"Dear Elza,

So... a while back, my girlfriend broke up with me. We had been apart for awhile, and there was someone else on her side of things, so she came to me and officially ended the relationship. This is only background, not the point of the submission. I've been trying to move on, trying to find someone else to be with, but... there are two. This is the problem.

Obviously, dating both is not an option, but I like them both. One of them is slightly younger than me and has a bit of a crush. I try not to let on that I know she has a crush on me, but... well, I do know. The other is also around my age, I think, (truthfully, I haven't asked as it’s kind of an awkward question) and she also likes me, I'm fairly certain. She's more mature than the other and just as nice, and in actuality, I imagine a relationship with her being more successful, but I just can't choose. I care about both of them, of course, so I know being with one will probably hurt the other which I really don't want to happen.

What should I do, and how do I let the other down gently?"

--Stressed on Shaddaa"

"Dear Elza,

My first boyfriend got bit by a rakghoul and died. I loved him dearly and was devastated when he passed away. His death was very traumatic; a trooper had to shoot him before he turned and I was holding his hand, looking into his eyes as it happened. A mutual friend of ours, who has never hidden his feelings for me, helped me get through the difficult time after my boyfriend's death. He has always been there for me, even in the times I didn't want him to be. We even got involved together, but I had to break it off as it was too soon after my first's death. I wasn't sure then that I loved him, but I am now and for now we are together and happy. So why am I writing to you, you ask?

The person I am now involved with is a force-user. I do love him, though differently than my first boyfriend. I won't call him a Jedi, though he was trained to be one. He has promised me not to become Sith, though more and more he seems to want to go down that path, thinks he can destroy the Sith from the inside. He was even taken by a Darth at one point after he killed his apprentice, becoming an apprentice in place of the one he killed. I and a fellow managed to rescue him, but I get the feeling he wants to go back and finish his training. He's said as much. It feels as if I will lose him unless I let him go, but if I let him go, I'm sure I will lose him to the Sith. He tells me he loves me and that I'm the most important thing to him in the galaxy and he will come back to me. But he really wants to be this Sith’s apprentice, learn to use the Dark side of the force so he can destroy the sith from the inside.

What should I do?

Rakgirl"

III. Getting Deeper

This next section is for those who have the basics down and are looking to move forward with their RP experience. There are many ways to begin a new RP story, and I'll go through them here.

1. Walk-up RP/Random RP

This one is pretty simple. You see several people chatting over drinks in the cantina, their conversation seems interesting enough, yet you do not know them and they do not know you. How do you go about this? Easy! The same way you would in real life!

/say *Boomer glances over his shoulder at the three men to his left speaking of a new posted bounty at the Imperial Fleet.* "Fella's," *He grumbles in their direction.* "I already took that job, so you can stop running your mouths about it. Though, I could use an extra hand taking in the target. Any of you interested?"

As the three men's attention turn to Boomer, he steps nearer to them and engages in the conversation. Hank, Bow, and Jack all target him (Yes, I mean actually click on Boomer and target him directly. I'll explain this more in a later section.). Jack tells Boomer that he is interested in helping him out with taking the target, but he wants a fifty percent cut of the reward. Boomer in turn targets Jack and tells him that isn't going to happen if he is the one taking on most of the risk, using his ship and his equipment. Hank then asks Boomer his name, and Boomer targets Hank and responds sharply.

II. Basics

There is a lot of material that can be put into this section, so I will try to limit it to the more important things!

1. Spelling and Grammar

All role-players will tell you that these two are the most annoying basics that people make mistakes with in RP. They speak for themselves as far as chat conversations go. Do your best to keep your spelling and grammar as close to proper for easier and smoother reading by the other characters you are in contact with. If your character only speaks Mandalorian, then don't speak Basic or Huttese, unless you can specify that you have learned them in-character. I will now give an example of Spelling and Grammar:

/say *Boomer wakls into teh Canteena his eyes lit up in anger. he struted to the bar and slamed his fist on the top and looked over the crowd before his eyes settle on a twi'lek dancer dressed in only tiny scraps of fabric.* She's a looker, aint she?" He says to no one in particuler before scrubbing his dirty hands over his rugged face.*

It's pretty easy to see what is wrong with the above statement. Though, some of the grammar in the above example leads to our second lesson.

"Dear Elza,

So.

I've been married for uh… a long time, right? And then I get this speeder shop business going after I retire from the Republic Army. Yeah, yeah, yeah, real patriotic of me to get out while there is a possible war going on. Whatever. I do my job. I'm just 'too old to play' I guess.

Anyhow, this chick comes in and is all over me like the stink of a Bantha. She's hot as hell though, and I feel ten years younger than her. We make with the relations. A lot. It’s purely physical, no icky feelings to make things complicated though. It’s easy because I conduct business off-planet so the wife doesn't think twice.

But I feel that, you know, guilt thing, because I am married. But the wife, she's not really, you know, wife like. I haven't touched her since my daughter was born (we're talking about the type of touch in those holo-vids your parent's don't let you watch, kiddos). We hug. Sometimes. But there ain't no romance, no intimacy in our relationship. For Maker's sake, we have separate beds. It’s like she married me because I knocked her up in secondary school.

"Dear Elza,
   
I am presently involved with a warrior, and have been for the past three standard years. He’s wonderful and devoted. He left me alone about two months back to go work a job in the Outer Rim Territories. He holos daily or leaves me messages, never wavering. He professes how much he misses me, and I stare blankly at the images.
   
I came across a human sith, standing alone at the cantina on the fleet. Oh, this was quite a while ago. We chatted over drinks, found common interests, and on several occasions enjoyed each others company. Recently though, we have been spending more time together, since I now have the time. I’ve found that the few common interests we shared once have allowed us to blossom together. Words aren’t spoken between us in a lover’s way; it’s more of a "knowing.” The way he looks at me, I see it, and I know my eyes shine brightly when I look at him.
   
My relationship is content. There is nothing wrong. The warrior and I do not argue, or bicker, yet the relationship, at least for me, has grown…stale. He works, yet never progresses. As well, I work, but don’t bother to want to progress. This new Sith has created for me, a bubble in which only he and I exist. Our conversations last long into the night, and begin again with the morning, never failing. The feeling is intense, a bright fire burning, and an incessant need to add more fuel. 

Star Trek and Star Wars have more in common than just sweaty nerds in costumes. They have sweaty nerds in costumes arguing over tiny nuances in their series' details. The term canon comes to us from religion, and like religion, it causes people to go to war over seemingly tiny details in their faith. Canon originally referred to the scriptures that were included in the various religious texts. Much like Star Wars, the core writings were handed down from an all knowing, infallable creator, but people kept adding to them. Canon is created by the church, or in this case LucasArts, to define which of these stories are in line with the faith and should be included. George Lucas does not regularly intervene in the lives of us mortals anymore, and therefore we must use the rules set up to determine what is canon and what is not.