If We Were Villains fanfics - a thread by me
Since some of you asked me to recommend some IWWV fics in order to process that devastating ending, here’s my personal thread. I vividly hope you're gonna enjoy it :)
1. what is woven into the lives of others - helloearthlings - If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio [Archive of Our Own]
I think this is the most popular IWWV fic since the first review on Goodreads has posted a link to this story, but that’s only fair given that it is masterfully crafted. The story’s centre is Oliver and James' reunion, and therefore Oliver’s journey to find him.
2. you've got me wrapped around your finger (do you have to let it linger?) - orphan_account - If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio [Archive of Our Own]
This is a “what if..” and explores how things could have been if the night of their last party -the one in the library, talking through King Lear’s riddles- Oliver would have figured out the truth in time and they would run away together.
I’ve read it an embarrassing number of times, and each time it has the ability to broke my heart in shards not only for the two of them but for the bigger picture of those six as a family (I’m a sucker for a good found-family trope and this one didn’t fail to deliver a heart-warming feeling with only using spare details, shreds of memories and careless laughter from a payphone at 2am).
Also, there’s this brief inner monologue that perfectly encapsulates Oliver’s perspective and his ardent loyalty for his real-life Shakespearean Tragic Hero:
“I never blamed him. Forever, I will blame the plays. I will blame the theater. I will blame myself and I will blame Richard, but I will keep James safe".
This is it. This is canon for me. I’d tattoo it on my skin if I could, there’s so much sentiment in these few lines. Also, can we please talk about the prose? "but the sparrow had begun to open its eyes, and I met James' glazed eyes with my own", it had me in tears.
3. as if it were the first - Chapter 1 - crownsandbirds - If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio [Archive of Our Own]
This is another reunion fic; it takes place two years after Oliver’s release from prison, and in this universe, we found a broken James who is living -literally- under Alexander and Colin’s wing since his failed attempt to suicide six years ago.
It’s written by James’s pov, which allow us to know the real reach of his feelings, how pervasive is his sense of guiltiness, how broken beyond recovery he is –“James doesn't self-harm physically anymore, but he doesn't think he'll ever stop looking for opportunities to break his own heart"- so buckle up for some angst -but really, when it’s not angst when we’re talking about two Shakespearean lovers?-.
Bonus point: the story gives us an intimate view over Alexander and Colin’s relationship, a criminally underrated couple in IWWV in my opinion.
4. the dead man's float - misandrywitch - If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio [Archive of Our Own]
Another reunion fic -yeah, you can practically sense our desperate need of a closure whatsoever after M.L.Rio thrown us under a bus with that last line- passed with full marks not only for its peculiar use of a theatre structure which resembles the original novel’s structure -enter, final act, exeunt- but also for the honest portrait of its characters. There are not cheesy moments nor big declarations of love, which is something that represents the original characters: James and Oliver never opened up about their feelings, not even in the end (M.L.Rio once highlighted the importance of Oliver’s answers to James, a simple “you know why”; not even in that moment, behind the bars, they can state their feelings for each other), they’re only capable of Great Acts as papa Shakespeare taught ‘em (aka: go to prison for a crime you didn’t commit. Aka: fake your own death in order to recreate the only non-tragic Shakespeare novel. Aka: ME SICK AND TIRED OF THOSE THEATRE KIDS).
Despite the premise, I very appreciate this Oliver: long gone the insecure shy obtuse kid, we now find a practical man that knows what and who he wants, who doesn’t step back in front of a confrontation with James -but still, he would blindly follow him to the end of the world-; and I deeply cherish this James Farrow who openly admits and accepts that he’s not the flawless Tragic Hero the Dellecher decided for him to be, so he's finally free now to live his life according to his own rules and desires, that it’s okay if he’s a bit coward; human.
BONUS SMUT FIC - cuz sometimes a brief first and only kiss in the middle of a school play is not enough, no matter how poetic it was
no other companion - crownsandbirds - If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio [Archive of Our Own]
Christmas came early this year. You’re welcome
Now, some secondary fics, shorter but still impressive
1. home is where it hurts - crownsandbirds - If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio [Archive of Our Own]
This is through Alexander’s point of view, and it focuses on the weight of Richard’s death, the motifs that led him to say that fatidic and excruciating “nothing”. There’s a lot of James and Oliver here; there’s this part that to this day is still impressed on my brain:
"Oliver and James were truly a pair of the kind Alexander had only seen in books, old classical books that talked about turning a river into blood and defeating Gods. The prince and his companion, Hamlet and his Horatio".
2. And Therefore is Winged Cupid Blind - Civilbloodoncivilhands - If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio [Archive of Our Own]
Set during the third year of Dellecher, the clique is in the middle of one of Gwendolyn’s classes; Oliver is oblivious, James is whipped, Richard is a dick and Alexander is the queer queen we all know and love.
3. Merely a Madness... - sapphicfratboy - If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio [Archive of Our Own]
This is a close-up on James Farrow's private life, from his first kiss and first crush to the encounter with Oliver.
Something I really appreciated here beside the impeccable prose is the way the author sticked to the truth of the facts: the students of his father that used to slip in the library with him, Oliver’s love for old rock band t-shirts, James addressing his own father as “Professor” in a sardonic way etc
4. Maybe This Is Where It Ends (Take A Bow) - fathand - If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio [Archive of Our Own]
A brief "what if..." if James would have gone to prison. Short but incisive.
