(so far this is all speculative)
why do you spell it ‘Lloth’ when it’s ‘Lolth’ in official material?
Because in my opinion, Lloth looks and sounds better.
Also, I started out with editions of the Drizzt books that had Salvatore’s ‘Lloth’ typo, and got used to that.
Plus I like the flavour of the “Lloth is how they say/spell it in northern underdark/Menzo dialect” idea.
How much of this is canon?
I have a weird relationship with D&D canon.
On one hand, I like when things follow canon. It makes sense, it’s nice and tidy, I don’t have to sit here in the back of my mind going “but actually this makes no sense at all because xyz ~is canon~”
On the other hand, I like bending canon to my will. I don’t so much mean “I do what I want (and what I want is to ignore canon)” as much as I like finding evidence/loopholes/undefined spaces where something I want to be true can neatly fit.
I’d rather find a way to make something work in conjunction with canon than say it can’t be done, and I’d rather find a way to make something work with canon instead of ignoring it.
So, all-in-all, it depends on the context. I will always try to be clear about what I’m getting from canonical sources, vs what is my own view.
Ok but you’re wrong about a thing
If you’re talking about canonical fact, I would love it if you could give me a citation on it. I’m happy to be corrected; I can’t know everything despite my best efforts.
If you’re talking about non-canonical things, I’m happy to hear other ideas or opinions.
Why are you writing this blog?
I mean drow are interesting, as a society. Everyone loves a villain.
But more specifically, I get frustrated by a lot of drow representation where people only really know them as ~evil underground elves~ when obviously there’s more going on in there.
Also, come on now, the whole EVIL BLACK SKIN thing is absurdly racist; I feel like talking about/thinking through/exploring undefined parts of drow/culture and society, we can find more room for non-evil drow characters who don’t have to be outcasts and runaways per se.
Finally, I like the idea of trying to rectify the different parts of canon into a, if not harmonized, more explicable whole.