#also obviously this is just my interpretation if you have diff ideas go nuts

[captainkappa]

Fanfic:: Soul Rebel

The first of at least two unrelated trans Din Djarin character studies I have planned. 

This one is all about Din’s relationship with his name, how the Tribe doesn’t use them and how that might affect his thoughts on his birthname.

Title from "True Trans Soul Rebel" by Against Me!

AO3 Link

-=-=-=-=-=-

The Mandalorian gave up his name when he came of age and donned his helmet. All members of the Tribe did the same, taking on titles instead if there was need to differentiate. In the wake of the Purge, secrecy was their survival, their survival their strength.

This is the Way.

The lack of a name never impacted him as he joined the Guild. Everywhere he went, no matter the planet, the dingy bar his bounties usually end up in, it was always “Mando.”

He didn’t think about his name until five years later, when he was leaving Axxilan atmosphere, a disgruntled debtor with him in the cockpit. Her braids had come loose in the ensuing struggle, her clothes askew. She put up such a fight, it would’ve have been easier to bring her in cold, but the pay dropped more than half if she was dead.

Mando rolled his shoulders, muscles pulling where she got him good. This was his first round of bounties he’d taken with the new carbonite chamber he’d had installed. After that fight, he was going to enjoy the hiss of carbonite gas a little more.

Just as he was about to punch in the hyperspace code, the bounty cleared her throat.

“Hey, what was the name on the bounty?”

His hand hovered over the buttons and he turned over his shoulder to look at her. She was looking right at him, brave, considering her hands were in cuffs and Maker knew what was waiting for her when they got back to Nevarro.

She rolled her eyes, straightening up. “Look, I just want to know what to expect. This isn’t my first rodeo and I want to know if these idiots have old information.”

“Why?”

“Because if these guys are going to deadname me the entire time we talk about money I may or may not owe, that requires mental prep.”

Mando blinked behind his helmet, not expecting that answer. He forced his hand to punch in the last of the hyperspace code, deliberately placed it on the arm rest as the stars streaked around them. His hand wanted to thumb the freshly healed scar on his arm, where his hormone implant had been installed a couple months age.

It had taken a while to get to that point, skimming the top off several bounties he brought in to afford it.

(He’d felt terrible about it for weeks, finally kneeling in the Armorer’s forge and admitting what he’d done. She had kneeled across from him and asked if, in pursuing his transition, he had ever broken the Creed. He hadn’t, and was surprised when in response, she went in detail about how surgeries might be difficult, but they could look at options.

He hadn’t known what to say, so the Armorer said it for him.

This is the Way.)

The bounty had started shifting on her feet, uncomfortable with the silence that had permeated the cockpit. Mando pulled out the puck and clocks it on, revealing her rotating holo, “WANTED” in big red text, and the name, Rassina Netel, crawling along the bottom.

She leaned forward, cuffed hands leaning on the seat beside her for support. He watched her eyes flick to-and-fro, reading and rereading the small amount of text. Finally, satisfied, her shoulders dropped, releasing tension.

“Thank you,” she muttered, righting herself so she was standing again.

Mando turned off the puck and slipped it back into his pocket.

“Was it… right?”

Could a name be right? Was that the word for it?

“Yeah, yeah it was.” Rassina rolled her shoulders, shaking out her arms. “Guess it’s my turn in the carbonite, huh? Oh, don’t give me that look. I saw it on the way in, heard through a few friends who’ve been through the process.”

It was only a second’s hesitation before he said, “Ran out of fuel.”

“Oh.”

She looked almost as surprised as when he first walked into town.

“Come on,” he stood up, angling his body away in the small space. “You’re still getting strapped in below.”

The look on her face said “fair enough” as she walked ahead of him, awkwardly climbing down with cuffed hands.

He strapped Rassina in one of the seats that folded out from the wall, hopefully at such an angle she wouldn’t be able to see the bold-faced lie he made in claiming the chamber was out of fuel.

Mando climbed back up to the cockpit, silent in hyperspace, but his head was busy with thoughts of a name he thought he’d left behind.

-=-=-=-

Weeks later, with coordinates plugged in for his next bounty and carbonite chamber empty and waiting, he retreated into his small bed on board to hopefully catch some sleep.

It was a fool’s errand. There was anticipation in his veins even though it would be some time before he was out of hyperspace. He settled on closing his eyes, falling into somewhere between awake and asleep.

His thoughts wandered and he wasn’t concerned with pinning one down. The Guide, the Tribe, the foundlings, his name-

The thought was sudden, like someone screamed it in his ear, forcing his eyes open.

I want to keep my last name.

He stared up at the short ceiling. It was like being woken from a nightmare, yet also like coming home. His chest stuttered, rising and falling as competing thoughts wrapped around his brain.

The Tribe doesn’t have names, he gave his up when he put on the helmet.

But his last name was a comfort, even if the same couldn’t be said for his first name, something that he should have no use for now.

He sat up, gloved hands raking through brown curls. There was no way he was going to get sleep now.

He shuffled out of his bed. There was probably some weapon that needed cleaning.

-=-=-=-

Thoughts on his first name came and went. He avoided them when he could, distracting himself with work and other tasks.

The Razor Crest had never looked cleaner, even if the bags under his eyes grew.

He lost himself in fights, brought more bounties in cold, but one fight had his cuisse cracked. He got the bastard who did it, shoving them harder than needed in the carbonite. He returned to the Tribe, money in one hand, broken armor in the other.

The Armorer and he nodded in greeting.

“You’re lucky,” she said, inspecting the damage, “there’s another cuisse in need of repair. Both can be fixed now.”

Mando stilled as the Armorer began. The melting of metal, the blaster fire from droids, the clanging of her hammer against beskar, the screams of people around him, sounds and images filled his mind. It was a feeling he should have been used to.

But this time, he stayed stock still, finally unable to avoid the question that has been rolling around in his head since he admitted he wanted to keep his last name.

Am I abandoning my parents if I give myself a new first name?

Some of their last words were his name, the name they gave him. The last name was theirs as well, but his first name was chosen for him. What would it mean to give that name up?

The sounds of the hammer reverberated through him.

He brought one hand up, tracing where he knew the implant was in his arm. He thought of the part of himself he considered selfish, the part that forced him to think of how he felt about his body, his mind. That part of him asked if his parents would want to see him burdened under the name that was no longer his.

He could do this for himself, something no one needed to know about.

The Armorer handed him a new cuisse, half maroon, half silver, and Mando thanked her.

-=-=-=-

Time passed.

He chose a name. A name he whispered to himself before going out on bounties, before entering the Armory, before going to bed.

A name all his, that fit him like newly minted beskar.

-=-=-=-

When Mando heard Moff Gideon call out a name that wasn’t his – had never been his, if he was being honest – his blood ran cold.

It wasn’t the knowledge that Gideon knew his birth name - Gideon was an ISB agent during the Purge, of course he’d know his birth name – it was the looks Cara and Greef gave him, confused and curious.

But it wasn’t something he had the luxury to focus on. A web launcher was on their door, Kuiil was not responding, and Mando knew, better than he knew himself, that he would not let Gideon get his hands on the child.

So he swallowed the pain down, explained how he knew who Moff Gideon was, and started working out breaking down the grate.

After that, the day was a blur, more so once the explosion hit him like a starship. It only felt real once the child was back in his arms. He doesn’t want examine how right it felt, having the kid on his hip, looking up at him with those large brown eyes.

He stood on the planes of Nevarro with Greef and Cara, all three exhausted but happy they lived through it all.

Mando moved to take off with his new jetpack, but he stopped, thinking back on what Gideon said.

A Mandalorian was more than a name. A Mandalorian was a Creed and a culture. He gave up his name when he swore the Creed. What he gave himself instead was just for him.

But now, looking at the only two people he could consider friends, after everything they had been through in the past day, he couldn’t leave them with his birth name in their hearts.

He shifted the child in his hold, not knowing if he could understand him as well.

“I know…” he started, biting the inside of his cheek for a moment. “I know you heard what Gideon said back there… but he was wrong. That’s not my name. My name is Din Djarin.”

It felt like his chest plate had fallen off, his heart laid open bare. There was a beat of silence that seemed to stretch on forever and every anxiety he had about speaking the words pools forth.

Greef broke the silence with a slap on the back. “Well Din, just know you’re welcome back any time. Your pick of the lot.”

“Yeah,” Cara said, breaking into a smile, “and that name fits way better.”

He nodded to them, unable to better translate the smile beneath his helmet. He tilted his helmet down to the child, who looked at him with a smile.

Din didn’t have the words to describe how he felt, so he shifted his grip again.

“You ready to go, kid?”

The kid responded with an enthusiastic coo as Din powered up the jetpack.

[comicteaparty]

February 15th-February 21st, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from February 15th, 2020 to February 21st, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

If a company wanted to publish your comic or adapt it for animation or games, how willing would you be to change the story if requested to do so?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

That's such a tough question just because it's such a goal for so many creators, and yet a potential threat to their creativity in a sense. As always, it will depend on what exactly would be changed in order for such a project to be given approval. If it has to do with censoring LGBTQ+ content, changing race for 'marketability' purposes and the like, or erasing a specific topic integral to the plot with relation to politics- then it's a no go. There are plenty enough watered down media that doesn't stretch itself with diversity those companies can have and the subtext they pepper in to stay relevant, def something i find irksome with todays media (its 2020 guys !!) But if it's maybe cutting a chapter that acts like filler, or adding a character ( so long as it is plot relevant) i could take that into consideration! I actually take some time to imagine what Ghost Junk would be in a diff form of media and usually in those scenarios, things change to fit the way its being presented! A video game will differ more than an anime adaptation for sure, so long as the original intent and impact is kept, i would definitely consider some change!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

If I ever had the opportunity to pass my work off to a whole other team for an adaptation, I think I would take great joy in leaving them completely to it - barring a few obvious issues like race changes, gender/sexuality changes, and... changing the entire story to the point where it's unrecognizable. I love seeing reinterpretations of my work, and I understand that every adaptation would need changes of some form. My words and art aren't gospel - I'm open to any change if it improves the whole product. Whatever it takes to translate the material in the best way, which keeps the original message intact, is all good by me.

Changes in the actual comic would be harder to make - and I'd be far less comfortable with them, to be honest - but I wouldn't fight them if they obviously made the story/characters stronger. I've already added in ideas and reorganized plot threads based on reader feedback - luckily the story still has some places where it can bend. So long as a publisher took my basic story seriously, and aimed to remold it rather than remake it - I'd be down for a discussion. Hopefully a reputable publisher would know how best to sell my work, and would aim to make it as good as possible while maintaining integrity - I would try to trust them

chalcara

Comic stays mine, won‘t be changed beyound perhaps some professional line edits and polish. There’s a reason I didn’t shop it around as a graphic novel. I’d actually like that eitherway, would love to get myself a professional editor when I have the money. Adaptions can go nuts, provided the main characters stay true to their comic versions and the woman-loves-woman storyline stays in.

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

For the story to be told in another medium I would be pretty game for it to change the story a bit. Already now we are changing the story from how we made as a campaign. Makeing it more streamlined and more precise. I wanted originally that our comic could be a TV show. I come from a background of a character animator so that would make sense for me. So seeing it animated would be awesome! There would be some designs that needed to change to fit animation better.

Like Andree has this texture in his skin that needed to go away. But seeing it animated would be awesooome

Deo101 [Millennium]

I think if my Characters stay in Character, then I'm fine with changing pretty much any of the plot or world things. But the Character dynamics and who they are as people is what matters most to me, and I'm not sure I would be willing to sacrifice that. With some of my stories I'd be willing to completely let go of the reins, and with others I definitely want a tighter grip, too.

sagaholmgaard

Agree with the thing about character dynamics. My stories always stem from the characters' relationships and how they evolve, so I'd like for the essence of that to stay. Otherwise I'm pretty loose about the plot itself. Because I have an education in game development, I would totally be down for my comic being adapted into a story driven game of some sort. I'd be okay with changing the story to favor the game mechanics, like putting certain magic abilities in the focus and turning certain scenes into gameplay (like when they're sneaking around or fighting). As long as my handful of core emotional moments come across, I'm pretty happy to change things.

Tuyetnhi

I agree with the character dynamics too. I don't feel comfortable if they change the character backgrounds along with it as well for er what Krispy said for "Markability". That stuff won't fly with me. Comic stuff stay the same but for adaptations, I want to make sure it has similar story beats even if there's a change on few details. Tbh I could totally see er....a visual novel game happening in my comic since that's what my original intention was going for. still at the end I really don't intend my comic to transend other mediums since i'm planning to self publish the story someday lol.

kayotics

I’d be pretty willing to change stuff, actually. I’d want to be pretty involved in whatever adaptation was being made in this hypothetical, but I know that more people can make for stronger work. On the other hand, too many cooks can make for some pretty watered down soup, which is why I’d want to have a large role in things so some of the core stuff doesn’t get changed. But as it is, I’m not married to any ideas that exist in my comic, and am pretty welcome to changes.

DanitheCarutor

If the changes were to benefit the story than I wouldn't mind, if they were going to change everything to make it appealing to the masses than no. Definitely not if they want to mess with the characters since how they are play a major role in the comic. I've got a really specific story I'm trying to tell, so I'm very stingy on changes. If anything I'd be more open to a company making a spin-off or something not totally related to the main story, as long as it's not a complete bastardization. Other than free advertising and the brand name, I don't really see how getting published would benefit me anyway? I'm already in the process of rescanning and re-editing the first four chapters of my comic for self-publishing, if I really wanted to adapt it into an animation I would just do it myself. Along with teaching myself whatever else I needed to get as little help as possible. Sure, I have no experience but it's not like I can't learn, there are classes and free tutorials all over the internet. I've always wanted to get into animating. I can't imagine my comic being adapted into game, what would it even be? An anti-dating sim? An interactive novel? An Apollo drinking simulator?

Capitania do Azar

I WANT A BEAT THEM UP JUST RUN IN ONE DIRECTION KICK EVERYONE

eli [a winged tale]

The dream is a studio ghibli adaption but that won’t be happening I would want to vet the studio/company proposing the adaption and ensure that we are a good fit. I echo what many of you have said about the integrity of the characters and heart of the story. There are a lot of secrets that will come to unravel as the comic progresses and I hope the publisher will be accepting of them. I will be happy to have a conversation on why these structural changes are there and why I think it’s important to allow them to reach a wider audience. That said, I am also eager to see how they would themselves interpret the story and I will give creative freedom to that. Again, it’s a dream and while I would love to direct my own film, I simply don’t have the resources to do it (at this time). https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODQ3MzIzMTM3NjY4MDA0?igshid=15bnlhamdu3tn&story_media_id=2149085305360952847

Capitania we should just have a super smash bros of all our comic characters

renieplayerone

I think like a lot of people here have already said, Im not changing anyones race, gender identity or sexuality. Otherwise? I'd be really curious what someone else's perspectives could bring to my work if it ever got adapted. I have ideas for comics that are written like they could be movies too, but idk. Its fun trying to write thinking of other mediums

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Im pretty much in the same camp of make changes as it makes sense, but stay true to the core. In the case of a live action thing being made of my story, I would actually be super ok with a POC actor filling the role of any of the white presenting characters. Or actors with different body shapes that what I'd originally draw. More diversity in film is always good

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

outside of censorship, I would be fine with most story changes? with that said, good luck lol. there are very few scenes I think can be cut out of the story without supremely messing up later scenes. every magic ability on-screen is important in some way, a bunch of random background characters end up coming back & getting way more focus later on, etc. add filler, sure, but there's really not much you can cut out without messing up the entire story down the line.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I'm pretty open to the idea of changing some details to fit a different medium better. The big thing that I wouldn't want changed in Whispers of the Past (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/list?title_no=191366) is the characters' races. Since the story explores the idea of culture-shock and cultural identity, and the races/cultures are integral to world-building, it would be stupid the change the characters' appearances/races willy nilly. And besides, we don't want what happened to Eragon or Percy Jackson when they became movies. Congratulations on completely killing a franchise But yeah, as long as races and major plot details aren't changed too much, I'm really open to adjusting things. As an example, cutting out smexy times or making the language a bit friendlier to a wide audience, fine by me. But changing Kelan to a blacksmith instead of a farmer... Why???? I would need a good reason to do something like that. (I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU, ERAGON! WHY WAS RORAN JOINING THE ARMY RANDOMLY, INSTEAD OF BECOMING A MILLER? ISN'T THE ARMY WORKING FOR THE EVIL KING WHO TAXES THEM HEAVILY? EXPLAIN THIS TO ME.) I'm actually pretty scared about the whole race thing. I mean, Hollywood also ruined The ]

if the adaptation is Bad I can always just, like, disown it lmao

Deo101 [Millennium]

clearly im the one with the ideas here B) soo

LMAO yea

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

If it was being published as a comic, I don’t think I’d be willing to change too much- though that would depend a great deal in what kind of change. Cleaning up some wonky dialogue? That would probably be fine. Censorship? Absolutely not. Changing my LGBTQ+ characters’ gender / orientation to appeal to the mainstream? Really absolutely not. If being adapted to a different medium, I’d be much more willing to change things around, but would still insist my minority characters not change their identities. But I understand that as far as plot goes, different mediums call for different approaches. I’m planning on writing my comics as novels someday, and will be taking a much different approach to them. The plots will definitely be altered a great deal to better fit being written in prose.(edited)

AntiBunny

It honestly depends on what the changes were. There's a fair amount I'd change myself. A few core things I'd certainly not change though.

In AntiBunny http://AntiBunny.net/ for instance I could see some people missing the point of Penelope's character being a pacifist and wanting to make her some kind of badass, as if the only kind of strength there is comes from violence. I wouldn't remove the question of Pooky's gender, as in order to ask the question of "what is identity" I stripped Pooky of everything including even a mental construct of gender.

Some things I would change though. Likely I would cut the first two chapters and start at the 3rd when the plot actually gets moving. So demands for a faster flowing plot I could certainly meet. I'd probably cut few extra characters from the cast to streamline things a bit.

So yes for the purposes of streamlining things I'd make changes. I wouldn't make changes that would go against the entire point of the cahracters though.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Oh, a conversation in #general reminded me of something else regarding adapting Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R - If the comic is to be adapted with no changes at all, it'd be a legal nightmare. Off the top of my head, these are properties that have been directly stated in dialogue - - Yahtzee - Risk - Mario Kart - Settlers of Catan - Pokemon - Disney's Frozen I don't think you could technically get in trouble for any of those? It's not like anything copyrighted was shown on screen, it's just characters talking about things they've seen before. But a publisher would probably want to play it safe and avoid that. Also... the NFL might get mad at the publisher if the gang names in Cunoze City aren't changed? Like I don't ever say the team location, so technically full team names are never used... but again, it's probably best to play it safe.

Desnik

I'd be pretty flexible with changes, but if I have to take out demons to appeal to the Evangelical Christian states of America then obvs that's not going to work out

(And you wouldn't think that'd be a Thing to this day, but apparently it's been sort of this unspoken rule in book publishing since the Satanic Panic of the 80's in the US)

Some changes I'd be okay with: Adjusting ages of characters to appeal to target demographics, removing scenes that are difficult to draw, tweaking characters to be either more or less horrible depending on their role in the story

FeatheryJustice

I will be flexible to a point and the limit of this point is pretty align to my morals. If the editor tells me to include some weird things like "You must have a scene where this guy licks the curtains" I would also be like "What is the point of this scene."(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

“Your protagonist must fight a giant spider in the third act.”

Deo101 [Millennium]

I mean, if you bring up giant spiders in the first act... well...

Q (Wayfinders: Off Course)

Turn it around: if your protag must fight spiders in the third act, well, time to bring in the spiders in the first..?

AntiBunny

The more I think of it, the more I realize that the most likely thing I'd be asked to change in AntiBunny is to either tone down the violence and grimdark for kids, or make it even raunchier to appeal to the "mature" (not mature at all) animation market (Seth McFarlane's audience).

My own comic keeps it rather PG-13, but there's not much market for animation in that field, at least in America. Seems like it's all either kid friendly stories where no one dies or if they do it's off screen (people get shot and stabbed in my comic) or there's the opposite with dropping F bombs every other line and filling it with sex jokes.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Hey, I mean, never say never. Off the top of my head, Futurama and the Samurai Jack revival were both western cartoons that I'd put solidly in PG-13 territory. Both shows were able to go adult when they needed to be, but they didn't take that as a blank check to go into "rated R" territory for the shock of it.