Hey superstar! In boostle, who do you think fell first and fell harder ? Love thinking about that, yum!
Oh boy, I get to share my personal Boostle fanon! Take a seat, you'll be here for a bit.
Ted fell first, Booster fell harder. My Ted is bisexual and my Booster is a straight guy who happens to fall for his best pal.
I think Ted had a thing for Booster right from the get-go. He definitely thought he was attractive the first time he saw him, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Booster is an attractive guy, I'm sure plenty of people think he's hot- until he opens his mouth. But I think the first time Booster laughed at one of Ted's jokes, Ted knew he wanted to make this guy laugh every single day of his life.
They become fast friends, of course, and Ted falls for Boos' pretty quickly. Issue is, Ted knows Booster is straight and that he doesn't have a chance with him. Oh well, that's fine. Ted can look at his pretty best friend, make him laugh, and spend hours talking to him anyway, and that's all he really wants.
However. It's the 80's, and Ted is extremely closeted and dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia, and it's making him feel pretty gross about crushing on his straight buddy. "Oh man, I'm a real sick creep, Booster is straight, I shouldn't feel this way about him, I shouldn't be thinking these sorts of things. I must be some sort of pervert." Guilt shame agony yearning aaarrgghh!!!
So he keeps his feelings to himself, and eventually they start to fade over time, Booster none the wiser. Until one night when the two of them are barhopping and getting completely plastered, a very wasted Ted let's it slip.
Y'know, I-I used to really have a thing for you. A "thing"? What's a "thing", like- Like you had something you wanted to give me, or-? No, no, bwaha- I mean I used to- I used to like you. Used to? What, you don't like me anymore? Heh heh. Heh- I mean I had a crush on you. ...What? Mmyeah but I got over it. Ted- Booster Gold likes chicks. 'n Ted Kord's not a chick. 'Swhatever. Ted, hold on just a second- Hey, these're pretty good, I think I'm gonna get- get anuth'r. I think you've had enough- Barkeep? Hellooooooo. Ted, listen- I'll have another Gold Rush- 'n my buddy here'll have another Sex on the Driveway, s'il te plaรฎt. Thas' French fer' put it on my tab, bwahaha! Ted, I- I don't want anymore. Sure you do, bud. 'S on me. ...Alright. Ah, there he is! Ted, are- are you gay? Pffffttt. No. I like girls too- Who doesn't? Ev-everybody likes 'em. You're really drunk. So'r you. I don't think I'm as drunk as you. Not yet yer' not! Aha, drinks, that's what you need. Here. Cheers, Boos'! Uhm. Cheers. ๐ฅ
Booster definitely needs a couple more drinks in him cos' hoo, boy, thats a lot to process. He's hoping he just forgets the whole thing the next day. But he doesnt, although Ted definitely does. Booster can't stop thinking about it. Ted? My best buddy, Ted Kord? He likes me like that? Or, he used to? Jeez, how long did he feel that way before- How do I feel? How do I feel about what- The fact that he liked me, or how do I feel about him? Well I never really thought of him that way. I'm straight. "Booster Gold likes chicks. And Ted Kord is not a chick" That about sums it up, but...
Uh oh! Finding out his bestest friend in the whole world used to have feelings for him makes Booster fall for him hard. which is all very strange and new to him because Booster up until this point has been a serial heterosexual (as if he's had much experience or luck in the romance department, anyway)
I think Booster has some... attachment issues? When Booster catches feelings for someone, he feels it with his whoooole body. They're all he can think about, all he wants, and every second without them feels like torture. Ted can just let his feelings pass him by and be over it. Booster can't. I think Booster also has some emotional dysregulation problems, too. He feels his feelings very intensely to the point where they consume him. So basically: AAURRRURRGHHGHHH!!!!
What to do about all this? Hm. Well, Ted probably didn't meant to tell him. No, definitely not. He was totally shitfaced, he could've told him anything that he otherwise wouldn't have. Booster wasn't supposed to know this. He should respect his privacy, and he definitely shouldn't embarrass him by confronting him. So he'll just keep it to himself. If Ted could get over his feelings, so can Booster.
Except he can't! Ohh you idiot you buffoon, you like your best friend so much that it hurts. Booster gets weird and tense around Ted. He looks at him a bit too long, then overcompensates by refusing to make eye contact. He laughs a little too hard at his jokes, follows him around like a dog, sweats through his shirts, loses his voice then accidentally talks way too loud after. After a week of this, he's feeling like he's going to explode- so when Ted puts his hand on his shoulder to ask him if he's feeling okay ("You've seemed real tense lately, buddy") Booster genuinely leaps in the air with a shout. Oh its so over dude.
That's about all he can take. He pulls Ted aside and spills everything. This is actually great! Booster can gets everything off his chest, and now that Ted knows that Booster wants him that way, they can be together :) yay :) it's all so simple!
Nice try, Boos'- What is this, queer fanfic? Yeah, right! Ted knows Booster. He's seen him fall head over heels for women he's just met. He get's rejected, feels like shit for a week, then picks himself up by the bootstraps and gets over it. This is just infatuation, he doesn't actually like Ted. He just felt overwhelmed by the fact that his best friend liked him that way and it's making him confused, that's all. So Ted tell's him that. It's just a puppy crush, it'll go away, you're confused, you're straight, you don't like men and you don't like me.
DEVASTATING! This was not supposed to go this way. Booster insists and pleads with Ted, trying to convince him that this is different, that he really does want him. Okay. Ted will humor Booster. He tells him to give it a month, and that if he still feels that way, they'll go from there. So that's that. Except this whole situation has stirred up all the feelings Ted buried and now they're back with a vengeance. Could Booster be for real? Maybe he really does like him. No, that's wishful thinking, don't be gross. Look what youve done, you mixed him all up. You really are sick, Kord.
Soooo. They get to like, 3 weeks and that's all they can take. Ted's been avoidant and it's been killing both of them. They both just want their best friend back. When they do finally manage a moment between just the two of them, nothing feels tense or weird or different. They talk and laugh just like they always do. But it is different because those feelings are there. Maybe this won't ruin their friendship after all. Things can be like they were, and they can be better too. The same but more.
They throw in the towel and thats that! They start going out in secret. It's mostly great but Ted still has a lot of baggage he needs to get through and he's really paranoid about being found out. Booster is overeager and excited and very shamelessly in love with Ted. Ted wants to take things slow, Booster wants to crawl up inside Ted and live there forever. It's fine. Ted is also wrestling with a lot of "Oh, god, I manipulated him or corrupted him or something terrible in order for my straight best friend to be with me, i'm a creep and he probably doesn't even want this" So Booster has to be very reassuring and let him know that Yes, he does want this, he wants you, Ted, and thats all he wants! CHILL OUT.
Well! Thank you for reading this novel of a reply. I have so many more thoughts beyond this. I know you didn't ask for how they got together but I really really really really really wanted to talk about it. really really bad. I'll probably make some comics about this in the future! I... like them.... a normal amount.............and i'm definitely not rotating them in my head 24/7.
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