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If We Were Villains

 If We Were Villains
type
TVTItem
 If We Were Villains
label
If We Were Villains
 If We Were Villains
page
IfWeWereVillains
 If We Were Villains
comment
If We Were Villains is a 2017 novel written by M. L. Rio. It tells the story of Oliver Marks, a former Shakespearian actor at the Dellecher conservatory, and the murder mystery that surrounds his fourth and final year at the conservatory. Oliver has been convicted for the death of one of his classmates. 10 years later, Oliver is approached by the former police chief who investigated his case, asking him to tell him the truth about what really happened. Oliver agrees, on the condition that the retired police officer does not act on the revelations.In his fourth year at the elitist conservatory, Oliver lives with his six classmates, the only ones remaining after the regular "purge" of the underperforming students. They all seemingly play their respective parts as the hero, the villain, the tyrant, the temptress... but everything changes when the roles are shaken up.
 If We Were Villains
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2024-05-17T13:16:03Z
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2024-05-17T13:16:03Z
 If We Were Villains
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 If We Were Villains
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DBTropes
 If We Were Villains / int_129074bf
type
Sliding Scale of Free Will vs. Fate
 If We Were Villains / int_129074bf
comment
Sliding Scale of Free Will vs. Fate: This is the meaning of the title quote. Were the seven students destined to fall apart the way they did because society perceived them as their typecast roles and they got lost in them, or was it their own fault?
 If We Were Villains / int_129074bf
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If We Were Villains / int_129074bf
 If We Were Villains / int_1869b4b1
type
Unreliable Narrator
 If We Were Villains / int_1869b4b1
comment
Unreliable Narrator: We only get Oliver's version of the story, which might be twisted to "protect" some of his friends.
 If We Were Villains / int_1869b4b1
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If We Were Villains / int_1869b4b1
 If We Were Villains / int_22cf50f9
type
Chekhov's Gag
 If We Were Villains / int_22cf50f9
comment
Chekhov's Gag: When Richard is complaining about how much work he had to do last year while cast in two plays, Filippa tells him not to worry because he's cast as Caesar this year and he dies in Act 3, so he's not got as many lines to learn. The book is structured like a play, and split into acts. Again, draw your own conclusions.
 If We Were Villains / int_22cf50f9
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 If We Were Villains / int_278e545e
type
Scholarship Student
 If We Were Villains / int_278e545e
comment
Scholarship Student: Oliver pays his final semester tuition through loans, scholarship money, and work-study.
 If We Were Villains / int_278e545e
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If We Were Villains / int_278e545e
 If We Were Villains / int_421ae215
type
Mysterious Past
 If We Were Villains / int_421ae215
comment
Mysterious Past: Filippa's family and her backstory are a complete mystery to the other characters. She does eventually reveal her dad's in prison, and has been since she was a young teen.
 If We Were Villains / int_421ae215
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 If We Were Villains / int_42215dce
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Ambiguous Ending
 If We Were Villains / int_42215dce
comment
Ambiguous Ending: Did James survive?
 If We Were Villains / int_42215dce
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 If We Were Villains / int_4523420b
type
Love Dodecahedron
 If We Were Villains / int_4523420b
comment
Love Dodecahedron: Oh, Christ... At the start of the novel, Meredith and Richard are dating, but Meredith was previously interested in James. She still is, on some level, and he is implied to be at least slightly attracted to her. Oliver and Meredith are also into each other, and get together just before Richard dies. After Oliver gets out of prison, they rekindle their relationship. James has feelings for Wren, who seems to return them. Oliver realizes he's in love with James, and it's heavily implied that James loved him, too.
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If We Were Villains / int_4523420b
 If We Were Villains / int_4e7c4536
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Wham Line
 If We Were Villains / int_4e7c4536
comment
Wham Line: There's plenty. "James was in love with Wren, and I was blindly, savagely jealous." The boat hook reveal. "...his body was never found."
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 If We Were Villains / int_56691220
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Even the Girls Want Her
 If We Were Villains / int_56691220
comment
Even the Girls Want Her: Meredith is so beautiful, even Alexander, who's gay, admits he'd sleep with her if she offered.
 If We Were Villains / int_56691220
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If We Were Villains / int_56691220
 If We Were Villains / int_5941d75
type
Beta Couple
 If We Were Villains / int_5941d75
comment
Beta Couple: Colin and Alexander develop a fairly stable relationship, compared to the rest of the cast's constant drama.
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 If We Were Villains / int_6ef186d3
type
Speaks in Shout-Outs
 If We Were Villains / int_6ef186d3
comment
Speaks in Shout-Outs: All the main characters frequently speak in Shakespeare quotes. In the book's acknowledgements, the author credits her university classmates for confirming that there really are people who can hold conversations in nothing but the Bard's verses.
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If We Were Villains / int_6ef186d3
 If We Were Villains / int_723be11b
type
Villain Has a Point
 If We Were Villains / int_723be11b
comment
Villain Has a Point: Okay, so maybe Richard is not the nicest of guys, but he is kind of right in that if James and Oliver had gotten a grip and admitted their feelings earlier, Oliver wouldn't have slept with Meredith and Richard wouldn't have been angry enough to try and shove James around at the lake, leading to his death and the rest of their problems.
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 If We Were Villains / int_762b9223
type
Played for Laughs
 If We Were Villains / int_762b9223
comment
Played for Laughs by Alexander, who's gay, but says he could be "sexually aphibious" for Meredith. Meredith is so gorgeous that most people agree all you really need to be attracted to her is a pulse.
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If We Were Villains / int_762b9223
 If We Were Villains / int_7aa989ea
type
Token Evil Teammate
 If We Were Villains / int_7aa989ea
comment
Token Evil Teammate: Of the fourth years, only Richard is a truly bad person.
 If We Were Villains / int_7aa989ea
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 If We Were Villains / int_82d57ef5
type
Boarding School
 If We Were Villains / int_82d57ef5
comment
Boarding School: Dellecher conservatory is a boarding school in the middle of nowhere, and the 4th year drama students live in a castle.
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If We Were Villains / int_82d57ef5
 If We Were Villains / int_8767b1f3
type
Black-and-Gray Morality
 If We Were Villains / int_8767b1f3
comment
Black-and-Gray Morality: Richard was an abusive bully, while the others are all flawed people who decided to let him die. They seem like decent enough people otherwise.
 If We Were Villains / int_8767b1f3
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 If We Were Villains / int_8cb66c2f
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Who Murdered the Asshole
 If We Were Villains / int_8cb66c2f
comment
Who Murdered the Asshole: As the investigation goes on, the main investigator is more and more suspicious that most characters resented Richard before his death and had a reason to kill him.
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If We Were Villains / int_8cb66c2f
 If We Were Villains / int_8ed5c6e4
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Asshole Victim
 If We Were Villains / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim: Richard becomes truly despicable and gets into conflicts with most characters before he's killed.
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If We Were Villains / int_8ed5c6e4
 If We Were Villains / int_a4cd4fc6
type
Cruel Twist Ending
 If We Were Villains / int_a4cd4fc6
comment
Cruel Twist Ending: In true Shakespearean fashion, the ending reveals that James died while Oliver was in prison. "Ray of Hope" Ending: ...But then, his body was never found.
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 If We Were Villains / int_a5001f7f
type
Chekhov's Classroom
 If We Were Villains / int_a5001f7f
comment
Chekhov's Classroom: In the fourth years' class about tragedies: "What is more important - that Caesar is assassinated or that he is assassinated by his intimate friends?" Richard is cast as Caesar. Draw your own conclusions.
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If We Were Villains / int_a5001f7f
 If We Were Villains / int_b4a6ae4c
type
Everyone Has Standards
 If We Were Villains / int_b4a6ae4c
comment
Everyone Has Standards: When it looked like Richard had hit his head and fallen into the water by mistake, Meredith was willing to let him drown, since he was horrible to everyone. However, when she found out James killed him, that changed everything, and she called the cops.
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 If We Were Villains / int_c3b51bb3
type
You Are Better Than You Think You Are
 If We Were Villains / int_c3b51bb3
comment
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Most characters, at one point or another, telling Oliver that he isn't as bland or "just decent" as he thinks he is.
 If We Were Villains / int_c3b51bb3
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 If We Were Villains / int_c3c77510
type
There Is Only One Bed
 If We Were Villains / int_c3c77510
comment
There Is Only One Bed: When James comes to visit Oliver in the middle of the night, they end up sharing a bed in Oliver's bedroom so they don't wake Oliver's family up.
 If We Were Villains / int_c3c77510
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 If We Were Villains / int_d139ffaf
type
Genre Throwback
 If We Were Villains / int_d139ffaf
comment
Genre Throwback: To Shakespeare's tragedies, naturally.
 If We Were Villains / int_d139ffaf
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If We Were Villains / int_d139ffaf
 If We Were Villains / int_d31da2e3
type
If It's You, It's Okay
 If We Were Villains / int_d31da2e3
comment
If It's You, It's Okay: Played for Laughs by Alexander, who's gay, but says he could be "sexually aphibious" for Meredith. Meredith is so gorgeous that most people agree all you really need to be attracted to her is a pulse. Oliver never identifies himself as gay, straight, or bisexual, but says that his attraction for James supercedes gender. It's pretty obvious that James is the only man he's ever loved.
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 If We Were Villains / int_d73e0f7f
type
"Ray of Hope" Ending
 If We Were Villains / int_d73e0f7f
comment
"Ray of Hope" Ending: ...But then, his body was never found.
 If We Were Villains / int_d73e0f7f
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 If We Were Villains / int_d78ea1dc
type
A Lighter Shade of Grey
 If We Were Villains / int_d78ea1dc
comment
A Lighter Shade of Grey: The 7 main characters are interwoven in a conflict where it seems that no one is truly wrong or right.
 If We Were Villains / int_d78ea1dc
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 If We Were Villains / int_db015585
type
False Confession
 If We Were Villains / int_db015585
comment
False Confession: Oliver confesses to killing Richard despite being innocent.
 If We Were Villains / int_db015585
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 If We Were Villains / int_e83f211c
type
O.O.C. Is Serious Business
 If We Were Villains / int_e83f211c
comment
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Oliver gets extremely creeped out at the Lear cast party when he finds James blind drunk, standing on the ledge of the library window, darkly reciting Shakespeare.
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 If We Were Villains / int_f516f938
type
Never Found the Body
 If We Were Villains / int_f516f938
comment
Never Found the Body: James. The story leaves it ambiguous as to whether he's actually alive.
 If We Were Villains / int_f516f938
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 If We Were Villains / int_fdc1e848
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Will They or Won't They?
 If We Were Villains / int_fdc1e848
comment
Will They or Won't They?: There is tension between Oliver and several other main characters. So... did they?
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If We Were Villains

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 If We Were Villains
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