Mender - Healer's Hormones

Mender - Healer's Hormones ... this was Mender's thread, opened by Arfurido, on the original Scroll of Colors. Follow old discussions and see fanart from earlier times.

Visit Mender's bio page on Elfquest.com.

'Character Bio':

Mender (m)

Alive (staying) – mortal
Son of Woodlock and Rainsong
Brother of Newstar and Wing
Grandson of Rain
Lifemate of Dart
Nephew of Pike
Cousin of Cheipar and Sust
Uncle of Kimo and Serrin
Lovemate of Ember, Yun, and Freetouch
Student of Leetah

Spoiler for FQ #11.... I hope the latest development in Mender's life means he is maturing. I really had a problem with "Mender's Tale," when he disguised himself and tricked the human girl.

Found on facebook, about healers role as initiators:

Wendy Pini‬ wrote:

Let's be clear on what Elfquest elves mean by "initiation." It does not mean "first time." How could it? So many of the elves are so very very old. Plus they tend to lose their virginity, which they don't really have a word for, very early in life. When a healer takes on the role of "Initiator," it means they are leading consenting students in the art of lovemaking, teaching them to pursue deeper and deeper pleasures. Initiation can take place anytime and many times in an elf's life. It's all in the name of higher education, of course.

Feel free to move this if there's a thread about this subject, can't find one and the "search" doesn't work for me.

Trollbabe wrote:

Spoiler for FQ #11....  I hope the latest development in Mender's life means he is maturing.  I really had a problem with "Mender's Tale," when he disguised himself and tricked the human girl.

"Mender's Tale" had an interesting idea but wasn't that well thought through...

@Misc: uhmmm yeah

I always thought "Initiation" meant A healer working his/her magic during a big lovemaking session hoping it would somehow make sparks fly and cause some Recognition-action.

Me too, Redhead Ember. That's exactly how i always viewed it.


And I sort of loved Mender's tale even though his actions were pretty twisted.

Zadzi wrote:

Me too, Redhead Ember. That's exactly how i always viewed it.

And it would make sense. Remember that the presence of Leetah and Mender influenced the "mood" and probably sparked the Recognition of Scouter and Tyleet at the beginning od HY-Shards.

Redhead Ember wrote:

I always thought "Initiation" meant A healer working his/her magic during a big lovemaking session hoping it would somehow make sparks fly and cause some Recognition-action.

I thought that, too, for a while, but when I went back and reread where initiation was mentioned (mainly the original "bible" bios in the original Big Gatherum) I got the impression that at least some times the "first time" was meant. Winnowill's bio said she couldn't be a sexual initiator without going into why (did the Gliders not care? Was she so alienated from them by that point they subconsciously picked up on that and said, "Uh, no thanks"?). And in "The Enemy's Face" in the initiation scene, Leetah's about sixteen or so. Elves may start having sex young, but having good sex takes practice! I can't see even an elfin sixteen-year-old being that skilled.

So I went with the 'standard' meaning of initiation in that post. And i still think it's a good question. Who taught Mender, eh?

Well, being healers probably means they're more aware of how the body works, they know how to heal it after all, which is different from flesh-shaping. So they'd know all about what feels good and what doesn't purely on instinct... natural born sex-god! I'd guess it's the same instinct that tells them that when they knit flesh from a wound they also need to get rid of bacteria to avoid infection and that when strain is taken from the heart then blood flows easier and like other really advanced medical knowledge.
I mean removing wolf-blood is like going into genetics and stuff, that's scary advanced and complicated, sex-hormones and stimuli would be pretty easy in comparison. And while they can't force true recognition, because of elfy spiritual magic thing, they can make the body ready to conceive (even force reproduction sometimes), probably as part of the initiation, and thereby triggering recognition that was just waiting for the perfect optimal conditions to strike.

This doesn't explain why Winnowill couldn't though... it kinda sounds like what she was doing to Rayek, so yeah maybe the gliders just couldn't trust her to find their sweet spots... so to speak... or literary...

But there was a panel somewhere (I forget which issue) showing how Voll wanted the Gliders to reproduce and Winnowill helped them be preggers. And then in the next panel she secretly had them all miscarry around the same time... I think it was something about having enough control over the group or something. So I think she WAS capable, but just didn't want the possible interference of a bigger populace. From there, the Gliders seemed resigned to the concept of being sterile. I think she pretty much controlled everything.
In general, healers are attuned and able to control almost everything having to do with the body so their sensuality makes sense. Winnowill is like the anti-sensualist. I don't think any of the Gliders ever 'joined' once Blue Mountain was in full swing, not by the looks of it. Their idea of 'fun' was staring at the egg for hours, as Aroree said once early on. Yay. It's like, When we're not being controlled, we like to work on this really big jigsaw puzzle.
And that's it.
It's possible Winnowill took away their urges by brainwashing them all and keeping them busy little worker drones.
Which, now that I think of it, sounds like complete hell. No sleeping, no dreaming, no sex... Ugh, what an existence.

Davrille wrote:

Redhead Ember wrote:

I always thought "Initiation" meant A healer working his/her magic during a big lovemaking session hoping it would somehow make sparks fly and cause some Recognition-action.

I thought that, too, for a while, but when I went back and reread where initiation was mentioned (mainly the original "bible" bios in the original Big Gatherum) I got the impression that at least some times the "first time" was meant. Winnowill's bio said she couldn't be a sexual initiator without going into why (did the Gliders not care? Was she so alienated from them by that point they subconsciously picked up on that and said, "Uh, no thanks"?). And in "The Enemy's Face" in the initiation scene, Leetah's about sixteen or so. Elves may start having sex young, but having good sex takes practice! I can't see even an elfin sixteen-year-old being that skilled.

So I went with the 'standard' meaning of initiation in that post. And i still think it's a good question. Who taught Mender, eh?

But then wouldn't all elves be an initiator their first time?
Why would one specific character - a healer - need to play the role of initiator.


Of course if it was linked to the first time then I guess Mender might have been Ember's "initiator", but Ember probably wasn't his.

If Mender should recognize ... who would you suggest? #01 found

If Cutter was still alive: Leetah, that would be fun.

I think a good one for Mender to Recognize is Yun. She's lain with him several times and can keep him in check without nagging. They seem to fit in temperament. Recognition doesn't always mean polar opposites,Woodlock/Rainsong,Wing/Behtia and Strongbow/Moonshade proved that it also brings together like-minded people.

Yeah, their matchup worked pretty well, he with Dart not so much