Peter and non-penetrative rape

[pauraque_bk]

This post contains quotes from and discussion of stories rated NC-17 for non-consensual sexual content. If you don't want to read about that, or if you're underage, move along.


I was reading rushlight75's recent non-con story "Spoils of War", and this paragraph jumped out at me:

Pettigrew was impatient, and refreshingly uncreative. He liked to rub himself off against Harry's leg, all panting breath and clumsy hands and sweaty groping kisses. He always giggled when he came, like being allowed to have sex with Harry was the funniest joke he had ever heard.

It seemed very right to me, and I started thinking about how, when Peter is written as the aggressor in a non-con fic, he often does not penetrate his victim. (Not counting oral sex, which doesn't have the same connotation, at least to me.) This has been the case in my fic, most recently in "Due to Illness", where Peter also rubs off against the leg of his captive, and I found myself wondering why this seems so obviously right and characteristic.

I'd been thinking about this since I got some wonderful feedback from idlerat on "Cut With Diamonds", another story where Peter rapes without penetrating.

Idlerat commented:

Pathetic, wants to convince himself, in any given moment, it's about affection, punishing Ron for messing with his fantasy. The narcissist = infant. Infantile Peter, everything about his appearance, and the total failure of empathy. His incompetence, can hardly walk, Ron bathes him. Sucking--but he is sucked. But can't fuck. Must be passive.

I adore this observation, and it fits perfectly, though I wasn't thinking it consciously as I was writing. Idlerat notes how infantile my Peter is-- and Rushlight's Peter is also childish, giggling inappropriately as he forces himself on Harry. And like a child, he is incompetent: my Peter is explicitly too awkward to fuck, Rushlight's is "clumsy" and "groping". Even as a rapist, he's symbolically impotent.

In "Cut With Diamonds", I was elaborating on the sketched outline of the non-consensual relationship between Peter and Ron in juxiantang's "Damage Control". "Damage Control" is full of penetration, including possibly the mother of all penetrative rape scenes, Draco grotesquely impaling Harry with Hagrid's monstrous cock. I wasn't keeping score, but Peter is one of the few male Death Eaters who isn't shown penetrating anyone, either in "Damage Control" or its prequel, amanuensis1's "And Just Plain Wrong".

Another interesting one for this is "I Am" by Seeker, where Peter drugs Snape and attempts to rape him in his sleep, but doesn't quite manage it:

Leaking enough to at least get the head in, not bothering with lube because he didn't want to take the time, didn't know where it was, and had a suspicion Snape would wake up before he got round to it, Peter lined his prick up and started to work it in.
It was like sticking a wand in a pinhole. Snape was incredibly tight, and hotter than fire, and Peter whimpered with frustration when he realized he wasn't going to make it. Shoving mindlessly, he got nearly two thirds of his prick in before he came, unable to stop himself.
Shuddering, hands clenching the sheets on either side of Snape's hips, Peter sniffed, blinked back tears crowding his eyes, and watched his prick soften. It slipped out of Snape much easier than it had tried to go in, and it seemed to Peter to be the story of his life. Failure was always so much easier, and more natural, than success.

Of course, this isn't true -- everything we've seen Peter attempt to do in canon has ultimately gone according to his plans. But it's very like Peter not to see that, to denigrate himself as a failure.

In all these stories, his figurative impotence is paired with uneasy dominance -- all of Peter's victims are completely at his mercy, but he wears his power over them very awkwardly. A moment I found unforgettable in "Damage Control" was where Peter doesn't like that Ron isn't 'heeling', and yanks on his leash with an "exasperated quack". Such a pathetic rapist, nearly comical compared to Snape, Lucius, Voldemort (the pictures of slick, articulate, cloak-swirling villainy). It feels like the same Peter of the books, who does terrifying things, but seems almost unaware that he's capable of doing them-- the Peter who cries through the resurrection scene in GoF.


I like pondering these things. If any examples or counter-examples come to mind, please share the links.

You know, I keep thinking I read a non-con fic on the "Death Eater whore" theme where Peter does penetrate Draco, but I can't remember who it was by. Anyone? [EDIT: It's "The Gauntlet" [NC-17] by ficbymarks.]

Comments

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

It's by me. :) Here you go. (http://www.skyehawke.com/archive/story.php?no=1084&PHPSESSID=a4a10f099f51c7ad258f87bd03b32b03)

At least, there's a very good chance you mean mine. I'm fairly convinced it's the only existing Peter/Draco NC-17 fic.

[pauraque]

Yep, that's the one, and it's an interesting comparison to the other fics I've been discussing. It starts out looking like you're going in a similar direction, with Peter nervous and pathetic -- noting, again, childishness, this time in his body (puppy fat, sparse chest hair, never quite grew up).

But then the dynamic changes, and Peter actually manages total dominance over Draco in his forced feminization (as degradation). As he sodomizes Draco, he seems unusually (intriguingly) masculine and competent.

I hope you don't mind my analyzing your fic. I definitely thought you did a good job.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

This is really interesting. I had never stopped to think about Peter being characterized this way, but it's so true! I wonder if it's really a fair characterization, though. I can definitely see Peter being an incompetent rapist if he's being observed by those more powerful than he is (e.g., if Voldemort or Lucius were nearby watching). But if he's alone? I think he'd do more than an adequate job of it, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had a vicious streak a mile wide to boot.

I say that because Peter is actually a very clever character, especially when he's in a pinch and has to think quickly on his feet. I imagine if there were no authority figures around to make him nervous and he had someone completely at his mercy, he could get the job done without any problems. Frankly, I wonder if a lot of these perceptions of Peter as a bumbling, practically asexual character have to do with his weight. Being a large woman myself and a big fan of non-con (no pun intended), that idea actually bothers me more than the idea of Peter being a rapist at all.

Anyway. Am rambling now. But thanks for the additional insight into the character. :-)

[pauraque]

I think he'd do more than an adequate job of it, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had a vicious streak a mile wide to boot.

I think some of it depends on whether he's really enjoying it as a rape, or if there are complicating factors. Cut With Diamonds!Peter likes to fantasize that Ron is a willing participant, though it's painfully obvious that he isn't. What I actually said in the fic is that he "can't get comfortable" to penetrate Ron, which I wanted to have a double meaning: physical and emotional discomfort.

You're quite right, Peter is intelligent, competent, and merciless. But he doesn't know he is. That pathetic lack of self-confidence is what makes him behave as he does in canon. He "gets the job done" all right, but it's the way in which he does it -- crying, trembling, cringing, begging, etc. I think that may be what I and other writers are responding to.

Frankly, I wonder if a lot of these perceptions of Peter as a bumbling, practically asexual character have to do with his weight.

I do think that contributes to it, but what he actually does and says in canon, and what is said about him, doesn't help either. Myself, I don't find fatness unattractive (quite the opposite, frequently).

[nicolthewhore.livejournal.com]

the only counter-example i can think of might be when peter successfully shifted blame for the potters' death onto sirius -- that seemed an extremely well-planned and -timed bit of treachery, to the point that he probably *wouldn't* have time to be "uneasy" or "bumbling," or sirius could overtake him or the aurors would catch him or something. 'course, i'm probably blowing that out of proportion, but it just seems to *active* compared to peter's role every other time we see him.

[pauraque]

I meant counter-examples in fic. But as for your point, I think you explained it yourself: He didn't have time to hesitate. Just as in PoA, he doesn't have time to hesitate as he's escaping, so he does it brilliantly. He doesn't have time to second-guess himself.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

It feels like the same Peter of the books, who does terrifying things, but seems almost unaware that he's capable of doing them-- the Peter who cries through the resurrection scene in GoF.

I don't know that this is an accurate portrayal of Peter, because we have *never* seen Peter when he is the strongest (most confident?)wizard in the room. Even DemonBaby!Voldemort overpowers him, mostly because Peter is so damned scared of the Dark Lord.

I think I agree with GMTH -- Peter would have a mean streak as wide as the Mississippi, if he was the one with all the power in the situation and wasn't being intimidated by a more domineering personality like Voldemort. All his supressed cruelty and hatred would come bubbling out, and he'd be *inventive*.

On the other hand, Peter has no qualms about grubbing for favors and mercy -- he could also have a creepy entitlement complex going on, and be coercive instead of violent. He'd still be mean, of course, but not overtly violent.

[pauraque]

I don't know that this is an accurate portrayal of Peter, because we have *never* seen Peter when he is the strongest (most confident?)wizard in the room.

Okay, but if you don't go by what we know from canon, what else is there? I don't really want to assume that Peter is normally a pretty calm guy, because that would take away what's interesting about him, to me.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

,cite>don't really want to assume that Peter is normally a pretty calm guy, because that would take away what's interesting about him, to me.


Oh, gosh no. Peter is no calmer than Snape -- he just express himself differently from Snape's seething rage. Peter is very much under-confidant compared to his abilities, but that's why I think if he were in such a situation his rage at his 'betters' would bubble forth and get away from him; he doesn't know how to deal with being the most powerful person in the room because he deliberately avoided being so his entire life.

Peter's the sort who would be chasing his actions after with justifications, (as opposed to Snape, who finds his justification first and then runs it into the ground with action). Given absolute power over someone, Peter might kill that person inadvertantly and then cover it up hastily but thoroughly; he certainly thinks under pressure with amazing focus.

[pauraque]

*nods* I can see that. There is a smothering tendency that Peter has, in his intensity of obsessive feeling. It would be interesting to see that explored in a fic, to see him literally loving/obsessing some poor person to death.

It's interesting you mention Peter's rage, because it's something I've been thinking about lately too. Though it's quite buried in canon, I do get a sense of bottled rage that he's been suppressing. It's something I'd like to explore more than I have -- I think he himself is absolutely terrified of it, and that's part of what makes him fear being in control.

[webbapettigrew.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you've ever read my fic, "Thrust and Release" but in it, Peter manages the act, but even when he's done there's a sense that he's somehow failed. It's almost a dissociation activity with him--the hope that he can dominate something and when push comes to thrust, he can't do that either.

http://www.thedarkarts.org/authorLinks/Webba

Love your icon, btw.

[pauraque]

*nods* There is that sense of incomplete dominance, of figurative sexual inadequacy, in that fic.

And thanks. :)

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

Very interesting food for thought.

The two Peter rape fics that I have read both involved penetration. One was Webba's Thrust and Release, and another had him raping James, but I can't recall who it was by.

In the James rape one, he was performing in fron of the other DE's, and I can certainly see him caveing into that kind of pressure. However, in that case, he still does not have control and only penetrated because it was expected of him.

However, I do agree that if he did think he had the upper hand, he could be ruthless if he wanted to be.
In Webba's fic it seemed like he was trying to gain control over someone weaker in an effort to prove he did have some control. In that sense, I didn't see his actions as OOC. There is that aspect in both humans and in rats of the abused weaker one actually being more brutal than the original abuser when put in a position of dominance. (Though I doubt Peter could actually be more brutal than Voldemort)

I actually see this in my own rats. The rat that got sexually dominated the most is the bigger aggressor when new, weaker cage mates are added, though he still belly roles for my alpha rat faster than anyone else.

So I think it would be partially situational, is Peter in control, but also personal. I don't see him ever thinking he has dominnance over Ron because he lived as Ron's pet too long. Nor, any of the other DE's
I also have difficulty seeing him attempting to rape Remus; however, I can see him raping Sirius were he given the opportunity, because I think Sirius (and perhaps James) are two people Peter would like to feel he has control over.

Anyway, it was a very interesting article. If I ever update my Peter page again, could I possibly include this?