Courtney/Gwen

Courtney/Gwen, also known as Gwourtney, is a popular pairing within Total Drama fandom.
The ship is between Courtney and Gwen, both prominent characters. Although it has been shipped since 2007, it only became common to ship around 2010 after the release of Total Drama: World Tour. That season introduced a love triangle between Courtney, Duncan and Gwen. Duncan/Gwen, canonized in World Tour, was unpopular with many fans. While some shipped the formerly canon Courtney/Duncan even harder after the reveal, others wanted to pair the suitors.
Total Drama: All-Stars in 2013 only made the pairing even more prominent, as Gwen, who strongly desired to rekindle their friendship, earned Courtney's trust by breaking up with Duncan, and the two would become friends shortly afterwards. They had many scenes of them interacting. However, their friendship came to an end when Gwen felt used by Courtney after discovering Courtney's elimination chart. After All-Stars ended, Courtney/Gwen became the most prominent Femslash pairing in the fandom, (though as of 2024, Julia/MK is not too far behind.)
Courtney & Gwen, the gen interpretation of their relationship, is also popular.
==Common Tropes==
*Fluff: Fanworks for them tend to be on the sweeter side.
*Opposites Attract: Courtney is a CIT who likes being in charge while Gwen is more standoffish to others. Both are incredibly caring people.
*Post-Total Drama: More so than other pairings, Courtney/Gwen is more likely to happen when they're older.
*Wardrobe Upgrade: In fanart, Gwen's goth aesthetic is often heightened to include more makeup and chains. While Courtney usually stays in canonical outfits, she may be drawn with more free-flowy clothing and a wide brim hat.
==Courtney/Gwen Fandom==
Courtney/Gwen fans who shipped the pairing during the airing of Total Drama: All-Stars may believe that Courtney/José, which became a thing on Tumblr around the same time, was popularized in direct response to Courtney/Gwen's rise in popularity. The pairings don't have much overlap in terms of fans, and Courtney/Gwen became popular first, crediting this theory. There was also light ship war with Courtney/Scott fans around this time, though this has since died down considerably due to Courtney/Scott's waning relevance.
In early Courtney/Gwen fandom, Striddumshttps://striddart.tumblr.com/https://gwourtney.tumblr.com/ was a BNF for their fanart. Modern BNFs include wzardjellieshttps://www.tumblr.com/wzardjellies, sundaemuddysuckshttps://sundaemuddysucks.tumblr.com/ and courtney-deserved-betterhttps://www.tumblr.com/courtney-deserved-better. courtney-deserved-better is a BNF for Total Drama fandom overall. CITPrincess, big in the fandom overall for her love of Courtney/Duncan, also shipped it as early as 2009.
July 3rd is Gwentney Day on Chefhatchet's Appreciation Calendar.
One of the reasons All Stars was not well received was having a reconciliation between Courtney and Gwen only to ruin their friendship again. 
=== "We’re not homophobes, this is cool art!"? ===
In 2015, the official Fresh TV Tumblr, thefreshchannel, reblogged fanart for the pairing drawn by yourstillnotmytype-58 for Courn Week 2015. At the time, there was tension between the studio and some fans on Tumblr: While Fresh didn't actively discourage Slash/Femslash interpretation of their shows, their reasoning for not putting any same-sex relationships in their shows changed every time it was asked and often relied on it being a "political issue," which was not unfounded at the time, but still rang bitterly to some fans due to how it was worded. They also blocked many queer fans who brought up the subject. Their response to a question about Noah, "We don’t consider Noah to be gay," became a meme in the fandom just a month or so earlier, discussed more on his page.
When a fan joked that they must've "reblogged yuri" on accident, the official blog replied.
==="They’d make such a fun TV couple"?===
In 2023, Terry McGurrin, an executive producer on the show, said this about the Courtney/Gwen pairing on Twitter. Although this exact phrasing is often unknown, the trivia that he likes Courtney/Gwen may be parroted in fan circles.
==Example/Notable Fanac==
===Fan Communities/Fan Events ===
*, a fanweek on Tumblr which ran from June 23rd to the 29th.
** of the fanart the official Fresh TV Tumblr reblogged made by yourstillnotmytype-58.
***
*, a fanweek on Tumblr which ran from October 24th to the 30th.
*, The A Type Crazy+Weird Goth Girl, a community on DeviantArt.
*, It's still there, a community on DeviantArt.
===Fan Blogs ===
*, an askblog on Tumblr.
===Fan Art ===
* by assortednerdetry as part of Sallychan's Bouncey series. (24 Jan 2014)
*
* (2021), both of them in wedding dresses competing in World Tour's Niagara Falls challenge.
* (2013), them celebrating Christmas.
* (2012), them in winter clothing in the snow.
* (2020).
* (~2010).
* (2024), I Prefer Girls parody.
===Videos===
*, a video essay.
*.
=== Fan Vids ===
* , Courtney/Gwen to Band Shuffle by Lord Smokey. Done for Mayrarey 2024.
=== Fanmixes ===
* The only exception by tdandme (2014)
* Together Forever by wonderfulgiants (2014)
* me & my girlfriend!! by dockofkinkshame (2015)
*
==References/Further Reading==
* on Shipping Wiki
* on Total Drama Wiki
Category:Femslash Pairings
Category:Interracial Pairings
Category:Total Drama Femslash Pairings
Category:Total Drama Relationships