❤️ Thank you so much, @alienturnipp for this amazing concept art/character design of my Warden, Cariane Amell. All the work you put into designing her armor paid off beautifully! I love all the gorgeous flower details, and her weapons are perfect! This could fit right into World of Thedas.❤️

More about Cariane here! Close-ups below the cut:

Form and function combine in this layered look

Jura always makes Carie look so fierce!

Full-body model in all her windswept, Fade-wielding glory 😍

Thank you again! I love it so much!

Also this year I participated in a Santa Secret exchange on AO3. This is my work for @my-dumb-obsessions /@Silverbow829 always on AO3, but there are other very beautiful works, go and see and give love to all the artists and writers who participated.

The OCs assembled <3 Their credits are under cut!

Larger size pics: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Lyra Cousland @chisotahn Reth @wolfs-dawn Malachi Trevelyan @fthechantry Thalia Trevelyan @nirikeehan Connor Trevelyan @plisuu Neria Surana Lavellan @inquisimer Maordrid @mogwaei Cariane Amell @my-dumb-obsessions Neria Surana @windwalker57 Irassalin Lavellan @xochihuacoyotl Lucky Hawke @blue-eyes-white-privilege69 Athel Lavellan @calicocantaloupe Celia Mac-Tir Cousland @dauntless-necromancer Marian Hawke @sillyliterature Fenya Hawke @whiskynorocks

OC Name Meanings

Thank youuu @kittynomsdeplume

Rules: Google and post the meaning of your OC’s name (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! bonus if you can find something for their last name too

Sooo I really suck at naming my OCs and they are usually either named by online generators (thats my baby Farie for example, because she is an ANCIENT OC who went through a lot of changes) or by some super random impulse in my brain that cannot be called a thought. In any way, this may be funny.

Tagging: (i havent tagged anyone for anything in such a long time that I'm sorry if I accidentally annoy someone 😅) @warden-greatly-approves @plisuu @author-a-holmes @lavellanvibes @charmcity-jess Names below!

Farie Lavellan - as I mentioned, ages ago I used one of the elven name generators to name my random Lavellan OC for my first run of DAI after a long break... well. The rest is history. Interestingly, turns out Farie is a name of Arabic origin meaning "tall” (thats really not a match then :d), “slim”, “woman with beautiful long hair”. Kiara Trevelyan - seems like depending on origin it could either mean "light", "clear" (Italian origin) or the contrary: "dark" or "black" (Irish origin). What is the truth then!! Guess my girl is just full of contradictions. And why this name? I just liked the sound of it. And the Lion King II 😆 Enarra Amell - honestly I cant remember how I came up with this one and seems like such name (or word) does not exist at all. Closest actually existing word is "Narra" which is apparently a type of wood known as Philippine mahogany. Well, Enarra is definitely a solid and strong gal. Norah Hawke - Norah, Nora etc all come from the name Honora which - easy to guess - originates from the word "honor" (Latin origin). As for how I came up with it - I went through some list of names until one of them sounded good with "Hawke" 😆 Fiadh - my poor baby without her last name because I still cant decide if I want to give Rylen some cool one (Bioware why did you do this to my man!!). Anyway, Fiadh is Farie's and Rylen's daughter and my first OC whose name I paid more attention to. Its a name of celtic roots, meaning "wild" or "wilderness" (esp in modern Irish if i am not mistaken) Carian Rutherford - and finally the Cullevelyan oldest. Can't find the precise info right now, but I remember I was messing with Welsh origin names and this one's core had to do with "love"

Hi Thane! (It's my-dumb-obsessions/Silverbow). Feel free to ignore this if you don't want to do a poem for an OC, but since you've read the first half of Under Your Command, would you like to try one for Cariane Amell and Nathaniel Howe?

Imagery: silver and gold, blue; fire and rain; home, dreams, magic, blood (specifically the rhythm of tainted blood).

taking poetry requests <3

Hey Doc! I love doing poems for OCs, they're most (all??) of the poetry I write actually 😅 And ooh, I'm honoured you'd offer Cariane and Nate, I love them so much 🥹 Under Your Command for anyone who wants some great Nathaniel x Amell <3

Bound by oath, blood– the bodies that haunt me– we sway to the rhythm of a song only we can hear. Following your lead is easy; under your command, I rediscover myself anew. Once I burned with vengeance, yet now the rain washes away the sins that were never mine to carry. I wish to plead with you, a final request, that I may finally come home– Bind me to you, not by these shared words, or our tainted blood. Bind me to your heart, and you to mine. Perhaps we could dance to a different song– ours.

💀🔥❤‍🔥Fire and Blood❤‍🔥🔥💀

Warden Commander Cariane Amell 'bout to show you what "by any means necessary" really means.

Thank you @olillskio for this amazingly gorgeous art of my Warden! You captured just how metal she is in my head!

Edit: Click on the image for full resolution, it's soooo good!

💘I am so incredibly happy to have commissioned this beautiful piece by @cullenvhenan for Cariane Amell and Nathaniel Howe! 💘

I am absolutely floored, they look gorgeous! Their expressions, the body language, the outfits... AMAZING!

Scene from Part 4 of my series, Under Your Command.

Arlessa Cariane Amell Jahani sits for her official portrait, featuring her signature jasmine flowers and a little nod to the Wardens. What's she smirking at? Probably a certain someone making eyes at her behind the painter!

❤️ Thank you @tobio-fish for this beautiful piece! She looks gorgeous! The hair, the outfit, her expression, everything! ❤️

💕 Happy Anniversary, Carie & Nate! 💕

A year ago today, I completed a short fic based on a random prompt that had been sitting in my inbox for 3 months. That was Silverite Moon, and it was the day I decided that Cariane Amell and Nathaniel Howe had more story that I needed to tell.

Since then, I went backward and forward (and backward again) in their story with 3 more fics, and there's still more story to come!

But I'm so proud of this work I spent almost a year on, and this romance that still owns my whole soul. So I wanted to celebrate and share it again:

Nathaniel Howe returns home to the wreckage of the past and builds a new future with an unlikely partner. Warden-Commander Cariane Amell is thrown into a role she never expected and never prepared for and finds family and love along the way.

OC Lore: Cariane Amell's Grimoire

A week ago, a friend of mine showed me the extensive grimoire he made for his mage OC, and it inspired me to create this little bit of worldbuilding fluff for my Warden Commander, Carie Amell. Thank you, @maleficarlife for the inspiration!

Here is the link to the complete project, and a few in-progress screenshots from this past week:

Read more about Cariane (and her eventual husband, Nathaniel Howe, and the whole Vigil's Keep family) in my series, Under Your Command, on AO3!

Tagged by @cullenvhenan to make my OCs in this cute little picrew!

Cariane Amell on the left in "Commander Chic" featuring Ser Pounce!

Astrid Hawke on the right having a day out on Sundermount, proofreading Anders's manifesto.

Tagging @ephemeronidwrites, @sillyliterature, @sinquisition, @crunchbuttsteak, and anyone else who wants to play dress up with their little guys 😁.

Do you have any NSFW headcanons about Nathaniel? :D

Oh my God, I have SO many! If you want to see several of the headcanons below in action, check out As the Sun Descends (to skip to the spicy, it's chapters 2, and 7-9). Naughty thoughts about loml below the cut:

First, the big one…and it is a big one. That thing is 8 inches long and like 6 inches around. Uncut, 70% show, 30% grow so if you should stumble upon him naked and unaroused, you’ll be thinking about it for days and still be pleasantly surprised once you get him hard. 

His neck and collarbones are super sensitive, and like all long-haired men, he wants your hands in his hair. 

Kisses that make you forget your own name.

Lean and strong. His chest is as comfy and as hairy as that bear sigil implies, with a back chiseled from the Frostbacks and arms that can easily pin you to the wall.

And he wants to pin you to the wall. He is a pleasure dom. He wants you to feel good, and he wants to be completely in control of that experience and make you beg and moan and squirm (let him hear it!). Trust what he tells you to do, and you’ll have a very good time. He enjoys a bratty sub and power games from time to time, though.

Nate is a big talker - loves dirty talk, praise, directing. If you like being talked down to, he’ll oblige, but he’d rather tell you how good you are.

He’s got strong hands and agile fingers, and he loves to use them. Goes down like a champ, but it’s harder to watch you and talk to you from down there. 

Will teasingly call you “Commander” while his dick is in your mouth, and he absolutely wants you to deep throat that thing.

He's also going to bend you over that desk, Commander.

Please use your magic on him - it’s the one thing he has a subby streak about. For specifics, see "Spells for Intimate Encounters" section in Cariane's Grimoire.

Warden stamina is a given, you'll definitely get multiple rounds, but you will also get cuddle breaks and communication between those rounds.

Bisexual but very monogamous. He won’t be the one to suggest a threesome, but if you want it and he’s ok with the other person he’ll do it.

"I didn't spend my time abroad chasing skirts" was not a lie, but a technicality. He doesn't have to chase.

Obviously, these are very indulgent and a lot of people see him as more reserved/vanilla/shy but I write him for my OC Cariane, and she deserves the best lover in Thedas, as a treat.

If Nathaniel wants his shirt back, he'll have to come and take it.

Thank you @lets-get-brave for this sexy, sweet and playful look for Cariane! It’s not all griffons and heroics, the Warden Commander deserves a cozy night in with her man.

Last Line Tag

Tagged by @himbo-robot! Here's a bit of the beginning of a smutty one-shot (sweet Andraste, let it stay a one-shot this time) that just started bubbling in my head:

“Of course, Warden Howe, I’ll be there shortly,” she answered cordially, holding his gaze a moment longer than necessary, and willing her legs not to melt under the indecent intent in his eyes.

Tagging @sillyliterature, @sweetmage, @wardenkay, @anderstrevelyan, @psalacanthea and anyone else who wants to share the last line you wrote!

Thank you for the tag, @miseryscrowned!

Make an OC in this picrew and a sword they would use in this one.

I went with the only one of my OCs that actually uses a sword: my battlemage/blood mage, Warden-Commander Cariane Amell

The sword is Vigilance, and would be on fire if it weren't sitting on her desk.

Tagging if you want to play: @sinquisition, @thedastrash, @anderstrevelyan, @potatowitch, @psalacanthea, @sweetmage, and @sillyliterature

🎵 9 Ship Songs 🎶

Rules: List 9 songs for one (or more) of your ships. Optionally, tag 9 people.

Not tagged, but I saw a bunch of people do this so I wanted to 😅. Tagging (if you haven't already and you want to play) @sillyliterature, @nowandthane, @wardenkay, @psalacanthea, @anderstrevelyan, @cullenvhenan, @sinquisition, @glowing-blue-feathermage, @thedastrash.

9 OTP Songs - Cariane Amell & Nathaniel Howe

Dream of the Archer (Heart) - HIS song, theme from the fic of the same name.

Wayfaring warrior soul, still wild The archer stands Arrow measured to the goal, sing of Strong and living man

Trouble Me (10,000 Maniacs) - early friendship/pre-relationship song, applies to both of them; theme from the fic Familiar Roads, Forgotten Roads.

(Trouble me) disturb me with all your cares and your worries (Trouble me) on the days when you feel spent Why let your shoulders bend Underneath this burden When my back is sturdy and strong? Trouble me

Dreams (The Cranberries) - theme from Silverite Moon.

I know I felt like this before But now I'm feeling it even more Because it came from you Then I open up and see The person falling here is me A different way to be

Crash Into Me (Dave Matthews Band) - HIS love theme, a mix of boyish wonder and sweet affection that is also incredibly horny.

Touch your lips just so I know In your eyes, love, it glows so I'm bare boned and crazy for you When you come crash Into me, baby And I come into you

Because the Night (orig. Patti Smith, cover 10,000 Maniacs) - HER love theme, also the theme from As the Sun Descends.

Come on now, try and understand The way I feel under your command Take my hand, as the sun descends They can't hurt you now Can't hurt you now Can't hurt you now Because the night belongs to lovers Because the night belongs to us

Head Over Feet (Alanis Morrissette) - their "friends to lovers" theme.

You've already won me over in spite of me Don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are I couldn't help it It's all your fault

(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You (UB40 version) - yes, I prefer the reggae-fied cover...it gives me fun Rivaini wedding vibes.

Take my hand Take my whole life too 'Cause I can't help Fallin' in love with you

Hold You in My Arms (Ray LaMontagne) - theme for a future installment of their series, post-Awakening, when shit hits the fan and they really need to be there for each other.

Don't let your eyes refuse to see Don't let your ears refuse to hear Or you ain't never going to shake This sense of sadness I could hold you in my arms I could hold on forever

I Belong to You (Lenny Kravitz) - an overarching theme for what Carie and Nate are to each other.

You are the flame in my heart You light my way in the dark You are the ultimate star You pick me up from above Your unconditional love Takes me to paradise I belong to you And you You belong to me too You make my life complete You make me feel so sweet

BONUS: Fight Song (Rachel Platten) - not super tied to their relationship story but this is Carie's song, since I included Nate's.

I might only have one match But I can make an explosion And all those things I didn't say Wrecking balls inside my brain I will scream them loud tonight Can you hear my voice this time?