Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Afrodyte" data-source="post: 1267157" data-attributes="member: 8713">things you might wish to consider; sorry for lengthI am glad you brought this topic up.If you want to avoid making elves just "pointy-eared humans," but also want to avoid making arbitrary decisions about their intimate relationships, there are a number of issues you might want to consider.  Thinking beyond alignment and what the books tell you (for they can sometimes be unsuitable for your purposes), consider the following things:1.  How do elves (or even a specific elven culture) define intimacy?  Is intimacy even possible?  If so, what does it take to get there?2.  How do elves express intimacy?  Which do expressions do they most value?  How does society influence the expression of intimacy, for better or for worse?3.  How does elven psychology differ from human psychology, and how does this express itself in more mundane situations?  As an example, take the idea that an elf, due to his extraordinary longevity, will often take the time to do things like contemplate a leaf for years on end.  From there, you could extrapolate that elves have formidable powers of concentration and focus, which they bring to everything they do.  If even the most casual of interests, like contemplating leaves, receive this sort of devotion and care, how do they approach the things that matter most to them?  Would such a people be interested in flings or one-night-stands?  If so, would it really be out of a desire for novelty, or for other reasons?  What if they do so out of a means of self-discovery, learning about how they relate to themselves and other people at the deepest level?  What if their aloofness is learned from the school of hard knocks?  4.  What is an elf?  Seriously.  People have so many definitions that a consensus on how they would/should behave in any given circumstance.  If you have a solid idea on what makes an elf an elf, the rest is easier to come by.  This is not easy, though, and probably very time-consuming.  Essentially, though, the guiding idea that "the physical forms of elves are manifestations of their spirits" should lead to different places than "elves are incarnations of aspects of nature" or "elves are spirits of primeval chaos."When I set about answering these issues, I was amazed at how much material I got out of it, the depth and complexity of the thing, and I had barely touched the surface.  For me, at least, they proved far more satisfying than who was king in what year (or century) and what wars and battles were fought.  It gave me incredible insight into society and culture, and understanding why they do things the way they do.</blockquote>

Verification