I think that there is something to embracing certain fantasy tropes & looks even if the races in your project are not explicitly supposed to be elves, dwarves etc.
In my autistic little worldbuilding project, I ended up originally unintientionally creating "elves" and when I realized that I had basically made elves, I just went for it and took more of the aesthetic etc in rather than fight the "gravity" of the look/vibe. Picture related.
Though, they aren't actually called elves within the setting, as the setting isn't a fantasy one in the first place. They are human, or more accurately a genetically engineered & enhanced post human splinter of humanity that emerged from the aristocratic ruling class of the setting.