Attack on Titan Fanfiction - With Friends Like These - Intro & Chapter List

Warning: Contains manga spoilers.

While reading Chapter 137 of the manga, I was enchanted by a flashback from Armin of him and his friends walking in the market. I suddenly remembered I had come up with a similar fanfic scene years ago, during the heydays of the SnK BL boom (2013-2015) in Japan. That was when I got into BL doujinshi and absolutely adored the Levi x Erwin, Eren x Levi, Eren x Jean, Jean x Reiner and related pairings.

This coming-of-age story is set in pre-timeskip Paradis, when Eren and Jean are at that age of sexploration. They have multiple partners and are finding out what love and friendship are all about.

I’ve always been fascinated by the complicated Eren x Jean dynamic in the manga. We see Eren being pissed at Jean in the beginning, but later on caring for his opinions and listening to what he has to say and agreeing with him, as shown in the first Battle of Shiganshina, as well as that flashback sunset scene on the railroad tracks.

As for Jean, he has shown (for me at least) the best character growth amongst the 104th, going from a boy who was jealous and resentful of Eren to someone who, time and again, stood up for him, defended him, and gave him the benefit of the doubt.

It pains me that, even in the final arc of the canon story (as of February 2021), there are those in the fanboards who still insist, “Jean’s a dick, screw him, he hates Eren, he’s envious of him.”

What a myopic view of one of Isayama’s best-developed characters.

Jean may have disliked Eren as an adolescent, but as he grew up he learned to love and understand him. This love couldn’t be more obvious than in that incredible dialogue in the forest, when the 104th along with Hange and Levi decided to join forces with Magat and the warriors. Jean stood up for Eren, revealing an understanding of him that was both mature and insightful.

Even when they were imprisoned by Floch’s gang and Mikasa was hurting and he knew not why, he still gave Eren the benefit of the doubt, comforting her with his words without dissing the titan shifter.

Jean is a complex character. What I love about SnK is that not everyone is black or white, but instead are flawed creatures with complicated relationships and convoluted feelings.

At world’s end, Jean calls Eren a suicidal bastard but he has come to say it out of a place of love. There was a time in his life when he was merely concerned about Mikasa’s safety, but as the story progressed we see him being concerned about Eren himself. His character development beginning at the point of Marco’s death has been subtle and nuanced, much of it only detectable through subtext.

My fanfic stories of him try to explore this sublime characterization—Isayama’s masterpiece, in my opinion.

For this story, written in 2018 but which I hope is still relevant now, I wanted to explore the possibilities of a relationship between the Jean and Eren, at a stage where camaraderie and love and sex and longings all merge into a cake, sweet at times, but always with the underlying flavours of bitterness and sourness and saltiness. Mostly it’s a story of friendship, the simple joy of being able to walk in the market with one’s friends.

Pairings: Eren Jaeger x Jean Kischtein (erejean), Eren Jaeger x Levi Ackermann (ereri), Erwin Smith x Levi Ackermann (eruri), Jean Kirschtein x Marco Bodt (jeanmarco), Jean Kirschtein x Mikasa Ackermann (jeankasa, unrequited), Eren Jaeger x Historia Reiss (erehisu)
Other Characters: Sasha Brauss, Connie Springer, Mrs Kirschtein, original characters