#concise

in my oc universe, there are 3 overall like “species” of sentient beings: sprites, humans, and elementals. all elementals and sorite fall under the general 4 categories of air, fire, water, and nature (very ATLA, lol).

elementals more closely resemble humans: the logic behind them is that they in some way evolved in a way which allows them to best survive in the context of their given element. here’s how that plays out across the elements/what you’d expect from an elemental of each type:

fire: these guys run at super high body heats and are generally resistant if not completely impervious to burns. ones who run especially hot can sometimes channel or “create” fire a la firebender. lol

plant: generally resemble humans in most ways, though their life force is connected to a sprout (of a certain plant species) that grows out of the top of their heads, which will generally reflect their mood & well being (by like, wilting) and will grow/blossom as they age. it also does all the fun sleep stuff that i mentioned with ian. when they’re thriving, they may sprout small blossoms or leaves on their skin (corresponding to their given plant type). they also gain energy in the same way as plants (though can generally digest most foods) and thus get extremely tired/essentially immobile in long periods of darkness (and sometimes appear tinged green because…chlorophyll). i have a lot to say about them can you tell they’re my fav guys i made HAHA,, take basically living human-looking plants

water: pretty close to the general idea of “mermaids”, but each water-element is generally connected to/based on a specific species of fish or underwater mammal, which can reflect in appearance, family dynamic, size, and behavior. they also tend to have fins/scales/gills on the upper body & face & freaky eyes lol. hybrids of these guys with humans tend to lose some of the “realistic fish” aspects though, lol.

air: think “harpy”, though air elements can also have traits/wings/whatever from flying mammals or even insects (they also follow specific species generally). air-elements tend to fluctuate the most in terms of anthropomorphic appearance (ie: one might have a beak and one might not, one might have digitigrade legs and one might have humanoid legs, etc). alyce is one of these & shes based on a raven! there’s also a link there w/golden feathers and royalty but that’s so unrelated to what u asked lol

now the part you actually asked for: each element also has a corresponding SPRITE variety. these appear far less humanoid, love far longer lifespans, do not interact much with the other two, and have what you’d think of as “elemental powers” while elementals do not (ie, shooting fire with little effort/creating magma, controlling rain/tides, blossoming flowers at will, controlling the wind/airbending). marlowe (the 5th wheel) is one of these! she cool i just suck big time at drawing her