#sadlynojellybeans

[toasecretsanta]

TOA Secret Santa for @sketchygainedyoursoul from @sadlynojellybeans

Prompt: Apollo and Fierrochase (Magnus/Alex)

[Shortly after meeting with Percy and Annabeth and being updated on the whole Apollo situation]

Magnus: Apollo sounds pretty weird, even for a god.

Jack: Oh, he absolutely is, señor.

Alex and Magnus: What

Magnus: You have met Apollo?!

Jack: A few centuries back. Me and Frey were in this great tavern in Stockholm, when suddenly this guy fainted right into Frey's arms...

[Image ID: Jack is floating in the bottom center of the image while Magnus and Alex are sitting around him, listening to his story. A speech bubble starts from Jack and occupies the top half of the image. In the balloon, a blushing Frey is holding Apollo in a bridal style carry, while Apollo is grinning and saying "Thanks for catching me, handsome." Outside the balloon, Magnus is hiding his face in his hands, blushing profusely, and Alex is laughing so hard that he is at risk of falling off the stool on which he is sitting. /End ID]

Bonus: details, in case Tumblr destroys the image quality

Happy new year! :D

Inspired by:

THO, chapter 36: "In a Stockholm tavern, I met this god who was smoking hot, except his talking sword just would not shut up"

TON, chapter 16: "I had used the catch me, handsome fainting trick a few times myself"

[prodigaldaughteralice]

Hi I’ve had this open in a tab for like a week because I keep coming back and reading it again and it makes me genuinely cry. Thank you so much, I’m so honoured. I don’t really know what to say besides thank you, thank you, oh wow oh my gosh.

hi you said very nice things about Creed in your tags and I just wanted to tell you it absolutely made my fucking day thank you aaaaaa 😭💞😭💞😭💞

Aaaaaaaah hello!!! I am glad it made your day because your stories are amazing and you absolutely deserve every good thing that comes from them!!!

I first read "Just a little bit left" in a period in which i tried to put my greedy little hands on any Hunter+Dadrius fic I could and it was great. Then of course I had to read "We sing it anyway" and it absolutely blew my mind. It's hands down the best TOH fic I have read and one of the best I have ever read regardless of fandom.

It's because I am a sucker for bittersweet stories, and the way you can see them get to know each other, trusting each other and making each other better, stronger, happier, all while your heart is breaking because you know how the story ends, you know, but you hope until the end that maybe something will be different, maybe they will make it instead, so long as they have each other...

;_;

I have read it so many times by now that I have lost count. I cry every time at the end. It's just... so good.

I love the fact that you show Darius in pieces after Creed's death. I love how you show him slowly going forward with Eber's help, managing to recover bit by bit. I love that you show him making mistakes and assumptions about Hunter and later trying to correct them.

I just love the message that life can fuck you up a lot, you can be hurt and make mistakes but you can also persist and get help and try to make things right.

I can thank you enough for writing this story and this serie.

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

Merry Christmas! Electric Boogaloo Edition!!

Here is the fic I wrote for the Secret Santa Exchange in the ToA Discord Server! My match was @sadlynojellybeans, and since my submission has just been posted to @toasecretsanta, I've posted it to Ao3! ^-^

[toasecretsanta]

truth is that it was always going to end (this symphony buzzing in my head)

Merry (late) Christmas!!

This year’s ToA Secret Santa gave me [@firealder2005] @sadlynojellybeans as my match!! The prompts given were ‘ghosts of the past’; ‘the nature of mortality’; and ‘don’t look back’.

I used ‘the nature of mortality’. Do not be surprised by the angst ahaha, though i gotta admit— turned out a bit fluffier than i originally thought!

Enjoy!!

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Rating: Gen

 Warnings: Major Character Death

Title from Panic! At the Disco’s song The Good, The Bad, and The Dirty

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Word reached him on the currents of the winter wind. A cloud nymph whispered the news into his ear as he looked over the proposed plans for expanding Camp Half-Blood’s borders to make new accommodations, activities, and— of course— cabins.

It took a moment for it to register in his mind.

“She’s— what?” Apollo’s head snapped to his right, but the nymph had already dispersed, leaving naught but cloudy wisps behind to signal her presence.

His heart thudded. He pressed his lips together.

The plans were forgotten as he abruptly stood, writing a hasty note for Clio in case she came looking for him, and vanished in a funnel of sparkling gold.

Apollo reappeared in a familiar place. Though it had been a long time since the caretakers he had first met had run it, the Waystation still looked the same. Comfortable and expansive and oh-so welcoming. Perhaps even moreso ever since Britomartis had finally gotten the power to give her place of refuge proper care and attention.

(And isn’t that strange? Calling something of Britomartis’s welcoming…he must have become desensitized to her trappings, or something equally ridiculous.)

Emmie and Josephine would be proud to see how well their family was handling things. Apollo certainly was.

“Where is she?” He placed his palm against one of the wooden walls. A door swung open, creaking sadly, no doubt knowing why he was here. He patted its frame as he passed through, murmuring, “Thank you,” before stepping through, up a few staircases, and down a hallway and into a large bedroom.

His eyes were quick to adjust to the low-light. The sunset spilled softly through the large window facing the woodland beyond, the tips of the trees tinged gold just barely visible.

Most of the light fell onto the bed, headboard pressed firmly up against the wall, burnishing the blue comforters into a darker shade of indigo. Pillows propped the occupant up against the dark wooden frame, and though Apollo was nowhere near the only other person in the room, her sharp, yet tired, worn eyes still held that ever-present spark of power as they fell upon him.

“‘Bout time,” a wry smile twisted her lips. “And here I thought you’d be too busy for little old me.”

Apollo breathed a small, half-formed laugh out of his nose. “For you, Thalia? Never.”

Crossing towards the bed, he clasped her hand in between both of his. They were wrinkly and calloused from decades of a hard-won life, and despite how…frail Apollo knew they had become, Thalia’s grip was as steady as ever.

They were always steady. Even when everything changed. When allegiances shifted and betrayals ran rampant, Thalia’s hands never wavered— and neither did her resolve.

Even now, as she prepared to greet Thanatos for the final time, that familiar sight stubbornly persisted.

“Well aren’t I lucky,” Thalia shared a grin with the other occupants.

Leo Valdez’s smile caused one side of his lips to curl up, the tinge of sadness in his old eyes momentarily squashed by a bit of that reliable old humor.

“The luckiest, I say,” he playfully knocked his knuckles against Thalia’s. “I mean, look at the entourage you have here!” Leo gestured to himself, Apollo, and the other two women in the room— Georgie and Reyna.

Georgie, like Leo, had aged over the decades, but had managed to outgrow Leo without much effort— something Apollo knew she teased the older man relentlessly about, much to their mothers’ amusement.

Reyna, however, was still in possession of the immortality of the Hunt, and so was eternally eighteen. Physically she hadn’t aged, but the air she carried was heavy with every new battle and the weight of experience she now bore as one of the senior members of the Hunt.

They were the only ones sitting here with Thalia. There was no one else— bar one, but Apollo knew she was on her way— that needed to be summoned to the old Huntress’s deathbed.

Calypso and Lit no longer lived within the Waystation, but still remained in Indianapolis. The former goddess now ran a large and successful greenhouse, with an attached farm under Lit’s care. The old ‘Reaper of Men’ and Cornhusker had at long last returned to his roots in the fields, though thankfully with a lot less murdering this time.

That would be awkward to explain to the mortal authorities.

The Hunt themselves had already given their goodbyes a week or so back, but allowed Reyna to remain to watch over her old friend until Macaria came to call. Once Thalia passed, Apollo knew her funeral pyre would burn with the highest honors, under both Camp Half-Blood and the Hunt’s colors.

…It was a bit depressing, really. Despite all of the good Thalia had done in her long life— persevering through the tumultuous revolution, joining Emmie and Josephine at the Waystation, diving headfirst into finding demigods and guiding them safely to Camp Half-Blood— there were only five people left in this world whom she had shared a closer bond with.

Then again, Apollo reflected. Perhaps five is acceptable. Better than none.

And certainly better than the loneliness that Thalia had exuded following her leave from the Hunt. She had struggled tremendously with the weight of not only the rebellion, but also with the grief of her brother’s death, still stubbornly clinging to her consciousness.

A tap on the back of his hand made Apollo jump.

He was met with Thalia’s smirk. “Back with us, old man?”

Apollo snorted, then broke into a laugh that warmed him down to the ichor-y marrow of his bones. “Rich, coming from you, old lady.”

“Ah…” Thalia’s slightly smoky eyes widened, as if playing the part of a fortune-teller mystic, the wrinkles on her face creasing as she whispered; “But the point still stands— out of the two of us, you are the old man here.”

“Leo is literally right here.” Apollo deflected.

“Two, Apollo! Two!”

“Yeah man,” Leo’s grin split wider. “Don’t drag me into this— or should I say…?” He dramatically paused, making Georgie snicker. “Old man?”

“Call me old again, I dare you,” Apollo glared at him, but there was very little bite behind it. Apparently, when your friends got older and you, physically, remained the same age, said friends found it hilarious to bring you in on the old person jokes despite that inconsequential fact.

“Old.” Reyna now joined in on ‘pick on Apollo’ hour, leaning back against the headrest, arms crossed with her feet thrown off the side of the bed. “You’re old, Apollo. Admit it.”

Theatrically, Apollo crossed his own arms and raised an eyebrow at her, as if refusing to cave into her demands.

“Friends,” Thalia staged-whispered. “I think we’ve finally encountered the physical manifestation of the phrase– ‘unstoppable force, meet immovable object’. He’s not budging.”

“What’s the plan, then?” Georgie was now whispering, her and Leo huddled closer to Thalia and Reyna, as though if they kept their voices down, Apollo wouldn’t hear them.

“I am right here you know.”

They pretended to not hear him.

Who knew the elderly could be such children?

“Force has proven to be invalid,” Leo sagely nodded, no doubt digging into his reserves of Old Man Wisdom now that he was a member of that particular population. It vaguely reminded Apollo of Socrates during one of his lectures. “We must now rely on the art of persuasion.”

“Good luck with that,” Apollo drily said. “You are talking about a seasoned lawyer.”

“Every lawyer has a weakness!” Georgie waggled a finger at him. “And we shall discover yours!”

“Unlikely.”

“Even old man lawyers!”

“Again, Leo’s right there.”

“Mi amigo, I am not even a lawyer.”

“Well, in that case—”

“As funny as all this is,” a new voice loudly interjected. Apollo straightened, his lips briefly twitching up as he recognized who it came from. “I think we all get it— Apollo’s an old, old granddaddy, and is just too bull-headed to face up to it.”

“Lovely to see you too, Meg,” Apollo huffed, turning as he addressed the newcomer. “Nice to know you are on my side in this egregious plot of defamation.”

Meg smirked. “Have I ever been?” She innocently asked. Even with the way the area around her brightened in the imitation of an angel’s halo, there was no mistaking the devilry in her beady crow eyes as they twinkled behind her rhinestone-studded glasses.

Like Apollo, Meg was eternally young, and ever since her own ascension had taken it upon herself to safeguard the deserts of Southern California and heal the damage down to them. She fought a battle day after day with not only the mythical monsters of the world, but also the very mortal ones intent on destroying her precious patch of nature.

Apollo stressed over her well-being whenever bad news reached his ears concerning the deserts, but everytime he dropped by to visit, his worries were eased by Meg herself.

Little by little, they’ll make the world a better place. No matter how many baby steps they had to take first.

“What’s really funny,” Meg plopped herself down by Apollo, practically ramming her shoulder into his. “Is how you,” she pointed at Apollo, poking his arm with the finger for emphasis. “Act like their pitiful ages can compare to your own. At least my aging is timeless.” She stuck her nose into the air.

“You are practically as old as they are.”

“Pot, meet kettle.”

“Oh come on, don’t be such a hypocrite–!”

“Anyway!” Meg smiled brightly as she turned her attention away from Apollo (Rude!) and to Thalia. “Brought a present, since I missed your birthday last month.”

With the snap of her fingers, a clay pot appeared with a Christmas cactus, its red blooms on the peak of blossoming. Meg shimmied off the bed and placed the plant on Thalia’s side table. The old woman herself shifted, craning her neck slightly to get a good look at it, before smiling.

“Thanks Meg,” she held out a fist, and Meg finished the fist-bump. “It does brighten up the room a bit.”

Even with the sun now completely sunk below the horizon, Apollo knew she was right. The way the red of the cactus stood out in the darkness was almost a beacon by itself. With a flick of a finger, the small, harmless spikes on the green of the cactus gain faint, glowing lights on each end, much like the baubles one would find on a Christmas tree.

“Nice,” Thalia shot her a grin. “I feel so spoiled today.”

Georgie fussed with the blankets. “You deserve it,” she firmly stated. “And we do it because we love you.”

“She’s right,” Reyna agreed from where she sat. “There’s a lot we’d do for the people we love.”

Thalia’s eyes went misty. “I know that feeling well…” she softly said. Apollo detected the beginning of a reminiscence. “I’ve done a lot for those I love. Annabeth, Percy, even Luke…and Jason. Oh, the things I did for Jason…” A bittersweet smile pulled on her lips.

“I’ll be happy to see him again. It’s been long enough.”

Reyna squeezed her shoulder as Leo clasped his hand onto one of hers. Apollo slipped his onto the other, gently thumbing the back of her boney, veiny hand.

“Everyone else, too,” Thalia’s gaze unfocused. “There’s a lot of old friends who have come and gone that I’d like to see again.”

“Yeah,” Georgie wistfully sighed. “I do miss some of the old crowd, too.”

“Emmie and Jo were the best,” Leo murmured, propping his chin on his free hand. “I…have so much to thank them for. I don’t know what I’d have done without them.”

“They were wonderful women,” Reyna said, lips twisting into a small smile of her own. “The Hunt misses them too.”

“As do we,” Apollo added, mouth quirking when Meg laid her chin on his shoulder. “If there’s one thing I learned from not only them, but from everyone, it’s that it is in the nature of mortals to remember. And immortals…” he shared a knowing, conspiratorial look with Meg. “Well, it is in our nature too— just with the affidavit of carrying those memories with us forever.”

Leo clapped his hands together. “Well said.”

“Indeed.” Reyna softly smiled. “Indeed.”

The room fell into tranquility. The nighttime sky was now littered with stars. Apollo felt the steady beat of Meg’s heart against his back. Georgie had snuggled up to Leo, much like she had when they were younger, and threw an extra blanket over both of them. Reyna was looking at the cactus sitting on its table, limbs relaxed.

The red flowers had bloomed at last.

Apollo stopped absentmindedly stroking Thalia’s hand. He glanced down at it, brows crinkling as he failed to detect the usual, electrifying warmth from her skin. His fingers trailed to grasp her wrist, holding it for a few seconds, before gently releasing it.

Her eyes were closed. There was a faint smile on her face.

Thalia Grace had passed. Apollo held her hand one last time and squeezed.

A peaceful death indeed.

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You will be able to find this fic on my Ao3 sometime after this is published!

[sadlynojellybeans]

Title: War of attrition

Fandoms: The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan; Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types.

Summary: When Apollo is caught sneaking down to the mortal world for a visit to his children and friends, Zeus decides to ban him from Camp Half-Blood for a century as a way to remind him of his place.

Apollo however is fed up with his father's restrictions and comes up with a ... very creative way to oppose him.

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This is the first fanfiction I am posting to ao3! I had so much fun writing it, the concept was hilarius and I can only hope I did it justice XD

[shiranui7]

Letter C: Crowley-Good omens

For @sadlynojellybeans

[whispsofwind]

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better!

I was tagged by @ineffable-endearments and I thought it would be fun!

Favourite colour: sea blue! All shades of it! Even if, funnily enough, a lot of my belongings are red-purple/magenta...

Currently reading: on paper, Robots of Dawn by Asimov, an old favourite of my childhood. In audio book form, the Sandman by Neil Gaiman (does it count? Hope it does, I am loving it. No other author hits that sweet spot of "this character is a blorbo and they are also a completely inhuman metaphor" quite as Gaiman imo).

Last song: ... Genie in a Bottle by Aguilera. It's quite literally in a playlist called Guilty Pleasures, all right?

Last movie: a French movie called Mauvaise foi (Bad Faith), the story of a Jewish woman and a Muslim man who try to make their relationship work in the apparently tolerant and multicultural Paris. Before that, Tron Legacy (first time watching and a lot of fun).

Savory/Sweet/Spicy: savory aaaaall the way. I love both sweet and spicy but savory just hits the perfect spot. I have been told I eat spicier than the rest of my family but most Italian dishes aren't "spicy" the way other cultures' cuisine can be.

Currently working on: keeping up my French for one thing. Improving my core strength because since I got Covid last year I lost a lot of muscle mass and I can feel the difference. Maaaaaybe finally picking up sign language? If I find the time

I have NO idea who to tag, I shall just tag people who comes to mind and hope I am not being too annoying. No pressure obviously! @krakensdottir @losyanya @speedy-1236 @sadlynojellybeans @kitcat-italica @tsilvy @nicnacsnonsense @flameraven @unashamedly-enthusiastic

[money-and-dandellions]

moots let's have this to 10k pls

@gay-little-isopod @bloodsoaked-rainbows @akwardunicorn17 @atlantablack-chaotic @sadlynojellybeans @the-tortured-apollo-department @eri-pl @sad-simping-hours

[sadlynojellybeans]

Title: Family Reunion

Fandoms: The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan; Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types

Summary: The consequences of the events that happen in "War of Attrition"

---

The summer solstice has come and gone and there are still no news regarding Apollo. The members of Cabin Seven demand answers and are not going to budge until they get some.

Little do they know, things might end up better than they could ever expect.

[sadlynojellybeans]

Title: Nico asks for driving lessons

Fandom: The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types

Summary: Nico had no idea how Apollo had managed to get permission from the Council to take the year-round campers on a trip to Camp Jupiter.

He had been only half-paying attention while Apollo explained the specifics, at least until the god had revealed that he would provide transportation himself by means of the Sun Chariot. That had finally managed to catch Nico’s attention.

At the idea of flying once more in the Sun, the son of Hades had experienced a burst of enthusiasm the likes of which he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

---

A trip in the Sun Chariot gives Nico the excuse to look back at old memories. Some stand out from the rest and make him wonder about what truly happened back then.

[sadlynojellybeans]

Title: When hope is lost

Fandoms: The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan; Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types.

Summary: Even with all his knowledge and experience, Apollo cannot comprehend what he is seeing.

The red is the first thing that catches his eyes, violently standing out from the earthy shades of wood and stone.

Second is the gold, thin threads catching the light, where they aren’t darkened to black by the liquid soaking through.

Third is the azure shade of unseeing eyes, growing paler by the second as the soul that used to inhabit them gets farther and farther from its former shrine.

He doesn’t understand.

(Aka the aftermath of Troilus' death.)

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So... this story is brought to you by the release of the Underworld saga of Epic and by the temporary insanity that possessed me while I listened to it for 3+ hours on repeat. I literally started writing when I put on music and resurfaced at the end with about 90% of this fic completed.

[money-and-dandellions]

I am very surprised, but thank you!

(searched my name and 'core', laughed myself off at the accuracy of the images)

tags: @daisy-mooon @sadlynojellybeans @hogoflight @rebloggingbeautifularts @justanotherprettyapollodevotee @bloodsoaked-rainbows and anyone else!

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒: 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ "𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 + 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒," 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑥 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑥 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒.

Athena-core was fun to search 😍

I tag @newbornwhumperfly @grizzlie70 @butwhatifyouwrite @sapphoslibrary @wildfaewhump @deluxewhump

[shiranui7]

BEAUTIFUL PERSON AWARD! Once you are given this award you’re supposed to paste it in the asks of 8 people who deserve it. If you break the chain nothing happens, but it’s sweet to know someone thinks you’re beautiful inside and out!

Thank you so much! How sweet! I'll send it back to @duellwalzer , @bewarethebadger , @dragon7217 , @alh-computing , @jonathan-cranes-mistress-of-fear , @acapelladitty , @sadlynojellybeans , @mysticmlynn3-2 and to everyone who might need this! Have a nice day!

[shiranui7]

Tagged by @sadlynojellybeans: 10 pictures I already have in my phone that describe me! I tag anyone who wants to do this.

[godofdumpsterfalling]

Oh wowza I got tagged 3 times!! Wild!! Thank you @hogoflight, @xxzephyrbreezexx, & @apollosgiftofprophecy for the tags!! I’d like to get to know you 3 better as well, but obviously you’ve all done the game already 😅

Hmm let’s see..

Last song - either Cowboy Casanova or Undo It, I don’t entirely remember…

Favorite color - can’t say I have one! Maybe purple, for the moment?

Currently watching - A lot of shows, technically, since I have a bad habit of dropping them at random. But I’m not actively watching any for now.

Sweet/spicy/savory - sweet 100%!!

Relationship status: single (& aromantic)

Current obsession: rrverse Apollo my dearly beloved!! he has lived in my brain rent free since 2019 but he’s taken over as of late. Big fan of the rrverse Olympian nightmare family as a whole, really.

As for tagging.. ahh there’s a reason I don’t do these games much, I don’t wanna bother anybody!! Well, don’t feel compelled to do the game if you don’t want to, (or if you already have!) people I’m about to tag - I just think you all are cool! (Do the 3 I’ve already tagged count? …I’m gonna say they count. Y’all are really cool also!!) @money-and-dandellions, @sadlynojellybeans, @ferodactyl, @thesungod, @whats-a-lester & @guardianspirits13! There are so many other people I think are really cool but if I tag anyone else I might have a heart attack

Nine people i'd like to get to know better:

Tagged by: @bell-of-indecision, thank you so much for tagging me <3

Last Song: Gmfu by Odetari,6arelyhuman

Favourite colour: Dark red, violet, pink

Currently watching: Death note, ep6

Spicy/Savoury/Sweet: Spicy

Relationship status: Single

Current Obsession: Mbti types and cognitive functions.

Tagging: @somin-yin @a-cloud-for-dreams @axepen @hinsaa-paramo-dharma @basic-bitch-alkali @rhysaka @blackknight-100 @squishywizardd @reykalot

[money-and-dandellions]

thanks for the tag!

that went well

open tag and some after the cut <3

(pspspspsp @gay-little-isopod and @bloodsoaked-rainbows and also @campanula-istme with @sadlynojellybeans )

idiot? check. in love?

check! what ao3 tag are you?

@ghostkingdiangelo429 @shreysheep @wordsofwizdumb @money-and-dandellions @zatdummesmadchen and open tags >:)