MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2588 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Sibling Lifebonds by Barbara Hallock 2) Roll Call by DWBAHRKE-+AT+-aol.com 3) Re: Sibling Lifebonds by "Layla Voll" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 06:23:40 -0700 (PDT) From: Barbara Hallock To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Sibling Lifebonds Message-ID: <7449738.989414620636.JavaMail.imail-+AT+-bessie.excite.com> *de-lurks to ask a question that's been on her mind for a while* Hello everyone on the list. I've kind of been wondering about this for a while, ever since I read BB. We've all talked about the possibility of a LifeBond forming when one of the Bondees is happily in love with someone else and it seems to be a group consensus that that'd be an interesting topic. I'd like to see a book about that as well. And we all know that Misty tends to explore different sexualities in her books- Van being She'chorne, etc. So what about a pair of siblings falling in love with each other? And, assuming that they're strongly gifted, a LifeBond occurs? Is this even possible? But then again, what ISN'T possible in Valdemar? The whole 'There is No One True Way' theory kind of makes it so that anything goes, no? If it's possible for Lan and Kalira to Bond, why not somebody and his sister? And it doesn't necessarily have to be a sex thing, which is also proven by Lan and Kalira. I can think of at least one person I know who thought that Lavan and Kalira were going to.... *hem* well, you get the idea. And finally, do we have the release dates for some of the new books? I love Misty's writing, but I'm currently on hiatus from it simply because of the availability of new books and the fact that I've read most of her older material. I decided to give DiscWorld a try and subsequently got absorbed in Carpe Jugulum. Just finished it last night. Good book. Now to go back and read the series in order... Fluffy sheepy pillows to all! me ~asker of forbidden questions and provider of peanut galleries~ _______________________________________________________ Send a cool gift with your E-Card http://www.bluemountain.com/giftcenter/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 12:00:51 EDT From: DWBAHRKE-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Roll Call Message-ID: --part1_f7.9f60417.282ac3b3_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I just wanted to say hello. I was part of this list a long time ago, and I only recently resubscribed. My name is David Bahrke and I live in Indianapolis, IN. I am 25 years old. I have been reading Misty since I was 19 and started with the LHM (which remains my favorite series). The other authors that I enjoy the most are probably Michelle (Sagara) West, Melanie Rawn and Patricia Kennaly-Morrison. David --part1_f7.9f60417.282ac3b3_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I just wanted to say hello.  I was part of this list a long time ago, and I
only recently resubscribed.  My name is David Bahrke and I live in
Indianapolis, IN.  I am 25 years old.  I have been reading Misty since I was
19 and started with the LHM (which remains my favorite series).  The other
authors that I enjoy the most are probably Michelle (Sagara) West, Melanie
Rawn and Patricia Kennaly-Morrison.  

David --part1_f7.9f60417.282ac3b3_boundary-- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 May 2001 16:50:29 From: "Layla Voll" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Sibling Lifebonds Message-ID: Barbara writes: >We've all talked about the possibility of a LifeBond forming when one of >the Bondees is happily in love with someone else... > >And we all know that Misty tends to explore different sexualities in her >books- Van being She'chorne, etc. So what about a pair of siblings falling >in love with each other? And, assuming that they're strongly gifted, a >LifeBond occurs? Is this even possible? But then again, what ISN'T >possible in Valdemar? The whole 'There is No One True Way' theory kind of >makes it so that anything goes, no? If it's possible for Lan and Kalira to >Bond, why not somebody and his sister? And it doesn't necessarily have to >be a sex thing, which is also proven by Lan and Kalira. I can think of at >least one person I know who thought that Lavan and Kalira were going to.... >*hem* well, you get the idea. Interesting idea. It depends, I think, on what you think the difference between "normal" sibling love and a lifebond would be. I suppose it's similar to the difference between a normal romantic relationship and a lifebond. Sex isn't unique to the LifeBond (obviously!) and, as you pointed out, a LifeBond doesn't automatically mean sex. So I think what Elspeth was told is that the difference between a LifeBond and a regular bond of love is that one or both partners need the extra stability of a LifeBond for some reason, either because they have an especially strong Gift, they are emotionally unstable, or both. So, I don't think there's any reason why a sibling couldn't be in a position to provide someone the love and support that a LifeBonded partner could. However -- and this is totally my own speculation -- I think LifeBonds are a little like being Chosen. You seem to get Chosen because, for whatever reason, you wouldn't be able to reach your full potential otherwise: you're the second son of a minor noble family, you're a Holderkin girl child, or whatever, and you need that extra push to be able to go out and do something in the world. LifeBonds might be like that -- they're there for those people who don't have other people that they can rely on for support, or who somehow need more support than they currently get. My point in all of this is that your relationship with your sibling is already a part of that equation. If you have a strong, near-LifeBond quality relationship with your sibling, either you don't need a LifeBond, or -- like Keren -- you need something in addition to that bond. Being LifeBonded to your sibling doesn't seem to add anything to the sum total of your emotional support. Specifically, in thinking of Keren, I'm remembering that Talia says that Keren's emotional stability was like a three-legged stool, based on her relationship with her Companion (Fala?), her twin Teren, and her LifeBonded partner Ylsa. At least the way Talia imagines it, these three bonds are nearly equal. When Ylsa dies, I don't think it would have done Keren much good if her twin-bond with Teren had been strengthened into a LifeBond -- what she needed (and got) she needed the additional support of a separate, LifeBonded partner. Just my two cents. I think there are a bunch of strong sibling relationships in the Velgarth books, which is nice, although there are also a lot of bad ones, often in the same family. Layla _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2588 **********************************