So explain to me... (Part one)

[laligin]

In a desperate attempt to improve my Torchwood-writing, and because I have a fanfic100 claim on the entire Torchwood team, not just those members I like/understand/have a million plot ideas for, I'm asking you for help.

Explain to me, please, as politely as you can manage (I'm not here for a fight), exactly why Gwen is a good/useful/likeable character.

Because I don't quite get it. Up to... oh... about Small Worlds (episode 5) I quite liked her. Beyond that...

So, anyway. Gwen fans. I need you to tell me why she's a vital part of the team, and why I'd actually enjoy writing her if I got it right, so I can stop coming up with excuses for her absence in my fic. (Seriously. I don't really give her a starring role (or even a mildly vital role) at any point. I feel guilty.)

Help?

(Also, convince me Jack/Gwen can work.)

Comments

[laligin.livejournal.com]

From Small Worlds onwards, every time Gwen was in danger I started wishing she'd let someone else be the damsel in distress for once. She never really did.

I think I did that with her in fic once or twice. But there's not always a lot of call for it if there's an artefact in the Hub and everyone else is doing something productive based around it... Hm. This is the trouble with her not having a defined job. I've toyed with the idea of someone else being introduced to the Torchwood team like she was. It goes:

"This is Doctor Owen Harper. He's the medic, and deals with all the biological problems of fighting aliens on Earth. This is Toshiko Sato, mathematical genius and all kinds of tech support. This is Ianto Jones - he cleans up after us, keeps the archives in order, gets us everywhere on time and generally stops Torchwood from crashing down around our ears. And this is Gwen Cooper. She... um. Actually, Gwen, what do you do?"

"She gets us into trouble."

"That's the one, Owen, thanks."


Oh dear. There's not much hope for me being converted, is there? *wince*

[halfspokenwords.livejournal.com]

Actually, and I hope you don't mind me cutting in (this post was on my f-list, so I've been observing), that's one of the big problems I have with writing Gwen. We're not shown much of a skill set. In Everything Changes, Day One, and Random Shoes, we're shown a Gwen who brings a bit of police procedure to the team. She interviews, profiles, compiles a lot of information. That's a very useful skill, but I've never been convinced that it's what she does at Torchwood. Maybe I'm just being hard on her.

In a way, she's hurt by the fact that Tosh and Owen are so specialised-- and even Suzie worked on weapons/tech and obviously knew a lot about computers. Ianto suffers from this as well, though his lack of definition tends to imply that he does everything rather than nothing. (To me, at least. I understand that people read him differently.) They almost made Gwen too normal, too everyman. I'm not sure I 'get' why a team of alien catchers needs her--surely they functioned before she joined? If she's merely there to be the moral compass, then she should be booted off the team after Countrycide.

I have my problems with Gwen as a character (the way she seems to be forgiven everything, the way her kiss revives the dead, the way that when she finally gets around to betraying Jack, she's rewarded when both he and Rhys come back to life-- everyone else lost their romantic interest, even Jack!) (and I can't for the life of me understand why Jack tells her things he hasn't told anyone else on the team), but the above is why I find it difficult to write her into ensemble fics.

I'm not trying to Gwen-bash here, so I'm sorry if it seems that way. I don't hate her; I just don't love her. In fact, if she were just another character in an ensemble cast of flawed characters, she'd be fantastic. (I tend to think that this is why the other characters are 'forgiven' by fans.) But too often she's the focus and I don't feel sold on why. It's all the attention on her and her issues that annoys me. There are other people on this show, too.

[laligin.livejournal.com]

Those are the same issues I have with Gwen. :) I've been discussing this with a couple of other people, and they also agree.

That right there is the whole reason I'm desperately trying to get other people in on the scene to try and redeem her character in my eyes! ^_^

[halfspokenwords.livejournal.com]

I'm strangely glad to hear it. :) Sorry to have hijacked your post and not helped with your Gwen issues.

And thank you for that! I too have been reading everyone's comments and trying to keep an open mind. So far I've not been convinced, but I have been giving more thought to the reasons why she doesn't 'click' for me and that's always a good thing. I'm also impressed that a discussion post like this (and your other) has stayed so remarkably civil.

[laligin.livejournal.com]

Sorry to have hijacked your post and not helped with your Gwen issues.

Oh, pftfh, not to worry. :) Any views are welcome, and it's nice to know that other people share my doubts and can articulate them better than I can. ;)

I've got a Gwenfic in mind, now, thanks to the discussion here, so it's worked out well enough thus far. I'm not convinced either, though, so it's set early in the series, when she still has credibility! :D

I'm also quite pleaseed with the levels of civility being maintained around here, though I haven't really had a chance to go through and debate properly with the Jack/Gwen people, so it may yet go horribly wrong... ^_^'

[laligin.livejournal.com]

(And clearly, that was meant to be "pleased" but the button got stuck. That'll teach me to check more carefully before I post. ^_^')