JeanMarco

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Pairing
Pairing: JeanMarco
Alternative name(s): jm, marcojean
Gender category: Slash
Fandom: Attack on Titan
Canonical?: No
Prevalence: Popular
Archives: SnK Kink Meme, JeanMarco stories on Wattpad
Other: JeanMarco Gift Exchange
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Too Much Feels by Jo (2013)

JeanMarco was a popular ship in the Attack on Titan fandom, between Jean Kirschtein and Marco Bodt. It had a large and passionate fanbase even though one of its characters, Marco, died early in both adaptations. Many fans even considered JeanMarco fanon, and it was a background relationship in a lot of fanfiction written to focus on other characters and relationships.

During the long gap between the releases of Season 1 (2013) and Season 2 (2017) of the anime, passion for the entire Attack on Titan fandom lost steam as fans moved on to other fandoms. Though JeanMarco fans were used to a dearth of content from canon, their fandom eventually petered out too, though it is remembered fondly by many of its participants and BNFs. This loss of interest was helped along by the convoluted twists in the manga's writing and growing awareness of controversy surrounding Hajime Isayama’s political views.

In Canon

screenshot edit by freckledbodtsoldier (2013)

Jean and Marco have very different personalities, Jean acting as a bad-tempered foil to Attack on Titan’s protagonist as soon as he is introduced and Marco acting as a voice of reason. Despite this, they are depicted as close friends. Jean thinks Marco is a naive idealist and Marco thinks Jean would make a good leader. Marco saves Jean in battle, and then Marco is killed in episode 13 of the anime and chapter 18 of the manga. Jean is the one to discover his corpse and his death changes Jean’s perspective and life goals. Jean joins the Survey Corps (also called the Scout Regiment) and continues to work alongside Eren because of Marco. Marco is rarely mentioned after his death, however the circumstances surrounding it are shown to still impact Jean even years later.[1]

Fandom

Glasses Jean wearing the red beanie by kimiooon (2014)

Jean/Marco is the second most common relationship in AoT fics on AO3.[2]

[Jean Kirschstein/Marco Bodt is] still the most collaborative, creatively generative, and drama-free fandom experience I’ve ever had. The fandom actually became more about the fic and art people were producing than the show itself, which was really cool to be a part of. There were thirty or forty fics that had dedicated followings, and an obscenely talented and large team of artists that just kept churning out top-tier content. Halcyon days. The ship itself barely existed in the show, but when it did? It was sublime.

Peyton Thomas, The 100 Most Popular Ships on Ao3, Ranked, Archived version

Many Attack on Titan fan creators who favored JeanMarco became friends, collaborated on pieces together, and gifted each other with content. It was especially common for fanartists to fill their art with Easter Egg details—references to other popular JeanMarco fanworks. In particular, Jean was often drawn wearing a red beanie that had no association with his attire in canon. What resulted was a tightly knit community of creators who often made more art specifically for JeanMarco than for Attack on Titan as a whole.

"Red-Beanie Thursdays," on which fans posted selfies, fanart, fanfiction, and cosplay related to JeanMarco were inspired by the popular fic Wisteria and its prequel, Forget Me Not, in which Jean has a red beanie that is an important plot point.

Tropes & Fanon

Thanks For Waking Up by captaingalaga (2013)
Some dark!Marco by edelloop (2015)

It is a popular headcanon that Jean continued to think about Marco, his death, and the effect it had on Jean’s life as the series progressed. This is confirmed late into the series, including the fact that he talked about Marco to other characters who didn't know him.[1]

Because half of this ship died so early on in the series, many JeanMarco fanworks either took place before Marco’s death or had to avert canon. Thus the majority of fanworks are Alternate Universes in which Marco's death is somehow averted. This is reflected in the Nobody Dies/Everybody Lives tag being the most commonly used for JeanMarco works on Archive of Our Own.

Some fanworks reflected the dark tone of the source material and on angst, in both works close to canon and Canon Divergence works that avoided Marco's death. The majority of works that focus on Marco are JeanMarco, so JeanMarco works often include tropes generally found in Marco works. This includes Injured!Marco or Disability Fic in which Marco survived the titan attack or Dark!Marco based on theories that Marco was secretly a titan shifter or villain. The focus on disability in JeanMarco fandom is notable for a slash/yaoi anime pairing, as such ships generally focus on two able, conventionally attractive characters together.

Other fanworks were lighter and more fluffy; these were often AUs that were more different from SNK canon, such as Modern AUs and Mundane AUs. It was common for Marco to be an amputee.

Popular AUs

fanfiction by rhymewithrachel (2014)
  • Military Police AU: Jean and Marco both wanted to join the Military Police while they trained as soldiers. Because Jean is inspired by Marco’s death to join the Survey Corps instead, it’s a common headcanon that they would have gone to the Military Police instead if Marco had lived.
  • Reincarnation AU
  • Everybody Lives AU
  • High School & College AUs
  • Punk/Pastel AUs were particularly common in fanart

Homophobic Jean

from a jm comic, Damn by happyds (2013)

A very common plot point in JeanMarco fanfiction was internalized homophobia. Usually in these fics, Marco was depicted as gay, closeted or not, and Jean was both attracted to him and in denial about it. Sometimes Jean knew he was attracted to men but didn’t want to admit it because of his family or job. Sometimes he told Marco, whether it was the truth or not, that he could not love him because Marco was a man and he wasn't gay. Often Jean would cite his attraction towards Mikasa, which shows up in canon, as proof he was straight.

Some fanworks used Jean's "no homo" attitude as a source of comedy, and others as a source of conflict. A few fic authors used it as an opportunity to tackle the reasons behind internalized homophobia in real life or for Jean's character development in their fic.

As fans noticed this trend, many expressed frustration and disappointment in the prevalence of homophobic Jean characterizations.[3] Fans complained that it was a harmful portrayal of a gay character, and that it was often shallow and always overused. [4]

Gallery

Example Fanworks

Influential and Popular Fanfiction

Fanartists

Other

Links & Resources

References

  1. ^ a b Attack on Titan Chapter 127 End's Eve
  2. ^ "AO3 Ship Stats 2019". Archived from the original on 2022-03-19.
  3. ^ can we please stop using the “no homo” default plot in jeanmarco fics, Archived version by cousinnick, Tumblr. Posted 21 February 2014. Accessed 06 May 2022.
  4. ^ jeanmarco writing challenge, Archived version by tsunfisk, Tumblr. Posted no later than 11 March 2014. Accessed 06 May 2022.
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