ship manifesto: jyn erso/cassian andor
Fandom: Star Wars: Rogue One
Pairing: Jyn Erso/Cassian Andor
Recced on livejournal by: sugangel7
What do you get when a headstrong, fiery rebel meets a cool, reserved captain?
ALL OF THIS:
He hadn’t known her, didn’t know her, of course. There wasn’t the time.
Credit to: http://cassianskywalkers.tumblr.com/post/155918947283/he-hadnt-known-her-didnt-know-her-of-course
I’m not used to people sticking around when things go bad.
Credit to: http://wrinchester.tumblr.com/post/155693213487/im-not-used-to-people-sticking-around-when-things
Credit to: http://jedileiaorgana.tumblr.com/post/155282010231/jyncassian-text-post-meme
Why write a ship manifesto for these two? Rebelcaptain stole my heart and then some. The one thing that soothes my soul is that there is a whole community of like-minded folks who have written tons of seriously beautiful fic that pretty much meets every single desire you had for this unwitting rebel and intelligence captain after watching the beautiful action-packed war epic that was the movie Rogue One. And you probably read the novelization too, which just whetted your appetite even more. (And let’s not forget about the official Star Wars Spotify playlist for Cassian Andor which just reaffirms their tragic, beautiful love story even more.)
I could’ve spent ages longer on this manifesto, and there are still some gorgeous fics out there that I have not yet read that I am dying to read, but I hope this serves as a somewhat comprehensive look at what the rebelcaptain fanfiction fandom has to offer. (Also look at the het-reccers tag, because a few of my favorites of theirs have already been recced). And check out the rebelcaptain tag on tumblr because there is so much good stuff to be found on there.
Rec #1: If you’re in the mood for some really well-done slow burn...
Title: semantics (it’s a series of one-shots!)
Author: katsumi
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/series/631220
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: ~2000 words for each one-shot / four one-shots with perhaps more to come
Why This Must Be Read: This captures the careful hesitation on the parts of both Jyn and Cassian as they share a bed together and many of their friends just don’t quite get it while some of them do. Fluffy, humorous, and heart-wrenching by turns.
“How is sleeping not the same as sleeping?” K2 asks, and shit, this is not a path Cassian wants to go down with him. He closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Semantics,” he says, and he can hear the clink of bolts as K2 slumps a little. K2 has always been moody about that human tendency to say things that don’t mean what they’re supposed to mean, a tendency the droid finds “complicated” and “uselessly theatric.”
“Oh,” K2 says, voice dripping with disdain. “I see.”
Rec #2: If you’re in the mood for some gorgeously romantic hurt/comfort...
Title: you will hope in something real
Author: tryalittlejoytomorrow
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9119407
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 4590 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This is a brilliant character study of Jyn and is just soft, quiet, and utterly, utterly romantic.
Rain catches on his eyelashes, and she becomes fixated on that, too. His face is a blur but she sees the little drops so distinctly, can count them, and he's beautiful, she can't deny it, and she wants to kiss him all of a sudden, or maybe it's not so sudden, after all. Jyn's been wanting to kiss him since that long ride in the elevator. Wanting to kiss someone when you feel like you're about to die is not exactly the same thing as wanting to kiss them every day, in the aftermath, Jyn's painfully aware. She's never wanted that before. She can't say that she hates that her life is now divided between before and after Cassian. It's another warm, stupid feeling Saw never took the time to explain.
Rec #3: If you’re in the mood for a truly action-heavy war fic...
Title: spes semper mihi adest
Author: rain_sleet_snow
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9228242/chapters/20928818
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up, Major Character Death
Word Count/WIP?: 26945/ No
Additional Pairings: Chirrut Îmwe/Baze Malbus, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Shara Bey/Kes Dameron, Leia Organa/Luke Skywalker/Han Solo, Jyn Erso/Han Solo
Why This Must Be Read: I love this fic because it feels very much like the movie: Jyn and Cassian’s relationship is basically taken as a given with a lot of plot and action in a world where a war keeps on going, even as two people find themselves entwined in the midst of it. A poignant, engaging fic.
Cassian is half-awake. His clothes are bloody and partly shredded, and beneath them and the bacta Jyn can see scars that are healing and the distinctive marks of a torture droid, which are not. He looks thin and sunken and sick and he needs a shave. He also looks quite surprised to see Jyn; for a moment she isn’t even sure he recognises her.
“Hello, Cassian,” Jyn says. Her tongue is crowded with words that won’t come out. She swallows them down. “Have a blaster.”
She offers him the lighter of the blasters she stole, and he takes it with a familiar, easy grip that reassures Jyn that he’s still in there.
“If this is a dream,” Cassian announces, swinging his legs off his bunk and staggering towards Jyn, “it is a beautiful dream.”
Rec #4: If you’re in the mood for a fantastic rendition of the soulmates trope...
Title: this is the fate you’ve carved on me
Author: Selkit
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9372218/chapters/21217277
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 17465 / Yes
Why This Must Be Read: I’m such a sucker for the soulmarks trope, and this author manages to pull it off in a way that feels so perfect for these characters and this film. I appreciate that the author stays true to the essence of Rogue One, but isn’t afraid to adapt the film’s plot for the purposes of making this trope work. It builds an added layer of complication to an already complicated relationship and boy does it make for some fun and suspense and angst.
It occurs to her, very dimly in the back of her mind, that it would feel right to reach out and trace her fingers along the curving script, to see what her words feel like on his skin. She doesn’t.
Yet she does feel an odd sensation steal over her, like the not-quite-unpleasant ache in her shoulders after setting down a heavy load. It’s not relief, not entirely, but it’s something close.
Rec #5: If you’re in the mood for a fix-it, bed-sharing fic because hey this is rebelcaptain after all...
Title: we were secrets to keep
Author: mollivanders
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9352454
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 3270 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This fandom is chock-full of fix-it and bed-sharing fics but this is definitely one of the best. beautiful, flowing writing style that captures these two broken souls in such stark relief.
She's not sleeping, for one. Not sleeping well, at least, judging by the dark circles under her eyes and the way her shoulders are slumped.
His training also whispers to him that everything in her file suggests she's about to run, about to disappear, and he tries to shrug it off.
(Still, the thought nags at him like an open wound.)
So when she knocks at his quarters that night and slips inside, he doesn’t protest as she curls up next to him. She’s warm and solid against him, and he hasn’t been this close to her since Scarif. He doesn’t ask questions, and he drifts off listening to the sound of her shallow breathing, one pounding heartbeat at a time.
(They’ll figure out the rest later.)
Rec #6: If you’re in the mood for a college AU...
Title: you might just go under
Author: andromeda3116
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9780254
Rating/Warning(s): Mature
Word Count/WIP?: 8076 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This is one of the best college AU fics out there. It captures that instant attraction between the two in a realistic way, and it features the rest of the Star Wars gang in a super fun way that truly does justice to all the characters.
Walking into the apartment (where, she could not stress this enough, she was supposed to be meeting two or three people for a study group after being on her feet all day behind the bar) was like walking unfortunately back in time, to the English department parties at Northeastern -- complete with the now-dated Lady Gaga music playing. Bodhi heaved a sigh when they walked through the door.
“I tried to wrestle the playlist away from Kay,” he said. “But he’s stronger than he looks.”
Rec #7: If you’re in the mood for an epic, action-packed fic that features the entire crew of Rogue One...
Title: floating, sinking
Author: shuofthewind
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9053302/chapters/20596522
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 135568 / Yes
Additional Pairings: Chirrut Îmwe/Baze Malbus
Why This Must Be Read: With alternating POVs, this fic is a beautiful homage to the entire crew of Rogue One. So if you want something that features Bodhi, Baze, and Chirrut in spades while still doing justice to the beauty that is Cassian and Jyn’s relationship, then read this. The action and plot are just as substantial and important as the romance. It basically reads like another movie, and runs through A New Hope.
Jyn looks at the bedspread. She’s still confined to the sickbay, even though she could walk. There are guards on the door, Rebels in helmets. She can’t make out their faces, but they stop her when she tries to leave. If she wanted she could take them both out and vanish, but Cassian is in the next bed over, still kept sedated, and Bodhi wanders in and out when he needs quiet in this noxious jungle prison, and Baze is-untethered, is the word she wants. Baze is untethered. Chirrut is still hovering somewhere between life and death, and Baze is lost in space for as long as the question remains. She cannot be their fixed point, not the way they want-she isn’t a leader, for all she dragged them into hell-but she sees no point in leaving when they cannot come with her yet.
Rec #8: If you’re in the mood for a hilarious modern-day take on the friends-with-benefits trope...
Title: I’ll Be There For You
Author: caramelle
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9422429
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 4215 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This is one of the best modern-day takes on Jyn and Cassian I’ve read. It’s quite funny with Kay and Bodhi acting as kind of intermediaries or peacekeepers in Jyn and Cassian’s evolving friends-with-benefits relationship. This is such a delight to read, and characterizes Jyn and Cassian’s dynamic so wonderfully with her insecurities and his patient waiting.
Jyn scoffs. "I mean, at this point, they might as well just come out and say it to my face, right?" She drops her voice into a low imitation of Chirrut's stately drawl. "'Jyn - no one cares about your feelings.'"
Cassian snorts. "Well, to be fair," he says conversationally, "everyone's still on the fence about whether you actually have feelings."
Rec #9: If you’re in the mood for a historical AU...
Title: Resistance is Built on Hope
Author: ChronicOlicity
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9079141/chapters/20644807
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 117509 / Yes
Why This Must Be Read: This is the rebelcaptain WWII AU that you’ve been waiting for. The author has done a marvelous job of adapting all the elements and characters of Rogue One to this historical time period with great pacing, dramatic, action-packed scenes, touches of humor, and the most beautiful simmering romance between our favorite spy and unwitting rebel.
For Jyn, that was a measure of trust. A feral animal wouldn't let another see its wounds - Cassian knew that firsthand. Battlefield instincts powered Jyn, no question about it, fight-or-flight instincts drawn even closer to the surface than anyone else he’d seen before. Dangerous and unyielding and all the more compelling for it.
More than that, Cassian was beginning to see her hunger. Not the appetite that Kay was constantly complaining about, but a kind of visceral need, elemental and nearly irrepressible. Now and then he caught glimpses of it behind Jyn’s eyes, in the stubborn set of her shoulders, the flash of something - like the electric shock from a fleeting, triggered memory - when she was caught by a seemingly innocuous scene.
A picture of a lone child. Two, three figures disappearing into the snow, without a backward glance. A plane taking off and vanishing into the sky. Pieces of a puzzle, and Cassian had them in his hands, but in many ways, Jyn Erso was still as much an enigma to him as she’d been the day they met.
Rec #10: If you’re in the mood for a glimpse of domesticity for these two...
Title: That Would Be Enough
Author: mosylu
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9272258
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 782 / No
Why This Must Be Read: Cassian and Jyn rarely get quiet moments, and this is a short but sweet look into them enjoying something approximating domesticity in the midst of the war. Well-written dialogue and bed-sharing FTW!
On Echo Base, Jyn and Cassian shared a bunk. Or to put it more accurately, they both had a bunk that they could sleep in on the rare occasions they were planetside, and it just happened to be the same one.
The both of them planetside together, at the same time, for more than a few hours (days, Jyn had said, awed, when they compared schedules, at least two, multiple) was like finding a kyber crystal rolling around on the snowfield outside.
Rec #11: If you’re in the mood for an EU fic set 20 years in the future during The New Republic...
Title: the road that sets into the sun
Author: lyin
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9268955
Rating/Warning(s): General
Word Count/WIP?: 5189 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This is a poignant look into what these two aged warriors would feel like in The New Republic. While it draws heavily on EU canon, it is not necessary to appreciate this beautiful rendering of how these two have given so much to the cause.
There are names written in the lines of his face. Jyn doesn’t even know them all, but she knows Cassian thinks they deserved to live more than him, that the universe plays games with the life of men. That Cassian has always thought he had a righteous cause, but has never thought himself a righteous man. That the cause is slipping from his grasp.
Rec #12: If you’re in the mood for a funny, fluffy one-shot...
Title: flight lessons
Author: ignitesthestars
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9276590
Rating/Warning(s): Mature
Word Count/WIP?: 1044 / No
Why This Must Be Read: Jyn is all kinds of sassy, and it’s such a delight to read. This is a hilarious look at another mission that almost went wrong and some lovely Jyn/Cassian and all of their feelings to boot!
“Ah,” she says, and the breath turns into a shriek of agony as white-hot pain lances through her body, and really, dying doesn’t seem like all that bad of an option right now. Except for the part where it will probably piss off Cassian and make K2 happy, and there’s a lot that Jyn is willing to do just to ruin that droid’s day.
Rec #13: If you’re in the mood for some seriously beautiful angst...
Title: where my caution should be
Author: rosaxx50
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9822866/chapters/22055765
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up, Major Character Death
Word Count/WIP?: 1237 / No
Why This Must Be Read: Poignant, heartbreaking, and oh-so-poetic. This shows the beauty of their connection post-Scarif while also demonstrating the natural consequences of war.
I am glad you're here with me, he says, or she says, or both. Their hearts beat in time, slow and restful.
The plans stream across countless stars. He chooses to believe, because she does, that somewhere, someone listens to the greatest difference he has ever made to the galaxy. Their names will turn to dust like their bodies, but this legacy will live on.
Rec #14: If you’re in the mood for sassy K-2SO...
Title: The Genre Does Not Support This
Author: nymja
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8977609
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 990 / No
Why This Must Be Read: K-2SO being K-2SO while Cassian and Jyn must act like normal human beings without copious amounts of UST between them. Fluff and humor while everyone is still so in character FTW!
“I have decided to be proactive,” the droid responded primly.
“Proactive? For what?” Jyn leaned forward in her chair.
“Sexual tension will increase mission failure by approximately 12.95%.”
Rec #15: If you’re in the mood for a tragic modern-day AU...
Title: Emergency Contact
Author: randomdreamer101
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9541490
Rating/Warning(s): General
Word Count/WIP?: 3420 / No
Why This Must Be Read: Post-divorce, modern-day Cassian/Jyn is just as tragic and heartbreaking as you thought it would be. This is the last in a series, and I haven’t read the rest of the series yet, but this fic really captures brilliantly, how, even in a modern-day setting, Cassian and Jyn’s relationship has the potential to be very complicated and not at all easy.
“This is not exactly what I'd imagined meeting you again would be like," she says.
“What? You in critical care? Me holding back your hair while you vomit into a bin? What part of this scenario is lacking in romance?”
Her mouth twitches. “The hair-holding was sort of romantic.”
“Oh, I beg to differ," he says.
“Well, I’ve always preferred life-threatening situations to flowers and chocolates.”
Pairing: Jyn Erso/Cassian Andor
Recced on livejournal by: sugangel7
What do you get when a headstrong, fiery rebel meets a cool, reserved captain?
ALL OF THIS:
He hadn’t known her, didn’t know her, of course. There wasn’t the time.
Credit to: http://cassianskywalkers.tumblr.com/post/155918947283/he-hadnt-known-her-didnt-know-her-of-course
I’m not used to people sticking around when things go bad.
Credit to: http://wrinchester.tumblr.com/post/155693213487/im-not-used-to-people-sticking-around-when-things
Credit to: http://jedileiaorgana.tumblr.com/post/155282010231/jyncassian-text-post-meme
Why write a ship manifesto for these two? Rebelcaptain stole my heart and then some. The one thing that soothes my soul is that there is a whole community of like-minded folks who have written tons of seriously beautiful fic that pretty much meets every single desire you had for this unwitting rebel and intelligence captain after watching the beautiful action-packed war epic that was the movie Rogue One. And you probably read the novelization too, which just whetted your appetite even more. (And let’s not forget about the official Star Wars Spotify playlist for Cassian Andor which just reaffirms their tragic, beautiful love story even more.)
I could’ve spent ages longer on this manifesto, and there are still some gorgeous fics out there that I have not yet read that I am dying to read, but I hope this serves as a somewhat comprehensive look at what the rebelcaptain fanfiction fandom has to offer. (Also look at the het-reccers tag, because a few of my favorites of theirs have already been recced). And check out the rebelcaptain tag on tumblr because there is so much good stuff to be found on there.
Rec #1: If you’re in the mood for some really well-done slow burn...
Title: semantics (it’s a series of one-shots!)
Author: katsumi
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/series/631220
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: ~2000 words for each one-shot / four one-shots with perhaps more to come
Why This Must Be Read: This captures the careful hesitation on the parts of both Jyn and Cassian as they share a bed together and many of their friends just don’t quite get it while some of them do. Fluffy, humorous, and heart-wrenching by turns.
“How is sleeping not the same as sleeping?” K2 asks, and shit, this is not a path Cassian wants to go down with him. He closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Semantics,” he says, and he can hear the clink of bolts as K2 slumps a little. K2 has always been moody about that human tendency to say things that don’t mean what they’re supposed to mean, a tendency the droid finds “complicated” and “uselessly theatric.”
“Oh,” K2 says, voice dripping with disdain. “I see.”
Rec #2: If you’re in the mood for some gorgeously romantic hurt/comfort...
Title: you will hope in something real
Author: tryalittlejoytomorrow
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9119407
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 4590 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This is a brilliant character study of Jyn and is just soft, quiet, and utterly, utterly romantic.
Rain catches on his eyelashes, and she becomes fixated on that, too. His face is a blur but she sees the little drops so distinctly, can count them, and he's beautiful, she can't deny it, and she wants to kiss him all of a sudden, or maybe it's not so sudden, after all. Jyn's been wanting to kiss him since that long ride in the elevator. Wanting to kiss someone when you feel like you're about to die is not exactly the same thing as wanting to kiss them every day, in the aftermath, Jyn's painfully aware. She's never wanted that before. She can't say that she hates that her life is now divided between before and after Cassian. It's another warm, stupid feeling Saw never took the time to explain.
Rec #3: If you’re in the mood for a truly action-heavy war fic...
Title: spes semper mihi adest
Author: rain_sleet_snow
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9228242/chapters/20928818
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up, Major Character Death
Word Count/WIP?: 26945/ No
Additional Pairings: Chirrut Îmwe/Baze Malbus, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Shara Bey/Kes Dameron, Leia Organa/Luke Skywalker/Han Solo, Jyn Erso/Han Solo
Why This Must Be Read: I love this fic because it feels very much like the movie: Jyn and Cassian’s relationship is basically taken as a given with a lot of plot and action in a world where a war keeps on going, even as two people find themselves entwined in the midst of it. A poignant, engaging fic.
Cassian is half-awake. His clothes are bloody and partly shredded, and beneath them and the bacta Jyn can see scars that are healing and the distinctive marks of a torture droid, which are not. He looks thin and sunken and sick and he needs a shave. He also looks quite surprised to see Jyn; for a moment she isn’t even sure he recognises her.
“Hello, Cassian,” Jyn says. Her tongue is crowded with words that won’t come out. She swallows them down. “Have a blaster.”
She offers him the lighter of the blasters she stole, and he takes it with a familiar, easy grip that reassures Jyn that he’s still in there.
“If this is a dream,” Cassian announces, swinging his legs off his bunk and staggering towards Jyn, “it is a beautiful dream.”
Rec #4: If you’re in the mood for a fantastic rendition of the soulmates trope...
Title: this is the fate you’ve carved on me
Author: Selkit
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9372218/chapters/21217277
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 17465 / Yes
Why This Must Be Read: I’m such a sucker for the soulmarks trope, and this author manages to pull it off in a way that feels so perfect for these characters and this film. I appreciate that the author stays true to the essence of Rogue One, but isn’t afraid to adapt the film’s plot for the purposes of making this trope work. It builds an added layer of complication to an already complicated relationship and boy does it make for some fun and suspense and angst.
It occurs to her, very dimly in the back of her mind, that it would feel right to reach out and trace her fingers along the curving script, to see what her words feel like on his skin. She doesn’t.
Yet she does feel an odd sensation steal over her, like the not-quite-unpleasant ache in her shoulders after setting down a heavy load. It’s not relief, not entirely, but it’s something close.
Rec #5: If you’re in the mood for a fix-it, bed-sharing fic because hey this is rebelcaptain after all...
Title: we were secrets to keep
Author: mollivanders
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9352454
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 3270 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This fandom is chock-full of fix-it and bed-sharing fics but this is definitely one of the best. beautiful, flowing writing style that captures these two broken souls in such stark relief.
She's not sleeping, for one. Not sleeping well, at least, judging by the dark circles under her eyes and the way her shoulders are slumped.
His training also whispers to him that everything in her file suggests she's about to run, about to disappear, and he tries to shrug it off.
(Still, the thought nags at him like an open wound.)
So when she knocks at his quarters that night and slips inside, he doesn’t protest as she curls up next to him. She’s warm and solid against him, and he hasn’t been this close to her since Scarif. He doesn’t ask questions, and he drifts off listening to the sound of her shallow breathing, one pounding heartbeat at a time.
(They’ll figure out the rest later.)
Rec #6: If you’re in the mood for a college AU...
Title: you might just go under
Author: andromeda3116
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9780254
Rating/Warning(s): Mature
Word Count/WIP?: 8076 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This is one of the best college AU fics out there. It captures that instant attraction between the two in a realistic way, and it features the rest of the Star Wars gang in a super fun way that truly does justice to all the characters.
Walking into the apartment (where, she could not stress this enough, she was supposed to be meeting two or three people for a study group after being on her feet all day behind the bar) was like walking unfortunately back in time, to the English department parties at Northeastern -- complete with the now-dated Lady Gaga music playing. Bodhi heaved a sigh when they walked through the door.
“I tried to wrestle the playlist away from Kay,” he said. “But he’s stronger than he looks.”
Rec #7: If you’re in the mood for an epic, action-packed fic that features the entire crew of Rogue One...
Title: floating, sinking
Author: shuofthewind
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9053302/chapters/20596522
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 135568 / Yes
Additional Pairings: Chirrut Îmwe/Baze Malbus
Why This Must Be Read: With alternating POVs, this fic is a beautiful homage to the entire crew of Rogue One. So if you want something that features Bodhi, Baze, and Chirrut in spades while still doing justice to the beauty that is Cassian and Jyn’s relationship, then read this. The action and plot are just as substantial and important as the romance. It basically reads like another movie, and runs through A New Hope.
Jyn looks at the bedspread. She’s still confined to the sickbay, even though she could walk. There are guards on the door, Rebels in helmets. She can’t make out their faces, but they stop her when she tries to leave. If she wanted she could take them both out and vanish, but Cassian is in the next bed over, still kept sedated, and Bodhi wanders in and out when he needs quiet in this noxious jungle prison, and Baze is-untethered, is the word she wants. Baze is untethered. Chirrut is still hovering somewhere between life and death, and Baze is lost in space for as long as the question remains. She cannot be their fixed point, not the way they want-she isn’t a leader, for all she dragged them into hell-but she sees no point in leaving when they cannot come with her yet.
Rec #8: If you’re in the mood for a hilarious modern-day take on the friends-with-benefits trope...
Title: I’ll Be There For You
Author: caramelle
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9422429
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 4215 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This is one of the best modern-day takes on Jyn and Cassian I’ve read. It’s quite funny with Kay and Bodhi acting as kind of intermediaries or peacekeepers in Jyn and Cassian’s evolving friends-with-benefits relationship. This is such a delight to read, and characterizes Jyn and Cassian’s dynamic so wonderfully with her insecurities and his patient waiting.
Jyn scoffs. "I mean, at this point, they might as well just come out and say it to my face, right?" She drops her voice into a low imitation of Chirrut's stately drawl. "'Jyn - no one cares about your feelings.'"
Cassian snorts. "Well, to be fair," he says conversationally, "everyone's still on the fence about whether you actually have feelings."
Rec #9: If you’re in the mood for a historical AU...
Title: Resistance is Built on Hope
Author: ChronicOlicity
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9079141/chapters/20644807
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 117509 / Yes
Why This Must Be Read: This is the rebelcaptain WWII AU that you’ve been waiting for. The author has done a marvelous job of adapting all the elements and characters of Rogue One to this historical time period with great pacing, dramatic, action-packed scenes, touches of humor, and the most beautiful simmering romance between our favorite spy and unwitting rebel.
For Jyn, that was a measure of trust. A feral animal wouldn't let another see its wounds - Cassian knew that firsthand. Battlefield instincts powered Jyn, no question about it, fight-or-flight instincts drawn even closer to the surface than anyone else he’d seen before. Dangerous and unyielding and all the more compelling for it.
More than that, Cassian was beginning to see her hunger. Not the appetite that Kay was constantly complaining about, but a kind of visceral need, elemental and nearly irrepressible. Now and then he caught glimpses of it behind Jyn’s eyes, in the stubborn set of her shoulders, the flash of something - like the electric shock from a fleeting, triggered memory - when she was caught by a seemingly innocuous scene.
A picture of a lone child. Two, three figures disappearing into the snow, without a backward glance. A plane taking off and vanishing into the sky. Pieces of a puzzle, and Cassian had them in his hands, but in many ways, Jyn Erso was still as much an enigma to him as she’d been the day they met.
Rec #10: If you’re in the mood for a glimpse of domesticity for these two...
Title: That Would Be Enough
Author: mosylu
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9272258
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 782 / No
Why This Must Be Read: Cassian and Jyn rarely get quiet moments, and this is a short but sweet look into them enjoying something approximating domesticity in the midst of the war. Well-written dialogue and bed-sharing FTW!
On Echo Base, Jyn and Cassian shared a bunk. Or to put it more accurately, they both had a bunk that they could sleep in on the rare occasions they were planetside, and it just happened to be the same one.
The both of them planetside together, at the same time, for more than a few hours (days, Jyn had said, awed, when they compared schedules, at least two, multiple) was like finding a kyber crystal rolling around on the snowfield outside.
Rec #11: If you’re in the mood for an EU fic set 20 years in the future during The New Republic...
Title: the road that sets into the sun
Author: lyin
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9268955
Rating/Warning(s): General
Word Count/WIP?: 5189 / No
Why This Must Be Read: This is a poignant look into what these two aged warriors would feel like in The New Republic. While it draws heavily on EU canon, it is not necessary to appreciate this beautiful rendering of how these two have given so much to the cause.
There are names written in the lines of his face. Jyn doesn’t even know them all, but she knows Cassian thinks they deserved to live more than him, that the universe plays games with the life of men. That Cassian has always thought he had a righteous cause, but has never thought himself a righteous man. That the cause is slipping from his grasp.
Rec #12: If you’re in the mood for a funny, fluffy one-shot...
Title: flight lessons
Author: ignitesthestars
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9276590
Rating/Warning(s): Mature
Word Count/WIP?: 1044 / No
Why This Must Be Read: Jyn is all kinds of sassy, and it’s such a delight to read. This is a hilarious look at another mission that almost went wrong and some lovely Jyn/Cassian and all of their feelings to boot!
“Ah,” she says, and the breath turns into a shriek of agony as white-hot pain lances through her body, and really, dying doesn’t seem like all that bad of an option right now. Except for the part where it will probably piss off Cassian and make K2 happy, and there’s a lot that Jyn is willing to do just to ruin that droid’s day.
Rec #13: If you’re in the mood for some seriously beautiful angst...
Title: where my caution should be
Author: rosaxx50
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9822866/chapters/22055765
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up, Major Character Death
Word Count/WIP?: 1237 / No
Why This Must Be Read: Poignant, heartbreaking, and oh-so-poetic. This shows the beauty of their connection post-Scarif while also demonstrating the natural consequences of war.
I am glad you're here with me, he says, or she says, or both. Their hearts beat in time, slow and restful.
The plans stream across countless stars. He chooses to believe, because she does, that somewhere, someone listens to the greatest difference he has ever made to the galaxy. Their names will turn to dust like their bodies, but this legacy will live on.
Rec #14: If you’re in the mood for sassy K-2SO...
Title: The Genre Does Not Support This
Author: nymja
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8977609
Rating/Warning(s): Teen and Up
Word Count/WIP?: 990 / No
Why This Must Be Read: K-2SO being K-2SO while Cassian and Jyn must act like normal human beings without copious amounts of UST between them. Fluff and humor while everyone is still so in character FTW!
“I have decided to be proactive,” the droid responded primly.
“Proactive? For what?” Jyn leaned forward in her chair.
“Sexual tension will increase mission failure by approximately 12.95%.”
Rec #15: If you’re in the mood for a tragic modern-day AU...
Title: Emergency Contact
Author: randomdreamer101
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9541490
Rating/Warning(s): General
Word Count/WIP?: 3420 / No
Why This Must Be Read: Post-divorce, modern-day Cassian/Jyn is just as tragic and heartbreaking as you thought it would be. This is the last in a series, and I haven’t read the rest of the series yet, but this fic really captures brilliantly, how, even in a modern-day setting, Cassian and Jyn’s relationship has the potential to be very complicated and not at all easy.
“This is not exactly what I'd imagined meeting you again would be like," she says.
“What? You in critical care? Me holding back your hair while you vomit into a bin? What part of this scenario is lacking in romance?”
Her mouth twitches. “The hair-holding was sort of romantic.”
“Oh, I beg to differ," he says.
“Well, I’ve always preferred life-threatening situations to flowers and chocolates.”