Gwen's Profile and Storylines
Full Name: Gwendolyn May Westmore, but she normally goes by "Gwen"
Age: 21
Birthday: August 21st, 1987
Place of Birth: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
Occupation: Visual merchandiser/NYU student
Fairytale: Ozma from the Oz books.
Relationship to Tale: Gwen, naturally, still feels a strong connection to Oz and other tales from Baum’s books. As the heart and soul of the land itself, she is perhaps more connected to her tale than even most other first incarnations. Because of this, it’s often like Gwen straddles the boundaries between two worlds, affecting, but not entirely a part of either one.
Gwen is highly protective of other Oz tales, wanting what’s best for them and to aid them in any way she can. She never forgets that she is a ruler, however, though her authority comes more in the form of gentle guidance than overt dictatorship. She can normally be expected to do what’s best for the whole.
Ability: As Ozma in the books was largely powerless without her various magical objects, Gwen herself doesn’t have any particular magical abilities.
Tale Status: Gwen doesn’t go around telling anyone and everyone her tale, but she doesn’t bother to really hide it if someone asks. She looks on her tale and connection to Oz with extreme fondness and is pleased with her place in the scheme of things.
The first, most important piece of Gwen’s history was the death of her parents. Everything that occurred before that moment is vague and hazy in Gwen’s memory. It’s as if her own life did not truly start until her parents’ lives ended. This is not to say that Gwen’s parents’ deaths were any cause for celebration, quite the opposite really. Always a quiet and dreamy child, Gwen had been suspected of autism prior to their loss, and upon learning of their deaths, it was like the young girl suddenly woke up.
Gwen’s early life was spent as an only child in Oklahoma City with her parents, Mark and Candace Westmore, both of whom worked in City Planning. What little Gwen can remember of this time is happy and tranquil, though there were several visits to therapists to determine why the Westmores’ young daughter didn’t seem to fully engage with the world around her. Then, on April 19, 1995, tragedy struck with the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, resulting in the deaths of 168 men, women and children, including both of Gwen’s parents.
Upon being informed of her parents’ deaths, it was like the world suddenly snapped into focus for eight-year-old Gwen. She could no longer remain separate and detached. Even worse, her closest relative, Gran Bright, lived all the way in Missouri, which meant that Gwen had to be completely uprooted from her life in Oklahoma City to move to the small, sleepy town of Salem.
Life in Salem with Gran Bright was simple and slow-moving. Gwen attended school with other children, but rarely made close friends. Even though she was now more connected to the world around her than she had been in the past, she was still prone to becoming lost in her own thoughts and was still a dreamy, unusual child. She spent most of her time helping her Gran in her garden when it was warm out and in an old, battered tree house that had belonged to her mother as a child.
Two years later, when Gwen was ten years old, two remarkable things happened; she took a music class at school and first picked up a flute, and she got her first library card and began hungrily devouring the children’s literature section of the Salem Public Library.
Gwen exhibited a prodigious talent for music, and she continued to study it and practice her flute throughout middle and high school, gaining some small measure of fame in Salem for playing beautifully at social events. She was, most assuredly, a band geek in high school, but it was through her association with the band that she actually made friends for the very first time.
Even more amazing was the surprising connection Gwen began to feel with certain works of fiction. She had read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz shortly after obtaining her library card and, although she felt a sense of a familiarity with the Land of Oz, it wasn’t until she read The Marvelous Land of Oz that Gwen realized she was reading her own stories; as if someone had written down the things she, herself had experienced. She knew immediately, from the first mention of “Tip”, that she’d been him, or rather her as Tip was the transformed Ozma.
Of course, being considered odd and unusual for most of her young life, Gwen kept this knowledge a secret and didn’t utter a peep about it until a strange woman, claiming to be Captain Hook, arrived at one of her concerts and presented Gwen with a Compendium and an explanation. At that point, Gwen knew she was no longer alone and that, perhaps, she was not quite as strange as most people seemed to think.
After completing high school, Gwen was accepted to several universities on musical scholarships, but eventually settled on NYU for its prestigious music program and its proximity to other Tales. Moving to New York was almost a heartbreaking experience for Gwen, as she’d grown particularly close to Gran Bright and found herself suddenly hundreds of miles away from what she thought of as home, but it was something Gwen felt she needed to do to grow.
To help ends meet, Gwen got a job at the 16th & 5th Anthropologie store as salesperson, and her naturally creative temperament led her to a promotion as part of the store’s visual merchandising team. She’s been a visual merchandiser for a year and a half now, and Gwen is pleased with the creative outlet her job grants her and how flexible it allows her to be in regard to classes and concerts.
Now that Gwen is about to enter her senior year at NYU, she’s trying to determine what to do next. Gwen is considering graduate school, but she’s also trying to decide if she should begin auditioning for local symphony orchestras. Only time will tell where her particular whims will lead her.
There are a few words one could use to describe the unusual girl known as Gwen Westmore; dreamy, thoughtful, reflective, unflappable. But the most appropriate adjective to describe the reincarnation of the Princess of Oz would probably be ‘otherworldly’. Gwen seems to be simultaneously a part of and completely alien to the world in which she lives. There is something distinctly curious about her, as if she might know secrets you could only begin to guess at, but these secrets are so much a part of her that the very knowledge of them makes her humble. There is sort of a fragile fascination that surrounds her and people are often drawn to Gwen, for good or ill, without really knowing why.
Gwen is even-tempered and dreamy; always pondering something, whether it be deep, philosophical speculation on human nature or musing upon the aerodynamic properties of dandelion fluff. She is practical and responsible, yet holds a childlike fascination for the world surrounding her, always interested in new sensations or experiences. While she’s serious about her studies and is always on time, she’s also prone to spend an entire afternoon cloud-watching or finger-painting on her days off.
It can be difficult to get a rise out of Gwen, as she's normally quite placid and considerate in the very basic sense of the word. She contemplates everything profoundly and tries to comprehend each situation fully before commenting. Even being in her physical presence can sometimes be calming and she can temper frustration and anger through discussion and gentle acceptance. Of course, this doesn’t work the same on everyone and her detached nature can sometimes greatly irk certain personality types who feel like she is patronizing them or refusing to take them seriously.
Gwen is a study in contrasts; at once innocent and wise but never cynical. She's drawn to new experiences and creative endeavors, but possesses an extremely logical mind. She usually cuts right to the heart of a matter when she can be pulled from her meditations long enough to bestow an opinion. She's one of those people whose words frequently seem to hold great gravity, though this may have to do with the fact that she doesn’t normally speak until she feels she has something worthwhile to say. Even though Gwen always seems to be lost in thought, she is constantly listening, observing and weighing everything. She's the very picture of a childlike queen.
Status: Single
Sexuality: Ambiguous (she doesn’t really think about it; she’s had a boyfriend or two so far, but she doesn’t really define herself as heterosexual)
Likes: Music, arts and crafts, creativity, reading, daydreaming, exploring, animals, astronomy, mythology, puzzles and games.
Dislikes: People who intentionally cause others pain; small, enclosed spaces (claustrophobic).
Hair: Brown and naturally wavy, she occasionally straightens it, wears it in braids or buns, with ribbons or barrettes, or streaks it with color. All in all, she’s fairly creative with it.
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 5’4
Build: Slender, but healthy. She’s not exactly waifish, but certainly couldn’t be described as curvy.
Style of Dress: Words like ‘artsy’ and ‘bohemian’ would probably best describe Gwen’s particular style. She’s a big fan of clothing that can double as art, vintage pieces or things that have a craft-like feel. She wears mostly natural fabrics, particularly cottons, and much of her wardrobe is flowy, brightly colored and impeccably detailed. She does a remarkable job of pairing pieces that most people wouldn’t put together and making it look creative and stylish. This is part of the reason she’s good at her job as a visual merchandiser.
PB: Emily Browning
Coming soon.
Soundtrack:
“Babylon” - Clandestine
“Paint the Sky With Stars” - Enya
“Let Go” - Frou Frou
“Sleeps With Butterflies” - Tori Amos
“Passage” - Vienna Teng
Player Name: JL
e-mail addy: kitsunered@gmail.com
AIM: siennavixen
Standard Disclaimer: This is a roleplaying journal. Gwen Westmore is a fictional character, while Emily Browning is a real actress. I’m neither one.