I stupidly read badly written Gwack....

[wanda1969.livejournal.com]

OH DEAR, oh dear! What have I just done? I know you are all going to call me a fool (I know I should have known better!!), but I accidentally read a Gwack-type story on fanfiction.net!
What really "did my head in" though, was the fact that I really can't remember ANYTHING in the show which pointed to this being in the least bit LIKELY or REALISTIC. I really don't understand what this Gwack thing is!? 
What is it? Is it just writers' wish fulfillment, even if there is nothing in the series to support it? 
Anyway,  if anyone can erase these terrible thoughts, please help me....
And the one review wanted MORE!!

Perhaps I shouldn't have had that glass of wine- I may have noticed what I was blundering into....

Comments

[elanor12.livejournal.com]

I sympathise with you.
I accidently read a Ianto/Gwen fic yesterday. I usually can stay away from those, but how was I to know? That person usually write Jack/Ianto or slash, not het.

You're blaming it on your wine, I'm blaming it on my rum. ;)

*needs bleach*

[wanda1969.livejournal.com]

It's very worrying, isn't it? So easily done, and I shouldn't have said "badly written" (it wasn't necessarily so), it's just that I don't know where these strange "fantasies"/thoughts came from...

[satanassa.livejournal.com]

Ianto/Gwen just makes me ill. I am not so bothered by Gwack, strangely enough. It's just that I like Ianto so much that I can't bear to think of anybody writing a scene where someone like Gwen gets her hands on him! (Ianto/Tosh, Ianto/Martha, Ianto/John Hart, all these I can bear, but I simply CANNOT bear Ianto/Gwen)

Ianto/Gwen reminds me of Rhys/Gwen

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

I've always thought that on some superficial level, Gwen resemble Jack (I think she was meant to be that way, but they have to give her a happy hetero story to clamp her style), and intentionally or not, Rhys is kinda like Ianto. I've always thought it'll be obvious if Rhys slims out, or Ianto gains some weight. Like, now, with GDL, and dude, he's still hot, he's still got pretty eyes (I've always thought that Rhys was hot and Gwen totally is blind).

I don't like the way Gwen treated Rhys, she does walk all over him, and she does the same with Ianto. I feel that with Gwen/Ianto, likely, it'll be her taking advantage of him more, and repeating her user pattern with Rhys. Therefore, while I can write AU fics where Gwen is suppose to be likable, I will no longer ship her with Rhys, or Ianto, or Tosh...or Jack(unless it's a fling).

[ceindreadh.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, poor you!
I think you deserve another glass of wine for being so brave!

As for 'Gwack' on the show? Well it's canon that Gwen cheated on Rhys once, so it's not impossible she'd do it again, this time with Jack. (and in one of the first 3 books, Gwen leaves Rhys and hooks up with an OMC)
I think the writers wanted the weapons training scene to come across as "OMG! THIS IS SO HOT, GWEN SHOULD DUMP RHYS AND SHAG JACK ASAP!!!!!"
But then, from what I've heard, Gwen/Jack was originally going to be the OTP (Rhys wasn't supposed to come back in End of Days), and it wasn't until the cast/crew started meeting fans at conventions that they realized that Jack/Ianto was a much more popular pairing.

Personally I feel that if they'd wanted a Gwen/Jack pairing to be even remotely plausible, they shouldn't have written Rhys in in the first place.

[wanda1969.livejournal.com]

I see where you're going, but there's nothing which could prepare you for "nipple slits" (!?)- I'm pretty damned sure that UST does not translate directly into bad lingerie....
Whatever the creators originally wanted, it didn't happen, and I'm afraid they're now stuck with Gwen and Rhys and Jack and Ianto...!!!
I HAVE had another glass of wine....not sure it's working. the only thing which will take me mind off this is "Carry On University" (aka "Trinity"), which is so seriously bad it may yet become a classic...

nipple slits?

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

WTF? Is there an anatomy fail in progress? This isn't written by a disguised RTD who wants to be Gwen but has no idea what women is like eh?

Re: nipple slits?

[wanda1969.livejournal.com]

Fear not! It was just bad lingerie!
I really can't see Gwen being interesting enough to indulge in body mutilation and piercings. If, indeed, one has to be 'interesting' to indulge in piercings...

Re: nipple slits?

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

REALLLY awful lingerie then, totally DOING IT WRONG lingerie...the point of lingerie is to hint at what's usually the Forbidden Bit of the boobs, the nipples, but if the nipples are already showing...why not just go braless?



I really do wonder how many Gwen and Gwack fans are tweens, RTD certainly portrays her emotional range that way...

Re: nipple slits?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

...why not just go braless?

Because her tits alreay hang in her kneecaps perhaps? At least they really did in "Countrycide". I remember closing my eyes and silently screaming "get a bloody bra that works, woman, you aren't sweet 16 anymore!"

Re: nipple slits?

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

Oh they aren't that bad, but they are one of those many details that bother me about the portrayal of women on TV, especially the female lead...which almost always translate into The Hero's Hot Girlfriend. Um, considering that they were doing field work, shouldn't Gwen have her hair up in a bun? Other than getting caught on stuff, it's just itchy when the winds of the plain blows it in your face, and blocking your vision, and you'll have a bigger job untangling at the end of the day.

I usually don't have to wear a bra at all, because I don't even have boobs until I've let myself go to the point of acquiring love handles...at which point, I HAVE to wear a bra when I go jogging, or ouch! For women with bigger boobs then, it makes no sense that they wouldn't wear a bra during field work. Plus your center of gravity will probably be wonky when you don't.

Re: nipple slits?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Even a flat-chested woman needs to wear a bra after a certain age - your flesh just isn't as firm at the age of 30+ as it used to be at 16. That's a simple fact.

And a 30+ year old woman who behaves - and clothes - like a silly teenager is just a sorry sight. Her tits *did* hang to her kneecaps. And small boobs hanging low even look more ridiculous than big ones. ;)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

That weapons training scene was so stupid it made me barf. It might have worked with a giggly teenager and Jack as a sugar daddy, but with a supposedly mature woman around thirty... oh, please!

[natn2208.livejournal.com]

Oh, I feel your pain. I myself was recently the victim of an accidental Gwacking, and it actually physically repulsed me. The worst thing is that you can't seem to get it out of your head, because of the absolute level of disbelief that it engenders. I had to not only give my own rant to this comm, but also read a ton of Jack/Ianto fluff to purge myself of the horror ;)

One Gwack I could see;

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

Especially if there is no Rhys, but also in spite of Rhys because let's face it cheaters always cheat;

Gwen sleep with Jack, and Jack is like, "That was fun", and mean it!

Next morning, Gwen acts all smug, until she walks in on Janto, and then she's like, "WTF Jack?", and Jack's like, "I'm with Ianto and you knew that, aren't you with Rhys?"

[severia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know exactly how you feel. I read one accidentally the other day, only I thought it was a Gwen-bashing fic. It had all the signs, I mean Gwen was her usual annoying, self-centered, cheating self, when all at once she and Jack were proclaiming undying love to each other, talk about shock.

Maybe it was a fic that bashes Gwen and Jack, right? Right?

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

Nah. I remember how I was when I was a tween, and god, what I thought was romantic back then was horrifically tasteless, and likely in violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Re: Maybe it was a fic that bashes Gwen and Jack, right? Right?

[severia.livejournal.com]

Might have been Jack bashing, only looked more like he was lobotomised :-( I hoped they were under alien influence and then the others would appear and save the day, but no, I should have known better when there was no Ianto

As for what they think is romantic, you can make excuses for naive teenage girls, I mean we have all been there, done that, right? What bothers me more is that they think it's ok to get married to somebody even though you are in love with somebody else and then cheat on your husband

Re: Maybe it was a fic that bashes Gwen and Jack, right? Right?

[wanda1969.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I have been there! I suspect I had more morals as a teenager!
But the cheating bit has ALWAYS been a sticking point for me...not on!
PS did you finfd "Rugger Wives"???

I like to think that everyone went through an idiotic tween phrase

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

That way, when I look at the crowd of idiotic tweens today, especially those who thinks it's okay to marry a guy while making googly eyes at another, and oh, MIND RAPE, and IT'S OKAY BECAUSE "SHE FEELS SORRY"...I can think, we've been there too, and it'll pass, it'll pass.

Any of you keep a diary and started early? I started mine back when I was tween, and it was IDIOTIC, and I think that all children should keep diaries because sometimes it's good to remember how idiotic we were.

Like, tween was the period when I started sneaking my Aunt's Harlequinn's Novels, and those were AWFUL, in hindsight. Every single book featured at least one incident of "No no yes", and descriptor like "golden nest" to describe pubic hair.


Against Geneva Conventions indeed.

Re: I like to think that everyone went through an idiotic tween phrase

[severia.livejournal.com]

I didn't have a diary, but I used to love Harlequinn's novels. I tried to read one recently, and I went like seriously? In hindsight, yes, they are awful.

And you forgot earthquake-like orgasms, the heroine is a virgin (in abt 98% of times), they always do it in missionary, and yes, of course, there are only good-looking, skinny people in the land of Harlequinn.

They should at least come with a warning. Reading can cause temporary brain damage-like state.

Re: Maybe it was a fic that bashes Gwen and Jack, right? Right?

[severia.livejournal.com]

I think everybody condemns cheating. If people don't, they can just try to imagine that it happens to them.

As for Gwen, it's not only the cheating, but also the way she treats Rhys like a doormat while crying ostentatiously how much she loves him that I can't stand about her. And the fact that she would leave him the moment Jack would just look her way.

[wanda1969.livejournal.com]

You're right, severia. I've blundered into stories which have shown Gwen as deeply, deeply annoying and self-centred, assumed it was a bit of Gwen mickey-taking, only to find that it was written with the intention of making Gwen appear attractive. Perhaps hohaiyee, is right (below)...it's a tween effect..

And all I was doing was searching for an update on a rather fun AU where Ianto is a rugby player!

[severia.livejournal.com]

That actually makes a lot of sense to me now, if they are tweenies, then it must be Gwen's teenager-like behaviour that makes her so attractive to them, and I am afraid it might be difficult to see Rhys as a hero that would sweep somebody of their feet and fulfill their teenage fantasies, so that's where Jack has to come.

Btw, would you have a link for the AU fic you were looking for?

[wanda1969.livejournal.com]

Yes it IS "Rugger Wives" as pointed out by badly knitted! Great fun - here's the link in case you haven't found it
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5381636/1/Rugger_Wives

Gwen's teenage-like is possibly the only explanation of this all....

[severia.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link.

Well, it might not be so surprising Gwen is acting so immaturelly. Suffering the consequences of your actions is a great part of growing up. As we all know she never had to take responsibility for her own actions, no wonder she has never grown up.

[bk_forever]

Just had to say - I'm reading 'Rugger Wives' too and I love it!

[theromangeneral.livejournal.com]

The portrayal of Gwen as you described mirrors that of the myriad of Mary Sues that pop up in other fandoms. Somehow, a character that is self-centered, argumentative and nosy is seen as a good thing rather than someone that few people are actually going to relate to in terms of character (aside from the 'yeah, I knew a girl like that. Hated her' aspect).
I hope it's a tween thing, but then again I've seen it in works by older writers and wondered if they've not yet grown out of their teenage emotive state.

[blackalchemist.livejournal.com]

Oh god, you have my utmost sympathy. I remember the las time I was gwack'd. My god, the TRAUMA. (The fic was okay, I thought it was all good, and then gwen randomly kissed jack, he kissed her back, an the ianto (Finally apeared) as her slave. :( )

[bk_forever]

I clicked on a story labelled as Jack/Ianto that turned out to be Jack/Gwen! Couldn't get away from it fast enough! I'm sure the labelling was a mistake, but it was still an unpleasant experience.

[satanassa.livejournal.com]

More than a year ago, I read a multi-part Gwack fic on FanFiction.net. It was set around the time of Gwen's wedding and the plot was that Rhys and Ianto both realise that Jack and Gwen have true love for each other and so they magnanimously and selflessly devote their energies to bringing Jack and Gwen together!! It was like a train-wreck, I just couldn't tear my eyes away and actually read several parts before giving up.

[wanda1969.livejournal.com]

oh dear god! There's a part of me that WANTS to read that, however terrible the mental consequences... Call it some kind of self flagellation complex or something...

[wanda1969.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, there's another installment of what I now like to call "Nipple Slits" up on fanfiction.net, so i decided to look at the profiles of the reviewers. The ones who did have details about there ages were indeed young..15-16-17. You were all right! Now I understand!