CrystalCHTriple
Scribe
Being the model of modesty that I am, I did not want to bestow upon this website my brilliant handle of necromancy with so few paradigm changing posts and figured this is a suitable location for my inquiry.
So, as the title states, I am having a bit of a conundrum regarding fantasy races, and it does not consist of me finding them trite, and that is I am unsure if I should consider them such , more specifically, elves. I have a species that lives longer than humans, is tall and slender, and predates them; they also possess the haughtiness to boot. Okay, they are like elves. What is the problem? I am elated you asked.
They are not in possession of glorious silvery manes, do not originate from the same planet as humans, and cannot interbreed together, and they lack the pointy ears and stunning human faces (imagine a serpentine visage). They also are not inherently more magical than humans, granted they have a different approach to magic, yet the other aforementioned qualities are identical to typical elves.
Another reason why I am hesitant to call them elves is their interactions with humans. If I desired publishing a book, my first trilogy (big thoughts, thoughts on giant mode) would not heavily involve them, but I like conceptualizing them nonetheless as I can contemplate how different sapient species might interact. To give an example of their interactions, this species has captured humans and rivals Unit 731 in their handle of them – testing the physical durability of humans of varying ages, studying parental attachment by depriving them of their young of varying ages, learning which organs they can live without, etc – and more importantly, they resist the notion humans are sapient, viewing their constructs, varied clothing, and increasingly pestering ability to adapt to their tactics within the context of a bee colony.
There are members of this species who detest the treatment of humans but still view them as little more than animals, refusing to see them as sapient on account of their differences in lifespans, believing a human could never rival their understanding. At best, they keep humans as pets. I am also considering having them responsible for creating a stronger, more aggressive group born of corrupted humans, who would happen to have human pigment variations.
Should I still consider them elves at this point and possibly – possibly – add to the mythos of traditional fantasy, or should I leave elves and their pointy ears alone?
So, as the title states, I am having a bit of a conundrum regarding fantasy races, and it does not consist of me finding them trite, and that is I am unsure if I should consider them such , more specifically, elves. I have a species that lives longer than humans, is tall and slender, and predates them; they also possess the haughtiness to boot. Okay, they are like elves. What is the problem? I am elated you asked.
They are not in possession of glorious silvery manes, do not originate from the same planet as humans, and cannot interbreed together, and they lack the pointy ears and stunning human faces (imagine a serpentine visage). They also are not inherently more magical than humans, granted they have a different approach to magic, yet the other aforementioned qualities are identical to typical elves.
Another reason why I am hesitant to call them elves is their interactions with humans. If I desired publishing a book, my first trilogy (big thoughts, thoughts on giant mode) would not heavily involve them, but I like conceptualizing them nonetheless as I can contemplate how different sapient species might interact. To give an example of their interactions, this species has captured humans and rivals Unit 731 in their handle of them – testing the physical durability of humans of varying ages, studying parental attachment by depriving them of their young of varying ages, learning which organs they can live without, etc – and more importantly, they resist the notion humans are sapient, viewing their constructs, varied clothing, and increasingly pestering ability to adapt to their tactics within the context of a bee colony.
There are members of this species who detest the treatment of humans but still view them as little more than animals, refusing to see them as sapient on account of their differences in lifespans, believing a human could never rival their understanding. At best, they keep humans as pets. I am also considering having them responsible for creating a stronger, more aggressive group born of corrupted humans, who would happen to have human pigment variations.
Should I still consider them elves at this point and possibly – possibly – add to the mythos of traditional fantasy, or should I leave elves and their pointy ears alone?