#Arctic Poppy

[xtruss]

The Last Flower At The Top of The World—and The Perilous Journey To Reach It

Scientists Journeyed to a Stretch of Gravel Off The Coast of Greenland—The Farthest North You Can Go and Still Walk on Land. These Photos Show What They Found There.

— By Sarah Gibbens | Photographs byJeff Kerby | May 08, 2024

An Arctic Poppy thrives on the Northern Coast of Greenland. Among the plant life in this region, these hardy Flowers are like Giants. Some, like this one, grow in clumps that protect themselves from harsh weather. Like a satellite dish, they will slowly turn to follow the sun. On an expedition to understand what lives at this latitude, an Arctic Poppy like this was found about 20 inches south of the World's Northernmost Plant.

At the top of the Earth, the northernmost stretch of land a person can stand on is Inuit Qeqertaat, also named Kaffeklubben Island by early 20th Century Danish Explorers. The region is a dark gray stretch of gravel on the northern coast of Greenland where land slowly gives way to frozen sea ice.

To find what lives amid these rocky soils, climate change researchers and National Geographic Explorers Brian Buma and Jeff Kerby and their team embarked on a journey to survey the region. There, they found a common species of moss (Tortula Mucronifolia), the world's northernmost plant, and a yellow and lime-green Arctic poppy (Papaver Radicatum), growing just a few inches south of the moss.

On the nearby mainland, Greenlandic archaeologist Aka Simonsen discovered a ring of roughly 700-Year-Old Inuit Stones, which may be the northernmost archaeological remains.

Growing in Extremes: The Northernmost Stretch of land in the World, Inuit Qeqertaat, sits off the coast of Johannes V. Jensen Land, a Peninsula in Far Northern Greenland. National Geographic Explorer Brian Buma traveled there to find the northernmost plant-a common moss—and the northernmost flower a few inches south-an Arctic poppy.

Rosemary Wardley, NGM Staff; Martin Gamache, National Geographic Society Sources: Jeff Kerby, Scott Polar Research Institute; Brian Buma, Environmental Defense Fund; SkySat imagery from July 13, 2023, Planet Labs PBC; ArcticDEM, Version 4.1

The research team left their own mark on the mainland coast, staking plots and recording the vegetation they contained to create a highly detailed digital map of the area they surveyed. Information collected from this trip will be the first data logs in what Buma and Kerby hope will be a long timeline of research in the far northern region.

Here, above the Arctic Circle, the planet is warming four times faster than anywhere else on Earth. Changes here will have ripple effects across the globe, which is why the team braved harsh conditions to find what lives on the edge.

The expedition team was led by climate scientist and National Geographic Explorer Brian Buma. The north coast of Greenland was used as a staging point while shuttling gear across sea ice to Inuit Qeqertaat (Kaffeklubben Island).

Brian Buma collected samples from different layers of this snow glacier to understand the unique properties of water in this rarely visited region. This part of the world is a polar desert, and precipitation is scant, so the samples in this glacier represent many years of snow.

From above, the northern coast of Inuit Qeqertaat—and thus the northernmost stretch of land on Earth—is visible. It was near this shoreline that the team found the edge of terrestrial life, including a common species of moss, officially the farthest north, and the northernmost flower on earth—found about 20 inches south of the moss. The small, gravelly island is about a mile north of mainland Greenland.

This is the northernmost flower on earth, a lone and somewhat ragged Arctic Poppy, sitting near the shoreline of Inuit Qeqertaat. Poppies dotted the northern edge, with a few purple mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) only slightly farther up the slope. In the background, Brian Buma surveys various contenders for northernmost plant before a final survey determines this flower to be the official runner-up. Seen just behind the flower, a tuft of ‘Mucronate screw moss’ (Tortula mucronifolia) claims that title.

Identifying mosses and other tiny Arctic flora requires a hand lens and careful attention to detail. Up close, Brian Buma examines their adaptations to cold weather, such as small hairs coating a plant's exterior.

Aka Simonsen, a Greenlandic archeologist, prepares to leave camp with Brian Buma, just as the weather begins to turn. After just a few hours the northernmost island, the team left, intending to return the next day. The window to return quickly closed after a few days when bad weather turned into a storm that brought strong winds and heavy precipitation. The July storm dumped nearly a foot of snow and drifts reached several feet. Harsh conditions trapped the team at their base camp for a week.

Aka Simonsen measures a ring of large stones that may have been used to anchor a tent. The stones are roughly 700 years old and likely left by the Thule people. These artifacts were found on the mainland, near the team's base camp and could be the northernmost documented archeological site on Earth.

When the plane returning to retrieve the team landed, it got stuck in snow, and a makeshift runway had to be constructed by scooping snow with snow shoes. Gravel was placed by hand so the plane's tires wouldn't slip on ice or stick in snow during takeoff. Scientists who return to this northernmost region will be able to use the team's detailed digital map to chart how the ecosystem is changing as the planet warms.

[letmeinimafairy]

A commission for @dramatic-opening-shot , James and Francis, finally free, walking somewhere beyond. For some reason for me arctic poppies are deeply associated with the other side now.

[cedence]

Knitting and audiobooking is the perfect combination ✌🏻I'm listening to The Poppy War.

[102hannah]

11/05/2024 🫶🏻

[apopcornkernel]

that wrioney scene except sigewinne arrives too late to stop lyney's lunge, and lyney has tackled wrio to the floor and wrapped his hands around his neck, and wrio only laughs, choked and terrible but still a laugh...........

[fullmoonfireball]

Get up, get up, get out on the floor!

This is the party we’ve been waiting for!

Do what you want, everything’s okay!

‘Cause it’s your birthday, ‘cause it’s your birthday!

[heart-attaxk]

Hello, and welcome to my blog. 🤍 I’m Remus, and this is my study, and I can’t wait to share this space with you! Take this post as my way of introducing myself, even if it isn’t my first post.

First and foremost, I’m a minor, so please take that into account if you’re ever interacting with me! With that said, my DM’s are always open to anyone looking to talk! No romantic advances though, I’m not comfortable with that. 🫶

I have a great many interests, but I’ll just name a few!

Films - Howl’s Moving Castle, Dead Poets Society, From Up On Poppy Hill…

Shows - Criminal Minds, I Am Not Okay With This, Mindhunter…

Music - Arctic Monkeys, Hozier, Laufey, The Crane Wives, Chappell Roan…

Books - A Good Girls Guide to Murder(Series), The Song of Achilles, The Odyssey…

Games - Stardew Valley, Cult of the Lamb, Call of Duty, Blooming Panic, SeekL…

Podcasts - The Magnus Archives, Welcome To Nightvale, Malevolent…

And that’s not all! If you stick around, I’m sure you’ll hear much more about all these topics and anymore I see fit. If you’ve read this far, thank you for gracing me with your time, and I hope to see more of you! 💌

[robwithablog]

Best albums are always black & white

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

So Pyra, what do you and Sapphire do for fun?

@askthelovenest

Pyra: "Hello, @askthelovenest! Thank you for your question!~

Um, well.. We do lots of things, I'd say! In some ways, it depends on where we are. If we're near to a big town or city, then we might go around the marketplace together; I'm always looking out for new ingredients and recipes to cook with, and Sapphire enjoys tagging along, even though she isn't as fond of cooking. And I really appreciate that!

One of the things we've been doing more recently is helping the girls train together - Ruby's always wanted to team up or spar with Poppi, you see, and she's old enough now that we can all have a lot of fun organising little training sessions together. Well, I say "we", but it's really Sapphire who sets everything up - Mythra sometimes helps her out too, but I'm just happy cheering everyone on and making something for them all to share when they've finished! Ursula usually stays with me - she knows she's always welcome, and sometimes she's happy to watch the other two go wild, but battling just really isn't her thing. What's important is that everyone gets enjoyment out of it, which I'd definitely say they do!

Sapphire in particular always has such a warm expression whenever she's doing this - I think it reminds her a lot of the way she grew up. I'm really glad she gets to pass on that kind of experience, in her own way.

I hope that all that was alright! Thank you again for your question - have a great day!~"

[void-kissed]

Late as HELL to this but. ✨✨✨✨ Have some sparkles for OC facts

Hehe, don't worry, Berry! I still have sparkles to work through in my inbox, so you really aren't late at all. Thank you very much for sending these!!~

(source: this post by dragonsmooch)

Send me ✨ for a random thing about one of my OCs! (Optional: You can specify one!) - ..You know what, you said you wanted to hear more about Ruby (thank you for saying that, by the way!!), so, how about I use these to talk about her more like I said I would?~

Ruby is.. sort of like a Blade and also not at the same time, courtesy of how Pyra is one of the Aegis Blades while Sapphire is technically human but also inadvertently a Blade Eater (albeit that's not part of Sapphire's genetics, so it wouldn't have passed down to Ruby). I think she would be able to heal from injuries fairly easily like Blades do, and maybe also get ether lines when she gets excited about things, and possibly be able to summon a weapon or draw on elemental ether if she practiced enough? But, she doesn't have a Core Crystal or need a Driver or anything, and she probably ages like a human would (at least initially). She also has a lot of Gormotti features, since Sapphire is Gormotti. So, in the end.. it's probably easier to just say that she's Ruby =P

Speaking of weapons.. Ruby ends up being pretty good at wielding weapons even from quite a young age, courtesy of Sapphire and the Garfont Mercenaries. Sapphire's own childhood largely consisted of the mercs all teaching her how to do stuff she was probably too young for (like how to wield a knife), so while Ruby's own training would probably be a lot more organised (maybe she could practice things with Poppi?), you could say that having that proficiency is something of a family tradition, hahaha

And, speaking of Poppi, she and Ruby are very close!! They definitely see themselves as sisters, and spend a lot of time playing together. Ruby is also very friendly with Ursula, but due to her having a much shyer personality compared to Ruby's more rough-and-tumble one, the two of them aren't quite as close by comparison. Not by much, though - especially since Ruby is super supportive of all of Ursula's musical endeavours, which Ursula really appreciates!!

..Okay, this last thing is technically spoilers, specifically for XC3 rather than XC2. It also explains the process of how Ruby comes into existence. Therefore, it's going under the readmore. However, so as not to make people feel they have to read that.. those people's fourth sparkle fact can be that Vandham definitely cried a lot when meeting Ruby for the first time. He was also the first one to meet her.

Okay, now for the "actual" fourth sparkle fact:

So, you may be wondering what I meant when I said in my tags that "I hesitate to specifically call her a fankid because in some ways the game actually made her up before I did", if you spotted that. This is because, well.. Ruby is my way of taking what's in That One Image From The End Of XC3(TM) that you mentioned and making it something I'm much more comfortable with the idea of.

Long story short.. the babies seen in The Image(TM) are not Rex's. He is standing front and centre of the picture purely because it's being taken in Leftheria. They could well be Mythra's, Pyra's, and Nia's respectively, if you want them to be (and in my version of events the one Pyra's holding is Pyra's), but regardless of whose they are.. All of those three are Blades, and exceptionally powerful ones as well - Pyra and Mythra could well be called demigods of their world, for example. This means I'm saying it's entirely possible for them to be able to just.. create new living organisms using the data within their Core Crystals, potentially even incorporating genetic information from others if desired (since that'd also be accessible to the Aegis Blades), rather than having to go through any sort of actual pregnancy or anything remotely of that nature.

This therefore explains how Ruby came about, and how she has genes from Sapphire and Pyra. In fact.. I'm officially saying that that is baby Ruby in the picture!

See, you can even see her tiny cat ears! And her hair is red but lighter than Pyra's because it has some of Sapphire's blonde hair mixed in!

This is why I said that the game made Ruby up before I did, because it was only after finding out about The Image(TM) that the idea of her first came to mind. At this point, I have to say I'm pretty proud of how I've sorted this out, at least from my own point of view, just because it makes me a lot more comfortable with The Image(TM)'s existence ^~^

I hope that all of that was alright!! Thank you very much once again for sending in these sparkles - I hope that what I have written for them was okay! ^-^

[kapitanfreimann]

I have tried to paint Arctic poppies

[norgesnatur]

Svalbard poppy, Svalbard, norway

[ollyolyoxenfree]

Life Series in my style! Specific seasons get different designs but this is a general amalgam :).. Design notes under the cut for a few of the designs i want to talk about, for those of you into that sort of thing.

general notes:

Each season would look different

Winners have purple eye highlights on green life, and on red life they get the watcher symbol in their eyes.

Grian - Standard parrot Grian design, but on red life I go for a more watcher-esque design.

Jimmy - Man has that canary coding. There's poppies embroidered on his lapel to nod to Third Life. The back of his coat has a dog for Secret Life but you cant see it here.

Joel - Evil Shrek. Iconic life merch under his vest thing, and on red life he gets a beard a la Last Life.

Scott - Has his iconic crystals, but on red life they have purple post-Last Life because hes a winner. Has an axolotl patch to nod to Binkie or whatever its name was.

Tango - As his lives go down, the fire gets hotter. Green is mostly red-orange fire, yellow is... yellow. And red is white-hot with some blue at the edges.

Etho - I actually don't really use an arctic fox Etho design? But it just felt right here. Heart patches turn red when he goes red.

Bdubs - Moss cloak withers and red flowers bloom on red life.

Cleo - Apparently the colored bits in her hair were snakes but i always saw them as beads ??

Martyn - Mix of his vtuber and MC outfits, but he has a watcher logo on his arm.

Ren - He goes full dog mode on red life. He's got that dog in him.

Lizzie - I saw one art of vex Lizzie and it changed my brain chemistry. Green and yellow life she's an allay, red life she becomes a vex.

BigB - Heart foundation earrings, plus his outfit goes pink/red on his red life. He was one of my favorite secret life POVs :)

Gem - Her shirt changes color depending on life, and her antlers get bigger and sharper.

Pearl - Wolf ears cuz Tillie, moon/star cloak for symbolism. Cloak changes color with life, moon phases on clasp change as well (crescent on green, half on yellow, full on red). Eyebags because five am Pearl is so iconic.

[irl-marlenemckinnon]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ━━━━━

ㅤㅤ𔓘ㅤㅤㅤMy DMs are always open to talk

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤdon't be shy to message me anytime. :)

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤplease use tone tags when interacting

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤwith me ♡ ty.

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𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐌𝐞. ❀

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤHi, im Violet, and I'm a Ghost. Boo.

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Hi, Im Violet, and I'm 18+, Please ask for my age in DM. Thank you ! I'm a She/Her, but I'm comfortable with any pronouns. I'm also a founder of the band called 'The Nomads' and lead singer. I am an INFP-T, My house is Slytherin, My Cabin is Cabin 5 Ares, and my Zodiac Sign is a Gemini. I am also a Semi-Literate Roleplayer, and I'm dead. lol.

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Movies

Scream, It, The Shinning, The School for Good and Evil, Heathers, Mean Girls, Wild Child, Jumanji, Sherlock Holmes, Enolma Holmes, Girl Interrupted, Twilight, Blade Runner 2049, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, All The Bright Places, The Breakfast Club, Thirteen, Harry Potter...

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Left 4 Dead, Silent Hill, The Last of Us, Fatal Frame, Roblox, God of War, Undertale, Five Nights at Freddy's, Legend of Zelda, Life is Strange, Cyberpunk 2077, Mad Father, Sally Face, Alice in Madness, Franbow, Little Misfortune...

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Mirah, Rob Zombie, Feeding People, Arctic Monkeys, Melanie Martinez, Gun N' Roses, Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Strokes, Hole, Nirvana, Deftones, Panic! At The Disco, The Clash, The Killers, Hole, Radiohead, Chase Atlantic, The Neighbourhood, The Weeknd, Poppy, Mars Argo, Blur, Slowdive, Soundgarden, Ramones, Wisp, Strawberry Switchblade, Maneskin, Muse, Ice Nine Kills, Insane Clown Posse, Sleeping with Sirens, Joy Division, Sonic Youth, The Beatles, Pierce the Veil, Alice in Chains, Bikini Kill, Feeding People, Mother Mother, Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Ayesha Erotica, Ashnikko, Avril Lavigne, Three Days Grace, YUNGBLUD, Lil Peep, Kendrick Lamar, Pixies, Mazzystar, The Cranberries, David Bowie, Peneloppe Scott, Pearl Jam, Vocaloid, Widowspeak, The Smashing Pumpkins, Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols, The Smiths, Morrissey...

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Loud Noises, Assholes, Narcissists, Egotistical People, Crowded Places, Musical Snobs

𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐬

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[maimingaffairs]

HII IM DEEPLY AMAZED BY UR WRITINGS CUZ U GOT ME GIGGLING LIKE A SCHOOLGIRL AND KICKING MY LEGS. ANYWAYS!!

I would like to request angst to fluff for Aleksander where they were past lovers but reader was killed just like what happened to Luda. Eventually on the present time (Alina's timeline ig), during the winter fete, Aleksander saw reader's face as Alina was doing her magic showcase ig and Aleksander followed reader outside (maybe for fresh air) and then thats when reader started getting flash backs maybe a headache (DO UR MAGIC HERE LOVE) and maybe when whe wakes up, he's asleep by her side and she just says "Sasha?" in that sweet tone and ALL FLUFF

(SORRY IF THIS WAS A BIT LONG, IM KINDA HAVING AN ENERGY OUTBURST)

hi my anon baby <3 i worked on this for a couple of days. sorry it’s so late!!! i feel as if i’ve seen a couple fics like this and i tried to make it as different as i could while still staying within the margins of your request… i hope it’s okay.

warnings: canon typical violence, character death (kind of?) blood, angst, fluff, all of it. just all of it.

word count: 4.7k

of Wildflowers & Damnation

(aleksander morozova x fem!reader)

-

Some days were easier than others. Just as on the other side of the coin, some days were harder. Inconveniently, today happened to be one of the harder days for Aleksander. He tried to reason with himself often that after nearly five hundred years of living, that he shouldn’t be so affected by loss anymore. 

That didn’t make it any easier, unfortunately. He’d lost so much in his life, that he didn’t mourn so heavily, and then he’d lost you. 

He’d met you nearly two hundred years after the creation of the fold, and to say he loved you would be to say it was only a bit cold in the arctic, which is to say, it was a gross understatement. He loved you more deeply than he ever knew was possible, and perhaps that’s why it was so terribly hard to accept even all these years later, that you just weren’t alive any longer, while he lived on. 

He had tried to bring you back, he really did. Much to his mother’s dismay, for the second time in his life, he resorted to the use of merzost to heal you. But you never woke. 

Aleksander stood silently near his door. It was nearly time for him to find Alina, to join the festivities at the Winter Fete, to show the country’s most influential just how powerful the Sun Saint really was. He knew it was time to go, but his mind wouldn’t rest.  It wouldn’t stop replaying your last day with him. 

-

The two of you walked hand in hand through the forest that was just behind your small home. Aleksander wasn’t normally one for such plain and domestic types of endeavors, but the wildflowers were blooming in the valley at this time of year, and he wanted nothing more but to see you smile at them, as you did every year before that. 

“Do you have a favorite flower, Sasha?” You had asked him softly and looked up at him with a big grin. You better than anyone knew that he wasn’t much of a flower person, but the question was still on your mind as you walked together. 

He thought to himself for a moment as he peered down at your excited face and then he shrugged, “Oh, there’s too many to choose from, my lovely. Perhaps a dandelion.”

“Dandelions are weeds, Aleksander.” You pointed out and he shook his head and nudged your side. 

“They still bloom, do they not?”

You didn’t seem to like this answer, because you simply huffed under your breath and gave his hand a little squeeze, “Okay but I meant a real flower. Not a little yellow weed.” You insisted. 

He thought for a moment longer and then he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to your hairline, “Alright. Poppies.” He finally conceded and you seemed to like this answer much more than the last, because you hummed and sidled up to him sweetly, your head resting against the side of his arm. 

“Poppies. I would’ve taken you for a rose person.” You mused. 

“And why roses?” He asked, curious to hear your response. 

“Because. They’re terribly beautiful, but you wouldn’t dare just grab one recklessly. They’re covered in thorns. You have to be gentle with them, work around the thorns. Then it’s yours to have. Kinda like you. Just gotta work around your thorns.” You replied and then let out a tiny giggle, “At least, that’s what I did. Seemed to work out just fine for me.” 

Your words made his chest feel as if it was flooding with impossible new amounts of affection for you and he stopped the two of you where you walked and he leaned down to delicately wrap both of his arms around your waist. You eagerly wrapped your tiny arms around his shoulders and he moved down a bit more, closer to your level. 

To Aleksander, you were the sweetest thing in the world. Everything from your kind smile to your fiery attitude made him swell with love for you. To love and be loved in return was such a strange concept for him to grasp. Especially when the returned love was given by such a gentle soul such as yourself. He often found himself unworthy of such a love, unworthy of your kindness, your care, your acceptance. You knew of his past transgressions, yet you loved him anyways, always insisting that mistakes get made. Everyone messes up. To the world, he was The Darkling. The Black Heretic. A wicked man with a soul as dark as his eyes. That version of himself even existed in his own mother’s eyes. But to you, he was simply Aleksander. 

He held you even tighter now and he buried his face in your hair for a long time before he slowly pulled away from you and brought his hands up to delicately cup your face. He held your face so gently as if he was convinced it would shatter between his fingers and he watched your eyes, fascinated by you. 

“What a sweet little thing, you are. What did I ever do in this life to have been blessed with such a love?” He asked softly, leaning down to nudge his nose against yours a few times. 

“If I had to guess, it might have had something to do with your sympathy for weeds. I suppose they need love too.” You teased, and he didn’t even bother rolling his eyes at your teasing before he pressed a tender kiss to your lips. You kissed him back and placed your hands on top of his, letting out another little giggle into his mouth. He pulled back and watched you in amusement, a smile spreading across his own face. 

“What could you possibly be laughing at during a moment like this?” He asked and you scrunched your nose up and patted the backs of his hands a few times. 

“Your beard tickled my lip.” You replied gleefully, your eyes meeting his in a mirthful gaze. 

He slowly pulled away from you and took your hand again, pulling you into his side as the two of you started to walk once more, “Shall I cut it then?” He asked and chuckled. 

You practically skipped alongside him as the two of you walked and you shook your head, “No. I think you look handsome. But you might need a haircut soon. You’ve got bangs nearly.” You pointed out and reached up with your free hand to push a strand of hair away from his eyes, “Don’t worry. I can do it for you.” You added and laid your head against the side of his arm once again. 

He laced his fingers in between yours and gave your hand an affectionate squeeze as he led you down along the dirt path, “How have your lessons with my mother been going?” He asked. 

It was your turn to nearly roll your eyes now and you took a quick glance up at Aleksander, “Well. She doesn’t like me much, and I’m still not very good at controlling my fire so… to be continued. Maybe. I don’t know. Perhaps I just don’t want to learn anymore. I have no use for these powers.” You replied and tapped the side of his hand with your pinky finger. 

You were an Inferni, a poor one at that. Normally Aleksander would protest and tell you to embrace your gift but he didn’t this time, resigning to let you speak your mind. If you didn’t want to pursue your abilities, he wouldn’t force you, “I don’t think she dislikes you.” He replied down at you finally. 

“Oh, I think she does. She’s always got a backhanded comment locked and loaded just for me.” You argued with a little sigh. 

Aleksander knew it wasn’t you that she disliked in specific. It was just the fact that his mother disliked the fact that he was selfish enough to let himself love you. She always insisted that he’d ruin you, just like the girl he loved before you. She insisted that he wasn’t meant for you, always telling him to set you free before he inadvertently broke your wings. Deep down, he knew his mother was right. She usually was. But he couldn’t bring himself to ever make you leave. Not now. He was too far in. 

He shook his head a couple of times and sighed, “She’s not exactly inviting. But that’s not to say she dislikes you. Don’t pay her any mind, my love.” He replied and then brought your intertwined hands up to his lips so that he could place a few light kisses to your knuckles.

He lowered your hands back down between the two of you once again and he glanced up over the hill in the distance. You two were nearly to the small valley and he could tell your excitement was growing, because your steps got more hurried and you occasionally would let out giddy squeals and hums. 

A snap of a stick on the path behind you had Aleksander sweeping you in front of him as he turned around to survey the area. The two of you had stopped walking now and he looked around behind both of you, finding nothing. 

“What was that?” You asked quietly and glanced up at your lover, feeling a bit uneasy. 

“I’m not sure, darling.” He replied cautiously and turned back around to glance down at you. 

Your eyes were already fixed up on his face. You didn’t look scared, but you didn’t look like you felt too secure either, and he didn’t blame you. Something had shifted in the forest around you two, there was a strange feeling. You grabbed onto his arm tightly and you gave it a little tug. 

“Sasha, we don’t have to go any farther. We can head back home now.” You whispered, but he shushed you softly and turned back around slowly to check the path behind the pair of you. 

A small snapping sound came again, but this time it was now in front of the two of you. There was a little shuffle and another snap and he felt you yank his arm again.

“Aleksander.” 

He turned around as your grip on his arm loosened and he looked down at your face, which was now drained of color. You wobbled a bit and fell forward onto him, and he swiftly caught you with a shocked exclamation of your name. 

He held you upright and that’s when he saw the arrow that had lodged itself in your back and stuck out through your chest. He wildly looked around and had spotted two men in thick furs darting out from behind a tree. Drüskelle. He had barely a second to move the two of you before they let loose another arrow and he retaliated quickly. 

One of the men let out a yell in their native tongue and Aleksander wasted no time in quickly diving down to the ground with you as another arrow flew. He gently sat you up against one of the small trees on the edge of the path and turned around, and with zero hesitation, finished the two men off easily with The Cut. As they fell to the ground, he looked around for more. When none came, he turned to you and scooped you up into his arms as quickly as he could, not daring to pull the arrow from your chest quite yet. 

“Hey, hey. Y/n. You’re going to be alright.” He insisted. 

But the way your head lolled to the side weakly made him think otherwise. You didn’t respond to him, but you looked up into his eyes, tears beading in the corners of yours. 

“We’re going home. I’m taking you to my mother, we can fix this.” He promised and didn’t wait a single second more before he was dashing off down the path with you hanging all but limply in his arms. He could feel the warmth of your blood seeping through the sleeve of his shirt and he grit his teeth, refusing to let himself panic. You were going to be okay. You had to be. There wasn’t a chance in hell that Aleksander was going to let you go now that he had finally found you after years upon years of being alone. He didn’t notice the tears gathering in his own eyes until they were falling down his cheeks and you let out a distressed sound.

“No, Sasha. Don’t cry. It’ll be okay.” You whispered hoarsely, and the sound of your voice only made it worse.

He ran straight out of the forest and through the field behind your home before he finally ran through the back door. He laid you down on your side atop the round wooden table in the middle of the room and he yelled for his mother, who came shortly after he called. 

“Mother. We need to do something. Drüskelle, in the forest attacked us, and they-“ he started frantically, only to be cut off by the older woman.

“There is nothing you can do, Aleksander.” She said shortly and then shook her head, “We don’t have a healer nearby. We aren’t healers ourselves.”

He looked over at you, and you seemed so much smaller than usual now, curled up on the table with an arrow still protruding from your back, “Mother, there has to be a way. I will not let my lover die.” 

“There is no way. There is no natural way for us to save lives. You know this. Bid her goodbye.” She said sternly. 

His head perked up a bit and he reached out to make sure you were still alive by touching your pulse. 

Weak, but still there. Just barely. 

“But I can. I can do it, I’ve practi-“ 

“You cannot!” She protested and held her hand up to her son, “You will not! You will take whatever time you have left and say goodbye, for it is only the way of life. We see life come and go and we remain. Not even you can change that. I’ll give you space. That is final.” Baghra said sharply and turned on her heel to leave the two of you alone. 

Aleksander was at your side in half a second, and he crouched down to be level with your face. Tears were rolling across your face and your lip trembled fearfully. 

“It doesn’t hurt, Sasha. Don’t worry about me please.” You whispered and he reached out to brush tears from your eyes. 

“I’m going to fix this. Okay? You aren’t going to die today. I swear it.” He promised, but his faith was running thin. He reached out and he grabbed your arm gently and held you in place, “I’m going to remove the arrow, okay? And then we’re going to heal you.”

“You are not a healer, Aleksander. Don’t do this.” You begged softly and he looked down into your eyes again. He pursed his lips and shook his head a few times. 

“I won’t lose you. I won’t walk this earth without you by my side, do you understand?”

“No, Aleksander, no.” You protested, trying your best to sound stern like Baghra had, but your voice faltered and he knew you didn’t have much time left. 

He ignored your protests and grabbed hold of the arrow and quickly pulled it out of your back, and whatever voice you had left was spent on the wail you let out as your blood began to freely spill out over the table. He quickly threw himself over you, only to find you shaking. He looked down at your face to learn that your shaking was from your silent sobs and he frowned deeply. 

He was going to save you. It was going to be alright. 

He closed his eyes and placed his hand over the bleeding hole in your back, wracking his brain for the strength to use the magic so forbidden that had been abused by his ancestor, to heal you. To save you. 

He let out an agonized yell and finally felt the same cold, pricking sensation spread through his veins that had occurred the day he created The Fold. He felt stinging in his fingertips as he pushed out everything he could from his hand into your wound. Into you. 

At long last, the stinging stopped and subsided, and Aleksander realized you’d gone still under his touch. He felt a little splash of relief and he turned you around onto your back, only to find your eyes closed. He felt his face drain of all color and he shakily reached up to feel your pulse against your throat. 

Nothing. 

To say the days following were that of pure anguish was to put it lightly. He’d taken you to the valley of millions and millions wildflowers and laid you to rest there. At least he knew you’d be somewhere you loved. 

For weeks after your death, Baghra was full of warnings and disappointment for him, chastising him for using merzost once more. 

“You don’t know what you’ve done, Aleksander. You may have very well not healed your lover, but you don’t know what you’ve done. This will come back to you one day. You will regret it. There will be punishment.” She warned.

Not that he cared. 

“Let me regret it. Let it haunt me for the rest of my days, woman. It’s not the only ghost that hangs above my head, now.”

-

You didn’t recall much. At all. All you knew is that one day you suddenly did recall, as if it was the beginning of your life. 

Amnesia the doctor called it. You’d likely had a head injury and forgotten things, that’s all. 

Whatever you were before, whatever life you led, it was erased from your mind without a single clue as to what it had been prior. In the last few years that you started recalling, you’d worked as a dress maker in the city of Ketterdam. When one of your clients had graciously invited you to come to Ravka’s Winter Fete with her and her daughter in trade of two elegant gowns for them, you’d accepted her offer immediately. 

So there you stood, in the hallway of the crowded Ravkan palace, eyes traveling the faces of everyone who passed by. The two girls you’d attended with had gone off to greet the royal family, and you’d stayed back, opting to survey the crowd instead. You’d heard word that the Sun Summoner was going to be putting on a display in only a few short moments, and just as the thought crossed your mind, it all began. It started with a whirlwind of activity, and you watched the Grisha throughout the room showcase their abilities skillfully, and the sight invoked a strange feeling deep within your chest. You had the sudden urge to bring your hands together just as they did, feeling as if you could perform alongside them. You fought the urge back and flexed your hands a bit at your sides, shaking off the strange feeling.

Your eyes travelled to the front of the room and they fell upon a girl and a man, standing shoulder to shoulder, both wearing black. You assumed it was the Sun Summoner and who you had heard to be General Kirigan, the fierce Ravkan general who also happened to be Grisha. As the pair began their display of power, you felt your head begin to ache dully, and once the Sun Summoner’s light lit up the entire room, the pain in your head only grew sharper. 

Everyone in the room seemed to be filled with excitement, and as the display was done, the volume seemed to increase tenfold, making you clutch your head between your palms. 

The pair at the front of the room turned around and when you saw The General’s face, you blinked a few times. A thought clawed at the inside of your mind, begging to be let free. But you didn’t know how. You didn’t even know what it was. He seemed to notice you shortly after you noticed him, and you could’ve sworn you saw a look of complete astonishment cross his face as quick as a flash of lightning.  

Suddenly the room seemed to blur out as if in your periphery and you gasped as little flickers of imagery flashed behind your eyes. 

A field of flowers, the darkest eyes you’d ever seen, and fire. You furrowed your brow together and you leaned your hand up against the nearest wall, your chest rapidly rising and falling with short, quick breaths. Disorientation fell upon you and you found yourself stumbling through the crowd of partygoers and out of the room. The bustling hallway was a struggle for you to navigate, but you eventually prevailed and found the door to the courtyard. You all but went falling out the door and you stumbled clumsily until you reached grass and you held your hand to your chest as you stopped running. You felt sick to your stomach and your hands began to feel clammy and you swore that you heard someone calling your name- though you were unsure how you knew the name was yours- because you hadn’t been called by it before. You couldn’t even respond in anyway before your eyes rolled back into your head, and you were collapsing backwards towards the ground. 

-

Aleksander felt insane when he followed you out of the palace. He’d had days where all he could do was think of you, but never once had he seen your face anywhere but his mind. He called after you, but you didn’t seem to notice, and if you did, you didn’t respond. He walked briskly up to you just in time to watch you collapse, and he lunged forward to catch your falling body in his arms awkwardly. The strange angle at which he held you up at made you look so small and fragile, and he hoisted you up into his arms. It couldn’t be you. There was no possible way it could have been. He didn’t dare look down at your face for a few moments, standing there in the courtyard with his jaw set firmly. 

Finally, he did dare to look down, and when he did, he almost found himself collapsing with you. Sure, you were unconscious and your hair had become a bit tousled, but there was no mistaking the face that he saw. It was yours. His y/n. 

He looked around wildly, trying to come up with an explanation for the mere fact that his very dead lover was here. How you were here. He buried you. He reached up with one hand and he brushed the backs of his fingers across your cheeks. He refused to let himself feel relieved or happy or excited. If this was the punishment his mother had promised him years ago, he wouldn’t give in. But he couldn’t just leave you. Not out here, not like this. He stood with you in his arms for a while longer in contemplation before ultimately deciding he’d take you back to his chambers and wait for you to wake. If you woke. Then he’d proceed to ask who you were, to figure out what was happening. 

He carried you off through the night towards the nearly deserted Little Palace, and once inside, he made a beeline for his bedroom. Once he reached the shelter of his room, he closed the door fast and locked it, looking around to make sure no one was inside. He promptly walked you to his bed and laid you out on it, staring down at you. The urge to lay at your side was consuming his every thought and he ground his teeth together, fighting back a round of tears. 

Yours was the face he saw when he fell asleep. Every night. Some dreams were pleasant. You and him in the flowers, or even in bed together, happily. He’d hear your laugh, your hums, your sweet voice… all of it. Some dreams were not so kind, and these were the ones where he relived your last moments over and over again. 

His endless patience had seemed to run out and his will to remain complacent broke. He’d take the pain of having to lose you again if this wasn’t real, he’d be damned all over again to feel the emptiness of your loss if only just a moment of his time could be spent by your side one last time. 

So he kicked off his boots and removed his black decadent kefta, and he slid down into the bed next to you, his eyes not leaving your face once. He reached out across the minimal space he gave between the two of you and he grazed his fingertips across your cheekbones, up into your hair, down the side of your neck and along your jaw. Everywhere. He traced the outline of your lips and he swiped the pad of his thumb across your chin. Not a single thing had differed from his memory. If you’d told him he’d plucked you out from behind his eyes and laid you out in front of him, he would’ve believed it. 

Oh yes, if he was to be damned with the consequences of trying to save you, then he’d take them. He’d take them graciously if it meant one last night at your side. 

-

He was unsure of when he fell asleep, but he didn’t ever realize that he had until he felt hands on his face. His eyes shot open and he expected sunlight to light up his room, but instead it was dark, with only a glimmer of silver light filtering through the window. He frantically looked across from him on his bed and he reached up to push the hands away from his face, but once his eyes focused in the moonlit room, he dropped his hands and found himself lost in your eyes instead. 

Your hands stayed against his cheeks and you seemed to be at a loss for words. He knew the feeling well. It was mutual. 

The state of unconsciousness you had fallen into had been one of unrest. Memories upon memories began to flood your head all at once. Still, you were unaware of how you were alive and how you had come to be unearthed, but you assumed it must have had something to do with the merzost that you so vehemently opposed him using. 

He reached out to touch your face so gently, as if he thought you were only a figment of the moonlight and would disappear underneath his touch. When you didn’t, he let out a sigh, one that sounded terrified and relieved all at the same time. You couldn’t find your voice while you stared at him, your mouth wanting to form a thousand words all at once. 

Until it settled on just one.  

“Sasha?”

To Aleksander, this was the sweetest sound he’d heard in his entire long life, and he couldn’t help the tears that loosed themselves from his eyes. He could only nod in response as he wrapped his arms around your small form and he pulled you against his chest. 

If this was damnation, then he’d embrace it with open arms, and if this was a second chance to save you from the consequences of his past, then he’d do better this time. Whatever the case may be, he wasn’t going to leave this room until he was sure you wouldn’t evaporate into nothing. He laid his hand ever so protectively against the back of your head and he leaned his own head down until his lips touched your hairline. He could’ve whispered a million things to you at that moment, promised you everything, sung you praises and profess his love until he ran out of the breath to do so with, but he’d never been one for that many words all at once. So he leaned down to press his lips against yours, and it said everything he couldn’t all at once. He pulled back slowly and he tipped your head back a bit so that he could gaze down at your face, unchanged by all this time. 

And so he uttered out a promise, one that he intended to keep this time, no matter the cost.

“Yes, my sweet girl. It’s me, and I will never lose you again.” 

[oswildin]

MY LOKI SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

(and marvel related playlists)

POV PLAYLISTS (YOU X LOKI)

pov: enemies to lovers with loki laufeyson (it’s complicated) // “would you bleed for me?” - halsey // features artists like: florence + the machine, billie eilish, maneskin, rihanna, arctic monkeys (indie rock/dark pop)

pov: best friends to lovers with loki laufeyson // “pauses then says ‘you’re my bestfriend’, you knew what it was, he is in love.” - taylor swift // features artists like: mitski, lorde, the 1975, lana del rey, taylor swift (indie pop/ballads/soft pop)

pov: you’re in love with loki laufeyson despite everything (angst) // “but you love me wrong.” - allie x // features artists like: marina, melanie martinez, aurora, olivia rodrigo, miley cyrus, allie x (indie pop/soft pop/power ballads)

pov: loki wants to do “terrible, awful things… to you” // “think I need someone older.” - isabel larosa // features artists like: she wants revenge, beyonce, the neighbourhood, the weeknd, k.flay, isabel larosa (electronic pop/dark pop)

pov: relaxing with loki laufeyson // “calm again, i feel warm again.” - aurora // features artists like: mitski, the 1975, taylor swift, billie eilish, bleachers, aurora (soft pop/acoustic pop/indie)

pov: you domesticated loki laufeyson and now you’re dancing in the kitchen // “if you dance, I’ll dance.” - lana del rey // features artists like: abba, børns, adele, the goo goo dolls, harry styles, lana del rey (mixed genres/feel good/ballads)

pov: you give loki an ipod with songs you think he’d like // “one day I’ll watch as you’re leaving cause you got tired of my scheming.” - taylor swift // features artists like: rina sawayama, twenty one pilots, marina, billie eilish, lady gaga, taylor swift (mixed genres/pop/soft pop)

LOKI CHARACTER PLAYLISTS

songs that are loki coded // “the truth is you have to be soft to be strong.” - marina // features artists like: panic at the disco, melanie martinez, linkin park, idkhbtfm, aurora, marina (mixed genres/pop/rock/electronica)

songs that are thor!loki coded (don’t ask me why) // “tired of being what you want me to be.” - linkin park // features artists like: twenty one pilots, royal & the serpent, willow, yungblud, aurora, linkin park (indie rock/indie pop)

songs that are avengers!loki coded (don’t ask me why) // “live a villain, die an icon.” - ashnikko // features artists like: halsey, poppy, demi lovato, rina sawayama, maneskin, ashnikko (rock/dark pop)

songs that are dark world!loki coded (don’t ask me why) // “you set my soul alight.” - muse // features artists like: depeche mode, nine inch nails, mother mother, my chemical romance, muse (rock/dark pop/indie)

songs that are ragnarok!loki coded (don’t ask me why) // “I know I created myself.” - aurora // features artists like: idkhbtfm, imagine dragons, maneskin, marina, gerard way, aurora (indie rock/indie pop)

songs that make me think of s1 of loki // “I don’t wanna be a monster anymore.” - rina sawayama // features artists like: gorillaz, grimes, twenty one pilots, blondie, lorde, rina sawayama (indie pop/dark pop/rock)

songs that make me think of s2 of loki // “all of this is temporary.” - halsey // features artists like: aurora, paramore, poppy, taylor swift, coldplay, halsey (indie pop/rock/ballads)

MARVEL POV PLAYLISTS (YOU X MARVEL)

pov: you’re the villain in the mcu

pov: you’re in the spider-verse

pov: you’re the new avenger

pov: you were betrayed and now you want revenge

pov: songs for your dramatic entrance

pov: you’re a witch

OTHER PLAYLISTS

songs that sylvie listens to in her 1982 pickup truck

songs that are sylvie laufeydottir coded (don’t ask me why)

songs that remind me of sylki

songs that remind me of lokius

pov: loki is drunk at a sakaarian party & the grandmaster is the dj (💅🏻🏳️‍🌈🍸)

songs i’ve written that are marvel character coded

songs that remind me of agathario