Question How does your character perceive the Force?

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Opinions/reservations about this aside... okay, actually, to answer this I have to admit that I find this idea (as presented; I have not read the book) kind of goofy, or at least... childish? It reminds me of those Disney Fairies books I read as a wee lass, where each of the characters had hobbies, interests, abilities, names, and even personalities corresponding to a specific element or field. Rani was the water fairy; Fira was the... fire fairy? Or was it light?... Tinkerbell liked to fix things ("tinkering" get it haha wow) and... I don't remember any of the rest, rip. But while this did create a diverse cast of characters with clear delineations and reasoning in how they viewed their world, there was absolutely no overlap or depth between them. Because they didn't want to confuse the tiny brains of the little children, I guess.

I don't think it's really a case of boiling down an entire character's understanding of the Force to something small like that, just their sort of knee-jerk perception/immediate imagination of it. You'll find that even in the field of theology a lot of people will have a pretty basic imagination of how they personally perceive the object of their belief, but once you go deeper into it beyond that and really start digging into the philosophy and everything, then by necessity that falls away. It's kinda similar to the idea of "where do you perceive your consciousness to reside?" and how that question relates to your senses and personal experiences.

 

[Zaavik Perl]

I'm all for using metaphors to describe something. That's my bread and butter when it comes to any metaphysical concept like magic or religion. What I don't like is reducing it to only one metaphor for each character.

The force is a shapeless, endless, near-unknowable entity. Every person is going to have their own perception when their psyche is forced to visualize it. Think of it like IT or a Glamour, your mind comes up with what it can best use to rationalize what's before it because the true nature is too mind-boggling to take in full. Thus, it compartmentalizes it into something easier.

 

[Jsc]

I think you can approach John Williams himself and tell him what the Force is. All of it. George Lucas himself could sit him down and say, "John. This is everything the Force actually is. This is all of it. Right here. From top to bottom. Complete and whole. 10,000 pages long. This is, all, of the Force. There is nothing more."

And John Williams will still turn around and write a piece of music that absolutely encompasses all of it.

That's the beauty of Star Wars.

 

[Isabella Pavan]

A tool

 

[Taiia Locke]

Sakadi Marathi Sinvala

For me Taiia is an exploration of the Force that I am kind of experimenting with, kind of an evolved view of the Je'daii, mixed with the Wills. I draw a lot from clone wars and rebels as well for her.

Key points:

The Force is just the force, there is no dark or light it simply is
Jedi are as much a problem as the Sith, both are extremes and neither are right
The force is the living force, an entity that guides those who listen

Taiia is a reflection of my theories on the force, and it is constantly evolving if I'm being perfectly honest, but in my mind its very much the living force, the neutrality of the force. There is no 'dark' or 'light'. I am in no way saying my interpretation is correct, but this is how I currently view it.

 

[Darth Voracitos]

It is nothing.

Voracitos wills what aught to be, and it is so.

He wills it to fill his belly, and so it does. Usually by emptying someone else's belly... and organs... and skin and bones and everything else about them.

When he imagines the force, he imagines himself.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Nantaris is not one for fancy metaphors. When he perceives the Force he sees visible currents like air, blown by invisible winds. Some of them are stronger or weaker depending on where and what it surrounds.

Phylis though, my more philosophical Jedi, sees a metaphysical network like a fractal spiders web joining every living thing to every other. Objects glow and thread like an infrared camera, with the brighter glows showing a deeper affinity or strength in the Force. Light and Dark in shades fills these views, swirling, twisting and twining together.

However a character of mine like Anya who has no Jedi or other galactic force traditions views it very differently. For her her 'Sciia' as they call the Force is like a spirit or soul. When she reaches out to the Force she is harnessing its power and bringing it into herself, acting as a fusion reactor of it to bind it to her will. As she's a pyromancer the Force she perceives elsewhere is in various tones of fire. The most powerful of Force users would appear as blazing blue or white flames while a weaker user would be a shade of orange or red.

 

[Strider Garon]

The Force is a disease that needs to be cured.

 

[Daiya]

A curse.

To Daiya, the Force is unwanted and unhelpful. She doesn't fear it so much anymore, and she may have come to rely on certain aspects, but she still views it as something she would rather go without.

She has yet to delve deep into the Force itself, but when it affects her directly, it's a discomfort in some way. A knot in her throat. An ache behind her eyes. Or the way it totally overwhelms her body when she gets a vision.

 

[Tiland Kortun]

For Tiland, it’s very much a stream, constantly flowing and moving throughout the galaxy. To seek harmony within the Force is to follow the flow of the stream’s current collectively, almost as a massive wayer cycle.

Veino’s is a still, underground pool based on a ritual I invented for the Jensaarai. It’s bottomless, has both dark and light mingling in its depths, and utterly still.

Very much water oriented in my work with the Force apparently!

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Enyo doesn't care much for metaphors or theology. But if asked she'd liken the Force to a giant clock, ticking away till the end of time. Empires rise and fall, Jedi and Sith and all the other groups clash, lives are extinguished by the millions and the clock keeps on ticking....because ultimately none of this matters.

She intends to be there when the clock finally reaches midnight and the universe dies - and she with it. Then there shall be peace. Her understanding is derived from the heat death of the universe, the end of entropy and chaos, as well as her general nihilism and fatalism.

Elpsis views it as an eternal flame. Fire can harm, but also warm and protect. Everyone has an inner fire. But all belongs to a single flame that you are tapping into. So when you light up anything, you are just borrowing it and eventually you'll give it back (or if you fight against you'll eventually burn out and destroy yourself), which also ties in with her view on reincarnation.

Kaida grew up in a culture uninfluenced by Jedi and Sith beliefs. In her culture Sciia is the word for both spirit and what others would call the Force. It is a power inherent to her and she can tap into. Religious Eldorai would call it a gift from the Goddess Ashira, but she's an atheist. She's a cryomancer, so she sees the Force in various shades of cold. Strong Force-Users appear very cold, weaker ones warmer.

Siobhan is not a theologist or mystic, but she'd liken it to a hurricane. She would see herself as in the eye.

Darth Libertas is a bit tricky. I figure she'd see the Force in terms of a web, but it leads her along tracks and paths which suit her, like a shatterpoint, and which test her.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Cotan Sar'andor

Ok ur right bby.

Zaavik Perl

That's more or less what I said when I mentioned using metaphors to describe it. Which I don't really care about, go nuts with that... ahhh, I think my mind went too far ahead with this one. Now I want a thread talking about what everybody thinks the Force is.

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Now I want a thread talking about what everybody thinks the Force is.

Haven’t we had enough Jedi Schisms and angry nerd fights?

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Tiland Kortun

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Ok ur right bby.

best be careful talking to me like that, some day somebody might think you're being serious

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Cotan Sar'andor

Are you implying that you're not a space babe? I thought this was a generally agreed upon thing around here. "Cotan is a total babe."

But I'll go wash my mouth out with soap I guess

 

[Vytal Noctura]

"We are the mists over an endless ocean. The Force is that ocean. We rise from it, are given form from it, and some are drawn to it. Some gather the mists about their self; while others set a current through it to reshape the world around them. And in the end, we return back to the ocean to some day emerge again -- though not as we once were."

- Nightmother Vytal Noctura, Solanaceae
​

"When you gaze upon a blooming bud, do you think it knows its own beauty? Does it impose this sense of upon the world, or is the world imposing its sensibilities upon the flower? Is there Light? Is there Darkness? Yes. But who has imposed these things on whom? Has the Force forced you to become consumed by an ideal, or have you become consumed by the Force in the pursuit of that ideal?"

- Nightmother Vytal Noctura, Solanaceae​

 

[Ghoul of Moridinae]

A food source.

 

[Caulder Dune]

It's an energy field - one that can be manipulated reliably and predictably. Nothing more.

 

[Liddaat Fuamung]

Not sure about Kux's dad, but he mom sees it as waves. I'm not sure how Kuxirra or Liddaat perceive the Force, but Kux's many-greats-aunt Jayda had what I called "Force synesthesia."
She heard the Force as music. Each Force-signature was different. Someone completely aligned with the Light would sound beautiful, while someone balanced would sound even more beautiful thanks to a few certain dissonances.
Someone like Jabba, however, aligned with the Dark, would sound like someone banging their head on a piano.
Also I really want to read that High Republic stuff.