i'll bite, what the ever loving heck is the divorced zombie au bc it sounds like something i want also
I mostly have the backstory figured out for this and it's standing on shaky foundations but plot has never been my strong suit
it was mostly inspired by the Resident Evil universe but I took what I liked from it and chucked out or changed the rest, so you don't really have to be familiar with RE to get with this
pre-apocalypse the Empire is experimenting with viruses in the hush-hush but sometimes there are outbreaks and it needs to be covered up so the public doesn't find out about it. Jyn and Cassian are both special squad in the military which was specifically created to clean up these messes and exterminate zombies/monsters whenever things get out of hand and the virus needs to be contained. first they both believe that they're doing the right thing, after all they're killing the zombies, trying to stop any further contamination, but after a while it becomes clear that the government they're working for is actually in cahoots with the Empire, and it's getting increasingly hard to justify working for them, even if they're just the clean up people
they have one last mission that goes pretty horribly, ending in several military and even more civilian deaths, possibly Cassian's back injury. their squad is disbanded, the government is trying to wash their hands clean of it, and the ones who survived are all discharged but secretly there's an unofficial hit out for all of them because they're no longer useful and they know and saw too much so they're just a liability and the Empire basically wants them gone. and a lot of those surviving members start to mysteriously die in the following months, although it's always covered up as an accident or an unexpected illness or something. Cassian and Jyn's relationship suffers greatly, both dealing with their trauma and guilt over what happened on that last mission, and Cassian becomes obsessed with stopping the Empire, partly because he wants to atone and partly because he knows that someday this bioweapon they're creating will end up destroying humanity
so their relationship is on the rocks, they don't really see eye to eye on their futures anymore, and eventually after long months of arguments and slowly drifting apart, they make the painful decision to get divorced. I also imagine that they both kinda remind each other of what happened on their last mission (which I don't have details for rn but in my mind it was very fucked up) so there's that too, they can't really look at each other anymore without remembering all that and it poisons their relationship
Cassian disappears for five years while he works to undermine the Empire, and I imagine this is when he joins the Alliance. meanwhile Jyn's just pretty much trying to stay under radar and avoid being taken out by the Empire like much of the rest of their old squad. so eventually the bioweapon is unleashed in some big American city, accident or purpose who knows, and it's pretty much impossible to stop contamination from then. in three weeks the entire world is affected and billions are dead or undead.
this is really the gist of it, but after this I'm imagining that Jyn and Cassian run into each other somehow, maybe not even right away but a year or so into the apocalypse? I think Cassian's on a military base with the Alliance and Jyn ends up there somehow, and I think it'd be cool if they found the rest of their old squad who are still alive and teamed up to take down the Empire once and for all. maybe they cannot undo the apocalypse now but they can stop the people who did this and perhaps even find an antidote?
so when they team up again, they fall back into their old partnership and realize they still make a really good team and despite the fact that their marriage ended badly, now there's this tenderness between them and old feelings resurfacing, and suddenly they're reminded of why they fell in love with the first place.... but they also don't really jump right back to where they were, I want pining and the classic "does she still love me? does he still love me?" because that's the good shit
they'd also still have to work on solving their old issues and making things work but I think surviving the apocalypse and not even knowing for so long if the other is still alive is a good incentive and kinda makes all their old problems seem so insignificant
ALSO, I have absolutely zero details for this one but I think it'd be interesting if Galen was somehow involved with creating the virus for the Empire re:canon
tbh in my mind, the story would mainly take place when they meet again during the apocalypse with their marriage falling apart only in flashbacks.... but yeah, I'm just here for the angst and the second chances
