but I suspect that a lot of the 'elf hate' jokes from Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons types aren't because it's a crypto-fash dogwhistle or whatever 'Annabelle' is trying to imply, but rather, comes from a place of embarrassment and old shame.
Because - and admittedly this is just me, and my own personal experience, but I suspect I'm not alone in this - when I was just a small Miriam, and I'd just seen Lord of the Rings and was getting into Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer and all that nerdy, fantasy shit, I thought that elves were the coolest fucking thing going. And it's easy to see why.
First of all, they're described as being beautiful - and who doesn't want that? Especially if you're an awkward teenager, going through your ugly phase, and just the sort of person who'd be playing D&D and Warhammer!
They're also immortal, so you get to be forever young and pretty, which is like half the appeal of being a vampire - and why do you suppose they're so popular? - except, as an elf, you don't have to drink blood or only come out at night, or whateverthefuck.
They're good at everything - archery, magic, swordplay, horseriding, art, sneaking around, living in the woods, excellent eyesight, excellent hearing, being good with animals - and everybody loves them and holds them in this kind of awed wonder because they're so amazing and wise and beautiful and good.
Elves are the Mary Sue race of fantasy fiction, and I'm tired of pretending they're not. They embody everything that a nerdy, ugly, unpopular, untalented person would want to be. But the thing you learn about Mary Sues when you grow up is that, if you strip away all the shallow stuff like their appearance and everything cool that they can do, what you're left with is a pretty boring character. And, let's be real, elves are pretty boring characters. Nobody who likes Legolas in the Lord of the Rings movies likes him because of what a deep, compelling, many-layered, multi-faceted character he is. They like him because he's good with his bow and he's played by Orlando Bloom!
The reason so many people flip to playing the short, ugly, hairy, fat, beer swilling, stubborn, set-in-their-ways dwarves and start making fun of and 'hating' elves is, I believe a reaction to the embarrassment of the younger self. It's like going back and looking at your old cringey OCs you made when you were a dumb kid and laughing.
Because you best believe I had a beautiful elf ranger with a snowy owl animal companion, back in the day, when I was just a small Miriam. And she hated goblins, because I wanted a socially acceptable way to say that I hated Jewish people Uh, I mean, because they killed her family. Because I was a stupid fucking kid and hadn't learned what a huge fucking cliché that is as part of your character's background, yet.
Eventually, I think you grow up and you realise that you can literally just play a human. Humans contain multitudes. There are beautiful humans, there are wise humans, there humans who are good with bows, there are humans who are good at magic, there are sneaky humans, there are keen-eyed humans, humans who are good with animals - there's literally nothing an elf can do that a human can't do, but without all the elf Mary Sue baggage attached, which makes for a far more compelling, fun, interesting character.
Nobody wants to be called a dwarf. Dwarves are not traditionally aspirational. But elves are. And I suspect this troon knows this, because he describes himself as 'elfin' in his own Twitter profile.
" type tranny.
*clickie*
