#Mekar

[lavb-b]

More Zelda Pixels :]

Starving Artist has singlehandedly made me improve (somewhat) in pixel art!!

[bronzegods]

Mekal (or Mekar), the lord of Beth-Shean

I strongly hold that the Baal Cycle is not "Canaanite mythology." The Ugarites themselves identified Canaanites as "foreign people," and Mot, in particular, is strongly suspected to be a literary invention of Ilumilku, the scribe who wrote the Baal Cycle. To subsume the myths under the vague title of 'Canaanite mythology' is a disservice to Ugarit and its creativity, in my opinion.

So that naturally brought a question to mind: are there any Bronze Age deities who are distinctly Canaanite?

Enter Mekal/Mekar. A Fresh Look at the Mekal Stele (Levy 2018) introduces us to a deity who was attested in northern Palestine during the Bronze Age.

(Levy 2018: 361)

That "r" at the end of his name can be either an "r" or a Semitic "l", hence the Mekal/Mekar options for his name. And he's attested as the lord of Beth-Shean (or Bit-Shani, if you fancy the syllabic Akkadian transcription). How cool is that?

Some thoughts about this deity: his iconography is closely aligned with Baal's known iconography from the time period (which should make one wonder if there isn't some possible synchronization afoot, as if Seth-Baal wasn't strong enough evidence, lol), with one caveat: he has Resheph's headband. So some differences!

What I draw from that is Mekal/Mekar is a Baal-like deity but with some differences. In the Pantheon universe, thus, Mekal is primarily a vegetation god with some rain-bringing abilities, not a storm god proper. He doesn't have the weather manipulation capability that Baal does, but he's good at making flowers and helping agriculture grow!

Given the strong Egyptian influence here, Mekal strikes me as the type who really likes lotuses, too. Maybe he really looks forward to the few visits that Nefertem makes in the foreign northern lands? Well, assuming Sekhmet's willing to let him out...

Anyway, Beth-Shean is a major Egyptian administrative center in the Late Bronze Age, so Sutekh likely stops in Beth-Shean often before continuing onward to Gubla (Byblos), another Egyptian holding. Mekal, with his minimal attestation, seems like a very young god (and it's suspicious that he's not attested afterward). Perhaps he was educated in Kemet as a godling and then brought back to Beth-Shean to rule it, as the Egyptians were known for doing with foreign princes. Couldn't get him to get rid of the beard, though. Some cultural influences refuse to die.

Artwork commissioned from Eaglidots

[bonusdragons]

November 12, 2023:

Sanddollar Secondary, Obelisk, Smoke.

Mekar of williwawwarden's clan!

[queenaya22]

Bunga mekarpun tidak selalu bersamaan, mereka punya waktu sendiri yang telah Tuhan tetapkan. Tenang saja, setiap makhluk punya takdir yang telah digariskan, maka tak ada yang perlu dicemaskan. selagi menunggu tiba giliran, persiapkan apa yang sedang menjadi tujuan, sampai datang waktu yang telah ditentukan. Maka, kokohkan dulu akarmu, kuatkan dulu batangmu, lebarkan dulu daunmu, hingga ketika bungamu mekar, semua bagian telah siap untuk menopang. Yakinlah, kau akan temui hadiah terindah sebagai buah dari kesabaran.

T.W || 01.04.24 || 20.15

[babibubabo]

Semua Bunga Pasti Akan Mekar

Satu pot. Dua pot. Tiga pot. Empat pot. Lima pot. Seorang anak menghitung banyaknya pot bunga di teras. Ibunya berkata bahwa itu bunga. Awalnya sang anak tetap bersikeras bahwa itu hanyalah sebuah daun berwarna-warni. (more…) “”

[kaelio]

ok post these at people OK. people on Twitter are still getting these confused.

[swedenis-h]

Heart and Mind (X)

Just in case the link doesn’t work:

[dihuaexchange]

To: @wouldyoulikeacupofteadear

From: @mekare-art​

Note: Thank you for your wonderful prompt, it was a joy to work on this! I tried to combine both your prompts: best dog and domestic. I hope you like it.

Title: At Home

[armandslawyer]

Maharet and Mekare :)

[butchfairyzine]

Artist spotlight- Wyld Fairies: Mekarer and Spiderthread!

"Mekarer is a hobby illustrator and an art student. He has a strong love for anything whimsical, the stars, and queer art. "

--

"Spiderthread is a self-taught artist who lives somewhere by the ocean and draws inspiration from animation and games as well as history and nature. You can typically find her drawing, hiking, or befriending local cats." Find them at @spiderthread

--

Kickstarter launches on the 22nd of July!

[cbrownjc]

Hi! Hope you don't mind but I wanted to ask your opinion on some stuff we learned in ep 6 and possible repercussions for Daniel's character. So we get the super heavy-handed wink wink nudge nudge "body switch" line from Raglan, which imo definitely implies they are gonna go there at some point - body switching *will* be a thing.

Before this, I was actually pretty hopeful that at some point, Armand was going to turn old man Daniel into a vampire. Not sure yet how and when it would happen, but it felt like they were building towards it (also having not forgotten the super sus levodopa treatment from probably-a-vampire Dr. Fareed). But if they're going to introduce body switching (and it feels significant that this line was said to Daniel so I doubt it will NOT involve him at all), then that no longer makes sense, right? Why bother turning old man Daniel when they're gonna body switch his spirit with what I suspect might be a cloned younger version of him (played by LBF ofc)? I realize I'm making a lot of assumptions here lol but the hints are there, aren't they? Mostly I just really don't want Eric to be written out of the show - I'm so attached to his version of Daniel (though I also want to see more of LBF - I'm so torn lmao).

Where do you think they're going with this?

Hi,

Okay, so. IF older Daniel is turned and IF the body switch is still in play, I feel there are multiple scenarios going on as to where this could be going.

The first thing we have to look at is who we might see turn older Daniel if it happens. (And which I already predicted after last week's Inside the Episode for ep 2x05 gave away that the IWTV book was going to be published I think very likely is going to happen this season.) If it's Armand who does it, then it is 100% Daniel who is being turned. If it's Louis -- or anyone else -- who does it, then it 100% is not Daniel who is being turned IMO, but Raglan James -- no matter if it's Eric that we see getting bitten, drained, and turned by Louis . . . or any other vampire.

Because this show did not go to all the trouble it did in this latest episode (2x06) to specifically discuss how Armand has never once in his whole vampire life made another vampire and then not have him be the one to turn his one-and-only book-canon fledgling.

So if we see anyone other than Armand turning older Daniel at some point? Then that is Daniel's body being turned, but Daniel's actual soul/spirit/consciousness will for sure be somewhere else. Even if we don't actually see the switch happen beforehand.

If this is the case, Daniel's soul/spirit/consciousness will be in some other body -- most likely Justin Kirk's -- and I can see a scenario where Daniel doesn't want his older body back because it's now a vampire. So a new body is made for him -- via clone or whatever -- by Dr. Fareed that is younger, but not super young or something (and played by LBF -- whom I myself have already pointed out is 36 years old right now . . . meaning he could realistically play someone 40 years old IMO).

So this way, Daniel is still human, just in a different body now. And his older body is now a vampire and . . . IDK, goes off to join in on the Great Conversion thing, I'd guess. Or, maybe James just goes off to do what he did in the TotBT book but then, maybe something goes wrong with him in Daniel's older body -- maybe he's not fully anchored to it or something because this is the first time he's ever jumped bodies. Or maybe something else goes wrong (put a pin in this). And so James jumps bodies again, but he now wants to be a vampire again really bad. Which now sets up for him plotting to steal Lestat's body and the whole TotBT storyline.

However, if we see Armand turn older Daniel? I do think they could still be setting up for the body swap but, IMO, it might go more like this if they are:

Older Daniel gets turned and, just like his book counterpart, goes mad sometime very soon after he is. And I think the earlier in the show's run that Daniel gets turned the more likely we are headed toward the book scenario of Daniel losing his mind after he is turned. Because even I have kind of glossed over the fact Daniel being turned by Armand didn't lead to a happy ending for them both -- not right away. Things actually went really bad for them for decades afterward. Daniel went mad, and he and Armand were separated during that time he was, for over 20 years before Daniel finally healed and reunited with Armand again.

And while I don't think Daniel's turning on the show will lead to a +20-year separation -- because Armand and Daniel have already done that on the show -- we are very much not out of the woods on older Daniel going mad once he is turned IMO. I think Daniel going mad after he's turned is not only very much in play but will happen at some point if he is.

And, in the show? Daniel might not just go mad because he's unable to deal with what he now is or he's angry at Armand about, well, a whole lot of things. IMO, the body swap hints might also point to something, even more, being at play here. (Pin!)

This, however, is where my thoughts on these things get a bit more possibly depressing because -- I'm not 100% sure that turning older Daniel would cure his Parkinsons. Because Parkinson's isn't like cancer or being poisoned or dying from being shot or something. Parkinson's is specifically a neurological disease.

And one thing that the books have shown is that The Blood does NOT cure something neurological.

In the books, one of the twins, the vampire Maharet, was blinded before she was turned. And she isn't able to just take some human eyes and put them into her empty eye sockets and have that work permanently. The human eyes just continue to die within her eye sockets and that is because even The Blood can't heal the nerves connecting them.

We also see that The Blood doesn't help with neurological problems with the character of Mekare -- the other twin -- in the book Prince Lestat. Now, I'm only up to Chapter 15 of that book, but I have read past the part in that book where Jesse talks about Dr. Fareed examining Mekare, particularly her brain. Because while Mekare had her tongue cut out before she was turned, something happened to her mind as well. And this is what Jesse says was discovered after Mekare was examined by Fareed (via a CAT scan and other ways):

"They said Mekare was mindless," said Jesse. "They said the brain in her head was atrophied. They said there was so little indication of brain activity that she was like a human in a coma, kept alive by the brain stem alone. Apparently, she'd been entombed for so long, possibly in a cave, no one knew, that even her sight had been affected. The powerful Blood actually hardened the atrophied tissue over time [. . .]"

What this tells me is that there is probably not going to be any reversal wrt Daniel's Parkinson's once he's turned. Daniel's brain, and nerves, might just do like Mekare's did -- harden at the point they are at now. Keeping things forever in the degenerative state they are at whenever he's turned.

The Blood can kill cancer cells, destroy poison within the body, eradicate diseases like TB from the body, and even heal cuts and wounds. But it doesn't seem to be able to do anything for neurological issues, going by the books. It freezes things where they are when you are turned wrt that and does not repair them.

So older Daniel going mad after he's turned? Might not just be because of being unable to fully deal with now being a vampire. It might also be because he was turned while his body had health issues that even The Blood cannot fix. And while he will no longer age or die, Daniel might still have his body's neurological issues that were there when he was turned, just now forever frozen in that state where they were. Just like it remained so for the twins.

The show specifically focused on Daniel's shaking getting worse in episode 2x02 when he was under emotional stress/duress, which is very much a Parkinson's thing. As I know I've said more than once, I took care of my mom for 10 years while she had Parkinson's, and because so I've hyper-noticed these things -- the camera very much sometimes focusing on Daniel's shaking this season. Daniel's shaking was even commented on by Louis just last week.

And if Daniel is turned soon, well . . . imagine having to live with something like that for eternity?

And so just like with Maharet and her eyes, which Dr. Fareed figured out how to give her permanent ones that would never die in her head, (and also knew he could give Mekare a new tongue but, at least as far as I've read that offer hasn't been accepted -- and doing something for her brain was likely out of the question given that she was the Sacred Core at that point meaning her brain was fused with Amel's spirit . . . operating on that would very likely put every vampire in the world in danger), maybe this will have Dr. Fareed coming up with a new, cloned body for Daniel that don't have those neurological issues?

And then maybe that body gets stolen by Raglan James in a later season and we get the TotBT storyline that way? I can see being one way into it.

As it is, I know that making bodies for spirits to occupy does become a thing in the books after Prince Lestat. So their being able to do so is likely going to be established at some point -- and this could be one way they do so.

But, either way, if older Daniel is turned anytime soon, these are the two ways I can see it going afterward, and probably why they are also dropping body swap hints as well along with it. Because I don't think Daniel being turned is going to be simple, or lead to something happy right away. Again, it didn't in the books.

And really, this all just kind of backs up why I wasn't ever really feeling Daniel being turned anytime soon. But I realize now that my wanting the show to wait before they did so was the more happy way I was looking at it to go.

But this is Gothic Horror. And while I don't think Eric will be "written out" right away or something, I don't think whichever scenario I've given for all of this will lead to something happy. Not for a long time. There is just too much already in the source material that points to it not, IMO. And I think the show is very much setting up for that as well with the hints it's clearly dropping wrt all of this.

[rhan-hastur]

Ask and you shall receive!

Bonus: even more vampire ladies no one asked for:

[pandora-the-millenia]

Mekare&Maharet -

The red haired Twins. (Maharet got a new pair of human eyes…)

[lgbtiwtv]

queen of the damned (1988)

[bubblegum-blackwood]

VC Characters Body Hair Headcanons:

Lestat: Sparse chest, belly, pit, leg, and pubic hair, all blonde

Louis: He doesn’t have full-on chest hair, but maybe a few strays gathered around each nipple. But his pits and bush are glorious, and his leg hair is very noticeable against how pale his skin is

Armand: No chest hair, but he does have some nice auburn on his legs. Of course, he also has pits and pubes ✨

Daniel: About as sparse as Lestat, although since he’s paler and his hair is a few shades darker, it’s a bit more noticeable. He also has a bit more hair on his stomach

Marius: Canon says at least his face and chest were shaved but in my heart he has a happy trail 😔

Thorne: The thickest, most luscious you’ve ever seen. On his chest, on his back, on his arms, on his legs ~ everywhere

Santino: Just slightly less hairy than Thorne, but it’s very dark and coarse

Quinn: He has some bush and leg hair, but I don’t really see him as being very hairy anywhere else. Stubbornly ignoring the canon lack of pit hair, though

Nicki: The usual, pits, pubes, and legs, and I think he’d have some nice curling chest hair, but not much in the way of belly/back/ass

Mael: Completely smooth, like a little baby dolphin 🐬

Jesse: In my heart she’s a legs and pits unshaven kinda girl, absolutely glorious bush, with a little bit of tummy hair too, cuz it’s natural and she can’t be bothered to change it. Even though her head, arm, and leg hair is red, I imagine her pit and pubic hair, and her eyebrows and eyelashes, to be black

Maharet and Mekare: all red hair, kind of soft and fine, not a whole lot except on their lower legs and armpits. I think that especially more toward the modern day Maharet might shave at least her pits and also possibly her pubes, but Mekare is too far gone to give a fuck lmfao. Not that either of them have much to worry about anyway

Seth: That is one bald motherfucker 😔 I mean if we’re going by how he actually would have lived as an ancient Egyptian he should be completely hairless but I do like to imagine him with some hair on his head at least, idk about anywhere else though

Fareed: Can’t remember if he is described as having a beard or not but I picture him with one, and also a lot of armpit, chest, and leg hair. I think he maybe trimmed his belly and pubic hair, but he’s got this one really long hair on his ass that Seth is absolutely enamoured with 🥰

Khayman: Like Seth, as an ancient Egyptian theoretically he shaved his whole body, but I imagine him with a natural head of hair and actually some chest hair as well

Pandora: Her pit and leg hair is kind of light and fine, not super noticeable from farther away, but she’s got the darkest, most beautiful bush you’ve ever seen

Bianca: Super soft and fine and very light blonde, pits and pubes fully intact

Gabrielle: Some greying blonde leg and tummy hair, and her pits and pubes are thicker, curlier, and more coarse, black but greying

Rose: something about her gives me the vibes that she would like, trim her pubes into the shape of a heart or some shit 🤣 and also she shaves her leg and pit hair so upon being made a vampire she was mostly smooth

[thecactifindahome]

Queen of the Damned: last pages and sequel ideas

- The Witching Hour

- Untitled Talamasca novel

- God Damn It Lestat, You've Fucked Us Again