"Endgame" this and "Endgame" that... part of what I really liked about VC when I read it for the first time is how much the characters subverted typical heternormative values- and part of that subversion is that the characters aren't monogamous. I know that when people say "Dont worry, the showrunners have already made it clear that Loustat is endgame" they're just trying to comfort the anons who are majorly doomscrolling, but at the same time I feel like its kind of misleading non-book readers to not
Sorry for the wait for my reply, but I wanted to think a bit before I answered because I think this is a kinda complex topic, and I didn't want to just dash off a quick answer. Plus, it's the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend here in the US, and Iāve had family visiting. So I only just finally have time now. Again, sorry for the delay.
Okay. Now, when the showrunners mean "endgame" for Lestat and Louis, I really do think they mean the final book, Blood Communion, ballroom dancing together, Louis-is-apparently-wearing-a-big-emerald-ring-and-is-Lestat's-consort ending. Now, I haven't read Blood Communion yet. I just got that book in the mail four or five days ago, so I haven't had time to read it, or its ending, for myself yet. But according to everyone that has read it, that is how that book, and basically the entire VC now, ends. With monogamous Lestat and Louis.
And I think EP7 of S1 gave a big hint to that ending with the ballroom dance between Lestat and Louis. The first season ended with a ballroom dance between them, and I think the final season of the show, whenever it is, will end with the same thing - a ballroom dance. Specifically, the one from Blood Communion.
Now, that all said? I think the show might've been hinting at the polyamory of Rice's vampires during S1, which it might go into during S2.
I'm just not overly confident that they will, simply because I don't know if viewers who aren't familiar with the books will really get it or not? Because there is still jealousy among vampires when it does come to the polyamory aspect too. It's just not "love triangle" jealousy.
I mean, let's look at Armand: part of Armand's whole thing is that he's angry and jealous that Lestat will never choose him as a companion/lover. But Armand would never have minded if he'd been chosen in tandem with Louis or anyone else Lestat chose. Many things in the first two books maybe wouldn't have happened if Lestat had just loved Armand enough in that way to be polyamorous with both him and (later) Louis.
That said, at the moment, I'm not sure if show-Louis is even into the idea of polyamory. ("Botched vampire.") Maybe because Antonette was a woman, Louis had no interest in her joining them in that way. (Also, Lestat wanting to replace Claudia with her is something Louis would have never okay'd anyway).
And even when it comes to book-Louis, the only time we ever saw him in a truly polyamorous relationship when it came to his and Lestat's relationship was when David Talbot joined them at the end of Tale of the Body Thief. Even though Louis didn't seem particularly interested in David that way, at least going by their interactions in Merrick, Louis never seemed jealous of David or Lestat's love for David.
Where I think the show might explore the polyamory idea is with Daniel-Armand-Louis. And that might be because Daniel was, and remained, human throughout his time with them. (Because yes, I do think Devil's Minion happened in the past, in the 70s and early-80s.) There was never a maker-fledgling dynamic at play between any of those three, which I think would also be a great way to explore Armand's whole outlook on that dynamic and why he never wanted to turn Daniel in the first place.
There are still power imbalances within a Daniel-Armand-Louis relationship, but not of the maker-fledgling variety, which is really where all the tumultuous relationships in the series seem to come from.
But it's still a "might" if the show will go there. I can see ways in which I think the show is setting it up ("our boy" when Louis talks to Armand about Daniel), but I'm still not sure yet.
So yeah, all that to say that while I do think many non-book readers are doom-scrolling when it comes to Lestat and Louis, I don't think book readers are really misleading them. Not really when it comes to the "endgame" of them being together since that is what happened in the final book.
But where I do think miscommunication comes in the idea that Lestat and Armand will have some knock-down, drag-out fight over Louis because of jealousy or whatever. Because, in the books, Lestat was never jealous about Louis being with Armand. Not because Lestat didn't love Louis fatally (to use Lestat's own words), but because Lestat never saw Armand's love and care for Louis as a rival to Lestat's own love for Louis. Lestat was actually thankful for Armand's love for Louis. Loving Louis basically meant that Armand would never destroy Louis, you know?
As Iāve said, the showrunners comparing the ending with Armand and Louis to The Graduate tells you everything you need to know. Ben and Elaine donāt hate each other in that final shot. They care about each other very much. Itās just ālove of my lifeā love it is not. And I believe that is what weāll see by the end of S2 with Armand and Louis. Even if it does start out passionate, that isnāt how it ends when they finally do go off together, and where we see them now in the present day of the story. However, because of their nature, even after everything that happens, there will remain love, care, and affection always between them. But it is not a threat to the love that Louis or even Armand has for anyone else as well.Ā Ā
It took me days to figure out how to talk about this, and I still don't know if I'm explaining myself well. Basically, what Iām trying to say is that while Rice's vampires can and sometimesĀ do get jealous of other vampire lovers, they never have knock-down, drag-out fights with each other over those feelings. There are no amorous love triangles. (Not in the sense of something like the Twilight series.) These creatures just crave love so much that they look for it everywhere and take it anywhere they can. And while hurt when they don't get it from someone whom they may wish it from, it doesn't lessen their love for anyone else they doĀ have their love returned from.
And that might just be too complex a concept to try and get across to a general audience. As I said, I think the show might be setting up to try and do it in S2, but I'm not sure.
(BTW: to anyone who might ask, āwell, what about Claudia?ā In the books, Claudiaās whole deal was that she hated both of her dads. She calculatedly pitted them against each other, choosing to try and bind Louis more to her because he was easier to manipulate, as was revealed in the book Merrick. So no, that wasnāt any type of love triangle, either amorous or otherwise. And I think the show has been hinting at something similar too wrt Claudia.)Ā
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