76 réponses à ce sujet

[Grand Admiral Cheesecake]

I think I know enough about biology.

 

Every time Kain posts I'm whisked away to some kind of post-apocalyptic hellscape.

 

And then it hits me, that must be what life is like for him all the time.

[IanPolaris]

DA elves aren't long-lived though are they? Not since the Quickening. Perhaps the Maker falling in love with mortal Andraste fits this question though.

 

 

I think you haven't known enough dogs.

 

The Dalish are (although not as much as elves in other fantasy worlds).  However, I would think that a Dalish falling in love and marrying a human would be vanishingly rare, and doing so while living with the clan to be almost unheard of.  [It is thought that the reason the Dalish live longer is because they have less human contact than City Elves.  The Dalish certainly believe this.]

 

As for the question itself, I would guess that the romance and love would have an immediacy that would push the notion of differnt lifespans into the background.  Supposedly (and I think this is right) when the first humans and the Ancient Elves first met there was a fair amount of cross-breeding and cross-species couples....until the Ancient Elves discovered "the quickening sickness" to their horror.  To put it a bit more crudly, when you have the most beautiful woman in the world in bed next to you now, it's easy to forget she'll be an old crone while you are still middle-aged.

 

-Polaris

[Swoopdogg]

Well, Tolkien made this trendy with the classic Beren and Luthien story, and then everyone was like "wow that is the most romantic thing ever, I mean she gave up her immortality for him". On the surface, yeah, it's romantic, but it really goes deeper than that.

 

Considering elves in his world were basically demigods likened to angels, one of them falling in love with a human says quite a darn bit about that particular human, right? Maybe it has less to do with romance, and more to do with characterization for that human. If an agnel-demigod gives her love to you, you must be a pretty rad dude, right? I mean, we're told Aragorn is this totally honorable guy, and then we find out that the equivalent of an angel is in love with him, and it's just like, yeah, I'm pretty sure this guy is the real deal.

 

Beyond that, maybe its purpose is to make a metaphysical statement.

 

Let's take Aragorn and Arwen as an example. Arwen had been alive for thousands of years before she met Aragorn. It only takes their second meeting for her to fall in love with him. Are you telling me she hasn't been swept up by a suave elven prince in that thousand years she'd been alive? And then she gives her undying love to a lowly human out of the blue, just like that!

 

The statement that is being put forth is that the soul has no age... or race, or sex, or yadayadayada. It isn't restricted by physical constraints. Say what you will about true love and soul mates and all that nonsense, but Aragorn and Arwen fell in love, which is basically taboo for elves.

 

Maybe the reason this romance trope in fantasies works is because, well, it's so darn romantic, but not just for the sake of being romantic.

 

Anyway, within the context of Dragon Age, the elves don't live forever anymore, so I guess none of this is relevant.

[Maria Caliban]

Unless this is leading to a "*insert spirit/demon here* for LI" thread.

I suspect a demon would marry a mortal just to see what it was like. If they got bored with the marriage, they can always kill the mortal and move on.

[Grand Admiral Cheesecake]

I suspect a demon would marry a mortal just to see what it was like. If they got bored with the marriage, they can always kill the mortal and move on.

 

Demon Wife: Honey can you take out the trash?

 

Human husband: Sure dear just let me finish talking about the public execution with the boys.

 

DW: *eye twitch*

 

*Three days later*

 

Templar officer: Maker! What happened here?!

 

Demon Ex-Wife: *leaving the ruins of the village* When I ask a mortal to do something THEY DO IT.

[Han Shot First]

You can't really bond with your dog like you can with another human.

 

Love is a chemical reaction in your brain. Whether it is for parents or a lover or a dear friend, the feelings people associate with love and affection and pleasure in general are caused by releases of chemicals like dopamine and oxytocine in their brains.

 

How does that relate to dogs? Studies on dogs have shown that their brains also release chemicals like dopamine and oxytocine when interacting with their owners or other animals they are familiar with. 

 

Do they experience love as we do? No one knows. But they are clearly experiencing something. 

 

In any case the rhetorical question I posed to the OP still applies. Obviously people can love their dogs, whether or not dogs experience emotions the same way we do. Obviously people choose to get dogs knowing those dogs will die in 10 or 15 years or so and potentially leave them in profound grief.  Surely people do this because the inevitable loss at the end is worth those 10 or 15 years spent with a beloved (one would hope) companion. 

 

I would imagine the reasoning behind entering into a romantic relationship with another person whose life span is likely to much shorter than their own, would not be so different. The people involved probably believe the time they'll have is worth whatever pain might follow. 

[Chiramu]

Tolkien fantasy writers. Also, love is blind.

[n7stormrunner]

 

 

any questions?

[Ryzaki]

and they can not comprehend that they alone think it's cute to dedicate on the carpet.

Cats are always the Superior pet.

 

Aw hell no.

 

Dogs > Cats.

 

Plus not the dogs fault you didn't house break him.

 

But yeah longer life doesn't equal longer relationship so *shrugs*

[Br3admax]

Aw hell no.

 

Dogs > Cats.

 

Plus not the dogs fault you didn't house break him.

 

But yeah longer life doesn't equal longer relationship so *shrugs*

I agree with all of this. 

 

As to the OP, because they are adults who can think outside of a set box of parameters. 

[sunnydxmen]

I dont get it its has been going on with stories about angels demons and vampires falling in love with a human. sounds stupid to me when you gonna watch your love one age in die over and over.

[Han Shot First]

and they can not comprehend that they alone think it's cute to dedicate on the carpet.
 

 

Dogs that go on the floor, assuming there is no underlying medical issue, weren't properly house trained. The fault likes with the owner, not the dog. 

[n7stormrunner]

Dogs that go on the floor, assuming there is no underlying medical issue, weren't properly house trained. The fault likes with the owner, not the dog. 

 

 

or really had to go, I have a dog that will wake me if she really has to go... some times I'm too deeply asleep, and I'm the only one who walks her. at this point I get annoyed with my family, not my dog.

[Osena109]

This can be seen as a general question for fantasy in general, so feel free to use broad examples.

Why do we see in most fantasy longed lived races like elves fall in love with humans? Aren't they setting themselves up fro heartbreak doing that? Considering they will most likely out live their partner? Just seems foolish to me that they wouldn't find romantic partners outside their race that will live just as long as they will.

The humans live long then the elfs and the Dwarfs the elfs  don't have access to good food or meds and dwarfs die  all the time dwarfs kill there own kind and what the dwarfs don't too to them selfs the dark spawn  take care of the rest

[fjun]

For a quick tryst.

[Wittand25]

Romances between beings with different lifespans are part of mythology since millenniums.

I guess once you outlived a few generations of a race with a shorter lifespan you kind of start to value the moment more than having long term plans. And from the point of view of the shorter living species I have to quote the last unicorn :"Always, always" it sighed, "faithfulness beyond any man´s deserving, I will keep the color of your eyes when no other in the world remembers your name. There is no immortality but a tree´s love.

[TurretSyndrome]

Because they're... bored?

[fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb]

[KeraWildmane]

Do I need to bust out The Lifespan Talk? 

 

I'm not having the lifespan talk!

[Parmida]

Because......Humans are......bigger?  

[Inprea]

I've seen different answers to the op question. I don't agree with it but one of the more amusing answers I've seen is love fades. There is no such thing as eternal love for an immortal. You will grow tired of one another eventually and the love will become a chain. With a human though they'll die before newness of the situation dries up. Then the immortal can spend a few decades or centuries thinking about how wonderful their time was together while they search for a replacement.

 

It's even better if the human dies bravely and early. Then the immortal gets an even greater rush.

 

That was the answer from a web comic I enjoyed for a long time. Of course. The elfs of that comic were pretty much universally pricks that saw humans as an amusing distraction from their eternal lives. They found the concept of a limited life span amusing. 

 

I was so grateful when later in the comics the humans started killing the elfs.

[fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb]

Way to kill the romance

[Killdren88]

@Inprea

So long lived races are just bored and see mortal as a means to break up the boredom? What about the cases where the parties legitimately love each other and feel totally crushed when the mortal partner dies? I would rather not believe that is the only reason we see it.

[fdgvdddvdfdfbdfb]

@Inprea

So long lived races are just bored and see mortal as a means to break up the boredom? What about the cases where the parties legitimately love each other and feel totally crushed when the mortal partner dies? I would rather not believe that is the only reason we see it.

That's not what they said. They said love doesn't last forever, especially not passionate love. The part of "With a human though they'll die before newness of the situation dries up." doesn't even apply to most people in life.