Ok, so many people who're involved in the online Star Wars fandom have probably heard of the whole 3 million clones debate. This started back when the 'Guide to the Grand Army of the Republic' was released in October 2005. It (supposedly) pinned down the number of clones in the army and a certain part of fandom was like "huh, only 3 million regular infantry clones? how can they defend a whole galaxy?" and other people were like "oh, maybe this happened and they meant this" and others were like "you suck" and then it exploded rather violently. And a few people started flaming the authors of the article (Karen Traviss and Ryan Kaufman) and it really wasn't pretty. Way too much emotion involved. I almost left the TFN forums for good then, but then the war spread to everywhere, including here at sw.com, and I was like, "ugh, this sucks so much, can I go kill people?" ... heh. Thankfully it all died down, though there's still a lot of vicious snark coming from certain people, so I have to be careful not to take the bait. I've been involved in drama in other online fandoms countless times, and sometimes it can be interesting - and while never nice, no lasting harm comes from it. This, on the other hand, was different. I'd never experienced this type of thing before. It was vicious.

So recently, Karen's been saying that there's an explanation that ties all this together and makes sense. A solution that no one has guessed yet. (Doesn't really surprise me, as there hasn't been an abundance of thought on this topic, just flared emotions on both sides.) Today on the forums, she was dropping hints about it. So I applied some brain power...and I think I may just have it. I'm not going to say what it is though. Yet. After Odds is out (short story in the next Insider that apparently will explain things), maybe I will, even if I'm wrong. But I wanted to come up with at least something before the answer is handed to us. And I like my idea, even if it's not fully right.

I tried writing it out, and it doesn't make as much sense as it did in its pre-language state in my brain... but oh well, that's kinda how it is with everything with me. I still think at least parts of my idea are right though. We'll have to see!

Ok, that's all about that for now. Just wanted to say that I'm pleased with myself that I was able to see something I couldn't before! It just randomly hit me when I was walking down the stairs this morning. Palpatine is one clever little evil dude - that's all I'm gonna say.

On a more amusing note, Rooty and I have been discussing Triple Zero, and specifically, its lack-of Fixer. Fixer is my favourite Delta by far, so I really wanted to see more of him in the book. But I don't know many people online who like Fixer at all (everything thinks he's boring... what the heck, dudes, he PWNS), thus Rooty is my main ally in the "Fixer is awesome" camp. Anyways, so we decided that he was off doing his own thing during the book as well. ... Heck, why am I bothering to explain when I can just link the thread (TZ spoilers). Let me just say: that picture totally made my day! Go Fixer, pwn that sucker! LOL! Amusement factor 10.

Well, there's your fill of fandom for the day! I must say, despite the downsides of fandom, I really am very happy to be a Star Wars fan and to share my thoughts and ideas and ramblings online with other people who love it as much as I do.