#Spooky month ship tournament

[smshiptournament]

And the winner of the spooky month ship tournament is...

Smokeydonuts! (Jack x John)

Thank you so much to everyone who participated, this wouldn't have been possible without you. Have a nice day!

[xfriki26]

Chat, your suffering brings me joy and pride 😈/j

[zaccosnacco]

Guys heres the reasons you should vote for Holyfire

1 look at this painting on Ignacios wall in hollow sorrows

Its clearly showing skiddad had baked him a birthday cake come onn, and the factvthat Ignacio hung it up in the first place

2 a batshit arsonist with a batshit cult leader is so badass, both are off their rocker

3 have this cute art I've made of them and it will surely change your mind

Look at them how could you not vote them

4 they need to kiss

Vote here

[spooky-momth]

if any of you start unironically hating on goldenlavender (or any popular ships tbh) bc of a silly little shipping tournament I'll just block u btw. please be nice to each other.

tournament seeding is hard and a lot of fights are gonna seem unfair but this is just for fun. it is not that serious babes

[fhs-event-week]

What are your plans for the next event?

I've been planning a whole schedule for the next year lmao, because I have issues. Nothing I say here is finalized, though! Just some ideas I've throwing around in my brain. However, do feel free to give your own thoughts if you think a particular date would be ill-advised for some reason.

First off: The FHS week! Last year we did it on September, but I think I should push it a month or two back for this year. We just finished the Freddy & Fred week, we have Art Fight in July, I don't want to overwhelm everyone by putting everything close together. So I'm thinking about doing it late october, early november. Maybe during Halloween week, and have a few spooky prompts for people who like that sort of thing? Idk, it could be fun.

As for later on, well...

I want to do a tournament for all of one character's ships for Valentine's Day! I had a lot of fun with the first tournament, and I really want to try my hand at doing propaganda for really rare rarepairs like Freddy/Onnie or Freddy/Felix. See if I can even figure out anything to say lol. It'd be just a 32 bracket tournament, so not as long as the last one- unless we did it for two characters? I feel like it could be fun. Maybe you guys could vote on the second one, idk.

Then I would like to do something in May- either the OC event, or one for the Toys. Or the twins? I'd like to the twins for their birthday, but it would fall too close to when I want to do the event week... Unless we have the event week early, and then do the twins in November. Could also be an option.

And that's about it probably? Maybe with something small somewhere between all the big events. Who knows.

[thecrackshipawards]

Qualifier polls round 2

[plants-and-swords]

I am SUPER MEGA LATE this month, September has been a ride for me!!

However!! Here are the prompts for this year’s Cookie Run Inktober, an event i’ve been running for a few years now!

This event is no rush either, take your time with this, do multiple a day to catch up, don’t do some on days where you need a break. This isn’t a contest, it will be more fun to do it at your pace! Please, have fun!!

Below all the days will be clarified!

——————————————————————————

Gingerbrave: It wouldn’t be Cookie Run without it’s iconic mascot!

Common Cookie: Draw one of the other common cookies

Rare Cookie: Draw a rare cookie you like, or think is underappreciated

Epic Cookie: Draw an epic cookie you like, or think is underappreciated

Treasure: Draw a treasure you really like, or have always wanted to draw!

Dragon: Draw one of the dragon cookies, or what you think one of the unrevealed dragons may look like!

Wizard’s Archives: Draw something based on the Wizards Archive’s event

Fresh Veggies: Draw something either based on the Spinach update, Sandwich update, or both!

Legendary Cookie: Draw any legendary cookie!

Guild Expidition: What cookies do you send out on expiditions? What will they find..!

Raids: Based on the newest update, draw a raid boss, or something based on the raids!

Meta: Draw a cookie that is/has been in the meta this year!

Cookie or Creature...?: Draw a cookie that can turn into an animal or is part-animal! (Like fig)

Magical Cookies: Draw any cookie that has a magic-based ability! Not limited to city of wizards cookies

Dreamy Cookieland: Draw something based on the Dreamy Cookieland event

Fruity Cookies: There’s more than just the citrus squad now! Draw any fruit-based cookie

Super Epic: What is your favorite costume of the super epic rank? Draw it!

Darkness: Draw a cookie who has been pulled in by the darkness...

NPC: We’ve gotten a lot of NPCs recently, draw one that sticks out to you!

Cookie Run OC: draw one of your existing or create a new cookie run oc!

Martial Arts Tournament: Draw something based on the Martial Arts Tournament event

Sailing through the seas: Draw a cookie who travels the sea!

00ooOO00 ooOo00o!: Draw something with sorbet shark cookie!!

The city’s gaurdians: draw Mocha Ray and/or Lobster Cookie

Whos that crying?: Draw a cookie who cries, such as Onion or Squid Ink!

Newspaper Delivery: Draw chestnut or something based on the Christmas event from late 2019!

Happy Anniversary: Cookie Run’s Global Release Anniversary! Draw a picture to commemorate it!

Shipping: the day to draw your cookie OTP! If i see pedo stuff i will burn your shoes :)

Pillow Fight: draw something based on the pillow fight event!!

Cheddar Mines: draw something based on the newest mining update in cookie run!

Custom costume: Happy halloween! Make a costume for any cookie to wear on this spooky night! Let’s hope they get candy!

[livefromphilly]

The Good and The Bad, 06.30.20 - 07.31.20

Somebody press fast forward. 

:(

One of my favorite emcees of all time, Malik B. from The Roots, passed yesterday. The Roots were a huge influence on me growing up and way back before social media I met a bunch of people I'm still friends with today through the message boards on Okayplayer.com. A really wild part of the whole thing is that when I saw he passed and went to Google to confirm it, I found out he was using a photo I took of him for his Facebook background. It's one of those spooky coincidences as I shot it almost exactly seven years ago on July 31, 2013 (man, I've been on Tumblr forever). It's also a photo that is being used on a bunch of national outlets like CNN and CBS, in some cases incorrectly attributed to legendary Philly photographer Mpozi Tolbert (dunno how they didn't realize the photo was taken seven years after Mpozi passed). I let the Associated Press photo people know and they told me they'd fix it soon. EDIT: It’s fixed. New York Times has the updated credit. 

Baseball started, but the Phillies are still bad. To make matters worse, the team that kicked their ass in a three game series is going through a Covid-19 outbreak. Now the Phillies are sidelined while the rest of the MLB (aside from the team they played) is still at it.

My Apple router kicked the bucket after 10 years of faithful service. My 2010 iMac also died recently (well, just the hard drive, but I'm probably not gonna pay for a replacement on a 10-year-old computer). Those were the last two Apple products I owned from before Steve Jobs passed. Feels like the end of an era. My 2015 Macbook Pro is a bit long in the tooth, but I'm holding out until the Apple silicone computers start shipping. 

They said that Philly is the best city at wearing masks. If that's true, this country is really fucked because we aren't especially good at that shit imo. 

It's been a whirlwind these last few weeks. A close family friend died a few weeks ago and it was like "well, that sucks". Can't even have a proper funeral or meet up with anyone to commiserate and have some whiskey. I really hate this virus. 

!

Soccer is back ("Football" for my international peeps) and the Union are doing pretty ok in this tournament. That's good.

The NBA is also back and the Sixers have played well so far. Their starters have, at least. Also, Matisse Thybule is great at vlogging. 

I've been looking at ways to possibly start doing photography as a full time thing because I think I might be over working. If I do decide to do that I'll start by selling some prints.

I got my car's air conditioner "fixed" since the last time I made one of these. "Fixed" in that it cools off the car, but it kinda leaks all over the passenger floor. Sucks for when I have other people in the car, but having other people in the car doesn't happen much these days so I'll probably hold off on fixing that. 

July felt like it was 90 degrees every single day, but it looks like it will be getting somewhat cooler. Only Sunday wiil be 91, and every other day going forward should be in the low 80s. This is great because my electric bill this month is super high thanks to running the AC 24/7.

[astranne]

(Natalia Romanova) Crossover Harry Potter x Marvel

So, Natalia Romanova. Daughter of Black Widow and the Winter Soldier. The Avengers are totally her honorary uncles and aunts. Since she‘s James‘ daughter she‘s a super soldier too and HYDRA did some experiments so she‘s now stronger/faster than Captain America. She is now also an empath and telepath. And since this is an AU, Black Widow is a witch (Harry Potter universe here). But she never learned magic like all the others, she never needed speels and a wand. Just like Natalia. The royal family has always been magic, so they are important too in the wizarding world. But since Natasha never has been at the magic places they think she‘s a squib and like her daughter magicless. Anyway.

So, the muggle world thinks, that Natalia goes to a private school with other rich kids, bc Natasha wants her childhood as normals as possible. They send her to Durmstrang, bc this is the perfect school for her. (In this fic, many dark wizard families send their children there, Durmstrang is almost as big as Hogwarts and a proud school. The asshole Igor somewhat is not there) And a former Red Room 'friend' of Natasha is teacher there, so she can train her daughter while school. She goes under the name Natalia Romanoff, but somehow they realize this is the princess of russia. Naturally they try to become her friend, but... her glare is really scary. And then she starts talking about her father and they are like, nooopee not with me. But someone doesn‘t recognizes her. One Draco Malfoy. His father sends him to Durmstrang, bc the school is known for the good teaching in DADA (they totally also learn some dark spells) and Lucius will not send his heir to the school where this Dumbleshit is. Draco only says once, 'my father will hear about this', but no one fears his father. They are all pretty chill and not like britain wizards. So Draco slowly changes, doesn’t become this little brat who runs to his father everytime. He’s more like: oh fuck, my mom will kill me, when he does something dumb. It‘s in the middle of the school year, when he sees Natalia in the library and they just start talking. He has no idea who she is, bc Malfoys hate the muggle world and yeah. Natalia notices that and decides, this is now my best friend. They start to hang out, prank some olders and become friends with Vikor Krum, who starts his career.

And everybody is like: boy, do you realize this is a princess? Draco is just confused until she tells him and he‘s just: why did you do this to me??? I thought we‘re friends? He takes it with humor, yk Draco isn’t this little shit like in canon, Well, he still can be, but only when necessary. Anyway, he’s totally proud, that he’s the best friend of the princess of russia.

Anyway. They become friends and Draco writes a letter, before he comes home. There he casually writes he befriended the Romanova heir and how she teached him some moves with knifes. His father pales, bc draco- how in the bloody hell did you become friends with the russian princess, who is the daughter of the most feared assassin??? His mother is proud and excited to meet this Natalia.

Anywayyy. Draco comes home, his father tries his usual shit, but his son just walks past him and hugs his mother. Narcissa approves™

Uhm... probably should mention that Draco let his hair grow? Bc omg- twelve year old Draco Malfoy with a undercut and a little bun. Omg- and then some years later. You either die, bc he‘s so cute or bc he‘s so hot.

Anyway. Draco and Natalia write through the summer and also meet. James begins to teach Draco, bc you are now the best friend of my daughter. She can‘t always protect you. The Malfoys meet the Romanovas and somehow the whole wizarding world knows this.

Lucius called Natalia a half blood, bc he tought James is one.

“Excuse me, my Lord. But my father is the head of the Barnes family, an old and ancient house of America. He is a true wizard, if the muggels wouldn‘t have tortured him, his magical core still would be intact.“ James stares at Lucius, like he’s ready to kill and then mutters something in russian. Natalia snorts unladylike, while Natasha grins. (James called Lucius a little boy, (in not so nice words) bc he fears his daughter who is twelve years old. Shame on you, Lucius)

Bc Natalia is bored, she created an Instagram account, where she immediately gained millions of followers.

“Hey there! You probably think, what the bloody hell is the princess of-"

“Stop swearing, young lady!“

“And this was my father... anyway. I have summer holidays and while I still prepare for the next school year, I have sooo much time to do nothing! And- Draco, come here! I want you to introduce to Instagram.“ Natalia grins widely, while she films Draco, who was reading a book about the history of Russia.

“What now, Nat?“, he mumbles.

“Look in the camera!“

“You know, if you say that, I will especially not doing it.“

“And this is my best friend Draco.“

“Draco Malfoy.“ She rolles her eyes playfully, when he still ignores her.

“Draco Lucius Malfoy... now stop being such a brat and come here.“

“I hate it, when you call me by my full name.“

“Anyway. This is Draco Malfoy, my best friend. We met in the middle of the school year and since then-“

“Everybody has to suffer because of our alliance.“

“We are friends, Draco! Stop being such a bloody-“

“Young Lady-“

“It was Draco!“ Her fans love their interactions. Some even do competitions about Draco‘s insults at random people.

“My dad teached Draco some things and now he won‘t let this bloody knife-“

“Natalia Romanova, no cruse words in this household.“

“I swear, my dad knows everytime when I cruse. It‘s spooky.“ Draco snorts, while he still twirls the knife in his hand.

“Your father knows everything you do.“

“That‘s true.“

She gets the permission, still to post on social media while being at school. As long she doesn’t exposes the wizarding world.

“I wanted to introduce you to another friend of mine! This is Viktor-“

“Stanislav! Did you hear? I‘m friends with the princess, take that you fucking asshole!“

“We are not friends anymore, Vic! Stanislav, you are now my new best friend!“

“Hey! What about me??“

Some people are concerned, that she only has male friends, since they only met the three.

“Please. Girls can be soo dramatic, it‘s so fucking annoying. But I have some female friends. Like Daphne. But she goes to another school.... Draco? Do you think we could kidnap Daphne, so she goes with us to school?“ Draco is so done with his life. Why did he became friends with her? She only makes problems...

So yeah, Natalia is a cheerful person, but if you try to hurt her friends or family, she raises hell. Draco tries to control the chaos she creates, but is not always successful.

Uhm, fast forward I think? To fourth year, the Triwizard Tournament. Bc Draco and Natalia are one of Victor‘s closest friends, (and have powerful names) the go for a year to Hogwarts. They also meet the golden trio, who has no idea who they are, but Ron is searching for the princess. Hermione tries to stop him, but he already did the mess. Natalia begins raises an eyebrow and asks him what business he has with the princess.

“I need to speak with her.“

“And you are? Draco, is he a part of the pure blood families?“ Draco just shruggs and says: “I‘m not entirely sure, he has the looks of a Weasly and while they are a pure blood family, no one of the elite likes them.“ Harry begins to shout at Draco, Ron too, while Hermione wants to bang her head against the wall.

“I‘m sure, this is a misunderstanding. I‘m not from England, so I don‘t know the important families like Draco does. He simply said what your political position in the wizarding world is. I‘m sure you know the Malfoys, this is Draco Malfoy and he‘s my best friend. I appologies, if something we said came out wrong, but in Durmstrang you normally don‘t offend students with the political positions of their parents.“

Hermione becomes friends with the two, Harry and Ron are then pissed. Does she care? No.

So, they have their fun in Howgarts, they also befriend the Weasly twins and prank some people.

And then comes the fifth year. People loose their absolute shit, bc boy- They haven‘t seen Draco for 3 months and suddendly he‘s one of the hottest teenagers of the world. They start to ship the two, but Natalia doesn’t react to the fans about this.

For information, they are in the sixth year when they come together (somewhat)

But in the summer after the fifth year, some agency contacts Draco and asks him if he wants to do modeling. And he‘s like, why not. Then I have also a name in the muggle world and much influence.

He does a great job. He gains a fandbase, (he already has one) who are like: fucking finally-bitch, what took you so long???

He also starts social medias, mostly talks about his life. And the world meets his mother and they are like: ok wow, we understand, Draco. She‘s an angel, a badass angel. We know now, why he‘s such a perfect boy

So yeah, Draco starts modeling, his father tries to throw a hissy fit but can‘t really do anything about it.

I totally forgot about it, but Voldemort came back and James is like- fuck this shit and killed him. And destroyed all his Horcruxes. He went to all his former followers and was like: bitches, this was a half blood who wanted to destroy the wizarding world. Don‘t follow his mistakes or I‘ll kill you all.

They look at him with big eyes and he then tells, he wants his daughter save and how can she be save, when the parents of her friends follow a mass murderer?

And yeah, this is how the Winter Soldier destroyed Dumbledore’s plans and didn‘t even know it.

And yeah. Draco starts also acting (he‘s really good at it) and is a part time teacher in Durmstrang. Natalia is doing princess stuff, represents her house in the wizarding world and just lives her life.

They marry some years later (the biggest wedding of the century after Natalia‘s parents).

Masterlist

[rhodesmystery]

what do YOU imagine durmstrang like?

okay honestly like @seawives​ gets it right here and here with the like eldritch horror living under the castle thing. They Get Me.

but otherwise like. hm.

how it’s described in book as being remarkably smaller than hogwarts and the fires not being lit for warmth. my takeaway from that has always been some kind of castle carved out of a cliff over a great lake, too, and i’ve kind of always stuck with it.

like the main foundation, is a relatively small castle (if you can consider castles small). a number of rooms for classes and board, of course, but it isn’t holding much else. talkative portraits and winding staircases and maybe if you’re unlucky, six missteps into the catacombs, but it is remarkably sparse in the main foundation, having been considered quite ‘newly’ made compared to the rest that lies below.

something being remarkably sheer, climbing up the side of a mountain for the main ‘foundation’ sitting on the top, is just. spooky. especially imagining that below the main foundation of the castle, the rooms just sprawl into the mountain. some abruptly end, some are magically locked. there’s ones that turn students around, returning them safely to a convenient staircase, and others that keep the brave trapped.

a bulgarian witch in the middle ages was the one who set durmstrang up. i am kind of in the camp that it originally was a likely small school located somewhere else before moving to somewhere vaguely northern europe, with mountains and lakes. okay actually, the ship has always been a thing. always been around. it found the location of the school, and just anchored itself in this fjord, not allowing itself to move for days on end.

koldovstertz exists too, and like literally everyone ever, there are more than the eleven schools around. obviously. durmstrang was started as some sort of early education school, as wizards and witches were getting themselves more organised. away from the fear of the non magical community, but it too started as just a quiet little place to teach the children how to control their magic. but it drew attention, and had to move... and move... and move. whilst other european schools rose up, durmstrang managed to hold it’s own despite being on the smaller side as far as attendance goes

durmstrang is kind of famous (infamous?) for martial magic. i kind of always pictured in house tournaments, and land that kind of sprawls on for training fields, beyond the classroom. from first year, combative ability is tested and tried, and expands beyond classic hexes and protective charms. inventiveness is rewarded.

despite it’s poor reputation and somewhat specific focus, durmstrang surprisingly generates a lot of creative students in the way of making new spells. sure, most of them are pretty much only useful in a duel, but more than one has gone on to create new charms and hexes, so there’s that.

european competitions are rarely held at durmstrang. might be because of that convenient bit of magic which makes people forget just where the school is located once they leave (which makes an unfortunate wandering student lost to the wilderness happen more often than not), but despite the crisp and beautifully maintained quidditch stadium, there just always seems to be an incident of some sort. lots of worries of curses and injury. surprisingly, one of the only places on the grounds with the least amount of death. might just be because durmstrang is just That Good.

the school holds a lot of secrets. secrets and ghosts and monsters. some things manage to bait the students who want the easy way, with whispers in the night and a book conveniently left open in the middle of a hallway. and snap! it takes the student away, shutting closed, until the next one comes along. apparently the library cries at night.

the water is crystal clear. almost deceptively so. over the summer, the students are allowed to swim, as the monsters hibernate. or so the rumour goes. but curse be on those who set toe upon the fjord in the dead of winter. 

there’s no house system in place. or if there was, once nerida vulchanova died, it was dismantled. more than once, there’s an upswing, of treating each classmate like the next opponent. trying to install some sense of competitiveness from a young age. plenty of students manage to throw the teachings aside. some aren’t so lucky.

whilst the hallways, or catacombs, below the main foundation are mildly frightening, by knocking on the correct portrait, thrice, it is easy enough to circumvent them entirely, and make it out onto the fjord unscathed. or there is the great winding staircase that clambers down. once it was just a rickety old rope ladder, but as the mountain grew (or the school did, who was to say what really came first and grew), not many are brave enough to try that anymore.

with such a diverse range of languages, there are translation tools available. each european language experiences an upswing every couple of decades, based on trend or usage. modernly, students would be speaking dominantly german, as lingua franca, and additional classes are held in between. many students walk out of durmstrang’s doors with more than a few languages under their belts.

whatever was below, no one knows if it existed before or after durmstrang’s ship set its anchor in the fjord. it has always just been. more than one curse breaker has been hired in to try to work their way down. whilst there has been progress, and many rooms have been rendered gentle, many curse breakers only last a month at most before the voices get too loud. who do they belong to? no one knows. but the voices continue, and there’s just always, out the corner of their eye, a dark shadow following.

blood purity and idealism nearly killed the institute. the stranglehold it has on the school is lessening, but with such an aggressive focus, and leniency only given to half-bloods as long as their magic parent is in good standing, the attendance of students has dropped considerably. old dormitories have long since been closed off and forgotten, and classes are barely more than twenty students every other year for one entire grade. once karkaroff leaves, there is a huge shift in management, and lots of little changes happen. several european ministries even get involved in management. 

the symbols burned into the walls by grindelwald don’t fade. they glow, sometimes, and once it had been a joyous whisper that those who saw the light were chosen. but now it’s a blight upon the school, and even when portraits are thrown over the top, or curtains or even someone trying to pry the stone from the wall, somehow, they still exist.

(until all the hallows are found, and then lost, do students notice that the symbols no longer exist)

[smshiptournament]

Spooky ship tournament - The final fight

[xfriki26]

Dont worry, the poll was only to know who would pay the tab at the double date.

[zaccosnacco]

Its wild to see in the ship tournament that candybats lost, honestly hell yes the cops are way better we must draw smokeydonuts to celebrate

[spooky-momth]

my secret evil goal is to be enough of a funny spooky month poster to have the clout to run a lila ships tournament

[king-of-katz]

Pride Sale!

Hi all! My name's Meredith Katz, and I write fun lgbt+ fantasy, science fiction, and romance. To celebrate Pride month, my publisher is having a June sale for 20% off all books sold through their site! (On top of existing preorder sales.)

Of course, that means all my stuff is on sale as well! Do you like:

Tea, AI, travel, retrofuture, soft warm stories? The Cybernetic Tea Shop is a story about accepting the things we cannot change and the courage to change the ones we can when a traveling mechanic meets a homebound robot. (F/F, Asexual)

Dragons, video games, soft cats, cooking shows, knitting? Smoke Signals is a fun and upbeat urban fantasy. A harried CSR gets put in charge of a billionaire dragon's hoard of video games. At least the dragon’s cute -- in an apex predator sort of way. (M/M)

Cinderella stories, boys with no risk assessment, demons? The Cobbler's Soleless Son is an erotic fairy tale about a young man who goes on a quest to seduce a demon prince. (M/Genderfluid, Pandemonium series)

Mysterious castles, eyes all over a creature, girls overcoming odds?  Hair to the Throne is about two old friends, reunited when kidnapped by the same demon. But maybe they don’t have to endure captivity; after all, they’re stronger together. (F/F, Trans, Pandemonium series)

Found family, daring rescues, shape-shifting tricksters, Norse stuff? How Saeter Robbed the Underworld is a fantasy-mythological story about the messy relationship between the sons of the gods of Envy and Love, and how they trick the underworld out of a very special prize. (M/M)

Monster kissing, ghosts, flirty horned boys, mindscapes, spooky dolls? Empty Vessels is a paranormal novel about a psychic young man that sees monsters, the ghost that keeps him company, and the strange, uncanny world of Others that he finds he wants to protect. (M/M, Poly)

Hot dads, demon cats, magic, dystopias, Enemies to Lovers? Behind Bars is a fantasy story about a man who wants to keep his human son safe from demons. But when a stranger comes to town, he might need a demon to help keep his son safe from humans. (M/NB, side M/M pair, Pandemonium series)

Fairy tales, Woke Beauty, polyamorous swans, people caught in Stories? Beauty and Cruelty is an urban fantasy about the Evil Fairy joining Sleeping Beauty in her kind of meta plan to save their people. Fairy tale endings? In THIS economy? (F/F, with side M/M and F/M/F ships). Winner of Rainbow Awards 2016 Best Lesbian Debut book 2nd place Best Lesbian Fantasy Romance.

Just want to read a lot of themed LGBTQIA+ stories by various people? I'm in a couple of full-length anthologies! Check out Less Than Dead, an anthology of zombie stories (both fighting zombies and romancing them are in there!), and To the Victor, a collection of knights, lords, ladies, and royalty facing tournaments and quests in the name of love.

As always, you can learn more about my books over at my webpage, and happy reading!

[thecrackshipawards]

Qualifier polls round 1 part 7