#burning questions

[liaragaming]

Cole: It's not abuse if I ask. Solas: Not always true.

This conversation and the fact that they cut dialogue of Solas calming the Inquisitor's panic attack (I think after facing Envy?) just rattles me.

Like... have you actually been to therapy, my dude? Where did you learn this?

[islandofthedollz]

⁠❥ Guys this is like a really stupid question but like who feed curly? Can he eat? Did he go the bathroom? Or like did they just leave him with his mess on the bed? Who bathed him? Did they give him water?

[its-cripptid]

i'm making fanart and i gotta know do the boys always got these feet or is it just when they're vamped out???

[sporktato]

So I just finished Castlevania on Netflix, and I have so much to say, but specifically the fact Alucard explicitly says it's good to fight a vampire with a long range or long weapon to keep distance from their fangs, as if Trevor isn't fighting vampires with a short sword for the entire series. Because, Alucard is so right, and yes Trevor has the whip(s), but God I want to know what Trevor was thinking to go, 'I have been trained/taught my whole life not to get close to vampires,,,, lemme master the short sword.'

[pedrito-friskito]

Kay!

Can I just say, I love your sundae idea! It's adorable, and now I really want a sundae 🤤

Could I please request #3 from the fluff prompts with Javier Peña pretty please? ♥️

midge! I hope you got your sundae 🤍

I kinda of tweaked the prompt a lil bit here but I hope you like it, and you know I had to go back to the ranch for this too…

burning questions - the ranch - javier peña x fem!reader

word count: 1.4k

warnings: none! tooth-rotting fluff, javi is an over-thinker

Javi’s been thinking about it.

Well, more than thinking about it.

To be quite honest, the thing’s been burning a hole in his pocket since he picked it up. More than a week now. It’d be a lie to say this was an impulsive decision — on the contrary, he’s never felt more sure about anything else before — but now he has to figure out the how, and he didn’t think it would be this hard.

The biggest problem, he’s realizing, is that when you’re both home, you’re never far away from each other. Always within arm’s reach, close enough to know what the other is doing. It’s not an overbearing presence by any stretch, but it just means it’s going to take a bit more tact and planning to get things how he wants them.

But then his brain starts going…is that what you want?

Javier has always been an over-thinker. When it came to his career, it worked in his favour more often than not, but this wouldn’t be the first time he’s shot something to hell in his personal life because he can’t get his brain to shut down.

Steve, shockingly, is little help.

“You’re gonna do it!” his old partner hoots into the phone. “Javier Peña, you old dog! I knew she was the one for you, brother.”

Javi rubs his hand across his brow. You’re in the living room, your nose in a book, and he purposely left the TV a little louder than normal, in hopes it would drown out his phone call. “Yeah, yeah, you’re a savant, Steve, honestly. But listen, I need…how did you propose to Connie?”

“What?”

“When you proposed to Connie, how’d you do it?”

“Javi, are you asking me how to ask a woman to marry you?” His friend pauses. “Wait, haven’t you done this before?”

“Yes,” he whisper-sighs into the phone. “But with Lorraine, it was different. It was…obligation. It wasn’t special.” He glances toward the living room, just able to see the top of your head from where he’s stood in the kitchen. “She has no idea, Steve. At least, I hope she doesn’t, and I just…I need to make it special, you know?”

“Brother, it’s gonna be special no matter what you do, you realize that, right? You two love each other. It’s simple as that.”

“But—”

“I carried around Connie’s ring in my pocket for months, trying to do exactly what you’re trying to do right now. I was waiting for the right moment, the perfect moment, but here’s the thing, Jav: that moment doesn’t exist. If you keep waiting for it to feel perfect, you’ll be waiting a long time.”

“You’re right,” Javi admits, scrubbing his hand over his chin. “Wait, so how’d you do it?”

Steve chuckles lowly. “Middle of the grocery store. Connie asked if I wanted chocolate or vanilla ice cream and I got down on one knee right there in the freezer aisle.”

Javi laughs back. “You fuckin’ cheeseball.”

“Takes one to know one,” his partner shoots back. “Go, Jav. Whatever you do, it’ll be great.”

The line disconnects, and Javier sets the phone back in it’s cradle. From the living room, he sees you perk up on the couch, turning to look at him. “Baby, would you bring me a glass of water?”

Baby, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?

He nearly says it right then. The ring’s sitting in the chest pocket of his shirt. His eyes linger on you a moment, the easy smile on your face and the bright in your eyes. He’s lost for that second, caught up in the way he’s looking at you, the way you’re looking back. How beautiful you’d look walking down an aisle toward him, that same brightness in your gaze…

“Javi?”

“Yeah,” he replies, snapping out of his reverie. “Water, yeah, be right there.”

The rest of the night passes, and between commercials on the TV, Javi thinks it over. Over-thinks it, over and over and over. Steve’s words play on repeat in his mind, and the ring in his pocket feels white-hot. At one point, you adjust yourself on the couch, angling your body back against his chest, and panic rises in him. Can you feel the little round outline, the way it’s burning a hole in his skin?

Around midnight, you declare yourself suitably tired, turning to give him a soft kiss before pushing off the couch, carrying your book and your half-empty glass of water out of the living room. Javi listens to the quiet pad of your feet up the stairs, hears the creak of the bedroom door.

Silently, he fishes the ring from his pocket, turns it over in the dim lamplight. He recalls his father’s face when he told Chucho his intentions, that he was sure you were the one, that he wanted to ask you to be his wife. It was a far cry from the conversation they’d had when Javi proposed to Lorraine all those years ago, and the old man had stared Javier down with wet eyes. “I knew she was the one, Jav. Right from the first time I met her. She makes you so happy, mijo, and it makes me so happy to see it.”

It’s been a while now since his mother had been able to wear her wedding rings; the medications she took made her hands puffy, and while she usually wore them on a chain around her neck, when he went to the nursing home to talk to his dad, she unclasped the chain and slid the engagement ring from it. Simple gold, a singular diamond flanked by two sapphires. She’d pressed the ring into his palm and leaned in and kissed her son’s cheek.

“Be happy, mijo. Always.”

Now, he stares at the ring, pinched between his fingers, the diamond glittering in the light, throwing sparkles back at him. He presses his lips together, his mind going a million miles a minute.

Whatever you do, it’ll be great.

Javi flicks off the television, turns off the lights, and checks that the front door is locked before heading upstairs. You’ve left the light on, and soft orange light pours from the bedroom into the hall. He stops in the bathroom, brushes his teeth, runs a damp hand through his hair. When he steps inside the bedroom, he sees it’s the light on his nightstand that you’ve left on, and you’re asleep, sprawled on your side with your arm reaching across his side of the bed, your eyes softly closed, lips gently parted.

Smiling to himself, Javi walks over and sets the ring on his nightstand. He crosses to the closet, strips down to his boxers and puts his clothes in the laundry.

You stir slightly as he gets under the blankets with you, automatically shifting closer as he lays on his back and tugs your arm over his bare middle. Your nails dig in slightly and it makes him shiver.

It’s a moment before he realizes it’s your left hand slung across his waist, and the plan hatches quickly. He executes it before his mind can get the better of him.

Javi reaches for the ring, careful not to jostle or rouse you best he can. Then he takes your hand, rubbing his thumb across your knuckles before sliding the diamond onto your ring finger.

It’s a perfect fit.

He brings your hand to his lips, peppering kisses along your fingertips, rubbing his thumb over the ring. He doesn’t mind if he wakes you now, and sure enough, after a few moments, your eyes flutter open.

“Javi,” you mumble sleepily, squinting against the soft light. “Wha—” Your words stop short when your eyes land on your own hand, the ring now sitting on your finger. “Javier Peña.”

The corner of his mouth quirks up. He kisses the pad of your thumb. “I cannot fathom my life without you in it,” he murmurs, adjusting slightly so he can look at you fully. “You get that, right? There’s no one else for me, and there never will be. You’re it, querida. You always have been.”

“Javi,” you say again, pulling your hand out of his grip to cup his cheek in your palm, swiping your thumb along his cheekbone. “You…”

“Marry me, baby,” he whispers, turning to press a kiss to the palm of your hand. “Please.”

There are tears in your eyes, clumping your lashes together.

“Yes.”

[the-flame-must-always-burn]

this evokes conflicting feelings on me... you send me words on fire which is of course amazing and beautiful but the word on fire is "wetness"... which is something that tends to oppose fire... are you trolling me???

[high-fantasy-sw]

I need to know EVERYTHING about Kaminoan magic.

If I kill the entire race, will their undersea city sink and the barrier give way? And is their magic like the Force, i.e. a muscle that they can't constantly use or they tire out and they have to put conscious effort to use? Or are they set apart from their magic in some way?

You mention a lot about their lamps being lit by their magic. Are there particular Kaminoan personnel for such jobs? Or is this something any Kaminoan can do?

Basically, how does their magic work?

Also, I'd love it if you could go further into Artificial Magic and True Magic. Which one are the Kammies more heavily reliant on?

OHOHO KAMINOAN MAGIC LET'S GO

Kaminoans are masters of alchemy- they've perfected false magic to the degree that to the undiscerning person it would look almost like True Magic. Their entire civilization is reliant on it- it keeps their barrier erected, powers their life-sustaining faculties (food, fresh water, heat and light, oxygen cycle, et cetera), and provides for them in quite literally every way. They physically could not survive without their alchemy.

The Undersea Barrier is kept sturdy by an enchantment placed upon a pendant worn by the current Prime Minister and passed down through the ages. Every so often, the enchantment does have to be renewed, but other than that, as long as this pendant (and thus, the enchantment it carries) is kept intact, Kamino Fortress is safe- and, even were it to be destroyed, the enchantment is cast so that the barrier would crumble slowly enough for any survivors to escape. (This is how Clone Force 99 is able to escape with their lives when the destruction of Kamino does eventually occur.) So, no, you wouldn't have to kill the entire race. You'd only have to capture the Prime Minister, and destroy the pendant, and wait.

Since Kaminoan magic is all alchemy, and none of it is innate (and, by the by, this is partially what separates True Magic from Artifical Magic), all that is required for life in Kamino to continue is that they are constantly supplied with enough supplies to continue spellcasting. They need enough ingredients to create their elixirs, they need enough physical objects to enchant, they need enough of Jango Fett's genetic material to continue producing Clones, et cetera.

Every Kaminoan is taught the basics of alchemy from a young age, though an individual's aptitude for it does vary. The most powerful alchemist of a generation serves as Prime Minister, and serves for life. However, there are many subdivisions of Kaminoan alchemists, including but not limited to: Herbalists, Fortress Maintenance (though the barrier protects from the waters around the fortress, the structure itself does need to be maintained to prevent it from falling into disrepair), Elixir-Chemists, designated Minders (for young Clones), Physicians, and others. To answer your questions specifically, I'd say that lantern-keepers would fall under the Fortress Maintenance branch. Nala Se (die) would be Head Alchemist of the Medical Division, so, yeah, still Chief Medical Scientist, just with a more fantasy-esque title.

(On a side note: Kaminoan medicine, because of their knowledge of the human body and alchemy in general, is far more advanced than the general science of the world above. It's much closer to what we'd consider modern medicine, while many in the Archipelago are still talking about phrenology and the four humors. The only group that could be truly said to rival their science is, in fact, the Jedi; however, much of their medicine is facilitated by the True Magic of the Force, and therefore many of the common people of the Archipelago don't understand it, and the Kaminoans themselves hold it almost in contempt, passing it off merely as miracle cures and not true medicine.)

You are NEVER pestering me, feel free to send in as many questions as you want, and if you want me to go into more detail about anything, PLEASE let me know and I will GLADLY answer!!

[badwolfarchives]

I am super excited to see what Omega is going to look like once they introduce him on Saturday.

Whether they decide to go “old school” or human like I am interested to see what direction they go.

[senderosquesebifurcan]

Who runs past?!

I have a dragon age: the veilguard question that is burning me up. I have several actually, but this one is most pressing. WHO RUNS PAST while you are in Kal-Sharok?

[liaragaming]

Okay, but did Gareth David-Lloyd do mocap for Solas, and can I see it, Bioware?

[andreai04]

If Vengeance has a mother, her name is Patience.

She’d grown up inside books. No matter how dark life became, shutting out the hurt was as easy as opening a cover.

“Death is the only promise we all keep.”

Thus, the greatest monsters get their way, she realized.

By looking just like the rest of us.

If you can't see your chains, what use is a key?

"Only that there's two kinds of loyalty," Mia replied. "The kind paid for with love, and the kind paid for with silver."

“There’s no softer pillow than a clear conscience.”

[grandturtleperson]

Just came across this in an interview with Dunnett:

"The next common question, which I have answered, was whether the story was conceived as a whole. The rest were to do with which child was killed, which I think Checkmate answers"

She also said elsewhere she thought she made it clear in Pawn in Frankincence which one had died.

I can't find this proof in checkmate and it really bugs me that I still can't decide on a firm answer.

If anyone out there thinks they have one...

[idontknowwhatthatmeans]

First one to explain the Sweeney Todd trap door landing (from the end of the show) to me gets the cookie for the day!

Specifically how they land/end up on the mat. This has been driving me bonkers for months and the internet has no answers!

Here have a visual reference:

[questwithambition]

Currently reading - Margaret Atwood’s Burning Questions