Some Thoughts and Theories on Teddy and his Relationship With Vincent (A.K.A: Why My VinLou Ship Should Win Dammit!)
So on my regular re-read of BFF, Iâve come to notice a few things about Teddy and Vincentâs relationship that I think bear mentioning. Right now, we are at the stage where we are all wondering whether Teddy is having what may be the most inconveniently timed epiphany in regards to his feelings for Vincent, but I would like to raise the possibility of Teddy confusing his feelings for love when they arenât. I would like to consider the possibility that his feelings are closer to admiration or maybe even jealousy to some degree. And I donât mean jealousy over Vincentâs love, but Vincent himself. Let me explain:
1. Teddy has body image issues. He is skinny and scrawny and no matter how many people tell him that it isnât important or that he looks good, he still canât take his shirt off in public. Vincent wasnât very attractive either when they first became friends, and while everyone likes to applaud Vincent for staying friends with Teddy after he got hot, I would like to take a moment to think about it from Teddyâs side. He has this new best friend who, even though he was just as dorky, swooped in and beat up John and stopped his bullying. And then one day he went through this ugly duckling transformation and now suddenly this new friend he has is popular and attractive. He has this amazing body now, the kind that Teddy wishes he could have. Maybe not the kind Teddy wants to make love to, but the kind he wants for himself. I bring this up after seeing the little collage at the start of chapter 20. Yes, itâs Teddy thinking about Vincentâs body, but it is sandwiched between scenes of bullying, where Teddy was made to feel bad because of his own physical appearance. That doesnât seem like a time when Teddy would be thinking about anything sexual. I personally read it a little more like envy. Like, here is Teddyâs body that he hates, but look there is Vincent with the ideal form.Â
2. Teddy is definitely jealous of Vincentâs relationship with his father, probably because he feels like Vincent is the son his father always wanted.Â
Now, Teddyâs parents like Vincent a lot. I mean, they even bought him a car! And theyâre nice to him, basically providing the example of good parenting and a good married relationship that Vincent never got at home. Also things like this:Â
At first, I assumed that Teddy would be happy that his parents like his best friend, and Iâm sure he is. But he is also jealous of it. Like the time Dr. Bijapur wanted to offer to walk onto the field with Vincent during the last game of the season. Teddy was very adamantly against this, and not because it might be embarrassing or anything, but insteadâŠ
Now this doesnât mean that there isnât genuine affection there. The two of them are close, best friends, which leads me into my next point.
 3. Teddy is kind of clingy. And Iâm basing that off of several factors. For starters, there is his friendship with John which came to an unfortunate end. The two of them were very close, BFFâs since they were babies. In fact, it was in the flashback to their friendship that I first saw the words âBest Friends Foreverâ actually used in the comic.
As the title of the entire comic, I canât help but feel like this is important. The John and Teddy relationship has been set up to play a very important role in this story, much more important than I assumed John would be in the beginning, and I canât help but suspect that that is because Teddyâs previous relationship with John is influencing his current relationship with Vincent. How? Well, John was Teddyâs original Best Friend Forever. With the death of his mother and his descent into douchebaggery however, that friendship came to a bitter end. Enter Vincent, Teddyâs new Best Friend Forever. Even without romantic feelings, Teddy values Vincent a lot and would hate to lose him. At the beginning of the comic, Vincent is really the only friend Teddy has, and even after he becomes friends with the cheerleaders Vincent is still the only friend he really opens up to. And Teddy is fiercely protective of that friendship. I mean, just remember the revenge he sought when the guys crashed Dude Night?Â
If you remember, this resulted in the guys getting stood up for the dance.Â
Teddy, who everyone believes is so sweet and nice and innocent, is not afraid to play dirty to protect his relationship with Vincent. Itâs that important to him and I canât help but feel like some of that is due to his own insecurities. Vincent is handsome and popular he has no reason to stay friends with Teddy, especially considering that Teddy has already had one best friend turn on him.Â
But where am I going with this? Well, several places. For starters, Summer Break. Where Vincent almost kissed him. Teddy noticed. I know Teddy noticed because he told Penelope, and then later Vincent asked if they needed to talk about it. It is obviously a thing that they have both acknowledged. Vincent even said as much to Louis.
So, all agreed? Teddy has clearly acknowledged that what happened was a thing, but then continued to act as if it never happened. But he knows that it did, and Teddy isnât stupid okay? There are only so many reasons to try and kiss somebody, so Iâm pretty sure that he knows somewhere, maybe even just in the back of his mind that Vincent has feelings for him. And I canât help but wonder if somewhere equally deep inside, he is relieved. Because if Vincent has feelings for him, he isnât going to leave him. And I donât think that Teddy is in love with him, but the way he acts sometimes⊠He has to know how that kind of behavior comes off. People have even confronted him about it and Penelope was concerned that he wasnât being careful enough of Vincentâs feelings. And I would like to think better of Teddy, but he has been known to be a bit devious to get what he wants, and maybe itâs accidental. Maybe he doesnât quite realize what he is doing. But I sometimes wonder if he acts the way he does, knowing Vincentâs feelings for him, to help ensure his place in Vincentâs life. because if Vincent is still in love with him, Vincent isnât going to leave him or turn on him like John did. Hell, Teddy is even turning down Princeton to go to a less prestigious school with Vincent. Sure, he said that Princeton was too WASP-y, but his father brought up a good point: So is Victoria High. I donât quite believe that argument. I more readily believe that Teddy is scared of being on his own, without Vincent. Of having to make new friends or maybe of growing apart from Vincent as people sometimes do when there is distance between them. Going away to college can be scary and I believe that Teddy is scared. Do I believe he is handling his fear in a healthy way? No, not at all. Neither does his dad, actually.Â
No. I donât really think that Teddy knows that. Regardless, I think that all of his fears and insecurities are only exacerbated by the fact that for the first time, things are changing⊠How? WellâŠ
4. Teddy never had any problem with Vincent dating Kamri. In fact, he even encourages it at times. He likes Kamri and he likes her and Vincent together. But if youâll notice, Kamri never came between the two of them. Hell, when the comic starts Vincent and Kamri are in bed together and he is still talking about Teddy. But then, Vincent and Kamri were never in a real relationship because Vincent has always been gay and in love with someone else. I donât think Teddy has ever had to experience the adjustment period that comes with trying to balance a best friend with a relationship because Teddy has always come first, regardless. But now there is Louis in the picture. Louis who is male, and gay, and someone who Vincent could conceivably develop feelings for. Have an actual relationship. And even though Teddy is unaware of their secret fuckbuddy arrangement, he is still feeling the effects of it. Vincent is spending time with Louis that he would normally have reserved for Teddy, and the secrecy makes it all the worse because to Teddy he is suddenly lying and sneaking around and not being totally honest. Teddy doesnât know what exactly is up, but he knows that itâs something and I imagine that his own personal insecurities make this especially worse. Â
4. Then there are the things weâve learned about Teddy through his relationship with Penelope.Â
And this was over Penelope, a girl he was kind of dating just to date. To get experience or something. And I mean, he did like her. He wasnât in love with her, but he did like her. I think he was a little put out that she didnât want an actual, exclusive relationship with him though. So if we think about this as foreshadowing, there was Teddy and Penelope. And they liked each other. But Penelope had a boyfriend. And Teddy wasnât necessarily jealous, but he was competitive and a bit possessive. And if you look at the Teddy/ Vincent/ Louis situation, I could honestly see it playing out in a similar way. I think that Teddy has gotten used to being first in Vincentâs life (Literally first. Vincent has a crap relationship with his parents, Teddy is actually the most important person to him) and has never had to share and I donât think he wants to now.Â
Now, these are just my theories based on my own personal observations. The observations of an avid VinLou shipper. Maybe Iâm right. Maybe Iâm wrong. Honestly, the comic has surprised me before. In the beginning I had assumed that it would be Teddy in love with Vincent, not the other way around. That part honestly surprised me. In the beginning I thought that Louis was a much smaller character and now he is part of my OTP. I thought that John was an insignificant jock character, just there to be kind of an asshole. I was wrong. One of the great yet frustrating things about this comic is that it isnât usually predictable.Â
I am sure that there are plenty of VinTed (TedVin? Vinddy?Tedcent? Bijafawkes? What even is the Vincent/Teddy ship name?) shippers with their own theories and I would honestly like to hear them. I think the biggest hole in this is the Teddy-boner scene from the ski chalet, and asking Louis about his sexuality. How he knew he was gay. Now teenage boys get boners all the time and Teddy may just be confusing his feelings towards Vincent, of not wanting to lose him, as something romantic. Thatâs the only real argument I have against those things and I admit, itâs incomplete. I will conclude, however, by saying that I do love Teddy. I know that someone of my opinions may sound as if I think he is a horrible character and I donât. I donât think that any of his actions, whether I am interpreting them correctly or not, are coming from a bad place. I think that he loves Vincent, and whether that is a romantic love or not, that he doesnât want to lose him. But I do also agree with Louis in the latest chapter (23.4) Teddy is being a bit of a selfish asshole, so while I love the character I canât say Iâm fond of his behavior.Â
I agree with Penelope when she said that Teddy needed to spend more time alone.Â
She means you need to learn to be a little more independent Teddy. The codependency in their relationship is one of the main reasons why I no longer ship Vincent and Teddy together.Â
Do you agree? Do you disagree? I love talking about this comic (And reading very long text-post theories and speculations. I hope you do too. If notâŠ.sorry not sorry) so please, share ALL the theories with me. I can take it!Â