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ct-hardcase · 6 months ago

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Or: Why I Ship Terekeeve, Why You May Want To Also, and Why Cavan Might Also Be Heading That Way

First, this is predicated on me being a sucker for friends to lovers. To me, this thread can simply be boiled down to “I like their friendship, think they have chemistry, and want them to kiss about it” and that can be that.

That being said, there are also thematic reasons that make the ship appealing to me, and, given recent developments with Terec’s character, make me wonder if Cavan may also be heading that way. For certain, I think that an emphasis is being placed on the two of them having a close friendship, and that this has mattered for their stories, and will probably matter down the line.

[Long post under the cut]

To get there, let’s define some beats in their personal arcs/storylines:

Keeve (Phase I): Getting over imposter syndrome/lack of confidence, realizing that her heroes aren’t infallible.

Keeve (Phase III): Desperately trying to hold herself together, lead the team.

Terec (Post-Drengir): Wants their own mind/to be their own self.

In Phase I, though Keeve expresses initial annoyance with Terec (and Ceret), she falls into an amiable dynamic with them almost immediately. After their first mission together, Keeve bandages Terec, and cares about how much they’ve been wounded. Though this is because Keeve is a good Jedi and would do this for anyone, Keeve also leaves her hand lingering on Terec’s shoulder for a panel longer than it takes for her to bandage them up.

Afterward, it’s implied that Keeve, Terec, and Ceret become frequent mission partners for the next few months (and issues) as they work to defeat the Drengir. The next big terekeeve moment comes when the Jedi undertake a mission to take on the Great Progenitor. After a skirmish at the beginning of the issue, Keeve splits off to find Avar, and Terec volunteers to go with her.

After they separate from the group, Keeve recognizes Terec and identifies them by name, which they seem pleased by.

While Keeve may have identified either twin correctly before this in the timeline, this is the first time the reader sees Keeve correctly identify them or Ceret. Thematically, I take this as an early nod toward Terec’s individuality, which I believe this is supported in the next few pages, due to the following:

Keeve and Terec stumble upon the root mind, to which Terec says “I think she knows, Keeve Trennis.”

Terec and Ceret, until this point, use “we/us” to describe themselves, as they share a mind, and the first time someone notices either twin’s usage of “I” comes later in 2021’s Issue 10, when Terec is about to get husked by the Nameless, and Ceret can no longer feel them in the Force:

Ceret: “I have lost them.”

Nooranbakarakana: “I? Since when did they say I?”

Ceret: “Terec is gone. I…am alone.”

Avar: “Gone? What do you mean? Ceret—is Terec one with the Force?”

Ceret: “I will…we will attempt to re-establish connection.”

However, Issue 8 marks its first usage in the 2021 comic. I’ll come back to this, but keep a note that the first time Terec refers to themself as “I”, it’s around Keeve.

I think that Terec referring to themself as such around Keeve in this scene is significant, both in that they trust her, and (though this next part is speculation), shows that Keeve plays a part in Terec realizing their wanting a sense of self.

Keeve then undergoes a major part of her own personal arc when Terec asks whether they need to call the others for help, and she responds:

“No. We’re enough. We’ve always been enough.”

Though this is a conclusion Keeve was long coming to, I still think it’s meaningful that she reached that conclusion with Terec at her side.

Later, the two are sent undercover to infiltrate the Nihil together, and while the two are preoccupied with the plot, they get a moment alone together in the Nihil stormship. Keeve nicknames Terec “Ter”, and while this seems like an alias for the sake of the mission and to fool the reader into thinking they’ve defected for real, put a pin in that for later. She also rests her hand on their shoulder as they get pulled in by the Nihil’s tractor beam.

The two infiltrate the Nihil and make a fun team to watch as a battle couple, but while that’s part of why I ship them, it’s not a substantive part of the analysis.

Afterward, Terec is subdued by the Nameless and begins to get husked, while Keeve shrinks away. Though this is mostly a response based on fear for Keeve, she does lean on them for support one final time:

After the pair is rescued by Avar and Sskeer, we don’t get much else from Phase I that isn’t Keeve caring about both Terec and Ceret; though her sadness and frequent visits to their bedside shows the growth of her friendship with both twins since the first issue. Terec and Ceret wake up and save Keeve, which does a lot to show both them being damn good Jedi, but also equally her friend as she is with them.

At this point, between Phases I and III, I’d argue that despite the bond having been intact (or at least, until the Dregir incident) between Terec and Ceret, there are enough moments between just Terec and Keeve that solidify a dynamic and trust between those two specifically, as opposed to Terec, Keeve, and Ceret as a trio or Keeve and Ceret’s friendship (though I cherish those dynamics too!).

I also want to check in on how the two characters compliment each other’s themes:

Though Keeve describes Terec and Ceret as living legends at the beginning of the comic, she quickly falls into a peer to peer dynamic with them. She doesn’t have to idolize Terec and Ceret; they’re her friends and mission partners, as opposed to Avar and Sskeer, both of whom she idolizes and then sees their flaws.

We don’t really get Terec’s desire for individuality as strongly in Phase I, but as I mentioned earlier, I think that Keeve is the first person to really facilitate that, either in them, or as the audience sees it.

Moving into Phase III, one of the biggest developments for this situation is the instability in Terec and Ceret’s bond, and the theme that Ceret is clinging to the link between their minds, while Terec craves independence, creating a source of conflict between the twins. Though, for most of the run, they still can sense each other’s thoughts and still have the bond, they move more as two different people as opposed to a unit.

Another one of the more notable terekeeve moments happens in Issue 1, as Keeve is about to be husked by the Nameless, and Terec hears/senses that she’s in danger. Breaking military formation, they dive-bomb into the atmosphere and straight at the Nameless to kill it, stating that Keeve can’t give up.

Additionally, Terec stops calling Keeve “Keeve Trennis”, here, like both twins did previously, and starts simply calling her “Keeve”. This disparity continues throughout the rest of the run.

On the same mission in Issue 2, the plot is mostly moving (though Keeve expresses concern for Terec before confirming their survival). Notably for Terec, they an implicit “I/me” to refer to themself for the second time, and again, in response to Keeve:

“The Nihil berserker has been shot. Am attempting to alleviate their discomfort.”

Issue 3 has Terec and Ceret blatantly defy Republic orders to help Keeve save Sskeer and jump to the Occlusion Zone. This confirms that all three are still close (and, while mostly unrelated to terekeeve as a ship, shows that Terec and Ceret will cooperate with each other for Keeve’s sake). The plot mostly keeps trucking along through Issue 4 (though we get confirmation that Terec still calls Keeve only by her first name, and that Ceret is still referring to her as “Master Keeve Trennis” or “Keeve Trennis”, for context).

Issue 5 has most of the main cast hitting intense emotional peaks, but relevant to this meta, explicitly outlines Terec’s desire to have their own mind, and Ceret’s contrasting fear of losing Terec. Keeve learns that, though she can bring Sskeer back down to earth (metaphorically speaking), he’s not alright.

Though Issue 6 mostly keeps the plot and exposition moving, Issue 7 contains what I’d argue is this run’s biggest terekeeve moment.

First, Terec uses “I/me” a third time when reassuring Keeve that they’re alright after the Yacombe child lashes out at them (“The Force protects me, Keeve.”). This marks the third time out of three that they use “I/me” to respond to Keeve specifically.

After the situation with the Yacombe child unleashing her powers, Goonral Monshi dies, and the group takes a moment to rest after nonstop plot since the first issue. The team breaks into smaller groups at the funeral pyre, but notably, Keeve and Terec split off alone. While this thread has mostly been on the substantive/thematic reasons I think Keeve and Terec work as a couple, I do want to point out that this scene has framing that could be seen as romantic (or at least intimate) with the two sat closer together than they’ve been on the page together in a while, and the moonlight/firelight framing them.

After an exchange about their current circumstances (we’ll get to that in a moment), Terec states that “We will take the first watch.” while Terec is still referring to themself with “we/us” pronouns during this run, this is no longer a rule, and notably, they’ve just referred to themself using “I” in this issue a few pages ago, and hadn’t used “we” for themself since. While this hasn’t been explicitly stated (and creds to @deusexvalerate for this observation), I think that this context means that Terec was referring to “we” as in “themself and Keeve”, but Keeve was too involved in her own issues to catch that.

On the note of Keeve being caught up in her own emotions, though the audience has been aware of Keeve’s feelings for a while due to flashbacks and her internal monologue, this is the first time she’s expressed them out loud to any of the cast. Terec and Keeve have been friends throughout the two comic runs, and have raised each other up before, but Keeve demonstrates a deep trust in them here, a trust that she hasn’t placed in anyone else in that group. When Keeve expresses her insecurities, Terec argues back that she has been a good leader.

Finally, remember that pin I asked you to put in Terec’s nickname from Phase I? Terec dropped to a level of familiarity with only using Keeve’s first name earlier in this run (and repeatedly in this conversation). Keeve using an old nickname for them feels notable here, especially given the intimacy and trust of the situation.

The plot keeps moving along for the next few issues, and doesn’t really give us any moments I’d say are concrete ship fuel between Keeve and Terec in Issues 8-10.

However, in a very significant moment for Terec, they close the bond with Ceret during Issue 9. Though it’s been a strong theme in their story until this point, this is the first time they admit their desire for their own mind out loud. This also marks the first time they’ve used “I/me” for themself while not speaking to Keeve, which I assume will continue through the duration of Tempest Breaker and thr 2025. While Terec and Ceret seem to come to an uneasy understanding, I’m sure that any tension will get developed further during the aforementioned works.

I don’t have any concrete predictions for how Terec and Keeve’s relationship will develop going into the future, but right now, Keeve is in an insecure place due to Sskeer’s betrayal, and I suspect she hasn’t recovered from her insecurities about leading a team quite yet. Though Keeve feels strongly about Sskeer, she probably won’t confide in him about her feelings for a while yet, and though she’s created a strong bond with Lourna, their trust is still tenuous. Of her close relationships, it seems natural that she’d turn to Terec, given that she’s done so on multiple occasions before this.

As for Terec, they have to learn what it means to be their own person, now. As much as Keeve trusts Terec, they also had their sense of self affirmed by her, and trusted her to the point where all three times we hear them refer to themself by “I” (or some variation thereof), it’s around her. Especially since they probably won’t be able to confide in Ceret about their newfound split, at least not for a while, they may turn to Keeve for support.

In terms of how their relationship develops, I hope it continues along the same lines that it has previously, and they continue to grow platonically closer. Originally, that’s all I thought it was going to be canonically, but between the sheer vibes (and content) of that Issue 7 page, and the fact that Terec now has their own mind, the massive factor that would potentially make a romance awkward to write just came down. Additionally, Cavan’s no stranger to a slow(ish) burn—look at Vildar and Tey from thr 2022—and the fact that they’re close could develop in a romantic or platonic direction. If we assume that there was an endgame that he’s planning with Keeve and Terec, there’s the possibility that it could have been planned from the beginning of Phase I. Finally, we have reasonable certainty that Keeve is leaving the Order. While I don’t think the catalyst for that will be a forbidden romance, it’s both a factor to pile onto why Keeve may want to go, and a way to either break her and Terec up at the end of Phase III, or provide a new direction for them to go in.

#terekeeve #terec (star wars)#terec #keeve trennis #thr 2023 #star dorks #r: terekeeve #r: always enough #sw headcanons #this is. long #I didn't realize how much evidence there was #spoilers for the entirety of the 2023 run also but it's been out for a week so I figure no tags are fine

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