#they'd both back down eventually. neither of them could preemptively kill someone

[bookwyrminspiration]

if given the chance do you think keefe would actually kill / severely injure his mom? Also if he did how do you think the crew would react ? I feel as if the hatred for Gisela is pretty mutual among the group, and Sophie has described wanting to hurt Gisela multiple times, however when Fitz punched Alvar / tried to kill him, despite knowing all that Alvar had done, everyone seemed at least a little unsettled/upset. I know the comparison isn't perfect, but I think its interesting to think about.

Oh that's an interesting question! I know that he'd say he would be willing to hurt and/or end her because she's a horrible person and he doesn't care about her and it's what's right, but when it comes down to it I think it'd be a lot harder decision to make. Because that's his mom. No matter how awful or horrible she's turned out to be, he grew up with her and part of him loves her and wants to be loved by her.

(cut for space reasons!)

As things are currently, I think if he were to hurt Gisela it would be for his friends. Gisela's hurt him badly, but I don't think he'd fight back for his own sake, he doesn't think he's worth it. But her targeting the people/person he cares about? That's an instance where he'd be more capable of hurting Gisela because it's not about him and he'd be able to act on something outside of his own conflicted feelings. When it's about him and Gisela then he'd freeze, and Gisela could goad him into a verbal conflict and say things to mess with his head. There'd need to be a buffer between the two to clear Keefe's mind and help him focus. It's possible he could have development and fight for himself and see himself as worth something, but right now he's not there.

Also, I think the only instance where Keefe would hurt Gisela would be in the heat of a battle. If they were in an environment where he had to take a deliberate action to hurt her (say, while they were questioning her or something) then he'd be unable to. But if they're already fighting and he's acting more on instinct then it's more like he's just following the flow and moving and not thinking about anything but the next second. He doesn't have time to have a moral dilemma, he just has time to act and to defend his friends and try to end everything. It's the thinking that gets to him. If he kills her, it's going to be a heat of the moment kind of situation is my prediction. Which will then be followed by silence as the thinking catches up to him and he realizes what he's done and tries to figure out if he's made the right decision. A sort of "I didn't mean--i was just trying to stop her. I wasn't trying to kill her" thing.

For how everyone would react, I think it'd be mostly shock. And concern for Keefe's well being. They all hated Gisela and wanted her gone, but that desire is very different from their friend actually actively killing him mother. So they'd probably be a little unsettled that Keefe actually did it, but be glad that Gisela couldn't hurt anyone anymore. But then there's the whole matter of "is he like...okay?" because he just killed his mother. So that would probably take precedence because what's done is done and they don't want Keefe to fall apart. They care more about Keefe being okay than about Gisela being dead, so the adults can worry about that while their friends all make sure he's not going to fall apart. Whatever their thoughts on it are, that's not as important as making sure Keefe isn't going to break.

I think the same "it'll ruin you" mindset from Fitz trying to Alvar could be applied here as well. That's part of what Sophie said to keep Fitz from killing him, and he stopped because she said she didn't want to lose him. It'd change him irreversibly to kill his brother. Keefe if he killed Gisela is what would've happened to Fitz if he'd gone through with it. Permanently changed, ruined, and they don't want to loose him. That's not something you can come back from. That's not to say he wouldn't be okay someday, but he would never be the same person again.

So I think given the chance in a moment where he doesn't have time to think about his actions, Keefe could kill or severely injure Gisela. And that his friends would be unsettled but more concerned for his well being than dealing with him killing her. It's very interesting, so thank you for bringing it up!!