𝑨 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒓

First of all, I feel like it is important to make a distinction between moments in which the Foxes are just being Foxes (fighting, bickering, being assholes) and the moments where the critics to Kevin's treatment really are.

For example, Kevin and Seth's fights were totally an example of the second of case. Kevin was frustrated, both with his hand and with the fact he was now in a team considerably worse than the one he came from(and frustrated because Seth being his pair striker was probably a very bitter reminder of everything that had happened to him). Seth was frustrated not only with Kevin's constants critics and harsh push for performance, but also because Kevin was a bitter reminder of everything Seth wasn't by simple virtue of birth. Seth grew up being one more among a bunch of siblings with clearly neglectful parents. He grew up being treated as completely unimportant. So of course having The Great Kevin Day there in his team felt like rubbing salt on a wound.

They were both going through a shitty time and took it out on each other by constantly fighting and bickering. They were hurting so they hurted.

This type of conflict appears through the whole narrative with different characters. It is gennerally a two way conflict.

There are also moments that involve great emotional distress and you can understand why a certain character might have taken a certain action, even if that might have caused damage to another character (i.e choking incident. I have a post somewhere analysing it, so I definitely won't do it now, because this will get too long)

But the point is, specially in TKM, there are plenty of moments in which the Foxes are just unnecessarly cruel or unforgiving towards Kevin, specially in moments in which he is fragilized and this isn't adressed at all

1-We already start the book with Matt punching Kevin TWICE because of what happened to Neil. Kevin, who was probably already feeling horrible, didn't react or tried to fight back at all.

I don't think I really need to explain why punching someone who isn't reacting is a bad thing.

And yes, he was shocked, worried and mad because of what was done to Neil. Assaulting Kevin didn't change anything and also didn't 'punish' the right person. It was absolutely pointless.

Yes, Kevin didn't tell them where Neil was going. Maybe he didn't say anything for the same reason Neil went there in the first place. If Riko had enough of a levarege to force Neil to go, than he definitely had enough to make Kevin stay silent about it(which was true. Riko had Andrew and Kevin knew it. If he stopped Neil from going, whatever happened to Andrew would be his fault. Kevin did the right thing by allowing Neil to decide what he wanted to do and respecting it). But of course, instead of assessing the situation for 5 seconds, we jump straight to assume Kevin didn't say anything for giggles and kicks.

(Just to make it clear, this is not saying Matt is a horrible person. This is just me saying in this instance he was wrong)

2-Andrew threatening Kevin with a knife because of that stupid trip.

I hate this scene so much and on so many levels that it is not even funny anymore.

It makes me so sad that this is what Nora has decided to do with Andrew and Kevin's relationship.

Because the thing is: Kevin was never afraid of Andrew.

There is one other moment in the series in which Andrew lifts a knife to Kevin and this is when Kevin literally presses him against a wall and ignores his warnings to let go. Andrew uses the knife to nip Kevin and make him let go, and that is it. They are mad at each other, but there is no fear.

It is a heavy scene, but Andrew was completely on the right and doing it out of self defense(honestly, Kevin had that one coming from a mile away).

But in this instance in TKM, Andrew threatens Kevin for what? Being against a vacation? This is literally the most stupid reason Andrew threatened someone over in the series.

And the worst part is: even though this is a bluff, this happens a few days after the choking incident and Kevin is actually afraid of Andrew. So instead of calling Andrew out on it, like he would probably usually do, Kevin actually stops talking.

In other words: he is now afraid of the one person who used to protect him and this person is using this as a way to control his behavior.

Wonderful

Gets even better because no one ever touchs this subject again. Is Kevin forever afraid of Andrew now? Or was this just because it happened so soon after the choking? Will Andrew keep on acting like this towards Kevin now?

No idea, we are pretending it didn't happen

To think their relationship was essentially based on kevin's unwavering trust that Andrew could protect him and that is where it is by the end of the three books.

(And this isn't shade on Andrew, but on Nora's writting choices. Andrew gennerally uses violence whenever he feels like there is a threat, but here he seems to do it simply for control and to me it doesn't make much sense with his character at all. It also doesn't make sense with what happens after, because Nora signals Kevin is now afraid of Andrew and doesn't adress it any further. It is a fucking mess)

3-Then we have the shitshow that was the Foxes finding out Wymack is Kevin's dad

I find this one the worst of them all, to be honest. Their reaction bordered on cruelty. It wasn't just the Foxes being the Foxes. It was a complete lack of any consideration for another person.

After Kevin talks to Wymack, he and Neil go back to the Fox Tower and Kevin is clearly on the verge of a panick attack when Neil leaves the car. He has his hand in his face and cannot even speak, gesturing for Neil to go away. Neil interprets the gesture however he wants (as permission to tell the Foxes the truth) and goes up leaving Kevin there.

(Honestly, I believe Neil's intentions were good here, that is not the problem)

Neil gathers everyone and the Foxes react as if Kevin not telling Wymack is the worst absurd ever seen and Kevin is selfish because of it(wonder why the guy who was raised wihtout a father, has scaped a mafia run cult and has no where else to go felt like it was better to not reveal this information). Also, Kevin literally doesn't owe the information about his patternity to anyone. Getting mad at him is fucking WILD.

Dan makes a literal scandal, turns the situation onto something about herself and her feelings and how she is mad because >Kevin< hurt Wymack. No, not Kayleigh, who literally lied in Wymack's face. Not Tetsuji, who had this letter hidden all along and also didn't say anything while he broke and abused Wymack's child for a decade. No, none of them. Kevin. The kid who spent a decade raised as a human pet because his mother trusted the wrong person. He is the one who hurt Wymack.

This gets even worse when we learn Riko almost put a hit out on Wymack as things were. Of course Kevin was cautios about revealling the truth.

The Foxes make sure someone stays with Dan to console and take care of her, meanwhile Kevin was literally left alone on the verge of a mental breakdown inside the car. And he is still down there, alone, inside the car.

Because of course, the one that needs support here is Dan. Makes all sense in the world.

Right after all of this, Kevin is forced to go on that trip he didn't even want to go in the first place, with the team that is now mad at him.

At some point, Dan pushes Kevin aside to talk to him and Matt tells her to NOT STRIKE HIM ANYWHERE IT WILL BRUISE.

We don't get to know if Dan did hit him or not, but there is no excuse whatsoever for what Matt said.

It would already have been absurd if that was anyone else. You don't hit someone for growing up without a dad and being afraid to tell their dad the truth. Kevin had the right to take however long he needed to talk to Wymack. It is not a son's job to tell a father he is a father.

But the fact he said this about Kevin, who would suffer physical abuse constantly, everything in places that either could be hid by clothes or where it wouldn't leave bruisess, is absolutely horrible.

Then both Kevin and Dan come back from that talk and Kevin specifically sits on the OUTSKIRTS, which is how he spends most of the trip.

All those scenes are only made worse when we learn from Jean that Kevin would read Kayleigh's letter all the time. Or when we learn in the EC that Kevin's best non-Exy memory was finding the letter.

Those are just a few examples, all from TKM, which honestly I think is the worst part.

The whole idea of the series is that team unites around Neil and on the process, the rifts between them start to close. By this point in TKM the relationship between all of the Foxes is considerably better than it was during TFC . Of course, it is not perfect, far from it, but definitely better. They are all on their way to healing.

Except Kevin.

His relationship with essentially everyone has gotten worse (except Nicky and Aaron, I feel like it remained the same), he is isolated inside the team and constantly being belittled, berated and more than once the victim of unprovoked physical violence or threats.

The funny part is that he was way more of an asshole in TFC, and still he didn't get treated half as bad as he does in TKM.

So no, Kevin is not a sweet victim of the Foxes mistreatment for most of the time. He knows how to be violent and how to be an asshole. Most of the time he gives as good as he gets. That is what happens during the first two books.

But then we get to the end of TKM and it is just a sequence of the Foxes kicking Kevin while he is already on the ground, and there is no resolution.

(But of course, Kevin and his obsession are very useful when he appears left handed to play against the Ravens. Then he is a part of the team. When he might have been in need of support after the hard conversation he must have had with Wymack, he got a "don't strike him where it will leave a mark". But when he is "dancing circles around the Ravens defense line" then the fact is an obsessive bitch is very useful.)