#richard sterling

[divno]

We were always surrounded by books and words and poetry,

all the fierce passions of the world bound in leather and vellum. (I blame this in part for what happened.)

-If we were villains by M.L Rio

#iwwc #if we were villains #if we were villains quotes #iwwv quotes #iwwv moodboard #if we were villains moodboard #aesthetic #moodboard #dark academia #dark academia moodboard #dark academia aesthetic #james and oliver #james x oliver #james carstairs and oliver redwood #meredith dardenne #alexadner vass #filippa kosta #wren sterling #richard sterling #shakespeare #theatre academia #queer coded literature #literature #poetry

[literary-nose]

some thoughts on ‘if we were villains’.

before i begin, i warn you that this is not going to be a short post.

so, after two months, i finally finished “if we were villains”. for me, two months is a long time, despite the book having something of 400 pages. usually, i am able to get through a hundred of pages within a single evening, but that was not the case with this one. i would constantly read a maximum of 50 pages at best, only to close it shut and deciding to continue it on a different day.

the main reason behind this was truly none other than the magnificence of the descriptions of feelings in it. multiple times did i find myself unable to continue reading, sometimes even forced to take breaks worth days, because, while reading, i could nearly experience all the characters’ emotions myself, and sometimes the characters even expressed my own thoughts about the circumstances they were in.

leaving the general speech behind and moving on to more specific details, i cannot leave out the fact that, observing the dynamic between meredith and oliver, i could not help but feel uncomfortable - especially in the beginning, on the night of richard’s death and soon after it. never did i once experience such discomfort when any other couple was described - alexander and colin? marvellous. james and wren? excellent. james and oliver? stupefying, hell, not even meredith and richard made me feel like this (up until things started to get the way they got, of course), and i have yet to find a reasonable justification for this, except maybe for the fact that i, too, similarly to james, perceived the initiation, the start of all of this as “revenge-fucking”. i doubt my asexual identity is in any way linked to this, because i am mostly sex-indifferent. i have resorted to attributing this to the fact that, as we learn in the end, oliver had been and still is in love with james, while his situation with meredith, to me, really seemed like a typical case of being unable to tell the difference between romantic and aesthetic attraction.

what puzzled me further was the complete lack of participation in the story from wren’s side, and my confusion is only being reinforced by the fact that she is richard’s cousin. we barely get to see her at all, and every time we do, her participation is minimal. this i can attribute to her nature and her typecast as the ingénue, since typecasting clearly affects the characters quite considerably, but, even so, in my opinion, she deserved more than what she got.

now, regarding james’ motive in richard’s death - something i am most eager to talk about. as stated in the book, james did not have any intention to kill richard - in fact, he was ready to drag him out of the water, upon discovering that he was alive. and yet, something does not sit right. throughout the entire book, the idea that an actor’s thought process and feelings can easily get intertwined with those of the character they are portraying is commonly promoted, explicitly stated by both oliver and richard - in one of the prologues and during gwendolyn’s class respectively. 

taking that into consideration and putting it aside for the time being, i remind that on the night of richard’s death it had been “caesar” that the seven were performing, with james having the role of brutus, and richard, inevitably, being caesar himself. in shakespeare’s play, the death of julius caesar is mainly attributed to the mastermind of the conspiracy, caius cassius, who wants caesar dead due to his own envy. knowing that “brutus is an honourable man”, cassius manipulates him by calling out to his sense of honour and getting him to conspire against caesar as well, allegedly for the benefit of rome, despite the fact that, originally, brutus had no personal conflicts with caesar.

seeing as james is stated and portrayed to have a difficulty snapping out of character - as clearly seen when he confesses his crime to oliver by speaking in verse exclusively - i pose this question; why is it not possible that on the night of richard’s death, having followed him into the forest, he found his own thoughts intermingled with his role’s to such an extent, where he consciously decided that the death of caesar (richard) would be for the benefit of rome (the six of them, mainly, but also anyone else)? essentially, what could have happened is that he, blinded by the thoughts of brutus and not his own, intentionally killed richard, believing it to be in everyone’s best interests.

of course, this did not happen, and, in my own view, because such a key (justification of james’ actions) would not open the door to the ending we eventually got; under no circumstances would oliver have forgiven james this easily, let alone taken all the blame upon him, if the death of richard was a result of “brutus” getting too caught up in his character. on the contrary, james acting out of pure terror justifies his actions in oliver’s eyes, especially seeing as “and who would keep him from drowning me this time?”. thus, we reach the ending that we currently have.

obviously, i am not claiming that my view of this is correct; it is but a mere speculation, one of the countless thoughts i had while reading. and, most of all, i am entirely not unsatisfied with the fact that i was wrong, and that richard’s murder was not intentional. to be entirely truthful, the justification given to james’ actions by me would most likely lead to a far more tragic and saddening end, and, honestly? i am glad m.l.rio’s explanation differs from mine this much. i don’t think i would have handled it if my theory had proven to be true, lol.

lastly, the decision of the author to end the book in the way she did. personally, i have never been an avid fan of open endings; i prefer it when authors give their pieces a definite ending, one that the audience has to get over and learn to live with. as, however, every rule bears an exception to itself, this time, i was rather relieved to receive an open ending, an opportunity to believe or denounce the survival of james.

and, myself? i believe james to be alive. in fact, this specific aspect i find myself to share with james; he uses the words of characters to speak the truth about himself, concealing it, so to say, behind the masks of roles in such a way that, if one does not seek a hidden meaning behind a verse seemingly spoken out of the blue, they are bound never to find it. as such, under no circumstances would he have otherwise chosen that specific speech of pericles, which had been pronounced, as remarked by oliver, before what would have been his death, “if he had not asked for help”.

with that, i conclude my train of thought. when starting this book, having read a maximum of forty pages, i had a clear outline of what i believed was going to unfold, and, though i was right about certain aspects (i.e. richard’s death i had predicted from act I, and james’ involvement in it - instantly upon seeing his reaction to richard choking on his blood in the water.), other ones i could never have foreseen, and that makes me more than happy. though this was a fantastic experience, i do confess that i cannot envision myself re-reading this book - at least not anytime soon. it’s true that, perhaps, now knowing the story, i may not be affected by it to such an extent, but i think, if only for the time being, i would rather keep it on my shelf, maybe occasionally quoting it, as i find myself doing with most of the media i indulge in.

also, alexander vass i declare top tier gender. the amount gender envy this man was giving me while i was reading is entirely ludicrous.

a playlist based on the book, in case anyone is interested.

#upon reading i thought #if we were villains #richard sterling #wren sterling #james farrow #oliver marks #meredith dardenne #filippa kosta #alexander vass #Spotify

[marahmartian]

the if we were villains friends were so real for murdering the one straight man in their group

#not that they knew it at the time but. #iwwv #richard sterling #if we were villains #marsh thoughts

[anosewithlegs]

basically, what richard sterling did was grab one of my favourite types of a character and drag it over the line. shove it, if you would, to the extent of ludicrousness, practically (if that word is at all necessary) making it appear frightening, or even scary.

entirely unsure if would recommend.

#random thought #if we were villains #richard sterling

[dolline]

The if we were villains ending bro???

#oliver marks #james farrow #richard sterling #meredith dardenne #alexander vass #wren stirling #filippa kosta #ml rio #if we were villains #dark academia #dark acadamia aesthetic #dark acamedia #books #books and reading #books and libraries #books and literature #literature #bookblr

[almostdazed]

“what were we, then? in tens years i have not found an adequate word to describe us.”

james & oliver playlist – if we were villains

#if we were villains #ml rio #dark academia #james and oliver #james farrow #oliver marks #filippa kosta #meredith dardenne #alexander vass #shakespeare #shakespeare aesthetic #book playlist #fiction #spotify #poetry #shakespearean tragedy #tragedy and comedy #academia aesthetic #academia novel #richard sterling #wren sterling

[oliver-sapien]

Dellecher Classical Conservatory

#if we were villains #if we were villains aesthetic #dellecher #Dellecher Classical Conservatory #ml rio #aestethic #moodboard #books #iwwv #iwwvedit #james farrow #oliver marks #iwwv quotes #meredith dardenne #character aesthetic #richard sterling #wren sterling #alexander vass

[sheerunfilteredhubris]

men named richard in dark academia books will be the worst character

#this is about richard sterling if we were villains #but it applies to richard paper secret history too #i swear to god #i’m at scene 4 act 2. he is detestable and insane #if we were villains #richard sterling #I JUST NOTICED I WROTE PAPER NOT PAPEN. he does not deserve me editing that tag

[fallen-angel-adam-frankenstein]

(If We Were Villains spoilers) You know what this is?

This is fucking superb storytelling is what it is. I will say time and again how much I admire ML Rio's writing style, and this scene is a perfect example of it. The tension, the immersion. The last paragraph is just *chef's kiss.* That metaphor? Genius, poetic, and beautiful. (This book in a nutshell)

#this book!!!!!! #amazing #pure poetry #dark academia #dark academia books #if we were villains #ml rio #oliver marks #richard sterling #james farrow

[plsdontpercieveme1234]

IF WE WERE VILLAINS MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS

PROCEED WITH CAUTION

I have an alternative theory about If we were villains that I’m gonna get a lot of hate for,

Because i just disliked the book and its unexplained things and its borderline queerbaiting unhealthy romance

Ofc open to criticisms but won’t acknowledge them

Anyway

James was the villain

The theory is that he is fully aware of Oliver’s lil crush on him and uses that against him to frame him for the murder

Now James describes the murder as “i was scared that he would kill me” which self defence is a really valid excuse for a murder especially when the person he is defending himself from was KNOWN to be violent and borderline insane by the entirety of the school

So I think James really did intend to kill Richard and hadn’t foreseen that he would have been alive in the morning

Now i know everyone except James was ready to let him die BUT what if

James probably did something to richard that lead him to go instantly from “i kind of have a superiority complex and see my friends as my rivals” to “i will drink the blood from everyone’s veins!”

And James did this specifically to get everyone against Richard so James killing him would be justified or Atleast understandable but it also works in his favour when Richard is still alive and everyone lets him die

Now it doesn’t have to be one way or the other because James and Richard could have had a great great Rivalry as they were the two best actors. Also both of them in this theory could have been terrible people at the same time (explains James’ smile at Richard)

(Now not supporting Richard or anything he still deserved his fate lowkey)

And he uses olivers finger thats wrapped around him to get away with it, even though he himself could have AT ANY POINT come clean and everyone really knows Oliver was with Meredith that night.

Obviously faked his death and moved far away (I suspect with Wren because her whereabouts were also unknown) and didn’t have the heart (or desire) to see Oliver again

Explains that weird scene where he hit oliver (everyone glosses over that) because get this he wasn’t pretending to hate oliver in that scene;He was pretending to love him anytime else. How you may ask?

Why he is the finest actor in the academy who never let the curtain drop

I never connected with James at all but i really would have

If he was the villain.

(PS: i really didn’t like this book and had to make up a theory in my head to enjoy it because it was really expensive

Also Oliver and James are NOT nearly healthy or good rep bye)

#if we were villains #james farrow #oliver marks #Richard Sterling #iwwv #iwwv spoilers #tsh #thesecrethistory

[judy1926]

Protesting the methods of the House Un-American Activities

From bottom to top: Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Richard Coute, Geraldine Brooks, Paul Henreid, Evelyn Keyco, Sterling Hayden, Danny Kaye, Marsha Hunt, Gene Kelly, June Havoc, Jane Wyatt and John Huston, among others

#old hollywood #1940s #1950s #classic cinema #classic films #classic hollywood #classic movie stars #gene kelly #lauren bacall #Humphrey Bogart #Richard Coute #geraldine brooks #paul henreid #Evelyn Keyco #Sterling Hayden #danny kaye #marsha hunt #jane wyatt

[obsessedbyneon]

Four stamps of postmodern / hi-tech buildings designed by British architects in Europe, 1987.

Scan

#scan #postmodern #postmodernism #architecture #80s aesthetic #richard rogers #renzo piano #lasdun #norman foster #michael sterling #charles wilford

[bestmothertournament]

#abbey bartlet #the west wing #female tournaments #best mother tournament #best mother figure #adalind schade #grimm #chloe decker #lucifer netflix #lucifer tv #delilah mcgee #ncis #diane sterling #eva moore #izombie season 1 #izombie #katrina crane #sleepy hollow #kelly burkhardt #linda martin #skyler white #breaking bad #The Goddess #charlotte richards #ziva david

[camyfilms]

THE GODFATHER 1972

Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever.

#the godfather #1972 #marlon brando #al pacino #james caan #richard s. castellano #robert duvall #sterling hayden #john marley #richard conte #al lettieri #diane keaton #abe vigoda #talia shire #gianni russo #john cazale #rudy bond #al martino #morgana king #lenny montana

[mariocki]

Naked Alibi (1954)

"Look, Joe, I like you, but I don't know what's got into you lately. Maybe you're working too hard or something, but you're getting yourself a rough reputation. Now, take a tip: change your tactics, or you're liable to find yourself without a job."

#naked alibi #film noir #american cinema #1954 #jerry hopper #lawrence roman #j. robert bren #gladys atwater #sterling hayden #gloria grahame #gene barry #marcia henderson #max showalter #billy chapin #chuck connors #don haggerty #stuart randall #paul levitt #joseph mell #richard beach #decentish noir concept with a strong cast but hamstrung by its reactionary politics; it's a classic 'cop knows bad guy is guilty but has no #proof so resorts to extralegal means and psychological torture to break him'. the film is clearly positioning us to sympathise with #Hayden's frustrated cop but his methods are so objectionable that you end up (ymmv) bristling for Gene Barry's killer figure #ah yes Gene Barry; mr adventurer himself. this is the first thing I've seen him in since finishing that itc series and altho this was made #a good two decades earlier it's still hard to shake the image of the wizened playboy who earned the enmity of an entire cast and crew #Hayden and Grahame are both very good‚ even tho her role is really just a lazy mishmash of the parts that had catapulted her to fame in the #previous couple of years (most notably 1953's The Big Heat) but the love triangle down Mexico way which makes up the second half of this #film is still somehow less interesting than the (ethically frustrating) police procedural it begins as. a tinally confused and somewhat #unsuccessful film but with some great setpieces including a final rooftop chase that I'd bet money influenced the opening of #Hitchcock's Vertigo a couple of years later

[narlie-aspec]

whoops i didn’t see this right away but

4. A few books you recommend :)

hi, thanks for the ask! :)

so some of the books that i would recommend:

the three comrades by erich maria remarque

rebecca by daphne du maurier

the 7½ deaths of evelyn hardcastle by stuart turton

think of a number by john verdon

the thursday murder club by richard osman

these witches don't burn by isabel sterling

and all books by alice oseman, but i think you already know about them :)

#tu #answered #erich maria remarque #daphne du maurier #stuart turton #john verdon #richard osman #isabel sterling #alice oseman