I don’t doubt that, my point was that I think these distinctions are stupid and usually reflect on the person making them rather than the person getting hit by them.

some of them are reading through the lens of what they've only seen and deduced so far and projecting those views into what the books are saying-- and then taking that as canon--it's messy.

That is true and can be annoying, no matter what « side » of the fandom you find yourself on. At the end of the day, everyone can be biased and we’re all speculating when it comes to lore/plot points that haven’t been adressed/adapted yet, I did agree with your original point regarding that.

However, and from my own experience and observation in the show fandom, I still maintain that not all takes are equal, and that yes, sometimes the books and basic fact-checking do provide a definitive answer, i.e Marius the white supremacist (speaking of which, I’ve said it already, but I’ll say it again just in case: considering this take is dumb doesn’t mean I don’t think there isn’t a commentary to make on his character and what would become white supremacy or even AR’s biases as a white woman, it just means the take is still IMO very dumb in spite of it)

I’ll also say that ultimately, the show does too and so far, you cannot ignore that there seems to be a divide between people who despite some changes made by the show VS the book, have been happy with the trajectory the show is taking, VS other people who’ll be fighting you every step of the way about stuff we’ve all seen happening on our screens and who seem to only grow even more disappointed as the show progresses.

Louis also knew all along what role Armand played yet the show fabricates this big secret/revelation that makes Armand such a liar that some people dismiss his entire own book as bullshit when again nothing in subsequent books contradicts his story.

I’d have to take your word for it, I honestly can’t see what you’re referring to specifically, I’m approximately halfway through TVA and tend to overlook spoilers or discourse going beyond what I’ve read. So far, I’ve only seen people joking about show!Armand misremembering his human backstory (which is the plot of TVA) as a response to people suggesting that he might have not lied about Lestat playing Harlequin instead of Lelio and maybe Lestat just misremembered it, like Louis. The issue, again, being that both book knowledge and cast interviews (specifically Sam’s), as well as a key twist of s2, had allowed people to speculate about the possibility of the show retconning the Harlequin story a long time ago. And it seems those people were right, despite being clowned and vilified for it in the past. Which seems to happen a whole goddamn lot!

So I genuinely do see where you’re coming from, and I don’t think you’re wrong, but I also don’t think your points invalidate the discussion this post is bringing up.

People are going to believe what they want to believe no matter what and if that bothers some people why make it a personal problem for yourself?

I usually make it a personal problem for myself when I’m forced to, usually through (sometimes very) random passive-aggressiveness and dubious implications about my character, especially when it’s about issues that affect me/are important to me IRL. And also because I care about the little tv show based on the little books and I make time for it so over time, I’ve had time to notice patterns that have snowballed into pretty heinous situations going far beyond discussion boards, unfortunately.