#elves don't think it's possible for humans to mature into a really meaningful adulthood because they literally don't live long enough

[blujayonthewing]

if a human asks a gnome when gnomes reach adulthood, they'll probably pin it somewhere between 20 and 40, depending on how they're interpreting the question; if an elf asks, they'll say "oh, we don't"

[blujayonthewing]

#speaking of 'getting mad because people don't meaningfully engage with fantasy lifespans' #EVERYONE overlooks the cultural nuance in dnd that elves are /physically/ mature not much later than humans #but are not considered an adult until some self-declared point of maturity usually around the age of 100 #that is. DIFFERENT. than 'a 50 year old elf is basically a literal child' no it ISN'T! it's a CULTURAL RECOGNITION #elves don't think it's possible for humans to mature into a really meaningful adulthood because they literally don't live long enough #'poor things have to settle down and work and marry and have children and die before they can even figure themselves out :/' #gnomes don't subscribe to this because of course they don't it's a cultural viewpoint but also they largely think it's stupid #oh yeah? you're all done growing up after 100 years? nothing left to learn about yourself as a person? #you Become An Adult when you're Wise And Mature which is a single static thing that happens in the first 1/6th of your life? #wow amazing it must be cool to be so enlightened 🙄

@ragsy YES EXACTLY!!

and on one end I love the idea that elves do this for literal decades and still eventually go 'okay yeah this time it's FOR REAL for real 😌', although, to be fair, I suspect what actually happens is that elves reach 'adulthood' once they have grown and matured and experienced enough of life to realize and internalize that growth has no endpoint and that the big 'I am An Adult now' feeling they were waiting for IS the recognition that that feeling doesn't really exist-- although I'm sure there are also a lot of elves that just hit the 100 marker and go 'aha, The Milestone. I am now An Adult, filled with Experience and Wisdom 😌' without actual meaningful growth and introspection, because people are nuanced and imperfect

on the other end the way dnd players engage with this is like if irl humans culturally moved that 'adulthood' pin up to 25 officially and then people were like 'so a 20 year old is a Literal Actual Child then'

if a human asks a gnome when gnomes reach adulthood, they'll probably pin it somewhere between 25 and 40, depending on how they're interpreting the question; if an elf asks, they'll say "oh, we don't"