“First thing I do when I creak open the lid is have a chat with my scene partner for the night. Muck about in their heads, find their shame. In short, an actor prepares. …See you on stage, Claude.”
“Who's Francis Naughton?”
“The best Iago to walk the York Royal.”
“And what was your shabby life in Chicago before the vampire Bruce bit down on your wee neck?”
On my first watch, I remember thinking all of Santiago and Claudia’s scenes were so sweet. But Santiago tells you exactly what all of this is right here.
All the times he’s casually talking to Claudia are him “having a chat with his scene partner”. I wouldn’t be surprised if that night’s victim wasn’t even named Claude and was just Santiago fucking with her as some inside joke. I don’t think they always planned to kill her, but they had always planned to, at the minimum, torture her.
They felt entitled to LouClaudia’s full attention and vulnerability. And having been denied both, the two of them were hated from the start. The night of their introduction, after the coven just spent five months stalking them, LouClaudia aren’t even allowed past the stairs backstage.
And it’s maddening that while Santiago interrogates Claudia in their 1-on-1 moments, she’s asking him questions too, but out of innocent curiosity. Santiago is coming at her with all this hidden hostility while she’s presenting him nothing but love and admiration.
The coven aren’t full of shame like Louis, they don’t see her as competition like Lestat. Surely this diverse, outspoken, and proud group of vampires wouldn’t be afraid or cruel or tight-lipped about themselves, and wouldn’t keep unnecessary secrets from her.
So in her fascination Claudia asks about their pasts and Santiago especially amazes her, but of course, this isn’t a real conversation. These aren’t nice chats with coworkers, friends, family. All these moments are supposed to be interrogations. And so Santiago always leaves her dangling, making sure his answers are short and skippable, before jumping back into his true purpose. To have a chat with his goddamn scene partner.
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