Gwen, an apology

[galadriel1010]

A few of my friends recently have posted in their journals about the amount of anti-Gwen vitriol that they've seen, and wondering why there is so much.

So I, being me, replied, explained why I didn't like her and tried to join the discussion.

I didn't realise it was a rhetorical question. Nor did I realise that there's been a lot of anti-Gwen stuff around, because the fandom places I hang out in are Twitter and my flist. This does not cover any of the major non-fic communities or AGA. I had no idea it was going on. So when I saw stuff in my flist asking why people dislike Gwen... I thought they were honestly asking.

Being lonely, bored and procrastinating, I felt like answering it.

So, basically, I didn't know the context, and I apologise for joining in where I shouldn't have. Apparently the fandom is full of Gwen hate that people on my flist don't want to see. My flist is mostly full of people who like Gwen, and I keep feeling like I have to justify my dislike. I shouldn't feel like I have to, and I shouldn't try. So I'll stop.

ETA: I don't think most of the people I'm apologising to are actually friends with me, so they won't see this.

Comments

[fiwen1010.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I avoid it too, which is probably how I managed to be unaware of the wank. I did read a couple of pocky_slash's Gwen+Ianto friendship stories, because she's such a superb writer, but they made me intensely uncomfortable.
It's a bit like going to the pub with your best friend and her other best friend, who you hate and can't understand why your best friend likes. You either tunnel out early, or get uproriously pissed.

[idamus.livejournal.com]

By the way, you don't have to apologize for not liking a character, we're all different and has different opinions

Ah yes, tried a pocky_slash big_bang, great plot, but I can't wrap my head around Gwen being friends with a team member

[fiwen1010.livejournal.com]

I'm quite a confrontational personality, not because I feel the need to attack or defend or anything, but because my brother and I fought constantly when we were growing up (still do) so I see argument as a healthy thing and a good way to communicate and share opinions, especially where there are differing opinions and a tension in the relationship (like there is between me and the brother).

Other people, of course, see me being confrontational and argumentative as me being... confrontational and argumentative.

Ah yes, tried a pocky_slash big_bang, great plot, but I can't wrap my head around Gwen being friends with a team member
I can see her trying and possibly thinking that she's succeeded with Tosh and with S1 Ianto, because she seems like the person who'd drag you along to all sorts of things and never actually ask if you wanted to go or if you were enjoying yourself, and they wouldn't be the sort to tell her no.
But I can't believe mutual relationships between them. Partly because they were friends in Adam, which I've always seen as a sort of reverse of everything. Jack and Ianto haven't been Weevil hunting for a long time, Owen's a geek, Tosh is a sultry fox, Gwen's forgotten Rhys, Ianto and Gwen are friends. There's definitely a pattern there.

[fiwen1010.livejournal.com]

Sneak away!

Yeah, I really can't see her being in character with the show and still have Ianto friends with her. They're just chalk and cheese, and their close working relationship would destroy any chance of friendship. Opposites attract, but not when you can spend 24+ hours with someone in one go.

I think Gwen could have been a truly brilliant character if they'd made her (knowingly) a bit more bitchy and manipulative. No one said that good characters have to be nice ones.