Re: Non-stereotypical elves was Re: Quick Intro

On Thursday 20 February 2003 10:06 pm, Peter Clark wrote:
> On Thursday 20 February 2003 02:38 pm, John M. Dollan wrote:
> > The Elves, otherwise
> > called the Aewylin, are the ones I am having trouble with as far as
> > removing the stereotypical Elven image.  But I have time...
>
>         I hate elves. Seriously. (Yes, I know they are imaginary. But I
> hate imaginary elves.) They are always the same in modern fantasy and RPGs.
> Wise to the point of being absolute elitist snobs. Practically immortal,
> yet throw themselves into situations that are likely to get themselves
> killed. (Think about it: if you were practically immortal, wouldn't you be
> more careful?) Beautiful to the point that authors trip over themselves
> with adjectives. You know what I want? I want fat, ugly elves with bad
> breath and even worse manners. I want elves that get drunk frequently on
> cheap booze and are angry drunks at that, too. I want elves that are either
> a.) paranoid about everything (like Puppeteers) or b.) have half the
> life-span of your average human (bonus points if they regularly die because
> they've managed to pickle their liver to oblivion). I want dumb, stupid
> elves that are consigned to shoveling horse manure in the stables because
> they can't be trusted with anything more complex. I want elves that are the
> scum of society, that cause good folk everywhere to quickly cross to the
> other side of the street and bless whatever capricious RPG god they believe
> in that they were not born an elf.
>         That's the kind of elf I could love.
>
>
Well, Elves were demons in English mythology, weren't they?

Anyway, you have to like Tolkein's elves.  It's not his fault everyone copied
him.