#i even did connie and bertholdt even tho i don’t write for them

[marcobodtlives]

reincarnation AU related ask; preferably a modern AU, college age (don't have to be in college tho), maybe a recovering/sober Marco or Jean, definitely have one of them break up with the other because "I'm not good enough for you" but clearly they can't stay away from each other, 100% friends to lovers BUT PLEASE DONT LET IT BE TOO LONG UNTIL THEY KISS/GET TOGETHER I rather the angst be after they actually get together and navigate the relationship and so forth :] tbh angst prior to them getting together IS TOO OVERDONE

Okay okAY! Hi oh my gosh this was awesome, thank you! Super inspiring, so many ideas ☺️

Eee this was so fun to write, everyone send more!

Anon you’ve seasoned my brain broth of ideas and I loved writing these out for ya, inbox definitely staying wide open for any more ideas people may have (doesn’t even have to be about a reincarnation au!)

Okay yay! Here’s what I got, all under the cut:

Marco wouldn’t ever break things off with Jean, he’s too aware of the fact that it would hurt Jean. I also like to think that despite slightly underestimating himself, Marco is fairly secure in his self-image (he’s worked hard to get to this place).

Jean on the other hand… well he’s got some issues and tends to gaslight himself into thinking he’s 1) not good enough, 2) bad for Marco, and 3) better off letting Marco enjoy his college experience without being bogged down by the delinquent that’s been suspended twice for fighting Eren.

Perhaps he gets pulled up before a disciplinary board after a particularly rough fight with Eren goes wrong and they end up breaking a college statue or something similar. Maybe Marco (the kid with a squeaky clean record and stellar grades who works so hard to maintain a full-ride scholarship so there’s money left for his younger siblings to get the best opportunities) is also pulled into the meeting by proxy. (He was probably the one who pulled Jean away from the scuffle and got lumped in).

The stress the entire situation would cause Marco, the anxiety, the shame - all of it is stuff Jean is used to, but not Marco.

Instead of helping him through it, Jean freezes up and realises “I did this to him. I’m the cause of what Marco is having to face. I can’t put him through this, it’s not fair.”

He pulls back, suddenly and heartbreakingly (for Marco).

Jean is stubborn, but he can also be selfish. He doesn’t cope well with extended periods of ‘avoid Marco at all costs.’ So, his idea is to break off the odd-romantic-chemistry-thing they had, and limit themselves to friends.

They work their way up. Jean still keeps Marco at arms-length. He shuts down the uh… less than platonic feelings he definitely still holds for the other boy.

Jean still keeps him company while he studies, they still make flashcards together, and he still relentlessly insists on Marco taking breaks and keeping healthy. They still find the same seats next to each other at lunch, they still find themselves circling back to each other at every new corner and situation, as though hopelessly magnetised despite everything else.

Marco is Jean’s constant. He’s always there. But Jean keeps up the desperate “just friends” charade for a few weeks, or a couple months at most.

Marco is smart enough to know that it’s less about them as a couple and more about Jean’s own web of insecurities that holds him back. He gives Jean as much time as he needs. As long as they’re still in each other’s lives, he’s happy and won’t push for more until Jean is ready.

It’s the rest of the group that stir things up.

After a while it becomes evident that half of them don’t even know Marco and Jean have broken up.

Eren, Reiner, Historia, Mikasa, and Annie are either oblivious or indifferent to any minute changes noticed between the two of them.

While Ymir, Connie, and Sasha actively berate Jean about it. They poke fun and (in their own way) help him realise he’s being cowardly by burying his head in the sand.

Armin and Bertholdt are open and honest in a raw, vulnerable way that pushes Jean to a precipice of realisation.

He isn’t doing this because he lost faith in the relationship. He’s doing this because he’s painfully aware of his own flaws, and he’s terrified of the part they’ll play in the unknown progression of his first serious relationship.

In light of this, things change again.

Marco and Jean are together, properly this time. Nobody’s foot is hovering out the door.

Jean is hesitant, sure, but Marco’s understanding in the face of everything Jean did has strengthened his ability to trust that he can actually lean on Marco when he doesn’t feel like he’s enough.

It’s odd really. Jean seeking support from the one person who he feels he isn’t good enough for.

It’s messy, it’s patchwork, it’s a jumble of feelings and insecurities, but it’s them. It’s what they are.

Jean is a wobbly rock in a stream of college stress and Marco is the moss that keeps him lodged in place, despite the ever-changing current.

And the current definitely comes.

You pick it, there are a world of options.

An accident on campus? A near-fatal injury that leaves someone (probably Marco) hurt, suffering, and (as anon mentioned) in need of recovery and sobriety? Family problems? Interpersonal conflicts? Lost scholarships? Failing classes?

Perhaps the sudden appearance of unexplainably vivid dreams of small towns, unmeasurable walls, large, genderless titan that leave blood, bodies, and lost soulmates in their wake?

So many possibilities, but throughout them all (as long as everyone remains alive) the two of them have each other.

#jeanmarco #reincarnation au #answered #jean kirschtein #marco bodt #or if you wanna be funky: #jean kirstein #marco bott #the whole gang too #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #reincarnation #headcanon #my drabbles #AoT fic ideas #fic ideas