#plumb bob keep

[asimplevampire]

So if you like historical simming at all- and this includes retrofuture stuff like '50s Strangetown- you should check out PBK's Summer Secret Santa, and maybe sign up if you get the chance! They're more fun with more people.

[equinoxts2]

Is anything known to be up with Plumb Bob Keep at the moment? I'm wanting to donate to their annual fundraiser, but my browser (Google Chrome) says the site can't provide a secure connection when I click on a link, and it has also logged me out of my PBK account. I can't log back in, because I still get this error page when I go back and try to click the Login button.

Sorry if this is an inappropriate way to ask, but I am a little worried that something might be up with the site. Has anyone else had this issue?

[feydecay-blog]

I signed up, and so should you!

Summer Secret Santa 2025

Welcome to Summer Secret Santa 2025!!! We all could use an event to distract ourselves from the hectic things in life.

Do you want a chance to dust off your old skills, or maybe try your hand at new ones, this is the perfect opportunity.

Sign up to make a gift for someone, and receive a gift, yourself. Sign ups are from May 8th - May 31st at the Keep. Gift Exchanges will be between July 24th - July 28th.

For more details, and to sign up, check out this thread here!

(Link has been updated, hopefully that will work now)

[pituliya]

List of Sims 2 Custom Content (CC) Sites

Something for any sims 2 newbies who might stumble upon my tumblr. This is not an exhaustive list, just some web sites and blogs I know of and like.

Just a little warning first, english is my second language and while I read it fluently, I have some trouble with phrasing stuff. So the following might be a bit wonky.

Multiple Creators

Mod the Sims: one of the biggest sims 2 sites, also has content for the other sims games

Garden of Shadows: it's forum but you don't need to register to see or download stuff, also has content for sims 3 and sims 4

simblr.cc: quite new, also has content for the other sims games plus inZOI

Plumb Bob Keep: CC for historic themed games, the Download section is visible without registration

Sims2Artist: another forum

Simspearls: forum, registration needed before you can access it.

Creators with their own sites

Nixed Sims: Has historic and modern themed content

LordCrumps: Sims 4 to Sims 2 conversions

Around the Sims 2: inactive, but has lots of nice stuff. Creator is still actively making CC for Sims 3 and Sims 4.

Pick'n'Mix Mods: they made some really practical utility programs for the game

The Medieval Smithy: mostly medieval CC but you can find some CC for other eras too.

Some of my favorite Simblrs (in no particular order)

@deedee-sims

@creesims

@letomills

@platinumaspiration

@fracturedmoonlight

@lucilla-sims

@kaluxsims

Skell Downloads, The Maxis Match Repository Project and Old timey Skellington: Creator is inactive.

Creators on Dreamwidth

Almighty Hat: Some of the best medieval CC. Creator is inactive as of 13.04.2025.

Magical Girl Sandbox

Mrs Mquve

Angela Pleasant

Other important places

The Sims Graveyard: Stuff from disappeared Sites. Warning: Always quite slow

@sims2packrat: another important place to find lost CC.

@sims2tutorials: Links to many Tutorials

@lazyduchess: They made some very important fixes and mods for any Sims 2 game

Sims 2 Default Database: Don't like a Maxis Outfit, here you can find replacements for them

Object Default Database: Same but for Objects

Pinterest: Some Simmers make collections that link to CC sites and creators there.

[medievalfantasystories]

Medieval Baby Dangler - Converted from TS2

I converted this from a wonderful creator on Plumb Bob Keep who creates things for the sims 2.

Here is the original post with the download for ts2.

You can download this from my patreon here for free!

I'm not a professional, I just wanted this for my own gameplay, all original mesh credits go to the original creator.

This does require growing together!

[somedaythesun]

TS2 Hair default: Towel to 3t2 Headwrap

My first hair default!

I love Trapping's conversion of this headwrap from TS3 Africa Inspiration Collection and I wanted to replace some of the silly K&B towel turbans with more wearable styles.

This replaces the WHITE Towel only!

I used Penelope's textures (available on Plumb Bob Keep here) and one of Lilsisterg's recolors (available here).

It's the alpha-edited version where there's not a speck of hair visible so it should look nice with whatever hair color system you use.

Original ages only, so it's for YF - EF.

Enjoy, and let me know if you run into any issues!

Download

[feydecay-blog]

Harry Potter and the Magic Rock 32 objects inspired by The Philosopher's Stone

Silver Tabby Recolor of Nemestnaya's Pretty in Pink Cat from Black Pearl Sims Edited to allow sims to gain Nature enthusiasm and recolored using a base texture by TheMalle at Tumblr

Owl Originally converted by Remysa at Tumblr Converted and edited to allow sims to gain Nature enthusiasm

Hogwarts Letter Originally by Suummalumcuique at Deviant Art Converted

Hagrid's Birthday Cake Converted and based on stockable and grab-enabled food by Aelfaed at Pillowfort

Hagrid's Pink Umbrella Converted

Hogwarts Letter Recolor of Cassandre's Classic Paper Sheet from Black Pearl Sims

Galleon Converted

History of Magic and Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration Converted

Hogwarts Express Ticket

Chocolate Frog Package Originally created by Hydrangae at Patreon Converted and based on stockable and grab-enabled food by Aelfaed at Pillowfort Chocolate Frog Originally converted by Decat at Blogspot Scaled down and edited to be edible using CreeSim's Skyrim meats at Tumblr Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans Package Originally converted by Decat at Tumblr Scaled down and based on stockable and grab-enabled food by Aelfaed at Pillowfort

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans Originally converted by Decat at Tumblr Scaled down and edited to be edible using CreeSim's Skyrim meats at Tumblr

Floating Candles Based on Anye's Shabby Country Bottle Candle and PineappleForest's Elegant Candelabrum Functional table lamp with OMSPs used to make candles appear to "float"

Sorting Hat Originally converted from Hogwarts Legacy by Hydra at Patreon Converted

Hog's Head Pitcher Originally converted by Josiph031 at Tumblr Converted and based on stockable and grab-enabled food by Aelfaed at Pillowfort Daily Prophet Originally converted by Hydrangea at Tumblr Converted and recolored Pointed Hat Originally converted by Decat at Tumblr Edited into clutter

Anne Boleyn's Portrait Converted and recolored

Fat Lady's Portrait Recolor of Apollo's Hogwarts Gothic Painting at Garden of Shadows

Snape's Wand Converted

Flying Lessons Broom Cobbled together using Kativip's Left Suburb Broom handle and Sims Design Avenue's Medieval Kitchen Broom Remembrall Converted

Hogwarts Torch Originally created by MehdiShahsavan at Sketchfab Converted into a functional light using Sunni's Skyrim Imperial Wall Torch at Plumb Bob Keep

Hogwarts Owl Brazier 02 Originally converted by Yolartut at Garden of Shadows Edited into functional lighting based on NixNivis's TSM Brazier at Nixed Sims

Invisibility Cloak Recolor of Jope's Living 05 Blanket at Simply Styling

Dragon Egg and Norbert Converted and edited to allow sims to gain Nature enthusiasm

Self-Playing Harp Converted into a functional stereo

Philosopher's Stone Originally converted by Decat at Tumblr Edited into a functional object based on Shastakiss's Philosopher's Stone at Sims 2 Artists

Hospital Bed Aviolina's Silent Hill Medicine Set Bed at Garden of Shadows Recloned, linked to Maxis bedding, and recolored

All necessary objects are included, labeled, compressed, and optimized in various ways. A collection file has been included for convenience. Some objects may overwrite the originals and files have been renamed. This set was made possible by the creators whose work I borrowed parts of or inspiration from, and this lifelong Harry Potter fan cannot thank all of you enough for making a childhood dream come to life! Please let me know of any problems, and I hope you enjoy using this set as much as I did creating each piece.

DOWNLOAD

[bumblebeehug]

Not a date

Summary: Fic inspired by this prompt: Natsu invites Lucy out for a “normal” day of fun, but everyone else keeps assuming they’re on a date. Lucy brushes it off - until Natsu starts rolling with it. Notes: happy belated valentine! Ao3 - FF.net

***

Natsu wasn’t the romantic type. She didn’t expect him to be; strictly speaking, he’d never come across someone he wanted to court. To Lucy’s knowledge, he’d never even had a crush on anyone, save perhaps on Lisanna back when they were kids. Sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d react to a romantic situation at his current age. Would he get nervous around his person? Twirly, giggly or shy? She somehow doubted it. If she knew him, which she believed she did, he’d probably be honest and bold. He wouldn't jump around, fiddle with the person of interest’s heartstrings, but rather face them directly. Maybe to lay out a complete confession, or maybe just to tell them his honest intentions; that he wanted a relationship with them, starting from this moment on.

This was why she couldn’t help but to feel discouraged regarding her own crush on the man. As far as she could tell, her feelings weren’t reciprocated. Not that she particularly minded – they’re still young, and Natsu didn’t seem to have his eyes on anyone else. But the nagging feeling of what if still permeated her heart.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the man in question.

“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout?”

He sat down beside her, leisurely throwing an arm over her shoulders. How would this natural action change if he fell in love with someone else? Lucy shook her head, ridding herself of the thought.

“Nothing important. What have you been up to? You stink…” She made no effort masking the look of disgust on her face. Natsu chuckled mischievously.

“I pranked Happy. Messed around with the plumbing in the bathroom, you shoulda seen his face!” His teeth gleamed in the daylight as he threw his head back in laughter. Lucy would have found him insanely attractive, Adam's apple bobbing as gleeful chuckles escaped his mouth, if she wasn’t suddenly very aware of what it was she was smelling on him. He smelled like feces…

“God, Natsu!” She shoved him away. “And you didn’t wash up afterwards? We’ll both get sick!”

Natsu gave her a nonchalant shrug.

“The plumbing is ruined, I couldn’t shower even if I wanted to. That’s why I came to you!”

“What, so you could rub poop on my new shirt?!”

“No,” he scoffed. “To tell ya’ I’ll borrow your bathtub.”

Lucy, who was now standing up, felt a shiver run down her spine. She didn’t want to touch a single object at this state, and even less touch Natsu, but she grabbed his scarf and started walking towards the guild door.

“We’re taking a bath, now.” A faint whistle from one of the guild mates was met with a deadly stare from Lucy. “God, all the times you’ve invaded my apartment without asking, but this is when you ask? This stench has got to be killing you and your bloodhound nose.”

“Meh, I got used to it pretty quickly.”

Lucy gave him a puzzled glance. With the wind blowing away the worst of the stench she didn’t find the same fiery energy as before to scold him. Instead she dragged him all the way home, and immediately drew him a bath.

As she took off her shirt to throw it in the washing machine with Natsu’s disgustingly damp clothes, she remembered the victim of the prank.

“Hey, where’s Happy? You didn’t leave him in poop-city, did you?” She lifted up her left bra-strap that had fallen down her shoulder.

“He jumped in the lake to wash himself. Then I reminded him that we eat the fish from that lake, so he ran away crying. He’ll be back sooner or later.” Natsu was sitting on the bathroom floor in just boxers, as Lucy forbade him to sit on any furniture. The tiles in there were easy enough to clean, so she allowed him to wait there. As she looked at him, he seemed to be staring intensely at something south of her face. “Is that a new bra?”

Lucy’s face became warm, and according to the bathroom mirror, glowing red.

“Why do you keep an inventory of my bra-supply?” She clipped back, sounding angrier than she intended to.

Natsu just sheepishly smiled, pointing to his head.

“I like the colour, it kinda matches my hair!”

Lucy felt a vein pop out of her forehead. She suppressed the urge to hit him for his insensitivity, and instead redirected him to the hot bath.

“Okay, fashionista, how about you like cleanliness instead.”

She pointed to the tub and then left the room so he could do what she’d brought him to do. In the meantime she washed her hands in the basin in the kitchen, and went and picked out some clean clothes for them to wear. She’d called him a fashionista, and she really meant it. That man was so peculiar with the clothes he wore that she sometimes wondered why he wore that open vest when they first met. She understood the appeal, as she didn’t exactly reject the straight view to his abdominal muscles, but she was attracted to him. Natsu didn’t seem attracted to anything, other than maybe food and fighting. Still, he was picky with the clothes on his back.

A few minutes passed, and she heard the water sloshing around in the bathroom, followed by a loud sigh of relief. Natsu must have finally submerged himself. Just as she sat down on the couch, a muffled voice called from the bathroom.

“Oi, Lucy!” She sighed.

“What now?”

There was a brief pause before he answered.

“I think I dropped my soap.”

Lucy groaned, rubbing her temples.

“Then pick it up, genius.”

“No, I mean… it went flying. I think it’s under the cabinet.”

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut. Why is he like this?

She stood up and stomped over to the bathroom door, cracking it open just enough to glare at him through the gap. She picked her field of vision carefully.

“I’m not helping you unless you cover up. Spin around or something.”

“Prude,” he muttered under his breath. Lucy ignored him. Some social rules were important to adhere to – friends of different sex weren’t supposed to see each other naked. The fact that this rule had been accidentally broken multiple times before didn’t have anything to do with it.

She exhaled sharply and opened the door wider to enter. Natsu had obediently spun around to face the window, allowing Lucy to step in without any worry. She crouched down and peered under the sink cabinet, spotting the rogue soap resting just out of reach. With a huff, she stretched her arm underneath, fingers just grazing the edge—

Splash!

Lucy froze. Slowly, she turned her head, feeling the cold trail of water drip down her lower back. Natsu was half-sunken in the tub, grinning like a mischievous imp.

“…You did not just do that,” she gasped, her voice a mix of disbelief and amusement.

Natsu snickered, completely unrepentant. He eyed her up and down, so fast Lucy thought she might have imagined it, but then he quickly gulped, proving that he had, in fact, ogled her. Before she could swiftly take her leave, Natsu spoke up.

“It was an accident?”

A playful fury rose in Lucy’s chest. Oh, he was so dead. Without hesitation, she grabbed the soap and hurled it straight at his head. It smacked against his forehead with a satisfying thunk. Natsu flinched, then burst into laughter, clutching his head.

“Okay, okay! I surrender!” he wheezed, hands up in mock defeat.

Lucy crossed her arms, scowling – though the tiny smirk tugging at her lips betrayed her.

“You better be squeaky clean when you get out,” she warned, turning toward the door. “Or you’re sleeping outside.”

With a huff, she spun on her heel and marched out, leaving Natsu’s laughter echoing behind her.

When Natsu finally stepped out of the bathroom, he was dressed in the clothes Lucy had picked out for him. A couple of months ago, she’d reached out to his tailor to get him a new set, something close to what he usually wore. The result was an outfit not unlike the one he had during their fight against Tartaros. She had always liked that look – it suited him – but it was a shame when those clothes were destroyed in battle.

Then again, the same could be said for her own. That green top and vest she’d chosen specifically because they reminded her of Natsu’s had met a similar fate. But unlike him, she could never wear that outfit again. Too many painful memories were woven into the fabric, especially the ones tied to Aquarius. Just thinking about it made her chest tighten.

She could only hope Natsu didn’t feel the same way about his clothes. Or at least that the subtle differences in design would keep any bad memories at bay. Maybe the fact that it was a gift from her could be enough to soothe the wounds. But that might be wishful thinking.

The original plan had been to give them to him as a birthday gift, but given the state of his old outfit, he might as well start wearing them now.

“Where’d ya’ get these clothes? They fit me perfectly.” Natsu was tugging at different parts of the fabric to correct the position. “Like they were tailored or somethin’.”

Lucy let out a chuckle.

“They were. I was going to give them to you at a better time, but you needed something wearable now, so…” She crossed her arms over her stomach and smiled at him. Natsu smiled back, flashing his teeth.

“Thanks! They’re great!”

“Spin for me.” Lucy let a mischievous glint in her eye show.

“What. Why?”

“I just wanna…” She tried to pick her words. “Fulfill the vision.”

To her surprise, he actually did as she asked. Not the pretty ballerina version like a small part of her had wished for, but still; a slow couple of steps that gave her the full view. Lucy almost barked out a sit command too, but the dog-resemblance would be too big for her to keep from laughing. So instead she just nodded in approval.

“He did well.”

This time it was Natsu’s turn to look at Lucy. It wasn’t anything new that he stared at her; he’d done it countless times before, sometimes what felt like hours at a time. She didn’t usually care, as she was too deep in books or too busy writing to notice, but when she stood in front of him, facing his longing gaze, she couldn’t help but cower a little. She didn’t understand what he was thinking about. So many thoughts were swirling around in that head, yet the silliest words made it out. Once he’d stared at her for 2 hours, practically begging for her attention, and when she finally gave in and looked at him, he had just said “Hey look at this” and farted.

But she knew he wasn’t as unserious as he wanted to seem. He was smart, thoughtful and kind; his mouth just filtered all intelligent words out and let the goofy ones out. So when he finally opened his mouth, she didn’t know what she expected him to say.

“Are you going out like that?”

Lucy blinked.

“Like what?”

“Ya’ know… You’re not wearing a whole lot.”

A brow scrunched up in confusion. She never wore a whole lot, yet he’d never complained about it before?

“What are you trying to say?”

Natsu stepped closer, only stopping when their chests were practically touching, and Lucy could feel his hot breath against her face. He leaned in and whispered straight into her ear;

“You’re just wearing a bra.” Lucy’s entire body shivered when she felt his finger curl into one her bra strap, letting it go with a light smack against her shoulder. She was certain her face was the deepest shade of red.

Natsu laughed and goofily put his hands behind his head as he took a step back.

“You shoulda’ seen yer face!” He cackled, clumsily stepping out to the kitchen to search through the cupboards for something quick to eat. Lucy let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and then sent him an angry look; a look sent in vain, as he already had his head deep in a drawer with different boxes of cookies and bags of flour.

She shook her head. Whatever mood there had been earlier was long lost. Instead she grabbed the nearest clean shirt, a pink tank top, and then entered the kitchen to take back the food that was getting stolen.

“You’re getting crumbs all over the floor. Sweep it up, lick it up, I don’t care – just make it clean.” She didn’t hide the irritation that lingered from his prank, letting it lace her voice as well as her facial expression. She was irritated. He smeared her with sewage-water, made her draw him a bath, annoyed her while in said bath, took a gift early, didn’t thank her for said gift, then played her feelings like tangents (unknowingly, but still), and now he was eating her food and leaving a big mess to top it all off.

“Yer crabby,” Natsu mumbled, crumbs flying out of his mouth like they were fleeing from his stinky breath.

“You’ve been annoying,” Lucy simply stated. “Look, I’ve cleaned you up, you’ve had some food, let’s just go back to the guild. I’ll…” she already regretted what she was about to say, “... clean this stuff up later.”

She rested her hand on her hip as she let out a tired sigh. If she stayed in this mess she’d get a headache, no doubt.

“Nah. Let’s take a walk.”

Natsu sprung up from his seat and was standing in the hallway, putting on his sandals, before Lucy even had time to blink. Still, when her brain caught up with his words, she didn’t bother protesting – she didn’t mind taking a walk. The guild was just an excuse to get him out of her apartment after all.

“Alright. Sure, let’s walk.”

The air outside felt nice and crisp as they stepped out from the front port. Lucy had thrown on a jacket, thinking that the February weather would make her temperature drop too quickly otherwise, but she didn’t have to worry about that. Natsu was plenty warm for both of them. She took a deep breath in, finding more pleasure in the air now that Natsu didn’t stink of poop.

“Hey, look! The sun is out.”

Winters weren’t harsh in Magnolia, but there came years where the sun rarely peeked out from behind the clouds at all for months. This year had been like that; the snow had started falling late in November, continuing to mercilessly pack on during December and January. Sure, the sun might have blessed Magnolia with its warm rays a couple of times, but Lucy must have been away on missions, because she could swear that this was the first time she’d felt the sun against her skin in months. 

“One day I’ll taste it.”

Hadn’t Natsu said it so dreamily, Lucy would have laughed. For some reason though, she actually related to his words – in a much less literal sense of course.

“Yeah, one day.” It was about as realistic as finding out if fairies had tails, but dreaming didn’t hurt. She hooked her arm to Natsu’s and started walking. “So where did you want to go?”

“I dunno…” Natsu thought for a second. “Just wanted to walk around. We haven’t done that in a while.”

While he said he didn’t know where he wanted to go, he still decided on the direction to take. They walked through new blocks, some that they rarely went through due to the lack of shops. The estates in that area were beautiful – somehow Lucy felt like she had been missing out. She really wasn’t enough of a tourist in Magnolia. Today was the perfect opportunity to make up for that though, as the sun still stood high in the blue sky, and Natsu and Lucy had what felt like all the time in the world to stroll around, looking at the small wonders around them.

When the alleys between apartment blocks disappeared, the shops appeared in their place. All kinds of shops – some with beautiful, delicate looking pastries, some stands selling little bars of soap, the smell of which spread out over the entire street. They passed flower shops, street food stands, a couple of coffee shops, and near the river the most beautiful handmade jewelry shop. Lucy, who insisted she’d been good to save money on all the previously mentioned stands, couldn’t resist stopping at this one.

“Oh, Natsu, look at this necklace… It’s beautiful!” She pointed to a necklace, delicate with a gold coloured chain and a gorgeous pendant in the shape of a star. It was simple, but had clear marks that showed its handmade quality. Rough, almost raw. Only when Natsu pulled away Lucy’s hand from his arm, did she notice the hard grip she held him with.

The woman in the stand smiled warmly.

“I made that one many years ago, to an old friend of mine. She passed away before it was finished, and it’s never sold since then. You remind me a bit of her. You have the same eyes.” The wrinkles around the lady’s mouth made her seem kind – like she’d spent so much time smiling that her joy had made a permanent mark in her face. Lucy was starry eyed. So filled with awe that she couldn’t make out any words. She was glad to hear her partner speak up for her.

“It’s nice. It would fit ya’, Lucy. How much do ya’ sell it for, Granny?” Lucy didn’t bother telling Natsu off for his impoliteness. The shopkeeper didn’t seem to mind the nickname, and it was rare for her to hear compliments from Natsu. A beautiful piece of jewelry like that, fitting Lucy? Flattery took him far.

“Normally I’d try to get 30’000J for it, as it carries too much emotional value to let it go too easily… But for you, my dear? 10’000.”

Lucy’s mouth fell open.

“No, ma’am, you couldn’t possibly give it so cheap. Let me pay full price, please.” Her protest was made in respect for the handcraft, but the woman shook her head firmly.

“You can try to give me more for it, but I won’t let you.” She picked up the necklace and put it in a small mesh bag. “I’ll simply give the money back. I wanted this piece to go to a good owner, and I trust that you’ll care for it.”

Lucy tried to protest more, but this time Natsu cut her off.

“Whatcha complaining ‘bout? You’re not the one payin’ for it either way. But Granny, I’ll give ya’ 15’000J, no less. Can’t be a proud Fairy Tail wizard if I’m rippin’ ya’ off.”

Before Lucy could stop them, the exchange had been made. Natsu was trying to sneak in another 5’000J, but the lady stood firm. Before the mood became unpleasant, Lucy gave her her deepest thanks and dragged Natsu along so they could make their leave.

“How nice to be young and in love… Lucy, was that your name? You’ve caught a good one.” This time Lucy’s protest fell out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

“Oh, no, he’s not-! We’re not… like that…” Her blush got deeper as she stuttered. “Natsu’s a friend!”

This time it was Natsu’s turn to drag them away. The shopkeeper only held back laughter as he and Lucy walked out of sight.

“It’s gonna be an awfully long day if you’re gonna explain that to everyone,” he pointed out. 

Lucy looked at him, still tinted pink from the embarrassment. If a normal person, someone who wasn’t Natsu, had said this to her, they probably would have said it with meaning behind it. Something along the lines of ‘I don’t mind being in a ‘relationship’ if it’s with you’ or ‘I take offence at the insinuation that I’d be so terrible to be in a relationship with’. But as she tried to understand the face he made, she didn’t see any of that. He didn’t mind being ‘just a friend’. Of course he didn’t, being friends was the best thing they could be in his mind – and after all, they are friends. Best friends even. Still, a small part of her hoped that the small scowl that showed in his face was due to feelings deeper than friendship. Though, her brain told her it was merely the sun blinding him, so she just hooked her arm with his again and let him continue their walk.

For around 10 minutes they walked by the river. Lucy doubted Natsu actually wanted to take this way, but she wanted to do her little routine, balancing on the brick wall as the sun slowly moved closer to the horizon. A familiar voice made for a pleasant surprise.

“Hey miss Lucy! You better be careful today, the water's cold and the wall’s slippery!” It was one of the men that brought in smaller shipments of fish through their river boat that had made his voice heard. His friend chimed in.

“Better hold on tight to your boyfriend there! Catch her before she falls, would you, sir Natsu?”

His assumption made her slip as she once again tried to argue against the boyfriend-claims. Before she actually lost her balance though, she felt Natsu’s steady hand grab on to her.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Lucy squealed. Though, she sure was happy he caught her before she fell. The clucking laughter echoed between the walls of the river bank as the boatmen enjoyed the self fulfilling scene.

“Have a nice date you two!”

“We’re not on a date!”

She tried to counter their claims again, but they were soon too far away to bother talking any sense to. Only the slight pull from Natsu’s hand brought her attention back to the two of them.

“Ya’ really gonna fall one day if ya’ keep this up,” he smirked. Lucy pouted a little – she just couldn’t help it. She liked talking to the sailors, and it was a creative way to make a long walk home shorter. But she usually did avoid it when it was close to freezing. The dangers of icy cold water weren’t something to just shrug off. But today? With the sun shining, the ground looking dry, and Natsu as a space heater right beside her? She supposed she got cocky.

Finally, she jumped off the ledge and got her feet back onto the street. She didn’t go out of her way to drop Natsu’s hand, and seemingly neither did he. It was a rare occurrence, but sometimes they ended up holding hands. A drunken walk home after a late night with the guild, or just a silent drop off at Lucy’s place before Natsu took a sleeping Happy home to their cottage. When she thought about it though, they’d never held hands in broad daylight before. To keep their intimacy secret, only having the mild moonlight revealing their tender touch, was one thing. But to show it off to the sun, to the world? Lucy couldn’t stop her heart from racing even if she tried. Unimportant worries filled her brain like annoying flies. Was her hand sweaty? Was her face blushing too red? Was he listening to her heartbeat? Was he aware of the level of intimacy this was? That they were displaying their oddly close friendship to the world, and that their touches weren’t only between them, the moon, and the fluffy sheets in her bed at night, when she pretended she was asleep as he cuddled close?

“Breathe.”

Lucy wasn’t sure she’d heard him at first, as the word was spoken so quietly it could just as well have been merely a breath. Then he tilted his head slightly towards her, tightened his grip on her hand, and said it again:

“Breathe.”

A big exhale followed by a slow inhale made Lucy realise that she, in fact, hadn’t been breathing. When had she stopped? Well, so many thoughts had been going through her head that she’d simply forgotten to. An easy mistake in her opinion, though it made her kind of dizzy. She was glad that she had Natsu to hold onto. Broad and steady, grounded in their slow stroll towards the park. If he were to drop her hand right now, she was sure she’d lose her balance completely, fall on her face even. But he held on to her, like a warm, unwavering anchor.

With oxygen making its way back in her lungs, Lucy dared to speak.

“Aren’t you getting hungry? I could go for a bite.” A well-timed rumble made itself heard from Natsu’s stomach, drawing out a hearty giggle from Lucy.

“Man, I could eat a horse.”

“Would a couple of hotdogs suffice for a while?” Lucy pointed towards the small cart in front of them with her free hand. It wasn’t the most nutritious option, but it was food and it was close.

“I’ll need at least 6!” He almost looked offended, but a smirk appeared in the corner of his lips before she took him seriously. Not that he’d been joking about the amount of hotdogs – those he really did need in numbers. He would probably need twice that amount to even begin to feel full, if this wasn’t just a snack.

At the cart, Lucy began to order.

“Hello! May we order 7 hotdogs, please? All condiments.” She showed him a polite smile. She didn’t always like how meak her voice got when she spoke as a customer, but with Natsu backing her up she knew she didn’t need to feel bothered by it. If anyone tried to rip her off he’d be quick to… negotiate.

“Seven? Yer sure a hungry one!” A hearty laugh boomed out from his chest. “And for the lad? Hoho!” Before Lucy could correct the man, he’d already started scooping up the hot dogs from the warm water bath they rested in. “A word of advice for ya’ son – don’t be givin’ the lass hotdogs on a date. Ain’t proper.”

What was with the residents of Magnolia today? The jewelry seller, the boat men, and now a hotdog vendor? Lucy didn’t want wizard-fame to go over her head, but surely they all knew the two of them? Lucy Heartfilia, celestial mage of Fairy Tail, and Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer, the Salamander? Sorcerer's Weekly had covered their relationship status for ages – sure, they always made sneaky remarks of ‘secret relationships’ and hopes for something more than just friendship, but they always debunked the same thing: that they were just friends. Dates and boyfriends? It still felt further away from Lucy’s reality than another visit to Edolas.

But before she had a chance to rebuttal, Natsu opened his mouth to speak.

“Yeah, tell me ‘bout it. I’ll take her on a proper date next time.” He rubbed his neck as he let out an embarrassed chuckle.

Lucy’s mouth was left hanging open as the two of them snickered. Was Natsu acting… bashful? Was he even acting? She knew better than to pretend like she could read Natsu’s mind by now, he was one of the most unpredictable persons she’d ever met, but surely she knew him well enough to understand if this was a joke or not? But a small spark of hope acted as a shield, hindering her from asking. Because if it wasn’t a joke, if Natsu really thought that the two of them going on this walk was a date – well, was she really ready to reject him?

She didn’t know how to answer that yet. So she closed her gaping mouth, hung on to Natsu’s big hand, and stayed silent. Natsu and the vendor were making idle small talk, but Lucy couldn’t find it in her heart to join in. Her mind was racing. Natsu wasn’t the romantic type; he smelled of sewage, his favourite way to pass time was to prank people, and his top three concepts in the world were 1. Food, 2. Fighting, and 3. A talking blue cat. He didn’t think about romance the way Lucy did. He found his emotional satisfaction from being with his friends, with the guild, and, well, with Lucy. So realistically, Lucy shouldn’t take this as a sign of anything. She had made peace with his lack of interest years ago – he had always just been her Natsu, and that was okay. More than okay, it was good: perfect even.

But there it was – the small glint of hope that had managed to keep Lucy’s fear of rejection at bay for all these years. This time in the form of a chatty remark at a hotdog vendor’s off-hand comment. Other times known as a rainbow cherry tree floating down the canal, the call of her name every time he feared that she was in danger, a hand helping her up to see the perfect views of the stars, the heavy arm leaning on her for support during his toughest times, and the small air of flirtiness that saturated the air between them when their faces were close enough. The sign that her hope had something to hang on to. That there was something more than just coincidental romantic gestures between Natsu and Lucy – that there was meaning behind it.

By the time Lucy came back from the thoughts swirling around inside of her, the hotdogs were ready to go, and already halved in numbers Natsu.

“He was nice! Funny old man.”

Lucy nodded.

“Yeah, he was great. Really kind.” She realised that her voice didn’t carry the same weight it usually did. She almost sounded shaky, like all the air had been pushed out of her. Before Natsu asked, she cleared her throat and spoke up again with more power. “So, what do you want to do now? We’ve seen half the town.”

Natsu had a puzzled face as he looked at her. Maybe Lucy couldn’t read Natsu very well, but Natsu could sniff out Lucy’s emotions before she even knew them herself. He read her like a book – ironic, when he was the actual book, in a literal sense.

“We could watch the sunset.”

Was she really being delusional for sensing something similar to romance between them today? A sunset. And then what, gaze at the stars? Kiss under the moonlight? The thought intensified her small blush.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s do that.”

She wasn’t sure why her first guttural instinct was to fight it, reject it. She wanted to do all these romantic things. Like, really wanted to. She just didn’t know what to brace herself for: the humiliation of rejection, her senses being wrong and Natsu not having any romantic intentions behind his actions at all, or the emotional vulnerability of a confession – that there was something more going on today. She didn’t know; and it scared her, not knowing. Life with Fairy Tail had never been predictable, but in a way, Natsu’s stoic, yet reliably silly character, was the one thing she could always lean on. No matter Lucy’s odd antics, freaking out at her chest being exposed, crying from thankful nostalgia, laughing at Natsu’s jokes, or getting angry when he trashed her apartment; no matter what she threw his way, he always reacted the same. He’d brush any embarrassment off and then tell a joke to turn her frown upside down. Reliable.

The park bench they found would have been cold and humid if it weren’t for Natsu’s magic. He had dried up the spot for them, even heated it up a little, and then they sat down to finish the food. The sun hung lower in the sky, and in Lucy’s peripheral she could see the moon sneaking a peak at the sunset itself, ghostly faint against the pale blue sky. She clung close to Natsu, as the longer shadows also meant cooler breezes. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and she briefly remembered that she should have brought in some wood for her stove.

“Nice day.”

“Poop-incident aside,” Lucy agreed. She hesitated for a moment, but soon found her head resting against Natsu’s shoulder. “Thanks for treating me today.”

“Oh, that’s right,” he dug through a pocket on his jacket that still smelled like her fabric softener, “I forgot to give you this.”

The mesh bag that the jewelry maker had given him was now hanging from the grip between his thumb and his pointer. The contours of the pile of gold-plated metal were strong in the backlight of the sun, but she could still clearly see the shine reflect through the mesh of the fabric. He dropped it into her open palm and watched as she carefully undid the scrunch. Holding the necklace up in the increasingly golden light of the sunset made it look like it was glowing. Like there was a fire within, waiting to burst out from the five points of the star pendant.

“It really is beautiful,” she breathed. “But I can’t accept it, Natsu. It’s too nice, what if I lose it or drop it or-” Natsu cut her off.

“Well who else is gonna wear it, weirdo? Ya’ won’t catch me or Happy with it. And as I said, it fits ya’. Take it.”

When she turned to look at him her breath got caught in her throat. Golden hour. Natsu was more handsome than she’d ever seen him before. Lips turned in a soft smile, dark eyes pointing all his attention to her. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been looking at her, but it seemed like ages. Like he’d admired her from a distance for centuries, like a human admiring a God. Her heart rate picked up, though not in the unpleasant way that made her prepare herself to fight off monsters on missions. It raced in a good way, the way that made adrenaline addictive and roller coasters exhilarating. She felt alive.

“Thanks.” She wasn’t sure if he noticed, but her voice was laced with love. Pure and whole, filling her chest to the point that she had to look away before it spilled over and she threw herself on him in a passionate kiss.

He took the chain from her hands and undid the clasp.

“Turn around.”

She obliged, knowing what he was about to do. Except, knowing didn’t help avoid the sparkly sensation that electrocuted her skin once his hot hands moved her hair aside though, grazing the nape of her neck in the movement. She wasn’t sure if she’d imagined her light gasp, as he didn’t pay her skittish reactions any attention. His focus seemed to be on the necklace, as he had to dry his hands against the fabric on his pants multiple times to get a better grip on the tiny hook. She knew the struggle, so she didn’t rush him.

When he finally managed to get the chain secured on her neck, he rested his hands on her shoulders. She was just about to sneak a peek at him when he rested his forehead to the dip right between her neck and her shoulder. Maybe she tensed up – it wouldn’t surprise her if she did – but her attention was tuned to Natsu only. The slow, long breaths that cued her in on the fact that he was smelling her, and the sensation of his hands clasping the fabric of her jacket. She wasn’t sure how to react or what to say, so once again, she said nothing. She just waited, hoping that Natsu would have figured out the words to explain what he’d been doing.

But as he picked up his head and Lucy turned back around, he stayed silent. Watching her, studying her face. Perhaps he was searching for any sign of rejection or disgust, none of which Lucy could muster up even if her life was on the line.

Then, finally, he spoke.

“You’re golden.”

Lucy almost thought it was she who had said it. Natsu’s skin in the deep, orange glow that was cooling by the second, the sunlit shine in his eyes, the reflections in his hair – but it wasn’t she who had said it. The words were Natsu’s.

“Your hair, it’s like a waterfall of liquid gold,” he clarified. Then he let out a small chuckle, and Lucy found herself joining in.

As the warm laughter faded, Lucy’s breath evened out, the moment stretching between them like a held note. Lucy carefully cuddled closer again. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and all that was left was a dim blue hue over the landscape. The dusk brought a gorgeous sparkle as the moisture in the air crystallised into frost, making the beige grass look dusted with sugar. She wasn’t fond of the cold, it brought back memories from her first year after running away from her father, when she still didn’t have enough money to sleep inside. The frosty winter nights were the worst, yet another night just like that was falling around them, and Lucy felt as warm and toasty as she would in bed at home. Natsu was a blessing in every sense of the word.

“Not too shabby for a date, eh?”

His words cut through the silence of the evening.

“It was a date?” She felt stupid asking, but she felt the urgent need to clarify. “You called it a walk before.”

His right arm took her into a tight half hug. She glanced up at him, and to her dismay he was looking goofy and playfully childish, like the sun had brought any overflow of handsomeness with it below the horizon. Was he messing with her?

“That was the plan,” he explained. “A walk to get your mind off of stuff. Ya’ seemed tense. Crabby.” She rolled her eyes, but he continued. “But then the mood got good, don’t ya’ think? So I rolled with it. Ya’ got a pretty necklace out of it. And a hotdog.”

He poked a finger in the side of her stomach to lure out a giggle, which he immediately succeeded at.

“So, what…” she got out in between the fits of giggles, “it was just an accidental date?” She was still smiling, but she raised a questioning eyebrow. Was it all just a chance? Would he have kept it as a normal hanging out session if the shopkeepers hadn’t been in a romantic mood? She wouldn’t feel offended exactly, just… disappointed. It might be selfish, but she wanted him to want her.

His finger became still and she watched as he looked away from her. It wasn’t light enough for her to properly tell, but his ears looked… reddish. Was he blushing? Her heart skipped at the small ray of hope.

“Well… if ya’ didn’t want it to be a date, it doesn’t have to be.”

Lucy poked her head forward, tilted it to see his face clearer. Was he giving her an easy way out if she wanted to reject him? If that was the case, didn’t that mean that Natsu actually wanted it to be a date?

“It was a date,” she decided, hurried before he took it back. He glanced back at her, boyishly happy with her choice.

“Yeah?” He gave her a sheepish, cocky even, smile.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “but next time you gotta tell me ahead of time. I would have picked a better outfit.” She chuckled. Natsu let an eyebrow raise as his lips crooked in a mischievous manner.

“The outfit with the bra was kinda good,” he teased. Lucy just smacked his arm playfully.

“Calm down stallion, I have a cheekier stash. For actual dates.”

“Wait, you do?”

Lucy stifled a laugh as she stood up from the warm park bench. She’d been half joking – the sexiest lingerie she owned was stuff he’d seen a long time ago, just tucked away in a box in the attic since dates weren’t a common occurrence. But it was tempting to buy some new stuff – you never know what the future might hold.

“Come on, let’s go home.” She reached out her hand to help him stand up, but when he stood on his feet he didn’t let go of her.

“Oi, how have ya’ kept that a secret?” He playfully leaned his weight on her, making her stumble as they slowly made their way home.

“Not. Telling.”

The path ahead was dimly lit, but with Natsu’s warmth beside her, Lucy didn’t mind the chill. His grip on her hand was firm, like he had no intention of letting go – she certainly didn’t want him to. A few minutes of silence passed, the only sound being of the low chattering spilling out from a rogue bar on the way, and the gravel beneath their feet. Then Natsu spoke again.

“Still not tellin’?” he prodded again, his voice teasing.

Lucy smirked, leaning into him just enough to make him stumble in return.

“Nope. Guess you’ll just have to take me on another date to find out.”

He huffed a laugh, his thumb brushing over her knuckles.

“Deal.”

And just like that, they walked home. The moon had risen high, yet the stirring of people on the street gave away that midnight wouldn’t arrive for some time. Playful banter made their laughter carry through the frost-kissed air as they took the leisurely stroll towards Strawberry Street. Between Natsu and Lucy, the only thing indicating that the night had turned cold was the clouds of breath escaping their mouths. She felt so comfortable.

Natsu might not be the romantic type, but being romantic and doing romantic things were separate. If she had to pick anyone in the world, pick between hunks and princes, she’d still pick him, because it wasn’t his smooth language or sexy aura that had drawn her in – it was Natsu. Everything that described him, the humour, the boyishness, the unwavering determination, the loyalty – but not as single aspects. Only when they mixed together into Natsu, did she find herself captivated. Lucy would always pick him. And judging by the hand squeezing hers, he’d pick her.

[edenspoem]

╒═✰❝how the shadow shrouds❞

⋆' a smut teaser

⋆' . subtop/loser!ellie x dom!reader

⋆' content; drabble, blurbs, mature themes, smut, loser ellie, reader has a borderline dominatrix moment(at least in the actual fic), degrading (g), subtop ellie, painslut ellie, hair grabbing (g), voyeurism (e. aware + consenting), edging (g), slight dacryphilia, begging kink

⋆' a/n; this is merely a teaser piece for volume 2 of my tps series, so expect this to be short and not fully detailed. I just couldn't go without writing a teaser specifically for this chapter cuz it's such a hot idea.. this will be much more erotic in the actual fic.

"u're such a fucking loser, ellie williams."

those words wormed parching on her ear, the tepid cider staining your lips carrying a warm scent into her nose that made everything so woozy in her senses.

her ears parched because now, her boxers were sappy with arousal. pretty pussy pulsing on the couches' padding by your signal.

"am i?"

her reply duels you. pomegranate cheeks dulcified in brown sugar spots, hot to the touch, grazing against your own, limpid of any redness. you found esteem in the newfound control your voice held. ellie's pupils read like a palpable message, 'i want you, that bad.'

that bad. that bad being the way you gathered the short burnished hair of her scalp between your folded knuckles, tossing her down to a kneeling position with one gripe tug, her chin pressing the plush of your belly pouch. glossy pup eyes praying for that fierce grip you bear.

ellie us limited to the floor, and your looming shadow shrouds her.

yet, you would only give her half of what she longs for.

a stammer of her whispers stick a film of hot breath over your womb, "please– please, let me fuck you.." her slobbering lips shine, snailing strings of spit that tether to her tongue.

"what did just I say? hands in ur' fuckin' pants."

her mild adams apple bobs with a hitched swallow, hesitant tears brinking the shoreline of her bottom eyelids.

"yes ma'am," muttered ellie breathily, plopping her head down to observe her large hand undoing her pants.

"ey-" you wrap and pull her jaw up, forcing her to gaze up, sternly adding, "fucking look at me." your fingers dimple her skin and drag with reddening ripples.

now, her flexing hands halfway submerged in her unzipped jeans, rubbing discoid motions under her cotton boxers. the slick pools over her fingers, causing raw wet sounds to slosh from beneath the fabric of her boxers.

you could barely hear that shit, though.

the fingers tangled in the thicket of her rusty locks thrust her head back, stretching that elegant neck of hers even more. a choked 'guh.' bubbles from her chords.

"i wanna hear how wet y'are, show me." your cold request capers your throat and wisps out like a gravelly snarl.

the suffuse of blush clots her facial features, skin fermenting with a heat. like wildfire, her arousal spreads infinitely, spilling a heap of moisture to prune up her fingers more than they already were.

a gruff gulp is heard, "uhuhh~" and her other hand peels the waistband of her boxers forward, sounds of smacking wet folds carrying into your ears so deliciously. fuck.

"love it when' y'uh watch me.. mhhgmm, fuck baby, fuhhckk." moaned ellie, verde rings rolling halfway behind her dreary fucked–out lids, red puppy eyes.

the ravine between your upright stance and her pitiful kneeling one immerse your eyes in a beautiful perspective. balled paw messily stroking her achey, strained clit brings a bang of toe–curling pleasure to lash over her cunt, rising up her body.

she wasn't going to cum. not on your watch.

"stop."

her heavy eyes puff and shut, scrunching her brows, gently swaying her whole body up on her knees with each long rub to her clit. she doesn't listen to you. she keeps going. mumbling incoherent 'fucks' like an invocation over her purrs. what a greedy fucking loser.

"said' stop, d'ya hear me?"

the mitt in her hair heaves her crown up harshly, shoving her face plumb to your exposed navel, meek hands grip your thighs.

the tugged tenderness elicited in her scalp excited her further, confessedly – lewdly.

"can't come till i tell you to, kay?" your fingers wane from her scalp, caressing a beeline down her face 'till your index and middle nudge her lips, slipping the tips in, "suck, 'n finger yourself."

"baby, i chn't –" her whine pitches up, spitting your fingers out, "please put ur' hands on me – shhit, fuck!"

hard rubber tip of your boot found itself hiked up against her entrance clad in the jeans inseam, rolling your ankle in circular oscillation.

her entire body rattles, trembling at the mercy of your foot. eyes drowned out. mouth slack agape. soaking slit swallowing up the boxer fabric your foot pushed up. back arching convexly, plowing her rapacious clit on the bulbous edge.

"y-yess.. yesyesyes–" chanted ellie, fucking lost from consciousness.

unluckily, you chuck your foot away.

"no- nono, mhhn– i need'ju.." her mouth latches forward and hungrily nips at your thigh, frustrated at the loss of pleasure with salty tears dripping off her jaw, "I'll make you feel good– please.. nghh-"

so fucking hot.

you chuckle, "see? a pretty fucking loser, poor baby."

ellie just nonscensically rambles, ignoring you, "could fuck you s'good – scchlp," she sucks drool from her spluttered lip, "fuck eachother.."

this girl is antsy as fuck.

♡

that's all y'all get for now 🤣 wait for the rest!!

[logansimmingwolverine]

Eorzean Imports - All Saints' Wake

🎃 Happy Halloween, Simblreen and All Saints' Wake!! 🎃

Download at the Plumb Bob Keep

[ltwilliammowett]

Portuguese mariner’s astrolabe coated with silver by Nicolao Ruffo, 1645

The technical evolution of navigational instruments is inherently linked to the historical development of the art and science of navigation. As early seafarers sailed cautiously along familiar coastlines, they developed an intimate knowledge of the daily movements of the sun, moon, and stars. They knew that by determining the height of the polestar (Polaris) above the horizon in their home port they could navigate in the open ocean and return home by sailing north or south until the observed star reached the same elevation. Once the observed star reached the predetermined altitude, returning home was just a matter of turning east or west and sailing in a straight line until home was reached. By the fifteenth century, the latitudes of many coastal cities were common knowledge and movement between these ports was fairly routine. Obviously, the consequence of an increasing number of voyages combined with rudimentary measuring systems was the frequent loss of ships, men, and cargo. As the cost of ships and cargos mounted, the need for more precise navigational techniques became imperative. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the search for more accurate ways of determining altitude to the development of many new navigational instruments, most of them adaptations of instruments for making astronomical observations ashore.

The earliest astronomical instrument converted for nautical use was the quadrant, but the difficulties of keeping the instrument exactly vertical and preventing the plumb bob from blowing offline on the windy, rolling deck of the ship made its use at sea difficult. Like the quadrant, the mariner’s astrolabe was a simplified version of its astronomical counterpart. Stripped of the complex scales and stereographic projections, the mariner’s astrolabe contained only a simple graduated scale and an alidade for measuring the altitude of the sun or for sighting stars. To increase its effectiveness at sea, its weight was increased and its wind resistance was decreased by creating large openings through the body of the instrument. The combined effect of these changes provided greater accuracy than the nautical quadrant and made the mariner’s astrolabe the preferred instrument among navigators for nearly three hundred years beginning around 1460 and continuing through 1700.

This mariner’s astrolabe was found by diver Gigi Fernandes Corcia from Arqueonautus during the survey and excavation of a 17th century wreck at Passa Pau on the island of Santiago in November of 1999. It was found associated with other mid-seventeenth century material within a complex of deep gullies and caves at a depth of 7 to 12 meters. There was little or no site contamination with extraneous material. It was made by Nicolao Ruffo in 1645 and is currently listed number eighty-four in the National Maritime Museum’s (Greenwich) registry of astrolabes. This particular instrument is unique as the only known example of a mariner’s astrolabe coated with silver.

[attapullman]

I know this is Rhett, but but but hear me out. Neighbor! Bob helping someone with their car. And one of queens of gossip stops by and flirts with him.

Linds! You are right on the head and it's taken me 24 hours of 😵‍💫 to have a coherent thought.

It's deffo headcanon that Bob on leave has Rhett vibes - the grown out hair, the ball caps. I wouldn't be surprised at a hidden little tattoo under those khakis.

So it wouldn't be completely left field for Bob to be in the driveway, middle of summer, nearing the end of a particularly long leave, fixing up his truck because the alternator has been screeching bad on his commute.

Hair grown out, too lazy for a haircut, ball cap pulled over to keep it out of his eyes while he's tucked under the truck's hood. San Diego is at a record high and he ditched his faded Naval Academy tshirt half an hour ago. And half an hour ago every female neighbor within a three house radius is glued to her window.

He couldn't be more oblivious, trying not to snap his fingers with all the metal in his truck. Fully aware he could have taken it to the mechanic, but they aren't open until Monday and he promised he'd take you to the beach tonight.

It's not until he hears a, "Yoohoo!" that he's aware there's an audience. Missus Jacobs, Connelly, and Branaugh are walking across the street dressed for the hot weather - if you count that little of fabric clothing. Robert is instantly scrambling to see if he can escape the situation, but it's too late.

For the next twenty minutes the women dote over him, making notes on his handiness. If he was hot before, he's positively boiling with embarrassment. Keeping his head ducked as he attempts to focus on the mechanics, but the women are constantly chucking him another question while ogling his sweaty chest. How could they not when there's thin trails of perspiration making their way down his pecs and straight toward his happy trail?

"Robert!" Your voice is like a splash of cool water as you make your way up his drive, fanning yourself. He makes a solid effort to focus on your face despite the low cut tank top sticking to your skin possibly being the hottest thing he's seen you in.

You smile apologetically to the women. "I hate to interrupt. I think my air conditioner broke. Would you mind taking a look?"

Before the women can even question your motives, he's slamming the hood of his truck down and slipping into the garage for his tool belt. Fully aware that your air conditioner is functioning after he checked it last week, but your plumbing is definitely in need of a little fixing.

Something him and his tool belt fix immediately as he folds you in half in front of the air conditioner and thanks you with long, hard strokes...

[plumb-bob-keep]

Happy Birthday, Plumb Bob Keep!

A big Happy Birthday to Plumb Bob Keep! 13 years strong, The Last Bastion continues to have a close-knit community, lively discourse, and quality downloads. So let's celebrate with gifts!

From now until the end of April, we encourage folks to post their creations as presents to their fellow Keepers. Of course, it's not necessary, and there is space in this thread for well-wishers of all sorts, too.

If you do choose to add a download to the celebration, post a teaser pic and maybe some text in this thread, and link it to the regular download location, please. Thanks!

Let's hear it for the Keep! Huzzah!

[letomills]

Download: SFS / Mega

[Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3]

These are the PU and CU conversions of the iamliz13 alpha-editable gowns that I did for TF-AF-EF here (please go to that post to see the swatches, clothing categories and texture credits).

PU and CU don't get all of the recolors that other ages and body shapes got: I left out "RCs 8 - Sherahbim The Lady" and "RCs 9 - AlmightyHat The Modest Lady" because of the conspicuous under-boob shadowing that makes no sense on flat-chested PU & CU meshes. I further omitted Beryllium's Red Wool Dress recolor for PU because the belt didn't play nice with the texture mapping for that mesh. The recolors they do get are tooltipped and available either standalone or repo'd to AF.

The meshes are included. Polycounts: PU: 2,038 - CU: 2,572. They were originally age-converted by Cynnix on the Plumb Bob Keep, though I made many polishing edits, especially on PU, from general shape to texture mapping to bone assignment.

The CU mesh got a brand-new fat morph.

~

I have no idea how I managed to get through this huge a set of dresses 12 times over for all these ages/body shapes but hopefully it's helpful to a lot of people out there.

[thedawningofthehour]

Along with the theme of Draxum and Baby Gale, I feel like Gale would very much serve as his stimulating debate partner and rubber duck debugger pretty much as soon as he could sit up.

Like, Draxum sits him on the counter in the lab while he does alchemy, (this man did zero baby-proofing and doesn't realize he can't have his alchemy shit in reach of the child until Gale tries chugging some poison) just have a normal-ass conversation while Huginn and Muninn film from the doorway.

Draxum: "And what about this one, how much of this should I put in?"

Baby Galois: "Abababa."

Draxum: "You're right, the green bottle would suit our purposes much better. The problem I'm running into is that it solidifies after boiling. Can you think of any additives we can use to counteract that?"

"Baby Galois: 'sucking on a plumb bob'

Draxum: "Wait. That's brilliant! We can simply not bring the mixture to a boil, keeping it just under boiling temperature should keep it in its liquid state. You're a master of alchemy already. How do you do it?"

Baby Galois: "Aba baba. Ma. Ma. Guah!"

Draxum: "Riveting."

[authorautumnbanks]

One Night (25)

At Satoru's insistence, Kagome lets him walk in first because maybe there's a trap at the door.

There isn't, but Kagome keeps quiet because she doesn't know how she knew that. Less than a gut feeling and more like the curse personally told her, it would do no such thing, and it isn't that smart.

"Alright, baby. I'll take care of this curse real quick," Satoru says as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a black leather glove. He slides it over his hand and looks ahead. The exterior of the building looked fine for the most part, but the interior leaves much to be desired. The floors creak and the paint is chipping from the walls. On the floor next to the hallway, a picture lies broken and dusty. There is a lot to take in, but Kagome watches as Satoru slides the other glove on.

Oh dear, does she have a glove fetish?

"What's with the gloves?" She clears her throat and tucks her hair behind her ear. They need to exorcise the curse first, and then she can touch him. As much as she wants to grab him now, she keeps her hands to herself. Curse and then movie time. It's a shame curses don't show up on camera, but that's probably also for the best.

"Oh, these?" He flexes his fingers, and Kagome swears her pussy throbs in tune, creating a symphony that only she can hear. His fingers are long, really long, and it drives her crazy when he bends her over the bed and fucks her with those fingers. "I know you wanted to see a show and I doubt the plumbing is still working here, so I figured this would let me show you a good time without getting my hands dirty." He angles his head down and smiles. "You just stand there and look pretty, yeah?"

What he is saying makes sense, but she likes those gloves. A lot. Clearly hanging around Miroku all these years has rubbed off on her.

"I'm not squeamish about blood. If that's what you're worried about." She presses her lips together and stares at his gloves in contemplation. "The next time we go back to the past, you can let loose there."

"Let loose?" The words hang between them for a moment. Satoru's mouth opens in a soundless laugh. "Oh, you want that?"

Kagome shrugs. "It's more so the gloves than anything else, but I wouldn't complain if you wanted to do that, too."

Satoru advances on her and wraps an arm around her. "Open up for me, yeah."

She spreads her legs and sighs in appreciation when his fingers, his gloved fingers, touch her through the tights. Satoru's nostrils flare as the realization hits him smack in the chest. His fingers press into her more insistently. It doesn't take much. It never does with him. She's wet and all too aware of the danger lurking in the building while Satoru runs his fingers over her lips.

He angles his head down and inhales. "Wanna fuck you against the wall," he says, voice strained with need. "You have more of these?" His hand slides up and then dips inside her tights. Her eyes roll back as he slides two fingers into her, easing them in and out in lazy strokes. He fucks her with his fingers like they have all the time in the world. As if there isn't a curse upstairs in the last room on the left, hidden inside of a closet.

Kagome's brows pinch together. "Knew you'd want to rip them." She blinks at a vision of the curse, a burly type with needles sticking out of its face like a cushion and five pairs of legs, but only two arms. "Uh, I think you should exorcise that curse. It's trying to escape out of the upper window."

Satoru pulls back and while she can't see his eyes or his brows because of the blindfold, she imagines he's wondering how she knows that. "Forgot about the curse," he says, withdrawing his fingers. Kagome reaches for his hand and wraps her lips around them. Satoru makes a choked noise in the back of his throat. His Adam's apple bobs.

"Okay, you can go now." Kagome drops his hand. So that's what she tastes like. Personally, she doesn't think she tastes nearly as sweet as Satoru claims, but there's no point in arguing with him about it. "The stairs on the left are broken, but the stairs down that hall are fine." She points to the hallway where the picture lies on the ground.

Satoru tilts his head. "How do you know that? Have you been here before?" He places a hand on her back and leads them to the left stairs, where the last five steps lie in a crumbled mess on the floor. Satoru wraps his arm around her, tucking her closer to his side as he jumps to the middle steps and then to the top.

"I don't know," she admits. "It's not an ability of mine. Maybe it's the baby's?"

"Did Koushi do anything while he was in the womb?" Satoru kicks the door open and walks a few steps in front of her. He's taking this well. Though he also took demons and time travel, and of course multiverse well too. Kagome shakes her head, though Satoru isn't looking back at her.

"No, he never did anything crazy... well, he never liked the machines, so that was part of the reason I stopped going to the doctor and had a home birth." She crosses her arms. Koushi wasn't conceived under the same conditions as this child. "I think it's because of the energy fluctuations."

"Ah, the energy massage," he says wistfully. "We should do that again." He looks over his shoulder and smirks at her. "You admitted it. That you're pregnant."

Of course, that's what he focuses on. Not how strange it is for a baby to be manifesting while in the womb.

"Just let me know when you plan to announce it, though I think Mom and Syouma should know..." Oh right, she told Ayumi. "Well, Ayumi already knows. I told her yesterday when she came over." She stops when Satoru holds a hand up. The curse energy seeps from under the door like a warning.

Satoru cracks his knuckles. "Can ya put up a barrier around yourself? Make me feel more at ease." He presses his hand against the door. "Supposed to be a special grade curse, but its domain is incomplete."

Kagome puts up a barrier to settle Satoru's mind and remains in the doorway while Satoru strolls inside the room. There are rows and rows of desks. It looks sad. There are no walls for privacy. Just rows and rows of cramped desks. Several have two chairs and two computers. This place must have been festering with negative emotions. Workers forced to stay long past their shifts, working side by side with their coworkers that they probably didn't like all that well.

Kagome rubs at her eyes. The vision of what this place could have been is too real. The curse stands and lets out a low growl. It's stuck here, tethered to this room in particular. For a moment, Kagome feels terrible for it, but then Satoru's energy flares and coats the room, and her body trembles. She has a barrier around her, so Satoru's energy shouldn't be getting through, but it does, and the darkness dances along her arms, enticing her own energy to flare.

Is this what he feels when she gives him an energy massage? Leaning against the door, she sucks in a breath. It feels like he is everywhere. So caught up in trying to hold herself together, she nearly misses Satoru exorcising the curse. It tries to throw a desk at him and then a jab, but Satoru grins up at it while his energy pushes against it. Satoru ups the output of his cursed energy until the curse's skin is ripped from it until nothing remains.

"I was going to use my hands, but I know how much you like... these gloves," Satoru says, as he turns around. "Are you okay? Shit, was that too much?"

Kagome drops the barrier and crooks a finger at him. "Come here."

He slides his blindfold down. "You sure you're alright?" He swallows. His hands rest on her hips. As cute as his concern is, Kagome wants something else from him. She runs her hands up and down his chest. This shirt of his has got to go. They could go back down the stairs and out the door, but that feels too long.

"Can you break the window?" She leans into him. Her nipples harden. She aches for him. "I need you, Satoru. Please."

Satoru chuckles. "Bloodthirsty, huh?" He lifts her and lowers his voice. "Wrap those pretty legs around me. I got you."

She wraps her arms and legs around him, inhaling his scent while he fires something at the wall. Red, maybe? She kisses his neck, sucking the skin between her lips. The mark fades as quickly as it appears. Kagome glares at his neck while Satoru jumps down. Does she need to add some energy to it for her marks to stick?

"Where's the tripod?" Satoru breathes.

"Trunk." She licks a strip up his neck and then clamps down, pooling her energy around the area. It's silly, but she doesn't care. She wants to look at him, look at the love marks she made.

"Fuck." Satoru giggles, fucking giggles. Kagome blames the surge of cursed energy for the thoughts going through her mind. Blames the darkness of his energy wrapping around her for why she wants to claim him. "Easy, baby. I'm not going anywhere." Satoru's hands grip her thighs. "Shit, hold on. We gotta get the tripod." He blows out a breath as he lowers her on the hood of the car. He spikes a hand through his hair. His eyes are blown.

Kagome smiles. So that's what it will take. She nods her head and leans back. "Hurry or I'll start without you." It's an empty threat, but Satoru flashes out of view. She laughs, but it dies in her throat as she takes in just how much of the building Satoru took out. That looks expensive. Half of the building is just gone. "Satoru, you took out more than the window." She turns her head and wets her lips while he sets up the tripod. On the floor next to the black tripod is the red bag of toys.

Did he see the cock ring?

"Hm? Oh, it's fine. A little property damage never hurt anyone." He pulls out his phone and fiddles with the angle. "Smile for Daddy."

She leans forward and toys with the end of her dress, pulling it up ever so slightly. As much as she wants to throw it over her head, if they are gonna make a movie, she may as well put on a show. "Come here," she commands.

Satoru hesitates for a moment and then moves the tripod to the side, closest to the driver's door. "Hands on the car, ass facing me." He snaps his gloves against his wrist.

She really, really loves those gloves of his. Kagome slides off the car and does as he says. She sighs with relief when his body covers hers. He breathes against her neck as if he's trying to pull himself together. He palms her ass, squeezing her cheeks before smacking her. Kagome moans. Her body jolts before she pushes back against him, wiggling her hips. "Satoru, fuck me." She glances back and nearly comes from the look in his eyes.

Damn, he's more feral looking than when he exorcised that curse.

She bites her lip as she reaches for him, drawing him in for a kiss while he thrusts against her. The dry humping is torture. It's not like Satoru to draw things out, but he kisses her leisurely, as though she's the only thing that matters. As if they have all the time to stay here and love one another. Kagome sucks his bottom lip and then bites down. He may want to take things slow, but she does not.

Satoru's eyes close as his hands tighten on her hips. He pulls away just enough to grip her tights and rip them. They lie in tatters around her ankles. "Is that what you want?" He shoves his pants down and slams his cock into her in one thrust. "Look at cha," he coos, "sucking my cock in like a good girl. Baby, you're so greedy. Mine." Satoru grips her hip with one hand and grabs her hair with his other one, tugging her head back and forcing her to arch. "Say you love this cock."

Kagome's eyes roll back. The cool exterior of the car gives her little reprieve from the heat of Satoru's cock fanning the fire burning in her gut. "I love your cock! Oh! Right there," she moans. The only thing keeping her from toppling over is Satoru's hold on her hair. The sweet burn of pain reminds her this isn't a fantasy. "Satoru," Kagome whines, "So close." She's been wound tight all day.

He grunts as he eases his hold on her hair to grip her hips with both hands. Kagome's stomach flip-flops as her feet lift off the ground. Her fingers slip on the steel, but Satoru's thrusts never slow down. She gives up on trying to hold on to the hood of the car and gets lost in the feeling of him. Satoru slows down and slides a hand down her leg, urging her to wrap it around his back. He does the same to her other leg and then grabs her arms.

"Satoru!" Kagome's chest heaves. Her muscles strain with the effort to stay locked in place. This is why she stretches twice a day. She cries out his name over and over. He's reaching deeper depths in this position. It's on the verge of being too much. Satoru is not a small man and the way he wields his cock; it could be registered as a weapon.

"I gotcha, fuckkk yeah." Satoru chuckles, breathless. "That's my girl. Keep on coming for me. Gonna fill ya up."

Kagome squeezes her eyes when she comes. The pleasure overtakes her senses, nearly blinding her. It's his name on her lips when she comes. Always his. Satoru's thrusts become more erratic. He fucks her while he comes. Her bangs are plastered to her forehead. "Kami, Satoru," she breathes. Her brain struggles to keep sense of everything. She blows out a breath when her back hits the hood of the car and her legs are bent and spread apart. "W-wait! It's going to—Satoru!" Her hands dart out, reaching for him, but Satoru wraps his lips around her. She swears he's smiling while he laps up the evidence of her and his come. "Pervert," she huffs out, dragging her hands down her face.

Kami, she loves him.

"Stay right there." He kisses her inner thigh and then her before he's pulling away. Kagome pouts. "Oh, what's this?" He squats near the bag and pulls out the silicone ring. "And you call me the pervert?"

"Take off your clothes and put that on," Kagome says, resting on her elbows so she can watch him. "I want that on camera."

Satoru stares at her for a moment. His ears are red, flushed. Kagome raises a brow. Does he like it when she tells him what to do? Nah, she's probably just overthinking it. It's the mood, not about the commands she barks out. But still, he's moving too slow.

"Satoru," Kagome says. "Now."

He stands and grabs the tripod, angling it towards him before sliding his shirt off. Kagome bites her bottom lip. Oh, she could look at him all day. His biceps flex as he shoves his pants all the way down and then kicks them away, near the bag. Satoru eyes her and then drops his attention to the ring in his hand. His lips curl up as he slides the ring over his cock. She crooks her finger and motions for him to come back to her. Satoru grabs his phone, takes it off the tripod, and approaches her.

"Show me those pretty tits," he coos, holding the phone in front of him. Kagome slides the straps down, her dress pools around her waist. Satoru caresses her breast, squeezing until milk leaks. He lifts his hand and licks the milk off. "Every part of you is so sweet."

"Satoru, put the phone down and fuck me."

"Hold on, I'm taking inventory." He flashes her a smile. Kagome huffs and lifts a foot, pressing the heel on his stomach. Satoru pauses and stares at her foot. He grabs her ankle and tugs her forward. Kagome's brows furrow together. What is he doing? She gasps when he places her foot on his cock, the heel digs into the skin, but he doesn't seem to mind.

No, he likes it. Kagome's heart beats faster. She wants to know everything that turns him on. The tattered fabric of what used to be her tights hangs from her ankles like a bracelet. "Satoru," she warns.

"Alright, alright." He points the phone down at her foot before setting it back into place on the tripod. He fiddles with it for a moment, searching for the best angle, before joining her once more. "Legs in the air. I want those shoes on my shoulders." He holds her legs together with one arm and then reaches between them, flipping the ring on. "Shit," he says with a laugh as he enters her. "You like that?"

Kagome can hardly open her mouth to form the words, so she nods instead, and even that takes so much energy. The vibrator smacks against her clit, giving her a jolt every time Satoru snaps his hips. She cups her breasts, needing something to do with her hands. She caresses them and plucks at her nipples. Her breasts tingle as the sensation of milk leaking from her nipples mixes with the vibrations. Satoru's mouth opens as he stares at her.

"Wanna touch you, Toru."

He drops her legs, and she immediately wraps them around him. He rests his arm on the hood of the car and then kisses her softly. She runs her hands down his back, pushing her energy into it.

"Kagome," he says, voice haggard. "I can't come with this ring on."

She laughs as she moves her hands to palm his face. "That's the point, Satoru." She flexes her lower muscles, tightening when he goes to move. Satoru growls. His eyes squeezed shut as he inhales. Kagome smiles before kissing him.

Maybe she should edge him after all.

***

A/N: Happy Sunday! It's been a long week so I figured smut would cheer everyone up lol.

"Does being around Kagome have a positive effect on the six eyes train?" - Yep. Satoru's body doesn't work as hard to keep the strain down when Kagome is around since her energy heals and amplifies.

"Is Eri stalking Satoru's social media?" - Not yet, she's in denial that she did anything wrong.

"Why is Koushi mad at Satoru?" - Because Satoru keeps getting into his milk.

I am over my cold finally though I got this lingering cough. Probably update sometime in the middle of the week and on Sunday since I took off this week for a staycation and to get some orignal writing done. Might update Brat Tamer this week but I also need to get back to How To Tame. Something will be updated. Take care of yourselves! Drink plenty of water and make sure to get lots of rest. And everything is going to be okay!