Duncan/Gwen

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Pairing
Pairing: Duncan (Total Drama)/Gwen (Total Drama)
Alternative name(s): Gwuncan, DxG, DunGwen
Gender category: Het
Fandom: Total Drama
Canonical?: Broken Up
Prevalence: Popular Pairing
Archives: n/a
Other:
Duncan/Gwen fanart by eyeseau. "She tasted wonderful. Different from Courtney. He couldn't really explain it, but Gwen was…for lack of a better word; forbidden." comes from One Time Thing by Shinsou, another Duncan/Gwen work.
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Duncan/Gwen, also known as Gwuncan, is a popular pairing within Total Drama fandom. The ship is between Duncan and Gwen, both prominent characters. It has been popular since 2007, when both were paired by fans during the run of Island (2007), and was canon from 2010 to 2013. An infamous love triangle during World Tour, which had Duncan cheat on Courtney with Gwen, paired them up. When they returned for All-Stars, however, their relationship was slowly declining due to Gwen not appearing to be interested in Duncan any more and being more focused on repairing her friendship with Courtney. Their relationship came to an end during the fifth episode of All-Stars, as Duncan's obsession with grabbing Courtney's attention infuriated Gwen because he still into his ex-girlfriend, leading to her dumping him. The love triangle arc of World Tour has overshadowed the ship itself since.

Duncan/Gwen and Courtney/Duncan and are inseparable as pairings, as is Courtney/Gwen, and the vast majority of fans have seen fanac of all three ships. Ship war between Courtney/Duncan and Duncan/Gwen fans specifically has existed since 2009, though Gwen/Trent and Courtney/Gwen shippers are not to be ignored from the equation.

Common Tropes

  • Codependency - Gwen helps Duncan cheat on Courtney in-universe. Fanworks may expand upon this dynamic.
  • Shared Hobbies - as Duncan is Punk and Gwen is Goth, some fanworks may expand upon these subcultures. Referencing specific musicians and/or horror movies they both may enjoy within fanworks is not unheard of.
  • Historical AUs - more so than other pairings, as former Duncan/Gwen BNF Dalhia-Gwen[1] regularly featured them in her fanart.
  • Height Difference - Duncan is taller, Gwen is shorter.

Duncan/Gwen Fandom

Before Duncan/Gwen became canonized, ship war between Duncan/Gwen and Gwen/Trent fans was somewhat prevalent, more so than with Courtney/Duncan shippers. Trent's behavior during Action soured many Total Drama fans to his character, and canonically Gwen and Trent broke up while Courtney and Duncan wouldn't until World Tour. Confrontational Duncan/Gwen fans may have flamed the sinking ship.

Photomanip of Duncan confronting Trent during Island, judging by the background, though this was likely supposed to take place during Action. After World Tour, this dynamic in fanworks was often the opposite. Made by monititans1210 on 05 August 2009.

Immediately following World Tour's I See London... airing, which canonized Duncan/Gwen, newly invigorated fans may have also flamed the sinking ship of Courtney/Duncan.

i HATE how the people who dislike DxC are soooo disrespectful, i mean i hate DxG with a passion, but i would never in a million years run around their club obnoxiously stating how much i hate DxG, i do this because i know that it would just start fights and and that they dont want to hear how i love DxC and wish that DxG would go live in a hole, seriously guys if its a club FOR a certian couple dont state how much you hate this couple[2]

By the time later seasons such as Revenge of the Island aired, the flames directly from World Tour cooled.

Many fans of both ships also agree that the relationship's breakup during All Stars was rushed and poorly written, like the rest of the season, though neither of these sentiments are ubiquitous.

As of 2020s' Total Drama fandom, some fan circles consisting of mostly younger users such as Wattpad and TikTok may invoke flames, but communities such as Reddit and Tumblr are more sympathetic on all sides. Fanon ships getting into the ship-war picture, whether Het, Slash or Femslash, is rare but not unheard of.

Gwen's attraction to Duncan is implied to be stronger than the reverse canonically. Duncan fans may believe that the relationship is more mutually beneficial to both parties than his relationship with Courtney, which was always tumultuous. Fanworks for Duncan/Gwen tend to focus more on Gwen than Duncan, though not by a significant margin. Some BNFs for Duncan/Gwen fandom include noyoucantpinmedown[3] and hella-marshmella[4].

October 23rd is Gwuncan Day on Chefhatchet's Appreciation Calendar.

Fan Opinions

Because everyone who watches the show knows about Duncan/Gwen post-World Tour, fan opinion regarding the pairing varies greatly.

Perspectives are split into Watsonian and Doyalist for convenience on this article, as both are prevalent in meta.

Largely Watsonian

I've been where Courtney's been, so I'm really not gonna be able to give a position on this that isn't biased or un-objective. I had no problem with Duncan and Gwen together BEFORE WT, strictly by how it was done. If it had happened any other way, that wouldn't have bothered me. But now I can never look at the couple like I did before, because all I see is that betrayal and the pain it caused Courtney to be back-stabbed by TWO people she trusted. I just can never support the two, no matter how "cute" they act. If anything, it makes me even more sick.[5]

Anonymous asked:

Im NOT a gwuncan fan and this is 13 year old drama but... I never see any gwuncan shippers EVER. not one. What's that about. Someone has to like them??

blainerificapologist replied:

#gwuncan is cute#i like it about as much as gwourtney and duncney#but in completely different ways lol

camptv-era replied:

#Gwuncan#i think it's cute and neat#friends to lovers is always cute#but a lot of the attraction was said/done off screen#i loved the interaction we got and casually being chaotics together#i think they had the advantage over gwent with more natural chemistry + more things to talk about#wt moments were sweet.#the conflict on they got together was interesting#but then the writers chickened out.#eliminated gwen?.. ok. odd. duncney winning the wedding challenge (they fought the whole way but.. that's ship tease. duncney's whole thing#is arguing. literally their thing.)#i will not get started on All Stars.#basically though Island!Duncney>Action+WT Gwuncan>any other Duncney...<Gweoff 💙#tldr: as a multishipper i can enjoy gwuncan and other ships that are 'better' or 'worse'[6]

One of the reasons why I despise Gwuncan is because of the way Duncan abused Trent and Leshawna and made them look "stupid" then said things about them to Gwen that were not true.

Also, Duncan only liked Gwen for her similarities (according to Drew Nelson) and he was actually more into Courtney.

It's very likely that Duncan intentionally deceived Gwen by tricking her into loving him for shallow reasons and into betraying the others.[7]

Largely Doyalist

Gwen and Duncan actually do have decent chemistry in TDI, TDA, and even TDWT. The problem with TDAS is that it writes Duncan as totally dismissive towards Gwen's feelings as he tries to push his ideas onto her. It comes across as very jarring.

However, I do think it opens interesting avenues for why Gwen and Duncan might not work longterm, though. Duncan is really bad at taking things seriously and would rather everybody get over themselves. While he was drawn to Gwen as a cool girl who didn't judge him like Courtney did, this also meant he didn't know how to deal with Gwen's insecurity. Having him go back to Courtney so bluntly made him look even more unlikeable, but I think he got bored in a stable relationship and wanted to push someone's buttons again. Thank goodness Courtney turned him down -- that was the best moment of the season, IMO.[8]

Example/Notable Fanac

I Wanna- Gwen And Duncan tribute by moni1210, Archived version, an AMV on Youtube which features several fic recs in its description.

Fan Communities/Fan Events

Aesthetic Edits

Blogs

Collections

Fan Art

Fan Fiction

Playlists

Meta

References/Further Reading

  1. ^ https://www.deviantart.com/dalhia-gwen
  2. ^ i HATE how the people who dislike DxC are soooo disrespectful, Archived version undated, likely 2010-2012; posted by [rubberduck2] on Fanpop
  3. ^ https://noyoucantpinmedown.tumblr.com
  4. ^ https://hella-marshmella.tumblr.com
  5. ^ I've been where Courtney's been, so I'm really not gonna be able to give a position on this that isn't biased or un-objective, Archived version [ironbloodaika]; posted October 18th, 2013 on DeviantArt
  6. ^ Im NOT a gwuncan fan and this is 13 year old drama but... I never see any gwuncan shippers EVER, Archived version posted February 2nd, 2023 on Tumblr; Anon on real-total-drama-takes
  7. ^ One of the reasons why I despise Gwuncan is because of the way, Archived version [GothikaXenon]; posted April 22nd, 2022 on Reddit
  8. ^ Gwen and Duncan actually do have decent chemistry in TDI, TDA, and even TDWT, Archived version [hyperjengirl]; posted April 8th, 2023 on Reddit
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