words (available April 11, 2017). Villains: Wren by mlrio. This is because the plays main story is about racism towards Jews. After wed all been in it together for so long? He raised his voice, angry. Flatiron Books, 2017. we are left with the same uncertainty oliver feels except he has the chance to find the truth and we dont (rude if you ask me so imma assume he found him and they lived a happy gay life together), i'm with you. You were someone else, as if you had never come down from playing your character.. Not ever. You wanted to help him, but I told you to let be, do you remember that? as well as 1. You must, since you figured this is where I was.. James also admits that Filippa knew about the murder, and it was she who burned his bloody shirt in the fireplace. The first-person narrator of the novel, in the present Oliver has just finished a 10-year prison sentence for the murder of his classmate Richard Stirling. I wanted to start small, but maybe it was my dramatic head that wanted to jump right to the most painful parts, setting the angsty bits on fire before they could burn me from the inside. His inner dialogue was trying to convince himself the kid was trying to start shit just for the sake of starting shit, but after the bitter feeling of pure jealously settles deep within his stomach, he needs to confide in somebody.
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