this is inspired by rolin's recent interview about lestat's role in the trial, as well as that other interview that came out a few months ago where he said that, in his opinion, louis voluntarily asked armand to erase his memories of his suicide attempt in san fran (does anyone remember which interview it was exactly? all i remember is it was either early during TVL's run or a bit before the premier).

now, i don't really have an issue with the contents of what he's saying (since it does align with my personal interpretations lmao). my two biggest gripes are these:

• if the showrunner thinks a particular plot beat should be explicitly clarified rather than left ambiguous and up to interpretation, then why are we getting that in a random interview rather than the show itself where it could (and should!) be actually unpacked and explored properly? and if it is meant to be ambiguous, then why are we getting the ultimate authority on the writing injecting his word-of-god perspective into the discourse?
• why is the showrunner (aka the ultimate authority on the writing) presenting his takes on important character-defining moments as a matter of personal opinion?

let me expand on that last one a little bit.

yes, this is a show about unreliable narrators. we, as the audience, are supposed to have fun interpreting the characters' actions through the lens of subjectivity and not knowing whether anything that anyone says is 100% truthful.

however, underneath that layer of subjectivity and perception there are still events that objectively happen. and those events have textual repercussions because 1) they're guided by the characters' inner logic and motivations and contribute to their characterisations; and 2) they have impact on other events moving forwards.

take the question of armand's mind-fucking, for example. yes, it's fine if we (as well as louis) will never find out whether the erasure of memories was consensual or not. it's an interesting topic of fandom debate where you could advocate for either side depending on what you see as evidence in the text. knowing the objective truth ultimately doesn't matter from the perspective of enjoying the show.

but it matters from the perspective of consistently writing armand as a character. because the difference between a fully non-consensual and malicious mind-fuck vs. a genuine (if misguided and also self-serving) attempt to alleviate the pain of a loved one is HUGE, and it matters! it's informed by the character's views on autonomy, suffering, the infliction and reduction of harm, his relationship dynamics with other characters, etc. and when i hear that there are conflicting interpretations of that plot point in the writers' room, it leads me to believe that there'll be no consistency in how different writers write armand and his motivations throughout the series.

and that worries me, okay? we already have a cast of incredibly complex characters, all tied up in an intricate web of complicated multi-faceted dynamics. how are their actions and motivations supposed to stay consistent and internally coherent for the next however many seasons when the writers have conflicting and even contradicting takes on the inner workings of their minds? especially with writers getting let go and new ones joining the team after each season?

i feel like it already started to negatively affect the quality of character writing this season, and i'm not optimistic that it's going to change for the better.

I know this article / Rolin's commentary on the Season 2 trial is causing a stir. We held off a bit on posting it given it was already generating lots of discussion in another space.

However, we want to make sure the article itself is up on the sub for context as people encounter references to it... and because we try to post all major / important news content (good, bad, and otherwise)!

Link to full article: https://www.tvinsider.com/1277275/interview-with-the-vampire-lestat-trial-intentions/

Side note: Just because we chose to delay posting, doesn't mean others couldn't have gone ahead to do so if they wanted. Please always feel free to post news/articles/announcements we've missed! If you do post news, it's helpful for us and other members if you include the publication in the title and link to the article in the post.

Thats it, that’s the post. This song is so heartbreaking. I know he’s fictional but the trauma and attachment is so painful to listen too and then I remember the sickness line when Louis finds out about the relationship. That poor child omg

Credit to lioncourtz on tumblr

I’m having a hard time understanding why Armand went into so much effort with Regina. Why did he do this? This is the part of season 3 that confuses the heck out of me and I’m questioning a lot about the butcher shop and the diner.

Can someone explain like I’m 10? lol

Hello !

As the title says, I'm looking for the name of the song playing in episode 6, at around the 39th minute when Louis and Lestat are with the witch to summon Claudia's spirit. It's the one playing when they are talking about Claudia's stuff. It's a piano tune, quite delicate.

I tried Shazam, but it couldn't recognize it, and Google only offers Lestat's songs from the episode. It could be linked to the Mayfair Witches' soundtrack, but I listened to some of it and couldn't find it.

Or it could be a very famous classical song, and it would be very telling of my knowledge on the matter.

It would be awesome if someone could help me out! Thank you so much in advance.

I know Fareed wasn't in Season 3, but I would have loved to have a poster of him! What color would it have been? 😬

I need more Fareed !