Let's be real, this is no longer a oneshot book. 

Apologies for that. 

BUT LET'S GET TO THE GOOD STUFF!!!!!

Ok, so @unmappedstar posted the new Keefe poverties in her Legacy wait book which is pretty great, you should check it out on the off chance you haven't already. So anyway, if you wanna go read it and can't find it, let me know. 

Anyway, brief summary: Alden asks Keefe to go the the tribunal because he's Fitz's best friend, and Alden doesn't want Fitz to get mad if things don't turn out badly for Alvar and take his anger out on Sophie, so he needs Keefe to regulate his emotions. He also tells Keefe to let Sophie and Fitz be together, because Fitz needs Sophie with everything going on. Keefe agrees to both. 

So now that that's out of the way, it's rant time. 

Ok, I'm usually a very sympathetic person. But up to a certain point, it's hard for me to be sympathetic to Keefe (sorry). But even I feel for him in this situation. 

Alden is kinda pulling a low blow, mentioning all this stuff about how he's always considered Keefe family, and then asking Keefe to back off from Sophie. He talks about knowing how it feels to have your crush prefer someone else and all that. He's also, like Ro pretty much perfectly stated, asking Keefe to be there so Keefe can regulate Fitz's emotions and probably be Fitz's emotional punching bag if he gets mad. Which if you ask me, isn't cool. Keefe impressed me when he said that Sophie wasn't an object that him and Fitz can fight for, and was willing to step down. I can definitely see why people think Keefe would be better for her, and in some ways, I agree, but that's not the point. 

But, I can totally see where Alden's coming from. I've said it before, and I will say it again--Fitz needs Sophie. Alden was right about that. What with Alvar and the constant stress of the Neverseen and the trauma his sister just got put through, Fitz needs a lot of support, which is something Sophie is really good at. Alden himself has been put through a lot. His son was almost fatally injured--twice--his daughter now has permanent scars, and his eldest son betrayed his entire family and helped in the capture of someone he considers his daughter. Seeing Fitz happy is his way of healing--I think that's true of almost every parent. Having their kids happy makes them happy. Yeah, it's not cool to meddle with Keefe and Sophie, but he's just trying to heal his son. And whether you like it or not, Fitz needs Sophie right now, and Sophie needs Fitz. Though that may change throughout the series, right in this moment, that's all that matters to him. 

So what do you think? Do you think Alden completely crossed the line and was in the wrong, or do you think his actions can be excused because of his good intentions?