A word from Karen Traviss...

NovallTalon

Well-Known Hunter
I received this in my email this morning, she asked that those of us who can to please help get the word out about this. I'm gonna go ahead and post this here because this section of TDH is where 99% of the talk on EU mandos takes place. Anyhow, here is a message from Karen Traviss concerning costumers who have emailed her asking character specific questions to fill in costume gaps:

*** With full permission to copy in its entirety ***

Folks, I'm getting a *lot* of mail from costumers asking for detail
on various characters. This is from all sorts of places, but I
mention it here because some of you have links into costume groups
and might get word out.

I can't give detail that's not in the books. Sorry, I want to help,
but this is causing me all kinds of problems. Nor will I share my
thoughts on what I might do with characters' costumes any longer,
because it's just made a rod for my back. I made a mistake helping
out one or two people in the past, and it's now getting in the way of
the stories - not through volume of mail, but because it's asking me
to pre-empt quite a complex worldbuilding process.

If it's not in the books, inventing it solely to fill in costuming
gaps causes real problems. Remember that long thread we had about
random continuity, inventing detail for the hell of it to "tie up
loose ends" and then finding some time later that it's cut across
some story further down the line? Even small detail can do that. If a
character carries a certain kind of bag, it's not just cosmetic -
they may well have a whole story to go with that about how they got
the bag and what it's made from. Imagine if someone had hassled to me
to find out what kind of gloves Jaing wore, and under pressure, off
the top of my head, I said blue.

Actually, Jaing's gloves ended up being grey, because what they're
made from and how he acquired them is a huge element in the plot of
the RC books.

Do you see my point? This is not actually small detail, however much
it might look like it. Detail has to grow organically from
storytelling. Otherwise it's the tail wagging the dog, and that kills
the books.

I love the costuming community, but I need folks out there to
understand why I can no longer give them any unpublished detail or
suggestions. Any help you can give me in getting word out will be
appreciated.

You may reproduce this message if you need to. In fact, it's probably
better if you use it, because paraphrasing might end up making it
look as if I can't be arsed, when in fact I have a very valid reason
for not providing information that has nothing to do with spoilers.

Thanks!

KT

*** End message ***
 
good deal. I am finishing my skirata costume. WooHooo I just need guants and my gun. and I just ordered my guants. if a detail changes I can change it later. Her new book is awesome btw.
 
That's a good message to keep in mind. I know when making my Bardan costume, I knew I only had a few facts to go on, and just inferred the rest myself. Perhaps if more costumers do the same for other characters with little visual reference, the fans themselves will help to establish the look. I agree we give Kar'buir a break from our questions.
 
I don't blame her. That's part of the problem today, where people (costumers) don't (or can't) use their imaginations when interpreting what they read in the books...to me, that's part of the fun of making this stuff...actually, it s sort of "creative license", if you will....
Rob
 
A lot of the reasons she states are kind of why I've always preferred to make my costumes unique, rather than try and copy a movie costume. Its the creative process behind why it is the way it is. Its my own license to create what I want why I want it that way. She needs it that way for her job, I just like it that way for fun!

On another note, its great she is willing to communicate so openly with the fan groups. I'm sure she's very busy.

-Brian
 
Agreed. I dabble in writing myself (nothing nearly as good as Kar'buir's work, but I enjoy it :)); as a writer, there are certain rules you must follow. RULE NO 1: The Story Comes First. Always. PERIOD. Trying to force the story to fit pre-conceived details, especially when those details weren't created with the story in mind, can be a real pain in the shebs. It's obvious it's forced, and the reader will ALWAYS know. Trying to work around that is a total b***h. Let's give Karen a break, eh? ;)
 
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i just wish the 501st allowed to people to use the Null Arc Sgt. A'den as a legit costume. I mean she made it canon. Why deny the labors of the Mand'alor?
 
Unfortunately, there has to be enough visual references for them to become 501st acceptable gear. Unless it's seen a comic or video game, then unfortunately it doesn't count because there is to much room for personal customization to make them "standardized".
 
We have seen Clonetrooper Sergeants with the green trim in Episode II, though. So it should be the same as the movie-accurate ARC Captain and Lieutenant -- just with green trim instead, yes? I only have one reference for my ARC Commander, and it probably won't get 501st approval -- but since it's the same thing as the other well-documented ARCs and Phase I Clonetroopers, not allowing it would be really frikkin' pedantic. Ditto A'Den.

My advice is, if you want to do it, do it. Do something basic and straight from the movies if 501st approval is what you want. You can always champion some obscure or seldom-/never-seen EU character if there's enough peripheral evidence that you think they should be acceptable/approvable. But be ready for it to take a long time, or never. Remember what Robert Heinlein said about committees...

--Jonah
 
We just have to wait for them to make more video games or animated series'. I kinda wish Karen Traviss would write for the Clone Wars series and make the stories more clone centric. I think we could agree we've heard enough stories about Anakin Skywalker and Co. Let's make some clone main characters not just some plot detail or sidekick like Cody and Rex seem to be (though they're still nice characters).
 
With Anakin being the main character of the prequels I don't think that will happen. I'm sure there will be more episodes in the future like "ROOKIES", but not all the time.

Unfortunatey it's called the "CLONE WARS" not the "CLONE'S WAR".
 
I'm going to be honest here, Isn't it we who should be providing her with detail on mandos? Shouldn't WE support Karen by giving her as much help as possible? I know that she has given customs cameos in her books before, who's to say she won't do it again? Therefore, I say we should be providing Karen with information and support instead of drawing her away from her work by drowning her with requests for non-cannon information on characters that she hasn't provided in her books.

Just my opinion.

Kal'ika
 
I don't actually know if that's possible. Support, heck yes! But information... I don't think she's even ALLOWED to look at anything like that, if someone sent something to her. I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere... I could be wrong, I don't remember. Darn memory cells! ;)
 
Besides, like most of the books and comics, when lucas wants to go his own direction, he'll blatantly ignore a lot of the canon that has been written. So really the books are a tenuous link to what's going on. I'm fully expecting the TV series he's producing to contradict a lot of what the writers have said. It's why I don't read the books anymore.
 
Any time you build armor, you give her support. Karen builds her own characters, plain and simple. She has to for them to be allowed into a book in the first place. Now, she does use the names or armor of a very few of the real-world characters for her own reasons. However, she has to completely ignore any back story the owner of that character's name may have come up with previously. So at that point your character is no longer your character. =)

She can and has looked at some individuals armor for reference in the past, as well as for references on weapons etc. If she likes a particular armor item and thinks it's something that will fit into her books well then she will learn about it.
 
by providing her with detail and information I mean tech info on specific things, like for example the verp shattergun that was finally quantified by one of our members here. Or if she asks how a certain piece of kit works, since we're the ones who create it. I don't mean giving her our characters and their back stories, since that would be doing her job for her. Honestly, I'm just glad Karen is willing to share her talent with the rest of the world.

Kal'ika
 
Hey guys! I'm new to the whole posting community. I totally agree with Karen. I would love to see what she has pictured in her head of certain characters or things but I completely understand that that would involve too much time for back stories. I myself have looked up some of the most bizarre things just to get a visual. Some of the costumes and designs I have seen on here are amazing and show the creativity of individuals
 
***!!! Can't believe I read that! lol jk
Karen is the genius behind the Republic Commando series of books from which a lot of our (mando'ade) culture stems. She is the one who basically reinvented the mando. Thanks to Karen's brilliant writing mandalorians have acheived an unprecedented level of popularity in the SW Fan community. She also wrote many of the books from the Vong War on that use mando'ade a lot in the writing. She is the one who gave us a lot of what we know about Boba and all the rest of the cannonized mandos. I guess Karen is the only writer who really understands how much people like to read about mandos.

Kal
 
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