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Maybe it's my own SAS: Rogue Heroes addled mind, but after watching RetroBlasting's video on Rogue One, I am very compelled by the notion that she was even more rough and tumble than what we got. Like she was described as being a hardcore insurgent, that she was violent, and that it seemed like the Rebellion had to capture her so they could get to Saw Gerrera. Alternate takes and unused footage seemed to indicate that she and Cassian had a more amiable relationship, and that he trusted her; he actually seemed to find her kind of amusing. RetroBlasting even pointed out a major prop continuity error where Jyn is entering their first ship to Jedha and she has a blaster, but then there's a whole plot point about her stealing one because Cassian doesn't trust her. Clearly, the original creative team had different plans for Jyn and Cassian's relationship.

Then there's that one trailer that ended with a shot of Jyn in that Imperial uniform and some cut dialogue of Saw asking "What will you become?" It's so compelling! Doing some digging on the Ersos, there was a very early and quickly scrapped idea to make Lyra a former Jedi - another fascinating detail, but I digress. As stated in RetroBlasting's video, Rogue One took a lot of inspiration from 1960s WWII films, most notably The Guns of Navarone (their premises are nearly identical), Where Eagles Dare (there's also an Iron Maiden song about it), and The Dirty Dozen. There are alternate lines and takes that contradict Jyn's reluctant hero status in the film. Heck, her own dialogue and motivations are often contradictory. This could be explained in universe as her dealing with trauma, which can often come off as confusing and inconsistent when viewed from the outside. Out of universe, you can see the changes made by Gilroy straining against the original footage. Like Disney was too scared that a harsh, abrasive, assertive female lead, no matter how conventionally attractive nor clear and clipped her RP accent was, would be too alienating for audiences because she's too mannish.

So let me introduce you all to who I think Jyn was supposed to be, Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne. He was one of the founding members of the Special Air Service (SAS) and is played so well by Jack O'Connell in the BBC series based on the Ben Macintyre book. Said popular historian described Mayne these ways:

"... the officer in question would set an unparalleled standard for courage and leadership in the SAS ... he was also given to volcanic explosions of temper and sometimes violent insubordination."

"... dangerously unpredictable..."

"One night he found a team of convicts chained up beneath Ellis Park stadium, where they were being put to work erecting stands. This he considered barbaric, so he returned the following night with bolt cutters and set free to at least one, and possibly all of them."

"Inside Paddy Mayne there was a deep reservoir of anger that welled up in violence ... On the battlefield, it would produce heroic; off it, Paddy Mayne's destructive demon could erupt without warning, and with terrifying force."

"Fighting was in his blood: he thrived on it."

I'm pretty certain Jyn was never supposed to be as abrasive and deranged as Mayne. And I personally don't care for the feral!Jyn head canons (nor do I much like soft!Jyn). But the deleted Saw dialogue when he asks Jyn, "What will you do when they catch you? What will you do if they break you? If you continue to fight? What will you become?" Going back to to RetroBlasting, he made an observation on what might have been intended conflict between her and Saw was because he saw something dark in her. There's also the implications about the Empire finding her because she's Galen's daughter, about her being used as a hostage by Krennic. And possibly becoming a turncoat; perhaps as a middle finger to the Rebels, or perhaps for the chance to see her father again. I also think that between Lyra's devotion to the Force, and Saw being on the kyber rich Jedha, there's a hint that maybe the Dark Side was paying attention to her. And yet, Jyn's deleted dialogue shows a woman who is still eager to fight the Empire.

And about that desire to fight. I think Disney prefers reluctant heroes because 1) the Hero's Journey has been deeply ingrained into how Disney writes everything; 2) it sets up easy conflict with more committed characters; 3) its easy to avoid sticky plot, theme, or political implications. Much like how Cassian's Separatist background could throw the validity of the Alliance to Restore the Republic in question. Jyn's involvement with Saw Gerrera and her militant devotion to the Rebellion is threatening to Disney's billion dollar cash cow. And boy would the chuds be even more loud and obnoxious about Jyn than they were about calling Rey a Mary Sue like it has any meaning left. But that's the outside stuff to consider, I'm more interested in how Jyn and Cassian's relationship could have developed if both were closer to what Edwards and his crew were originally going for.

A Separatist, Festian Cassian and a Partisan Jyn would be outsiders among the Rebels. They could probably relate to not being fully trusted, though, as per my Cassian head canon post, his Separatist background is probably hidden. He's a spy, so it's best to keep the past as cryptic as possible, and to make himself anonymous, even on Yavin. But that could be a point of tension with Jyn as Saw fought against the Separatists during the Clone War. Fest did suffer under the Empire and sided with the Rebellion, but there's likely a lot of hard feelings. At the same time, I think they would get each other in ways no one else would - the whole mirror thing Luna and Jones were always talking about during the press for Rogue One. While the final movie centred their conflict on Jyn's commitment to the Rebellion, hardcore Partisan Jyn and Cassian could have issues with leadership and mission goals. He's got his orders, she's got her objectives, and sometimes they run counter to each other. They could but heads over how to lead and who's in charge. Reluctant heroes feel just so one note compared to people who are committed but troubled!

And on the topic of commitment and violence, there is the question of what these characters want. There's always the question of loyalty hanging over both of them, and I have some thoughts regarding Cassian I'll write about separately and with a bit more time. I've already set out some thoughts I had about what Saw was worried about in the cut dialogue, but I want to add to that. There's an archetype about service members in general, the soldier who can't leave the battlefield. It's a theme explored in a lot of literature going back to ancient times. Shakespeare's Coriolanus is an interesting exploration of it, for example. And perhaps that's another thing Saw was worried about, and maybe something worth writing about in an AU, is what is Jyn like without war? Even during the war, if she had survived, if fighting the empire is less about the Rebellion and more because she likes battle. Because she can't conceive of herself outside of war.

A related angle is that being a soldier has consumed her other skills, talents, and interests so that there's little room for other creative outlits. I haven't read the novels, but Jyn is described as having genius level intellect, but no formal schooling. Ben Macintyre speculated that some of Paddy Mayne's anger came from stifled creativity. He wrote, "Mayne was a deeply literate man, with a particular liking for the darker poetry of A. E. Housman, and he may have harboured dreams of becoming a writer." It's interesting to think that every interest that Jyn had was used by Saw as a weapon. The skills that were cultivated were the ones useful for his purposes, everything else was superfluous. How hard it must be to know that there is something within that is creative and constructive, but all you seem capable of is destruction.

So, yeah, I've joined the legion of people who are now very interested in the Edwards cut. I don't know what to expect, but it would be an experience in comparing and contrasting.

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i give her my soul if she looks at me like that

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Fix-It Week: Day three

☆ How they fare on Hoth ☆ Stolen Moments/Traditions

Thank you so much @andorerso for running the event, I had so much fun with this <33

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Child!Jyn request from @zreyta and child!Cassian (who turned out to be a teenager, because I’m too bad in drawing kids xD) from anon :3

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Stardust

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Hearts Still Beating

Assigned to The Salvation’s medbay, a young nurse finds herself caring for one of the survivors of Scarif. But when her patient sneaks away, she will find there’s more to the story than any rumor ever revealed.

.-.-.-.-

“Right, so… tomorrow, Corporal Shifra needs another X-ray of his leg.” Lonan said, “It’s been one week since the last one, and Dr. Anjda wants to check if the bone is healing properly; otherwise, he’ll need surgery. Please –please– don’t forget it. I fought hard to get that X-ray approved.”

“Don’t worry, Lonan. I won’t forget it.” Tillie assured him, tapping the remainder into her datapad.

Lonan shot her a skeptical look before he relented with a sigh. “Alright… And your last patient, in room B29, is Sergeant Erso.”

Tillie’s fingers froze mid-typing.

Erso? I know that name.

“Patient is human, female, mid-twenties, no allergies, and no prior medical history of note. She’s an actual survivor from Scarif, can you believe that? She’s practically a hero.”

Tillie mentally chided herself. Scarif, of course .

continue reading on ao3

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Funko Star Wars Smuggler’s Bounty Rogue One Trailer

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It's impressive how Neil Gaiman vanished from the internet. Wish Rowling would do the same.

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So, the very first rebelcaptain fanfiction was created on June 25th, 2016, a few months BEFORE the movie was even out

A year later, the rebelcaptain tag in AO3 had exactly 1,600 works, that’s without counting the deleted works from the past few years.

I think it says a lot.

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I'm going to be doing a livestream tomorrow and I'll be drawing some rebelcaptain. Please stop by and show your support! You can just sit and watch if you like lol no pressure to chat! You can ask me questions about art. The vibes will be fun and chill.

Tomorrow, PST 6pm!

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LIVESTREAMING MY ART AT 6PM PST LET'S GOOOOO ONE HOUR FROM NOW!!! Please show up and watch me <3

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Home

Cassian’s words rang in her mind over and over again, and she refused to let the tears fall from her eyes. How could he give her hope of having something and then not being there to take it with her? She refused to let him be another person who left her behind. She would fight barehanded with death itself if it could bring him back. While stranded in a planet, Cassian heals his body while Jyn heals her soul.

Read on AO3

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Rebellions are built on hope

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JYN ERSO + PINK requested by @samsgamgees

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Let’s take a look at our respective action figures, if we could.

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Wedding Cake 💍

Shrek inspired me...🧍‍♀️