#rolin jones explain!!! EXPLAIN!!!

[captmuldoon]

Something that does stick out to me about the way they keep referencing Alice within the show is that the characters only ever reference Alice. We know Daniel has another ex-wife, we know he has two daughters that hate him and don't speak to him anymore. Yeah, part of what brings Alice up is because of Daniel's book (like the dessert from Paris in season 1), but when it comes to weaponizing Daniel's memories against him there are other prominent people in his life that are never mentioned. It always comes back to Alice. We might learn more about his other ex-wife and his daughters in the next season but I think the fact that they are continually absent across two seasons during the Dubai interview (when the running theme is memory is a monster) says a lot.

[nalyra-dreaming]

"Armand tells Daniel the story of how he came to know Lestat, and the origins of the Théâtres des Vampires as a result of that meeting, in the episode. Every snippet he shares, including the people involved in them, are carefully selected and serve his ulterior motives. The first flag on Armand’s unreliable narration is the fact that he tells this story when Louis is asleep and can’t contribute. You have to ask yourself why, and that question is undoubtedly running through Daniel’s mind, but Louis does eventually join back in."

[crazykuroneko]

More interviews with Sam, Assad, and Rolin (+ mention of Jacob ofc):

[thelioncourts]

“We were able to shoot in sequence,” Anderson explained, “so I was able to sit down and think about who he was at any given time. I was able to talk to Rolin [Jones, the showrunner] a lot about every version of Louis.”

He described some of the inspirations for contemporary Louis—the one relating his story to Daniel Molloy in Dubai—people like Eartha Kitt, David Bowie, Grace Jones. “These are people that are deeply human, but there’s something that seems ethereal about them as well.”

Article Here [x]

[murfpersonalblog]

As Louis, Anderson has to be a mercurial actor, flexible enough to portray a man in his 20s, his 60s, his 80s, and, in the show’s present-day scenes, nearly 130. “We were able to shoot in sequence,” Anderson explained, “so I was able to sit down and think about who he was at any given time. I was able to talk to Rolin [Jones, the showrunner] a lot about every version of Louis.” He described some of the inspirations for contemporary Louis...people like Eartha Kitt, David Bowie, Grace Jones. “These are people that are deeply human, but there’s something that seems ethereal about them as well.” He described how often when Louis is vulnerable or upset, he slips back into his Creole accent; a Southern twang with a French lilt that Anderson has done a lot of work to get as right as possible. It’s a tell, and even Louis sometimes isn’t aware it’s happening. Anderson is British, and he manages the Louisiana cadence with more grace than he’s given credit for, in my opinion. “That’s fun though, that’s one of my favourite things about playing Louis, finding little moments to do that.”

[vorbarrsultana]

the vampire lestat reread, pt. 1 (lestat and nickistat)

also known as "i decided to reread tvl after the season finale because some takes i've seen online give me the impression i read a completely different book two years ago". i've finished it two days ago, and turns out i have more than 5000 words of notes that significally exceed tumblr character limit. so, i had to split them into three parts.

here is part one, all about dramatic theater kids full of love, sad violinists of infinite beauty, and friends-to-lovers romances doomed by the narrative.

i love lestat.

i forgot how fun and likable tvl lestat is from page one. and how different he is from his fanon characterization!

lestatposting is fun, i get it, but i am starting to get annoyed at the amount of fanfics where lestat needs someone to help him adapt to modern times. he is doing fine on his own, thank you. it took him less than two weeks to start a rock band.

(and the whole iphone thing from "prince lestat" is more about him not seeing it as something useful since he has a mind-skype ability to talk to any vamp on planet earth, and they cannot decline the call.)

lestat is not stupid. impulsive? yes. stubborn? of course. but clever, resourseful, and cunning when he needs to be. all of this makes him a great hunter! also, really thoughtful when the mood strikes, and his quiet, existential moments have some of the best prose in that book.

i wish someone smarter than me wrote a good meta about lestat & social class because he really seems to buy into the idea of "noblesse oblige" i.e. the belief that aristocrats are obliged to take care of those less fortunate. it's present in the way he kills the wolf pack for the villagers (who live on his father's land), and later takes responsibility for the theatre troupe & remnants of armand's coven, even though he doesn't owe them anything.

also, characterization of lestat as someone socially cluesless is simply untrue. sure, he plays dumb on occasion (and hates it every time because early life illiteracy trauma), but he is also good at reading people. like, he got a pretty accurate read of armand behind the angelic facade during their first face-to-face meeting. the only people he has trouble reading are those closest to him because he heavily projects his abandonment issues on them.

lestat's struggle of being "too much" contrasts nicely with the struggle of never being enough which is so crucial to louis. hashtag made for each other.

and juxtaposition of lestat's desire to be loved for who he is and louis's struggle with identity is also delicious.

this time i also related so much to lestat's "malady of mortality" and his search for meaning in the world. which ultimately fails because he is forcibly turned into a monster, and now every ounce of happiness he might bring into the world (and lestat desperately wants to do good!) is outweighed by him killing to survive.

and marius later reinforced the belief that vampirism has no higher purpose, and no wonder that nola!lestat is a shell of his former self.

lestat's turning is the most classic horror moment of the vampire chronicles to me. the mina harker of it all. the creature of night shrouded in terror snatching an innocent victim from the arms of their love right before bleak november sunrise.

also, all the implications of what magnus has done to lestat were even more clear during this reread, and i wonder if that was the reason rolin "i-love-narrative-parallels" jones added bruce into claudia's story.

the book also explains perfectly why lestat is so well suited for vampirism. his curiosity, thirst for new experiences, and adventuring spirit are his eternal engine on the devil's road :)

however, the downside of that personality facet is that lestat steamrolls over his trauma telling himself "this is fine! look, satan, i am making the best of it", which in turn leads to the iwtv nola mess.

and i feel like this constant search for positives in vampirism (that unwilligly turned lestat & claudia share) is why they can't really relate to louis, who chose it for himself. if these two start to get too existential, the temptation to throw themselves into the fire might become unbearable.

lestat equating his loneliness with his evilness is interesting, but i have nothing to say about that for now other than equation being there.

lestat's explosive temper is also present in the book. there is a constant pattern of lestat doing things he regrets the most (like the theater performance fiasco or eating people at notre dame's steps) when he is angry or upset.

let's talk about nicki. i love him, despite half of fandom hating on him for some reason.

lestat has a type, which is "good catholic boy" with narrow view of good and evil. except louis is of a parent's favorite, conforming variety, and nicki is the rebellious one, driven to the utmost cynicism by religious dogmas.

however, despite being a self-proclaimed cynic, nicki practically drowns in catholic guilt, almost reveling in the fact that everything he does, from playing violin in the boulevard theater to having an affair with lestat, is wrong. there is no meaning in anything, and he is doomed to die a sinner's death.

he is doomed! by the narrative though.

lestat and nicki's philosophical difference seems to be that nicki (unlike lestat) does not believe in inherent goodness of the positive emotions. for him, "sin always feels good", therefore happiness they bring performing = sin.

but still, nickistat's love is so touching. after lestat ghosts nicki to protect him, he still trusts lestat's love for him and the troupe, thinks best of him, and shuts down all nasty rumours. in turn, lestat equates all the good that was in his mortal life, all his hopes and dreams with nicki. he is a symbol of everything magnus took from him.

AND THEY COMMUNICATE THROUGH MUSIC, AND IT'S THEM AT THEIR BEST, AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

nicki almost became lestat's charlie. when they meet face to face for the first time after lestat's transformation, he can barely contain his hunger magnified by attraction.

the most terribly sad thing about nicki is the unfairness of all that happened to him. he had seen lestat being shot right before him, then he disappeared with dying gabrielle, then the coven kidnapped and tortured him until he lost his mind.

and for nicki, the dark gift is a confirmation of everything he believes in being true. the meaninglessness of it all. evil being the only certain thing in the world. the way to fall into a deeper, darker abyss than the one that was before the mortal him. and it is a confirmation that lestat's inner light he loved so much will eventually burn out.

(his spark in the dark, if you will.)

(and lestat's dream before turning nicki hurts, because he dreams of growing up and growing old together, of maturing past magnus's eternal lelio with sunlight in his hair and summer sky in his eyes. oh, the lesdaughter of it all.)

there is certainly a parallel between nickistat's bitter "in darkness, we are equal now" vs loustat's comforting "in the quiet dark, we were equals".

[thealogie]

Rolin Jones getting possessed by spirits while narrating scenes and literally jumping over caskets to explain it only for jacob "calls the dents on the casket as slam reid" anderson to turn to his scene partner Sam "actually a vampire" reid and whisper "rolling Jones, get it?" explains so well why iwtv is so good.

pleeeeeease. need to know which scene rolin was having visions about

[jaggedjot]

Hayles explains that final look, and it wasn’t to punish Lestat. It was “for help,” Hayles says. “She trusts him the most out of everyone in the room even though she hates him. They’re familiar with each other, so she’s turning to her parent to help her.” Anderson covers his face with his hands as he says, “Delainey! That’s so sad.”

Inside ‘Interview With the Vampire’s Most Tragic Hour: The Trial Explained by Kelli Boyle

Hayles remembered how much the narrow vision provided by her vampire lenses helped in the moment: "When you face forward, the stage lights are staticky, you just can't see," she said. "And then when I turned to him, away from the light, it was the first time that you could see somebody, but [it was] an outline. And I was concentrating so hard on his face, and it was so sad." She understood Claudia's last look to Lestat as how any child would look to a parent in a moment of distress. "The way that she looks is like all hope is lost, like, 'Dad, I need you.'"

Interview with the Vampire's Delainey Hayles and Rolin Jones 'Leaned Into Grotesque Beauty' for the Trial's 'Horrifying' End by Allison Picurro

[cbrownjc]

As an older fan, I’m starting to get some major Sherlock-vibes from the show, in the sense that fans are coming up with all these big-brained theories to explain weak writing that we have to have faith will come to fruition in some future season. Why make the change to Lestat saving Louis? Why is Louis seemingly stronger than Armand?  Why have the Loustat reunion, only for Louis to leave and challenge the entire vampire world (despite the fact that he’s apparently in a better place mentally-speaking)? Why publish under Daniel’s name, when that would clearly paint a target on his back, especially now that he’s a vampire? What’s going on with Daniel’s eyes?

The whole “spite” thing seems like a clear mis-direct, but with only like 8-ish episodes a season and Dubai-era Devil’s Minion being 100% subtext so far, I don’t think the writing team can do DM justice. All the inconsistencies seem like they’re being written off because it’s the unreliable narrator show, when they’re actually just plot holes.

Like…I 100% think the writing team forgot makers can’t telepathically talk to their fledglings, and that’s why they had to add in the throwaway line of Lestat actually whispering to Louis in 1x02. There was no hidden reason we were meant to find, it was just inconsistent internal logic justified because Louis can’t remember anything correctly.

IDK. I don’t want to be a downer, but a lot of my hype for the show just kinda fizzled out with the finale. I'm still gonna watch S3, but I think I'm just gonna wait til the whole thing comes out this time.

Hi!

So I never watched Sherlock nor was every in that fandom, though I did hear about some things after the fact. So I can't compare it to that fandom. But I can compare things to another book series that was being adapted fandom I was in which was Game of Thrones. And I think wrt things we are at least nowhere near that level of things and theorising. Yet.

Maybe because, unlike ASOIAF all the VC books are written and done. So that's a plus.

And see, the thing is? I can actually see a lot of methods to the madness of some of the things you've listed. Especially given the nature of how the story in the show is told through POVs. Where the issue comes into it is not ever knowing if what you are seeing is true, false, or just an interpretation of the truth -- as in Louis' POV of the play-trial rehearsal.

And I'd really like to know if how they ended this season is how they plan to end every season when a full book has been adapted? Something that wraps up the main character arc and story, but just leaves a host of other questions that, if we weren't getting a Season 3, would have never been answered. And who knows if they will all be answered in Season 3? As far as Devil's Minion goes, or Armand himself, I'm not expecting it to be now, given that Season 3 is The Vampire Lestat adaptation and Armand is a straight-up villain/antagonist in that book and Daniel doesn't appear in it at all, so anything we get with him will be extra anyway.

Now, as to whether Rolin Jones and the writers have a plan, Rolin says he pitched an 8-Season (or so) Arc to AMC before he was given the show to run. So at the moment? That is the only solid thing we have to go on right now wrt if there actually IS a play or not for the show.

But see (and oh boy, please forgive me as am I about to go into a big digression here), plotting a TV show is much harder to do than a book or a movie. TV writing is way more organic given that unforeseen circumstances can occur that you've never planned for when you go into a new season of TV production. Such as the studio asking you to split the first book you're adapting into 2 seasons instead of one, leaving you with only a month to rewrite the scripts. Or, a writer's strike and then an actors' strike a few weeks later, delaying production for months. Both of which happened to IWTV wrt Season 1 and then Season 2.

So organic things beyond the show's control are why it is much harder to plan out every little detail of a TV show in advance over multiple seasons. Take another AMC show, Breaking Bad. It's known that Season 2 of that show was intricately plotted out in advance but then, after that, the writers plotted and wrote the rest of the show as things came along for the remaining seasons, with no grand design to it -- even though the creator of the show, Vince Gilligan, knew way in advance how the show was going to end. And the show was able to get there, to that ending, without having a meticulous plan over seasons on how to do so.

I mean, the character of Jesse on Breaking Bad was originally supposed to die at the end of the first season. But instead, he lived through the whole damn thing. That was not planned at all.

And I think that might very well be the situation we have going here wrt IWTV. I think there are larger things they already know in advance about the show -- which books out of all of them will adapted into full stories vs which will only get references. Which characters in the show will make it into the show as full characters vs which characters will either be cut or combined with other existing characters (as Sam Ried revealed in his interview with Autumn Brown that that is going to happen -- that some characters will be combined with others). And what end point they want each of the main four characters -- Louis, Lestat, Armadn, and Daniel -- to be at when they get to at least Season 8. (If not Season 10, which is what AMC wants, 10 seasons). I think those are things Rolin and the writers very much know.

But I don't think the show has every single little detail plotted out for every little thing wrt how they are going to get to certain things. Not super far in advance at any rate.

I do think they'll purposefully put in seeds for later -- that they very much know they are going to need later -- though I think at most they do it one season ahead if it's a little thing. I very much do think that is what the things from episodes 1x02 and 1x03 very much were, since Season 1 and 2 were supposed to just be one season originally. Or the fight in 1x05 only being shown from Claudia's POV. I think that was also deliberate and they are very much planning on visiting it once again in Season 3, as they did in Season 2.

But I also think there are some things the show has not plotted way in advance and only figured out when they are writing that particular episode. Or maybe just decided to do that season as they were writing it, and not before then. Just like how almost every other TV show works, even ones that might very well know the ending they are working toward.

So I in no way think the show has figured and plotted out every single moment and beat of Armand and Daniel's relationship. Why? Not only because much of it happened in the past -- which yes I very much still think it did -- which covers 12 years of time, but because if you look at this clip, Rolin Jones kind of hints that they haven't plotted it out completely point for point even though there are some things they've thought and figured out:

video credit: Rei Gorrei on Twitter

So as far as Devil's Minion goes, I think Rolin and Co -- mostly Rolin -- has an endpoint for it in mind. But how they get to that endpoint is probably not planned out to the letter, super far in advance. And something they very likely just come up with as they are writing that particular season. At most? I'd say they've put things in this season that will be relevant next season and that's it.

So, I'm not going to say they can't do it justice. Not yet. I frankly don't have enough data to call that in a yes or no fashion since we haven't seen anything adapted from it aside from the 3-4 days Daniel spent in a cage, which is just the very start of how Devil's Minion begins. Basically one or two paragraphs. That's all they've really adapted when it comes to it at the moment.

And hey, it's okay if you feel down about all of this. If it helps, I'd say try and take a pragmatic approach to the show season by season, and if you feel it's better to binge it than watch it episode by episode for a time, that's good too. This is going to be a long journey after all.

[prouvaireafterdark]

Now that Santiago has been cast, this is an open letter to Rolin Jones to please for the love of god include this ICONIC moment of Louis and Santiago's first meeting

and then Armand explaining why Santiago doesn't like or trust him

[nalyra-dreaming]

hey!! i love your page💗 i’ve been reading quite a few of your responses today and it seems like you think lestat is already in dubai? how come? and what first raised your suspicions?:)

Hey!

So glad you like!

So.... in real short: there's parts of the books where Lestat is either sleeping/in a coma, or roaming.

With Fareed already there, and Claudia's diaries on the table, the Dubai setting puts us into an interesting time frame, namely likely towards the Merrick ending / towards the "Prince Lestat" era. Rolin Jones held a lot of books into the camera once, and he specifically noted taking from Prince Lestat.

In episode 4 Louis is "resting", even though he invited Daniel explicitly for this interview, and he fed well the previous evening. In the book Merrick Louis goes and says goodbye to a comatose Lestat one evening... as Armand noted, Daniel is supposedly chronicling a suicide.

Merrick ends with Louis attempting to commit suicide, and Lestat waking up.

I think that is what we're headed for in s2.

Now, why Lestat is in the coma is a bit difficult, and we'll see what the show will do with it, but in the books he encountered the Devil and God and went a bit mad. The coma was not always voluntary, as his soul was taken away. Which would explain both Louis and Armand being so... well. Not particularly happy. As both love Lestat thinking him gone (or settled into statuesque as Those Who Must Be Kept) must have been very hard to witness.

Theoretically he could also be away, roaming, but I think then Armand would have found a way to reach him, given Louis' state of mind.

The ending of Merrick is a cataclysmic event which is related to the diary (singular in the book) - that event will change Louis, a lot. It also opens up the second arc of Lestat's and Louis' relationship and as such I think that is what will happen.

So... that absence in episode 4 was very telling, especially in combination with the diary, for me. We'll see of course if it holds^^. But as said before I cannot see them waste this event, it is too important for the character arcs.

Also, Lestat has to show up for s3 somehow.

Meaning whatever they'll do to segue into s3 has to happen or at least start in s2. :)

[crazykuroneko]

Why That Major 'Interview With the Vampire' Character Was Left Out of Episode 3

[ca-suffit]

i haven’t read the books but from the way some book stans talk about lestat like he’s some saint, i was not expecting sam in that interview to be like no actually he loves being evil and he’s really good at it and all the stuff about male rage/akasha and the devil being like wow he’s so terrible i need to recruit him actually. and i’ve seen the odd comment on twitter that’s like oh poor sam for having to put up with this lestat character assassination. like i don’t wanna call ppl out but i saw someone say “he signed up for anne rice’s iwtv, not rolin jones’s iwtv 😢” like ??? no actually he did sign up for rolin’s adaptation. and then they act like he’s so put out by the changes like a) he’s getting paid to pay his favorite character i think he’s okay. and b) even if he has reservations or questions about a change or even outright disagrees with one, he’s always full of praise for the final product and for rolin in general. like girl he is fine lol. like he said, some changes needed to be made and were for the greater good e.g. wrt improving the louis character.

I forget if he clarified in the interview or not, but that bit he says about going to hell comes right from the books

But what had I done to Claudia? And when would I have to pay for that? How long was she content to be the mystery that bound Louis and me so tightly together, the muse of our moonlit hours, the one object of devotion common to us both? Was it inevitable that she who would never have a woman's form would strike out at the demon father who condemned her to the body of a little china doll? I should have listened to Marius's warning. I should have stopped for one moment to reflect on it as I stood on the edge of that grand and intoxicating experiment: to make a vampire of "the least of these." I should have taken a deep breath. But you know, it was like playing the violin for Akasha. I wanted to do it. I wanted to see what would happen, I mean, with a beautiful little girl like that! Oh, Lestat, you deserve everything that ever happened to you. You'd better not die. You might actually go to hell. But why was it that for purely selfish reasons, I didn't listen to some of the advice given me? Why didn't I learn from any of them-Gabrielle, Armand, Marius? But then, I never have listened to anyone, really. Somehow or other, I never can.

he's not a saint (but he wants to be one for a second lol) but I personally didn't feel like he was that "evil" either. anne rice wasn't rly a good writer and fired her editor 3 books in on top of it. the series was unplanned and it's a wreck. he does awful shit but nothing I'd view makes him rly "evil," so it was a struggle for me to get on board with all that. an internal fight about how he views himself, I could understand, but idk what was rly that bad otherwise. especially cuz she was so in luv with him that consequences for anything he does just drop off as the books go? let me not write a whole thing about this lol. but ya the good and evil thing is from the books. the rice-a-ronis do mention it in posts sometimes but ever since the show has aired, everything has to be explained away now, bcuz they don't like black and brown characters or fans judging their white fav. he's either an innocent meow meow or a gothic monster, depending what mood they're in that day to dodge whatever criticism comes for them.

AMC explores a lot of stories about violent men so I've never understood this insistence like it's going to be some soft romantic series. the romance is gonna exist in the violence somehow, especially cuz they're vampires. louis slamming dreamstat's head into a rock wall while being goaded to do it bcuz dreamstat says it's the only way louis knows how to luv is sort of peak loustat for where we're at rn. I'm sure eventually they'll be more tender but it's still gonna have gritty undertones for the network it's on and who is writing it. the stans luv to make it about gendered shit, like rolin is ruining it all bcuz he's a man, but anne rice wrote violent, fucked up things too. worse than the show is prbly going to go. it's all excuses. u can just not like something without having to justify ur dislike of it to death. like damn. it's not ur taste, just stop watching??

and yes sam is a grown ass man getting prbly a good paycheck from this so loll he will be fine!

[obaaaa]

A reminder: Let the tale seduce you…

They are building an unbiased universe, with different sides and each side linked to the experiences of each character, and that is the charm of storytelling, especially here! which opens a world of possibilities...

This is not just about unreliability and manipulation, it's about feelings, traumas, time... and that's what makes memory a monster. Plus, it's a couple talking about an ex they have in common lol

And also, we're watching a horror drama about monsters, it's supposed to be devastating!

Let them cook!

[thelioncourts]

I’m really afraid jacob won’t comeback on season 3 since he only signed for 2 seasons while sam signed for 5 seasons already. What do you think about that? Do you think jacob will extend his contract? I know rolin want to keep louis as the heart of the series but given that in books he was sidelined by anne rice, would jacob stay or chose other projects to have more chance as the lead actor rather than being limited in s3 and future seasons ?

I don't think we have anything to worry about re: Jacob Anderson in regard to the show. I've been seeing a lot of people worrying about it lately, and while I love that people love Jacob enough to be worried (!), I don't know where the fear is coming from, but I do hope that I can maybe alleviate some of those fears. I'm no expert or anything, but here are some things I think are note-worthy:

I want to point out (and I don't have a source on this one. If anyone does have the source, I would greatly appreciate it and will add it) that I've read that Jacob only signs on for a season at a time when he does shows. I've read that he did that with GoT and so it's not surprising that he, so far, is only signed for the first two seasons of IwtV in order to sign on for the first book. But, again, it's a habit, it's a pattern, he has a reason for doing it. It doesn't mean that he won't sign on for more seasons. In fact, I very much feel (like -- so strongly feel) that we will see Jacob on IwtV until its very last episode. Here's why --

“When I read the novel, it was very clear that this was a romance –indicates the showrunner–. And we wanted to tackle it in a big way: overflowing passion, big fights and big reconciliations. A relationship like that may not be the best thing for you in life, but sometimes you just can't control yourself, and that's what happens to Louis and Lestat." Will the show respect the structure of the books, in which Louis disappears and Lestat comes to the fore? “We want to focus on the relationship between the two,” replies the showrunner. That does not mean that they will be together in every scene of every chapter, but when the second season arrives you will have a clearer idea of ​​what will happen to Louis, and even more so in the third, when we adapt Lestat the Vampire [second volume of the saga ]." "We will keep the spirit of the novels and their emotional arcs, but their plots are built in a very different way than what a TV series asks for. Besides, who would want to get rid of an actor like Jacob Anderson? ".

from this Cinemania article

LOUIS’ FUTURE: If the TV series continues beyond the first book and adheres to The Vampire Chronicles storyline, Louis would be relegated to the sidelines as Lestat takes centre stage. O’Byrne says creators are aware of fan fears that the currentBlack-led story is positioned to serve a white hero’s arc. Assuming more seasons come, he says Louis will remain “a force in the show, in some way or another going forward.” “The way we have envisioned the show from a racially diverse perspective is something that will continue to be a priority for us,” says O’Byrne. “Part of that would be trying to keep Louis involved beyond the way he just dips in-and-out of the canon (after) the first book.” Issues around race were prominent in season one and will continue in season two as Louis and Claudia explore Europe, says O’Byrne, teasing that it will touch on “France’s colonial past.“

from this Toronto Star article

"I came back to them and said, 'I don't think it's a horror show, I think it's a gothic romance. I want to write a very excitable, aggressive, toxic, beautiful love story,'" Jones said of pitching the series to AMC. "And they were down for it." Jones also explained that the first season of the series will cover about half of the story in the Interview With the Vampire novel with potential future seasons getting into the rest of the Vampire Chronicles books, the series has already used those additional books to help build out that toxic love story. "Let's see them really go through all the little obstacles and challenges of a relationship," he said. "Like Bogey and Bacall, with some fangs."

from this ComicBook.com article

And from Jacob:

Coming into this in the beginning, I definitely had a fear that I wasn’t going to be accepted because of how Louis is presented in the original novel. It feels really significant to me that I’m included in the way that people think of this story now. From that point of view, it’s lovely. Loustat is something that…I mean, Sam was way more kind of ingratiated into the Anne Rice fandom than I was early on, I’d only read the first two books, which I was very much in love with, but I hadn’t read beyond at that point. But, we were saying, “Loustat.” We were calling them “Loustat” throughout the shoot... A big part of what made this adaptation really great, especially for Black viewers, was that it was color conscious storytelling. A lot of that had to do with it being set in the American South during the time period it was set in. But in the finale, you’re leaving that and leaving that area. Are we still going to explore that aspect of him, of Louis and Blackness, wherever and whenever we end up in season two? I think as it does with all of us, it follows you wherever you go, because we don’t live in a world that is post-racial. Wherever we find Louis, it’s going to be a part of his story. It’s going to be a part of his existence and his daily life. I mean, it is in Dubai, you don’t really see it, but I think there’s something very interesting about this Black man living up in a tower in Dubai. Honestly, I’m not being secretive, I don’t know yet exactly what is going to be explored in season two, but I always find this thing really interesting about European sensibilities at a certain time. Like James Baldwin going over to Paris to escape racism in America. This idea that Paris was this really welcoming place for Black people, particularly African-Americans. It would be interesting to see what we do with that. I think in a lot of cases it wasn’t necessarily true. It just wasn’t as awful as it was in America at that time.

from this InsideHook article

I think there are a lot of things here that give a ton of hope/confirmation of Louis' long-term part in this show.

From a "my personal interpretation of how they're setting up the show," and "my personal interpretation based on what they've said," and "my personal interpretation based on what is smart for a television show trying to stay on the air in a time where shows get cancelled very easily," here's what I'll say:

A lot of the above-mentioned information tells us that when Rolin Jones went into creating this show, he created it with the romance of Lestat and Louis at its center. I've said this before in other asks, but you can't set up a show that focuses primarily on a romance, turn around and get rid of that romance as a central aspect, and expect viewers to keep watching. At this point, viewers are invested in Lestat and Louis. Any post I see about the show not from stans, or overly involved people running blogs and twitter accounts ( :D ) are about the romance and ship of Loustat. It's drawn people in and will continue to do so, especially when season 2 comes around and we see the immensity of Louis' longing for Lestat, his yearning, and the undoubted 2022!Lestat reveal at the end. Audiences will be clamoring to see 2022!Louis and 2022!Lestat reunite. C l a m o r i n g. To not have it would be detrimental tbh.

It's also important to note that they are not doing a direct adaptation of the books. They are doing the spirit of the books, doing certain big arcs of the books, but clearly they are not doing the books themselves word-by-word. All things considered, it's not that hard to put Louis into these plot arcs, especially with how they've already changed things (i.e. Louis and Armand still being together in 2022, the complications of what Daniel being there means, etc.). And, personally, I think the addition of Louis to these plot arcs would vastly improve them, something I've always felt regarding the disappearance of Louis in the books series (by far my biggest Anne Rice criticism/complaint). In these three asks here [x] [x] [x], I've elaborated on my thoughts about the future of Loustat/the idea of Lestat with any of his future partners in the books/etc. and, to add to this, I feel like it's important to note that Lestat's other romantic partners in the books (beyond being part of what some like to call Anne's "anybody but Louis era") are characters like Nicki (who we will see, but who will die), Gabrielle (his mother, to which I don't see the show going too much into given the network and audience and also she abandons him frequently lol), Akasha (who we will see, but it will be non-consensual so it doesn't actually count in regard to romance), Antoine (who is Antoinette in the show and we've seen how not-full-of-love that relationship is and also its end), Gretchen (?????????), Dora (?????????????????), Rowan Mayfair (which Anne has said was one of her biggest regrets and I pray the show doesn't do it), and David Talbot (who I hope never comes to exist in this world and they give some of his storyline to Louis and/or Daniel, as it should have always been). Like there aren't any other characters set up for Lestat to be with other than the love of his life, Louis. I think we should also take note that Jacob is very much acting as though there are long-term intentions of staying. He's been reading all of the books (last I heard, he was on book 8, which is !!! crazy) and I don't feel like he would be reading them without the intention of knowing what he may be expecting in later seasons.

I could keep rambling, but to sum up what I've pulled from articles and my own thoughts, I think the show is going to continue with Sam and Jacob as pure co-leads for the entirety of the show. I think without them both, the show will not succeed and I think the show very much knows that.

[iwtvfanevents]

Rewind the tape —Episode 6 highlights

One of our favorite scenes is…

...paired up with our favorite quote! This is the second time Claudia and Lestat face off in a chess match, when she baits him into checkmate, securing the win but refusing him an actual finish.  The entire scene is incredible, but we particularly love how the chess game continues the thread of the first, where Claudia stated she was trying to understand Lestat. She has since concluded that, in order to beat him, she has to, “become Lestat,” “think like he does and then five moves ahead of that.”  This is a bit of backstage trivia, but showrunner Rolin Jones shared in the after-episode commentary that this scene is based off a famous chess game called The Polish Immortal.  And it’s not just the name that makes for an interesting reference! Here, Claudia is playing the long game: she’s getting rid of her good pieces while advancing the weak ones: Lestat’s too greedy to keep himself from taking her bishop and knights, and too proud to worry too much about “weak” little Claudia.  "Basically,” Rolin explains, “it's a series of moves by one opponent that sort of lures in a person who wants everything in the world, who wants to take everything, and she can see this is the way into Lestat." Later, in an interview with SyFy, Rolin added, “it's that thing where you have to make Lestat think [the party] is his idea,” just like he walks of his own volition into the trap Claudia laid for him on the board. While Lestat spends the game thinking he’s teaching her the game, Claudia speaks to Louis in the privacy of their minds, explaining how she’s going to beat him, and masterfully illustrating what she’s learnt during the match. She emerges as a sneak victor, proving to Louis she can carry her plan through.

What's a favorite scene of yours? Maybe one of the snippets we see of the years Louis and Claudia spent together on their own? Lestat returning with the Book of Hours before Louis dropped his coffin from the balcony? Louis crashing through Antoinette’s door and throwing her out of her own house? Or maybe you’re a fan of the 1970s flashback!

Reblog with your highlights, or make a new post with the tag #vampterview to join the conversation! And, if you're just getting caught up, learn all about our group rewatch here ►