How can I portray the Spring Court as more than a lust-crazed rabble?

Question

The Spring Court in Changeling: the Lost is part of the Seasonal Court system, as described in the core rulebook. Their driving emotion is Desire, ranging from gluttony to greed to adrenaline junkies to, well, sex, drugs, and rock & roll. The trouble I've been having is two-fold: both as a GM, and when dealing with Spring Court PCs (my own and that of my players) the 'sex and drugs' angle tends to be played up very sharply, with other forms of Desire often falling by the wayside. I don't think this is entirely conscious on everyone's part, but it it somewhat bothersome.

What I would like to be able to do is portray both the Spring Court as a whole, and specific Spring Court PCs and NPCs, as being classy, refined, and elegant - the side of the Court that the books talk about, but that I don't often see in play. How can I bring out the nobility of Spring without losing touch with the aspects of Desire that make it so appealing?

Answer 1

Understanding Desire

One way is to use the nobility, not as an example of going after what you desire, but understanding the desires of others. A true spring noble not only knows how to reach for their own desires, but has had the rush of impulsively grabbing the object of their desire and having it wear off. Now they understand that heat-of-the-moment desires are not always good, and not very gratifying in the long run. They can help younger courtiers to understand this, and guide them to identifying what is just a knee-jerk reaction and what is something they deeply truly want, and guide them to finding how to attain it.

It's not the destination, it's the journey

Possibly your nobles, or at least experienced courtiers, are not so much interesting in getting in their current conquest's pants, but are more in love with the chase. The silent courtship, the small, thoughtful gift left where their lover can find it. They find joy, not in getting what they want, but in getting it with grace, subtlety, and style.

Others Desires

Some great spring courtiers attain high mantle, not because they are good at getting what they want, but they understand their fellow Lost and help them to attain their own desires. They have a knack for understanding what it is a person desires, even if they themselves don't, and find ways to encourage them and to help them reach their goals. Understanding desire does not mean you have to be a lust crazed greedy glutton, this person may in fact have an efficiency apartment with just enough to scrape by because she/he finds their joy in making others happy.

Reference Material

Lords of Summer, a Changeling: the Lost supplement, expounds on the seasonal courts and gives some very good examples. Think about the kinds of hobbies people have and sometimes obsess over. Like me personally. I am a gardening enthusiast and I like to cook. - Changeling translation - I own my own greenhouse and vegetable plot, along with three flower beds that are nothing but edible flowers and an herb boxes in every window of my house, I even grow corn on the roof. I grow all of my own food with this and transform the raw ingredients into culinary masterworks of art that I then either eat, sell, or give away as the whim strikes me becuase I just LOVE cooking and gardening sooo much, it is MY WHOLE LIFE