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Alien Character Mindsets: Elves should be pretty conservative about almost everything.
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<blockquote data-quote="squibbles" data-source="post: 8692847" data-attributes="member: 6937590"><p>...well. I'm a bit late to the thread, but I read it all the way through so hell if I'm not gonna post. Apologies to those of you whom I quote, that haven't posted in the thread since two weeks ago.</p><p></p><p>[USER=6796468]@Steampunkette[/USER] opens with a post which is maybe needlessly inflammatory but that, to me, foregrounds the time-horizon strangeness of most fantasy properties. The numbers are always too big, and elves are one of the worst offenders. To quote some of [USER=6796468]@Steampunkette[/USER] 's relevant followup posts:</p><p></p><p>but yet:</p><p></p><p></p><p>The passage of time for us means world-reshaping change and, particularly, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history" target="_blank">Whig history</a> sense of progress, where, for a Nile farmer in the middle kingdom, the pyramids are already ancient, the river floods like clockwork every year, and nothing about the essential world order will ever really change.</p><p></p><p>Which of these worlds do elves live in. If it's faux America, the passage of centuries matters a lot more than in the Forgotten Realms, where apocalypses happen every day, but the world order always lingers in the borderline renaissance. It almost makes sense to be stodgy and (small c) conservative in a world like the forgotten realms. So, about that:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Obviously, Tolkien got here first, and had his fun making all the big and awesome stuff in the world decline as a function of time. But to my thinking, the conservatism of elves--outside of jrr's legendarium--might be more like wildlife conservation than fiscal conservatism. They've identified the things they value, and they intend to keep those things. Some things they like are natural wonders, some things are artifacts they've made, some are traditions, some are <em>people</em>. This is maybe going out on a limb, but perhaps elves fetishize longevity in a traditionally Chinese way, where filial piety is a big deal, families care massively in maintaining the health and safety of their 500+ year old grandparents, and societies care massively in maintaining their 1000+ year old monarchs. (which is also a pretty apropos reading of the silmarillion, lets be honest)</p><p></p><p>on a different note:</p><p></p><p>That's a good observation, and I think the trauma bit of longevity didn't get quite enough coverage in upthread. So, for example, lots of people who lived through the depression were permanently weird about money because of it. Maybe the 800 year old elves who lived through the time of FIRE AND MADNESS, still aren't quite right, and carry their neuroses from that time into the present. My boy Thranduil, the archetypal elf king, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hrpDZyJChw" target="_blank">is still whining about the mean people who took his necklace and flipping out about dragons</a>... for example.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Finally: This. Is. Just. Awesome.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="squibbles, post: 8692847, member: 6937590"] ...well. I'm a bit late to the thread, but I read it all the way through so hell if I'm not gonna post. Apologies to those of you whom I quote, that haven't posted in the thread since two weeks ago. [USER=6796468]@Steampunkette[/USER] opens with a post which is maybe needlessly inflammatory but that, to me, foregrounds the time-horizon strangeness of most fantasy properties. The numbers are always too big, and elves are one of the worst offenders. To quote some of [USER=6796468]@Steampunkette[/USER] 's relevant followup posts: but yet: The passage of time for us means world-reshaping change and, particularly, a [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history']Whig history[/URL] sense of progress, where, for a Nile farmer in the middle kingdom, the pyramids are already ancient, the river floods like clockwork every year, and nothing about the essential world order will ever really change. Which of these worlds do elves live in. If it's faux America, the passage of centuries matters a lot more than in the Forgotten Realms, where apocalypses happen every day, but the world order always lingers in the borderline renaissance. It almost makes sense to be stodgy and (small c) conservative in a world like the forgotten realms. So, about that: Obviously, Tolkien got here first, and had his fun making all the big and awesome stuff in the world decline as a function of time. But to my thinking, the conservatism of elves--outside of jrr's legendarium--might be more like wildlife conservation than fiscal conservatism. They've identified the things they value, and they intend to keep those things. Some things they like are natural wonders, some things are artifacts they've made, some are traditions, some are [I]people[/I]. This is maybe going out on a limb, but perhaps elves fetishize longevity in a traditionally Chinese way, where filial piety is a big deal, families care massively in maintaining the health and safety of their 500+ year old grandparents, and societies care massively in maintaining their 1000+ year old monarchs. (which is also a pretty apropos reading of the silmarillion, lets be honest) on a different note: That's a good observation, and I think the trauma bit of longevity didn't get quite enough coverage in upthread. So, for example, lots of people who lived through the depression were permanently weird about money because of it. Maybe the 800 year old elves who lived through the time of FIRE AND MADNESS, still aren't quite right, and carry their neuroses from that time into the present. My boy Thranduil, the archetypal elf king, [URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hrpDZyJChw']is still whining about the mean people who took his necklace and flipping out about dragons[/URL]... for example. Finally: This. Is. Just. Awesome. [/QUOTE]
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