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TheMichaelMacRae β Afternoon Rituals
#arctic #bathing #chilly #cold #creepy #dead #ocean #overcast #pikachu #zombie #rocksandlotsofem
Published: 2015-12-19 20:38:03 +0000 UTC; Views: 160464; Favourites: 5203; Downloads: 2045
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Y'all like rocks?Related content
Comments: 235
It was on a Sunday that Janet first found it. She recalled specifically because the church bells had rang, symbolizing the end of the service. It was just as she'd made it to the beach. The day wasn't that strange of a day. Her daily ritual was the same as ever. Bathe, try to catch slow fish, grab her only cloth, dry by tiny fire, go home. At least, that the way the day would've been that way, if it were not for that one fish.
It wasn't doing much. It was lying on the shore, but it wasn't rotten. It'd clearly been put there. At first she thought that a fisherman had left for later. If that were the case, she wouldn't have even touched it. Her mother had always reminded her "Only those who are kind receive kindness." True, those were the last words she'd ever said before starving to death, but they'd always stuck with Janet. So she waited. There was no one at home, and she hadn't eaten meat in weeks.
Finally, ignoring the voice that told her that someone had set it for them self, Janet grabbed the fish and headed home. It was the tastiest meal she'd had in as long as she could remember. The next morning, Janet awoke without a gnawing sensation in her stomach. After a morning of picking berries and dodging stones cast at her by some of the children of the town, she made her way to the beach.
Once more, she tried grabbing slow fish, but once more, they slipped through her fingers. At the end of the day, Janet only had a hurt minnow to show for her efforts, yet when she made it to the beach there was a fresh fish lying on the ground again. Once more, she waited for someone to retrieve the fish, but no one came. Picking up the fish again, she headed home.
Many moons passed and the same thing happened each day. Every time that Janet tried to catch fishes in the water, there was one waiting for her on the beach. When she didn't go into the water, there was no fish. After a while she got nervous. She didn't have any clothes to wear into the water, just the one way too small blanket that she wore every where she went. Her possessions were limited to an oil flask that she learned how to light using two rocks by her tree that she lived next to on the outskirts of town. The fact that there was a fish when she went fishing naked, meant that someone saw her and then left a fish. The though itself was, disturbing.
As time continued Janet found out that the harder she worked at trying to catch fish, the better the fish that would be waiting on land. Using a hook got her two smaller sunfishes. Using a hook and string got her a large trout. Using a hook and bait would get a trout and sunfish; but most of all, using a hook, bait, and string got her two large trouts. Most of the metal she found was rusted and fell apart about three days, string was near impossible to find and broke quickly, and getting bait meant taking time out of picking berries; her only sure way getting food.
Early when she was a girl her mother had taught her a saying that went "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man a fish, feed him for a lifetime." Janet wasn't sure why this person wasn't just teaching her how to fish, but his method of feeding her was keeping her alive. She looked better than when she didn't get fish. She couldn't argue with the results. Janet had began to take the food for granted when finally the fateful day.
It was another Sunday, and Janet was having a bad day. It started off well with a hook, bait, and string. Within minutes of her happy future with shattered with a broken hook, drifting way bait, and broken string. She quickly bathed and defeated, sat on the pebbles on the smooth pebbles of the beach. She almost didn't notice it, and if it weren't for a misstep that accidentally knocked a pebble to the side, the person would've been there and gone without her even seeing him.
The sound made her snap her head and see a person crouching on the ground next to her. She instinctively flinched back. The person was dressed in leather from head to toe. There were some furs on their waist, and a place was cut out for their mouth and eyes. Slung up on their back was a line of fish. They continued to say nothing, but took two trout off their line and placed them next to Janet. Then, they got up to leave. Janet got up and picked up the fish.
She was about to thank the stranger, but the person predicted her movements, and held a finger over their mouth. Then, the both of them turned and walked away, each heading towards the Afternoon Rituals.
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"AAAAAH" was my first reaction to seeing a wall of text in my inbox.
This is weird and I like it
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I've been thinking of doing it to a few others of yours.
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(Loved your art by the way)
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I cant tell if this is a photo or drawing. help.
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This is really good, the atmosphere and colours are ace
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I love the rocks. I love how it looks like you painted each one rather than photo-bashed it all in.Β
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So many work, so much rox.
Great job dude
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I'm guessing this is the first time this Selkie has met one of those creepy Inuit devils.
It would make sense that they would cross paths given the migratory patterns
The phrase:Β "Deary, things can always be much worse," springs to mind when I look at this.
Now that I think about it, maybe the young woman isn't a Selkie and she just got washed up on a shore and this weird friendly zombie is helping her get warm.
Yeah, that makes a lot more sense.
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Lovely work, I like the sense of story here. I imagine she is a castaway from some shipwreck, and the mutant fisherman guy either found her. Somehow I imagine the guy is asking if she wants some fish. XD You did a nice job with the elements, too. I can almost feel the cold sea spray and early morning breeze!
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Is it wrong that this photo made me chuckle?
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Awesome and freaky.
My favorite part is the little splash of water on that pebble!
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Great work! This is how I imagined T'lan Imass from Malazane Chronicles would looks like.Β
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Y'know..the fish guy from Shakespeare's The Tempest? It just sort of reminded me of him ^u^
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I think they're supposed to be arctic char.... or maybe salmon... I'm not super sure.
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We'll need some lemons...
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Absolutely stunning. Thank you!
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How much time alone did you spend on them rocks ?! Β thay look really good !
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The majority of it took a few days, but the real tedium hit when I started making adjustments to the placement/sizing of characters and things in the picture. I kept having to go back over and over to do more rocks. Doing them all at once is ok but once you're out of the groove, it's a nightmare having to go back and add more in
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Yeah i can understand that ^^Β
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Impressive and intriguing image
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Your existence reminds me that I keep forgetting to watch you...
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I'd love to see a process for this - so awesome.
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Oh hey! I remember seeing the early drawing process of this on /ic/.
It turned out so nice! I love your style so much- from the subdued colors you use, to the precise rendering, and interesting narratives. Super distinct!Β
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Damn.. your concepts are so awesome ! ! The situation / feeling / action your images capture, it makes me want to imagine what happens next, or what let to this, and even better they makes me want to study the image for clues 
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absolutely incredible lighting. Perfect work.
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