What's a gnome to do?

ℭ𝔬𝔯𝔳𝔲𝔰 a baldur's gate 3 fanfiction

CORVID (cor·vid, noun) — from corvus, 'raven' or 'crow.' Forgotten druidic traditions hold the corvid as a threshold creature: a bridge between the living and the dead. Others name them tricksters, omens, shadows, thieves. Though others think of them as birds, and nothing more.

Astarion didn't intend for this to happen. It was supposed to be one night to feel normal, anonymous, just another face in some grime-ridden poor excuse for a tavern. And then there was a gnome, gods help him. A gnome with a voice she had no business having, a face he couldn't look away from, and a body that - no. No. Absolutely not. And yet, two years after saving this godsdamned city, he found the only person who would change his unlife enough to make it feel like something he lived in instead of survived through. Romance | Domesticity | Loss | Adventure | Character study | World building | FR Lore/BG3 Lore Faithful | Post-BG3 Setting | Gnomes (a lot of gnomes)

✯ pairing: astarion x gnome oc (not tav) ✯ rating: [E] (note: the explicit rating will make more sense as the story progresses, presently it would be better framed as M) ✯ status: ongoing | updated [7/9/26]

☾ chapter: [1] — [Prologue: Volo's Guide to the Absolute Adversaries - Ch 3] ☾ word count: [2566] ❖ cw: none

☾ chapter: [2] — [ELEASIS 27TH, 1494] ☾ word count: [7210] ❖ cw: none

☾ chapter: [3] — [Where Baldur's Gate Forgets to Breathe] ☾ word count: [2444] ❖ cw: none

☾ chapter: [4] — [Heapside] ☾ word count: [4074] ❖ cw: brief self-harm ideation

☾ chapter: [5] — [First Time] ☾ word count: [7544] ❖ cw: loss of virginity, referenced: past sexual coercion, past sexual slavery

☾ chapter: [6] — [A Proper Beginning] ☾ word count: [2908] ❖ cw: referenced abuse, self-harm scars, dissociative episodes

☾ chapter: [7] — [A Tenday Apart - Pt 1] ☾ word count: [3497] ❖ cw: trauma flashbacks, self pleasure

☾ chapter: [8] — [A Tenday Apart - Pt 2] ☾ word count: [4430] ❖ cw: none

☾ chapter: [9] — [A Tenday Apart - Pt 3] ☾ word count: [5151] ❖ cw: emotional breakdown, self-neglect

☾ chapter: [10] — [The Twelfth Day] ☾ word count: [4622] ❖ cw: grief, self-neglect

☾ chapter: [11] — [Rosemary, Bergamot, & Brandy] ☾ word count: [4226] ❖ cw: emotional breakdown

☾ chapter: [12] — [Uninvited, As Always] ☾ word count: [3908] ❖ cw: none

☾ chapter: [13] — [A Date at the Elfsong] ☾ word count: [7943] ❖ cw: none

☾ chapter: [14] — [The Pale Elf] ☾ word count: [4854] ❖ cw: referenced childhood trauma, referenced grief

☾ chapter: [15] — [Sunlight] ☾ word count: [3905] ❖ cw: none

☾ chapter: [16] — [Hunger] ☾ word count: [5667] ❖ cw: exsanguination

☾ chapter: [17] — [White Hair & Hazel Eyes.] ☾ word count: [7419] ❖ cw: infertility grief, referenced child abuse, referenced parental death

☾ chapter: [18] — [House Ancunín] ☾ word count: [4325] ❖ cw: none

☾ chapter: [19] — [Lord Ancunín] ☾ word count: [7678] ❖ cw: depictions of self harm, psychosis, dissociation, implied child abuse

Guys, look, I'm doin' a fuckin' taaaaaag!

I was tagged by the lovely @drow-drow-drow (love u and ur new gnome son, welcome to writing shorties ;] )

VISUALLY:

I am doing a cutesy modern AU render of Astarion and Luna. A lil' preview:

Note, likely not the final poses/expressions/etc for them both, but, it is what I'm working on so there we go lmao. The premise is Astarion being a goob and watching his gnome rock out to some tunes while she dances on top of the bed and sings. V. cute. V. demure. V. domestic.

TEXTUALLY:

So I've hit a lil' snag in writing recently, but I do have a decent portion of Ch 20 written. It's not halfway done yet, but I'm hoping that will...change. Soon. Tragically (for my pristine presence on tumblr lmao) most of the chapter is...well, smut? But. Like. Plot relevant. Of course. As always.

So, the excerpt I'll post will be...not from the spice.

EXCERPT:

In the lower level of the estate, the evening meal had taken place and already been cleaned by Setha’s expert command of her staff. The tiefling had one other member of staff, in fairness, but Blossom was always eager to perform her duties well. The gnome maid stepped cautiously into the drawing room where her mistress sat with a novel. “M-my lady?” she muttered sheepishly. Amaris placed her thumb over the last sentence she’d been very much trying to focus on. “Yes, darling?” “I – I don’t mean to raise any p-panic…I know I’m new, and I’m ever so grateful for the post b-but-” “Blossom. Dear. Out with it, please, I was just at a good portion of this chapter.” The maid swallowed. “M-ma’am…I…is this estate…” “Child. Words, use them.” Amaris folded the cover of the book over her thumb. “Untangle your tongue, my dear.” Blossom squeaked and curled her fingers into her apron. “R-right…a-apologies, ma’am. I just wanted…is this estate…” she shuffled closer to the elf, her chatelaine clinking loudly at her hip, “…haunted?” Amaris raised a brow high, her face contorting into something between bemusement and confusion when a loud thump echoed through the corridor beyond and into the drawing room. Blossom jumped, her fingers clenching tighter into the fabric of her apron. She looked horrified. Another thump, a muffled whine, and the elf pressed her fingertips against her lips to restrain the laugh. “T-that! Oh, please tell me you heard that too! It’s been going on for q-quite some t-time a-and I-” Another thump, this time in rapid succession with the next two. The elf couldn’t restrain herself. A youthful laugh burst forth. “M-mistress?!”

BONUS: My current earworm

and

Tagging:

@cherry4ecstasy, @his-morning-star, @daughter-of-moonmaiden @careful-l-bite, @moonlitspider, @thesanguinesonnet @cep-stories, and anyone else who wants to be on my tag list (that...I need to like...codify?)

If you want me to add you to my tags (or like...remove you from them?) pls just let me know! Comment, DM, whatever :D

jk look at me, here's an excerpt of the spice BUT UNDER READ MORE BC THINK OF THE CHILDREN!! SPICY SHIT UNDER THE CUT that's your warning lmao