I haven't finished the game yet so I don't want to find spoilers, but FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK I love Astarion!!!

Sooo anyone wanna tell me if this is another character I'll get hatemail for liking? 😂

Oh wise one in the ways of elves, do you have any thoughts or suggestions for how to portray the age/longevity of elves compared to humans? And older elves vs younger elves? I have an ongoing story I'm working on involving several elves, one of which is in his early hundreds, the others being a bit older. I'm struggling with how to convey that this character is older than any of the human characters, but still pretty young and inexperienced compared to the other elves. It's ok if you don't, don't feel like you have to answer.

Ah! Well, I think the best place to start there is to consider what living and expecting to live a very long time would do to a person. You know how people in real life often gain a keener sense of what actually matters as they grow older? Imagine that but magnified several times over for old elves. I think old elves, like we're talking 550+, do not give a fuck. Nothing fazes them. They've seen it all. You could run naked across a plaza screaming "THE CABBAGES ARE NEAR" like your ass is on fire and you'd get little more than an eyebrow raise and a wry comment out of them.

Middle aged elves (300-550) are probably the most well adjusted and comfortable with the ebb and flow of life. They may have loved and lost a few times, had a few different long-running careers, or finally achieved completion of a project they've been working on for a very long time. They've seen some shit, but they haven't quite seen everything, so they've still got a zest for life. They've also probably learned how to handle failure and grief really well by then. And they've probably lived through too many "end of days" times to take that shit seriously anymore.

Young adult elves (100-300) I imagine to be more...emotional, especially those in only their second century. That's when they're really starting to get hit with what it means to be an elf and to live a long time. They are constantly losing shorter lived friends and loved ones from their youth to old age while elven society is celebrating them just reaching full adulthood. Can you imagine how it would feel to be an elf who married a human when you were both in your 30's and you watched your spouse grow old and die while you stayed young and then only a decade or so later, your elven peers are like "Happy Centennial! Congrats! You're an adult now! Let's throw a big party!" Like, the angst, bro. Young adult elves have gotta be the angstiest fucks. It's like when you're 20 and you have to act like an adult and the idea of independence is exciting but there's also that grief of everything you're leaving behind and that fear of what comes next. Also people now expect you to start having accomplishments. It's a fucking mess.

Elves 20-99 (I like to call this period pre-centennial, since "child" and "adolescent" don't really seem appropriate) are probably in the zestiest part of their life. The world is their oyster. They're physically mature now and can really start exploring all that life has to offer. It is the time of fucking around and finding out. Travel! Study a craft! Train in a discipline! Get married! Have kids! Thot it up! Devote yourself to a cause! Become a murder hobo! Whatever strikes your fancy.

Okay, so now that we've sort of parsed elven stages of life, let's talk about age difference dynamics. You've got an elf who's past his centennial, but is still young. This is the Getting Attached To Humans Will Make Me Too Sad period of life. Perhaps your elf is reluctant to grow close to humans and keeps them at arm's length. Perhaps he's a bit casual about things that humans find to be a bigger deal, especially with regards to how long some things take. Perhaps he really plays up the whole "I'm older than you" thing in some fashion. To older elves, though, perhaps he's an angst machine that needs to chill out. Perhaps they ask him about his long term goals or have expectations of him. A good general comparison would be like...he talks to humans like an 80 year old talks to a 20 year old and other elves talk to him like a 40 year old talks to a 20 year old.

Hope this helps!