D&D General Creating a Pride Flag for my D&D setting

[Faolyn]

What about a tent playing D&D games?

There could be separate booths, like at some restaurants.

Or something analogous?

Heh. Although in all seriousness, it highly depends on what the rest of elf society is like. If this is the main times elves get their funk on, then any elf who really wasn't interested in such things likely wouldn't feel much of a need to go, because the rest of the time, society already caters to their needs. If elf society is more like human society, and this festival is just a big to-do that celebrates something that already goes on all year long, then having the "games tent" or other non-sexual activities would be useful as a respite.

 

[Faolyn]

OTOH, Dwarven coding might not involve color at all…. Maybe it’s all about mineral types.

Since flowers have meaning to humans, then stones--and even how they're cut--would have meaning to dwarfs and gnomes.

"She gave me a garnet! Oh, but, it's a square cut. Wow, talk about mixed signals here!"

 

[Steampunkette]

I think @Dannyalcatraz and @Faolyn are on to something with gemstones...

Particularly among Deep Dwarves, where color isn't clear, but cut and shape are. A gemstone in a princess cut might represent someone is single and looking, and then the color represent gender of interest... but you can't -see- the color in Darkvision so someone has to get close and light a candle which could be considered fairly forward or a clear sign of explicit interest without a word.

 

[Imaculata]

I would think that magical beings that live as long as elves, are wise enough to not really care very much about gender. They have hundreds of years to figure out how they identify, and I would imagine elven society just wouldn't make a big deal out of it. So the concept of a pride flag, especially a rainbow one that is so close to our own, just doesn't fit.

However, I could imagine elves weaving different fabrics into their clothing as an expression of how they currently identify. Something subtle, that only elves would really pick up on. I think elves wouldn't feel a need to express any kind of pride, especially about something so normal to elven society. But also to express it with flags is very human. Do elves care much about flags at all?

A fertility festival I could see. In my own campaign I had a human fertility festival, which the whole town took part in. There were parades, monks throwing rose petals, partying and heavy drinking all day and night. And young and old would pray to the fertility goddess in the hope of finding love that day. But they didn't have flags with genitals on them, that would just be distasteful. Instead they had parade wagons, wore brightly colored clothing, carried statues of the goddess through the city, and played lots of music.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think @Dannyalcatraz and @Faolyn are on to something with gemstones...

Particularly among Deep Dwarves, where color isn't clear, but cut and shape are. A gemstone in a princess cut might represent someone is single and looking, and then the color represent gender of interest... but you can't -see- the color in Darkvision so someone has to get close and light a candle which could be considered fairly forward or a clear sign of explicit interest without a word.

With darkvision, you could see the stone’s size and general cut, maybe inclusions. You could feel its weight, texture and count its facets. Taste could tell you more, but it’s a potentially dangerous test. You can test its hardness.

But it would probably require light to truly know what stone you were dealing with.

And THAT means Dwarven gemstone code would function with a modicum of secrecy. Like writing with invisible ink.

 

[AnotherGuy]

The idea of the Revelry as a big celebration of sex and romance and makin' babies isn't actually a problem. LOTS of cultures have fertility rituals and celebrations and stuff. Plus we all know what a Saturnalia is.
The only issue I have is trying to tie such a thing specifically to the LGBTQIA+ community through the flag.

A partner of a player at our table purchased a pride flag online and received 3 "pride" condoms along with it as a supplementary gift. The couple were not impressed.

 

[AnotherGuy]

It's also generally considered divisive and rude to split "LGB" away from T, given the current trend of transphobic bigots doing -precisely- that. Advocating for "LGB Rights" to the exclusion of Trans individuals.

Mainly because they're not actually interested in the LGBTQIA+ community, only in breaking it apart.

nudges the LGBs "Those Ts don't really belong 'cause they're not a sexuality, amirite?"
nudges the LGs "Those Bs don't really belong 'cause they often have heterosexual relationships, amirite?"
nudges the Ls "Those Gs don't really understand what it's like to be a homosexual woman, so they don't belong, amirite?"

I do note that you used the word generally but nevertheless the rest of the post felt somewhat inflammatory and presumptuous leading to unjustified name-calling.

 

[Yaarel]

Maybe for the dwarves, the quartz mineral specifically associates romantic interests.

Maybe the quartz structure corresponds to anatomy? Something like?
• female transparent crystalline (crystal, amethyst, etcetera)
• intersex translucent chalcedony
• male opaque jasper

Maybe its cut corresponds to gender?
• feminine rounded, round, oval, multifacet brilliant, simple cabochon
• queergender partly rounded and partly angular, marquis, pear, heart
• masculine angular, square, rectangular, emerald

Maybe the location of the jewelry corresponds to community?
• woman head adornment, crown, earings
• nonbinary torso adornment, necklace, broach, belt
• man arm adornment, ring, armlet, bracer

May its metal inset signifies interest?
• silver representing self identity (other metals represent ones interests)
• gold both romantic and sexual
• platinum sexual (aro)
• mithril romantic (ace)
• adamantine friendship, neither romantic nor sexual (aroace)

 

[Faolyn]

I still think you're thinking too much about gender identity and sexuality.

The first question to be asked is, do dwarfs (or whatever) actually care about these things all that much, and if so, why? I don't want to get too much into the real world here, but with real-life humans, problems arise because of toxic masculinity (real men are on top and must act like manly men and only be interested in manly things, while women are inferior), or that same-sex couples don't produce babies who grow up to be members of your religion or who pay their taxes.

So take that to a fantasy world. Would dwarfs (or elves, or orcs, or even fantasy humans) care about these things? An example of toxic dwarfilinity might have nothing to do with ones sex or gender but might say that anyone who isn't a really good miner, smith, or brewer (or in another of a small handful of properly dwarfy jobs) is a weak excuse for a dwarf and may be looked down upon in dwarf society--perhaps even to the point that basketweavers and cheesemakers are at risk of getting beat up by gangs of drunken miners, or not having their marriages seen as being as valid as "real" dwarfs. If you also go with the common idea of dwarf clans having familial trades--if you're born to a cheesemaker, then a cheesemaker you shall be--then here's where you get the type of bigotry where you can have pride flags and have them mean something. You don't have to have dwarfs also caring one whit about their sex or romantic lives or how they identify.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Maybe for the dwarves, the quartz mineral specifically associates romantic interests.

Wellllll…maybe. Depends on how you think about it.

Quartz as a mineral has a BUNCH of specific variations* which- with MUCH careful thought- could be used to map out a Dwarven society’s symbolism regarding gender and sexuality.

Bonuses: it’s common and defines the average point of the Mohs hardness scale, so it’s pretty durable. What dwarf wouldn’t like THAT?






* besides the classic clear, there’s amethyst, citrine, ametrine, rose, agate, jasper, prasiolite, chert, onyx, carnelian, smoky, flint, chrysoprase, chalcedony, rutilated, tourmalated and more.