Probably my hottest Assquerade take is this: I think headcannoning that JP's feeding restriction formed because he was molested at some point is kind of stupid.
Firstly, bc it feels like people are just sort of slapping it in there because they're trying to assuage their discomfort with this aspect of his character— “No, no, it wasn't his fault, it was the traumaaaaaa.” Like if it makes you uncomfortable, okay, that's understandable! It makes most people uncomfortable! Even the crusty old grognards consider the assault scene in his clan novel at best extremely tasteless. But imo it's just so transparently a very slight recolor of “Liking non-con is (only) okay if you're uSiNg iT to cOpE,” which is also a take I have a whole cow's worth of beef with. Like I promise you aren't going to hell if you don't make excuses for a guy who isn't real 😭
And secondly, from a writing perspective, because it is just so. Incredibly. Fucking. BORING. It is the most painfully on-the-nose, simplistic thing you can do with the character. I find JP so interesting because his relationship with his sire is a microcosm of how the Cam operates as a whole (he is frequently referred to an official material as the “childe of the Cam.”) Ol’ Hardy groomed him for his role from a very early age, poured the Kool-Aid into him to make him the perfect, obedient Vntrue childe, the archetypal Cam vampire. JP does all the things that he does because he has been molded into a true believer in the Cam cause but also because (and he admits this to himself) he is terrified of his own sire. He knows if he fucks up bad enough H. will kill him, that's what old school Vntrue do. And even with this indoctrination and fear, it still isn't enough to keep him in line! H. has to rely on Dominate to keep making him him forget stuff that contradicts the propaganda.
Making those violations literal just collapses all of that. It leaves no space to draw those connections because the connection (singular) has already been drawn, and it's totally one-dimensional. It replaces actual depth with the fake depth of “Whoaaag, this person who had a sexual violence done to them is now doing a sexual violence themselves!” Just a straight line from point A to point B. Weak sauce!
