- @pinky-keene, over private message here on Tumblr.
Okay, but seriously though. If you really think about it, this is probably the truest thing.
Consider Ben, he’s always so wrapped up in himself and his own issues. Any time Gwen mentions one of her own problems -or even just anything that’s not about Ben- he brushes it off or flat out ignores it. He’s the Wielder of the Omnitrix, the Hero of the Universe, he doesn’t have time for her and her problems, or any one else for that matter.
But its not just Ben. Max also tends to neglect Gwen -mostly because he spends most of his time, energy, and focus wrangling Ben. First when they were children in the OS and then later in Omniverse. Max has invest twice at much (if not more than twice) his time and energy on his grandson which his granddaughter is ignored -or worse!, given instructions to watch or be responsible for Ben.
But it doesn’t stop there. Even Gwen’s own mother doesn’t encourage and nurture her. I will never forgive Natalie Tennyson for that “polite people don’t glow in the dark” comment she made TO HER DAUGHTER’S FACE! And when Gwen called her mom out on her xenophobia, “I glow in the dark”, Natalie’s response is to brush it off with “not around me”. Like, she wants her own child to be ashamed of and hide what she is! What she was born as and cannot change! What the hell kind of parenting is that!?
Out of everyone in Gwen’s life who’s supposed to love, care about, and encourage her, Kevin is the only one who does so consistently, enthusiastically, and without ulterior motives or expecting anything in return. He legitimately loves her and wants her to succeed for the sake of her own success and not for himself. Like Pinky said in her message, he put his own dream of becoming a Plumber on hold so that he could follow her to collage and be with her while she follower her own dream.
But before that, when he was Ultimate Kevin, remember how many episodes he went before he started going after her? Remember what he said when she caught up with him and confronted him around his behavior. He said he was actively trying to stay away from her because he KNEW he couldn’t control himself and he KNEW he would hurt her -even kill her. Ben was ranting that Kevin was insane, and evil, and there wasn’t any good left in him, that he “had to be put down” (killed, Ben legit wanted to MURDER Kevin). But that wasn’t the case. That whole time, Kevin was fighting his Osmosian overdose induced instincts. He was wrestling with himself for the one single purpose of not hurting Gwen. Whatever else he did, he did not want to hurt her. And you can see it too. At the Forge of Creation when he first turned into Ultimate Kevin, he does move towards Gwen. But then he see’s the look on her face and turns and leaves instead. When she corners him in the arcade you can see his body trembling with the effort of holding himself back, trying with every last ounce of self-control he had left not to just grab her. Its not until she attacks him and he gets a taste of her mana that he loses himself completely.
Case in point: The fandom likes to shit on Kevin a lot. But he is the only one who legitimately cares about Gwen. And cares about her as an autonomous individual, not because he has to because they’re family or teammates. Kevin deserves more credit than he gets.
