I choose to draw first blood. Read at your own discretion.Title: Posthumous Sex AffairRating: Either an M or an NC-17. I don't believe in the NC-17 rating so I'll say it's an M.Summary: There was blood by the buckets. Everyone died, there was nothing she could have done then. All alone, it can be hard not to cry, even for a girl like her. She had to escape...Series: You have three guesses and the first two don't count. I'll give you a hint, though: it's Bleach.Genre: Romance? No. Definitely no. Note: Not one to back down from a challenge, here is my mighty (?) counter to a Deathmatch for everyone not to read. It's somewhat gross...in my opinion. The story may vary depending on where you read it, depending on whether or not I decide to post this at Fanfiction.net.Pairing is Tatsuki x dead body.That's right, you heard me.Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.---rig·or mor·tis [rig-er mawr-tis]noun 1. temporary stiffness of joints and muscular rigidity occurring after death2. Muscular stiffening following death, resulting from the unavailability of energy needed to interrupt contraction of the muscle fibers. ---Posthumous Sex Affair---She blinked, and it happened that fast.In the middle of a cold, wintry battlefield she shouldn't have even been in, Tatsuki saw her friends--Orihime, Ichigo, Chad, Ishida, and Rukia--in fighting stances. The image of the five, standing proud and ready to risk all, snow billowing around them; the blizzard doing nothing to perturb them. Neither did the threatening aura that kept Tatsuki's knees shaking, against her will. Indeed, it was as though nothing could knock them down. They were granite. And Rukia and Ichigo's Shinigami uniforms were majestic. Almost made her jealous.Then she blinked.Just for the tiniest fraction of a second, her eyes were closed, but when they opened the carnage was nearly over. A trickle of red drool was the only mar on Orihime's face...but her eyes had lost their light and, looking down in horror, it seemed a sword had pierced her breast, nearly splitting her in two. Where had that blade even come from?! Through the icy winds, it was impossible to see anything beyond her friends. Beside Orihime, Ishida still stood. Yet, his head had gone missing somewhere. Tatsuki scanned the ground but could see nothing. Chad...Chad had to be all right...! And he was! She could only see his profile, but he looked fine...his body twisted...fine...and there was no other half of his body to be seen. Not so fine. Rukia...it was too horrible to describe what happened to her.Taking this all in an instant was too much to bear for Tatsuki. For anyone. She was beyond stunned by the inexplicable turn of events. How could so much that she valued be lost so quickly? So easily?! The blood turning pink in the cold snow wasn't possible!The heroes fallen, the dangerous aura hidden by the winds left. Tatsuki felt worthless. On top of being completely helpless to protect her friends, those most important to her, the invisible monsters didn't even care whether she lived or died.Left her alone!Or was she?...Ichigo...No, he couldn't have, either! One of her friends still had to be alive! She wasn't alone, was she...?Freezing rain frozen on her face, she gasped when she saw his dead body, separated from the rest. His face was serene, at peace somehow. He didn't even look hurt, the fatal wound was hidden beneath tattered Shinigami rags. Only a chest not moving up and down revealed the cold reality....Wait. What was that, rising up?Unbidden, memories of a strange afternoon class, before this nightmare, were stirred by the odd vision she saw of Ichigo Kurosaki.---Yawning, Tatsuki ignored biology class. It was summer. Karate championships were right around the corner. It was summer. It was hot. It was summer. It looked so nice outside, where she could be training. It was summer, and she needed to prepare for the karate championship.Summer, karate, hot, nice...kind of sleepy, though...yawn...the sweat was rolling down her back now, like it would be when......When she......won the......karate...Victory!"Tatsuki! Wake up!"Huh what?! Eyes she hadn't realized were closed snapped open, and she was greeted by a goofy, heartwarming grin."Sleeping in class again, Tatsuki?" Orihime laughed. "You do that way too much in the summer! Every year!"Still groggy, Tatsuki was compelled to defend herself. "It ain't right to..." Yawn. "right...for us students to be stuck inside a musty old classroom like this when it's so sunny out! It's criminal!" Her emotion towards this academic injustice powered her to alertness."Be careful, Arisawa," a new voice interjected. "I believe you are already on the verge of failing some classes. Sleeping in class certainly will not help matters."Ryo.Delivering another one of her "lectures" while straightening her glasses."Hey, I can study just fine! I pass every year, even though I have no plans to go to university!" replied Tatsuki quickly, taking in the classroom. Mostly empty. "Err...where is everybody else?""Out for lunch!" An obnoxious person, who could only be..."but I stayed here so I could play with my favorite big itty-bitty boobie woo--"Chizuru! Her nemesis, whose words and subsequent groping of one Orihime Inoue were cut short by a swift fist from Tatsuki!Which wasn't quite as fast as it should have been. Guh!...Ouch. Her muscles were stiff."Oh!" Her best friend, Orihime--who had been oblivious to Chizuru's earlier advance--suddenly piped up out of concern for Tatsuki. "You shouldn't move so soon after sleeping! You need to do serious, heavy-duty stretching so you don't pull any muscles."Duh. She was an athlete and knew this too well. Couldn't Orihime see that she sacrificed herself for her sake? Heh, it's to be expected. Tatsuki always was giving up tiny pieces of herself for Orihime and it wasn't like she demanded anything in return...other than seeing that smile still on plastered on her face. Yeah, that made it worth it."Umm..." Another girl was in the room, who had slipped past Tatsuki's notice more times than once. Michuru, that is. "Why exactly...did Tatsuki's muscles get all stiff? I don't get it..."Orihime's retinas gleamed ecstatically for the chance to answer a question. "It's rigor mortis! A temporary stiffness of joints and muscles. Happens when you sleep like the dead, like Tatsuki does."Hey!"Really? Wow...I didn't know that," Michuru sounded impressed."Wrong," the only girl in the school more studious than Orihime corrected. "Rigor mortis isn't what happened to Tatsuki. Rigor mortis is a temporary stiffness of muscles that happens to people after they die."How blunt. Everyone else was stunned quiet momentarily."Oh yeah...that's right," Orihime pursed her lips, while Michuru suddenly appeared very frightened."Hey, hey! I got a question!" Damn, Chizuru again! This couldn't be good! "Isn't rigor mortis what happens to men that keeps them hard after they die?!"Ugh. That was totally disgusting. Tatsuki thought she braced herself for stupidity, but clearly she was unprepared.Beside her, it seemed Michuru felt the same. Orihime didn't seem to understand Chizuru's question and remained blissful. Lucky girl."Yes, it is," Ryo answered without losing composure. How could she stay calm in the face of a dumb question like that? More importantly, why did she even know the answer?!"Thought so. I knew men were gross! This proves it. You better stick with me, Hime-chan!"Tatsuki got set to smack Chizuru around again...but it wasn't necessary.Orihime's reply stopped Chizuru stonecold herself. "Oh, but Kurosaki-kun isn't like that."Yet, their women-inclined friend would not go down without a fight."Yeah, he is. I bet he'd try to molest us poor, defenseless girls with his rigor stiffy, just like the other guys!"As if. That was totally out of Ichigo's character. Tatsuki knew from experience that he had zero interest in dating, much less raping girls."He would not!" denied Orihime, quite loudly, her bubbly persona disappearing. "He's nice, even if he doesn't look like it! And he's-not-going-to-die, so it's completely out of the question!"Everyone stared at her in silence as she breathed heavily, the heat in the room causing her to perspire lightly. Awkwardly, Orihime laughed to ease the tension."Come on. Let's go. We already ate and we need to prepare for Phys. Ed."It was Ryo, always the cool one, that broke the silence and left the room. Furthermore, she dragged a reluctant Chizuru and an indecisive Michuru with her.Just her and Orihime, whom appeared confused by their friends' departure.Ah, everything seemed as it should be."You know, Orihime, I agree with you," Tatsuki told her, being a good friend. And nothing more. "Ichigo is a great guy. Cool, good in a fight." Plus, he'd probably never had a boner in his life."You think so?" Amazing, really, how serious her friend got when the subject turned to Ichigo. "He really isn't a sex maniac, right? I don't really know his past like you do, so I just spoke up from my gut without thinking."Her reply was instant. "Of course he isn't." She hesitated momentarily for her next words. "...Hey, you should hurry up and confess to him! Tell him how you feel! No need to be shy!"Red, as always. Heh. "I...um, I...err, I...I...Tatsuki!""Got any leftovers, Orihime! I'm starving enough that I could eat your food!""Hey!"---Hey.Hey.Hey!That bump in the clothing. Nothing could draw Tatsuki's eyes away from it. It attracted her in ways she couldn't explain.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.She knew she should be disturbed by this. A lot. Like, only a few minutes ago she witnessed the most shocking and disturbing event she had ever seen in her life. The sound of blood splitting the air still rang cold in her ears. And, if she thought about it real hard, she seriously was horrified. Thing was, however, Tatsuki could not concentrate on the horror, no matter what she tried. Inevitably, her attention turned back to him.An escape was presented by that not-so-little thing he was born with.It stood proudly. Majestic, even, underneath Tatsuki's rapt gaze. It was the only other thing standing here, beside herself, creating a sense of camaraderie between them. The two were quite the odd pair, she had to admit. Wait...did she think of the two as an item?Oh, but it was so hypnotizing!Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.A lump blocked passage in her throat, causing Tatsuki difficult to swallow. Unfortunate, that, since her mouth was salivating profusely. Moreover, she felt this lump to be bothersome due to a rapidly beating heart pounding against it thrice every second. Well, at least the blood flow stopped her from keeling over in this freezing wind.Should she get closer to it? That could be a disastrous idea, really. Much smarter to keep her distance, to stay away from it. If Tatsuki stepped nearer to it, she may become compelled to approach it even further. And if she got too close, she might end up...No!What the hell was wrong with her?! This was disgusting! Sick! Utterly revolting! Thinking about doing something like that with one of her dead friend's corpse. Disgusting. The thought made her gag.No, no, no! Don't even think about doing something so disgusting! Don't even...!Ah, err, don't even think about thinking about it! Just stop. In fact, get the hell away from it. Yes, she thought she would run away. Best choice was to flee. That's what her natural instincts told her to do, to prevent her body from discharging everything she ate in the past twenty-four hours.Determined, Tatsuki stepped back. No, she did not hesitate. She wasn't hesitating...Step back, already, Tatsuki! There. Good. And stop thinking about it, for Hell's sake.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.But it was impossible to ignore, sick though it may be. Even the stench of death and blood in the billowing, chilly air, foul as it was, lost out to this illogical, overwhelming need to examine the protrusion further.So, Tatsuki took another step back, and again, and again. Still keeping her eyes locked on the stiffness before her. Making sure it didn't do anything funny on her. Heh...hehh...err, heh, not anything more funny, that is. Blech.Another step. Her breath became ragged...and not from anything strenuous. Another pace back. That damn heart would not slow down! Great progress being made...wow, not only were her thoughts demented, it would be insane to take off clothes in this blizzard...Don't think like that...! This was exhausting! Further, and further away. A sensation akin to emptiness grew somewhat prominent, though Tatsuki could not be certain of that. While she still looked at it, she found it more and more difficult to see. That made the sense of not being whole, she thought that was what she felt, all the worse. But she pressed on.Slow, slow, fast, slow, fast, fast, fast, and slow came each intake of air, following a completely erratic pattern. Meanwhile, her heart continued to find new ways to beat faster....Back. Back away. Could hardly see it at all through the misty snow...Back...Then, suddenly, her foot caught on something and she was moving backwards far too quickly!Pain lanced in her backside as she hit the solid ground unprepared, and fear assailed her immediately thereafter. Eye contact with it was lost. That was her intention, yet it happened too quickly. The lump in her throat sank deeper, closer to heart. Breathing ascended in frequency.Anyways! What the hell did she just trip on?! Very uncalled for whatever got in her way, whatever that was! Well, at least it helped distract her from the problem she faced, so she wouldn't have any hard feelings lingering.Standing up, brushing the dust off the skirt of her uniform, Tatsuki swerved her head down to glare at the...at the...at the...the bloodied corpse responsible for her fall.For a second, her heart took a break to pause and the breath got caught in her throat.How could Tatsuki forget she was there? Like, weren't the two best friends? Shameful. Totally shameful of Tatsuki! No, shameful didn't begin to describe how awful Tatsuki felt she was. What an insult she delivered to her best friend, on top of being unable to protect her!In anger, she tightened her fist. Sharp fingernails dug into slick, blue palms....Slick palms? From what?Nah, couldn't be what she thought it was. Had to be sweat. Probably, her palms had been wet with sweat for a long time, and she simply hadn't noticed before. Yeah, that's it. So confident in this answer was Tatsuki that she did not even bother to ascertain what made the palm wet.Instincts, though.That grating curiousity, innately attached to her extroverted personality, came back to haunt her, metaphorically speaking. Like with that terrible bulge--which she definitely refused to think about!--there was this need, compulsion, to take a little peak. Look a little bit closer.One finger slipped free of the fist. Red! She gasped. No, no. Need to make sure...Another finger. More crimson. Finger. Red. Finger. Red. Finger. Red. Five for five.No denying it. Her hands were painted crimson with her best friend's blood.Repulsed, shaking, disturbed, Tatsuki turned away. She had to get away! Escape. Escape from the horror. Blood thrashed wildly in her veins. Escape! This world was insane! An urge to vomit. Nothing else stood by her side! Escape!Oh.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.That's right. It wouldn't deny her. They were of a like mind, those two, and Tatsuki was certain it would not refuse.Phew.A big sigh of relief left her mouth. Her pulse slowed and the malaise left her mind, the storm calmed by the sickening bulge.No, don't be a fool! She already got away once. Don't think you'll get away again! This is wrong! The voices in her head screamed their lungs to the bursting point in desperation. But Tatsuki could not hear them. Would not hear them, since she felt herself being distanced from reality. That she was getting away from everything. Escaping.One little glance should make her feel much better...and, she did kind of wonder if what Ryo and Chizuru were talking about was true...The encounter with her dead buddy distracted her quite a bit, and it was rather far away and should have been tough to find, yet...her eyes found it once more immediately.Her heart soared in joy, that lump came back. And Tatsuki looked away, to escape. Her heart twisted in sorrow.Maybe another look...Besides, it wasn't like she was actually interested in that part of his anatomy...Rather, she despised it...Oh! It looked so alive!No! No! No! Look away! Better look away...! But it was so fascinating...Ah, screw it! She wasn't close enough, she had to move next to it!A reversal of a few minutes ago took place. Instead of backwards, forwards. Top became bottom and reason thrown out the window to be damned forever.Her friend continued to be dead behind her, virtually forgotten.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.With each step she took, it grew larger. With each step she took, her heart went faster. With each step she took, it occupied more of her vision. With each step, she forgot about another friend's death. With each step, she was less alone. With each step she took, she wanted to take another step!Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.So close. So close. So very close. Oh, it's near, it's near, it's near! She could reach down and feel it!Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.Right next to it, a blot of sanity returned to Tatsuki.Her walk towards it paused.This was ridiculous. Why was she so fascinated by a frickin' hard-on?! It belonged to him! He was dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Shouldn't she be more concerned with him being dead?! Dead, dead, dead! But, no, all she cared about was that one part of his body! Taking it for herself! Disregarding his feelings. Violating him!As if sensing her thoughts, the erection appeared to grow stronger. She licked her lips.Hmph. What did it matter if she wanted a piece of him?! She saw him first, before anyone else did! Tch. She cared about him more than anyone else! More than her best friend behind her! From the beginning, always! More than Little Ghost Girl ever did! This wasn't Tatsuki's fault. No, it wasn't! She was so nice and let everybody go gaga over him, and pretended she didn't care one bit about him. All for their sakes. Why should she do a thing about herself? Why should she try and be happy?! He was her childhood friend. They knew each other best! He should have seen behind her words and shared it...or even considered...before he had to distance himself from her. From everyone. Before he had to stop being the man she knew!So, if anything, it was all his fault.He deserved anything she did to him. She deserved the chance to do whatever she wanted. They deserved each other.To death.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.Looking down at him, so strong and erect in that one place, Tatsuki made her decision.Anticipation reached a new high. It's been said before how quickly her heart has pulsed, and it couldn't have possibly gotten much faster, but Tatsuki's heartbeat gained power now and throbbed painfully. The cold was forgotten, it made her body so hot. As if it were trying to do the load of two bodies. Coupled with heavy intakes for air, she was surprised her chest did not snap open.With this sense of exhilaration interfering with her vision, Tatsuki knelt down and stared at Ichigo's penis and the tent it made in his grey, school uniform.Warmth spread through Tatsuki, staring at the only part of her dead childhood friend that hadn't died, creeping out from the center of her womanhood to spread throughout her entire body.Funny. Though the rank odor of death was still so strong, she could still clearly detect the smell that was uniquely his. She realized this with excited startlement. It was her secret. No...their secret. Just between them.Inhaling deeply with her nostrils flared wide open, she ravished this scent deeply and grew hotter. Much like she suspected Orihime would have dearly liked to. But it was her turn, now.What's this?Aha! The musk was stronger in his lower regions, around it. Oh, it looked to be in so much agony, imprisoned in those restricted clothes.So Tatsuki chose set his dick free. Expose it to the freezing air.Slowly, she unclasped the button of his uniformed pants. Ichigo's body felt so cold, she noticed sadly. Even in that one special spot...though it was kind of hard to tell since the whole world felt cold to her...But it was such a sad thing for him to be so frozen when he had always been so warm, even while he attempted to hide behind a cold facade. A zipper was loudly unzipped. He looked so much more comfortable now, but Tatsuki hadn't had enough. Though she struggled slightly, she managed to lift his midsection up while pulling the pants down all the way to his knees.Much better!Not only did his penis appear happier, but the heat inside Tatsuki raised significantly, too. Sweat rolled off her forehead like a rain shower, and everywhere on her body. Hot breath left her mouth to wintry air in smoky puffs. Her heavy, winter clothes were chafing, she noted distantly, so slick with perspiration were they. The sports bra she wore--one of her few reluctant admissions of feminity--was burning up her body way too much, adding to her whole slickness. Yeah, and she was getting wet between her thighs, too, not something she was very experienced with, but that was no sweat, she knew that much.Back to the task at hand, there was still one article of clothing to take care of: the red, pinstriped boxers blocking access. Heh, so typical of him, she thought and felt aroused even by that little detail. Tatsuki hadn't seen what lurked in those shorts since she was six or so--not that she marked the date on the calendar--but she had imagined seeing it again. More often than she would like to admit in the past year. This scenario, with Tatsuki unveiling his dick, had been imagined before...albeit, in livelier circumstances, but this would have to suffice. So the boxers were nearly torn off in her haste.Her body felt hotter. Her breath caught.Now, it--err, his penis--was unveiled to the harsh air.The sweat made her clothes all the more unpleasant to her skin....Err, his crotch probably shouldn't have been blue. Oh, he had blue balls! Hilarious, hilarious, hilarious! Completely kept her mind away from a couple of minutes ago, it was so funny!Hmm, Tatsuki should make it red. With friction. He would like that.Using one hand to unbuckle her pants, in order to cool the hottest spot of her body, she tentatively reached forth to touch it......There. Her wet fingertips could feel it.At last.It felt great. She moaned for him. Or maybe because she was so happy...for both of them. Or perhaps because she just slipped two--count 'em!--digits inside her own pussy.Matching the rhythm between the two, Tatsuki began sliding her hand up and down Ichigo's cold shaft while rubbing her womanly folds. No pre-cum leaked out of Ichigo, not that Tatsuki knew this should be happening, but her sexual center was dripping profusely.Yeah, her pussy was wet but, you guessed it, this wasn't enough. Her and Ichigo's relationship had to be consummated. Brought back to the life it once had. Furthermore, Ichigo was kind of...well, dead, and she figured his stamina would be even less that of a living man.So, reluctantly, she stopped touching her hotspot and removed her other hand from Ichigo's dick in order to slip her pants off and ready herself for entry. She wanted, no, needed this feeling badly!Too bad she had to do all the work herself, though. It was embarassing to squat over Ichigo's dead body with all her womanly body parts exposed like this! Ahh, but she would forget this shame in a few seconds. Forget all her shame.In the cold winter day, Tatsuki's greedy pussy hung suspended above Ichigo's unwilling, but all too capable, cock for only a few brief seconds before..."What...the fuck...are you doing with my body?!"Delirious, Tatsuki turned around in complete surprise.It couldn't be......She saw...!...But it could not be anyone else.Shocked, she fell onto the object of her lust unceremoniously."I-I-Ichigo?!" she gulped his name loudly, hardly feeling her cherry burst."Yo," he greeted, red with either stifled anger or blatant embarassment, Tatsuki had no idea which, "...is what I would normally say, but this is totally f--"What was he blathering about?"You're really alive?!" she interrupted, weird feelings spinning uncontrollably. Cold and hot. Confused and excited. "This is no dream I'm imagining?! Where's...Is everyone else okay?! How are you still here?! Why did..."...you leave her? "What I saw before was...real?"Images returned of the shocking violence."Yes, I am, no, yes, that's, uh," Ichigo desperately tried to answer her rush of questions, while trying to keep his eyes off of, uh, his mostly-naked body and Tatsuki's partially unclothed body. At the place their bodies connected. "Everyone else is...fine. We just reincarnated to the next..." His explanation stopped short when he realized Tatsuki was shaking. Took him a while since he was avoiding her sight."Are you okay?!"She couldn't escape from it. Could not deny it. Over and over again, she saw her friends being pierced by blades from the shadows. Their viscera fly. Again. Again. Again! Too much. And, to top it off, she lost herself and actually...ugh, she couldn't think it!Ichigo asked again. "Are you fine?! I'm not that mad that you...with my...Hey, are you...crying? ...Did...did the Hollows hurt you, too?!"...However, a familiar voice was breaking through to her..Reaching inside and pulling her back up...Kind of the opposite of how things used to be...heh...That old self was returning to her...Shaking her head, which sent tears flying every which why, Tatsuki put on a smile and answered."No...I'm fine...I'll be fine, now. Really!"And, really, she wasn't moving her body up and down then, approaching a climax. Really, she hadn't been doing that for the past few minutes. For certain, though penetration occurred, she did not take advantage of Ichigo's Shinigami corpse. Really, she didn't fuck him or anything until she nearly passed out from exhaustion.Really, the conversation she had with him was not imagined.---Really!---And I just invoked the ire of somebody, somewhere.Anyways, I strongly dislike how all my lovely formatting (italics, bolds) got lost when I directly copy-and-paste text from my crappy word processor's document. It's a major pain in the ass.New info!Truth is, rigor mortis would have nothing to do with a man having an erection post mortem, as the penis is not a muscle (they're a part of us guys' brains, ladies, unless, of course, the opposite is true and our minds are actually extensions of our wangs). So, Ryo (and not me) was actually very wrong and totally bluffing in the flashback when she said this was the reason a dead dude would "feel" a little frisky. As for what would give a guy a boner after his heart stops beating, he would either need to die with one already (like, having a heart attack in the middle of sex) or would need to die face-down so that gravity would naturally draw all the blood inside his dick and fill it up. In Ichigo's case, it's obvious that going into battle makes him hard (but who wouldn't get that way with a chick like Rukia at their side?), so that's what happened in my story....Too much information, per chance?You bet your ass that was. Be happy I didn't link to the site where my research was conducted. The other fruits of my labour will be used to great effect in one of my later stories, so get your barf bags ready or run for the hills. Link to Laurie's story:http://laurie-bunter.livejournal.com/39448.html
e shtunë, 31 maj 2008
Fight!
I choose to draw first blood. Read at your own discretion.Title: Posthumous Sex AffairRating: Either an M or an NC-17. I don't believe in the NC-17 rating so I'll say it's an M.Summary: There was blood by the buckets. Everyone died, there was nothing she could have done then. All alone, it can be hard not to cry, even for a girl like her. She had to escape...Series: You have three guesses and the first two don't count. I'll give you a hint, though: it's Bleach.Genre: Romance? No. Definitely no. Note: Not one to back down from a challenge, here is my mighty (?) counter to a Deathmatch for everyone not to read. It's somewhat gross...in my opinion. The story may vary depending on where you read it, depending on whether or not I decide to post this at Fanfiction.net.Pairing is Tatsuki x dead body.That's right, you heard me.Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.---rig·or mor·tis [rig-er mawr-tis]noun 1. temporary stiffness of joints and muscular rigidity occurring after death2. Muscular stiffening following death, resulting from the unavailability of energy needed to interrupt contraction of the muscle fibers. ---Posthumous Sex Affair---She blinked, and it happened that fast.In the middle of a cold, wintry battlefield she shouldn't have even been in, Tatsuki saw her friends--Orihime, Ichigo, Chad, Ishida, and Rukia--in fighting stances. The image of the five, standing proud and ready to risk all, snow billowing around them; the blizzard doing nothing to perturb them. Neither did the threatening aura that kept Tatsuki's knees shaking, against her will. Indeed, it was as though nothing could knock them down. They were granite. And Rukia and Ichigo's Shinigami uniforms were majestic. Almost made her jealous.Then she blinked.Just for the tiniest fraction of a second, her eyes were closed, but when they opened the carnage was nearly over. A trickle of red drool was the only mar on Orihime's face...but her eyes had lost their light and, looking down in horror, it seemed a sword had pierced her breast, nearly splitting her in two. Where had that blade even come from?! Through the icy winds, it was impossible to see anything beyond her friends. Beside Orihime, Ishida still stood. Yet, his head had gone missing somewhere. Tatsuki scanned the ground but could see nothing. Chad...Chad had to be all right...! And he was! She could only see his profile, but he looked fine...his body twisted...fine...and there was no other half of his body to be seen. Not so fine. Rukia...it was too horrible to describe what happened to her.Taking this all in an instant was too much to bear for Tatsuki. For anyone. She was beyond stunned by the inexplicable turn of events. How could so much that she valued be lost so quickly? So easily?! The blood turning pink in the cold snow wasn't possible!The heroes fallen, the dangerous aura hidden by the winds left. Tatsuki felt worthless. On top of being completely helpless to protect her friends, those most important to her, the invisible monsters didn't even care whether she lived or died.Left her alone!Or was she?...Ichigo...No, he couldn't have, either! One of her friends still had to be alive! She wasn't alone, was she...?Freezing rain frozen on her face, she gasped when she saw his dead body, separated from the rest. His face was serene, at peace somehow. He didn't even look hurt, the fatal wound was hidden beneath tattered Shinigami rags. Only a chest not moving up and down revealed the cold reality....Wait. What was that, rising up?Unbidden, memories of a strange afternoon class, before this nightmare, were stirred by the odd vision she saw of Ichigo Kurosaki.---Yawning, Tatsuki ignored biology class. It was summer. Karate championships were right around the corner. It was summer. It was hot. It was summer. It looked so nice outside, where she could be training. It was summer, and she needed to prepare for the karate championship.Summer, karate, hot, nice...kind of sleepy, though...yawn...the sweat was rolling down her back now, like it would be when......When she......won the......karate...Victory!"Tatsuki! Wake up!"Huh what?! Eyes she hadn't realized were closed snapped open, and she was greeted by a goofy, heartwarming grin."Sleeping in class again, Tatsuki?" Orihime laughed. "You do that way too much in the summer! Every year!"Still groggy, Tatsuki was compelled to defend herself. "It ain't right to..." Yawn. "right...for us students to be stuck inside a musty old classroom like this when it's so sunny out! It's criminal!" Her emotion towards this academic injustice powered her to alertness."Be careful, Arisawa," a new voice interjected. "I believe you are already on the verge of failing some classes. Sleeping in class certainly will not help matters."Ryo.Delivering another one of her "lectures" while straightening her glasses."Hey, I can study just fine! I pass every year, even though I have no plans to go to university!" replied Tatsuki quickly, taking in the classroom. Mostly empty. "Err...where is everybody else?""Out for lunch!" An obnoxious person, who could only be..."but I stayed here so I could play with my favorite big itty-bitty boobie woo--"Chizuru! Her nemesis, whose words and subsequent groping of one Orihime Inoue were cut short by a swift fist from Tatsuki!Which wasn't quite as fast as it should have been. Guh!...Ouch. Her muscles were stiff."Oh!" Her best friend, Orihime--who had been oblivious to Chizuru's earlier advance--suddenly piped up out of concern for Tatsuki. "You shouldn't move so soon after sleeping! You need to do serious, heavy-duty stretching so you don't pull any muscles."Duh. She was an athlete and knew this too well. Couldn't Orihime see that she sacrificed herself for her sake? Heh, it's to be expected. Tatsuki always was giving up tiny pieces of herself for Orihime and it wasn't like she demanded anything in return...other than seeing that smile still on plastered on her face. Yeah, that made it worth it."Umm..." Another girl was in the room, who had slipped past Tatsuki's notice more times than once. Michuru, that is. "Why exactly...did Tatsuki's muscles get all stiff? I don't get it..."Orihime's retinas gleamed ecstatically for the chance to answer a question. "It's rigor mortis! A temporary stiffness of joints and muscles. Happens when you sleep like the dead, like Tatsuki does."Hey!"Really? Wow...I didn't know that," Michuru sounded impressed."Wrong," the only girl in the school more studious than Orihime corrected. "Rigor mortis isn't what happened to Tatsuki. Rigor mortis is a temporary stiffness of muscles that happens to people after they die."How blunt. Everyone else was stunned quiet momentarily."Oh yeah...that's right," Orihime pursed her lips, while Michuru suddenly appeared very frightened."Hey, hey! I got a question!" Damn, Chizuru again! This couldn't be good! "Isn't rigor mortis what happens to men that keeps them hard after they die?!"Ugh. That was totally disgusting. Tatsuki thought she braced herself for stupidity, but clearly she was unprepared.Beside her, it seemed Michuru felt the same. Orihime didn't seem to understand Chizuru's question and remained blissful. Lucky girl."Yes, it is," Ryo answered without losing composure. How could she stay calm in the face of a dumb question like that? More importantly, why did she even know the answer?!"Thought so. I knew men were gross! This proves it. You better stick with me, Hime-chan!"Tatsuki got set to smack Chizuru around again...but it wasn't necessary.Orihime's reply stopped Chizuru stonecold herself. "Oh, but Kurosaki-kun isn't like that."Yet, their women-inclined friend would not go down without a fight."Yeah, he is. I bet he'd try to molest us poor, defenseless girls with his rigor stiffy, just like the other guys!"As if. That was totally out of Ichigo's character. Tatsuki knew from experience that he had zero interest in dating, much less raping girls."He would not!" denied Orihime, quite loudly, her bubbly persona disappearing. "He's nice, even if he doesn't look like it! And he's-not-going-to-die, so it's completely out of the question!"Everyone stared at her in silence as she breathed heavily, the heat in the room causing her to perspire lightly. Awkwardly, Orihime laughed to ease the tension."Come on. Let's go. We already ate and we need to prepare for Phys. Ed."It was Ryo, always the cool one, that broke the silence and left the room. Furthermore, she dragged a reluctant Chizuru and an indecisive Michuru with her.Just her and Orihime, whom appeared confused by their friends' departure.Ah, everything seemed as it should be."You know, Orihime, I agree with you," Tatsuki told her, being a good friend. And nothing more. "Ichigo is a great guy. Cool, good in a fight." Plus, he'd probably never had a boner in his life."You think so?" Amazing, really, how serious her friend got when the subject turned to Ichigo. "He really isn't a sex maniac, right? I don't really know his past like you do, so I just spoke up from my gut without thinking."Her reply was instant. "Of course he isn't." She hesitated momentarily for her next words. "...Hey, you should hurry up and confess to him! Tell him how you feel! No need to be shy!"Red, as always. Heh. "I...um, I...err, I...I...Tatsuki!""Got any leftovers, Orihime! I'm starving enough that I could eat your food!""Hey!"---Hey.Hey.Hey!That bump in the clothing. Nothing could draw Tatsuki's eyes away from it. It attracted her in ways she couldn't explain.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.She knew she should be disturbed by this. A lot. Like, only a few minutes ago she witnessed the most shocking and disturbing event she had ever seen in her life. The sound of blood splitting the air still rang cold in her ears. And, if she thought about it real hard, she seriously was horrified. Thing was, however, Tatsuki could not concentrate on the horror, no matter what she tried. Inevitably, her attention turned back to him.An escape was presented by that not-so-little thing he was born with.It stood proudly. Majestic, even, underneath Tatsuki's rapt gaze. It was the only other thing standing here, beside herself, creating a sense of camaraderie between them. The two were quite the odd pair, she had to admit. Wait...did she think of the two as an item?Oh, but it was so hypnotizing!Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.A lump blocked passage in her throat, causing Tatsuki difficult to swallow. Unfortunate, that, since her mouth was salivating profusely. Moreover, she felt this lump to be bothersome due to a rapidly beating heart pounding against it thrice every second. Well, at least the blood flow stopped her from keeling over in this freezing wind.Should she get closer to it? That could be a disastrous idea, really. Much smarter to keep her distance, to stay away from it. If Tatsuki stepped nearer to it, she may become compelled to approach it even further. And if she got too close, she might end up...No!What the hell was wrong with her?! This was disgusting! Sick! Utterly revolting! Thinking about doing something like that with one of her dead friend's corpse. Disgusting. The thought made her gag.No, no, no! Don't even think about doing something so disgusting! Don't even...!Ah, err, don't even think about thinking about it! Just stop. In fact, get the hell away from it. Yes, she thought she would run away. Best choice was to flee. That's what her natural instincts told her to do, to prevent her body from discharging everything she ate in the past twenty-four hours.Determined, Tatsuki stepped back. No, she did not hesitate. She wasn't hesitating...Step back, already, Tatsuki! There. Good. And stop thinking about it, for Hell's sake.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.But it was impossible to ignore, sick though it may be. Even the stench of death and blood in the billowing, chilly air, foul as it was, lost out to this illogical, overwhelming need to examine the protrusion further.So, Tatsuki took another step back, and again, and again. Still keeping her eyes locked on the stiffness before her. Making sure it didn't do anything funny on her. Heh...hehh...err, heh, not anything more funny, that is. Blech.Another step. Her breath became ragged...and not from anything strenuous. Another pace back. That damn heart would not slow down! Great progress being made...wow, not only were her thoughts demented, it would be insane to take off clothes in this blizzard...Don't think like that...! This was exhausting! Further, and further away. A sensation akin to emptiness grew somewhat prominent, though Tatsuki could not be certain of that. While she still looked at it, she found it more and more difficult to see. That made the sense of not being whole, she thought that was what she felt, all the worse. But she pressed on.Slow, slow, fast, slow, fast, fast, fast, and slow came each intake of air, following a completely erratic pattern. Meanwhile, her heart continued to find new ways to beat faster....Back. Back away. Could hardly see it at all through the misty snow...Back...Then, suddenly, her foot caught on something and she was moving backwards far too quickly!Pain lanced in her backside as she hit the solid ground unprepared, and fear assailed her immediately thereafter. Eye contact with it was lost. That was her intention, yet it happened too quickly. The lump in her throat sank deeper, closer to heart. Breathing ascended in frequency.Anyways! What the hell did she just trip on?! Very uncalled for whatever got in her way, whatever that was! Well, at least it helped distract her from the problem she faced, so she wouldn't have any hard feelings lingering.Standing up, brushing the dust off the skirt of her uniform, Tatsuki swerved her head down to glare at the...at the...at the...the bloodied corpse responsible for her fall.For a second, her heart took a break to pause and the breath got caught in her throat.How could Tatsuki forget she was there? Like, weren't the two best friends? Shameful. Totally shameful of Tatsuki! No, shameful didn't begin to describe how awful Tatsuki felt she was. What an insult she delivered to her best friend, on top of being unable to protect her!In anger, she tightened her fist. Sharp fingernails dug into slick, blue palms....Slick palms? From what?Nah, couldn't be what she thought it was. Had to be sweat. Probably, her palms had been wet with sweat for a long time, and she simply hadn't noticed before. Yeah, that's it. So confident in this answer was Tatsuki that she did not even bother to ascertain what made the palm wet.Instincts, though.That grating curiousity, innately attached to her extroverted personality, came back to haunt her, metaphorically speaking. Like with that terrible bulge--which she definitely refused to think about!--there was this need, compulsion, to take a little peak. Look a little bit closer.One finger slipped free of the fist. Red! She gasped. No, no. Need to make sure...Another finger. More crimson. Finger. Red. Finger. Red. Finger. Red. Five for five.No denying it. Her hands were painted crimson with her best friend's blood.Repulsed, shaking, disturbed, Tatsuki turned away. She had to get away! Escape. Escape from the horror. Blood thrashed wildly in her veins. Escape! This world was insane! An urge to vomit. Nothing else stood by her side! Escape!Oh.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.That's right. It wouldn't deny her. They were of a like mind, those two, and Tatsuki was certain it would not refuse.Phew.A big sigh of relief left her mouth. Her pulse slowed and the malaise left her mind, the storm calmed by the sickening bulge.No, don't be a fool! She already got away once. Don't think you'll get away again! This is wrong! The voices in her head screamed their lungs to the bursting point in desperation. But Tatsuki could not hear them. Would not hear them, since she felt herself being distanced from reality. That she was getting away from everything. Escaping.One little glance should make her feel much better...and, she did kind of wonder if what Ryo and Chizuru were talking about was true...The encounter with her dead buddy distracted her quite a bit, and it was rather far away and should have been tough to find, yet...her eyes found it once more immediately.Her heart soared in joy, that lump came back. And Tatsuki looked away, to escape. Her heart twisted in sorrow.Maybe another look...Besides, it wasn't like she was actually interested in that part of his anatomy...Rather, she despised it...Oh! It looked so alive!No! No! No! Look away! Better look away...! But it was so fascinating...Ah, screw it! She wasn't close enough, she had to move next to it!A reversal of a few minutes ago took place. Instead of backwards, forwards. Top became bottom and reason thrown out the window to be damned forever.Her friend continued to be dead behind her, virtually forgotten.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.With each step she took, it grew larger. With each step she took, her heart went faster. With each step she took, it occupied more of her vision. With each step, she forgot about another friend's death. With each step, she was less alone. With each step she took, she wanted to take another step!Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.So close. So close. So very close. Oh, it's near, it's near, it's near! She could reach down and feel it!Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.Right next to it, a blot of sanity returned to Tatsuki.Her walk towards it paused.This was ridiculous. Why was she so fascinated by a frickin' hard-on?! It belonged to him! He was dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Shouldn't she be more concerned with him being dead?! Dead, dead, dead! But, no, all she cared about was that one part of his body! Taking it for herself! Disregarding his feelings. Violating him!As if sensing her thoughts, the erection appeared to grow stronger. She licked her lips.Hmph. What did it matter if she wanted a piece of him?! She saw him first, before anyone else did! Tch. She cared about him more than anyone else! More than her best friend behind her! From the beginning, always! More than Little Ghost Girl ever did! This wasn't Tatsuki's fault. No, it wasn't! She was so nice and let everybody go gaga over him, and pretended she didn't care one bit about him. All for their sakes. Why should she do a thing about herself? Why should she try and be happy?! He was her childhood friend. They knew each other best! He should have seen behind her words and shared it...or even considered...before he had to distance himself from her. From everyone. Before he had to stop being the man she knew!So, if anything, it was all his fault.He deserved anything she did to him. She deserved the chance to do whatever she wanted. They deserved each other.To death.Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis. Rigor mortis.Looking down at him, so strong and erect in that one place, Tatsuki made her decision.Anticipation reached a new high. It's been said before how quickly her heart has pulsed, and it couldn't have possibly gotten much faster, but Tatsuki's heartbeat gained power now and throbbed painfully. The cold was forgotten, it made her body so hot. As if it were trying to do the load of two bodies. Coupled with heavy intakes for air, she was surprised her chest did not snap open.With this sense of exhilaration interfering with her vision, Tatsuki knelt down and stared at Ichigo's penis and the tent it made in his grey, school uniform.Warmth spread through Tatsuki, staring at the only part of her dead childhood friend that hadn't died, creeping out from the center of her womanhood to spread throughout her entire body.Funny. Though the rank odor of death was still so strong, she could still clearly detect the smell that was uniquely his. She realized this with excited startlement. It was her secret. No...their secret. Just between them.Inhaling deeply with her nostrils flared wide open, she ravished this scent deeply and grew hotter. Much like she suspected Orihime would have dearly liked to. But it was her turn, now.What's this?Aha! The musk was stronger in his lower regions, around it. Oh, it looked to be in so much agony, imprisoned in those restricted clothes.So Tatsuki chose set his dick free. Expose it to the freezing air.Slowly, she unclasped the button of his uniformed pants. Ichigo's body felt so cold, she noticed sadly. Even in that one special spot...though it was kind of hard to tell since the whole world felt cold to her...But it was such a sad thing for him to be so frozen when he had always been so warm, even while he attempted to hide behind a cold facade. A zipper was loudly unzipped. He looked so much more comfortable now, but Tatsuki hadn't had enough. Though she struggled slightly, she managed to lift his midsection up while pulling the pants down all the way to his knees.Much better!Not only did his penis appear happier, but the heat inside Tatsuki raised significantly, too. Sweat rolled off her forehead like a rain shower, and everywhere on her body. Hot breath left her mouth to wintry air in smoky puffs. Her heavy, winter clothes were chafing, she noted distantly, so slick with perspiration were they. The sports bra she wore--one of her few reluctant admissions of feminity--was burning up her body way too much, adding to her whole slickness. Yeah, and she was getting wet between her thighs, too, not something she was very experienced with, but that was no sweat, she knew that much.Back to the task at hand, there was still one article of clothing to take care of: the red, pinstriped boxers blocking access. Heh, so typical of him, she thought and felt aroused even by that little detail. Tatsuki hadn't seen what lurked in those shorts since she was six or so--not that she marked the date on the calendar--but she had imagined seeing it again. More often than she would like to admit in the past year. This scenario, with Tatsuki unveiling his dick, had been imagined before...albeit, in livelier circumstances, but this would have to suffice. So the boxers were nearly torn off in her haste.Her body felt hotter. Her breath caught.Now, it--err, his penis--was unveiled to the harsh air.The sweat made her clothes all the more unpleasant to her skin....Err, his crotch probably shouldn't have been blue. Oh, he had blue balls! Hilarious, hilarious, hilarious! Completely kept her mind away from a couple of minutes ago, it was so funny!Hmm, Tatsuki should make it red. With friction. He would like that.Using one hand to unbuckle her pants, in order to cool the hottest spot of her body, she tentatively reached forth to touch it......There. Her wet fingertips could feel it.At last.It felt great. She moaned for him. Or maybe because she was so happy...for both of them. Or perhaps because she just slipped two--count 'em!--digits inside her own pussy.Matching the rhythm between the two, Tatsuki began sliding her hand up and down Ichigo's cold shaft while rubbing her womanly folds. No pre-cum leaked out of Ichigo, not that Tatsuki knew this should be happening, but her sexual center was dripping profusely.Yeah, her pussy was wet but, you guessed it, this wasn't enough. Her and Ichigo's relationship had to be consummated. Brought back to the life it once had. Furthermore, Ichigo was kind of...well, dead, and she figured his stamina would be even less that of a living man.So, reluctantly, she stopped touching her hotspot and removed her other hand from Ichigo's dick in order to slip her pants off and ready herself for entry. She wanted, no, needed this feeling badly!Too bad she had to do all the work herself, though. It was embarassing to squat over Ichigo's dead body with all her womanly body parts exposed like this! Ahh, but she would forget this shame in a few seconds. Forget all her shame.In the cold winter day, Tatsuki's greedy pussy hung suspended above Ichigo's unwilling, but all too capable, cock for only a few brief seconds before..."What...the fuck...are you doing with my body?!"Delirious, Tatsuki turned around in complete surprise.It couldn't be......She saw...!...But it could not be anyone else.Shocked, she fell onto the object of her lust unceremoniously."I-I-Ichigo?!" she gulped his name loudly, hardly feeling her cherry burst."Yo," he greeted, red with either stifled anger or blatant embarassment, Tatsuki had no idea which, "...is what I would normally say, but this is totally f--"What was he blathering about?"You're really alive?!" she interrupted, weird feelings spinning uncontrollably. Cold and hot. Confused and excited. "This is no dream I'm imagining?! Where's...Is everyone else okay?! How are you still here?! Why did..."...you leave her? "What I saw before was...real?"Images returned of the shocking violence."Yes, I am, no, yes, that's, uh," Ichigo desperately tried to answer her rush of questions, while trying to keep his eyes off of, uh, his mostly-naked body and Tatsuki's partially unclothed body. At the place their bodies connected. "Everyone else is...fine. We just reincarnated to the next..." His explanation stopped short when he realized Tatsuki was shaking. Took him a while since he was avoiding her sight."Are you okay?!"She couldn't escape from it. Could not deny it. Over and over again, she saw her friends being pierced by blades from the shadows. Their viscera fly. Again. Again. Again! Too much. And, to top it off, she lost herself and actually...ugh, she couldn't think it!Ichigo asked again. "Are you fine?! I'm not that mad that you...with my...Hey, are you...crying? ...Did...did the Hollows hurt you, too?!"...However, a familiar voice was breaking through to her..Reaching inside and pulling her back up...Kind of the opposite of how things used to be...heh...That old self was returning to her...Shaking her head, which sent tears flying every which why, Tatsuki put on a smile and answered."No...I'm fine...I'll be fine, now. Really!"And, really, she wasn't moving her body up and down then, approaching a climax. Really, she hadn't been doing that for the past few minutes. For certain, though penetration occurred, she did not take advantage of Ichigo's Shinigami corpse. Really, she didn't fuck him or anything until she nearly passed out from exhaustion.Really, the conversation she had with him was not imagined.---Really!---And I just invoked the ire of somebody, somewhere.Anyways, I strongly dislike how all my lovely formatting (italics, bolds) got lost when I directly copy-and-paste text from my crappy word processor's document. It's a major pain in the ass.New info!Truth is, rigor mortis would have nothing to do with a man having an erection post mortem, as the penis is not a muscle (they're a part of us guys' brains, ladies, unless, of course, the opposite is true and our minds are actually extensions of our wangs). So, Ryo (and not me) was actually very wrong and totally bluffing in the flashback when she said this was the reason a dead dude would "feel" a little frisky. As for what would give a guy a boner after his heart stops beating, he would either need to die with one already (like, having a heart attack in the middle of sex) or would need to die face-down so that gravity would naturally draw all the blood inside his dick and fill it up. In Ichigo's case, it's obvious that going into battle makes him hard (but who wouldn't get that way with a chick like Rukia at their side?), so that's what happened in my story....Too much information, per chance?You bet your ass that was. Be happy I didn't link to the site where my research was conducted. The other fruits of my labour will be used to great effect in one of my later stories, so get your barf bags ready or run for the hills. Link to Laurie's story:http://laurie-bunter.livejournal.com/39448.html
e premte, 30 maj 2008
clothing
Here it be.After a day of excruciating waiting, the second part of Empty Rendezvous. And the second installment of my startingly insightful author's note. Sorry to keep everyone waiting...Pffft. Sorry. Can't help myself. Heh he ha. It's just...too...funny. I couldn't say that without a straight face. Ha ha. People waiting...! I know. Hilarious! Heh ha....ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!Snap.Okay. No more stalling.We continue from last episode's pursuit, which lead to the revelation of how the title came about. In today's installment, the origin of the premise shall be uncovered for all to see.....Where was I...?Right. The recounting of the pilfering of this premise of mine that is not mine.To start with, we must go into the past, for mimesis (my word for stealing that keeps the lawsuits out of my mailbox) involves searching back to what was in the past. The distant past. All the way to four months ago. When times were simpler. When men were men, women were objects, children were slaves, and listening to rave music was kind of cool. Try to remember this far back, if you can. Luckily, the event that I speak of was documented. Although...it is difficult to understand the English used back then with our modern vocabularly.Getting to the point, as brevity is the soul of wit, a story was published then. A story written in response to someone who wanted a response to stories written too long ago for me to remember (my computer doesn't accept stone tablets). Err, those ancient stories don't matter because, for all intents and purposes, I ripped off someone else.Laurie Bunter.The word mimesis returns, since I feel its important to not get a subpoena. See no evil, hear no evil, say no evil, receive no evil. Putting this in other terms, I needed a way of using Ms. Bunter's story without getting banned from Fanfiction.net by an itchy trigger finger reporting me. A quest was birthed. And I had to suck up big time. Like, giving up my basic rights. Like, venturing into the abyss no man should venture. Like, getting on knees and licking feet kind of sucking up. Here is an actual transcript of the words spoken between Ms. Bunter and I. Remember, this happened ages ago, so our words may appear slightly archaic and be a tad difficult to comprehend for modern readers:Adam Epp: O' sweet and noble Highness, I beg of ye! Please grant thine loyal subject a boon!Laurie Bunter: Let not mine radiance silence thy tongue, serf. What wouldst thou ask of my hand?Epp: Hark! My Majesty is most assuredly the greatest and most benevolent ruler in all o' the lands! 'Tis but the smallest of requests I 'twould have thou hear me sayeth.Bunter: Dost thou dare to presume I lived in a nunnery? Hold abated thy repulsing breath and hasten to deliver onto me this entreaty!Epp: Alas. To hasten or not to hasten: that is the question.Bunter: Whether 'tis nobler to suffer in the mind matters not, simple knave! Recite thy boon before thine tongue is taken and thou receiveth thence swift starvation!Epp: If ye must insist it so, it needs be in order for I to respond. Very well, Majesty. I request permit to the vault of legends' lore.Bunter: Sheer folly! To expect me to partake of my domain is utter phantasy of thy conscience, serf.Epp: Yet, M'lady, pray tell, didst thou believe I to be unprepared to relieve mine self of wordly possessions for her Sake?Bunter: Ha! Whatever couldst a serf provideth a Queen?Epp:The greatest treasure o' all, I present to thy disclosure. Your Highness, I offer ye...my dearest devotion to pimp thine words in thy stead.Bunter: Jackanapes! Thou speakst only pithy whispers of lies and cruel deceit! Thou cannst remain true to such a noble and worthy cause!Epp: Keep still thy beating heart, o' worthy Highness. If you wouldst aim a blade at the center of mine throat, thou could witness mine unwavering pulse, firsthand. Snatch from me mine very soul and feed i' to His Lord in Heaven's Bane, ye could, but still I wilst not falter a step!Bunter: ...! Very well. 'Twould appear as if I may have misjudged thine purity of thine promises. So be it. I accept thy boon! Begone and never return to my sight again!Epp: At once, M'lady! And, true to my promise, I kept my end of the bargain.Another crisis was averted. I did not need thinketh mine own ideas. All 'twas well. The rest, as they say, is history.You know. The candle burning beside a bedside, as I worked furiously to scroll in Times New Roman--by hand, so I could scan it onto the computer and appear as if I had money for a word processor. The fever. Burning. Powerful. The fever consuming me as I read countless stories to steal countless ideas from. The end result almost appeared original. The best I could hope for.Read on, non-readers!Title: Empty Rendezvous, the Second Non-EncounterRating: Mega-M, for Mega-MaturationSummary: The time of Judgement is at hand. Two shall not meet. One shall fall. A clash of personalities fundamentally opposite, but inexplicably identical. Yeah. Sounds real hot to me, too.Series: Teh BleachGenre: Hypergalactic-tensive irony between pre-subjugatve bliss Note: My take on a challenge presented to Laurie Bunter by quietcorvin, about a lighthearted Hichigo x Rukia story. Read Laurie's story, "Second Honeymoon" to see how she did it. And don't just stop there; she's written more than that one. Read her other stories. Then you can stop...Actually, no. Don't even stop there. Follow her around, lurk in her LiveJournal. Find out where she lives, follow her around. Become her stalker. After that, you should probably stop, though.Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.---Empty Rendezvous---To be sure, Kisuke Urahara loved inventing all kinds of things. He was no longer certain what started this love of creation, but it was now a part of himself he could not ignore. Nor was Urahara sure why he made the damn junk. Was it some type of fatherly pride? Did he enjoy knowing that his contraptions would benefit the next generation? The fame that came along with being a genius? The infamy? Probably all of the above, really. When he was occupied with the process of creation, though, all these bothersome semantics flew out the window. Only focusing on the craft, the trial and error involved with honing his technique to perfection mattered. It was just him and his imagination, all alone. So, as always, he was momentarily annoyed when another customer entered his shop and interrupted his solitude with his ideas. Yet, as always, any displeasure he may have shown was quickly plastered over by a false grin long before the customer saw him. Then, the fake smile disappeared when he realized who the customer was: Rukia Kuchiki. Ah, now there was one customer foolish enough to buy whatever junk he pushed on her. A salesman's dream, that one. A real grin, brought on by greed, appeared on his face. But why did she look so jittered, as if someone she knew just died? No one important in Soul Society died recently...right? Of course not. His sources were too good for something that big to escape his notice. Time to greet her. "Oh, Rukia! What can I do for you today?" Lost in her thoughts, Rukia jumped. Definitely not like her. "I-I'm looking for something..." Unbelievably, the young woman went red. Totally unlike her. This should be fun. "Yes?" Urahara asked, drawing out the syllable as far as he could. If it was even possible for the Shinigami eye to spot the difference, Rukia's face became a darker shade of crimson. Much fun, indeed. "For a...a..." stammered Rukia, quite uncharacteristically of herself. It can be tough not to openly laugh at times. "For a...?" "...Some of your...'adult' products," answered Rukia, flushed. Urahara's mask of ignorance nearly slipped off, but he managed to keep it on. "Ah, but our 'Engorged Zanpakatou' line is quite large." Could he pull this off? Also, how did he say that last sentence with a straight face?! "You'll have to be more specific than that." Ha ha ha, Rukia's shoulders sagged to the floor. He couldn't get enough of these games. "I need some..." began Rukia, and she whispered the rest in Urahara's ears. What a positively naughty girl! "Oh my," gasped Urahara, exaggerating his surprise to great effect on Rukia. "S-So what?!" She got defensive, still red. "What I d-do with Ichigo and his hollow is none of your business!" My, blurting tidbits like that is what makes toying with people like her worth it at the end of they day. Judging by the way she suddenly covered her mouth, Rukia must have just realized how badly she screwed up. Got to attack her when she's down. Yes, that wasn't fair, but Urahara didn't care. "...His hollow?" "I didn't say anything about it!" contradicted Rukia, now playing the ignorant game. Tipping his head down to make the shadows under his eyes even darker, Urahara gazed down at her in disapproval. Words did not need to be spoken to break her down. However, Rukia would not be so easily cowed today. "Geez, this is why Yoruichi is always saying such negative things about you!" Say what? His perfect Kitty Witty would do no such thing! Urahara's facade disintegrated bit by bit. "Now, Rukia, I'm sure she keeps such matters to herself." Yoruichi did not, in fact. Ever. Never had, either. She had a mouth bigger than Matsumoto's voluminous chest. "Anyways...what sort of things does she say?" Curiosity got the best of him. Honestly, both he and Yoruichi were identical this way. "I'd be ashamed to repeat them!" retorted Rukia, truthfully. That bad, huh? "...How about just a hint?" offered Urahara. Blab nasty tidbits about him, would Yoruichi?! That bitch! "No!" declined Rukia. "Just get the things I asked for!" "I'll give you a discount if you tell me some of her gossip!" Rukia reconsidered. "... How much?" "Ten percent off for one breach of confidence." "Twenty," bartered Rukia. Thief! "That's too much. The items you ordered are rather expensive..." "Twenty." "Fine, fine!" Urahara sealed the deal. What a penny pincher. "Great," Rukia beamed, all smiles. Nothing like a nice discount to make a girl forget her troubles. "But it better be one of the worst...rumors she's spread," warned Urahara. Actually, they were all really bad so it didn't matter which Rukia chose. "Of course. It still disgusts me to think about it, but I remember Yoruichi telling me of this one time when you..." True to her word, Rukia chose a tale that was a nasty among the nasties. One Urahara was rather proud to be a starring character in, and remembering the event made him grin; it involved one of his better "inventions." Yes, Kisuke Urahara loved to invent things. Why did he love it? Nobody knows. More importantly, why didn't he conceive a device to read people's minds yet?! This damn woman was going to wipe him clean by the time he ferreted out all of Yoruichi's gossip from her! Back to the drawing board... --- Necrophilia Paradise was by far the most successful love hotel in Soul Society. Located in the red district of Rukongai, it offered a range of rooms for all social classes and all fetishes. Innovators to a fault, their motto, "Just because you're dead doesn't mean you can't be alive," currently found itself on many a Plus's T-shirt--those shirts being one of the few "innocent" items sold at the hotel's gift shop. The building itself, a simple, traditional hovel you could find anywhere in Rukongai, was a reality distortion; a twist in time and space formed by cracks in the boundary dividing Soul Society from the Earth. Such dimensional fluctuations could easily be manipulated in the right hands, and the owners of Necrophilia Paradise had those hands. Hence the "little" Japanese shack's interior being able to rival the size of Central 46, despite appearances to the contrary. It was outside this hotel that Ichigo, in his Shinigami clothes, stood underneath a full moon. Rukia was late. Quite late. Make that very late. What the hell could she be doing? Nary a soul clustered the alleys and roads of Rukongai at this late hour, and Ichigo's only company was the odd patrol passing by him with the occasional Death Reaper nodding at him. Still no Rukia. Come on, all ready! Growled an impatient voice. I've waited years for this moment. Let me get fucking laid already! Having been harassed by this disembodied spirit all day, Ichigo merely ignored it this time. That neck is ripe for my mouth...those small hands are just the right size...those tits are just dying to be squeezed...those thighs need to be covered in her juices...Yeah, if the hollow had a mouth then, it would have been flooding Soul Society in saliva. And then there's the greatest prize of all to be fucked-- "Shut up!" Ichigo could take no more of this, much to his other half's mirth. "And I thought you didn't even like Rukia. Why are you so excited about this?!" Beggars, unlike kings, can't be choosers, replied the dark personality. I'll fill any c-- "Who doesn't like me?!" Rukia. Finally. "Nobody," sidestepped Ichigo. More importantly..."What took you so long?!" Then, Ichigo noticed a nondescript bag in her possession. What was that? Rukia went red from the memory, and the reminder of why she went to Urahara's shop sent a shiver of fear through her. "I was shopping for a few things for...tonight," explained Rukia carefully, clutching her bag tightly. What the fuck did she need to buy? The hollow growled. Ichigo didn't care, though. "Whatever. Come on, let's go!" Impatient, Ichigo grabbed her hand and dragged her into the cheap-looking building. Inside Necrophilia Paradise, it was like stepping into another dimension. In fact, that's precisely what Rukia and Ichigo did, but the physics behind them doing so are rather complex. Violently clashing with the sloppy exterior, the interior of the love hotel was the height of opulence. Splendid, numerous, silver, marble pillars in two rows directed customers to the desk in the hotel's expensive-looking and massive lobby. High above, golden chandeliers illuminated the entrance room, while a long, hand-crafted, crimson carpet lined the center of the room. Rukia and Ichigo ignored this fantastic display, though, and hurried to the front desk. They had been here often enough to know what to expect. At the front desk, a new clerk confronted them. Dressed up in a dirty, white-collared and long-sleeved shirt, a formal black vest, slacks, and bow tie, this man still exuded slime from every pore on his body. Must have been the dark, slicked hair and his narrow mustache. Or maybe this just came from working in the sex business. "Hello," he greeted the couple with a nasally and practiced voice. "Welcome to Necrophilia Paradise! How can I help you today?" "We have a reservation for the Eclipse Room," answered Ichigo, fighting back a strong urge to twitch. The hollow was growing more restless every minute. The clerk put a hand over his mouth in mock surprise. His job wasn't too exciting and he had to see satisfied-looking people all day while he didn't get any ass, so he tortured customers any time he could. "Oh my. The Eclipse Room? You two are very naughty," the annoying clerk hummed sarcastically. Most of the clerks at Necrophilia Paradise were much nicer than this slimeball, and the grease bucket Ichigo and Rukia had the misfortune of dealing with was soon going to be fired, but neither of the pair knew this. Moving on, what should be noted is how uncomfortable the clerk made Rukia; every speck of grease on the man reminded her that she would be soon fucking a disgusting creature. "Yes, yes, we are," Ichigo agreed, trying to make this as quick as possible. Or was it the hollow talking? "Our names are Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki, so just do the reiatsu identification check and we'll be on our way." The other man wiped sweat off his brow with a grimy sleeve. "Fine," he grumbled and proceeded with doing his job. Slowly. Very slowly. To waste time, he looked at the reservation list, then the clock. "You two are late," he observed, his eyes narrowing into snake-like slits. "Somebody had to take her time," Ichigo glanced at Rukia, who was suddenly interested in the wall. "But so what? What's the big deal if we're late?!" "Oh, nothing," the clerk brushed it aside. Sarcastically, of course. "Nothing at all," he went into a rant. "You can come in whenever you want. That's part of our policy: 'Fuck how you want, when you want.' Have it your way. The customers have lives of their own, so we don't care when you show up. We don't care if you disregard yourselves as decent Shinigami beings and lie about when you're going to show up. So what if you people are total assholes?! Like you say, it's no big fucking deal!" Throughout this, it took all of Ichigo's humanity to restrain a hollow that wanted nothing more than to slice this snake into a million pieces. Rukia saw his fists clenching, and her fear for what was in store for her that night grew further. "Listen, could you just give us the damn key already?!" burst out Ichigo. Suddenly, his right eye twitched and he quickly put a hand over it. The phase passed in a few seconds, but the receptionist didn't give him time to stay calm. "Why, certainly," drawled the clerk, taking his time to reach down for it. Apparently, he did not realize the mortal peril he was in. "Since I wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone by being late...Unlike somebody else I know..." That was it! Ichigo reached for the man's throat, and only quick action on Rukia's part saved the clerk's life. "Key, please!" she spat out in a hurry, not being able to hold her partner back for long. The clerk abruptly became efficient. "Y-Y-Yes, Madam!" he stuttered, now aware of his folly. A standard key switched hands. Frustrated, Rukia and Ichigo hurried to an elevator to their right. An angry Rukia punched in the number for their floor. Once in, she exploded. "Are you insane, Ichigo?! You were going to kill that jerk!" "It was him. Don't you see, Rukia? You can't have sex with that monster. He's crazy!" Ichigo's words stopped her fury cold, and Rukia's face paled. Nonetheless, she wouldn't give up. Not when she's this close. "I...I still will." Her boyfriend sighed. It appeared that his plan would not work, and he was very distraught over what his other self might do to Rukia. A bell rang, signaling the pair's arrival at their floor. The walk to their room was one of strained silence for the two--ignoring the wild moans coming from inside the rooms they passed. Soon enough, Rukia was unlocking the door to the Eclipse Room and they went in. The Eclipse Room had always been a favorite of Ichigo and Rukia's and they frequently rented it out. Inside, dark, velvet curtains draped the edges of a round chamber that was large...but not too big. It was dark; the only light coming from a dozen or so candles hovering in midair. Aside from a door leading to an elegant bathroom, the only thing else occupying the room was the king-sized bed. Though other suites in the hotel were far more fancy and playful, Rukia and Ichigo liked this simple one the most. As soon as the door closed shut and the couple stepped in, Ichigo could not hold himself back any longer. Or his hollow couldn't. It's hard to say which one was in control; the edges of Ichigo's pupils were turning black. Whichever personality it was, Rukia suffered the rough groping all the same. Oh, fuck yeah! Finally, I get some action! The hollow roared in approval. "What was that?" Rukia asked, surprised, amid her struggles to get away from the deranged sex maniac. Wait, did the hollow just say that out loud? That doesn't matter as he, or Ichigo, tried putting a sloppy kiss on Rukia. She had enough, then, and whacked Ichigo with the mysterious bag. His assault took a brief hiatus. Now, glaring at Rukia was more important. "Just wait, Ichigo!" Rukia screamed, before soon becoming scared from the dirty eye she got. "I...I need to change first..." Her grip on the bag grew stronger. Ichigo laughed--the hollow laughed, actually. "Just take your clothes off! Why the hesitation? I'm giving you what you want!" "No...there's this...there's something I need to do first," stammered Rukia, backing away from a man she didn't know. "Oh, go ahead! I've waited this long already," the hollow gave in. "You better be quick, though!" Bowing her head, Rukia dashed off to the bathroom and slammed the door. The sound of a lock being turned could be heard, as well as the rustling of clothing being removed. These noises served to make the hollow called Ichigo incredibly aroused. Consequently, his physical transformation quickened and Ichigo's muscles pulsed and grew as his body turned into that of a hollow. Horny, his alternate persona tore off his own clothes without any wasted movements. Meanwhile, a familiar mask formed over Ichigo's face. Next, a tail slithered out of Ichigo's backside. Sheer power emanating from him shook the flames of candles overhead. Luckily, all those candles hid the growing stench wafting out of his demonic form. The titillation felt by the hollow reached a fever pitch as his metamorphosis neared completion. His manhood stood to attention and was ready to defile Ichigo's loved one. Yeah, he was going to savor every fucking second of that. Ohhh, she needed to hurry the fuck up so he could fuck her! Fuck! "Woman!" the hollow bellowed with Ichigo's vocal chords. "Come on out, already! You've had your time! Now it's time for my--no, our fun! Let's play!" Her reply was muffled by the doorway. "O-Okay," she mumbled. "Just a second..." "Now!" Timidly, the door to the bathroom creaked open. Before Rukia stepped through, the hollow started towards it. Such was his eagerness. At last, Rukia emerged! Except, this was not Rukia. No...this was an entirely different woman! Who was this? In her place was a new being of a higher order; a sex demon instead of a death goddess. At the bottom of this magnificent female were leather, high-heeled boots that went right up to her knees. Above the boots, her white, smooth, creamy thighs were left bare; from her shoulders down was a black, leather bustier that accentuated both her cleavage and hips. Continuing with the leather theme, Rukia's balled fists were adorned with black gloves. More than anything else, Rukia wore sheer confidence. Right down to her most frightening feature: a twisted smile. However, Ichigo's hollow cared for none of this. As soon as he caught sight of Rukia, he pounced... ...Only to find himself suddenly stopped. Huh? He couldn't move! What the fuck just happened?! The hollow looked down and saw his nude body was covered in ropes, his hands bound behind his back. In Rukia's left hand was a small, unusual device. She had been prepared for the hollow and slapped Urahara's little invention on him quicker than he could molest her. The thing, whatever it was, instantaneously sprouted straps of hemp that now tied up the hollow Ichigo. To sum it up, the tables had turned. Only, the hollow hadn't quite realized this yet. "What the hell are you doing, woman?!" he shouted, desperately pushing against the ropes in vain. Rukia gave him a swift backhand for his efforts. "Shut up!" ordered Rukia, glaring at her prey. "No! When I said play, this wasn't what-" A swift push knocked him over, onto the bed and interrupting him. "Then what did you mean?" glowered Rukia. Then, she burst into a mad fit of laughing before sauntering to the bed. "Isn't this fun?" she whispered, straddling the man and rubbing her hand along the hollow's muscular thigh. This bitch is crazy! thought the hollow, too scared to voice this aloud. He was mostly right. In reality, the sexy outfit Rukia wore made her crazy. However, it did so by awakening the unconscious impulses in the wearer. How could it do this? Who knows. Not even Urahara was sure and he made the damn thing. The deranged woman's assault on the hollow continued, regardless. "Yes," she moaned in passion, that hand mentioned earlier creeping up towards the hollow's member. "What's this?" Rukia gasped in coy surprise when her fingers wrapped around it. "My, my, you've been a...very...bad...boy..." With each word, she would emphasize every syllable by tightening her grip further on the hollow's manhood; to the point of it being painful. After, she used the other hand to reach for the balls. "That's it!" squealed the hollow, breathing heavily. "I can't take this anymore! I'm outta here!" Rukia was shocked by this development. "H-Huh?" And Ichigo's body changed once more to its usual, albeit naked, form. First, the tail receded into his back, then the muscles shrank--though the sheen of sweat remained--and Ichigo's eyes returned to normal...His hard-on didn't change at all. For a second, Rukia and Ichigo just stared at each other. Then... "Bring him back!" Rukia demanded. "I wasn't done with him!" Ichigo's eyes spread open and he could hear the hollow crying in protest at the notion. Was she serious? "How about we just do it like--" The bonds no longer taut, Ichigo began to sit up...only to be pushed down by an enraged girlfriend. "No! I'm having my way with the hollow and that's that!" She was serious. "Come on!" Ichigo argued, sitting up again. "It'd be better if we just--" He was slammed against the bed once more. Furthermore, Rukia tightened up the ropes so he couldn't move. "Get-him-out!" she growled. All right. Ichigo didn't really have a problem with his hollow half and Rukia having sex if she was going to be like this. So, he tried coercing the hollow to come out...and he was met by a stone wall. Fuck no! the hollow refused. I'm never going out there again! What the fuck?! Wasn't that bastard anxious for any chance for a quick screw?! "Hurry up, Ichigo!" badgered Rukia, impatient. "I'm trying, but he's refusing to come out!" Ichigo gave a valid excuse. Not good enough, though, for somebody beyond sanity. "Then make him!" "Really, he's not budging an inch!" "Aren't you the boss of him!" Rukia started whacking Ichigo in spite. "Don't let him gain the upper hand and let me fuck him, already!" Defenseless, Ichigo had no choice but to take the abuse. "I'm not kidding! If I could have made the fucking hollow come out, I would have by now!" Rukia growled in vexed frustration. "Oh, to hell with it!" she conceded in anger. "I'll just do it with you, then!" Sweet joy filled Ichigo. "Oh, thank god!" he panted in relief. "Okay, could you untie me so that..." Ichigo trailed off when her hand caressed his chest and toyed with his nipples. "H-Hey! What are you doing! Untie me!" Rukia's other hand was buried between her thighs and moving animately. "Oh, I can't do that," she hushed Ichigo. "I still need my story." What? "Story? What st-" The hand lingering on his chest went south. "No! Rukia, stop!" --- "...And then I went and had sex with him while he was tied up," concluded Rukia with a happy sigh. Matsumoto and Yoruichi hooted like maniacs and Unohana smiled angelically. All in all, their plan to get Rukia to do something nuts was completely worth it. Yoruichi still couldn't get enough of this. "Sex with a hollow?! What the hell were you thinking?! Then fucking Ichigo when he was tied up, even though your initial plan didn't work?!" This was too rich. The bustiest of the bunch was too drunk and too delirious to say anything cohesive. Now, the moment of truth. While Rukia was clearly successful in impressing two of her friends, the toughest nut had yet to be cracked. How would Unohana respond? "Nice work, Rukia dear," complimented Unohana. Yes! Success! Rukia nearly leaped in joy until she noticed the Sex Master still had more to say. "Nice work," her Holy Sexiness repeated, "but what are you going to do next time?" ...Say again? Next time? Next time?! "Personally," Unohana went on, "I recommend trying the same thing...except try having a little bit of fun with hot wax. That would certainly heat matters up. Why, I remember a rather interesting night with Kenpachi, in particular, when I..." --- Seriously, next time?! --- Really, there is no end for those ensnared in the wild circle of sex like Rukia was. The depravity just keeps on building up and, before you know it, somebody's off to prison for illicit conduct with a goat. All you can do is pray that the goat is a pretty goat without any sexual diseases.Well, that's it for this ride. I hope all the questions from last half's teaser were answered because that's the end of this one.
e enjte, 29 maj 2008
[$63.00] Swix Alpine Tuning Kit $63.00 62 off by Steep and Cheap
The Swix Alpine Tuning Kit turns your workbench into a ski shop. This specialty package`s vices are compact and lightweight so you can use them at home or bring them on your ski trip for quick tuning jobs at the hotel. Slip the nonchrome 4mm file into the twoangle guide to sharpen your edges just the way you like it. Swix threw in a tuning manual with all sorts of tips, and included a nylon bag to keep it all together. One Deal at a Time At Steep and Cheap, we sell premium, core outdoor gear and clothing at prices that are downright... Source
e mërkurë, 28 maj 2008
BuyGreen.com: The EPIC Product Line
I recently tested some of the EPIC (Environmental Products for Important Causes) product line sold at BuyGreen.com and of course, I was impressed. It's nice to be able to breathe and not choke after I spray some all-purpose cleaner on my counters and not feel like my skin is suffering because of toxic ingredients when I wash my hands. The EPIC hand soap contains no petroleum solvents, no dyes and no respiratory or skin irritants. Hey, the way I see it, we have to start somewhere and if that means using eco-friendly soap and cleaning products, then have at it my friends!You should also be aware that 100% of EPIC's after-tax profit is donated to environmental conservation, education, and research.
What is also lovely about BuyGreen is that they offer a breakdown on the products that they carry. Check out their standards for the EPIC Glass and Mirror Cleaner. I really like it that they offer this extra detailed information.
BuyGreen is all about making friends with mother nature and our beautiful planet.
Our mission at BuyGreen is to become your most trusted source for green products, offering the widest variety of quality products, the best information for consumers, and the most enjoyable shopping experience.You will find more than just cleaning products at BuyGreen. You're going to find green living items from clothing to office supplies to tech gadget accessories.
*Laura recently reviewed Isabella's Dream, the I Dream Baby products which are also available from BuyGreen.
If you're "going green", then we highly recommend you bookmarking BuyGreen.com and visiting frequently.
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e martë, 27 maj 2008
Mass Customization in Clothing & Fashion: Annual Conference of the European Technology Platform
Thursday May 29th 2008, 9.30 – 14.30 in Brussels, Belgium.
Pre-Conference on May 28th, 9.20 - 17.00 h
EURATEX, the European Association of the Textile Industries, is running its third conference on mass customization in the textile and clothing industry. It is the main European networking meeting for this sector and presents an excellent opportunity to connect with industry, technology providers, and EU policy makers.
More than 200 participants from industry, academia, public authorities and the media attended last year’s Technology Platform conference and the organizers expect at least a similar attendance this year.
A range of industry speakers are scheduled to describe their own experiences and business cases in the field of Mass Customization. The European Commission will present its policies and programs to support more Research & Innovation in the industrial sector in general and the textile and clothing sector in particular.
This event will be preceded on May 28th by a full-day pre-conference which provides an overview of recent mass customization related projects funded by the EU.
For the full program and more information, please download this PDF.
Attendance of the conference including lunch and cocktail is free of charge. Registrations are handled on a first come, first served basis.
A registration form is here, and more information on accommodation in the conference hotel can be found here.
Contact for organizational & logistical questions
Paulette De Wilde, Euratex (Ph : +32-2-285.48.83, paulette.de.wilde@euratex.org)
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e hënë, 26 maj 2008
Surviving Plutopia
Now here's a series of coincidences for you. My husband (who is usually spot-on in these matters; after all, he led me to Firefly) casually mentioned during our Sunday morning newspaper-read that "you might find this interesting; Alan Cheuse liked it," referring to Jeanette Winterson's newest novel, Stone Gods. Part of the novel takes place in ancient, pre-environmental-disaster Easter Island, which also happened to have been featured in the Sunday Travel section of the paper. Anyway, after reading the review, I looked her up on the web and opened up yet another window in my serendipitous world.I read her biography, and discovered that she's another arrogant, cranky middle-aged writer (we should start a club!), but one long-published, with an interesting rep, and recipient of an OBE (now I'm really impressed). I read an excerpt from the new book--which is now on my to-buy list--and then wandered over to her essays, where I hit on "Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings." This, of course, raises a bright flag, because this is the organization William Morris founded in 1877 to prevent the wholesale tearing down of historically important buildings, and/or their cheap and nasty "restoration" or "modernization." Lo and behold, Winterson had purchased an eighteenth-century derelict in Jack The Ripper territory and restored it, complete with a ground-floor shop that now houses a Continental deli run by chef Harvey Cabaniss (of whom I had already heard). Moving on to an essay called "Good Housekeeping" I came across this gem:
We are eating too much and we are paying too little for our food. . . . My philosophy is to eat modestly and buy the best you can afford. In our crazy world a chicken costs less than a cinema ticket. Our obsession with cheap food has destabilised farming throughout the world, polluted our soils, driven small producers and small shops into the ground, allowed the supermarkets to monopolise our lives, and made us fat.
Had I "met" Jeanette Winterson before I had finished More News From Nowhere, I'd have pinched her for a character.
In an essay about Philip Pullman, author of the series His Dark Materials, she describes Pullman's attitude toward modern education:
For Pullman, the obsession with invented standards, pointless testing, endless form-filling and a moribund National Curriculum are killing the joy of learning, and driving the best teachers out of the system. 'I used to teach the things that excited me', he says, 'and when the teacher is excited, so are the children. What do we want to do? Stuff them with facts or open their minds?'
Had I read The Golden Compass (or, as it's called in the UK, The Northern Lights) and met Pullman before MNFN, he'd be in there, too. As it is, I've only read the one book, and seen the disappointing film based on it, but I'm already a lifelong fan.
Both of these writers share my disdain for two important constituents of "plutopia" (my new name for the greed-based economy in which the West now wallows. It's not wholly dystopic--yet--but our attitudes toward both food and education are symptoms of increasing intellectual and ethical impoverishment, portending further ill for the future). Our lack of education--of desire (in terms of what and how we eat), and of the mind (in terms of how we teach our young)--have helped to build plutopia, and only by addressing these failures can we hope to replace it with anything that even vaguely resembles a world in which everyone can be accommodated in some measure of fairness, justice, and peace.
Only by adjusting our own perceptions of "need" vs. "want" can we begin to understand the true nature of poverty. And I am getting sick to death of pundits who describe anyone who lacks electricity as "living in abject poverty." (For my perspective on the larger questions, see "Rethinking What it Means to be Wealthy" and "Rethinking What It Means to be Poor.") The line usually runs something like "They're so poor they don't even have electricity"--as if this particular technology is necessary to the very notion of civilization. But it's not. It's perfectly possible for people to work the land, provide sufficient food and clothing for themselves, and dwell in thriving communities without ever having seen a light bulb!
Although knowledge of electrical principles has been around since antiquity, and had come under serious study by the eighteenth century (remember Mr. Franklin's kite and key experiments), it wasn't until the nineteenth century that it became practical to bring electricity into commercial and domestic use. It may be "necessary" to modern life--hence the science fiction scenario of an electromagnetic pulse as the threshold of disaster--but it is certainly not necessary to life itself, nor even to "civilized" life. Plenty of civilization happened before the nineteenth century. Of course, that's also when things started falling apart, what with the industrial revolution, Blake's "dark Satanic mills," Ruskin's hated locomotive, and the end of pastoral life as we knew it.
But few people even know these things these days, because we're so intent on stuffing our children's heads full of factoids we can measure on standardized "assessment tools" that only test what they can memorize--not their ability to think, interpret, translate, imagine, create, or use what they've learned. "Irrelevant" information isn't taught because it doesn't fall into the current catchment basin of what education "experts" think kids need to know. Knowledge doesn't actually happen until the child has managed to integrate information into some kind of cultural context--so most of the information they commit to memory only long enough to spit it back on the exam is useless anyway. And of course the reason they need to know anything at all is in order to be successful in the marketplace.
We in the US complain bitterly and loudly about the price of gasoline and food, both of which cost more in the rest of the West than they do here. But if we truly understood what's involved--if we were better educated about economic realities instead of having been spoon-fed the pabulum we get predigested into sound bites from media sources--we'd be complaining that they cost too little. The true cost, in lives and life ways, is profoundly higher than most of us realize--or want to realize. But plutopia has taught us to think only in terms of monetary cost, and even the word economy doesn't mean what it once did, since it's now synonymous with "market economy" and any other use of the term is suspect.
I'd really like to spend Earth Day in my "nowhere"--without electricity or formal education. But since I can't, I'll keep prowling through Winterson's lively website, and dig into the second segment of Pullman's series (The Subtle Knife). I'll spend a couple of hours this morning in my little carbon sink, amidst the wild grasses and the primroses, and hope that the birdsong drowns out the traffic from the highway. There I can celebrate a smaller footprint, and be grateful for what I don't have.
Addendum (7 May 2008): This month's Orion Magazine contains an excellent and highly relevant article, "The Gospel of Consumption, and the Better Future We Left Behind." I'm encouraged both by the content of the article, and by the discussion that follows.
Photo: A lovely carbon sink at a bend in the Owens River, near Lone Pine, California.
Source
e diel, 25 maj 2008
Prairie Wind
I always seem to find myself living in places where, at times, the wind blows ferociously, as it has been around here this last week.For example, in the Owens River Valley in California, where I was born, northerlies blow down between the Sierras and the Inyos, stirring up granite dust from the alluvial plains and laying a quarter-inch of residue on every existing interior or exterior horizontal surface by the time they blow themselves out. At the southern end of the valley, Owens Lake used to contribute to LA’s pollution during these winds (it’s their own damned fault—if they hadn’t started syphoning off the water from the river, the lake wouldn’t have dried up in the first place), but the powers that be finally realized that some water let into the lake would solve the problem.
Both Taiwan and Japan, where I spent most of my early life, sit in typhoon territory, and I remember several fierce storms that took place in the sixties. One blew off part of our roof and soaked the ceiling of the living room so that great chunks of it landed on the floor. One flooded Taipei, and only the fact that the house we then lived in had been built by the Japanese during the war and was thus raised on piers a couple of feet off the ground saved us from a good floor-soaking. We never did evacuate (I have no idea where we could have gone), and after we moved out of the city, the aftermaths were always interesting because of the length of time it would take to clean up. Trees fell onto roads, isolating communities for days, and electricity was often off for even longer. We didn’t miss television, because there wasn’t any then, and even telephones were seldom used (ours had a crank, and our number was “Yangmingshan 13”). Eventually everything went back to normal, just in time for the next big blow.
When I lived in Southern California, the Santa Ana winds blew dryly and predictably in the fall, often fanning wildfires the way they did this past year.
Hurricanes produced the major wind-related weather when I lived in the eastern United States. Both Philadelphia and Long Island lay in predictable hurricane pathways. One summer in the early seventies, a tropical depression lay over Philly, making everyone cranky and overheated. We all ran around with fans, wearing as little clothing as we could get away with, because air conditioning was far from ubiquitous then, even in some of the wealthier sections of town. My office at Penn had it, so grad students would wander in to visit and cool off. I remember not getting much work done for several days. I think we’d have been happy for a hurricane by the time the depression moved on—just to stir things up a bit.
Long Island is really just a terminal moraine, which sticks out from the “mainland” like a hurricane trap. I only lived there for a couple of years, but often visited during the summer when hurricanes were always a possibility. I don’t ever remember evacuating then, either, even though the in-laws lived less than half a mile from the water—but that was probably because Blue Point was protected by a barrier beach and a segment of the Pine Barrens. Even so, there was serious window-taping and battening down going on days before a potential hit was even confirmed.
By now I’ve officially spent most of my life on the prairie, and the wind that blows here is often relentless. When my children were growing up, we lived on the only bit of relief in the area, a small hill above a creek. When we had a fence built, I insisted on spaced pickets, even though the prevailing fashion was six- to eight-foot solid “privacy” fences: stockades to keep out the barbarians, I suppose. But I did have the last laugh several times when neighbors’ fences were blown down; those same winds blew right through my pickets. Even they didn’t resist one big storm, though; it moved the back gate open just enough for our twenty one year-old dog to escape. We never did see him again.
During the last week, the prairie winds have been tearing through town, knocking limbs off our pecan trees, toppling outdoor furniture, stirring up brush fires in the few areas that aren’t filled with houses. So I slipped Neil Young’s Prairie Wind album into the car CD, and started thinking about the elemental aspects of wind—and about George Stewart, whose novel, Storm (1941) is still one of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s not only a great read (it’s protagonist is a windstorm) but it begat the naming of hurricanes, and inspired the Lerner and Loewe song (from Paint Your Wagon), “They Call the Wind Maria.”
While googling around on wind and fire as I thought about writing this post, I came across a wonderful article by Jan Null called “Winds of the World” (2000). In the essay, Null notes that winds have frequently been named by the people they affect. I discovered, for example, that what blows down the Owens Valley is a probably a manifestation of winds that can cause a great deal of trouble elsewhere:
“Californians refer to their great katabatic wind as the Mono wind. It originates from the cold air over the Great Basin, particularly in Mono County, that spills out of high mountain valleys at over 9,000 feet and streams down the canyons on the west slopes of the rugged Sierra Nevada. Mono winds have knocked down 100-foot trees and have been clocked at 100 m.p.h. in Yosemite Valley.”
Katabatic winds, Null explains, are downslope, fall winds—such as the Mistral that blew the bejeezis out of Peter Mayle—the experience of which he recounted in A Year in Provence.
The article also contains juicy bits of etymology and local color, such as the fact that the word “monsoon” comes from the Arabic “mausim,” which means “season,” and that a common name for a twisting storm in Australia is a “cock-eyed Bob.” Rather more interesting a moniker, perhaps, than “blue norther,” or even “typhoon” (which simply means “big wind” in Chinese).
In the end, however, I’m not sure that it was such a great idea to give big storms people names—especially since the names themselves seem so random (“Well, we need a K this year, so it’ll be ‘Katrina’”). We should spend more time thinking up impressive names, especially now that the potential exists for more and more destructive storms. If a hurricane is going to go down in history and folklore, and cause major political and cultural upheaval, it would seem to command a more important-sounding name than, say, “Hurricane Tom.”
That said, I would like to mention that today would have been my father’s 87th birthday, and his name was Tom. He also used to fly weather reconnaissance into hurricanes, so maybe it would be fitting, some day, to have one with his name on it.
Photo: What the prairie wind did in my back yard.
Source
e enjte, 22 maj 2008
Wedding Plan
More often than not, brides invest all their time and energy into the look for the big even forget important pre-nuptial functions. The mehendi and the sangeet. This time, we work on styles that a bride can don for these two functions. ...
e mërkurë, 21 maj 2008
Shop Today and get a Free Gift Card
Buy $100 or more of Mountain Hardwear, and you'll earn a FREE $10 gift card Having problems viewing this message? Click here to view online. Mountain Gear - Your Adventure Starts Here. Home | Mens Clothing | Womens Clothing | Footwear ...
e diel, 18 maj 2008
New Bulga Handbags
Bulga Creative Director Natalia Konovalova has been in love with women's clothing since she a was a young girl, living in the former Soviet Union. At the age of twenty, Natalia's life changed forever when she was crowned Princess of ...
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