#cinnamontails-ff

[amoremagnificentbastard]

Self-Care Sunday

@cinnamontails-ff and @spacesunderstairs both tagged me! This is a lovely idea, so thank you both so much!

I've posted many favorite snippets to this blog already, so here's one you haven't seen: a snip from an AU that probably won't get written for a while but demanded to be put in a doc anyway.

No-pressure tagging @aevallare, @davenswitcher, @spite-made-me, and @tynithia to share favorite snippets if y'all would like!

[forest-meadow]

Hello hello!

2, 7 and 17 for the ask game ❤️

2. Which of your fics is your pride and joy?

So far I’ve only posted one on this account (The Barbarian Witch), but on my Ao3 I’ve got a few that I had posted to my old account. Out of all of them, I’d have to say The World on a String (Captain America fic). I haven’t worked on it in ages, but I’m really proud of how it’s come along so far.

7. Coffee or tea while you write?

It really depends on if I feel like it’ll take more energy to write a certain scene or not. If I don’t take that into consideration, though it’s definitely tea.

17. What is something you recently felt proud of in your writing?

Oooooo that’s a really good question. Probably my characterization and how I’ve just written for myself lately without care to who would like it. Usually I stress a lot over how my work would be received but with The Barbarian Witch, it’s purely self indulgent and I’m proud of myself for doing that.

[purdledooturt]

This fic takes up real estate in my mind.

I just spent 2 hours writing a review for it.

I am very passionate and have a lot of feelings.

Chapter 16 of "Magistrate's Advocate"

Chapter 16 is out!

... in which they meet the parents and it goes about as well as you'd expect. Also, there are plums.

Read on AO3

[obsessedwhyyes]

6 Astarions, 6 women, a bat, and a dragon walk into a bar...

Alternatively, what happens when a portal opens up, allowing the Astarion fanfiction multiverses to collide 😁

The absolutely amazing artist, @deannamb, was kind enough to indulge our little AU writers group's fantasy of getting all our versions of Astarion and our OCs together!

Character and fic list under the cut!

From left to right, we have:

Bartender Astarion and Tav'ara from High-Heeled Heroes and Reluctantly Righteous Rogues by @karinamay.

Magistrate Astarion #1 (in the blinged up blue) and Zoraya (in black and white) from Magistrate's Advocate, by @cinnamontails-ff.

Magistrate Astarion #2 (in the formal garb) and Chariot (in yellow) from The Devil's Ledger, by @wobblyweasels.

Ringmaster Astarion (with the cane) and Elysia (with the red and white dress) from A Tale of Fools and Tricksters, by @obsessedwhyyes.

Rockstarion and Estellé (both sitting down) from The Rockstar and the Groupie, by @davenswitcher.

Tailor Astarion and Selene on the right from Portrait of the Pale Elf, by @larvasmoon.

Crystal the Dragon from Small Crystal, by Gothic_Bloodstain on AO3.

And the setting is The Sweet Release tavern from Fool's Copper, by @vyjuarts.

[roguishcat]

Last Line Game

Thank you for tagging me @waterdhaviancheeses! You are cooking something awesome! 💖

Here are a couple of lines from 'Feeling Darling.' Astarion x female Reader, MNDI, Astarion gives you a most stimulating, interesting gift.

"Ass."

"I think you mean, 'Thank you, lover. What a thoughtful gift. I will treasure the memories forever.' Though I suppose you chose to condense it to three letters."

No pressure tags: @clazberryk, @preciouslittlebhaalbae, @nyx-knox, @charmandabear, @anacdoce, @vividiana, @khywren, @lanafofana, @hellethil, @busy-baker, @dramatiquechipmunk, @verbenaa, @obsessedwhyyes, @arzen9, @dez78, @deadly-diminuendo, @astarionancuntnin, @xxnashiraxx, @bardic-inspo, @rahuratna, @bloodinwine, @pinkberrytea, @funniestbitchinfaerun, @bum-dragon, @alwaysmauria, @maeryls-journal, @davenswitcher, @anacdoce, @cinnamontails-ff, @inkymoonbunny

[khywren]

WIP whenever

too late for sunday, too early for wednesday, too uncreative to think of an alliteration for monday. LET'S GO, BOYS.

i'm on the verge of finishing another kinktober prompt -- this week, if all goes well~ i'm excited about this one since it's another excuse for them to be all soft and sappy. 😌

tagging: @xxnashiraxx, @obsessedwhyyes, @cinnamontails-ff, @verbenaa, @nerdallwritey, @inkymoonbunny, @hellethil, @roguishcat, @deadly-diminuendo, @busy-baker, @bloodinwine, @kalmiaphlox

[davenswitcher]

WIP Wednesday Friday

Thanks for the tag @busy-baker 💕

Here's a little something (everything else would be too much of a spoiler) from The Rockstar and the Groupie chapter 12:

His vision blurs, his heart aches, and he sends out his emergency message to the people he has on short dial. Including the Fearûn wide ambulance.

“I am in dire need of medical attention. Location attached” sent to Morena Dekarios, Astarion Ancunín and Faerûn Emergency.

no pressure tags: @cinnamontails-ff @larvasmoon @nivasichakano @slothquisitor @obsessedwhyyes @karinamay @kalmiaphlox

[deadly-diminuendo]

Self-Care Sunday

Thank you to the incredible @cinnamontails-ff for the tag. I absolutely love this idea! 💖 I know that I, for one, could definitely use a bit of self-care!

Rules: You flip through your work (published or WIP, doesn't matter) and share whatever little section you're genuinely proud of. Something that makes you smile or swoon or that tugs at your heartstrings just the way you want it to. Let's give ourselves a little pat on the back and normalize being proud of our work ❤

My snippet is horny (but also sweet), so I'm hiding it under the cut:

"And"—you mourn the loss of his lips—"if all of this is somehow not obvious enough"—but his husky tone has you enraptured—"then let me be clear: I will not be satisfied tonight unless and until I've fucked you thoroughly." Oh. You stare in stunned silence, mouth agape, as you process the filth you just heard: his lust stated so exquisitely explicitly that you long to press into the hardness you know you will find there, kiss him wildly, pleasure him endlessly. And that, you decide, is exactly what you will do. But your affection is too soft and too shy to plunge any deeper without testing the waters first. You kiss him once, then twice, then again and again and again, tentative touches turning tender then teasing as your courage grows. Astarion welcomes it all, wants more of it all, urging you to take this further in all the ways he can: pulling you closer, holding you tighter, kissing you harder. When at last your hips begin to undulate against his, he matches your rhythm, eager for you to feel the full length of him against your wet and wanting core. With shaking hands you unfasten the singular clasp that had been holding his vest closed. That ever anxious part of you waits a moment for his objection, expects it, dreads it—but it doesn't come. Instead he only gives you his gentle encouragement. "Go on, love. Undress me. Touch me."

(from A Fitting Reunion on AO3 and Tumblr)

Tagging: @arzen9, @mellybaggins, @verbenaa, @khywren, @kalmiaphlox, @pinkberrytea, @brain-rot-central, @denesmera, @nerdallwritey, @xxnashiraxx and @strixamans!

[inkymoonbunny]

Last Line Game

Thanks so much tagging me @xxnashiraxx, @verbenaa, @khywren, @roguishcat, @kalmiaphlox, @busy-baker, & @pinkberrytea ! Y'all are cooking some pretty fantastic stuff!!! This is more of a general WIP for Branded Blood instead of a last line, but context to the last line is worth it ❤️ (I hope). Tiefling Astarion and Flare finally having some fun after sneaking off from the Midsummer festival:

No pressure tags if anyone wants to share: @ladyduellist @cinnamontails-ff @bloodinwine @badbloodwitch @strawberryspacewitch @pickel182 @half-poison-and-half-hope

[slothquisitor]

Scarlett for @cinnamontails-ff, winner of one of my runner-up portraits! Thanks for letting me borrow your girl!

[wetcatspellcaster]

2024 fic wrapped

I was tagged by @cursedhaglette to do this tag-game, but I found the focus on stats made me a little uncomfortable! (also, no one needs to know how many words I wrote while having multiple breakdowns last year, truly).

But, I didn't want to ignore Mia's tag! so instead, I'm going to take @cinnamontails-ff wrapped tag-game, just bc I sympathise with the logic and I like this set of questions a lot more!

Thank you Cin for coming up with questions that don't focus so much on productivity. And thank you again, Mia, for including me in the original game :) hopefully this is an acceptable substitute!

What's been your biggest learning point this past year?

I guess, what it feels like to be a 'popular' author - and the answer is, 'both good and bad, in fact, extremely mixed'. Obviously, many parts of it are wonderful: more people interacted with my work in the height of the BG3 fandom than I've ever had before, I felt like my writing mattered and I enjoyed every conversation I had about it. I also felt under a lot more scrutiny, very hyperaware of how I acted in 'public' (ie. on this blog), and aware of the people I'd disappoint with the directions I took my stories and what I chose to include. I also had to watch the baffling half-life of modern fandom! BG3's 6 month peak and 1yr trough was wild to me, as someone who joined dragon age 8yrs after the game was released. But I've decided I actually really like the middle-road of interaction, with much less noise and dedicated, recurring readers who I recognise and who make me smile and laugh every single time they comment or tag my work. I'll probably never experience whatever the fuck Pieces was ever again, and I'm honestly... ok with that, currently? Not to sound awful, but I'm not sure I liked it lmao.

In terms of my writing, my biggest learning point was "you're good at this, actually". Chanting this to myself in the mirror while I white-knuckle the sink.

How has your writing developed this past year?

I'm genuinely not certain. Pieces was certainly my most ambitious story yet, but a lot of the outlining of that took place in 2023 so it feels like the development happened then... though I suppose landing the dismount was something I worked very hard to do. I guess the main development this year was that a lot of what I wrote was extremely, extremely angsty. I wrote Pieces, I wrote This Is Not A Love Story. and I gave Rosalie to Orin :))))) this doesn't necessarily surprise me, given the way my writing often reflects things I'm dealing with in my life, and I've been trying to both recover from - and desparately stave off a relapse into - depression. I think that I can see why I keep making characters into the worst versions of themselves (this goes for Astarion, Rosalie - bc Pieces Rosalie is NOT in a good place, Gale and my Durge) and then watching them claw their way back to happiness in the hope of proving to myself that that's possible.

But jfc, it all got a little heavy. I've decided that 2025 is the Year of the Rom Com™.

Good writing habits?

Committing myself exclusively to what I want to read and sticking to my guns - which means I actually finish the thing, rather than getting into my own head about it.

Stretching my comfort zone a little (writing something vaguely smutty, writing something very different in style, switching genres for a bit) without losing my own voice.

Not falling into any jealousy/existential crises about my own writing, which I guess is much easier when you're experiencing a bout of 'success', but I've managed to keep it up even after the success began tailing off :)

I wrote a lot of words last year. I'm not putting the stat down but god. It was a lot.

Bad writing habits?

Overwriting everything. Everything. All the time. Party Favours was so short!!! I used to write novellas!!! Why are my chapters so fucking long now?????

Having multiple fic wips when I promised myself I'd wind down fanfic and start writing original work again :')

I wrote a lot of words last year. I think I did this bc I was extremely unhappy, and productivity is how I define myself. when I feel bad, I write and post bc it makes me feel good. And I felt very bad this year. So anyway, I think my wordcount is both a good thing and also a wee cry for help :'))))

Favorite thing you wrote?

Chapter Twenty-Three of Pieces (Mephistopheles consultation and my Ascended!Astarion meta-reveal)

Chapter Four of Cooler Than Me (putting the blorbos in a formal-wear situation)

I also liked my sex scene in Pieces :') it was tame but it was written for me specifically x

Favorite reads?

for fic!

long summer days can lead to lazy vices by @pouroverpaloma

eyes like fire by demonsbanebard

only once by @bearhugsandshrugs

and of course stitched into your sleeve by the bestie (@violacae)!!! my first ever gift fic!!!

for literature!

The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by HG Parry

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

Biggest win?

god. I'm endlessly grateful for my gift fic and for my fanart, but... it's got to be bookbindings. I used to daydream, about somebody ever wanting to have my fic bound, but I thought it was impossible and would never happen! I now know of 3 copies of my work that exist in the world :D and the ones I've seen were fucking gorgeous, like oh my fucking god.

I am also very proud I finished Pieces! It was my most ambitious project, and writing the ending presented even more challenges than I expected - as I discovered how much you write yourself into a corner when you resoul Astarion. I still haven't managed to read the completed work in full yet, but I'm proud it exists :)

Goals for the new year?

finish outstanding wips, and then see where my writing takes me next. I want to write original work, but I also don't want to make it a resolution. As long as I continue to enjoy writing, that's what matters most to me!

Your favorite words of the year, aka the words you check each chapter for, making sure you didn't repeat them 788 times?

I think I use '[x character] froze' a lot, but rather than focusing on my repetitions I want to focus on some of my favourite turns of phrase that I managed to pull from the ether! :)

'before her brief courtship with death threatened to become a commitment' - from the risk and the reward

'We can all still be butchered. We cut away the parts of ourselves to make us fit' - from this is a love story.

"He played an androgynous, morally-grey vampire, of indeterminate gender! In a nice coat! Anyone who had two working eyes and a relevant Kinsey Score read the porn, back in the day!” - from cooler than me

What are you excited for in the new year?

act 3 astarion characterisation for honest lie! the first big romance moment in cooler than me! and then just romcoms! 2025 is the year of the romcom! I want to write exclusively happy things!!!!

tagging: @cursedhaglette (as it's a different set of questions lmao), @imscissorbladez, @violacae, @eraserspiral, @scaryanneee, @sitting-in-the-sink, @pricemarshfield, @pouroverpaloma and anyone else who wants to give this a whirl. anyone is welcome, and if you tag me in it I'll share x

[amoremagnificentbastard]

New Year Writing Tag

@cinnamontails-ff tagged me to participate in this game. Thank you so much for thinking of me!

What's been your biggest learning point this past year?

Everyone is different. That means everyone's perspective is different, and no one can or should try to tell a story the same way another author would. All you should do is tell your story the way you want it told, and those the story will resonate with will find it.

How has your writing developed this past year?

I'm developing the ability to explain why things are happening or why a character is acting a certain way without explicitly spelling out the reason. Before this year the last time I posted any fic at all was 2018. And in those six years, I had a lot of academic writing to do -- which meant lots of outright explanations, because one can't leave things up to interpretation in academic writing. I'm still getting out of that mindset, I think, but that's one way I've developed this year.

Good writing habits?

I have started finding spots where I can go to focus on my writing. I'm hoping to start making visiting those places part of my regular schedule this year!

Bad writing habits?

I have a very distracting habit of editing as I write. Sometimes I make it two or three paragraphs without stopping to edit. Sometimes I make it two sentences. But I have got to learn to get through the thing first before I start editing.

Favorite thing you wrote?

I love both of my Diana fics, but say yes, but only if you want to wins the top spot by a very slim margin.

Favorite reads?

I refuse to choose. Please check out my Ao3 recs -- that list is full of so many incredible authors, and I reread their stories so often.

Biggest win?

A year ago I wasn't at all anticipating joining a new fandom, much less being active enough to make friends and build a community. And yet here we are, and I'm so glad for it. This would have been an absolute mess of a year for me if you hadn't been with me.

Goals for the new year?

My goals are to write something every day, specifically something that makes me happy (meaning something that's not for work or school or anything else), and to learn to write without stopping to edit along the way.

Your favorite words of the year, aka the words you check each chapter for, making sure you didn't repeat them 788 times?

OUCH. The repeat offenders are look, lean(s), eyes, smile, hand(s), and smirk. Depending on the fic, I might even cut a kiss scene, because lips can start racking up search results, too.

What are you excited for in the new year?

You mean besides making more friends and reading more amazing fics? I'm hoping to start posting my longfic this year, so. That's pretty exciting.

No-pressure tagging @lyzelky, @nyx-knox, @bardic-inspo, @honeybee-bard, @busy-baker, @kalmiaphlox, @mellybaggins, @ballofbitter, and @saucy-scribbler!

[tavplum]

Entry for Day 12: Memories // @bg3-apprecimaytion

For today’s prompt I bring you Astarion Ancunín and Zoraya Naelgrath, from the wonderful fanfic Magistrate’s Advocate by @cinnamontails-ff. These two are so good together and I always have a blast reading about their adventures! This is a representation of a small portion of chapter 16, that made my heart melt from how sweet it was!

Hope you enjoy it!

[purdledooturt]

WIP Wedneday

I got tagged again, and y'all... you may not know this but I basically bleed WIPs. I have nothing but WIPs. Sometimes they never become anything, and WIP Wednesdays are the only way they see the world at all. Thank you @cinnamontails-ff for freeing one of these boys from the jail.

In celebration of the announcement of the continuation of An Empirical Science, I would also like to contribute to the Holy Rolan Empire.

The door clicked closed – then, it clicked again. Locked.

“Drop the glamour, please,” Rolan all but growled, “before I do it for you.”

Tav gasped at the commanding tone, her heart seized by cold tendrils in confusion. Immediately, she did as he had asked, dropping the disguise with an exhale. “Rolan!” Her hand flew to her chest, trying to still her pounding heart. “It’s just me!”

“Tav!” Rolan gasped back, his expression going from dark and fierce and angry to something more akin to surprise and confusion and… suspicion? With one final once-over the expression melted into something more sheepish, as his shoulders relaxed with a sigh. “I’m sorry about that. You… you had triggered some alarms, so I…” He ran a hand through his hair, letting loose a few tendrils from his normally immaculately styled half-up ‘do. “It’s good to see you, though.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, pursing her lips together as she felt her face burn red out of embarrassment. Of course they would have security measures for disguises and seemings – she didn’t even think about it. “That was wholly my fault.”

To try and soothe the awkward air, Tav went for the first gesture she could think of: a friendly hug. Oddly, Rolan accepted – in fact, he damn near melted into it. She enjoyed his warmer body temperature, momentarily reminded of the piggy-back rides Karlach used to give her when they were racing Lae’zel. She rested her chin on his shoulder. “It’s good to see you, too.”

He pulled away from the embrace, examining her once again. “My reaction was completely unwarranted. I apologise, I didn’t mean to scare you, I just thought you… were someone else. Why were you in a disguise anyway?”

She looked down at her bag of purchases and sheepishly held them up to call his attention to them. Curiously, he peered in. “Last time I came by, Lia wouldn’t let me pay, so…”

He laughed. “You silly girl,” he said fondly, shaking his head. He gestured towards a well-lit seating area by the large floor-to-ceiling window. “Why don’t you take a seat over by the window? Let me at least get you a drink, and I’ll let Cal and Lia know you’re here so they can say hello.”

Tav marvelled at the room Rolan had claimed as his office – the walls were covered in books, from floor to ceiling, but unlike Lorroakan’s old set up it was much more organised and welcoming. Rolan had his books in shelves of polished cherry wood – she found that the desk, chairs, his drinks cabinet, and the furniture at his seating area matched, giving the room an elevated, moody, professional air. It was luxurious and neat – it was just very him.

“ I’d love a juice of some kind,” she called out over her shoulder as she settled down on the plush seat of one of the armchairs. “This place is beautiful, Rolan - you’ve outdone yourself!”

“I found the difficulty of furnishing a space is greatly made easy by having lots of money,” he said in his normal, sardonic, Rolan way, though there was markedly no bite in his tone. “I do hope this juice would do.” 

She’d turned to find him walking towards her with two glasses of wine and she laughed, leaning forward in her seat to reach for one. “That counts,” she joked, as she watched him take the other armchair across from her. She took a sip of the wine – chilled and sweet. 

Before he leaned back he reached into his pocket, pulling out a pouch which he’d tossed her way. It landed on her lap with a light jingle that betrayed its contents. “Say nothing,” he said, pre-empting her protest with a raised hand, “that should be exactly what you paid, and not a gold more.”

“One of the scrolls was on sale,” she mentioned – concern about being credited more than what actually paid oddly the first thing in her mind.

The second, she found, was amazement – the idea of Rolan just… casually calculating the cost of her purchases, just from that brief glance into her bag, just to refund her? Well, she knew he was a genius, but that was as impressive as Astarion’s one-handed lockpicking trick – it was another level entirely. “Rolan, really –”

He finally settled down in the armchair, waving her concerns away. “I’ve accounted for that, don’t worry,” he said, “just to keep the books clean for Bex.”

Ooh - why did he react so poorly? Who was he expecting? 👀

I am super excited about this idea so I am definitely motivated to keep working on it - I just want to have it all planned out before I commit (sorry). I have a prologue whipped up that explains the whole premise from the get go, but there's a whole lot of middle to work with.

[obsessedwhyyes]

WIP Wednesday!

Oh my goodness, it's been so long since I did one of these. But I'm back! And I have a snippet!

Thank you so much to @roguishcat, @davenswitcher, @larvasmoon, @cinnamontails-ff, @vividiana, @verbenaa for the tags! I'm sure I've missed people - it's been so long since I did one of these, after all! If I have missed you, I'm so sorry!

I come bearing a very strange, very experimental little snippet for you today from A Tale of Fools and Tricksters, my Ringmaster Astarion x Fem!OC circus AU! This chapter is Elysia-centric, so not much of The Boy in this one!

Snippet under the cut!

For people that have read this fic, I'd love to know what you think is happening 😂 For people that haven't, don't worry about it 😁

No Pressure Tags: Everyone that tagged me, plus @lady-vincent, @khywren, @pinkberrytea, @caffeinatedmunchkin, @nerdallwritey, @wobblyweasels, @snowfolly, @xxnashiraxx

[roguishcat]

OC Wardrobe

RULES: Post pictures of your character's wardrobe and put your OC in the center. It can be other people wearing the clothing, it's just a moodboard.

Thank you so much for tagging me @anacdoce! Raven is gorgeous and I love her outfits!

I'm putting in far too many pics (but I can't stop myself and I'm sorry). 😊

Clothes are a big deal for Tav (Conversations with a vampire). Perhaps she enjoys the feeling that she is making a dent in her family fortune. Perhaps she feels more 'seen' when she stands out. Perhaps she is just bored.

Tav has pretty much unlimited funds. And she spends almost all of it on sparkly pretty things and clothes (as well as dangerous weapons and spells). She loves embroidery, jewels, pearls. And the older she gets, the more dramatic the fits.

No pressure tags 💖: @clazberryk, @nerdallwritey, @preciouslittlebhaalbae, @cinnamontails-ff, @vividiana, @davenswitcher, @khywren, @xxnashiraxx, @bardic-inspo, @davenswitcher, @caffeinatedmunchkin, @fangbangerghoul, @rahuratna, @obsessedwhyyes, @arzen9, @dez78, @nyx-knox, @pursuitseternal, @deadly-diminuendo , @astarionancuntnin, @funniestbitchinfaerun, @verbenaa, @whiskeyskin, @inkymoonbunny, @bardic-inspo, @bloodinwine, @pinkberrytea, @silent-words, @waterdeep-weavemoss, @lanafofana, @hellethil, @busy-baker