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July 18, 2006

History of the Traviss Affair

This history is by no means complete and focuses primarily on Traviss's statements.

May 2005
"Foreshadowing"

LiveJournal Blog: May 26, 2005 Neologism of the Day

Traviss discovers the term "Talifan" in relation to the work of another media tie-in writer.

September 2005
"And so it begins..."

TheForce.net Literature Forum: Guide to the Grand Army of the Republic (Sept 20)
(this is the last page where Karen Traviss participates)

Board members begin questioning the veracity of 3 million(+) clones. Traviss and Kaufmann attempt to answer these questions but their answers (save one by Kaufmann stating that the number "does not represent the entire fighting force") are not found satisfying to those who find the number too small.

After the authors' departure from the thread, the debate continues and becomes somewhat heated as these discussions do (SSD length), but that is part of the normal canon debate process; strongly held opinions will be strongly defended. However there was no flaming of Traviss or Kaufmann in that thread.

October 2005
"The Fuse is Lit"

Karen Traviss on her SW.com Blog
Special Forces (Oct 1)
Why Maths is a Slippery Slope in the GFFA (Oct 2)

Ms. Traviss continues her defense of the 3 million clone numbers. In the first link above is the first known claim by Traviss that she is being flamed somewhat over this.

Karen Traviss on LiveJournal (Oct 2): Worst.Episode.Ever.

Traviss's first use of the term "Talifan" to describe her critics. She thanks Dark Moose for "riding to my rescue in the Talifan Wars". This is likely a reference to threads and member blogs on SW.com discussing the clone number issue that were heavily moderated.

Karen Traviss on SW.com (Oct 6): Angels Pinheads and Inquisitions

This post is where it all really began to go to hell. "Techies/Fleet Junkies/Saxtonites" felt that they were being insulted by Ms. Traviss on the way they choose to enjoy their hobby and on their personal lives (unable to distinguish between fiction and reality). If this post was an attempt to calm both sides of the debate it failed utterly for, right or wrong, it is from this point on that clone discussions on various Star Wars related webboards become more heated and more focused on Karen Traviss herself.

TheForce.net Literature Forum: (Oct 15) Making the Boards Safe for Ms. Traviss's Return

Saxtonites are accused of driving/keeping Karen Traviss off the boards with rude and insulting behavior. While repetatively challenged to present evidence of anyone flaming either Traviss or Kaufmann on TFN, none is found or presented.

April 2006
"Using Gasoline to Put Out a Fire"

Star Wars Insider #87: Odds by Karen Traviss
TheForce.net Forums: ODDS in Insider 87 (Controversial Issues Abound) (April 2)
Stardestroyer.net Forums: The Size of the Droid Army "Retconned" (April 9)

A retconn that is intended to lower the canon number of driod soldiers which had previously been quantified as quadrillion or quintillion (Lord of War, RotS:ICS). While accepting its place in official hierarchy, critics (same people as those who railed against the 3 million) claimed that this went against prior EU sources and is over-ruled by the droid factory scene in AotC. More importantly, they claimed this was a poor attempt by Traviss to explain how the three million clones were enough to fight the Clone Wars which was now considered a "brush fire" and not a major conflict. Basically, this opened up a new front in the flamewar.

GalacticSenate.com Forums: (April 10) Republic Commando Sequel: Triple Zero

In a discussion of numbers (again), (an exasperated?) Karen Traviss twice accuses her critics of sexism: "Every argument I see that I - and Ryan, too - but it's obviously more rewarding to attack a woman)" and "This final comment isn't directed at you, but is a general observation about the tone of the attacks on me since last September: they are highly emotional and gynophobic." Her detractors see this as another unfounded attack on their persons. Traviss also states her distaste of the TFN forums.

Karen Traviss on LiveJournal (April 13): Nuts... or there but for the grace of God

What little chance of peace that existed between Traviss and her critics vanished with the appearance of this post. This is the source of the now infamous quote "My gut reaction is that they all need garroting, but my rational self finds it all... fascinating." It also had the effect of drawing in people that previously had no interest in the clone number debates but found Traviss's statements bewildering and distressing.

Wayne Poe: The Karen Traviss Database (April 14): Talifan!
(Note: the linked page was not written until May; the video is at the bottom of the page. The page also contains further history of the flamewar from Poe's perspective.)

Created in response to Karen Traviss's recent blog post, Talifan! is a film intended to satirize (albeit lacking subtlety) the whole Traviss affair. However, Traviss and her supporters saw it as a violent "revenge fantasy" and point to it as an example of what a Talifan is and the extreme lengths they go to.

May 2006
"Spreading the Love"

You are Dumb Forums (May 5)
Lee Goldberg LiveJournal (May 26, 2005)

Examples of Karen Traviss visiting other non-SW sites to raise awareness of the Talifan. In the second link this involved resurrecting a year old post.

June/July 2006
"18.5 Missing Minutes"

Traviss deletes blog posts on both LiveJournal and SW.com that reference the clone numbers or Talifan.

These, to the best of my knowledge, are the major events in this fracas. Since Traviss never directly quoted any instances of sexism, libelling, or threats, I could not document them. Talifan! might be seen as the exception, but I could argue its designation as satire and point out what and how it is parodying if needs be.

This post will be revised and updated over time.

Posted by Skayhan at July 18, 2006 02:33 AM

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