Tim/Gavin - how did they meet?

[Jules]

Anyone got any ideas? I'm working on a fanfic to show my idea of how they met, but i'm interested in everyone else's theories.

Julie

[Elf]

I've got a sort of mangy half-started plot bunny that has them meeting when Tim's still at university and Gavin's working in a leisure centre already. I figured cos Gavin was 'sent away' (if you believe this timeline) when he was 18, then he may have missed out on the chance to study...

Anyway, like I said, it's not exactly a well formed plot yet

What ideas do you have? I'm so totally fascinated by the G/T dynamic.... ;D

Elf
xx

[Jules]

I'm thinking Canal Street, Manchester, 1987. Gavin says that Tim was "thinking about chucking it all in, going back to live with his mum in cheshire" (s1,ep5) having been to cheshire for my hols this year it's not that far a commute to Manchester, so it's feasible. I'm thinking that Tim was working in a bar there, but living at home with his mum. Gavin was probably living there and working at a leisure centre there by day and partying hard by night.

[Elf]

I've set my story in Brighton because a. Gay Capital of Britain, woot! (we say) b. Lots of leisure centres/fitness centres, c. Two Universities and d. Cos I live here and I know places/scenarios etc... And also, because I *think* Whitbury might be somewhere south coast-ish (Dorset and the like), that's exactly where people head for when Brighton gets too much/too expensive/too noisy/too scene etc.

And I know you all wanted to know that...I'll leave now

Elf
xx

[Zusi]

The timeline's pretty screwed anyway - I think it got worse with the new writers in S6 & S7 but the inconsistencies were there in 1-5! I also think that Jenny lost track of time while in hospital. If she'd gotten engaged when she just turned 18, and she had been there for 5 years then why did she look a lot older than 23? Just as Gavin looks older than 24. Personally I think she'd been there for longer, maybe 8 or 9 years.

Although Tim doesn't have a strong accent considering his mother's German. He probably picked up a more local accent assuming his mother settled in the south. She could have then moved to Cheshire from the Whitbury area when Tim was older.

I always got the impression that they'd been together for a while before they started working at the leisure centre. Not sure if I'd say they met working elsewhere as they might have decided to stay there. Probably they saw the opportunity to get jobs in the same place and took it.

I'd not really thought too much about it before, but I actually think they met through mutual friends. If Gavin was already working at leisure centres (which we know he was from Playing with Fire) and Tim had just finished courses and the like, someone could have thought they might get on together. Not really matchmaking, but introducing new friends - the matchmaking would be a bonus!

[Ausjen]

First of all two apologies for:
1) not knowing how to quote other people's messages properly and

2) this not being a very constructive message.

"I've got a sort of mangy half-started plot bunny that has them meeting when Tim's still at university and Gavin's working in a leisure centre already."

If Tim had been to university, he probably wouldn't have been working as a pool attendant at the leisure centre. There are plenty of graduates not getting the jobs they ought to be doing, but this was a few years ago, when I believe things were slightly better, and he doesn't seem to have any ambition to rise further up the hierarchy. Going into catering suggests that he doesn't have much specific training in one area, rather that he's just taking whichever jobs come his way.

Did I make sense?

Please don't let anything stop you from writing T/G fics :-).

[Elf]

ausjen said:

If Tim had been to university, he probably wouldn't have been working as a pool attendant at the leisure centre. There are plenty of graduates not getting the jobs they ought to be doing....Going into catering suggests that he doesn't have much specific training in one area, rather that he's just taking whichever jobs come his way.

I did try to wrack my brains for one of those degree courses that doesn't take you anywhere in particular ;D but point taken, I know that pool attendant isn't exactly a high flying graduate position. But I always sort of figured that if catering's what he really wanted to do, then he was just biding his time in the leisure centre, happily spending his days with Gavin until he could get and do the job he wants.

I have a BA(Hons) and I'm currently working as an architectural steel fabricator. It does have relevance to my degree, sorta...a bit. But none of the 26 guys I work with even have their GCSEs. It might seem bizarre to a lot of people, but it's where I need to be in my life right now. I paid my own way through university, so however much my parents don't like what I'm doing now, they don't have much choice but to put up with it! ;D

Love
Elf
xx

[Kanna]

elf said:

ausjen said:

If Tim had been to university, he probably wouldn't have been working as a pool attendant at the leisure centre.

I did try to wrack my brains for one of those degree courses that doesn't take you anywhere in particular ;D but point taken, I know that pool attendant isn't exactly a high flying graduate position. But I always sort of figured that if catering's what he really wanted to do, then he was just biding his time in the leisure centre, happily spending his days with Gavin until he could get and do the job he wants.

I have a BA(Hons) and I'm currently working as an architectural steel fabricator.

BA (Hons), half a PhD, won several shcolarships and the University Medal for top performing student, and I'm working part-time in a video shop. When I get my post-grad librarianship degree, I'll probably still be working in a video shop, and grateful for it, because I spent a long time unemployed. There's plenty of people with science degrees driving taxis. My best friend? Unemployed for a year, with a very classy doctorate, a BA and a teaching degree. It's hopelessly Pollyannish to think a tertiary education means not having to work in low-level jobs, or even that you'll have a job at all. I don't think intellectual achievement was valued any higher in the 1990s than it is today, frankly.

What qualifications do you need to be a lifeguard? It's entirely possible Tim picked those up while studying, to earn a little extra cash to actually feed himself, as I don't think UK student grants are any more generous than Austudy, then drifted into being a pool attendant full-time.

As for what kind of degree he' take... given Tim's general bolshiness, I'd suggest Arts majoring in political science, the social sciences and/or labour studies.

[Zusi]

kanna said:

As for what kind of degree he' take... given Tim's general bolshiness, I'd suggest Arts majoring in political science, the social sciences and/or labour studies.

That could have come from his mother. If his parents were active in Germany / Berlin against the segregation he could have picked up some of their political tendancies.

[Ausjen]

Meh . . . tell me about it. I have yet to discover what my degree is useful for. It certainly isn't getting employed as far as I can see.

The thing with Tim is that Gavin is the one who seems to strive to better himself. If Tim was the one who'd been to university, you'd think it would be him that ended up with the tie and clipboard.

Having said that, I can totally see him as a politics student! Perhaps he's a socialist, trying to change the system from among the masses - the proletarian vanguard and all that :-).

[Zusi]

I think Tim was interested in sport and leisure so studied as life guard etc. as a fairly young age. He probably did A-Levels then qualified. Although studying politics to degree level is an interesting idea, you don’t need to be a politics student to be interested in politics or to work in politics in some way.

Gavin may have also left school after A-Levels. He probably got a job early partly as he enjoyed sports, and partly as he didn’t want to be forced into the Army so working was probably the best way. It is likely that Gavin’s public (private) schooling is a driving factor in him eventually going for management. Some schools do organise some form of reunion or newsletter so maybe he felt that others in his school were getting on more than him - maybe not at first, but later. Unfortunately Brittas and Colin aren't the best people to model your management style on!

[Kanna]

ausjen said:

Having said that, I can totally see him as a politics student! Perhaps he's a socialist, trying to change the system from among the masses - the proletarian vanguard and all that :-).

Hee. I love that Tim's all bolshie and unionist... keeping Gavin out of the union meeting and demanding his card back was very, very cold. I figure if one of them was to be involved politically in sexuality rights - wondering about Tuesday evenings again - it would be Tim, too. Gavin's too straight-laced.

I tend to agree with zusi (and Tim) that Gavin aspiring to management is a class thing. The son of his father isn't the kind of person you'd expect to end up as a pool attendant, and I figure there was some rebellion involved there. Tim, though, I can see as one of those kids who end up doing the part-time stuff they started to get through university for the rest of their life, a certain reluctance to grow up - although he also seems very settled and domestic, so who knows? He doesn't strike me as overly intellectual, though - more the type to bludge his way through uni.

My personal take (if I ever finish) on the whole "how they met thing" is to do with their work, but partly because I'm interested in how you tell the difference between the casual sexual opportunities that would very likely be avaliable for gay men in a leisure centre and a "special friendship" that is going to end in the equivalent of marriage... and how wary Gavin would be of being focussed on by a rather intense (at least relationship-wise) and clingy coworker, given his own past and his *present* fiancee.

[Jules]

I'm loving the response to this topic, so thank you guys for indulging in an interest of mine.

Sometimes i get the feeling that Gavin would rather be straight, whereas Tim seems comfortable being gay and would rather be out and proud.

According to Gavin in "Playing with fire" there was 'trouble at the local gym' before he was sent away and met Jenny. So he must have been working at least part time in the leisure industry from say 16. (not that you can believe everything an episode suggests) But maybe he never meant to stay there, always wanting to strive for something more (because of his father's background as Kanna suggested)

I can see the theory that Tim was perhaps working elsewhere, maybe even studying something else before he met Gavin. And the leisure industry was just an opportunity for them to be together. But then Tim seems comfortable in the centre, seemingly only bothered by Brittas being in charge.

It's a strange relationship and I'm really surprised that they didn't break up by the end, especially after RIPGF.

[Elf]

Write it!

I've sorta got something coming along in an AU strain - Gavin did go and marry Jenny, who was 'cured'...but after..stuff.....ensues, he ends up finding Tim and...well, I've not got much farther than that, but it's a fun write. Dang it if those boys don't just write themselves back together though.

Elf
xx

[Kanna]

japope1982 said:

I'm loving the response to this topic, so thank you guys for indulging in an interest of mine.

My dear, any excuse to play meta with my favourites is welcome.

Sometimes i get the feeling that Gavin would rather be straight, whereas Tim seems comfortable being gay and would rather be out and proud.

I agree with you absolutely about Tim. Gavin, I think, thinks it might be easier to be straight: the whole Jenny thing is somewhat revealing. But I think that's circumstances rather than anything as concrete as wanting to want women.

It's a strange relationship and I'm really surprised that they didn't break up by the end, especially after RIPGF.

I think it might have been the best thing for them, given Gavin's depression - am I right in thinking he was depressed because Helen was counselling him, rather than the other way around? - and that Tim really, really needed a kick into perspective and remembering what was really important. Not the first time, either. I think the taste of life without Gavin was dreadful enough that it would strengthen their relationship overall.

I kind of like that their relationship is flawed, even if S6 overdid it, because there seems to be such fears of doing normal, stable samesex relationships on tv - either they never have long-term relationships or it's all impossibly perfect. Growing in slightly different directions but still loving each other enough to work it out and to focus on the things you have it common that really count is what true love and marriage, legal or not, is all about.

Yes, Gavin was awful fibbing by omission to his parents all those years, but I'm inclined to go easy on him because my parents were dreadfully conservative, and it may not have taken me ten years, but Floria and I were together quite a while before I managed to tell Mum. Dad and I still don't discuss it. I'm much happier out, but I don't feel able to judge people who do in "in sometimes, out sometimes" thing, because I did, for ages. And given all Gavin's "trouble" and the likelihood that, being Gavin, he trapped himself with all kinds of "I didn't! I'd never do something like that!", I sympathise with the poor weak boy.

One of my projects for work this week is to tell the new junior that making homophobic remarks to a senior without finding out if she's queer is really, really dumb.