bigscaryd:

prokopetz:

rainylainysunnyspirit:

prokopetz:

Concept: you know how most media depicts Tolkien-style elves as being super jaded by immortality?

What if it was the opposite?

Like, you have stories where a sad thing happens and an elf cries for a hundred years, or where courtships last for decades, or what have you. Let’s run with that: part of the whole immortality deal is that elves’ emotional responses don’t attenuate as readily as humans’ do.

New relationship? The “heady infatuation” stage lasts for years, not months.

Heard an awesome song? Hearing it for the hundredth time is just as moving as hearing it for the very first.

Favourite food? Eat it for every meal and never get sick of it.

Basically, what I’m saying is imagine elves being really, really annoying because they respond
emotionally

to everything like they’re experiencing it for the very first time, even when you know they’ve seen it a thousand times before.

In addition to this: what we would conceive as ‘fads’ they get really into.

Like, a fashion trend kicks off and instead of moving onto the next big thing, elves make it The Only Way to Dress. As great as this is for mortals who love retro clothing, imagine Crocs and silly bands being popular for a century. Adult elves who still sit around trying to persuade their friends to trade a giraffe band for what they swear is a phoenix but is really a regular bird.

This doesn’t just apply to clothing so have some elves who never grew out of their scene phase. Emo elves who seriously introduce themselves as Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way or some similarly overwrought name.

Humans don’t know whether to be fascinated or amused at it all.

Humans think there are different subspecies of elves, but really they’re just different factions of incredibly devoted trendsters.

This is not exactly Dragaera, but there are certainly elements.

I could dig up the relevant quotes from “Arthabeth Finrod ah Andreth”, but this is strongly implied if not outright canon – that the very human trait of growing bored of something is something elves find very human and a bit incomprehensibly weird.