The Sex Meme
Aug. 26th, 2008 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thecopperThis is in honour of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
handysparehand talking me into getting an Obligatory Sexy Gwen icon.
Owen Harper: Right, do you want a quip about feeling a small prick?
Gwen Cooper: No, but thanks for offering.
For the fact that Gwen Cooper seems quite comfortable in herself and her sexuality, she sure isn’t eager to disassemble it, which is why this has taken so long to fully form.
Still, I’ve taken it upon myself to think about Gwen in terms of relationships and sex with those she has encountered over the years. For Gwen, sex is a rather complicated subject, and resulted in this taking me a bit longer to complete than expected, mainly in hopes of keeping it fluid while still attempting to capture the vision of sexuality that Gwen seems to carry. Any comments and disagreements are most certainly welcome, as this is purely taken from my point of view. Also, it is subject to change, and I may revision it once my RP Gwen has had a bit more time in the field.
Gwen Cooper is empathetic, devoted, overwhelmingly compassionate, and very sexual. It is rather important to understand these traits, because they are all tied together for Gwen. For her, sex is far from simply getting off. Instead, sex is served more often as a form to illustrate her attachment to people, and often Gwen is unable to draw a differentiation between loyalty and sex. The act of sex itself is a form of showing vulnerability and need, and in that presents a testament of trust with whom she shares this action with. But it is also because of this that very rarely, if ever, Gwen can separate emotion and sex; they become one in the same. This serves to help her in that everyone she has sex with has earned her devotion in some way or another; it serves to hurt her, because it is difficult for her to show her devotion to others in different way.
The Husband
Gwen loves Rhys, to the point of a fault. She is reticent in admitting how he falls short in the relationship; he certainly is not the best in bed, for one. He is a bit abrasive. His idea of romance is a pint and an episode of Wife Swap.
But he is loyal, charming at times, and most of all, loves her completely in return. They have been together since college, and Gwen certainly believes they are meant to be married, raise a family, and live a childhood fairy tale she has not yet let go of. His death during her first year of work terrorized her because she could, in no way, imagine her life without him. Now that he is aware of Torchwood and what exactly her job entails, Gwen and Rhys’ relationship has solidified to the point where they can finally trust one another again. This full disclosure agreement is essential to Gwen’s outlook on the marriage; not only is he her husband and friend, but now her confidant. If anything, this has improved their sex life.
Ultimately, the main issue that served to destroy their relationship was Gwen’s ability to separate Torchwood life from what she perceived to be Real Life. Because she couldn’t let Torchwood seep into her home life, she stopped letting home life seep into Torchwood, and this mental separation created an emotional barrier that gave Gwen the lease to commit adultery, and search for an emotional and physical solace in each world that she felt she needed.
Now that Rhys is, in essence, a member of Torchwood, this line she has between Torchwood and Real Life has begun to crumble. However, every time they fight about work or Rhys reacts negatively to what Gwen brings home from work, she begins to build that wall again. Chances are, Gwen will continue to go between attempting to join her lives together or separate them completely. During a separation period is when Gwen is most endanger of cheating on Rhys again; however, she would no doubt continue affairs only with people she knows at work, and only with people she trusts in her work environment.
The Lover
Owen and Gwen’s affair lasted quite a bit longer than she expected, or really, cared for. If anything, the traumatic experiences that occurred with the cannibals at Brecon Beacons was simply the final straw that drove Gwen over the edge she had been hovering on since her arrival at Torchwood. She needed someone to catch her at the bottom of that cliff, and Owen was the only one waiting with arms open.
Gwen finds Owen attractive in the sense that he is somewhat handsome, and more so, completely not her type. But for a while he listened to her, comforted her, and that comfort was too much of a temptation in her state to resist. If anything, she credits him with keeping her sane through those transition months; without him, she very well may have crossed into the territory that Suzie did. However, Gwen knew from the beginning it would never be anything than an affair, and never had any expectations besides the warmth and solace Owen’s touch had to offer. Though their relationship remained fun and flirty on the outside initially, it never went beyond a reflection of selfishness and self-pity. Their affair ended because Gwen realised that Owen could not give back emotionally in a way that would have been necessary for the affair to translate into a relationship. Because of this a rift formed between them, but Gwen still felt strongly for him as a friend.
Owen’s death shocked Gwen to the core, because in it she glimpsed her own mortality. She is incredibly ashamed of what she did to Rhys, but in the shadow of the horror of Owen’s death, has no regret for doing it.
The Hero
Gwen deeply, deeply loves Jack. She loves him because he is everything Rhys is not; he is mysterious, angry, dark, complex, a prince charming. He opened her to a life that, before, would have been beyond the spread of her imagination. He pulled her from a life of dull monotony she didn’t even know she despised. A small part of her regrets her loyalty to Rhys, because that is what prevents her from turning to Jack; but in her subconscious mind she knows her affection for him on a deeper level are invalid. If anything, Gwen carries a sort of hero worship for Jack, and because she has such a deep-rooted loyalty to him, she would be wildly tempted to let that lead to sex. But she is also cruelly aware of why Jack does not allow her to cross those boundaries; after all, Rhys is what grounds her to the real world, and she knows that Jack cares too deeply about that to risk it with a (what would no doubt be an unrealistically good) shag.
Her marriage to Rhys solidified the fact that their romantic relationship was not viable. It also brought Gwen into the understanding as to why Jack would not cross the line and take her from Rhys. She is thankful for that, in part, because she knows she would leave Rhys for Jack in a heartbeat and that scares the shit out of her, because losing Rhys would cause her to lose grip on her perceived reality outside Torchwood. However, she lives for Jack and will probably die for Jack, and she loves him enough that she would follow him to the end of the earth and beyond, if he asked her, Rhys be damned. Which is why she knows he would never ask her, and once again, she is thankful her understands her situation. While Jack may be the one she wants, Rhys is the one she needs.
Beyond the Leading Men
It hasn’t quite registered in Gwen to see Ianto as lover material, and chances are it never will. If anything, Ianto fulfills a brotherly love for her; she feels like they are kindred spirits, and he watches her back. That, and she adores the relationship he has with Jack, and her intense feelings about Jack would certainly stand in the way of any romantic feeling towards Ianto.
She is torn between despising John Hart for inadvertently causing Owen and Tosh’s deaths, and pitying him for his situation. She wouldn’t, in a million years, sleep with him, because she would never trust him fully enough to give him that much of her.
Gwen’s kissed a couple girls, but none as good as Carys. But that was alien meddling, and beside that one time in school when she was really pissed and her best girl mate was over, Gwen wouldn’t much consider sex with other women.
Eugene was a sweet boy whom she fell in love with while solving his murder. But that was it – a sweet boy and a loss she felt deeply. But she wouldn’t have slept with him.
The Doctor is a legend and quite good-looking over a comm screen. She has no loyalty to him, however, beyond the fact that Jack clearly loves him. The thought of shagging him occurred to her for about 2 seconds, and then she flat out forgot he existed.
Book Canon
Border Princes (Includes Spoilers): Gwen had another affair with a different Torchwood operative, James Mayer. Although it turns out James was an alien, and eventually Gwen's memories of James fade, she still deeply loved him, to the point that she was ready to leave Rhys and spend her life with James. She was devastated to lose him. Although, since her memories are gone, this event has no bearing on her current situation, it does carry the implication that her attachment to Rhys was, and perhaps still is, very fragile. It also implies that, if she met the right person, leaving Rhys may still be an option in Gwen's mind.
Gwen and the 'Verses
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
relativespace
Gwen is still adjusting to the loads of people around her in RS. She’s obviously drawn to Jack; even though she knows at this point he does not know her and is not her Jack, she will look at him as Jack regardless. At least until she gets to know him better. She has found herself strongly bonded to Ianto, but not beyond that sibling-like love. Her relationships with other characters in Torchwood remain as they do in canon.
She is currently forming a friendship with Jack Phillips, and quite fancies him. While she still has a general access to Rhys in that world, he is disassociated from the events in Ealing, and seeing as Jack was the first man she befriended, she definitely runs the risk of letting it form into a more serious crush.
The Other Doctor
Gwen has formed a bond with the Doctor (10.5) though their journals. Gwen is getting to know him, and is drawn to him because of his hero status, and the fact that she identifies him as being so similar to the Doctor that she knows. She thinks he’s incredibly fit and they get along. Right now, she sees him very much as a good friend in the making, although there is a part of her that is falling for him in the same way she did Jack.
@verse: crack
Captain John Hart
In an offshoot of many of the mun's crackverses, Gwen did have sex with John, once. It stems from a very dark corner of Gwen's mind, and was more of a response to her lashing out than an actual interest in John as a sexual partner. In her mind, he is a draw to a dark and dangerous side to herself, which she would rather ignore but is tempted to embrace. Dark!Gwen will no doubt make very rare appearances in this LJ, but when she does, one can consider she will be contrary to some of the basic Canon Gwen traits.
Retired or Hiatus Verses
cityofcircadia –
Gwen’s deepest interactions have been with Owen, and she is still adjusting to the fact that he is not dead. Because of his bodily presence, she is mildly obsessed with touching him, just to comfort herself. But again, as before, her relationship with Owen lives on a place of self-service. She is liable to sleep with him again, partially because he is the only one she knows in Circadia and she can kid herself that it’s a dream. On the other hand, she is thoroughly convinced he has no interest in sleeping with her. She’s not yet thought out the ramifications of having a dream state affair with a dead friend and co-worker, and she’s unlikely to give it proper thought anyway.
____________
Muse: Gwen Cooper, Torchwood
Prompt: The Sex Meme
Verse: Open/Canon,relativespace, cityofcircadia
Word Count: Changes (Update based on verse changes)
handysparehand talking me into getting an Obligatory Sexy Gwen icon.Gwen Cooper: No, but thanks for offering.
For the fact that Gwen Cooper seems quite comfortable in herself and her sexuality, she sure isn’t eager to disassemble it, which is why this has taken so long to fully form.
Still, I’ve taken it upon myself to think about Gwen in terms of relationships and sex with those she has encountered over the years. For Gwen, sex is a rather complicated subject, and resulted in this taking me a bit longer to complete than expected, mainly in hopes of keeping it fluid while still attempting to capture the vision of sexuality that Gwen seems to carry. Any comments and disagreements are most certainly welcome, as this is purely taken from my point of view. Also, it is subject to change, and I may revision it once my RP Gwen has had a bit more time in the field.
Gwen Cooper is empathetic, devoted, overwhelmingly compassionate, and very sexual. It is rather important to understand these traits, because they are all tied together for Gwen. For her, sex is far from simply getting off. Instead, sex is served more often as a form to illustrate her attachment to people, and often Gwen is unable to draw a differentiation between loyalty and sex. The act of sex itself is a form of showing vulnerability and need, and in that presents a testament of trust with whom she shares this action with. But it is also because of this that very rarely, if ever, Gwen can separate emotion and sex; they become one in the same. This serves to help her in that everyone she has sex with has earned her devotion in some way or another; it serves to hurt her, because it is difficult for her to show her devotion to others in different way.
The Husband
Gwen loves Rhys, to the point of a fault. She is reticent in admitting how he falls short in the relationship; he certainly is not the best in bed, for one. He is a bit abrasive. His idea of romance is a pint and an episode of Wife Swap.
But he is loyal, charming at times, and most of all, loves her completely in return. They have been together since college, and Gwen certainly believes they are meant to be married, raise a family, and live a childhood fairy tale she has not yet let go of. His death during her first year of work terrorized her because she could, in no way, imagine her life without him. Now that he is aware of Torchwood and what exactly her job entails, Gwen and Rhys’ relationship has solidified to the point where they can finally trust one another again. This full disclosure agreement is essential to Gwen’s outlook on the marriage; not only is he her husband and friend, but now her confidant. If anything, this has improved their sex life.
Ultimately, the main issue that served to destroy their relationship was Gwen’s ability to separate Torchwood life from what she perceived to be Real Life. Because she couldn’t let Torchwood seep into her home life, she stopped letting home life seep into Torchwood, and this mental separation created an emotional barrier that gave Gwen the lease to commit adultery, and search for an emotional and physical solace in each world that she felt she needed.
Now that Rhys is, in essence, a member of Torchwood, this line she has between Torchwood and Real Life has begun to crumble. However, every time they fight about work or Rhys reacts negatively to what Gwen brings home from work, she begins to build that wall again. Chances are, Gwen will continue to go between attempting to join her lives together or separate them completely. During a separation period is when Gwen is most endanger of cheating on Rhys again; however, she would no doubt continue affairs only with people she knows at work, and only with people she trusts in her work environment.
The Lover
Owen and Gwen’s affair lasted quite a bit longer than she expected, or really, cared for. If anything, the traumatic experiences that occurred with the cannibals at Brecon Beacons was simply the final straw that drove Gwen over the edge she had been hovering on since her arrival at Torchwood. She needed someone to catch her at the bottom of that cliff, and Owen was the only one waiting with arms open.
Gwen finds Owen attractive in the sense that he is somewhat handsome, and more so, completely not her type. But for a while he listened to her, comforted her, and that comfort was too much of a temptation in her state to resist. If anything, she credits him with keeping her sane through those transition months; without him, she very well may have crossed into the territory that Suzie did. However, Gwen knew from the beginning it would never be anything than an affair, and never had any expectations besides the warmth and solace Owen’s touch had to offer. Though their relationship remained fun and flirty on the outside initially, it never went beyond a reflection of selfishness and self-pity. Their affair ended because Gwen realised that Owen could not give back emotionally in a way that would have been necessary for the affair to translate into a relationship. Because of this a rift formed between them, but Gwen still felt strongly for him as a friend.
Owen’s death shocked Gwen to the core, because in it she glimpsed her own mortality. She is incredibly ashamed of what she did to Rhys, but in the shadow of the horror of Owen’s death, has no regret for doing it.
The Hero
Gwen deeply, deeply loves Jack. She loves him because he is everything Rhys is not; he is mysterious, angry, dark, complex, a prince charming. He opened her to a life that, before, would have been beyond the spread of her imagination. He pulled her from a life of dull monotony she didn’t even know she despised. A small part of her regrets her loyalty to Rhys, because that is what prevents her from turning to Jack; but in her subconscious mind she knows her affection for him on a deeper level are invalid. If anything, Gwen carries a sort of hero worship for Jack, and because she has such a deep-rooted loyalty to him, she would be wildly tempted to let that lead to sex. But she is also cruelly aware of why Jack does not allow her to cross those boundaries; after all, Rhys is what grounds her to the real world, and she knows that Jack cares too deeply about that to risk it with a (what would no doubt be an unrealistically good) shag.
Her marriage to Rhys solidified the fact that their romantic relationship was not viable. It also brought Gwen into the understanding as to why Jack would not cross the line and take her from Rhys. She is thankful for that, in part, because she knows she would leave Rhys for Jack in a heartbeat and that scares the shit out of her, because losing Rhys would cause her to lose grip on her perceived reality outside Torchwood. However, she lives for Jack and will probably die for Jack, and she loves him enough that she would follow him to the end of the earth and beyond, if he asked her, Rhys be damned. Which is why she knows he would never ask her, and once again, she is thankful her understands her situation. While Jack may be the one she wants, Rhys is the one she needs.
Beyond the Leading Men
It hasn’t quite registered in Gwen to see Ianto as lover material, and chances are it never will. If anything, Ianto fulfills a brotherly love for her; she feels like they are kindred spirits, and he watches her back. That, and she adores the relationship he has with Jack, and her intense feelings about Jack would certainly stand in the way of any romantic feeling towards Ianto.
She is torn between despising John Hart for inadvertently causing Owen and Tosh’s deaths, and pitying him for his situation. She wouldn’t, in a million years, sleep with him, because she would never trust him fully enough to give him that much of her.
Gwen’s kissed a couple girls, but none as good as Carys. But that was alien meddling, and beside that one time in school when she was really pissed and her best girl mate was over, Gwen wouldn’t much consider sex with other women.
Eugene was a sweet boy whom she fell in love with while solving his murder. But that was it – a sweet boy and a loss she felt deeply. But she wouldn’t have slept with him.
The Doctor is a legend and quite good-looking over a comm screen. She has no loyalty to him, however, beyond the fact that Jack clearly loves him. The thought of shagging him occurred to her for about 2 seconds, and then she flat out forgot he existed.
Book Canon
Border Princes (Includes Spoilers): Gwen had another affair with a different Torchwood operative, James Mayer. Although it turns out James was an alien, and eventually Gwen's memories of James fade, she still deeply loved him, to the point that she was ready to leave Rhys and spend her life with James. She was devastated to lose him. Although, since her memories are gone, this event has no bearing on her current situation, it does carry the implication that her attachment to Rhys was, and perhaps still is, very fragile. It also implies that, if she met the right person, leaving Rhys may still be an option in Gwen's mind.
Gwen and the 'Verses
relativespaceGwen is still adjusting to the loads of people around her in RS. She’s obviously drawn to Jack; even though she knows at this point he does not know her and is not her Jack, she will look at him as Jack regardless. At least until she gets to know him better. She has found herself strongly bonded to Ianto, but not beyond that sibling-like love. Her relationships with other characters in Torchwood remain as they do in canon.
She is currently forming a friendship with Jack Phillips, and quite fancies him. While she still has a general access to Rhys in that world, he is disassociated from the events in Ealing, and seeing as Jack was the first man she befriended, she definitely runs the risk of letting it form into a more serious crush.
The Other Doctor
Gwen has formed a bond with the Doctor (10.5) though their journals. Gwen is getting to know him, and is drawn to him because of his hero status, and the fact that she identifies him as being so similar to the Doctor that she knows. She thinks he’s incredibly fit and they get along. Right now, she sees him very much as a good friend in the making, although there is a part of her that is falling for him in the same way she did Jack.
@verse: crack
Captain John Hart
In an offshoot of many of the mun's crackverses, Gwen did have sex with John, once. It stems from a very dark corner of Gwen's mind, and was more of a response to her lashing out than an actual interest in John as a sexual partner. In her mind, he is a draw to a dark and dangerous side to herself, which she would rather ignore but is tempted to embrace. Dark!Gwen will no doubt make very rare appearances in this LJ, but when she does, one can consider she will be contrary to some of the basic Canon Gwen traits.
Retired or Hiatus Verses
cityofcircadia –Gwen’s deepest interactions have been with Owen, and she is still adjusting to the fact that he is not dead. Because of his bodily presence, she is mildly obsessed with touching him, just to comfort herself. But again, as before, her relationship with Owen lives on a place of self-service. She is liable to sleep with him again, partially because he is the only one she knows in Circadia and she can kid herself that it’s a dream. On the other hand, she is thoroughly convinced he has no interest in sleeping with her. She’s not yet thought out the ramifications of having a dream state affair with a dead friend and co-worker, and she’s unlikely to give it proper thought anyway.
____________
Muse: Gwen Cooper, Torchwood
Prompt: The Sex Meme
Verse: Open/Canon,
relativespace, cityofcircadiaWord Count: Changes (Update based on verse changes)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-27 04:08 am (UTC)I think that Owen gave Gwen as much as he could while still protecting himself. She was definitely not just a pull and meant more to him than Suzie. Probably because he tired of Suzie's self-pitying streak soon enough.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-27 04:12 am (UTC)And I totally agree. Actually, it's good Owen didn't give more, because I think Gwen would have made the mistake of falling in love with him.
But, really, sleeping with Owen was probably the best thing that could have happened to her at that time, because without him she would have self-destructed. And as much of a twat as he is, he has his reasons and really obviously wanted to help her.
(And Gwen is way too happy to know she meant more to him than Suzie did! :-D)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-27 08:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-27 09:28 pm (UTC)