FIRST KILL

 

First Kill follows the tale of Juliette, a legacy vampire, and Calliope, a monster hunter, two high school students who fall in love against their family' best efforts to keep them apart.

Cal and Jules "are out," says Schwab. Already aware of who they are. These females do not, however, lack their fair share of issues. The two sisters, who are just in high school, are also the unwitting heirs of a long-standing family rivalry. Calliope's is a guild of monster hunters committed to eradicate all evil things (particularly vampires) from the face of the planet, whereas Juliette's is a clan of legacy vampires that need all members to suck the blood of unwitting humans in order to preserve their collective strength. And that definitely causes some tension between Jules and Cal.

Schwab notes that despite this, "It is not the fact that they are queer; rather, it is the reality that there are mechanisms at work on both sides." First Kill's struggle alludes to something more universal even if not everyone can connect to these exact familial issues impacting their own relationship. She claims that the issue is familial brainwashing. "These two families have entrenched institutions that date back thousands of years in each of them. Who do you think you are? What is your source of pride, obligation, or honor?

First Kill is incredibly relevant for LGBT viewers who, like Jules and Cal, have encountered the need to choose between their true selves and what they have been raised to think is true by their family.

The author claims that history is the true monster. "The past and heritage to which we are bound. Both of these families have been entangled in established structures of power, and they are no longer questioning why. Just going about their business.

She says, "Tradition has the drawback of intoxication. Tradition feels good. But occasionally, traditions must be abandoned. First Kill is a narrative about doing just that—finding out who you are without the guidance of your parents, elder siblings, the demands of society, and, yes, tradition. Don't imagine that traditions don't harm us, continues Schwab. You don't have to keep doing what they did to get you where you are now indefinitely. You must express gratitude and let it go.

Narrating teenage love via a supernatural prism is one tradition that hasn't yet been ready to go. Schwab, though, aims to convey a more complex tale than the conventional angst-filled vampire romance. "I desire a larger-than-life universe. I want the world to be more fantastical and bizarre than it is. And I adore it when mystical and otherworldly components are thrown right on top of our actual reality, she continues. Giving conflict a shape is important because it makes it easier to combat. How do you challenge a system when you're a teenager? Not at all. Violence is something that you cannot fight. However, a monster could be fought.

First Kill is based on a short story Schwab wrote for an anthology called Vampires Never Get Old, and its adaptation is her first time working in filmed media.

“I’m so used to being in control with books,” she says. “When you’re writing a novel, you’re kind of playing God, you’re the one voice. But when you go on to work on a TV show, everyone has a voice and a vision, and it’s about creating a much more complex music that maybe sounds less like the one in my head but is also a song that other people will all enjoy.”

She emphasizes the significance of working with showrunner Felicia D. Henderson to produce a diverse, inclusive programmer, saying, "It was extremely crucial that the creatives both in front of the camera, behind the camera, and below the line, were symbolic of the story we were attempting to convey." "I never would have wanted to or could have travelled that journey alone."

First Kill is ultimately about two young women's yearning to be free to be who they are, regardless of what others may think, and to express themselves to the world in the most genuine way possible. According to Schwab, "[Vampires] are simply the profound embodiments of just being who you want to be and being unapologetic about it."

She adds: "These two girls very quickly realize that they can be authentic with each other in a way they can't be authentic with their own families, in a way they can't be authentic with their whole world. And there's nothing more intoxicating than finally being appreciated for who you are, rather than for who others want you to be."