Elves though...
So what's the deal with elves (I ask in my absolute worst Jerry Seinfeld voice)? They get played up a lot of different ways in fantasy and have a lot of implicit biases for or against them. They're all pretty, they live for pretty much ever, dwarves hate them (dwarves hate him, discover 4 tricks to elegant metalwork that will keep you from paying a smithy *flashing text* CLICK HERE *picture of a fruit(?)*), and they're magic. There's a lot going on with just that, but a lot of GMs (lazy ones, like myself) play them as "humans plus" and just throw one or two allusions to pointy ears and twink builds in npc descriptions.
So here's some ideas about how to liven up elves for your setting, because I bet you didn't expect this to be where the post was going:
-Fey style elves: the classic. Fey means "fair" in elvish, and they're pretty, but they have the collective attitude of one immortal boomer that gets a pension from all of their 80 jobs they retired from being CEO of. They live forever, so they're jaded a**holes with too much free time and all the knowledge and resources of your grandpa... and they still got it going on, despite being older than your grandpa.
-The fairy (Aka the goblin king): "Fairy" was once a prominent insult involving gay people--making it sound like fairies are soft, meek, and emotionally harmonious like gay people. But guess what? Fairies will **** you up. They're the anti-gay. Fairies will take your child in the middle of the night and replace it with a mimic because they can and it's funny. Also, elf secret, those children at the park are free. You can just take them. I have 438 children and they do all my farming for me. These elves have all of their needs met through their magic and their resources acquired over hundreds of years and now they just mess with people because it's the only joy left in life. The one thing you can't buy with ancient gold coins from three empires ago is someone's emotional anguish and panic... I mean you probably can, but it's just easier to steal their kid and dress up your best friend, a 600 year old gnome with an 8 ft. beard, as said kid.
-noble (yawn): bureaucrats only get things done because they know all the loopholes. You only get to know that type of crap because you've either lived long enough or you wrote the laws yourself. These elves did both. They will tax your mother and threaten to sue you because you didnt obey city council ordinance a-49h (which states that all public displays of parental appreciation must not extend across both lanes of a town roadway) . These elves are hoity toity windbags with glistening blonde hair and a monopoly man hat. They look like they live off of daddy's money, but they ARE daddy. Slip up and they'll make themselves your daddy.
-Southern charm: you know what happens when you live a long time? Your hair and teeth fall out. You know what else happens? Your ears grow. Your ears never actually stop growing. Ears are cancer and you have cancer. And guys? Your junk is going to droop. Same for the ladies. And maybe that all happens to elves too, but they still make it work. Their ivory dentures and endangered jaguar fur wigs make those rotting husks of humanoids look sexy. These elves hunt for sport and have a human scalp collection. They hate race mixing and think that elves are the best thing ever because they don't die of old age. Don't wander into the woods kids, because these elves play banjo on river rafts and will wear your face like a ski mask to hide their wrinkles.
