#communitytakeover

[creativerogues]

Taking A Question - Elvish Accents? (Community Edition)

"Is there such a thing as an Elvish accent?"

CreativeRogues says:

Well, is there such a thing as a human accent?

Elvish accents work kinda like human accents, in that it depends on the region in which they live and taught pronunciations. High Elves may pronounce a word one way, and Wood Elves pronounce it another. Distinctions like this give them differing accents.

maybeinvisibleoceans says:

If I can speak french without having a accent (because I was taught it...duh!), then a human, dwarf etc. can speak elvish without an accent.

vampirestookourscience says:

Accents vary depending on where you are. If One elf grows up near a dwarven village, their accent may sound deeper and more gruff. While another elf raised in a High Elf Castle may sound a bit snobbish and arrogant. And not to mention that a elf raised in a human village might not even develop an accent! WHO KNOWS!?!

[creativerogues]

Taking A Question - Pointy Ears (Community Edition)

“If we're to assume elves were a product of their environment and not magically created, what reasons would there be for them to have their distinctive ears? In what ways would they be beneficial for natural selection?”

CreativeRogues says:

First of all, natural selection doesn't work like that. Natural Selection isn't as much "survival of the fittest" as "survival of the meh, good enough".

The most notable things big ears could help with are better hearing, or a for helping the body lose heat.

These are purely physical advantages, though. 

Ears can also be used for portraying emotion or moods, which is beneficial for social creatures.

Their purpose can also be as simple as being an biological ornament for attracting a mate of the opposite gender.

ProbablyBadBlogs says:

Also, the genetic markers that cause pointy ears could have been selected due to a completely unrelated effect, and pointy ears were an after-effect.

For example, maybe quicker muscle movement also causes pointy ears...

Myluckywords says:

I like the answer and I'd like to add that Elves live in fairly tempered if not warm climate. Allen's rule says that e.g. ears grow smaller in cold climate to avoid heat loss and bigger in hot climate to promote heat loss.

maybeinvisibleoceans says:

Once upon a time, some prehistoric elf found slightly pointy ears attractive and it just carried on from there.

vampirestookourscience says:

The shape of that part of the outer ear has almost no effect in your hearing, its only the uppermost part that is long. It might be for heat, as some said, or cosmetic (maybe longer ears are sexy) or it might contain a lot of nerves for sensing Wind changes or whatnot. 

[creativerogues]

Can magic turn certain genes off or on, making your character more badass???

Bekamercury says:

Magic can do anything you want it to :P

I’ve never really seen anyone give a mechanism by which magic would act at the molecular level, like it would have to in order to control gene expression, but that being said if magic allows you to summon a giant fireball out of the air or totally replace someone’s memory, why couldn’t it change DNA sequences or how transcription factors turn genes on and off?

[rhythm-africa-the-lifestyle]

Day two of #MandelaDay2014 #CommunityTakeOver with @cheesekids spotted the creator of the #CheeseMovement from back in 2007 when he was just creating just a platform for him and his friends to give back and use they #67mMinutes to drive and activate good within South Africa... Little did he know he would birth a beast of a movement that would go viral and touch Africa and the world. We say #Cheese @shakasisulu standing along side Ayanda #Cheesekidding #GivingBack #Activation #Mok_World #Movement

[rhythm-africa-the-lifestyle]

Day two of #MandelaDay2014 #CommunityTakeOver with @cheesekids spotted @mindadmedia @mindadafrica 's creative photo booth of the day 😊. It was created right the with no planning just using the structure and environment with props from the school 🏫. #Creative #Photography #MindadThumbsUp #Cheesekidding