Hot take: Leviathan is criminally underappreciated as a character, and his potential is agonizingly underutilized by the fandom. And I'm not just saying this because of my sea monster bias, either.
Maybe it's just me, and if so I'll feel quite silly for this, but from what I've seen - and with the obvious exception of Levi-centric fics, which I assume must exist, but have yet to actually find - Levi seems to primarily be used in fanfics for one of two things:
As a narrative foil to, and/or to act in direct opposition of, one of his brothers
And there's absolutely nothing wrong with having a character around only to serve as a foil, or as a narrative punching bag, or not at all. Hell, one of the AUs I'm working on right now originally had no Levi at all, and it took until draft 3 (of 10, currently) for him to really play a truly necessary role in the story's events. I'm not claiming to be immune to the Invisible Leviathan Phenomenon, that would be a lie - and fanfiction authors don't owe anybody anything.
But consider: This man is just... Utterly Unhinged. And that has potential.
Leviathan is the Grand Admiral of Hell's Navy. He's been tracking Mammon's debt to him, with interest, for millennia. He once found a celebrity's home address, and then decided that it was now his duty to keep people from being weird towards her... As if he wasn't also being Extremely Weird by finding her address in the first place. He broke into his sleeping brother's room to rob him because he wanted something Mammon had - which, Envy Moment, so that tracks. He found a giant, man-eating snake in his kitchen, and he immediately decided that he would die for this creature... Who he then proceeded to eventually release into the palace dungeons.
This man is simultaneously the type of person who would put the fish back in D:BH, and the type of person who would play The Knife Game. He's feral. He's a respected, highly ranked military officer. He's soft-spoken and socially awkward. He'll quite literally assault you for cheating at trivia.
Leviathan is emotional, and petty, and insecure. Leviathan is cunning, and observant, and hard-working. He is a sailor, and a soldier, and an artist, and a brother. He likes to study dream symbolism and psychoanalyze his family.
Leviathan is so many things. He has the potential to be so many things.
So... Why is that, with startling consistency, the thing he ends up being is... Well... A sidekick?
Is there just something that I'm missing?
gummygunk
yousharknotpass
blakekathryn
prguitarman
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