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Name: Peter Rumancek
Fandom: Hemlock Grove (TV)
Age: ~16-17
Canon Point: Post-Season One
Original Universe or Alternate Universe? Original
Personality:
Peter seems your typical boy from the wrong side of the tracks. He's poor, shaggy, and wears a long variety of 'I just don't give a fuck' clothing from low-cut tank-tops to 'metal' jackets and boots. At best, most people see him as a mysterious interloper and, at worst, something of a jackal at the outskirts.
This is a reputation Peter has come to accept as a fact of life and, for the most part, whole-heartedly embraces. For the most part, his life and the lives of others run in separate spheres with very little overlap. He likes to watch people the same way you would watch animals on a nature show, sometimes mildly intrigued but ultimately not interested in wriggling into their lives. A typical 'lone wolf' attitude, one would say. He is genuinely happy minding his own business the majority of the time and appreciates when the same courtesy is extended to him.
That isn't to say Peter isn't friendly. While no means what you'd call a nice guy at first flush, Peter is happy to talk to anyone that approaches him - but that's the thing, you usually have to approach him before anything can get going. He has a very easy-going, devil-may-care approach to most interactions, saying very little in more than one way.
{ The Cage ( - ) }
A lot of his motivations and lack of commitment revolve around the fact that Peter is very concerned about his freedom. He is very anti-establishment and has a hatred for all kinds of authority, particularly the law ( cops ), but he will play the good little boy in order to be able to stay out of any sort of prison while sneering internally. As far as social situations go, honestly, he does want friends, but he is so accustomed to moving on and dealing with fucked up preconceptions about him that he is slow to trust and emotionally invest himself in another person. When he falls, though, he tends to fall very hard. His first real friendship and romantic relationship culminated in him sacrificing himself in their defense, a thing that was unprecedented before.
Again, one of Peter's biggest flaws is that he rarely involves himself in anything, especially social situations. Anyone who is interested in Peter will have to come to him rather than the other way around.
{ Rakish Charm ( +/- ) }
So for the most part, Peter is honestly a smart-assed jerk to his peers without shame. However, he's by no means a bad guy. He has a streak of a kind of nobility, typically seen in the way he treats girls and women. Shelley Godfrey was a social outcast due to deformity in school, but after Peter had more or less ascertained that she was a good girl, he made a point of flirting with her and literally putting on shows to keep her cheered up.
He has been known to flirt with girls in highly suggestive, highly smug ways, but this is usually for show. He does not really have a white knight complex for girls in need, but he is not... totally insensitive to them, especially if he thinks the girl in question is not owed the bad time she is having. Around other boys, he is usually quite wary, but given the opportunity he is happy to shoot the shit with them.
That's another thing - Peter is fairly crass. His speech is loose and irreverent when he can afford it.
{ Natural Order ( +/- ) }
Being brought up with gypsy heritage and playing the outcast all of his life, Peter is wiser beyond his years. He sees the big picture of things and he is a fairly decent judge of character, though it's by no means a fool-proof system. When people are horrible, he has been known to simply shrug his shoulders and say 'people are people'. While he judges others quickly, he does not always let his negative views affect who he associates with, evident within his friendship with the rich and self-destructive Roman Godfrey.
He values freedom, nature, and the wild, and believes in underlying forces that connect everything. While not religious, he is absolutely spiritual and superstitious. He has a sixth sense of sorts, a heightened Swadisthana ( a Hindu chakra ) that he feels in his sacrum ( his balls ). Essentially this is a gut feeling, and he allows it to guide him into doing the right thing. Despite feeling like the murders happening in Hemlock Grove were none of his business, and that he shouldn't be involved with Roman Godfrey, the fact that the two of them shared some of the same dreams made Peter believe he was meant to at least keep an eye on the other boy and help him on his quest to fight his darker nature.
The negative side of this is that Peter does not feel inclined to be a good samaritan for the most part. A string of murders begins in Hemlock Grove, and while Peter is happy to investigate the circumstances to sate his curiosity, he rebels against Roman's assertion that they actually do something about it, that they try and stop whoever, or whatever is killing the girls. Eventually, he does, because he finds a strange friendship in Roman, but he does try to leave the endeavor several times with mixed amounts of success.
{ Law ≠ Morality }
Raised by what most of society would deem to be trailer trash, Peter often indulges in alcohol and other drugs like marijuana on a recreational, occasionally medicinal, basis. He will not hesitate to steal from corporate chains, although I personally believe he is less likely to do so with smaller businesses unless provoked. Also typical to the gypsy stereotype, Peter has no problem grifting if he needs/wants to, or accepting other grifters.
And yet at the same time, Peter is very concerned with fair trade. Rumanceks do not do charity, but they do trade favors or various gifts for information or services rendered.
{ A Simple Life ( + ) }
Peter doesn't need a lot to be happy. If he had it his way, he'd live off the land and lounge all day with maybe some smattering of literature to indulge his mind here and there. He enjoys simply being alive and being free. He is not concerned with material wealth and spends money almost as soon as he makes it in order to avoid financial burden or the temptation of greed.
At heart, Peter is a really good boy with a lot of trust issues and self-preservation instincts. Things can be negative when he faces wanderlust, but altogether he is far from a malicious soul.
Background:
Peter was born into the world with next to nothing but family, raised mostly by his mother and his grandfather, Nicolae. His father ( who we assume is the Italian half of his equation ) was lost "going out for the proverbial pack of smokes" so in terms of male figureheads, Nicolae was it. According to the books, Nic would often involve Peter in small schemes when he was a child, having Peter pretend he was mentally retarded for whatever angle Nic was interested in playing his mark. Afterward, Nic would spend up the money by treating Peter to ice cream or other things. Peter loved him very, very much, and builds most of his own philosophy off of Nic's teachings.
Nicolae was the seventh son of a seventh son, which apparently made him mystically ordained to be a werewolf. This trait passed through to Peter. When Peter first began to shift into a werewolf, Nic mentored him as a wolf for a time before, shortly after, passing away from intestinal cancer. Still, Peter treats Nic much like his god figure. Nic also was disowned by his gypsy family due to an accident he had as a werewolf, and thus became a 'gadjo' - outsider - who was supposed to be shunned by the Rumanceks. Peter's loyalty to Nic caused him to tattoo himself with a 'g' on his ribcage, indicating he stood by Nicolae, outside of all worlds.
Not much is known about his upbringing other than most of it was under the wing of his mother, Lynda. Lynda and Peter moved all over the place throughout the entirety of Peter's life, firstly because they had a sense of wanderlust to them and secondly because most of the towns they stopped off in were racist against gypsies/Rrom. Lynda and Peter love one another very much, though Lynda often treats Peter like an adult rather than a teenager, leaving him alone or to his own devices for long periods of time, as well as accepting his involvement with most drugs ( she herself does plenty ).
His story in Hemlock Grove officially begins when Peter moves to the small Pennsylvania town in the summer of his junior/senior year in high school. He spends most of the summer lying out in a hammock outside of a trailer ( of Lynda's cousin, Vince, traded to her from its inheritor for a couple packs of smokes and a foot massage ) or skinny-dipping at night in the neighbor's pond. He befriends Christina Wendell ( or rather, she befriends him ) and tells her that he is a werewolf, albeit in a way that could be taken as joking.
When school starts, Christina stops associating with him due to how the town and the school sees Peter - an outcast, gypsy trash. Peter accepts this and summarily ignores her in respect of her wishes.
Shortly after, a girl is found gruesomely murdered in a playhouse. Peter waits sneaks to the site at night, after all the evidence has mostly been cleaned away, and investigates. It's then he officially meets Roman Godfrey, son of a steel tycoon and the inheritor of the town's most esteemed biotechnological facility, Godfrey Industries ( locally, the building is known as the White Tower due to the fact the lights never go off ). Roman asks if Peter was the one who killed the girl, and Peter admits he had thought it was actually Roman. After cops swarm them, they part ways.
Christina begins spreading rumors that Peter is a werewolf, believing he was the cause of the murder. While the official authorities are more of a mind that Peter and his mother are involved simply because they are gypsies and nothing like this occurred before they moved in, this rumor does help to alienate Peter further from school. Roman Godfrey, however, is intrigued by him and makes an effort to garner Peter's attention and friendship; Peter correctly surmises because of the way Roman wants other people to look at him.
Peter has sensed that Roman is an upir ( a type of vampire ) and wants nothing to do with the spoiled brat of a teen until Roman reveals, while driving Peter home, that he had a dream involving some of Peter's drawings. Peter sees this as a sign that their destinies are somehow aligned, and, when requested, agrees to let Roman watch him transform into a werewolf on the moon. This act, and Roman's acceptance of him, essentially seals their friendship, something Lynda ( and his cousin, Destiny ) correctly claim to be Peter's first.
Roman doesn't know he's an upir, and Peter doesn't tell him; he just knows he has a darkness in him and he's doing everything to stop it. This leads Roman to believe he and Peter must seek out who, or what, is killing girls ( especially after the second one turns up, after the moon ) in order to stop the evil and prove Peter's innocence. Peter fights against the idea at first, but eventually concedes.
I won't go into the long drama of this friendship, but it's complicated. In the meantime, Peter befriends Roman's sister, Shelly Godfrey, and his cousin, Letha Godfrey. After a bad fight, and in spite of his guilt and Roman's threats to kill him, he allows Letha to seduce him. That same night, Roman goes on a fantastic bender and ends up in a coma, putting Peter beside himself.
A woman named Chasseur comes to Hemlock Grove, posing as an official from the fish and wildlife authority investigating the nature of the attacks, which seem to be that of a wild animal for how the girls seem to be eaten ( from the crotch up, and severed in half, respectively ). In actuality, she is a hunter of the supernatural. Peter doesn't know this exactly, but she outright interrogates him concerning whether or not he's a werewolf. This essentially makes it impossible for Lynda and Peter to leave Hemlock Grove until the investigation is finished.
Not much headway is made in the investigation. Peter and Letha's relationship deepens into love. Roman is in a coma for two weeks, waking up on the full moon to join Peter's investigation as a wolf. Chasseur tranquilizes Peter and sends Roman away. If not for the interception of Roman's mother, Peter would have been dead. Instead, Peter wakes up in the Godfrey home and learns the Sworn twins, the daughters of the town Sheriff, were the latest victims of the 'vargulf' - a 'sick' werewolf that kills to kill, not to eat. Chasseur disappears after this ( she is killed by Olivia Godfrey ).
Shit essentially hits the fan, as the police break into the Godfrey manor and hold Peter, Letha, and Shelley at gunpoint. After being saved by Roman, Peter has to go into hiding in an old, abandoned church. The very next night, another girl is found dead, proving to the boys that the vargulf has found a way to change outside of the moon and making the investigation more dire. Fearing Letha is next, Peter goes through a ritual that tells him how he can do the shame, shifting off of the moon, in order to fight the vargulf.
Christina Wendell shows up in Letha's house to say she dreamed Letha was next. Roman, Lethan, Christina, and Peter all go to the church, where Peter ties Christina up and reveals that she is, in fact, the vargulf they've been searching for. Christina drank water out of Peter's wolf pawprint in order to transform herself into a werewolf, but something went wrong and she began to murder girls, unaware of her own actions until she began to change off of the moon.
Christina transforms shortly after the confession, while Roman prepares to fight with a family heirloom of an axe and Peter prepares to undergo ritual. Peter allows the vargulf to literally eat his face, and leaves Roman to try and contend with the creature while he shifts into his wolf form. Despite his experience, the vargulf's ferocity bests Peter and he is killed fighting her.
The Godfreys are saved by Shelly, who shows up at the last minute and snaps the creature's neck. Right about the time Christina's body shifts back to a naked girl, Sheriff Sworn shows up and shoots several shotgun rounds into Shelly, who runs out and is never seen again. While Roman runs off to find Shelly, Letha curls up with Peter's body.
It's unknown how it happens, but Peter is brought back to life from the maneuver. His mother suggests it was literally the magic of love, but it's unknown. Time passes, with town blaming Shelly for the murders and a funeral held for Christina. Peter supposedly keeps Roman consoled off-screen. Letha is heavy with child ( she was pregnant already when she met Peter, and claimed the baby belonged to an angel ) and the next scene is her going into labor.
Peter and Roman go to the hospital to await the birth of the baby. However, it's announced ( in code ) that the birth caused Letha to hemorrhage and die. Peter doesn't wait any longer than that, leaving Roman to grieve alone while he himself seeks the comfort of his mother. Peter shaves his head and the Rumanceks leave that same night. Peter is heartened by a vision of Shelly along the road out of Hemlock Grove.
I'll be taking Peter from several months after this point... mostly to allow for icons with hair.
Other Notables:
Peter is, in fact, a werewolf. I will outline the canon information for him, then supply my own headcanon regarding his abilities and/or weaknesses.
{ Canonly }
- He turns on the full moon. His transformation involves him literally tearing off his skin, with eyes and teeth replaced by wolfish ones. When asked if it hurts: "You wouldn't know if a bus hit you."
- According to the books, Peter's type of werewolf is not meant to be a pack animal.
- For all intents and purposes, he seems to be a typical wolf, if a bit larger than usual. Peter does have complete control of himself, even if he is much more wild, though this is a fact only he knows.
- He has an unspoken 'name', which will force him to transform.
- Transformation absolutely wipes Peter out; the next day, he is sick and tired for the majority of it.
- Being bitten by his wolf form or someone drinking out of his pawprint will allow someone else to be a werewolf.
{ Head Canon }
- Hemlock Grove is highly based off of movie monster tropes and re-imaginings, so I am going to go ahead and say Peter may be affected on some level by silver and wolfsbane. A silver bullet should be a sure way to kill him, but he seems able to wear it ( unless his rings are sterling ).
- I'll say Peter is a bit hardier than most humans. He can take more punishment than a typical human, but he's nowhere near impervious. He's susceptible to illness. I'll say his healing rate is quicker, but not super magical like some werewolves. I think after a transformation, most wounds would be healed because he literally switches between skins.
- Peter endured a ritual that would allow him to transform into a werewolf outside of the full moon. While not canonly confirmed, I believe he is able to transform into a wolf any night he chooses outside of the moon, though the process may be unstable for a bit, not to mention a bit dangerous.
{ Other Abilities }
- Peter has a good 'gut instinct' and also has prophetic dreams on occasion.
- He has some basic knowledge of magic, mostly of the natural sort you'd associate with wiccans, tarot cards, etc. He's not adept at all at these things, but I'm sure he's got some idea of herbal remedies and knows a few ritualistic things just by being around people who were adept at magic.
Inventory:
(1) pair of faded jeans
(1) ratty tanktop
(1) denim jacket with embroidered band logo/name
(1) dimebag worth of weed and rolling papers
(1) pen-knife
(1) wallet
(20.34) American dollars
(1) box of orange candies
and the jewelry he's wearing on his person
NETWORK SAMPLE:
Test Drive - hopefully this applies. It's a reply to a network post?
LOG SAMPLE:
Warning for Masturbatory References