#elf talk

[faerynii]

hi oomfs

miss tumblr, my beloveds

[astriiformes]

are elves isolationists?? this is something i as a dm am grappling with in worldbuilding and want a True Elf Expert take on

Ooh, yeah, this is a thing I definitely have some thoughts on

It’s a pretty bog-standard fantasy trope, at least nowadays, but there are a few reasons I actually tend to like it in fiction (if done in certain ways and with certain intent) and that are why, when doing the worldbuilding for the Friendship Campaign elves, I decided to include it. I’d say there are a couple things to think through, and depending on your answers you may have more of an idea whether its the right thing for your setting

First of all, how interested are you in dealing with the consequences of elves having a longer lifespan/grappling with the mortality of non-elven loved ones. Is there another equivalently long-lived race in your setting? Would you rather it not figure into your decision making? One reason the Friendship Campaign elves are so isolationist is because surrounding yourself primarily with others who are going to live on the same sort of timeframe as you can hurt a lot less than the alternative. But Elves that don’t live as long, or who will find friends in the outside world like themselves, wouldn’t have that particular motivator

Secondly, do you want your elves to have an air of mystery? I am a huge proponent of weird elves -- I think they should be a little unsettling, a little strange, a little fae -- and absolutely would integrate details like that no matter how in-touch with the rest of the world our elves were. However, having isolationist elves is rife with potential for expanding on the idea without even working with physical attributes or even things that are actually true. If your elves don’t have much contact with other races, rumors will abound in the rest of the world -- What are they actually even like? What are they hiding? Elven or even half-elven characters might even face consequences as a result, depending on the picture of elves the rest of the world has developed without the input of many real elves at all -- if they’re painted as beautiful or scholarly, maybe less so (though it might attract intrigued admirers), but if the non-elves in your setting whisper untrue stories of stolen children and changelings and people going missing, a character with an visible elf blood could quickly get into a whole lot of trouble through no fault of their own

The last thing is -- are there any considerations that would affect their likelihood of being isolationist, and in which direction? Friendship Campaign elves tend to be hypersensitive, especially to things like loud noises and bright lights, and prefer a slower pace of life as a result (which their lifespan affords). That’s another reason they tend to keep to themselves and have even withdrawn from certain areas as others have moved in. You might have that, or other things to keep in mind. Do you want a lot of half-elves in your setting? A certain amount of contact with the outside world is needed to make that happen, even if its via a contingent of more rebellious elves that are eschewing tradition. (Or -- do older and younger elves have differing ideas about that sort of thing....) Is magic something that has restrictions in your setting, and if so, what do you want your elves’ relationship with that to be? If practicing certain kinds of magic is frowned upon and you’re going the fairly traditional route of making your elves distinctly magical, they might have further motivation to retreat into the areas where others aren’t. That might be another situation in which considering their possible close affiliations with the fae could be important. Are your high elves and wood elves culturally very different? Is their policy on this sort of thing a part of that? You could have wild forest elves that distrust their cousins who practice magic in the cities, or alternatively have haughty wizarding types who’d rather not interact with the rest of the world, unlike their cheerful relatives who are happy to help guide others through the woods. There are loads of options

Basically, I’d say it comes down to what you want out of your setting, and out of your elves specifically. Figuring out if having them be isolationist vs open better accomplishes what you want should be your decision-maker. There are advantages to both. You don’t even have to ask yourself all the questions I’ve proposed -- just the ones that are particularly important to you and the story you’re trying to tell. Whatever best suits that narrative is likely to be the right choice for you.

[faerynii]

ii rise from the dead to reblog two things and then dissappear

[bam-monsterhospital]

fantasy species (part 2)

MORE ELF STUFF! because i said so. rambling bulleted list below the readmore.

elves and feelings...

i've always loved in folklore when fey/'The Fair Folk' are noted to feel emotions very strongly, and since elves are fey, elves generally feel things to the degree humans with adhd feel things. aka: a lot™

because of this you'll of course get your elf cultures that are more vulcan-like and preach restraint and self control. except emotions aren't viewed as negative/a burden (like how it is with vulcans), instead in these more calm-focused cultures there'd be an overall attempt to avoid being overwhelmed/overstimulated, because fffffuck man no one likes that shit, that shit is terrible. so, a lot of emphasis here on meditation, centering techniques, avoiding triggers, that sort of thing. not all elven cultures are like this, of course, and the degree of it all would fluctuate from group to group.

speaking of overstimulation and triggers: elves would in general get overstimulated very easily (as easy as a neurodivergent human who has to deal with that sort of thing). every elf is different, like every human, so of course what becomes a problem varies wildly, ranging from visual input, proximity to other beings, textures, tactile input, audial information, emotional experiences, even just information-information (like... ideas and shit). all kinds of stuff.

anyone remember the story 'the princess and the pea'? where a princess couldn't sleep because she could feel a single pea through a dozen layers of matresses all stacked on top of each other? elves are like that. And while one elf might have tactile issues like that , you might have another that could sleep on any lumpy dusty misshapen mattress no problem, but the sharp constant ticking of the clock on the other side of the house is driving them to never want to hear sounds ever again in their long long life.

All this has resulted in elves having a reputation (cough cough, from humans) of being "finicky". fussy. prissy. picky. difficult to please. nit-picky. sound familiar?

they'd hyperfixate.

seen as "distant" by neurotypical humans when really their minds are just elsewhere constantly or they're trying really hard to be present and it comes off as looking distracted.

i think elves would appreciate/be intrigued by neurodivergent humans who experience these symptoms.

[faerynii]

every day I must resist the urge to make a long form blog where I infodump once a month about whatever my fixation is at the time

[faerynii]

hi moots I hope u are doing well it has been literally ten years since I've talked to some of u

[faerynii]

WHERE DID AUTO TAGS GO, HELP

[faerynii]

Tumblr UI is so refreshing after being on primarily Twitter for, literally, like four years